The king of Tang Dynasty issued an imperial edict and sent Xuanzang to inquire about Zen Buddhism.
Study hard to find the dragon's lair with determination, and cultivate to the peak of the eagle with determination.
The border travels to many countries, and there are thousands of clouds in front of the mountains.
From now on, don't drive to the west, and follow the teachings and uphold the great emptiness.
…
But it is said that Tang Monk said goodbye to Chang'an and headed west with two followers. When he reached the pavilion ten miles west of Chang'an City, he met the Jin King Li Zhi who had been waiting for a long time.
Originally, Tang Seng thought that Li Zhi was also here to see him off, but he didn't expect that the other party actually proposed to go with him to the West?
"His Royal Highness, King Jin, I have traveled thousands of miles to the west. I heard that there are many wolves, worms, tigers, leopards, mountain monsters and tree monsters. I am afraid that this trip will be very bad, with a narrow escape from death. Your Highness, King Jin, has a body of ten thousand gold, so why bother?"
Are you going to suffer with the poor monk?"
When he heard that Li Zhi wanted to go to Xitian with him, Tang Seng's first reaction was that he was a little confused, and then he tried to dissuade him.
"Haha, Pheasant Nu just said that it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books. If you want to make progress, you can't do it by staying in Chang'an City."
"This trip to the west, the pheasant slave will not hinder the master's business. When the time comes for the pheasant slave to leave, the pheasant slave will naturally leave."
"Since the mage also knows that the road ahead is dangerous, he shouldn't bring these two followers with him. They are just ordinary mortals, and there is no need to risk their wealth and lives."
Before Tang Seng could reply, Li Zhi dismissed the two followers on his own initiative and put the necessary items they carried on his black horse.
"Amitabha, since His Highness King Jin insists on this, let's go on the road together -"
Seeing Li Zhi's "arrogant" behavior, Tang Seng was surprisingly lifeless. I wonder if it was because he had such a good temper, or because he didn't want the two followers to follow him to the West and suffer?
"Master, you have become brothers with my father. In this way, Pheasant Nu is your junior. Don't keep calling me 'His Royal Highness King Jin'."
"The journey to the west is extremely long. When you are away from home, just call me 'Pheasant Slave'. If others ask, just say that I am a student who has traveled all over the world. Go west to appreciate the customs and customs of each place."
Li Zhi's demands are not excessive. He always calls "His Royal Highness King Jin". On the one hand, it seems that the relationship is unfamiliar. The key is that sometimes it may cause unnecessary trouble.
"Should I call you 'Nine Young Masters' as a poor monk? From here on heading west, whenever you encounter a crisis that is really unsolvable, Nine Young Masters can just leave on your own."
In the eyes of Tang Seng, Li Zhi was still a child who had not grown up. He did not even understand why the Tang Emperor let him go west, and he did not even arrange a guard.
"Haha, then you should call me 'Jiulang'. From now on, my surname will be 'Tang' like you. Even if I am Jiulang of the Tang family, you are one of my uncles."
Li Zhi's journey to the west was originally suggested by Sun Simiao in order to resolve Buddhist revenge.
No matter how you put it, Li Zhi had offended Buddhism after all what happened at the "Huasheng Temple". Although he was not sure whether Guanyin Bodhisattva would be responsible for it, he had to take any precautions.
Let Li Zhi go west with Monk Tang to learn Buddhist scriptures. After all, it seems that the Tang royal family is bowing to Western Buddhism. The Tang emperor even sent his own son there. How much hatred remains to be resolved?
As soon as this proposal came out, it was first supported by Li Shimin.
He was not just afraid of Buddhism, but felt that traveling to the west might be of great benefit to Li Zhi.
In the city of Chang'an, Li Shimin naturally noticed the overt and covert fights among several princes. In the final analysis, it was not considered a fight between several sons. Who did not have the power behind them to support them?
Therefore, he did not want Li Zhi to stay in such an environment. Li Shimin was waiting for the opportunity. He believed that he could catch all the ghosts and monsters that had not surfaced.
Secondly, although Li Shimin may not fully understand Li Zhi's true strength, he still knows more than others.
In his view, only by going out could Li Zhi have more opportunities for promotion. This was the reason why he finally agreed to Li Zhi's journey westward.
Of course, Li Zhi had no objection to Journey to the West. It was an exciting thing to think about.
Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Monk Sha, Little White Dragon, and so many monsters along the way, can't they still profit from them with their own "predictability"?
Even if he really wanted to go west, Li Zhi still made some arrangements in advance.
He refused Qin Huaiyu's request to accompany him. You must know that the journey to the west was not so peaceful. Li Zhi did not have the confidence to fully guarantee his own safety, let alone bring another Qin Huaiyu with him.
"Prince Jin's Mansion" is completely left to Sun Simiao and Qin Qiong to take care of it. This civil and military force is currently the strongest combat force in the Tang Dynasty. Li Zhi hopes that they can train several other young people.
After everything was arranged, Li Shimin took advantage of the opportunity of many imperial censors to impeach Li Zhi at the imperial court meeting and directly "exiled" Li Zhi to the Western Regions.
Anyway, there are no specific restrictions in the Western Region at this time. It is said that it will be three years. When will he return, is it not Li Zhi who has the final say?
In this way, Tang Seng and Li Zhi traveled west together.
They left Chang'an in early April. After walking for two or three days, they arrived at Famen Temple and stayed overnight.
After traveling for more than ten days, we entered Gongzhou City and replenished our supplies.
Now that Li Zhi is following him, he really can't go all the way to beg for alms. Li Zhi still brought a lot of hard currency such as gold nuggets and silver cakes in his luggage.
Of course, they are still within the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and they can travel unimpeded by using the "Kaiyuan Tongbao", not to mention that Tang Monk still has the "Customs Clearance Document" in his hand.
At first, Tang Seng was unwilling to use the "Customs Clearance Document" and couldn't bear to have Li Zhi next to him.
Using the "Tongguan Document", you can eat, drink and stay for free at official inns throughout the Tang Dynasty, a true one-stop service.
After traveling for another seven days, we finally arrived at Hezhouwei, which was already the border of the Tang Dynasty. We stayed at Fuyuan Temple in the evening.
"Jiulang, can you still get used to following this poor monk for so many days? I just heard what the host here said. If you go further west, you will be out of the Tang Dynasty. Do you really want to go with me?"
After spending nearly a month with Li Zhi, Tang Seng got to know him somewhat. Although he was the prince of the Tang Dynasty and was only thirteen years old, he showed extraordinary ability to take care of himself.
At least in Tang Seng's eyes, Li Zhi didn't look like a prince who grew up in the palace since he was a child. His ability to deal with people and his interpersonal skills were far beyond what he, who was in his thirties, could compare to.
"Haha, uncle, do you still want to drive me back? You have also seen that my father's notice has spread throughout the Tang Dynasty. I am now in 'exile', and traveling westward can be regarded as acting in accordance with the order."
When he was in the Hezhou Guard, Li Zhi saw Li Shimin's notice punishing him.
Of course, all this was their planned strategy, but it was just a cover-up, so Li Zhi naturally wouldn't take it seriously.
Tang Seng didn't know the truth, and even offered to write a plea letter for Li Zhi and let Li Zhi take it back to Chang'an.
To be honest, after spending so many days together, Tang Seng became somewhat dependent on Li Zhi.
Not only did Li Zhi take care of almost everything for him, but more importantly, Tang Seng knew very well that Li Zhi was a practitioner, and he had personally seen the Hui'an practitioner who once hardened the Guanyin Bodhisattva.
"Forget it, I still say the same thing to you. If you want to go back someday, just tell me."
Looking at the nonchalant Li Zhi, Tang Seng felt an inexplicable warmth in his heart.
The next day, the two continued westward.
After learning that they were about to pass through a vast mountain, Li Zhi prepared a lot of dry food in advance. He had already reached the late stage of Nascent Soul, so naturally he no longer needed to rely on these to satisfy his hunger. They were mainly prepared for Tang Monk.
Sure enough, the two walked along the mountain road for two days, but still saw no sign of leaving the mountain, and the sky became dark again.
"Uncle, this mountain is too dangerous. There is still a foul smell in it, or there may be something evil. It's best for us to dismount our horses."
Li Zhiyun picked up the "Broken Golden Eyes" and looked around. He saw that the mountains in front of him were not only rugged and difficult to walk, but also overgrown with weeds. They could have been as tall as half a man.
On the side of the mountain in the forest, there is a faint black mist coming out, and you can smell a hint of evil in the night wind.
"Okay, poor monk, listen to Jiulang, you should be more careful."
Tang Seng has been traveling for many years, and there are many situations where he stays overnight in the mountains and forests, but he really doesn't notice that this mountain forest is any different from the previous ones.
"Haha, uncle, I'm afraid you still don't believe me, right? I have a skill called 'Breaking the Illusion Golden Eyes', which can identify dangers, distinguish truth from falsehood, look at luck, and cut off yin and yang."
"Unfortunately, my current cultivation level is still too shallow. I can only exert a small part of its power, but it is enough to identify the dangers here."
"Uncle, you must remember that what you see with your eyes may not be real. Demons with powerful magic are good at illusions. Even if they stand in front of you, you will not be able to recognize their true form."
Since he was about to leave Datang, Li Zhi knew that the real disaster was about to begin.
Tang Seng's character, to put it mildly, is humble and elegant, gentle and honest, kind and sincere.
To put it harshly, he is pedantic and dull, does not distinguish between right and wrong, and is stubborn in his own opinions.
It was this kind of character that caused a lot of trouble out of thin air on the way westward.
Now that Li Zhi has followed, although it may not be able to completely change Tang Seng's character, some things must be prepared for a rainy day.
"Amitabha, even if Jiulang encounters demons and monsters, if you are not a treacherous person and you really have the means to subdue them, you should try your best to let them live as long as possible..."
Sure enough, he is really a bad guy.
"Uncle Clan, do you mean that after encountering a monster, I surrendered and then let it go and let it continue to harm others?"
"There is a saying that goes well, I don't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me. When the monster I let go kills other people, can it be said that the clan uncle also indirectly committed the 'killing precept'?"
'Woolen cloth?"
"this……"
Tang Seng was speechless. For a moment, he didn't know how to answer Li Zhi's question.
The two continued to walk forward, but Li Zhi deliberately held the horse and walked behind Tang Seng.
Tang Seng, who was walking in front, was still thinking about Li Zhi's question just now.
The compassion in front of him, and the cruelty behind it, made Tang Seng not know how to choose.
…
"Plop——"
Suddenly there was a loud noise, and Tang Seng and the white horse fell into a pit, causing clouds of dust to rise.
"Caught, caught -"
I saw strong winds rolling in, flying sand and rocks, and fifty or sixty demons of all shapes and sizes coming out from all directions.
"Haha, kids, fish them out and follow me back to the cave -"
There was a loud shout not far away, and these fifty or sixty demons, regardless of the fact that only Tang Monk fell into the pit, hurriedly fished Tang Monk and the white horse out with hooks and lassoes.
Li Zhi watched the whole process quietly.
He knew that this was probably the "Double Fork Ridge". There were three monsters here. From the sound just now, they didn't think they were very advanced.
This is the disaster that Monk Tang should have suffered during his journey to the west. Li Zhi's own strength is now low, and he does not dare to change anything easily. Once this difficulty is eliminated, there is no telling what kind of changes will happen in the future.
Didn't it mean that we must go through the "nine-nine-eighty-one difficulties"?
Li Zhi did not resist, and followed the fifty or sixty demons obediently, being pushed and shoved to a cave.
No matter how far away Li Zhi was, he smelled a strong fishy smell.
Isn’t this too choking? I couldn’t hold it back until I vomited out all the food I had eaten two days ago.
Tang Seng was even more unbearable. Has he ever seen such a posture before?
I have always talked about monsters and ghosts, but I just talked about them casually. Now I actually encountered them, and they were dozens of times older. Tang Monk's calves were a little cramped.
"Uncle, don't worry, just recite 'Amitabha' silently."
Li Zhi on the side saw this and hurriedly sent a message secretly.
Only then did Tang Monk regain his composure and seemed to realize that Li Zhi was also accompanying him. He straightened the "Vairocana Hat" on his head and followed him into the monster's cave.
At this time, Li Zhi finally saw the monster here. Good guy, this one looks really vicious.
The saw teeth are outside the mouth, and the chisel teeth are exposed beside the cheek.
Brocade surrounds the body, and tattoos wrap around the spine.
The steel whiskers are sparsely fleshy, and the hook claws are as sharp as frost.
Huang Gong is afraid of the East China Sea, and the white-fronted king of Nanshan is afraid.
Is this "General Yin"?
Under Li Zhi's "Golden Eyes to Break the Illusion", he discovered that this demon was in the early stage of Jindan's cultivation. He had the body of a tiger and the head of a tiger, and the word "王" on his forehead was really conspicuous.
Journey to the West has just begun, are the monster levels already so high?
Li Zhi was very puzzled. In his impression, Jin Danqi was already a demon king, and "General Yin" was nothing more than a minion at best.
If they all have this kind of cultivation, what should they do when they encounter those real demon kings in the future?
Li Zhi was puzzled, as everything seemed to have changed.
Could it be because of his own arrival?
"Hahaha, okay, okay, I haven't eaten human flesh in how many days. I didn't expect to catch two of them today. It's really a huge profit!"
The monster laughed wildly, and its mouth was full of blood. Tang Seng, who had been calming down for a while, was filled with fear again.
"Is this... is this going to eat people?"
"'General Yin', I heard that my old friend got a blood meal, I'm here to congratulate him——"
"'General Yin', you can't take it all for yourself, Lao Xiong didn't treat you badly last time -"
At this time, two voices came from outside the cave, and then, two tall monsters came in one after the other, one was black and the other was strong.
"Haha, it turns out that 'Xiongshanjun' and 'Special Agent' are here. If there is blood food, of course I have to share it with my old friends. Come on, come on, I caught two today. Let's choose one to share with him."
It seems that the three monsters have always been on good terms and even share their daily blood food.
"Kuroro, think of a way quickly..."
Seeing two more monsters coming, Tang Monk could not calm down no matter how much he recited "Amitabha", so he whispered to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi didn't even need to activate the "Golden Eyes of Destruction", he could tell that one was a black bear spirit and the other was a bison spirit.
The bad thing about monsters is that even if they change into human form, many monsters always retain some of their original characteristics.
And the later "Xiong Shanjun" and "Special Officer" are almost the same as "General Yin" in terms of realm. They are also in the early stage of the Golden Elixir, but their breath is not stable. It seems that they have just been forcibly lifted up?
"'General Yin', do you still have to choose between these two people? Even if we both eat, we may not be able to fill our stomachs. Lao Niu thinks you can eat one, and Lao Xiong and I can share one."
Perhaps it had been a long time since I had eaten human flesh. As the "Special Agent" spoke, he stuck out his long tongue and came close to Tang Monk's face, drooling all over the place.
"No... you two, it's getting late today and it's not advisable to eat too much. Let's eat the boy first. It won't be too late to eat the monk tomorrow."
"General Yin" hurriedly spoke to stop him, and even wanted his demons to take Tang Seng elsewhere.
This move made Li Zhi puzzled.
In later generations, the description of Tang Seng's experience was not very detailed, except that two of Tang Seng's followers were eaten by the three demons on the first night.
When it was daybreak, the three demons were inexplicably missing.
Then, the Taibai Venus in the sky belatedly arrived and rescued the tied monk.
If the monsters wanted to eat Tang Monk's flesh, I'm afraid this would be the easiest time. Unfortunately, the three monsters very "rationally" chose to eat only two of his followers.
Are they really cleaning up the Buddhist scripture collection team?
Those two team members were not the candidates designated by Buddhism, just like Li Zhi now, so the origins of these three monsters are worth pondering.
Once this idea was formed, it lingered in Li Zhi's mind and could not be erased for a long time.
At this time, the three demons also came to Li Zhi at the same time.
"Xiong Shanjun" and "Special Agent" grabbed one of Li Zhi's arms on the left and right respectively, while "General Yin" even picked up Li Zhi's left ankle.
Is this going to tear Li Zhi alive?
"Kuro-"
Tang Seng didn't know where he got the strength, and he broke free from the hands of the two demons. Unfortunately, he was pinned down again soon.
"Uncle, these three monsters want to eat me now, what do you think I should do?"
Li Zhi, on the other hand, had an indifferent look on his face, showing no trace of nervousness or fear at all. He even looked at Tang Seng and asked with a smile.
"for this I……"
"Uncle, should I kill these three man-eating monsters, or should I be willing to be eaten by them?"
Tang Seng was speechless, but Li Zhi was not going to stop talking.
"Hmph, you are about to die, how dare you talk so shamelessly here?"
"Haha, it's good not to be afraid. People who are not afraid will taste more chewy——"
Seeing these three monsters fighting, Li Zhi was about to be torn into pieces.