Volume 3: A Long Journey Chapter 293: Among Heaven and Earth

That night, the old man Chen selected a room for Tang Seng and his companions to stay in, while Wukong stayed outside alone to keep watch. It wasn’t for himself, but out of concern that the five evil dragons might become enraged upon seeing Old Man Chen sheltering the pilgrims.

He had already determined that these five dragons belonged to the Taoist sect. After hearing from Lord Laozi about the origins of the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism, he realized that seeking help from the Heavenly Court would only result in rejection. He could only rely on himself to forge a path forward.

Wukong wasn’t afraid of fighting in water, but given Wu Ping’s profound magical powers and long residence in the South Sea, he might easily detect Wukong’s water-control abilities. It was better to keep Wu Ping at bay.

There was no conversation throughout the night. Early the next morning, after breakfast, Tang Seng set out to continue their journey.

Wukong said, “Master, those five dragons are in the river yesterday. If we cross hastily, we may not be safe. It’s better if I go ahead and scout the way first.”

Old Man Chen was overjoyed. Having experienced no trouble all night, he was no longer overly fearful. He thought these people must possess great magical powers, preventing the evil dragons from bothering them. But if they left, leaving those few people behind overnight might invite revenge from the dragons. So he said, “It’s not easy for the holy monk to have come from afar. It’s fine to stay a few more days. I can use this time to study some ancient texts.”

Tang Seng had no choice but to say, “If that’s the case, Wukong, be careful.”

Wukong left Old Man Chen’s estate and went alone to the Tongtian River. Upon reaching the river, he saw its vast expanse and rolling waves. Where could he find the five dragons?

Wukong thought to himself, “You started this against me. Don’t blame me for being merciless.” He took out his Ruyi Tianji Stick and transformed it into a pole dozens of feet long, then stirred it in the river.

With this, the waves of the Tongtian River surged violently, scaring the fish and dragons. Soon, one giant dragon appeared in the air and shouted, “Sun Wukong, what are you doing here?”

Wukong replied, “I knew you were here. Where did you come from? Go back where you came from! Don’t blame me for being merciless!”

The giant dragon laughed heartily and said, “The dragon race was born in water. What power do you have to interfere in our affairs?”

Wukong said, “The dragon race has become increasingly worthless. You clearly can live in the nine heavens, yet you still come to the mortal world to cause trouble to the people. Don’t you feel ashamed?”

The dragon replied, “All your words are empty. You can’t even cross this river!”

Wukong raised his stick and struck, cursing, “Then accept your fate!”

The dragon didn’t fight back. It twisted its body and dived back into the water.

Seeing how vast the Tongtian River was and how difficult it was to see the bottom from above, Wukong used a maneuver to dive in as well.

The dragon was overjoyed. Having lived in the heavenly palace for a long time, it knew of Wukong’s fame and thus dared not fight him on land. Seeing Wukong enter the water, it thought it could gain an advantage, so it stirred up the water with its giant tail and wrapped it around Wukong. Wukong’s skills in water were no less formidable than in the air; with a single stick, he sent the dragon flying back. The dragon fled in pain, while Wukong pursued closely behind. Though he knew there might be four other dragons lurking ahead, he was not afraid at all. These five dragons were all similar to Aoguang, and even together they could not do anything to Wukong. As Guanyin had said, if the gods in heaven were not frightened, there would likely be continuous disturbances in the future. Wukong was quite displeased with the Three Pure Ones shifting the blame onto him. The Buddhist and Taoist sects could just fight each other directly—why did they have to cause him so much trouble? After chasing for a while, Wukong suddenly saw an old turtle lurking at the bottom of the water. Seeing it, he was delighted and ignored where the dragon had fled, landing in front of the old turtle. You might wonder why Wukong was happy—it was because this old turtle had a hard shell covering its body, short limbs, a square head, and a trailing tail. It was precisely the old turtle he had saved in the three realms. Back then, it had guided Wukong to find the four Dragon Subduing Towers and described the scene of the Kunpeng appearing at the creation of the three realms, which had also been helpful to Wukong. It turned out that this old turtle had left the three realms and come here. Wukong remembered there was an old turtle in the Tongtian River that had helped Tang Seng cross the river; he wondered if it was the same one. Wukong asked, “How did you end up here?” The old turtle was also surprised to see Wukong and said, “Sir, what brings you here?” Wukong laughed and said, “I’m asking you, yet you ask me back.” The old turtle replied, “I have important matters to attend to here, but I really dare not say them.” Wukong thought to himself, “Your important matter must be helping people cross the river, right?” He then said, “It’s fine if you don’t say. But I ask you, how did you escape from the three realms and end up here?” The old turtle replied awkwardly, “Sir, this… I can’t say either.” Wukong asked again, “Well then, how long have you lived in this river?” The old turtle said, “About twenty or thirty years.” Wukong asked, “Do you know where these five dragons came from and why they get along with you?” The old turtle replied, “These five dragons have only arrived recently. They don’t trouble the fish in the Tongtian River. They do nothing all day long, and it’s hard to figure out their motives.” Do nothing? Then that makes sense—they must be here to trouble Tang Seng. Wukong grew sly and asked, “Was it the Buddha who told you to wait here for the pilgrim?” The old turtle was shocked, “You… how did you know?”

Wukong laughed. It was indeed him! In “Journey to the West,” it was this old turtle who helped Tang Seng and his companions cross the river, only to deliberately create the final obstacle on their way back, throwing them all into the river along with the scriptures. If not for the Buddha, who else would have made the old turtle ensure there were exactly eighty-one trials?

Wukong said with a smile, “It’s a trivial matter. I can figure it out with just a quick calculation.”

The old turtle replied solemnly, “Your Excellency truly possesses great powers. It was the Buddha who instructed Samantabhadra to have me wait here. The banks of the Tongtian River are far away and the waves are fierce. Without me, it would be difficult for those seeking the scriptures to cross the river.”

Wukong said, “Well, we moved a bit slowly, causing you to wait for so long. I’m sorry for that.”

The old turtle exclaimed in shock, “What? Could it be… Your Excellency is one of those seeking the scriptures?”

Wukong replied, “It’s not me who seeks the scriptures. It’s my master Tang Seng. I am his eldest disciple, Sun Wukong, here to help him subdue demons and evil spirits.”

“Oh, I see!” the old turtle said. “They’ve traveled fifty-four thousand li so far on their quest. After crossing this river, the remaining journey will be even more difficult. They must be extremely cautious at every step.”

Wukong asked, “I asked you just now, but you said nothing. Now you keep talking nonstop. Why is that?”

The old turtle replied, “This can only be told to those seeking the scriptures. Since Your Excellency is the disciple of those seekers, it’s the same as telling you.”

Wukong said, “Hmph. If every step ahead is full of obstacles, how can the path behind be easier?”

The old turtle replied, “Your Excellency has great powers. If anyone dares to block your way, they’re truly foolish.”

Wukong laughed, “Well, there are five such foolish evil dragons here. By the way, do you know where they came from?”

“They came from upstream,” the old turtle answered.

“Good. I’ll go find them right away!” With that, Wukong split the water and swam away.

The old turtle called out, “Be careful, Your Excellency!”

Wukong swam straight upstream. The length of the Tongtian River was unknown, but it took him nearly half an hour to reach them. Finally, he saw the five dragons forming a battle formation ahead—they had been waiting for Wukong here.

Wukong shouted as he approached, “If you’re sensible, go back where you came from. I’ll spare your lives!”

The five dragons didn’t respond and immediately fought against Wukong. Thinking they had an advantage as water creatures, they didn’t realize that Wukong’s mastery over water was already at a high level. He moved through the waves with ease, far more skillfully than the dragons.

The battle caused huge waves to rise in the Tongtian River. After just a few dozen rounds, all five dragons were injured, their scales torn and blood splashing, yet they hadn’t even scratched Wukong a hair.

Wukong shouted, “If you don’t swim away right now, don’t blame me for killing you!” Though he spoke harshly, he really didn’t intend to kill the Five Dragons. After all, they were somehow connected to Zhenwu, and killing them all at once might not look good.

Fearing death, the Five Dragons fled upstream in panic. When they reached a distance, one of them turned back and cried, “We cannot disobey orders. We’ll come back tomorrow!”

Wukong was both amused and exasperated. How could these foolish dragons be so stubborn? He picked up his iron staff and chased after them, thinking, “I’ll beat you until you can’t even get out of bed—then see if you still dare to be arrogant!”

Wukong swam for about ten miles, close to catching up with the giant dragons. Suddenly, everything became bright before his eyes—the five dragons vanished without a trace, and he found himself in another place!

In the Tongtian River, there seemed to be an invisible curtain. Beyond it wasn’t water anymore, but… the sky?

Wukong was stunned. Before he could steady himself, a fierce gale blew, knocking him down. In mid-air, he was deeply shocked.

He had felt something strange when he saw the stone stele in the Tongtian River, but he never expected it to actually lead to the heavens!

Without using any special techniques, he simply watched where he would land. At the highest heights in the heavens, Wukong plummeted like a meteor from the sky. His fall lasted for a long time. When he finally saw the ground, he was speechless—clearly, if he didn’t stop himself, he would fall into the water. And this water was still the Tongtian River!

“Damn it!” Wukong suddenly remembered a game called “Little Overlord.” Was this a maze from “Super Mario”?

Wukong stopped falling and quietly pondered what had just happened. He had clearly seen the Five Dragons swim upstream. Why, after they left, had he ended up in the sky instead?

Could someone have stopped him from chasing the dragons? Unlikely. With his current level of cultivation, he would have sensed any such hidden action.

Perhaps there was a formation set up upstream? A formation that allowed the Five Dragons to pass through unimpeded but blocked him? That was possible, but the feeling he had earlier was just as natural as when he passed through the water curtain to enter Water Curtain Cave on Flower Fruit Mountain—without any discomfort.

Tongtian River… Intuitively, he knew this name, loaded with meaning, couldn’t have been chosen casually.

The old turtle had said the Tongtian River was 54,000 li away from the Tang Dynasty in the East. So, it must also be 54,000 li away from the Ling Mountain in the West—right in the middle of the journey to obtain the scriptures.

If he swam upstream along the Tongtian River and it led straight to the heavens, and then he fell back into this river—could that be the case?

Wukong closed his eyes in thought and came up with a bold hypothesis. If the place he had been in just now was the top of the sky, then according to the advanced geometry and physics of later times, the center of the sky corresponded to the center of the earth. Having fallen from the top of the sky, he should naturally land right at the center of the earth. Could it be that the River of Heaven was not only the midpoint of the journey to obtain the scriptures but also the exact center of this land beneath his feet? The journey to obtain the scriptures began in the Eastern Tang Dynasty and ended at the Spiritual Mountain in the West—this was surely a rule set by Buddha. The River of Heaven, located at the midpoint of the journey and the center of the four great continents—when these two centers coincided… Hmph, such coincidence doesn’t exist in the world; there must be some hidden meaning behind it!