Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 276 - 277 Who Has Such Great Ability

Chapter 276: Chapter 277 Who Has Such Great Ability

Sun Wukong frowned as he looked at the blissful Yangli Immortal in the oil pot.

Frowning, Sun Wukong couldn’t help but reach into the oil pot to test it, and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

The oil in the pot had no heat to it, clearly just like warm water; it was not hot oil at all.

Sun Wukong glanced again and saw that indeed wood was being added to fuel the fire, a no-negligence manner.

The fire was truly blazing vigorously; it couldn’t possibly be faked.

Still, the monkey had some doubts in his heart.

"When I washed, the oil was boiling hot, but for him, it’s cold? I know now, there must be that Dragon King protecting him!"

Instantly, his Primordial Spirit left his body and ascended into the Void, shouting loudly, "You horned loach, why are you protecting the bottom of the pot for this Yangli Immortal?"

Upon hearing Sun Wukong’s words, the North Sea Dragon King also hurried over.

"Great Sage, you don’t know, this creature, after enduring bitter cultivation and shedding its body, withstood the Five Thunder Magic. Though it can only be considered a side path and not the Way of the Immortals, it still possesses exceptional cultivation!"

"And its self-created Cold Dragon, good at deceiving mortal eyes, naturally can’t fool the Great Sage. Once Little Dragon captures his Cold Dragon, let him explode until his bones are crisp and skin is charred!"

Upon hearing the North Sea Dragon King’s words, Sun Wukong nodded and said, "Hurry up and seize him, lest I have to take action against you!"

The Dragon King also hurriedly replied, "Right away, right away!"

Soon after, the Dragon King transformed into a whirlwind, arriving at the side of the oil pot and captured the Cold Dragon from within.

Then he left directly.

Sun Wukong, seeing that the Cold Dragon had been taken away, couldn’t help but nod.

He returned to the side of the oil pot, observing the Yangli Immortal inside the pot.

Without the Cold Dragon, the Yangli Immortal could no longer endure the high temperature of the hot oil in the pot.

He began rolling and struggling inside it.

He attempted to climb out but simply couldn’t manage it and fell back in when he reached the edge of the pot.

It wasn’t long before the Yangli Immortal was scalded so that his bones came loose, his skin turned crispy, and his flesh rotted.

An executioner witnessing this scene hurried back to report to His Majesty.

"Your Majesty, the Third National Advisor has been dissolved by hot oil!"

Upon hearing this, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom couldn’t help but burst into loud sobbing, "Alas, how could all of my Cart Slow Kingdom’s kings have perished in the Yellow Springs!"

"King, first have a look at what demon your Three National Advisors were!"

Sun Wukong couldn’t help but remind him.

Hearing Sun Wukong’s words, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom immediately had someone retrieve from the oil pot!

After a while, the executioner came back to report.

"Your Majesty, I’ve only fished out an antelope’s skeleton from the oil pot!"

"What?"

Upon hearing the executioner’s words, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom couldn’t help but show a shocked face, exclaiming, "Why would the Third National Advisor turn into an antelope after death?"

Even if the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom was dull-witted, he started realizing something was amiss at this point.

Initially, the Immortal Huli was beheaded and turned into a Yellow Fur Tiger.

Then, the Luli Immortal died a tragic death by disembowelment, turning into a deer.

Last, the Yangli Immortal was scalded to death in the oil pot, becoming an antelope.

All of this seemed very suspicious.

Once or twice might be said to be the monks’ Blinding Technique, but all three National Advisors ended the same way.

This made the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom feel a shocking fright, and he began to realize a possibility in his mind.

"Could it be that all three National Advisors of my Cart Slow Kingdom were demons?"

The more the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom thought about it, the more likely it seemed, but considering this possibility made him feel sad.

"Heavens, why has this befallen me, why have these three demons become the National Advisors of my Cart Slow Kingdom?"

Saying this, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom slumped weakly into the Dragon Throne, unable to hold back his tears.

Sun Wukong, seeing this, couldn’t help but curl his lip and stepped forward to say, "You, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom, how can you be so dim-witted? The corpses of those three advisors turned out to be a tiger, a deer, and a sheep, and you still don’t believe they were demons?"

"They were three demons who became spirits in the mountains, seeking to harm you!"

"They didn’t dare lay a hand on you before because your fate hadn’t run out. If they had waited two more years, once your vitality had faded, they would have surely taken your life!"

"By then, the realm of your Cart Slow Kingdom would have become theirs, if we hadn’t arrived just in time to rid you of these three demons, where would your life be?"

"What’s there to cry about? You should be happy instead. Hurry up and give us the Pass Permit, so we can be on our way."

After Sun Wukong’s speech, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom finally came to his senses.

At this time, the civil and military officials of the Cart Slow Kingdom also couldn’t help but start advising, "Your Majesty, what the Great Sage says is true, the three National Advisors indeed transformed into a Yellow Fur Tiger, a White Fur Deer, and indeed, the one scalded to death in the oil pot turned into an antelope!"

"The golden words of the Great Sage must be heeded!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, please discern wisely!"

"..."

Finally, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom came to his senses, and repeatedly said, "In that case, I would like to express my gratitude to the noble sages and great immortals from the Great Tang of the Eastern Land!"

The King of the Cart Slow Kingdom gave a slight bow to the four Journey to the West travelers, paid his respects, and then said, "As it is already getting late, I invite you all to rest at our Zhiyuan Temple tonight. I will arrange a banquet to thank you for saving our lives!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong and the others did not refuse and thus accepted the invitation.

Seeing that everyone had agreed, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom was overjoyed and quickly made arrangements to have Sun Wukong and the others taken to the temple to rest.

Xuanzang and the others also followed the arrangements of the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom.

The next day at the fifth watch of the night.

The King of the Cart Slow Kingdom awoke early for the morning court session, with the civil and military officials assembled in the court of the Cart Slow Kingdom.

The King of the Cart Slow Kingdom ordered, "Quickly post the Monk Recruitment Announcement, and display it throughout the Cart Slow Kingdom!"

At the same time, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom also prepared a grand banquet.

He personally went to the entrance of Zhiyuan Temple to invite everyone to the Eastern Pavilion for the feast.

Meanwhile, the five hundred monks who had previously encountered Sun Wukong and others laboring in the Cart Slow Kingdom heard about the Monk Recruitment Announcement and were ecstatic.

They all found the monkey to thank him for saving their lives, and at the same time, for ridding the Cart Slow Kingdom of the three monsters!

Sun Wukong and the others enjoyed a good feast at the banquet hosted by the court.

After the banquet was over, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom returned the Pass Permit to Xuanzang and the others!

Later, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom, accompanied by the full court of civil and military officials, the Empress, and the concubines, respectfully saw off Wukong and the others from the Cart Slow Kingdom.

As Sun Wukong and his three companions just stepped out of the city gates of the Cart Slow Kingdom, they saw those monks kneeling on the ground.

These monks knelt in unison on the ground and upon seeing Sun Wukong and the others, they loudly chanted in unison.

"Thank you Great Sage Equalling Heaven, we are the monks who labored at the city gates. Thanks to Great Sage Equalling Heaven’s assistance, we were able to escape from our suffering!"

"This time, upon hearing the Monk Recruitment Announcement, we learned that the evil spirits of the Cart Slow Kingdom have been completely eradicated, allowing the Cart Slow Kingdom to start recruiting monks and revering Buddha!"

"Therefore, we’ve been waiting here especially to express our immense gratitude to Great Sage Equalling Heaven for his great benevolence!"

"I see, how many of you have come here?"

The leading monk hastily replied, "Replying to Great Sage, neither more nor less, there are precisely five hundred monks here!"

Sun Wukong heard this and smiled slightly, nodding in acceptance of these monks’ gratitude.

After helping them to their feet, Xuanzang came forward and shared with them his understanding of the Buddhist Law, insisting that they must not only revere the counterfeit Buddha.

Sun Wukong turned to look back at the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom.

"Your Majesty, these monks were released by Old Sun, and the vehicles they labored with were destroyed by Old Sun. As for the demon disciples of those three monsters, Old Sun was the one who killed them!"

Worried that the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom might still be muddled, Sun Wukong took responsibility for everything.

"Now that those three monsters have been eliminated, your Cart Slow Kingdom must not oppress monks in favor of the Way as you did before or abandon the Tao because of three demons, nor should you listen to others’ slander!"

"I hope that in the future, you can unite the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, treating them equally within the Cart Slow Kingdom. You should respect monks as well as Taoists, and at the same time cultivate more talent. Only then can you ensure that your kingdom remains secure!"

After hearing Sun Wukong’s advice, the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom dared not disobey and was nodding continuously.

Then, with the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom’s repeated expressions of gratitude, Sun Wukong and Xuanzang finally departed.

Once they saw that the King of the Cart Slow Kingdom had such an understanding, Sun Wukong and the others left and continued on their journey westward.

Although the matter of the Cart Slow Kingdom had concluded, some things still puzzled them.

After all, the five hundred monks from the Cart Slow Kingdom were not freed by him.

He just wanted to inform Xuanzang and the others, and then think about how to resolve the matter. However, what he did not expect was that these monks were quickly rescued by someone else.

Even the two Taoists who guarded the monks had been killed.

Moreover, that night at the temple in the Cart Slow Kingdom, the three of them had simply gone to eat the offerings of Three Pure Ones Temple.

After hearing someone’s approach, they had just played a little trick before leaving.

They had never actually met the Immortal Huli, Luli Immortal, or the Yangli Immortal, let alone the matter of the Holy Water being conferred upon them later.

These issues had nothing to do with them at all.

The key point was that some people were adamant, as if they had already determined that it was the monkey’s doing.

Some even said they saw him with their own eyes.

This was obviously strange.

Who exactly was behind this deception?

These issues puzzled not only Sun Wukong but also Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk.

They were unaware of the release of the five hundred monks, but they were with Sun Wukong when they met the three counterfeit immortals.

Thus, Sun Wukong believed that someone must be impersonating him, intending to frame and blame him; otherwise, such incidents could not have occurred!

But who could have such capability?