The Wudang Junior Master

Chapter 120: Speculations on “Keeping a Teacher”

Jiuqu Panhuan Cave is the cave residence of Jiuling Yuansheng in Journey to the West.

The identity and background of Jiuling Yuansheng is the nine-headed lion under the seat of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun.

After the Nine-Spirited Saint came down to the mortal world, he accepted six lion spirits. Later, when Tang Monk and his disciples passed by a nearby place called Yuhua, Sun Wukong and his two disciples accepted the three sons of the Lord of Yuhua City as their disciples.

Afterwards, the three disciples imitated their masters' magic weapons to make weapons. When the golden hoop stick, the nine-toothed rake and the Zen stick were placed in the blacksmith shop, they were stolen by the lion demon, which triggered a series of stories.

There are many interesting stories in Journey to the West, and everyone has different interpretations and perspectives on them.

The so-called "loving to teach others" here may refer to the fact that Sun Wukong and the other two loved to teach others, which brought disaster upon themselves and led to the capture of the Lord of Yuhua City and his master.

But it can also refer to Jiuling Yuansheng, who likes to teach others and has taken in a group of lion spirits, but condones them to do bad things, covers them up for personal gain, only cultivates life but not nature, and has skills but no way.

For example, Wang Yaozu and Li Muxuan are such a pair of master and apprentice. Rather than saying that Wang Yaozu is a master, he is actually more like a grandfather who loves his grandson.

They taught me the methods, but did not teach me how to be a good person. Perhaps Wang Yaozu himself did not know how to do it, as he was a person of complete nature.

Therefore, "a know-it-all" is a very reasonable evaluation of Wang Yaozu.

Of course, whether it is Sun Wukong and his two brothers who are "good at teaching others" or Jiuling Yuansheng who is "good at teaching others" is something that can be discussed separately.

However, Zhang Wuling did not think much about this kind of philosophical stuff, but instead focused on the story itself.

First, Sun Wukong and his two companions taught martial arts to the three sons of the Lord of Yuhua City. Then the three disciples wanted to imitate the weapons of Sun Wukong and his two companions, so the magic weapons were stolen by monsters, which caused the subsequent troubles.

To summarize this story briefly, it goes like this:

Preaching - stealing treasures - causing chaos.

When I think about it, I always feel that it is a bit like the Jiashen Rebellion back then.

If Zhang Huaiyi and his eight companions were compared to lion spirits, they accidentally discovered the "magic weapon" left by the gods, so they stole it and eventually caused chaos.

If you look at it this way, it fits the name of "thief" among the thirty-six thieves. It also makes sense to understand the meaning of "causing chaos" in the eight strange techniques of causing chaos.

The Eight Great Techniques themselves are not "techniques to bring about chaos", the birth of the Eight Great Techniques is the source of chaos.

Just like the lion demon stealing the treasure, the golden cudgel itself is not a cause of trouble, but it can cause trouble.

The reason why people want to obtain the Eight Wonders is not only because they want the skills themselves, but also because they want to know how Zhang Huaiyi and others obtained the Eight Wonders.

If it were Zhang Wuling himself, to be honest, he would rather have Zhang Huaiyi and the others comprehend the "cause" of the Eight Wonders rather than reap the "results" of the Eight Wonders.

According to this idea, we can make an assumption:

Back then, Wu Gensheng and his companions comprehended the Eight Wonders through the things left behind by True Man Zi Yang, which triggered a series of chaos later.

Then Zi Yang Zhenren is Sun Wukong, and the legacy he left behind is the golden cudgel.

In fact, the one who was wrong was not Sun Wukong, nor the golden cudgel. In Zhang Wuling's opinion, the so-called know-it-all might not be referring to Sun Wukong.

After all, in the original Journey to the West, there is a poem at the end that says:

Because Shanqing met a divine master, he learned martial arts and unexpectedly slew a monster lion.

Sweep away all evil and bring peace to the country, convert to unity and pacify the barbarians on the border.

The nine spiritual numbers are in line with the principles of Yuan Yang, and they are proficient in the four aspects of Taoism.

The clear mind of transmission will last forever, and Yuhua will enjoy eternal peace.

Putting aside other things, the word "divine teacher" in the first sentence alone shows that Sun Wukong and others are qualified to be teachers.

Moreover, this incident was a great opportunity for the three sons of the Lord of Yuhua City, and these three people did not do anything bad or cause any trouble later.

If we must say that Sun Wukong and the other two are just know-it-alls, it seems like a "victim blaming" theory.

After all, Jiuling Yuansheng is the mount of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun. You didn't take good care of it and let it descend to the mortal world as a demon. It also recruited a bunch of followers and finally stole my magic weapon. Then, it turned out that I shouldn't have accepted any disciples, otherwise I wouldn't have encountered this difficulty...

Isn’t this just bullying honest people?

So, if Zi Yang Zhenren is Sun Wukong, then who is Jiu Ling Yuansheng?

If I have to say, then there is only one person who fits the description, and that is Wu Gensheng.

The reason is very simple. It was he who formed the Brotherhood of Thirty-Six Thieves, it was he who brought people to Tongtian Valley, and it was because of his call that the Eight Wonders came into being.

Without him, Zhang Huaiyi and the others would not have had the "opportunity" to comprehend the Eight Wonders.

No matter what the reason is, it has already happened and you can't get rid of the blame.

If we look at it from this perspective, the meaning of the "Nine-bend Cave" may not refer to Zi Yang Zhenren, but may be something that Wu Gensheng left for himself or even for future generations.

Wu Gensheng erased the words on the wall, probably just like the old Taoist priest's Taoist degree, the purpose was to make it "unknown to outsiders."

Once the golden cudgel is discovered, how many people can resist stealing it?

If you can't even resist a straight stick, how can you resist the temptation of the golden cudgel?

If the purpose of Tianshidu was to keep a secret, then Wu Gensheng may have erased the words on the wall for the same purpose.

This can also explain why Zhou Sheng and others have restrictions on them and cannot tell what happened that year.

Isn't this just like the old Taoist priest, except that Zhang Huaiyi is outrageous. He lifted the ban and told Tian Jinzhong.

This is somewhat understandable as to why Tian Jinzhong reacted in that way after he found out.

The cost and consequences of leaking this secret must be very serious, so serious that even the Tianshi Mansion cannot afford it.

If this is the truth, then the five characters "Jiuqu Panhuan Cave" are a message left behind specifically as a warning, rather than a simple dispute over reason...

Zhang Wuling's thoughts surged like a raging storm. He stood in front of the wall with a frown, his right hand unconsciously supporting his chin.

If this guess is correct, then there may be more than just martial arts techniques left on the wall.

It’s a pity that the words were erased, otherwise we might have discovered something.

Wait...If this speculation is true, then discovering the final secret doesn't seem to be a good thing.

As long as you know the secret, you will automatically become the keeper of the secret.

I always feel like it's a pit. If you don't step on it, you won't fall into it. But if you step on it... then just step on it!

Zhang Wuling smacked his lips. Even if he knew the secret, he would not tell anyone. After all, he was not as talkative as the old Taoist priest.

If others also know about it, then just beat him to death. If you can't kill him, then just put a ban on that person and make him unable to speak, right?

As I said, it’s always right to follow the example of our ancestors!