It is said that Jiang Tong'er, guided by the Yuan Spirit, sought the Wood Mother’s method.
With his mind focused, he entered the Liver Pass and saw a black wind swirling within.
This wind was not the winds from the east, west, south, or north; it was not the gentle winds of the golden autumn nor the breezes of flowers and trees, but rather a wind of desire, powerful enough to sway the hearts of men.
As Jiang Yuan entered, he finally saw the Wood Mother.
The Wood Mother took on the form of a pig, inherently lazy, lying on the ground with a round belly, and said, “What is it? Do you wish for the Eight Desires? Come to me?”
Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, “Today I ask you, will you return to the right path or not?”
The Wood Mother replied, “I will not return, I will not!”
Jiang Yuan asked again, “You truly will not return?”
The Wood Mother said, “There is a saying: ‘Transmit the Dao to guard against the Six Ears.’ If I were to transmit the Dao to you, it would only guard against the Five Ears, because you have but few ears!”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan could not help but call upon the Heart Monkey to bring the Golden Public, allowing the Intent Horse to reveal itself in the pass.
Just as the Wood Mother was about to say more, she called for a child not to frighten him.
Unexpectedly, the child raised his hand, causing the black and white fish to start fighting.
The Wood Mother, caught off guard, was knocked down to the ground, unable to rise.
The black and white fish formed a Taiji diagram, pressing down upon her, truly as if a mountain were crushing her.
“Wrong, wrong!”
“Let the Heart Monkey go quickly! I wish to return to the right path and cultivate the Dao of Alchemy together!”
The Wood Mother, unable to move, could only shout.
Jiang Tong'er designated the Wood Mother and said, “In the past, I tried to make you return to the right path, but you did not listen. Today it is too late.”
He urged the Intent Horse and struck the Wood Mother, hitting her pig face with a force three times heavier, and her tiger face with a force two times lighter.
He struck her until she cried out in pain, far from the arrogance she once displayed, and today she could only sincerely repent.
Jiang Yuan struck a total of eight hundred times before instructing the Heart Monkey and the others to retreat.
He asked, “What do you intend to do?”
The Wood Mother trembled in fear and said, “I know I was wrong, but my heart is unwilling. I cannot return to the right path.”
Jiang Yuan said, “I have a method. Today I will give you a戒, and from this day forth, if you give rise to desire again, I will certainly have the Heart Monkey come and strike you another eight hundred times.”
The Wood Mother said, “I am willing, I am willing!”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan did not hesitate.
The Mud Palace trembled greatly, and a Yuan Spirit’s divine light fell upon the Wood Mother.
Once the divine light faded, the Wood Mother bore eight戒, thus receiving the戒.
The Wood Mother knelt down and said, “I have returned to the right path, I have returned to the right path! Do not strike!”
Jiang Tong'er knew that the Wood Mother was frightened, not sincerely returning to the right path, which could not be counted.
Guided by the Yuan Spirit, he understood the way.
He thought to himself, “This time the Wood Mother bears eight戒; she must temper her nature. Only when she bears nine戒 will she truly have accomplished returning to the right path.”
Tempering her nature would take effort, he deeply understood.
In the past, when he subdued the Heart Monkey, there was a water grinding technique.
When refining the Golden Public, there was a technique of controlling the fire.
When taming the Intent Horse, there was a technique of seeking.
The Wood Mother must be tempered, to rid her of the Eight Desires, and return to the right path early.
In the quiet room.
Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, knowing in his heart that there was a way to temper the Wood Mother.
Among the Wood Mother’s Eight Desires, ‘laziness’ was the heaviest, so he would have her act.
Once she traveled a myriad of miles, over time, her nature would naturally change.
This journey had a method; the Wood Mother would reside within his Liver Pass, moving through his body.
There are three hundred sixty-five acupoints in a person, corresponding to the three hundred sixty-five degrees of the circulatory path.
The Wood Mother was to circulate through this path; once she completed it, she would bear nine戒 and return to her rightful place.
The child instructed the Wood Mother, who trembled in fear and did not dare to disobey, and she agreed.
Just as he was finishing the matter of the Wood Mother, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the cave.
Jiang Tong'er pushed the door open and walked out.
Upon reaching the entrance, he felt the Mud Palace tremble greatly.
Focusing his eyes, he saw some black qi outside the residence; it was indeed demonic energy.
There were demons approaching the cave residence.
He pushed the door open and saw a thief with the head of a leopard and the body of a human, brandishing a knife and making a ruckus.
Jiang Yuan looked around and saw that it had some ability, not weaker than the Evil Wind Mountain Mother Tiger.
He asked, “Who dares to disturb here?”
The thief pointed with his knife and said, “I am the great king of the distant mountains. Today I have come here; this mountain is indeed Zhong Xiu. I will take this cave residence; you, child, go quickly!”
Jiang Yuan realized that this was someone trying to rob the cave residence.
How could he claim this place as the cave residence of the Bodhi Patriarch? In the past, no demons or monsters dared to enter, but now that the Patriarch had gone far away, the mountain had lost its great power, and demons dared to enter.
This was no different from the time when Laozi traveled westward; after Laozi left, the demons of the Western Bull Hezhou bullied him.
Indeed, they preyed on the weak and feared the strong.
The child said nothing, took out the Yu Ding, and prepared to subdue this demon.
…
Meanwhile, the Patriarch had gone to the Sacred Mountain of Ling, attending a Dharma assembly, where he saw the three thousand Buddhas, five hundred Arhats, eight great Vajras, and countless Bodhisattvas all gathered there.
At this moment, the Dharma assembly was quite lively.
The Patriarch felt something and gazed towards Ling Tai Fangcun Mountain.
The Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva approached and greeted him, saying, “Dao brother, what troubles you so?”
The Patriarch returned the greeting slightly and said, “I am concerned about the child.”
This Bodhisattva was known as ‘the Compassionate Master of Mount Loka, the Living Avalokiteshvara of the Tide Sound Cave,’ deserving of respect.
The Bodhisattva said, “The Broad Heart has the Spirit Foot; the Dao of Alchemy is hopeful. Why does Dao brother worry? I have a messenger from the Beneficial Shore, who has cultivated hard for many years. Compared to the Broad Heart, he is still lacking.”
The Patriarch did not respond but instead asked, “Why is the Old Lord not present at this assembly?”
The Bodhisattva shook his head and said, “The World Honored One personally invited him, but he has not yet arrived.”
The Patriarch continued, “In the past, the Old Lord came from the east with purple qi, and you all obstructed him, causing him to wander for thirty-three years, almost gaining nothing. The Old Lord does not blame you for this.”
The Bodhisattva said, “This is because the Buddhist teachings of the Western Bull Hezhou are profound.”
The Patriarch smiled and said nothing.
The Bodhisattva said, “Dao brother, in the past, there was a day and moon essence in the Eastern Victory Divine Continent that formed a sacred fetus. What do you think of this?”
The Patriarch said, “It is generated by heaven and earth. In the future, there may be great demons born there. The Eastern Victory Divine Continent is indeed capable of producing such beings, hence it is rare. Among the four great continents, the Northern Lu Continent has many strange and great demons. If they were born in the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, it would be normal.”
The Bodhisattva wanted to say something but hesitated, seeing the Patriarch’s demeanor, unable to express anything further.
…
At Ling Tai Fangcun Mountain.
Jiang Yuan swiftly subdued the leopard demon, with three out of five children assisting him.
With the help of the Yu Ding, he used a distraction technique, striking the leopard demon’s heavenly spirit with a blow.
How could the leopard demon not submit?
After defeating this monster, he knew that there might be other demons causing trouble in the mountain.
He began to patrol the mountain, determined to maintain peace and security within.
The child patrolled the mountain daily, also instructing the Wood Mother to circulate through the heavens.
The Heart Monkey followed along, and whenever the Wood Mother relaxed, the Heart Monkey would strike, frightening the Wood Mother into moving quickly.
In the mountain, there were no cycles of years; winter ended without knowing the year, and before long, five years had passed.
Jiang Yuan patrolled the mountain and indeed discovered some minor demons causing trouble, which he subdued with the Yu Ding.
However, the Wood Mother’s tempering was exceedingly slow.
She was truly lazy, taking three steps for every curse, often wanting to return to the Liver Pass to rest.
After five years, she had not even completed half of the circulatory path, moving sluggishly, occasionally thinking of women, fragrances, and attempting to entice the Heart Monkey to join her in mischief, but he would not listen to her words.
Jiang Tong'er found himself at a loss with the Wood Mother.
If she dared to speak nonsense, he would have the Heart Monkey strike her.
Indeed, the Wood Mother’s desires made it easy for the Heart Monkey to waver.
If not for the Yu Ding by his side, being swayed by the Wood Mother would have made his hard cultivation meaningless.
When Jiang Yuan had nothing to do, he also personally instructed the Wood Mother to move forward, not allowing her to slack off.
Under his urging, she would speed up a little.
In truth, the Wood Mother was extremely afraid of him; otherwise, she would sit down and refuse to move.
This also made the child understand that he could not rely on her words; he should have the Heart Monkey ‘speak’ with her instead, in order to have some effect…
New book period, please follow and read~
(End of Chapter)