The Rotting Buddhas of Journey to the West - chapter 7

The woodcutter looked up at me, revealing a weathered, honest face beneath his bamboo hat.

“Young man, if you head thirty li west, you’ll find the immortal’s abode. Are you here to seek a master and learn the arts?”

I smiled and replied, “Indeed. Thank you for letting me know.”

The woodcutter walked away, and I rode the clouds toward the Three Stars Cave. Before long, I arrived.

The sight before me surprised me: not a soul in sight, desolate and dilapidated, even the mountain gate had decayed.

Patriarch Bodhi… where has he gone?

This immortal’s identity is a mystery throughout the Three Realms. His powers are vast, and he has taught many disciples, but no one can say for sure who he truly is or where he comes from.

I walked through the mountain gate, following the same path Eldest Senior Brother once took.

Eldest Senior Brother had told us that he crossed the seas and finally arrived here, and then, at the foot of the mountain, he met a woodcutter…

Wait!

So that’s it. There was a detail I hadn’t noticed-there really is something wrong here!

At the foot of Mount Fangcun, the Huangting Mountain Song still drifted through the mist.

I stood before the woodcutter and said calmly:

“Now that I’ve found you, should I call you Patriarch Bodhi, or the pale-faced monster?”

The woodcutter took off his bamboo hat, his face growing even paler. He chuckled, “That’s right, you’ve found the first location. Now, I’m curious-how did you realize there was something wrong with me?”

“It’s simple. An ordinary woodcutter couldn’t live for hundreds of years!”

He nodded in approval. “As your first reward, I can answer one question for you.”

This was exactly what I needed, so I quickly asked, “What happened to my Eldest Senior Brother? The monkey who drowned in the sea, and the later Great Sage Equalling Heaven-which one is the real one?”

“There’s no such thing as true or false. That monkey did indeed die in the sea, but the later monkey is also Sun Wukong. You could say that true and false, life and death, are just shallow notions of your Three Realms.”

“Why don’t you make it clearer?”

He sighed, “After that monkey died, a single thought of his remained unextinguished. I helped that thought return to the world, then called myself Patriarch Bodhi and taught him the arts.”

I gathered my thoughts. “Why did you do this?”

He said, “That monkey is an important piece in my game. I had to ensure he followed my plan and embarked on the Journey to the West.”

I pointed at him, gritting my teeth. “So all of this was your scheme from the start?”

“Indeed,” he admitted readily.

“Then what is your real goal…”

Before I could finish, I found my mouth seemed blocked, unable to utter another word.

He sneered, “You ask too many questions. If you want answers, keep going. I just hope you make it to the end without breaking down.”

With that, the pale-faced monster vanished, and my mouth returned to normal. At that moment, a voice echoed from the sky:

“Don’t call me the pale-faced monster. I have a name. I am Gu.”