Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 185: Great Strategies

The Jade Emperor waved his hand and said, “Quick, let him in!”
Youyi Lingguan hurried in. After bowing, he reported, “The Thousand-Mile Eye reports that Hou Yi and Zhuanxu have taken Princess Chang’e to Qitian Ridge!”
“Ah!” The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother exclaimed in unison. The Queen Mother waved her hand to send Youyi Lingguan away. The two exchanged glances, their hearts filled with turmoil—this was indeed a tricky situation.
The Queen Mother said, “I even thought of trying to win them over, but it seems they already had a destination in mind!”
The Jade Emperor shook his head and said, “Not necessarily. Hou Yi and Chang’e are humans, while Qitian Ridge is a realm of demons. Humans and demons are different—how could they stay together for long?”
The Queen Mother smiled and asked, “From the way you speak, do you already have a plan to divide them?”
The Jade Emperor replied, “I first had this idea just to observe what’s going on in the West before making further plans.”
The Queen Mother nodded and said, “To respond to all changes with constancy—good.”
The Jade Emperor said proudly, “You follow the ways of kingship and dominance, while my Taoism relies solely on the laws of heaven.”
The Queen Mother asked, “What about Tian Peng? How should we deal with him?”
The Jade Emperor said, “He’s both foolish and stupid. How dare he have lustful thoughts toward Chang’e? What’s the point of keeping him?”
The Queen Mother smiled and asked, “Then… what’s the point of killing him?”
The Jade Emperor was momentarily stunned and said, “Killing him doesn’t seem useful either. What do you suggest?”
The Queen Mother replied, “He may escape death, but not punishment. Let’s sentence him to be reborn as a demon. This way, we can avenge Hou Yi and show the kindness of our Majesty.”
The Jade Emperor thought for a moment and said, “That’s excellent… truly excellent…”
The Queen Mother added, “Tian Peng’s ancient Jin Gold Halberd is indeed a rare magical weapon. What do you think of Laojun…”
The Jade Emperor said, “Even if Laojun is highly clever, he probably couldn’t have predicted Tian Peng’s fate. You’re being too suspicious.”
The Queen Mother asked, “Tian Peng’s Taoist skills are after all Taoist techniques. Could there be some hidden secrets behind them?”
A glint appeared in the Jade Emperor’s eyes as he said, “Now that you mention it, I recall that the techniques of Juanlian are similar to Tian Peng’s—both belong to the ‘Movement’ school of Taoism.”
The Queen Mother thought carefully and nodded, “Indeed. But since all things ultimately converge, there are many who practice the ‘Movement’ school. If it’s not a coincidence…”
The Jade Emperor continued, “If it’s not a coincidence, then someone among the Three Pure Ones must have already achieved the power to transcend the universe.”
Even though the Queen Mother was usually composed, she was still shocked and asked, “Are you saying someone among the Three Pure Ones has become a sage?”
The Jade Emperor shook his head. “That’s impossible. Selecting Tian Peng and Juanlian was thousands of years ago. There were no sages back then. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence.”

The Queen Mother smiled in relief, nodded, and said, “I was so frightened that I lost my wits. If the Three Pure Ones became saints by then, we would have nothing to fight over, so it would be best to serve the Taoist sect wholeheartedly.”
“Serve the Taoist sect wholeheartedly?” The Jade Emperor sighed. “Once one is in a position of power, who would be willing to bow their heads and serve others?”
Wukong left the territory of Flaming Mountain, still thinking about the matter involving the Bull Demon King and Hu Yu. The old bull had saved Hu Yu and his wife’s lives, and it was only natural for Hu Yu to feel grateful and admire the Bull Demon King’s great skills. But how had Hu Yu become the daughter of the Eternal Fox Queen? It was highly likely they were only nominal relatives; otherwise, why would Hu Yu and Hu Zhi have to wander in hardship? It seemed the little fox also had an extraordinary fate. Wukong decided to just watch this as entertainment and not get involved. Matters of love between men and women are extremely delicate; a slight carelessness could lead to embarrassment on all sides.
After careful consideration, Wukong concluded that, if nothing went wrong, the expansion of Buddhism to the east was inevitable, which meant the time for the pilgrimage was approaching. Although he knew Sun Wukong had been trapped under the Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years, it was merely an approximate estimate. Moreover, the incident of him causing chaos in the Hall of Brightness was not the Peach Banquet in the Heavenly Court, which was quite different from what was described in “Journey to the West.”
The pilgrimage—when exactly should it begin?
He didn’t know when Jin Chanzi had been demoted. He only knew he had been reincarnated ten times, but how could he determine exactly when those reincarnations had occurred? After much thought, a name popped into his mind—Li Shimin. So, he decided to fly to Southern Continent.
Southern Continent was mostly Chinese territory. Wukong glanced around and saw the local customs and landscapes clearly. Countless laborers were working hard to dig canals across the land, and a huge river was taking shape, flowing from south to north.
Seeing this scene, Wukong guessed what was going on and went down to inquire further. It turned out these people were digging canals. At that time, Yang Guang was the emperor—better known as Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty.
Wukong understood now. Emperor Yang was the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty. He was ambitious and ignored the suffering of the people, eventually being replaced by the Tang Dynasty. In another thirty or forty years, Li Shimin would become emperor. To spread Buddhism and Taoism from the Western Heaven to the Eastern Land, the best way was to use imperial power to enforce missionary activities from the top down, as that was the most effective method.
Since he had arrived in a dynasty he was familiar with, Wukong traveled around the Sui territory. To his surprise, there were an astonishing number of Buddhist pagodas and temples—counting them carefully, there were no less than four or five thousand.

Wukong also had a slight understanding of the history of the Sui Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, overthrew the Northern Zhou to seize power. Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou had ranked the three religions, placing Confucianism first, Taoism second, and Buddhism last. Later, he even banned Buddhism and Taoism, ordering all monks and Taoists in the country to return to secular life. After ascending the throne, Emperor Wen of Sui reversed Emperor Wu’s policies of destroying Buddhism. He ordered the restoration of ruined temples, allowed people to become monks, and required each household to contribute funds to create scriptures and images, which were stored in temples and secret archives, thus changing the trend throughout the land.

Thinking of this, Wukong had a vague idea in his mind: Could it be that preparations had already begun in the Western Heaven before this? To understand the rise and fall of a religion is not something that happens in just one generation. Without external intervention, how could it change so easily?

Wukong stayed on earth for over two months. What he heard and saw was the hardship of the people’s lives. Describing it as “rich people indulging in food and wine while bones lie frozen on the roads” was far too mild—it was a scene of widespread suffering, with starving corpses everywhere.

After searching around, Wukong finally obtained some useful information. It was said that Yang Jian’s mother, Lady Lü, gave birth to him in a Buddhist nunnery there. It was the scorching heat of June at the time. Lady Lü used a small fan to cool Yang Jian. Unexpectedly, within a month, Yang Jian became ill from the cold, unable to cry, refusing to eat or sleep, and his life was in danger.

There was a nun in the temple named Zhi Xian, who possessed great supernatural powers. With a simple trick, she made Yang Jian cry again, and from then on, he was free from illness. Zhi Xian declared that this child was blessed by the gods and would have the appearance of a great ruler. Therefore, she asked the Yang couple to leave Yang Jian in the nunnery and gave the infant a Sanskrit name, Narayan, meaning “indestructible as diamond.” Thus, Yang Jian was left in the Buddhist nunnery and raised by Nun Zhi Xian until the age of thirteen, during which time he was taught the ways of a ruler.

Having lived in the nunnery for thirteen years, Yang Jian naturally developed a deep affection for Buddhism. This was an important reason why Emperor Wen of Sui revered Buddhism. In the ninth year of the Kaihuang era, Emperor Wen waged war against the Southern Dynasties, destroyed the Chen Dynasty, and unified the country. He was extremely proud, believing it to be the blessing of the gods. He often said to people, “My rise is due to Buddhism.”

After hearing this legend, Wukong sneered inwardly. If this wasn’t a scheme orchestrated by the Western Heaven, he would rather die believing it otherwise. All those tales about Zhi Xian and divine blessings were nonsense. Indeed, the Western Heaven had been making plans for a long time, seemingly determined to spread Buddhist teachings throughout the world. If Yang Jian had been tentative at first, by the time of Li Shimin, it was a full-scale push for Buddhism.

To make an emperor accept Buddhism, ordinary preaching is naturally far from effective; one must use great supernatural powers to convince him. In the mortal world, the most astonishing and persuasive method is resurrection from death. Thus, Emperor Li Shimin of Tang became a puppet, guided by others to journey through the netherworld, where he realized the profound significance of karma and rebirth.

With a newfound fear of gods and spirits, he issued a proclamation to invite monks to hold grand water and land ceremonies to rescue the souls in the underworld. At this time, Guanyin Bodhisattva reappeared, offering the Tripitaka of Mahayana Buddhism as a lure. Though Li Shimin was an emperor, he could not see through the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism. Having escaped death, how could he resist falling for it?

Recalling this episode, Wukong could not help but admire the brilliance of this strategy—such a masterful plan, deep foresight, and flawless execution. Had he not had an extraordinary background, he likely would have failed to understand Buddha’s intentions.

After comprehending this, Wukong was almost certain that the quest for the scriptures had begun with Li Shimin’s death!