Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 256 - 257 You ran away without a fight last time, monkey, how dare you come back

Chapter 256: Chapter 257 You ran away without a fight last time, monkey, how dare you come back

In that cave, at this moment, Xuanzang still sat within, his hands pressed together in prayer, while the few little demons nearby already showed looks of sincere devotion, appearing ready to convert.

"Master, do you want us to let you go?"

A little demon couldn’t help but ask.

"No need, I am going to convert your Great King!"

Upon hearing the little demon’s words, Xuanzang could not help but shake his head.

Xuanzang’s statement prompted the little demon to also press his hands together in prayer, nodding in agreement.

Just at that moment, a little demon rushed in, exclaiming, "Disaster, disaster!"

"What calamity is upon us?"

At this time, the Holy Infant Great King, Red Child, spoke with a frown.

"To report to the Great King, there’s a monk with a furry face and a mouth like Thunder Duke, accompanied by a monk with a big mouth and big ears, at the entrance. They might be here for their master."

"From the looks of it, if we don’t return their master, they plan to overturn the mountain and level the cave dwelling."

Red Child sneered and said, "That’s Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, but how come they’re here? It’s a hundred and fifty li from halfway up the mountain to here, how did they find this place so quickly?"

However, he then shouted, "Minions, bring out the carts!"

In reality, he was quite frustrated in his heart. Xuanzang’s flesh was delectable, but the demons nearby were mostly converted!

This caused him some irritation, and now Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie were here, inciting further anger within him.

It was the perfect opportunity to vent his anger on Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie.

Right then, a group of little demons pushed out five small carts.

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

The little demons arranged the carts according to the Five Elements — metal, wood, water, fire, earth — and let five of them stay guard, while the other five went to report inside.

At this time, the Holy Infant Great King held a fire-tipped spear, eight zhang in length, in his hand.

The Holy Infant Great King, wearing a splendid war skirt around his waist and barefooted, walked out to the entrance.

"Where are those two monkeys and Zhu Bajie?"

The Holy Infant Great King scanned the surroundings, only to find them unexpectedly deserted.

That little demon who had rushed in to report now saw that Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie were nowhere to be seen, leaving his face full of confusion.

"Great King, they seem to have disappeared?"

The little demon said with a bitter smile.

At this moment, Red Child clearly saw that Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie were gone.

"Could those two not care for their master anymore?"

Red Child was utterly baffled.

They had prepared for so long, only to end up preparing for loneliness.

"Great King, what should we do?"

One little demon, utterly speechless, had never witnessed anyone come to their cave entrance and then vanish.

"Go back and steam that monk. They obviously don’t want their master anymore, so why should we show any courtesy?"

Red Child said furiously.

Immediately, he led all the demons back into the cave.

At this time, Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared in the void above, watching the changes happening below, her eyebrows knitted together.

The original intent of Buddhism was to offer a small punishment and a great admonition to Sun Wukong, using Red Child’s Samadhi True Fire to burn him, and with her backing, it would have been easy to injure Sun Wukong, after which Buddhism would intervene to help.

The four travelers of the Journey to the West would surely be grateful, deepening their appreciation for Buddhism, but unexpectedly, Sun Wukong did not follow their script. He had arrived at Red Child’s cave entrance but then turned back and left.

This completely ruined their plans.

"If this continues, it won’t do!"

An expression of cruelty flashed across Guanyin Bodhisattva’s normally compassionate face.

Buddhism actually had another plan, which was to replace Sun Wukong with another monkey, to prevent the Journey to the West from exceeding their predictions.

Originally, Guanyin Bodhisattva was against such an action, but now she hesitated.

...

By this time, Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie were already on their way to look for Sand Monk.

Upon seeing the return of both, Sand Monk quickly came forward to greet them.

"Big Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, where is master?"

Sand Monk looked behind them and saw no trace of the master.

"That demon paid no heed to Old Sun. We had a big fight, but the demon was slightly stronger than me. I fear we’ll need to find some experts to subdue this demon!"

Sun Wukong blatantly lied, leaving Zhu Bajie beside him baffled.

"Second Senior Brother, what’s wrong?"

Sand Monk noticed Zhu Bajie’s reaction and asked with confusion.

"Junior Brother Sand, Big Senior Brother is right. That demon is quite powerful and has those strange flames. If it weren’t for those flames, we would have handled him!"

Zhu Bajie quickly chimed in.

"Flames?"

Upon hearing this, Sand Monk continued, "Since it’s flames, why don’t we seek out the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas? Maybe they can handle that demon!"

Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "I’m afraid that won’t work!"

"That demon’s flames aren’t just any fire — ordinary water can’t extinguish it!"

Zhu Bajie nodded vigorously, looking very much in agreement.

"Then what should we do?"

Sand Monk grew worried, as they still didn’t know the state of their master and they couldn’t deal with that demon.

"We can only seek help from the Bodhisattva!"

Sand Monk fell silent for a moment, recalling the Bodhisattva who had hinted to him not long ago.

With the Bodhisattva’s strength, it was estimated that she could handle the demon to some extent.

"Bodhisattva!"

Zhu Bajie couldn’t help but look at Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong nodded and said, "The Bodhisattva will surely be able to help us, but the time it takes for her to come and go might be too long, I’m afraid our master would have already been eaten by the demon. Maybe we should just go our separate ways!"

Hearing Sun Wukong’s equivocation, Zhu Bajie also couldn’t help but be secretly shocked, finding the idea somewhat inconceivable.

Indeed, it was the eldest brother who was formidable, all for the sake of splitting up and taking a different path!

"How can we do such a thing!"

Hearing Sun Wukong’s words, Sand Monk couldn’t help but become agitated.

"Eldest brother, I think we should still try our luck, who knows, there might still be a chance!"

Zhu Bajie also looked at Sun Wukong, to see what else he had to say.

Just then, Buddha’s light condensed in the sky, and the sound of Buddhist chanting surrounded them, as if countless Shami were chanting within it, filled with the intent of compassion.

However, the expressions of the three present were very different. Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie both just looked coldly at the scene, while Sand Monk’s face showed joy, thinking to himself: Truly a great compassionate Bodhisattva, knowing they were at an impasse, she appeared to rescue them.

"Bodhisattva!"

The three of them brought their hands together in salute, and said politely.

"Amitabha Buddha, my Buddha is merciful, I am already aware of your plight. Follow me to subdue the demons and monsters, and save your master!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva spoke slowly.

Hearing these words, Sun Wukong thought to himself that it was just as he expected, while Zhu Bajie felt moved in his heart, realizing it was just as the eldest brother had said. If they were to abandon the task, Buddhism wouldn’t give up.

And just as expected, here they came.

"Many thanks to the Bodhisattva!"

Sun Wukong acted like he was saying, if you want to subdue demons, go ahead.

"Wukong, come with me!"

Upon hearing Sun Wukong’s words, the corner of Guanyin Bodhisattva’s eye couldn’t help but twitch.

"I shall obey the Bodhisattva’s wishes!"

Sun Wukong, who felt he had no choice, followed the Bodhisattva, although he really didn’t want to go.

The Bodhisattva and Sun Wukong together headed for the Fire Cloud Cave!

After reaching the sky above the Fire Cloud Cave, Guanyin Bodhisattva finally said, "Wukong, go and challenge the demon to battle, you may lose but not win. If you are defeated, come to me, and I will use my mana to capture him."

Sun Wukong couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless; Guanyin Bodhisattva clearly had other methods and yet insisted on using such trivial tricks, which was something he didn’t quite understand.

But since Guanyin Bodhisattva had said so, he had no choice but to comply.

"As you command!"

Sun Wukong said respectfully and then descended in a ray of light, arriving in front of the Fire Cloud Cave!

He had already taken out his wooden staff!

"Demon, open the gate, come out quickly, or your Grandpa Sun will have to smash his way in!"

Upon hearing Sun Wukong’s words, several little demons guarding the door couldn’t help showing a panicked expression, and then shouted aloud, "Great King, Great King!"

"That Sun Wukong is back again!"

"It’s that monkey again, who tricked me into coming out last time; this time, we don’t need to bother with him!"

At this moment, Red Child, hearing his subordinates’ words, shouted back immediately. He was already preparing to join forces with many of his underling little demons to cook Xuanzang.

"Amitabha Buddha!"

At this point, a rich Buddha’s light radiated from Xuanzang, and golden light spread in all directions. These little demons were not very powerful and soon started showing reverent expressions.

Even Red Child, the Holy Infant Great King, began to show a devout look under such Buddhist chanting.

"My Buddha is compassionate; every creature under heaven has the chance to attain Buddhahood!"

From Xuanzang’s mouth came sounds of Buddhist chanting, which Red Child found difficult to resist.

"Amitabha Buddha!"

Red Child gradually brought his hands together.

At this time outside the door, Sun Wukong looked up at Guanyin Bodhisattva and said, "Bodhisattva, the demon doesn’t come out!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva frowned and said, "Wukong, are you not employing your Great Magical Power to break open this demon’s gate!"

Sun Wukong shouted loudly, "If you little demons won’t come out, don’t blame your Grandpa Sun for being merciless!"

His wooden staff emitted golden light, already gathering tremendous force, and at that moment, it crashed down with a thunderous roar.

It struck the stone gate.

After the stone gate let out a loud roar, everything shook violently.

"Who dares to trespass my cave dwelling?"

Just then, a voice came out from within the cave dwelling, it was the voice of Red Child.

Hearing Red Child’s voice, Sun Wukong stepped back a few paces.

Then several small carts were pushed out by Red Child, followed by arranging them according to the Five Elements.

And Red Child, holding a long spear, looked at Sun Wukong as he retreated.

"You monkey, last time you fled without fighting, and now you have the cheek to come again!"

"Daring to come this time, perhaps I should kill you!"

Red Child was already feeling extremely frustrated and angry in his heart, and now looking at Sun Wukong, his fury increased, and he shouted with intent to kill.

"Come on, let’s see what you’re made of, you little brat!"

Sun Wukong snorted coldly and then stepped forward, swinging his staff down at Red Child.

In the roaring sound, it seemed as if the entire sky couldn’t bear the force of Sun Wukong’s staff.