usatvline Chapter 267 World of Famous Works 56
Chapter 267 World of Famous Works 56
The station manager blinked and repeated, "You are a registered public official."
Tang Sanzang shook his head and said, "You say I am a registered public official of your Great Tang Dynasty. You are a person of the Great Tang? But your appearance does not resemble that of someone from the East."
The administrator laughed: "Of course I am a citizen of the Great Tang Dynasty. Elder, you are quite the joker." As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to realize something and said to Tang Sanzang: "Oh, I almost forgot. Elder, you have been heading west all this time and may not know the situation here. This area used to be the territory of Chechi Kingdom, but it was incorporated into the Great Tang Dynasty a few years ago and renamed Chechi Prefecture. Not only Chechi Kingdom, but some small kingdoms in the west are now part of the Great Tang Dynasty."
Tang Sanzang, somewhat dazed, followed the administrator toward the guesthouse.
The roads were all hard cement, flat and clean, and even the exterior of the guesthouse buildings was painted with a hard gray shell, neat and beautiful.
The guesthouse consisted of two rows of small bungalows connected together. The manager arranged a room for the master and his disciples, which contained three bunk beds, a table and chairs, and a wardrobe.
Then he pointed to the white dragon horse beside them, "Shall I lead this horse to the stable for you?"
The White Dragon became a driver halfway through the journey, always in human form, but he hadn't truly achieved enlightenment yet. When they reached the foot of Mount Ling, he transformed back into a horse.
Having shared meals and lodging with Tang Sanzang and his companions along the way, he had developed a bond with them. At this moment, he was looking at Tang Sanzang with two wet eyes, expressing his request not to go to the dirty stable.
Tang Sanzang, unable to bear it any longer, said, "Let him stay here for now."
The manager said with a strange expression, "Pets are not allowed in the rooms."
Sun Wukong walked over and said, "We'll lead him to the stable ourselves in a bit, but would you please get us some food first?"
The administrator thought about it and agreed. He pointed to the larger building to the right and said, "See that building? That's the guesthouse's canteen. It's open every day at 9:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 5:00 PM. Ordinary people have to pay to eat there, but public officials have their own meals, so they can just go and eat there without paying."
Pigsy grinned from ear to ear: "Oh my, what a wonderful thing! Master, let's go check out that canteen!"
The administrator glanced at the sun outside and said, "It's almost time for dinner. Come on, I'll take you there."
Tang Sanzang glanced at the box containing the scriptures behind him and said with concern, "Why don't you go with this benefactor, Wukong? Just bring me some food. I'll stay here and watch over the scriptures."
He could not find peace of mind until the scriptures were delivered to Chang'an.
Pigsy said impatiently, "Hey, I'll go by myself. You guys wait, I'll bring it back for you."
As he spoke, he grabbed the administrator's sleeve and started walking out.
Upon arriving at the guesthouse canteen, a rich aroma of food wafted over. Pigsy strode into the room and saw that it was filled with tables and chairs, and many people were sitting there eating.
At the very back of the house are some windows, and the platforms at those windows are filled with all sorts of food.
There are many kinds of staple foods: steamed buns, dumplings, naan, rice, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and all kinds of stir-fries and stews, all neatly arranged on a large plate.
Pigsy's eyes were dazzled; he had never seen so much food when he passed through Chechi Kingdom before.
The staff told us that there were food trays in the corner at Zhu Bajie, and we could take whatever we wanted to eat.
Pigsy didn't stand on ceremony. He stuffed a piece of corn into his mouth and picked up a plate to eat. He took a little of everything except some meat dishes, filling five plates to the brim. They were piled high and almost too heavy for him to carry. The staff had to help him carry them back.
The manager put down the food he was holding. Seeing that the room was a bit dimly lit, he walked to the door and pressed a switch. In an instant, the whole room lit up.
Seeing Tang Sanzang's astonished expression, the administrator felt a secret thrill, then said proudly, "This is an electric light. We got electricity here last year. It was built by craftsmen specially sent from Chang'an by the imperial court, who said our location is good and we can use solar energy to generate electricity. You don't know what solar energy is, do you? It's those black panels on the mountain that generate electricity when you put them in the sun."
The administrator only had a superficial understanding; he simply knew that Tang Sanzang hadn't been in the Tang Dynasty for so many years and certainly wouldn't know about these amazing things, so he deliberately showed off a little.
After scanning the room, he was relieved to see that Tang Sanzang's horse was not there.
However, there was a young man dressed in white in the room. As usual, the manager asked him a few questions, since the guesthouse had to register who was staying there.
Tang Sanzang quickly explained that this was also his disciple, named Ao Lie.
After registration, the administrator said, "Alright, that's enough. You can eat now."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
As the administrator walked, he muttered to himself, "Tang Sanzang's disciples are really strange. One has a face full of hair, another has a very long nose, and yet another has a full beard. Only the young man who came later is somewhat good-looking."
Tang Sanzang glanced at the mountain of food piled on the table, sighed, and murmured, "I never imagined that Chechi Kingdom would have already fallen to our Great Tang. Amitabha."
Pigsy, peeling a bright orange sweet potato, said to Tang Sanzang, "That's right! Things have changed so much here. Just the food alone is more than ten different kinds compared to when we passed through last time. Master, I'm just wondering, with trains and generators in your Tang Dynasty, why are you still going to the west to fetch scriptures?"
After saying that, he put a sweet potato in his mouth, took a bite, and immediately squinted his eyes. It was so sweet.
Tang Sanzang was slightly taken aback by Zhu Bajie's words. His gaze was confused for a moment before becoming firm again. He glared at Zhu Bajie and said, "You blockhead, the Buddhist principles contained in the true scriptures are great wisdom. They have methods to transcend suffering and can save all living beings. How can these worldly things compare? Don't talk nonsense here."
Pigsy didn't say anything, but a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes. All that talk about saving all living beings was just empty words.
Judging from the character of those gods and Buddhas on Mount Ling, they themselves still wanted to get benefits from Tang Sanzang.
This is clearly saying that saving all sentient beings requires spending money.
Besides, how can people, who are already starving and freezing, possibly fill their stomachs and get clothes just by listening to him chant scriptures? Isn't that just wishful thinking?
The group of master and disciples remained silent and continued their meal. However, what Tang Sanzang had seen and heard at the station had a significant impact on him, making him even more eager to return to Chang'an.
The next day, the master and his disciples boarded a train bound for Chang'an.
After looking at the scenery outside the window for a while, Tang Seng closed his eyes to rest, but the vibrations of the train and the conversations of the surrounding passengers still made it difficult for him to calm down.
However, there weren't many monks traveling by train. When others saw Tang Sanzang's attire, their eyes became more inquisitive. As the journey was long, several monks would strike up conversations with Tang Sanzang. When they learned that he was actually a monk who had gone to the west to fetch scriptures many years ago, their eyes widened in shock.
Someone couldn't help but sigh, "Elder, you went too early. Given the current development of the Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist scriptures might arrive by train in two years."
Tang Sanzang looked bewildered: Huh?