Chapter 938
The Weight of Every Life
"Look at what they're holding: stone spears, bone knives, half-broken shovels... These are all crude and rudimentary weapons. They don't even have a single decent weapon, which shows their cultivation level is extremely low; they're nothing more than a bunch of ignorant creatures who have just gained sentience."
"Wukong, you possess extraordinary abilities. A few mere demons are nothing more than a matter of driving them away. Why... why must you exterminate them all?"
Sun Wukong's face immediately darkened.
"Master, what are you saying? Drive them away? What if they come back next time? And the time after that?"
"And as you've seen, these monsters are all about 'eating Tang Sanzang's flesh.' They're not joking; they really want to eat you!"
Tang Sanzang shook his head: "Wukong, Buddhism teaches compassion and the salvation of all beings. All beings possess Buddha-nature, even demons are no exception. If you can enlighten them and guide them to abandon evil and embrace good, wouldn't that be better than killing them?"
Sun Wukong almost laughed out of anger when he heard this.
"Enlighten them? Master, you want me, Old Sun, to enlighten them? They're howling to eat you, and you want me, Old Sun, to reason with them? Master, do you think my golden cudgel isn't hard enough, and you insist on replacing it with a ruler?"
Tang Sanzang frowned: "Wukong, how dare you speak like that? I'm trying to reason with you, not arguing."
Sun Wukong snorted, turned his head to the side, and didn't want to say anything more.
But his lips were pursed into a thin line, and his chest was heaving rapidly, clearly indicating that he was suppressing his anger.
Pigsy stood to the side, glancing left at Tang Sanzang and right at Sun Wukong, then shrank back, not daring to utter a single word.
Although he was a bit of a loose tongue, he was still quite perceptive in these situations—the master and apprentice were really going at it, and if he interrupted, he would get scolded by both of them.
The air suddenly became heavy, like the oppressive feeling before a downpour.
The cicadas stopped chirping sometime ago, and even the wind stopped blowing. The sun was shining on me, making it feel stuffy and hot.
Chu Yang handed the reins of the white dragon horse to Zhu Bajie and took a few steps forward.
"Master."
Tang Sanzang turned to look at him: "What advice do you have for me, Benefactor Chu?"
Chu Yang's tone was unhurried and calm, as calm as a bowl of plain water.
"Master just said that Buddhism teaches compassion and the salvation of all sentient beings. That's true. But I have a question for you."
Tang Sanzang nodded: "Go on."
Chu Yang pointed to the corpses of the earth demons on the ground and asked, "Master, do you think this is the first time these demons have ambushed and eaten people?"
Tang Sanzang paused for a moment, then did not answer.
Chu Yang squatted down, brushed aside the mud and gravel by the roadside, revealing a section of the cave wall exposed after the cave collapsed.
There were several white objects embedded in the cave wall.
Chu Yang reached out and pulled out one of the pieces, displaying it to everyone.
That was a bone.
human bones.
Tang Sanzang's face turned deathly pale.
Chu Yang placed the bone on the ground and then dug out a few items from the soil on the cave wall—a cloth shoe, a rotten hairpin, and half a broken pottery bowl.
“These were left by passersby,” Chu Yang stood up, patting the dirt off his hands. “Master, this den of earth demons has been lurking on this road for who knows how many years. Judging from the state of decay of these bones, they’re at least ten years old.”
"Over the past decade or so, countless travelers and caravans have fallen into their clutches."
Tang Sanzang looked at the yellowish human bone on the ground, his lips trembled, but he couldn't say a word.
Chu Yang's voice remained calm, as if he were narrating something unrelated to himself.
"Master said he would enlighten them, guiding them to abandon evil and embrace good. This idea is excellent and compassionate. But I would like to ask Master—how long does Master intend to take to enlighten them?"
Tang Sanzang was speechless for a moment: "This... enlightening all beings is naturally not something that can be done overnight..."
Chu Yang nodded: "It's not something that can be resolved overnight. It might take a month, a year, or even ten years. And while Master is slowly enlightening them, they will continue to ambush people and devour them."
"With each additional day that someone lives, another passerby may suffer."
“Master, I have one more question.” He looked directly into Tang Sanzang’s eyes, “Whose people were those who were eaten by them before Master enlightened them?”
Tang Sanzang opened his mouth, and the expression on his face became extremely painful.
He wasn't unaware of Chu Yang's meaning; he simply refused to accept this logic.
In his mind, killing is evil, and not killing is good. This is a principle he learned in the temple from a young age, and it is the principle he has followed for more than 20 years since he became a monk.
But Chu Yang's words were like a knife, peeling away the shell he used to protect himself, piece by piece.
“Master, there is one more thing I want to say,” Chu Yang continued.
He walked to the corpse of an earth demon, squatted down, and pointed at the earth demon's mouth.
“Master, please look. There are bits of flesh and cloth stuck in the teeth of this earth demon. This means it ate a person not long ago.”
Tang Sanzang involuntarily glanced in that direction, then abruptly turned his head away, his face deathly pale and his lips turning purple.
"Stop...stop talking..."
Chu Yang stood up, took two steps back, and stopped chasing after Tang Sanzang.
He knew his limits. He had said enough; if he pressed any further, Tang Sanzang would lose face.
However, Sun Wukong did not have Chu Yang's patience.
He had been listening the whole time, and the more he listened, the angrier he became. Finally, he couldn't hold back anymore.
"Master!" He strode up to Tang Sanzang, pointing at the human bones and rags on the ground, his voice filled with barely suppressed anger.
"Look at these! These are human bones! These are clothes worn by the dead! This litter of beasts has eaten countless people!"
"You want me, Old Sun, to drive them away? Drive them where? To another road, to cause trouble for another group of passersby?"
“Master, you have read many scriptures, but have you ever read the saying, ‘Put down the butcher’s knife and become a Buddha on the spot’? That speaks of human beings! People with conscience and repentance! These beasts can’t even speak human language, so what are you trying to tell them about abandoning evil and doing good?”
Tang Seng was given a thorough dressing-down, his face turning pale and then red.
"Wukong, you..."
“I know Master is kind-hearted,” Sun Wukong’s tone softened slightly, but remained firm. “But kindness is not the same as being foolish. Master, you must distinguish when it is appropriate to be kind and when it is not.”
"These monsters eat others today, and they'll eat you tomorrow. You feel sorry for them now, but who will feel sorry for you after they've eaten you?"
Tang Sanzang lowered his head and remained silent.
The staff trembled slightly in his hand, and the hem of his robe was lifted by the wind, then fell, then rose again.
The atmosphere froze, like a stagnant pool.
Pigsy stood behind, leading the horse, not daring to even breathe loudly.
After a long while, Chu Yang spoke.
"Brother Monkey, stop talking now."
Sun Wukong glanced back at him, opened his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately kept it closed.
He knew Chu Yang too well; he knew that this man wouldn't tell him to shut up for no reason.
Chu Yang walked to Tang Sanzang's side, his voice softening considerably, a stark contrast to his previous demeanor. "Master, I know you're not upset. I also know you understand these principles; you're just finding it difficult to accept them right now."
Tang Sanzang slowly raised his head, his eyes slightly red.
“Benefactor Chu… This humble monk has been a monk for over twenty years, adhering to the precept of not killing. Now you are telling this humble monk that killing is right, and not killing is wrong… This humble monk is indeed finding it difficult to accept.”
Chu Yang nodded slightly.
“Master, I did not say that killing is right. What I said is that in certain situations, killing is unavoidable.”
Tang Sanzang looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.
Chu Yang considered his words for a moment, then slowly said, "Master, let me give you an example."
"Imagine a poisonous snake crawls into a farmer's yard, about to bite the family's child. At that moment, the farmer picks up a hoe and kills the snake."
"Master, does this farmer's act constitute killing?"
Tang Sanzang was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Fine."
"Should he have killed the snake?"
Tang Sanzang's lips moved, and after a long while, he finally said, "If he... doesn't kill that snake, the child will be bitten to death."
Chu Yang said, "So, he killed the snake to save the child. Was that strike of the hoe a good or evil act?"
Tang Sanzang did not answer, but his brows had relaxed slightly.
Chu Yang continued, "The same thing happened today. Monkey King killed these earth demons not because he was bloodthirsty, but because these earth demons wanted to eat you, wanted to eat us, and would eat even more people in the future. With that blow, Monkey King saved not only the five of us, but also all the travelers who would pass through this road in the future."
"Master, was this blow a good or a bad one?"
Tang Sanzang closed his eyes, his lips moving as if he were chanting scriptures, or perhaps he was pondering Chu Yang's words.
The wind finally picked up again. A dry, hot wind swept across the barren slope, whipping up a cloud of dust that covered the corpses of the earth spirits with a thin layer of ash.
On the distant horizon, several vultures circled high in the sky. They had already smelled the blood and were waiting to come down and feed after the people left.
Tang Sanzang opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
It felt like he had been holding his breath in his chest for a long time; after exhaling, he felt completely relaxed.
“Benefactor Chu, this humble monk understands what you mean.”
He turned to look at Sun Wukong, his gaze complex, his lips trembling slightly.
"Wukong."
Sun Wukong was poking at an ant nest on the ground with his golden cudgel when he heard Tang Sanzang call him and turned around.
"what?"
His tone still carried a hint of defiance.
Tang Sanzang was silent for a moment, then put his hands together and bowed slightly to Sun Wukong.
"What I said just now was biased. Wukong, I was wrong."
Sun Wukong was stunned.
This was the second time Tang Sanzang had apologized to him.
The last time it was the White Bone Demon, this time it's because of a few minor demons.
"Master, please don't be like this..." He scratched his head, looking helpless. "I, Old Sun, was a bit harsh just now, please don't take it to heart."
Tang Sanzang shook his head: "No, you're right. This humble monk should indeed distinguish when to be compassionate and when not to."
He stared at the corpses on the ground, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
"This humble monk has practiced in the temple for over twenty years, reading countless scriptures and classics. But the principles in books are ultimately just that—principles in books. Compassion on paper is different from true compassion in the face of life and death."
He looked at Chu Yang, his eyes filled with a touch of emotion.
"Benefactor Chu's analogy of a poisonous snake has made me understand some things."
"Killing is certainly a sin, but if not killing would harm many more innocent people, then killing can also be an act of compassion."
"But..." He lowered his head, his voice becoming very soft, "Although this humble monk has understood the truth, I still feel uneasy."
Chu Yang said, "The fact that Master is upset shows that he is a truly compassionate person. It would be terrifying if he felt nothing after killing."
Tang Sanzang looked up at him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Chu Yang smiled slightly: "Master, true compassion is not about not killing, but about feeling pain even after killing. Feeling pain shows that you still care about the weight of every life, and that your kindness has not been extinguished by the killing."
"This is true Buddhist compassion."
Tang Sanzang stared blankly at Chu Yang for a long time before he came to his senses.
"Benefactor Chu... although you are not a monk, your insights are more profound than those of many eminent monks. This humble monk has learned a great deal."
Chu Yang quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "Master, you flatter me. I was just speaking casually; please don't take it seriously."
Sun Wukong, standing to the side, curled his lip and muttered under his breath, "What nonsense! It makes more sense than the scriptures."
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Tang Sanzang glared at him helplessly, but said nothing more.
Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Pigsy finally dared to speak.
"Um... Master, Monkey King, Brother Chu Yang, shouldn't we be leaving? A bunch of monsters have died here, the stench of blood is overwhelming. If we stay any longer, we might attract something else."
Chu Yang nodded: "Bajie is right, let's go."
Tang Sanzang glanced back at the corpses of the earth demons on his horse, moved his lips, silently recited a rebirth mantra, and then turned back around.
"Let's go."
The group set off again, continuing westward along the official road.
Behind them, several vultures finally couldn't hold back any longer, flapping their wings and landing on the road, surrounding them.
No one looked back.
……
After walking for about an hour, the sun finally became less scorching, hanging obliquely on the western horizon, dyeing the entire land a warm orange hue.
A stream appeared ahead, its water crystal clear, flowing gently over a pebble beach, making a tinkling sound.
A clump of wild mint grows on the bank of the stream, its emerald green leaves swaying in the evening breeze and emitting a cool fragrance.
"Master, let's rest here," Chu Yang said. "Before it gets dark, I'll cook some food."
Tang Sanzang nodded and dismounted.
Without saying a word, Pigsy plunged headfirst into the stream, splashing a large spray of water.
"Awesome! I've been in this heat all day, finally I can cool off!" (End of Chapter)