Great Demon Sun Wukong

The little monkey scratched his head a bit sheepishly and giggled as he said, "Well, this matter, you can’t really blame me for it. It’s just that Tathagata is too narrow-minded. He thought, after attaining enlightenment, that he was invincible in the world, and looked down on everyone. But when he heard about the four Great Spirit Monkeys of our Demon Clan, he assumed we were all specifically against him and started to suppress us by all means. I was tricked by him in the beginning, and as for Six-Eared, he must have been bewitched quite badly, right? Otherwise, Tathagata wouldn’t have created the whole True and False Beautiful Monkey King debacle. After you were pressed under Five-Finger Mountain for five hundred years and then followed Tang Monk to the Western Paradise for scriptures, the old Tathagata saw you had submitted and started to go after me. Heh, in the end, I stole one of his Supreme Treasures and even injured him. But as you saw, I ended up being beaten to death by what seemed like countless gods and Buddhas. It still frustrates me to think about it. When you go back this time, make sure to teach them a good lesson for me, let them feel the might of our Demon Clan!"

While comfortably swimming in the creek, the little monkey fiercely said to Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong, however, laughed heartily, "That old Tathagata has already had his head chopped off by me, dead as can be." Then, Sun Wukong told the little monkey how he killed Tathagata and how he wiped out two other Buddhas as well, listening to which made the little monkey’s face light up in joy, clapping his hands in delight. After talking for a while, they set off again.

This time, the little monkey’s targets were four individuals, or perhaps it would be better to say four formidable Ferocious Beasts, and the direction they were now heading was where the weakest of them resided. Though referred to as the weakest, this was in comparison to the other three beasts; this individual’s strength was only slightly less than that of the Six-Eared Macaque, but his abilities were especially bothersome. Many times the little monkey had the upper hand but just couldn’t manage to defeat him.

The person, with a very ordinary name, Ye Zi, was actually an ancient mystical tree. Because the true form was a tree demon, its Attack Power wasn’t very strong. But that terrifying Recovery ability and control over plants had truly disgusted the little monkey numerous times. Sometimes, even a fatal blow was dealt, and before you could even catch your breath, he would have already recovered completely. Trying to deplete his Spiritual Power was even more impossible—as long as there was a single plant in the Patrolling Celestial World, his Spiritual Power would be endless.

To defeat him, there were only two methods. The first was to deliver a quick kill with overwhelming Attack Power to destroy him directly. However, the little monkey’s main purpose this time wasn’t to kill him but to subjugate him, so he could only resort to the second method, Sealing. If it were the past Sun Wukong or the little monkey himself, it would be extremely difficult. But the day the little monkey saw Sun Wukong’s Seal Heavenly Stamp that could be both unleashed and retracted as if it were a diamond chain, the little monkey immediately thought of subjugating the four Ferocious Beasts.

While on the road, the little monkey detailed to Sun Wukong the situation of the tree demon beast, and what he needed to pay attention to in the upcoming battle and how to proceed. Although Sun Wukong’s Seal Heavenly Stamp had an extremely powerful sealing force, it still required actually catching the opponent to work, otherwise, it was all empty talk.

In fact, From the start of their journey, Sun Wukong had suggested they fly, but the little monkey’s reply was: "Have you ever seen a monkey that can fly? I’m now a monkey, you know? A monkey should obediently jump from tree to tree." This response left Sun Wukong speechless for a while. Was he implying he himself was not a monkey? Regardless of what Sun Wukong said, the little monkey was adamantly against flying, so Sun Wukong had no choice but to follow him, leaping through the forest, which inevitably slowed them down considerably. However, it did recall for Sun Wukong that sense of freedom he once had on Flower Fruit Mountain. But reality was always so helpless; originally, he wanted to be a peaceful Beautiful Monkey King, yet he couldn’t help but get involved in one thing after another.

Letting go of these thoughts, the little monkey had finished explaining. In truth, after the little monkey’s rambling, according to Sun Wukong’s understanding, there were only two key points: first, find the tree demon, and second, trap it with the Seal Heavenly Stamp. The rest was just the little monkey’s vengeful manner of "persuasion." Sun Wukong truly found the little monkey to be a bit verbose, but on second thought, anyone who had been stuck in such a place for hundreds of years without anyone to talk to would probably go mad from the silence.

Sun Wukong deeply understood that loneliness from the five hundred years under the Five-Finger Mountain; during those years, didn’t he also talk incessantly to a butterfly? Now that the little monkey had met him, they just talked about their own affairs or listened to each other’s stories. By the morning of the second day, Sun Wukong was already following the little monkey into what seemed to be a very lush forest.

All the plants in this forest were abnormally tall, with even the common grass reaching three to four meters high, and the ancient trees that were a mere hundred meters tall were considered short. Sun Wukong flew to midair and gauged, maybe the central tree of this vast, almost boundless forest was tens of thousands of meters tall?

"Is this the destination? Is the tree demon inside here?" Sun Wukong shaded his eyes with his hand while peering into the forest and asked the little monkey. The little monkey shook his head and said, "No, no." "Not right? Then why are we stopping here? You know how urgent our time is.

The little monkey’s face looked slightly odd as he pointed at the forest and said, "This is indeed the destination, but the tree demon is not among them because this entire forest is the tree demon. Or to say, the tree demon called Ye Zi is this forest!" Sun Wukong immediately responded, feeling a bit embarrassed, "I think we should go back. Do you think the Seal Heavenly Stamp chains that I’ve turned into are endless? Even if it kills me, there’s no way I can seal up such a huge forest."

The little monkey looked at Sun Wukong’s bitter face and laughed, "If you had that ability, why would I need to look for help? Wouldn’t it be better if you just sealed up those tens of thousands of people? There’s a method to my madness, hey Ling Ming, if I remember rightly, you have a World Suppressing Stele inside you, right?"

Sun Wukong nodded but added, "Even with the World Suppressing Stele, I can’t destroy such a vast forest all at once; and the stele is so powerful that if I fully activate it and accidentally kill him, what then?" "Hehe, I’m not asking you to use that stele. Your stele should be able to produce a kind of sand, right? The one with a very strong devouring ability."

Now Sun Wukong understood what the little monkey meant, but he showed a troubled expression and said, "This, doesn’t seem right, does it? I can indeed produce sand with devouring ability, it’s called the Three Thousand Barren Sands and can devour anything. However, Master Zhun once told me that this devouring ability should not be used carelessly. Otherwise, if it catches the attention of the Heavenly Patroller, it would be over." The little monkey pursed his lips and said, "Have you forgotten who I am? I’m the boss of the Patrolling Celestial World, and it’s a cinch for me to mask the aura of your stele. With me here, you can use it without worry!" @@novelbin@@

Sun Wukong looked suspicious and asked, "Can you really do it? Why do I feel like you’re trying to harm me? You’re not someone else in disguise, are you? And if you’re so capable, using the power of the Realm Spirit to deal with such a forest should be a piece of cake, right? Why go through all this trouble?"

No sooner had Sun Wukong finished speaking, the little monkey angrily retorted, "Do I look like a fake to you? Do you think I’m like you? Always liking to change into this or that? I do not possess your ability of the seventy-two transformations. Moreover, although I am the Spirit of the Patrolling Celestial World, I have my pride. I would rather die than use power that isn’t mine to defeat an enemy!"

"You speak with quite a backbone. Then why don’t you go up yourself instead of calling me over?" "Hehe, aren’t we brothers? When a brother is bullied, you as the elder brother should seek revenge for him, right? Come on, enough chat, hurry up. I’m now shielding this entire area, so you use that sand and turn this whole forest into a desert for me!"

(The long-missed triple release, thanks for the reward from Lead Silver!)