Now Zhu Bajie came out to take a look. With only a brief glance, he spotted Ao Tu standing head and shoulders above the crowd.
Ao Tu was dressed in a brocade kasaya, holding a nine-ringed khakkhara staff. He was dignified in bearing, his expression compassionate, and there seemed to be Buddhist light encircling his whole body. Truly, he looked like a living son of the Buddha.
At once, Zhu Bajie was already seventy or eighty percent certain that this was the scripture pilgrim Guanyin Bodhisattva had told him to wait for here. But to avoid any mistake, he still prepared to confirm it. Making a respectful bow, he asked deferentially,
“May I ask who you are, venerable elder? From where have you come, and where are you bound? And how do you know this old pig’s dharma name?”
Ao Tu said,
“This poor monk is a monk from the Great Tang of the Eastern Land, bound for the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures. Passing through this place, I received guidance from Guanyin Bodhisattva. She told me that here there was a Marshal Tianpeng descended to the mortal world, whose dharma name is Wuneng, and that he was willing to become my disciple and go with me to the Western Heaven to obtain the scriptures and attain the true fruit. You pig spirit—do you know where this Marshal Tianpeng is now?”
When Zhu Bajie heard this, he stepped forward, dropped to both knees, and kowtowed.
“Master, as the saying goes, those who have left the household should not speak harsh words. How can you wound me so? This old pig is precisely Marshal Tianpeng descended to the mortal world. It was only because I entered the wrong womb that I became like this. Fortunately, Guanyin Bodhisattva exhorted me to goodness; I received the precepts, cut off the five pungent foods and the three forbidden meats, and have been waiting here respectfully for you, Master.”
Ao Tu said, “So that is how it is. Do not blame your master for judging by appearances; it is truly that your looks are rare and extraordinary, unlike ordinary folk.” He then ordered Old Squire Gao to bring an incense table.
Seeing that the demon had become Ao Tu’s disciple in the blink of an eye, Old Squire Gao did not dare disobey, and ordered his servants to bring over an incense table.
Ao Tu washed his hands, burned incense, and accepted Zhu Bajie’s obeisance, saying,
“Wuneng, since you have cut off the five pungent foods and the three forbidden meats, your master shall give you another name. You shall be called Bajie, so that you may be addressed by it morning and night.”
Zhu Bajie said joyfully, “I respectfully obey Master’s command.”
Afterward, at Ao Tu’s request, Zhu Bajie released Gao Cuilan, allowing Old Squire Gao’s family to reunite, which need not be mentioned further.
That night, Ao Tu brought Zhu Bajie to stay for the night at Old Squire Gao’s home. The next day, Old Squire Gao prepared a vegetarian feast to send the two of them off.
After the meal, Old Squire Gao had someone bring out a vermilion-lacquered tray, on which lay two hundred taels of assorted gold and silver, offered as Ao Tu’s fee for subduing the demon.
Ao Tu absolutely refused to accept it, saying,
“Bajie is my disciple. Subduing him was only what I ought to do. How could I dare accept gold, silver, and wealth? If this poor monk were to take this gold and silver, then even after passing through a thousand kalpas, I would find it difficult to attain the true fruit.”
When Old Squire Gao heard this, he did not dare offer it again.
Bajie, however, muttered at the side, “Master, you’re far too rigid. Along this road, we’ll be eating in the wind and sleeping under the open sky, and who knows what day we’ll ever reach the Western Heaven? Even taking a bit of travel money would be good.”
Ao Tu raised his hand and rapped Bajie on the head.
Bajie immediately clutched his head and cried out in pain, “Master, your hand strength is really something!”
Ao Tu said, “You dolt. We disciples of Buddhism travel the four directions and naturally have ways to earn silver for our livelihood. How can we accept people’s money for nothing?”
Bajie said, “Master, the livelihood of monks is nothing more than performing rites for people, holding Yankou rituals, and delivering the dead. How much silver can that earn? It wouldn’t even be enough for one meal for this old pig.”
Ao Tu said, “I will not speak of much, but a thousand or several hundred taels of silver is still possible!”
Bajie cried out in surprise,
“That much! As the saying goes, a wandering monk has: ‘One alms bowl for food from a thousand homes, one lone body roaming ten thousand li.’ Master, how can you get so much silver?
“Don’t tell me you stole it or robbed it from somewhere! If that’s the case, then we have to make sure our hands and feet are clean and not let Guanyin Bodhisattva find out. Otherwise, we won’t be able to obtain these scriptures!”
Hearing this, Ao Tu raised his hand and rapped Bajie again.
“You fool! We disciples of Buddhism—how could we do such things as theft and robbery?”
Bajie clutched his head and said, “Then where does it come from?”
Ao Tu said, “Your master’s silver needs neither stealing nor robbing. Every household fights to deliver it to me. Not only that, it also increases merit!”
Bajie said, “There’s such a good thing? Master, hurry and teach me!”
Ao Tu said, “Simple. Go tell Old Squire Gao to invite all the elders and villagers of Gao Village to the wild ground west of the estate.”
Bajie said, “That’s barren hills and wilderness. What are we going there for?”
Ao Tu raised his hand and rapped him once, saying, “You dolt. If I tell you to go, then hurry up and go. When the time comes, you’ll know!”
Bajie had no choice but to find Old Squire Gao and repeat Ao Tu’s instructions.
After hearing it, Old Squire Gao was puzzled, but fearing that Bajie would refuse to leave if he did not comply, he did not dare disobey.
Before long, Old Squire Gao had called over all the elders and villagers of Gao Village, and they went to the place Ao Tu had mentioned.
It was a stretch of荒野, overgrown with weeds and shrubs, the ground full of stones.
Ao Tu asked Bajie,
“Bajie, how long would you need to turn over one mu of land here?”
Bajie patted his chest and said,
“Master, this ground is full of tree roots and stones. If it were ordinary people, they could work themselves to death and still not turn over one mu of land. But this old pig is Marshal Tianpeng descended to the mortal world. With a casual move, I can turn out one mu of fine fields!”
Suddenly, Bajie thought of something and asked,
“Master, you’re not asking me to till fields for them as hard labor, are you?”
Ao Tu waved his hand and said, “No, no. How could your master bear to make you do hard labor? Your master only wants you to turn over one mu of land. Use a bit of magic and turn it over in the blink of an eye, just as a display of your abilities for your master. Once we earn money, your master will give you an extra twenty percent.”
When Bajie heard this, he calculated it and felt it was a good deal. “All right, Master, just watch me!”
With that, Bajie stretched out his hand and conjured a Shangbao Qinjin Rake. He shook it, and the rake became more than twenty zhang long, its head more than ten zhang wide. With one turn into the earth, all the wild grass, tree roots, and stones were ground to powder. In the blink of an eye, a fine stretch of land had been turned over.
The watching villagers were all amazed.
Ao Tu praised him, “Good disciple, fine ability!”
As he spoke, he called Bajie before him and said softly, “Bajie, no matter what you hear your master say in a moment, do not make a sound. Just keep nodding. Afterward, your master will explain it clearly to you. Do you understand?”
Bajie said, “Master, this old pig understands.”
Ao Tu called out to the villagers,
“Fellow villagers, what do you think of this disciple of mine’s ability?”
All the villagers said,
“Fine ability, fine ability indeed!”
“Congratulations, holy monk, on gaining such an excellent disciple!”
“Aiya, if this continues, you could have a thousand mu of good fields within a single day!”
“Yes, yes!”
Ao Tu said, “This poor monk is an itinerant monk and it is inconvenient for me to acquire property. This land is useless to me. Today, seeing that the folkways of your village are simple and honest, and every household is kind and good, I am willing to perform a meritorious deed and sell this land to you cheaply. How does that sound?”
When the villagers heard this, they said,
“For the holy monk to have such a bodhisattva heart is naturally good. It is only that we farming households do not have much silver. May we ask, holy monk, what price you set for this land?”
Ao Tu said, “This poor monk does not seek wealth, only to do good. Let it be priced at one qian of silver per mu!”
When the villagers heard this, they were all overjoyed.
Outside, one mu of good land was worth at least ten taels of silver, and even one mu of poor land was worth several taels. Now it was priced at only one qian of silver—how was that any different from giving it away for free?
He truly was a holy monk of perfect virtue!