Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 206 - 207 How to Recruit Sun Wukong

Chapter 206: Chapter 207 How to Recruit Sun Wukong

Regarding the affairs of Taibai Jinxing and the Great General Who Lifts the Curtain, Guanyin Bodhisattva naturally didn’t know at this time.

After notifying the Great General Who Lifts the Curtain, Guanyin Bodhisattva and her disciples once again headed eastward.

Next, naturally, she was to meet Marshal Tianpeng.

Soon, they saw a tall mountain ahead which was shrouded in Monster Energy.

"Bodhisattva, ahead the Monster Energy soars into the sky, there is likely a powerful demon causing trouble here!"

Upon seeing the tall mountain ahead, Merciful Shore Walker said with a solemn expression.

On their journey, they not only looked for disciples for the scripture seeker but also checked if there were any covert interferences from the Celestial Court.

According to the agreement between Buddhism and the Celestial Court, this time for the Calamity of Measurement of the Journey to the West, both realms have dispatched people to descend into the lower realm and become demons as one of the tribulations to test the scripture seeker.

There naturally wouldn’t be any problems on the side of Buddhism, but it was different with the Celestial Court.

After all, there were two Saints behind the Celestial Court scenes and also Ancestral Masters from the Daoist Sects, to say that these Daoist Masters would easily let their Western region rise in power, Buddhism wouldn’t believe it.

Therefore, their Buddhism naturally couldn’t be unguarded.

If the Celestial Court didn’t want the scripture seeker to succeed in the Journey to the West, secretly arranged some powerful figures, then there might be some mishaps in the Journey to the West.

At this time, the master and disciple approached the Mountain of Demons, alert in their hearts.

At that moment, a demon with the head of a pig and the body of a human rushed out, blocking their path.

Indeed the demon had Monster Energy soaring to the sky, and the Nine-toothed Rake in his hand carried a compelling majesty.

Without waiting for them to speak, he charged straight at them and began fighting immediately.

"How audacious, to be so disrespectful in front of the Bodhisattva!"

Seeing this, Merciful Shore Walker quickly stepped forward to block the monster, and the two exchanged blows back and forth, unexpectedly proving difficult to separate.

When Guanyin saw the demon, she already knew who it was.

The pig-headed demon snorted coldly, "You ignorant monk! Watch the rake!"

Both at the foot of the mountain, one charging and one colliding, they fought together.

The Pig Demon was fierce, and Merciful Shore Walker was equally unyielding.

The two kicked up dust and darkened the sky, with flying sand and rolling stones, the world trembled.

They were fighting back and forth continuously.

Guanyin Bodhisattva, in mid-air, watched this scene, then waved her hand, and in an instant, a lotus flower condensed, separating the two.

The Pig Demon, feeling such a powerful presence, couldn’t help but be shocked and shouted, "Who are you, monk, to cause trouble here?"

Upon hearing the Pig Demon’s disrespect towards the Bodhisattva, Merciful Shore Walker snorted coldly, "You blind mundane creature! I am a disciple of the South Sea Bodhisattva, this is my master, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and you don’t even recognize her!"

Hearing Merciful Shore Walker’s words, the Pig Demon frowned and said, "The South Sea Bodhisattva, is it Guanshiyin who eradicates calamities and saves from hardships?"

Upon realizing who it was, Merciful Shore Walker nodded, "Who else could it be?"

The pig-headed demon then took on a solemn expression, bowed deeply toward Guanyin Bodhisattva in the sky, and shouted loudly, "Bodhisattva, forgive me! Forgive me!"

Guanyin descended from the clouds and asked, "Who are you, a wild boar turned into a spirit, creating disturbances here, daring to block our way?"

The embarrassed pig-headed demon scratched his head and said with a bitter smile, "I am neither a wild boar nor an old brute, I was originally Marshal Tianpeng from the celestial River, only because I drunkenly teased Chang’e, the Jade Emperor punished me with two thousand strikes and banished me to the mortal realm, later ambushed by a vile trickster, mistakenly born into a pig—and that led to my current plight!"

"I did not expect to encounter the Bodhisattva today, and I hope for your salvation."

Upon hearing the Pig Demon’s words, even Merciful Shore Walker was taken aback.

The once formidable Marshal Tianpeng, in a blink of an eye, had transformed into such a state.

After being enlightened by Grand Master Xuandu previously, he had been waiting here ever since.

Waiting endlessly was indeed suffocating for Tianpeng.

When he was in the celestial River, he could often fight with the Great Demon, but now there were no demons nearby, and it truly lacked thrill.

Upon seeing Guanyin Bodhisattva passing by, thinking it might be a Great Demon passing through, he engaged in a great battle, only to realize it was actually Guanyin Bodhisattva.

"Since you have already erred, now you should think about how to correctly cultivate to achieve your original aspirations again. I have received the Divine Decree to head to the Eastern Land to find a fated scripture seeker. You can call yourself his disciple, protect him to Western Heaven, and make amends for your faults, teaching you to escape from the disaster."

Upon hearing Guanyin’s explanation, Tianpeng also understood that this was a setup by both the Daoist Sect and Buddhism, allowing him into this measured calamity.

He immediately agreed eagerly, "Willing to follow! Willing to follow!"

The Bodhisattva then touched his head, received his vows, assigned him the name Zhu, and gave him the Dharma name Zhu Wuneng.

She instructed Zhu Bajie to wait here for that scripture seeker.

As of now, with the complexity between the Daoist Sect and Buddhism, for this Journey to the West to face the Calamity of Measurement, each side made their own arrangements, also designating their respective candidates to join the scripture-procuring team.

Buddhism had chosen Golden Cicada, the celestial Court had chosen Great General Who Lifts the Curtain, and the Daoist Sect had chosen Marshal Tianpeng.

It seemed like a mutual restraint among the three parties, but given the relationship between the celestial Court and the Daoist Temple, the celestial Court and the Daoist Temple were naturally closer. Thus, the situation for Buddhism was naturally a bit more severe.

Thinking of this, the eyebrows of Guanyin Bodhisattva couldn’t help but twitch.

Therefore, they could only seek to align with the last person.

It was the one designated by the Heavenly Dao for the Calamity of Measurement, the chosen Stone Monkey, Sun Wukong.

Although this person was a disciple of the Western Saint, Good Corpse, and practiced the spells of the Daoist Sect, he was also considered to be connected with the Western Direction.

However, because he had deviated from his original path, winning him over might not be as easy as imagined.

After reminding Tianpeng a few more things, Guanyin and Merciful Shore Walker continued on their way.

Watching the two departing figures, the naïve expression on Tianpeng instantly disappeared, replaced by a look of disdain.

"Again painting grand visions for me, so it is with the celestial Court, the Daoist Sect, and even more so with the West, each one incredibly deceitful, I won’t easily believe them!"

"If it were truly so good, they wouldn’t have forcibly pushed me into this Calamity, scheming against me like this!"

"Now thinking about it, only the original Pilgrim was honest with me, advising me not to trust anyone easily. Back then I didn’t believe it, but now it seems I was overly naïve!"

"Considering this Journey to the West will surely be fraught with danger, I should better be cautious. When there’s no danger, I’ll contribute my effort, but if there’s danger, let others handle it. I certainly won’t!"

"Honorable Master, please don’t blame me for this. I did agree to join this scripture-procuring team, but I never said I’d work earnestly. Above all, I have to prioritize preserving my own life!"

Tianpeng murmured to himself as if he had made up his mind, and then his usual naïve smile finally emerged. Following Guanyin’s instructions, he waited near Gao Laozhuang for the arrival of the scripture seeker.

Meanwhile, Guanyin and Merciful Shore Walker were still pondering how to win over Sun Wukong.

Suddenly, clouds surged ahead, and they heard a Jade Dragon up ahead crying for help.

Guanyin and Merciful Shore Walker approached.

"Who are you, Dragon, to suffer here?"

Filled with curiosity, Guanyin approached, only to see a dragon covered in scars and shackled all around, as if he had committed a great crime.

The dragon took a deep breath upon hearing Guanyin’s question and then said, "I am the son of Ao Run, the Dragon King of the Western Sea, accused of setting fire to the heavenly pearls. My father reported to the celestial Court, leading to my conviction for defiance. The Jade Emperor has hung me here, beating me three hundred times, and I am soon to be executed. I beg the Bodhisattva to save me, to save me."

Upon hearing the words of this White Dragon, the eyes of Guanyin Bodhisattva brightened a bit.

Nowadays, the Dragon Clan was in decline, positioned at the very bottom beneath the celestial Court, Buddhism, and Daoist Temple, unable to turn their plight around.

This suffering of the Little White Dragon could, if Buddhism intervened to save him, possibly generate gratitude within the Dragon Clan towards Buddhism.

Although the overall power of the Dragon Clan wasn’t significant, in the Calamity of Measurement of Journey to the West, even a little extra help for Buddhism held considerable advantages.

Immediately, Guanyin had a plan in mind and nodded, "Heaven has the virtue of saving lives. As a monk who has witnessed this, I will naturally save you!"

Hearing Guanyin’s words, the Little White Dragon showed a look of surprise and gratitude.

At this time, Guanyin took Merciful Shore Walker to the celestial Court.

They met the Jade Emperor, hoping that the Jade Emperor would make things convenient.

"Your monk has been commanded by Buddhism to journey to the Eastern Land to seek the scripture seeker. On the way, encountering this tormented dragon, I hereby report and beg to spare his life, entrusting him to your monk, to serve as a beast of burden for the scripture seeker."

The Jade Emperor, unaware of Guanyin’s thoughts and plans, now that Guanyin Bodhisattva had personally spoken, naturally didn’t pursue punishing the Little White Dragon.

He then did Guanyin a favor.

After all, he still needed the support of Buddhism to strengthen his power in the celestial Court in the future.

"Summon someone! Announce our command to release the son of Ao Run from the Sea Dragon Wash. Follow the command of Bodhisattva. When the scripture seeker arrives, let him transform into a White Horse to serve as the scripture seeker’s beast of burden. This will also merit achieving honor in the Western Heaven!"

"Your monk thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!"

Upon hearing that his life was spared, the Little White Dragon couldn’t help but show a look of gratitude.

"Many thanks to the Bodhisattva for your great kindness; without you, this Little Dragon would surely have died today!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva smiled and waved her hand, "From now on, just wait here in this deep gorge for the scripture seeker to arrive. Only then can you redeem your sins through meritorious deeds!"

"Your disciple obeys the command, will wait here for the scripture seeker to arrive!"

The Little White Dragon said, then entered the deep gorge and disappeared from sight.

After witnessing this scene, Guanyin Bodhisattva then led her disciple away from the area.

The journey was quite smooth; they only hoped that no complications would arise concerning Sun Wukong.

As for Golden Cicada, naturally, that was easy to handle, having been arranged by the West. But drawing Sun Wukong to their side was indeed challenging for the Western Direction.

Originally, even Sakyamuni Tathagata had suffered a minor setback in the hands of Sun Wukong, almost preventing the opening of the Journey to the West Calamity.