Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

Sun Wukong, from his abdomen down, was pinned under Five Elements Mountain, lying face down on the ground, but in front of him was placed a large sea bowl.

A half bowl of rice and half a bowl of vegetables, a mix of meat and vegetables, rice soaked in vegetable broth, Sun Wukong ate with oil dripping from his mouth, in an utterly carefree manner.

Jiang Liu, beside him, watched Sun Wukong eat with the voracity of a starving ghost reincarnated, his mouth twitching slightly.

It was as if he hadn't eaten for hundreds of years.

Was it because he had been hungry for too long, or was it because his own cooking was delicious?

"Mmm, tasty, you this Little Monk, um, this meal is really delicious," with his mouth full of food, Sun Wukong's voice even changed pitch as he spoke.

Seeing Sun Wukong enjoying his meal so much, it seemed that all his attention was on the food, Jiang Liu simply put down his own bowl and chopsticks and watched him eat.

After a brief hesitation, he reached into his robe, where a tight hood felt icy to the touch.

"You Monk, you are different from the other monks I have seen," while eating, Sun Wukong suddenly looked up at Jiang Liu and said.

"Different? What do you mean?"

After all, they had been together at the foot of Five Elements Mountain for half a month and were somewhat familiar. Indeed, Sun Wukong was frightening when his malevolent aura burst forth, but usually, he was very calm.

"Other monks, they all hold to some precepts, a bunch of messy rules, but I see you don't," said Sun Wukong.

"Maybe because from the very beginning, I never thought of becoming a monk?" Jiang Liu said softly, after a brief silence, in a somber tone. Read the latest on empire

This statement made the monkey's rapid eating slow for a moment.

Looking up at Jiang Liu, after a moment of silence, he asked, "So, why do you want to go to the Western Heaven for scriptures? Is it because Tathagata promised you a Golden Body and true fruit?"

"Why?," Jiang Liu looked up slightly towards the direction of Western Heaven, falling silent for a moment before saying, "Perhaps, it's to have a meal."

"Just for a meal? You wouldn't hesitate to endure hardships, traveling tens of thousands of miles to the Western Heaven?"

"Just for this meal!"

"Hehehe, interesting…"

Sun Wukong grinned and, energizing his chopsticks, scooped the last bits of food into his mouth, then set the bowl and chopsticks aside, propped his head with both hands, looked at Jiang Liu with the demeanor of watching a play, and said, "You, Little Monk, seem to have quite the story. Tell it to I, Old Sun?"

"It all started in a dilapidated Jinshan Temple..." Jiang Liu sat down on the ground, his gaze becoming distant as he reminisced.

As a Novice Monk at Jinshan Temple, then meeting Gaoyang, the Incense Offering Ceremony, and so on, he briefly went over the events of the recent half-year with Sun Wukong.

Maybe because he had left Chang'an City and walked alone for two months with no one to talk to, Jiang Liu was quite chatty.

And Sun Wukong? Almost alone under Five Elements Mountain for so long, it was rare to have someone talk and tell him stories, which seemed pretty nice.

"So, Poor Monk travelled westward for about two months, and finally arrived at Mount of the Two Realms," so much had happened over the last half year, and several hours had passed by the time he recounted it.

"Gahaha, too funny, gaga…" However, hearing Jiang Liu's experiences, Sun Wukong suddenly let out a strange laugh.

If he wasn't oppressed by the mountain, perhaps he would've somersaulted several times by now.

"Monkey, what are you laughing at?" Jiang Liu asked, looking at Sun Wukong with surprise.

"I, Old Sun, laugh because you're even more foolish than I was back then, and even more at those Heavenly Deities, not just calculating against others but so ruthlessly against their own," Sun Wukong said with a strange laugh, looking at Jiang Liu as if he were an idiot.

"Amitabha, then what do you think, from my position, should I have done to save Gaoyang?" Unoffended by Sun Wukong's mockery, Jiang Liu simply countered.

"..." Jiang Liu's words left Sun Wukong speechless, unsure of what to answer.

Indeed, from Jiang Liu's position, when he wanted to save Gaoyang, it seemed his only option was to appeal to Buddha.

"Monkey, now that you have heard my story, what about yours? Would you like to tell it?" Jiang Liu said, noticing Sun Wukong's hesitancy and inability to respond. He did not press on his question but instead shifted the topic to Sun Wukong.

"My story's events are all from a long time ago, nothing worth mentioning, and I've already forgotten them," Sun Wukong said, waving his hand, clearly unwilling to talk about what had happened to him.

Having eaten his fill and listened to an exciting story, Sun Wukong lay satisfied on the ground, and soon, the sound of his snoring filled the air as he fell into a deep sleep.

With a slight smile, Jiang Liu said nothing more. He cleaned up the dishes and washed them, then sat cross-legged under a nearby peach tree, continuing his cultivation of the Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound.

Tip: Experience Points +2.

Tip: Experience Points +2.

Tip: Experience Points +2.

...

Immersing his mind in cultivation, accumulating experience points bit by bit, Jiang Liu was getting closer and closer to level 20.

Unconsciously, time passed quickly, and it was already deep into the night.

Late at night, Sun Wukong opened his eyes and his gaze fell on Jiang Liu sitting beside him, watching him intently.

Was Jiang Liu deceiving him? Trying to trick him into leaving the mountain to protect him on a journey to obtain the scriptures from the West? Sun Wukong thought it unlikely.

After all, concerning his affairs, with a single leap to the Great Tang, anyone he asked would know the truth, so there was no need to deceive him.

"Hey, Little Monk, you want to know Old Sun's story, right? Since we're free, Old Sun will tell you about it," Sun Wukong suddenly said, interrupting the meditative silence.

Opening his eyes, Jiang Liu stopped his cultivation and sat down beside Sun Wukong, "Let's hear it."

"Old Sun's story, well, it's even longer. Back in the day, Old Sun was just a stone egg on the Flower Fruit Mountain, born from the essence of heaven and earth …"

Sun Wukong's eyes became distant as he talked about his past, and his emotions fluctuated.

The days on Flower Fruit Mountain brought him joy;

Cultivating under Ancestor Bodhi filled him with nostalgia;

Creating havoc in the Underworld, tearing up the Book of Life and Death, entering the Dragon Palace to steal the Sea Calming Needle, raising Havoc in Heaven, and fighting with numerous heavenly deities and Buddhas made him spirited and vehement.

"But in the end, Old Sun was tricked, deceived by that old Tathagata," Sun Wukong's mood fell as he finished.

"Tricked? How so?" Jiang Liu asked, curious, as this wasn't the first time Sun Wukong had spoken in such a manner.

"Back then, I wagered with Tathagata that if I could fly out of the Buddha's Palm Paradise he held, I would win; if not, I would lose. Why would Old Sun take such a risk? I pressed him, saying if Old Sun won, the Great Jade Emperor should abdicate in favor of Old Sun," he explained.

"But that old Tathagata deceived me, agreeing to it, saying I could rule as Jade Emperor, forcing Old Sun to keep his word," Sun Wukong continued.

"This …" Sun Wukong's words struck a chord in Jiang Liu, indeed it was so.

Tathagata extended the Buddha's Palm Paradise and let Sun Wukong jump into it himself—wasn't that walking right into a trap? Sun Wukong naturally was reluctant.

Therefore, claiming he would take over as the Jade Emperor if he won was a way to back Tathagata into a corner, expecting a refusal.

Yet, although Tathagata couldn't really grant him the rule as Jade Emperor, he still agreed, forcing Sun Wukong to jump down—wasn't this deception?

"Furthermore..." Sun Wukong paused slightly, his tone more resentful.

"At the time, that old Tathagata also said, if Old Sun couldn't leap from his palm, he would let me return to the Lower Realm and asked me to stop causing trouble in the Heavenly Court; Old Sun agreed," Sun Wukong added.

"But what happened in the end? Old Sun lost, but he broke his promise and didn't release me. Instead, he pressed me under this Five Elements Mountain..."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"That Tathagata, regardless of winning or losing, he broke his promise, deceiving Old Sun. As the leader of Buddhism, he is still so deceitful and untrustworthy, showing that none of you from the Buddhist Sect are good," Sun Wukong concluded bitterly.