Volume 3: A Long Journey Chapter 291: Carrying the Five Sacred Mountains
The Emperor of the Eastern Mountain laughed in exasperation. How could someone like him be treated as an ordinary mortal? He said, “Very well! If you want to find a guarantor, go ahead.”
Wukong waved his hand and said to the four people in the hall, “King Chichi and the three great immortals, would you mind acting as guarantors?”
Hearing this, the four of them came over nervously, looking at Wukong and then at the Emperor of the Eastern Mountain, too afraid to speak. The Emperor of the Eastern Mountain said impatiently, “This contest is very simple. Anyone can tell who wins or loses!”
The Immortal of Tiger Strength mustered up his courage and said, “Well… then we might be overstepping our bounds.”
Wukong asked, “What shall we bet on? Just come up with a question!”
The Emperor of the Eastern Mountain replied, “I won’t give you any advantage. There will be three questions in total today. I’ll start with a difficult one. If you can solve it, then you can come up with a question for me.”
Wukong asked, “What if neither of us can solve them?”
The Emperor of the Eastern Mountain said, “Then it will be a draw. We’ll let these four people come up with a question. Whoever finishes first and does better wins!”
He added, “The questions can’t be arbitrary. I must be able to answer the questions I set. Otherwise, if I can do it easily while expecting you to struggle, that wouldn’t be fair. Only by not imposing what one cannot do oneself can fairness be ensured.”
Wukong nodded. “That seems reasonable. If I set a question for you, I’ll do the same.” With a thought, Wukong already had an idea for his question. He thought that no matter how difficult the other person’s question was, at least it would result in a draw.
Seeing that Wukong agreed, the Emperor of the Eastern Mountain said, “Then listen carefully!” He paused for a moment before continuing, “I’ve heard that you were trapped under the Five Elements Mountain by Buddha for decades. Of course, I’m not as powerful as Buddha or Laozi. As long as you can carry the five sacred mountains—East, West, South, North, and Center—on your back and still free yourself, I’ll consider you the winner. How does that sound?”
Hearing this, Wukong cursed inwardly. This Emperor of the Eastern Mountain was truly cruel. Carrying the five sacred mountains on one’s back—what an immense weight! He wasn’t known for his strength, nor did he possess the abilities of the old turtle from the South Sea. He really wasn’t confident about winning this contest.
As he hesitated whether to admit defeat, the Emperor of the Eastern Mountain said, “Don’t think I’m making things hard for you. Carrying the five sacred mountains is a trivial task for me. If you don’t believe me, I’ll do it right in front of you.”
Wukong cursed under his breath. Nonsense! You’re the Emperor of the Eastern Mountain—of course, the gods of the five sacred mountains obey you. Which mountain god would refuse to help you? He steeled his heart. If he gave up now, even if he won later, it would still be a draw. And when the Immortal of Tiger Strength and the others came up with questions, it was likely they would still favor the Emperor of the Eastern Mountain.
“Good! I’ll carry the Five Great Mountains for you to see!” Wukong wasn’t entirely reckless—he remembered how the Silver-Horned King had once used three huge mountains to crush the Monkey King. He was far stronger than that monkey, so maybe he could indeed succeed.
Wukong and the Emperor of East Mountain each picked up two mountains and took the four guardians with them to the sky, flying straight toward Mount Tai in East Mountain. Though the King of Chacha was a monarch, he had never experienced flying on clouds before. As the clouds moved slightly, he looked down and fainted!
At the summit of Mount Tai, there was nothing to hold onto, with the raging waves of the East Sea stretching for miles. The scenery of East Mountain was naturally breathtaking, but Wukong had no mood to admire it. He said, “If I’m to carry the Five Great Mountains, why come here? Do you expect me to carry Mount Tai while searching for the other four peaks?”
The Emperor of East Mountain smiled and said, “That would take a lot of effort. Of course, I wouldn’t take advantage of you. The emperors of the other four mountains are all on Mount Tai. With just one command, the four mountains will fly over!”
Wukong replied, “Then let’s do it!”
He soared through the clouds, shook his body, and transformed into a figure a thousand zhang tall. This terrified the four guardians even more, making them think it was a celestial being descending to earth.
The Emperor of East Mountain whispered a few words, and in just a moment, a peak flew in from the south—Mount Heng in South Mountain; another peak came from the north—Mount Heng in North Mountain; two peaks appeared from the west—Mount Song in Central Mountain and Mount Hua in West Mountain.
The Emperor of East Mountain shouted, “Sun Wukong, catch it!”
He recited a spell, and Mount Tai rose into the air. Its immense weight seemed like a mere illusion as it floated in the air before landing on Wukong’s right shoulder. Wukong, holding Mount Tai, exclaimed, “What heavy weight!”
Someone shouted, “Mount Hua in West Mountain is here!” Another peak landed on his left shoulder. Although Mount Tai was heavy, Wukong could still bear it. He prepared himself to face Mount Hua, but to his surprise, although he saw Mount Hua land on his shoulder, it felt utterly weightless.
He was puzzled. He didn’t know the emperors of the Five Great Mountains, and there was no reason for anyone to help him—instead, they seemed to be undermining the Emperor of East Mountain.
The other three mountains followed, landing on Wukong’s arms and head. At first, Wukong remained cautious, fearing that the emperors of the Five Great Mountains might combine their forces to catch him off guard. But after waiting for a while, nothing happened. Apart from Mount Tai, the other four mountains seemed no different from nothingness.
The four guardians were now utterly stunned. This was the true power of immortals. Compared to this, their tricks of controlling wind and rain or summoning armies were nothing but child’s play. They knelt down and worshipped for a long time, unable to get up.
Wukong thought to himself, “If not now, then when?” With a hearty laugh, he said, “Is that all your skill?” He shrugged his shoulders and shook his arms, causing the Five Great Mountains to tremble, then used a maneuver to escape from the base of the mountains.
The Emperor of the Five Great Mountains hurriedly retracted the five mountain peaks. The other four emperors came over to bid farewell to Wukong and the Emperor of the East. Wukong observed them carefully but saw nothing unusual about them.
The Emperor of the East had a very displeased expression. To be fair, he didn’t truly possess the power to control the Five Great Mountains; what he had said earlier was just bluster, requiring some trickery to succeed. He never expected Sun Wukong to have such extraordinary powers—he had truly underestimated him.
With things as they stood, he considered himself defeated in this first round. The Emperor of the East said, “Sun Wukong, since you’ve taken on the responsibility of the Five Great Mountains, you win this first round! Come up with a question!”
Seeing that the Emperor of the East was fairly honest, Wukong’s resentment diminished greatly. He had already thought of a question. He reached into his ear and took out the Ruyi Tianji Stick. Swinging it in the wind, it grew to four feet long. “I took this iron rod out of my ear, and you can see it clearly. If you can put it into your ear, you win this round!”
The Emperor of the East stared at the iron rod floating in the air, at a loss for words. This monkey was truly infuriating. What kind of question was this? It was obvious that the rod had been transformed into his life treasure, and he had no way of controlling its size. Even if he created an illusionary body to insert the rod into his ear, a mere thought from the monkey could blow his head apart!
Wukong laughed and said, “Emperor of the East, this question is much easier than taking on the Five Great Mountains. Can you do it, or not?”
The Emperor of the East was stunned for a moment before finally deciding not to take the risk. Sighing, he said, “Very well, I lose!”
Wukong stretched out his hand and said with a smile, “An emperor surely won’t play tricks.”
The Emperor of the East took out a document from his bosom and handed it to Wukong, saying, “If I lose, I lose.”
Wukong examined the document carefully and saw it was intact. Then he said, “An emperor who is honest and upright is much better than your brother. Thank you!”
Just as the Emperor of the East was about to speak, a auspicious cloud descended from the sky—Tai Bai Jin Xing and Wen Qu Xing Jun. Tai Bai Jin Xing first took out a roll of yellow silk and said, “The Jade Emperor has ordered the Emperor of the East to go to the Tongming Hall for a meeting!”
Seeing Tai Bai Jin Xing’s serious expression, the Emperor of the East’s heart sank, realizing it wasn’t good news. He hurried off on a cloud.
Wukong said, “Jin Xing, it’s been a long time.”
Upon seeing Wukong, Tai Bai Jin Xing immediately put on a smile and said, “How has the Great Sage been?”
Wukong replied, “Not well. The weight of the Five Great Mountains is crushing me; I almost vomited blood.”
Taibai Jinxing stepped closer and whispered, “The Jade Emperor already knows that Donghua Emperor sent Tianpeng to attempt to assassinate the Holy Monk. He is furious and is personally interrogating Donghua Emperor in the Heavenly Court. Dongyue Emperor was also instructed by Donghua to go to the mortal world and cause trouble for the Holy Monk on his journey westward, so he too has been summoned to the heavens.” Taibai Jinxing smiled and said, “Great Sage, don’t try to deceive me. Among the Five Great Mountains, apart from Dongyue, the deities of the other four mountains have already received secret orders not to exert any force against you, or else they will face severe punishment.”
Hou Yi felt somewhat embarrassed after hearing the truth from Taibai and said, “In that case, thank you, Jinxing.”
Jinxing added, “Although Dongyue has been recalled, it’s actually because of Donghua’s actions. The Heavenly Court’s expansion westward continues—be careful, Great Sage!”
Hou Yi understood the meaning behind Jinxing’s words. This difficulty seemed like the Heavenly Court’s way of preventing Dongyue from causing trouble for the pilgrims, but it also appeared to be a compensation for Donghua’s attempt to assassinate Tang Seng. In the future, the Heavenly Court would likely set more obstacles on their westward journey, but they would have nothing to do with this one.
Taibai Jinxing truly knew how to handle things. In any case, Hou Yi owed him a favor, so he kept thanking him.
Jinxing and Wenqu Xingjun flew away on clouds. Hou Yi saw the four guardians still kneeling on the ground and went over, saying, “Get up.” The Tiger Strength Immortal replied, “No, we dare not!” Hou Yi smiled and said, “I didn’t mention you three. I still need to send the King of Chachi back. As for you… since you’ve achieved enlightenment, don’t cause trouble in the mortal world anymore!” The three Tiger Strength Immortals repeatedly bowed in agreement and never dared to enter mortal kingdoms again.
Hou Yi took the King of Chachi back to his country. He first sent the king back to the palace, then returned to Zhishen Temple and handed the documents to Tang Seng, saying that after a series of contests, there was no need to go into details. Naturally, Tang Seng was overjoyed upon receiving the documents.
By now, it was already late, and everyone decided to stay at the temple. Just as they were about to build a stove to cook rice, officials from the court lined up in two rows and came to Zhishen Temple to escort the monks to the court.
Upon arriving at the palace, everything was ready. The monks took baths, put on new robes, and then enjoyed a grand vegetarian feast with the king and the pilgrims. After this incident, the King of Chachi ordered that temples be built throughout the country, and the existing Taoist temples were not demolished. From then on, the country worshipped both Buddhism and Taoism separately.
The king asked about Hou Yi’s plans, and Hou Yi said he would leave the next day. Knowing that Hou Yi had saved his kingdom, the king was reluctant to let him go and tried to keep him for a few more days. Tang Seng said helplessly, “In that case, we can stay at most for three days.”
From the second day on, Tang Seng preached the Dharma throughout the kingdom. On the third day, there was a ceremony to lay the foundation for the Zhishen Temple, during which the King of Chachi took the imperial brush to rewrite the five characters “Imperially Ordered Construction of the Holy Retention Temple.” The reason for changing “Zhishen” to “Holy Retention” was simply that Tang Seng, Wukong, and the others had stayed in the temple for a day. Tang Seng had no longer the patience to wait for the Buddha statues to be gilded; he held just one ritual ceremony before bidding farewell to the king on the second day and setting off on his long journey westward!