The meal has been eaten and it is not yet noon.

The three masters and disciples plus a dragon and horse set off on the road again.

Before the sun set, they crossed the eight-hundred-mile Huangfengling Mountains.

Beyond the towering mountains, there is a plain, a flat river.

Although there is some drought here, there are also oases.

A country and its people can be considered prosperous.

Tang Monk and his disciples traveled across this oasis country.

Along the way, Li Fu walked, wrote and painted, just like before, recording the local customs, mountains and hydrology.

Sometimes he would let Wukong or Bajie rise into the air and get a bird's eye view from the clouds to confirm whether there were any omissions in the map he drew.

Neither Bajie nor Wukong understands it very well.

As far as they are concerned, this small country can only pass through in a matter of seconds, so why bother with so much effort?

Li Fu said to them, "If it is really so easy, then why did the Buddha Tathagata personally make a decree and ask us to measure it down to the Lingshan Mountain."

"Though the clouds and mist can cross mountains and seas, they cannot cross people's hearts."

"Whether it's the heaven in the sky above the thirty-three days, or the Lingshan Mountain in the far west, or even the underworld under the Nine Netherworld."

"The foundation for their existence is not some means of soaring into the clouds and turning the rivers upside down, but... the power of ordinary mortals' beliefs."

"If you believe, you will have spirit; if you don't believe, you will have nothing."

Li Fu said, "Buddha Tathagata asking us to learn scriptures is just a means of propaganda. Let everyone in the Tang Dynasty know that the Emperor of Tang likes Buddhism."

"Afterwards, if something is good at the top, it will be worse at the bottom."

"In the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism was bound to flourish, with tens of millions of believers."

"And this country that we encountered along the way from the Tang Dynasty to Naling Mountain saw people like us who were seeking scriptures. We learned that people like those in the prosperous Tang Dynasty would go to the West to learn scriptures. Wukong and Wuneng, do you think they can not follow suit?

”

Wukong and Wuneng nodded.

Li Fu added, "If you still don't believe it, it doesn't matter."

"As we journey westward, we will encounter many hardships."

"Why can't these hardships for us be used to intimidate the people along the way?"

"If there are no problems, create problems; create problems and then solve them."

"In this case, are you afraid that some people will not believe in you?"

When Li Fu said this, Wukong suddenly asked, "Master, you said that the power of all gods, immortals, and Buddhas, from the heavens to the underworld, comes from the power of mortal wishes."

"But I... after consciously enlightening and practicing cultivation, I didn't get any recognition from mortals. I just gained this ability through cultivation!"

Wukong said, "I think that becoming an immortal or a Buddha depends on personal practice and enlightenment."

Li Fu asked, "Is this really so?"

"As the saying goes, 'People in the mountains are like immortals, and people in the valley are like vulgar people.'"

"This is the collective consciousness of mortals. When it falls on words, it becomes a conventional legend."

"With this legend, ordinary people can easily distinguish between lay people and immortals."

"If one can become an immortal through cultivation, then how did Bajie become an immortal?"

"Has he ever practiced Buddhism before taking the elixir?"

Wukong said, "That's because there are heavenly materials and earthly treasures in the elixir, which I cherish very much."

Li Fu said, "I admit that there are heavenly materials and earthly treasures in Laojun's elixir, but if you only have heavenly materials and earthly treasures, you can become an immortal."

"Then why do human dynasties, emperors, kings and other figures in the world fail to ascend after taking elixirs?"

"Because, mortals always think that he is a human and cannot become an immortal."

Wukong has something else to say.

Li Fu said on his side, "Wukong, you and I don't want to continue arguing. What I said is just my observation since I left Chang'an City, and it cannot be accurate."

"I am just a mortal, how can I easily understand the true meaning of this world?"

Wukong seemed to have some enlightenment, while Wuneng was carrying his luggage and had nothing to say.

Although he has some supernatural powers and knows some magic.

But I have never practiced seriously.

It’s not like there wasn’t someone who told him the key to spiritual practice.

But he swallowed the jujube in one gulp.

He is too lazy to argue about these matters that are destined to be fruitless.

However, after this conversation, Wukong never said that Li Fu's records along the way were a waste of time.

He seems to have figured it out.

Although he and Master are both on this journey of seeking scriptures, they can see, hear, experience and feel.

They look the same, but they are completely different.

Time flies by.

Midsummer has passed and autumn has arrived.

The summer cicadas that chirped happily on the trees have now turned into Han cicadas.

The big awn falls to the west.

Suddenly I saw a huge wave of water in the distance.

On this endless stretch of water, not a single ship or living thing could be seen.

Li Fu said, "Disciples, let's rest for a while and see how the storm will pass."

Bajie said over there, "This water is really rough, even more gentle than the river that day."

Wukong jumped in the air, built a pergola with his hands and looked into the distance. He fell down and said, "Master! Master! This water is sad! It's so sad!"

"If it's Lao Sun and Bajie, I'll just turn around and pass."

"But if you are a master, you are not allowed to use magic and supernatural powers to travel through the past in your mortal body. It is difficult! It is difficult! It is difficult!"

Li Fu also knew where he was.

He said, "I'm afraid this water is not eight hundred miles away."

Wukong nodded and said, "Yes! Yes!"

Li Fulai has just learned that the so-called eight hundred miles does not actually refer to the length of this thing, but refers to everything that seems to be far away.

Just like the eight hundred miles of Huangfengling, so is the eight hundred miles of wild waves here.

Bajie asked, "Brother, how can you tell the distance?"

The traveler replied, "To tell you the truth, my wise brother, Lao Sun's eyes can see good and bad luck on a thousand miles of road in daylight."

"I was watching from the air just now. I don't know how far the river is up and down. I can see far more than 800 miles."

The three of them walked slowly to the water's edge, and there was a stone monument on the bank.

The three people came together to look at it. The writing on it was antique and not the calligraphy used today.

Li Fu carefully identified it, and Fang Ren knew it was the "Liusha River".

It was the river in his impression.

Li Fu said, "This river is destined for me."

When Bajie saw the four lines of small characters under the large characters on the stone tablet, he said, "This Liusha River is indeed eight hundred miles away, and the water in it is still weak. Goose feathers cannot float on this water, and reed flowers will sink to the bottom if they float on it."

”

Bajie clicked his tongue and marveled, "What a strange thing! What a strange thing! Such old river pigs had never been seen or heard of before today."

Li Fu said here, "I have never seen really weird water before as a teacher, and I have only seen a sea with super buoyancy that is opposite to this kind of water."

Bajie was about to ask, what kind of sea is that and where is it?
Chapter completed!