Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 355 - 356: Make a Name, Establish Prestige

Chapter 355: Chapter 356: Make a Name, Establish Prestige

Zhu Bajie glanced around and quickly found an inconspicuous cave to squeeze into.

Then, quite unexpectedly, he blocked the entrance and began to snore heavily inside.

Actually, Zhu Bajie did this partly because of Sun Wukong’s influence, who had warned him from the start to be vigilant.

Now facing such a place, Zhu Bajie naturally wanted to be extra cautious.

What could be safer than hiding in a cave and sleeping?

At that moment, Sun Wukong saw this whole scene and couldn’t help but chuckle. He was just about to tease him when he suddenly heard a bizarre and extremely unpleasant singing coming from afar.

"The Great King ordered me to patrol the mountains! After the South Mountain, I patrol the North Mountain..."

Sun Wukong didn’t bother with Zhu Bajie any longer but turned to look intently in the direction of the noise, only to see a little demon swinging leisurely from behind a mountain, still singing, "Be mindful of Xuanzang on the road, catch him for meat and also make a soup!"

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Sun Wukong’s face, "It seems that the demons here already know about the master’s arrival. Maybe I can get some information from him..."

With that thought, Sun Wukong’s eyes twinkled with mischief. He descended and transformed himself into a little demon.

He imitated the patrolling little demon’s manner, knocking on a clapper, shaking a bell, carrying a flag, and even wearing an identical outfit, though he was one size larger.

Then he called out to the little demon, "Hey you, wait up a minute!"

The little demon turned around in surprise and said, "Hey... you... who are you?"

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "Hey, you blind thing, can’t recognize your own kind anymore?"

The little demon looked confused, "I don’t have a family."

Sun Wukong’s smile stiffened, and he coughed dryly, "From the same cave, and you don’t recognize me? Look closely, it’s me! Think hard!"

The little demon examined Sun Wukong closely, muttering, "You do look kind of familiar."

How could he not look familiar? Sun Wukong had transformed precisely into this demon’s appearance!

Sun Wukong smiled and said, "If I look familiar, that’s good. I’m the one who tends the fire in our cave dwelling. We haven’t met many times."

The little demon became alert upon hearing this, "That’s not right, I know the fire-tender well, and there’s no one like you! You must be doing something else!"

"No, our Great King runs a tight ship, with everyone following strict roles, absolutely no stepping out of line allowed."

"The fire-tender is just that, the cook just cooks, and the mountain patroller just patrols. If you’re the fire-tender, what are you doing here?"

Sun Wukong hadn’t expected such a well-organized group of demons.

But Sun Wukong wasn’t flustered. As a monkey who had seen considerable action, having been to the celestial Court and all, facing a little demon was nothing. He chuckled, "You don’t understand. The Great King saw how well I managed the fire, so he promoted me to patrol the mountains."

The little demon still didn’t believe him, saying, "Our mountain patrols have forty members per shift, a total of four hundred, each with their own face and name."

"The Great King is worried about mixing up the shifts, making it hard to roll call, so he gave each of us a Waist Token."

The little demon seemed to think of something and looked sharply at Sun Wukong, "Do you have a Waist Token?"

Sun Wukong didn’t know about the Waist Token; he had just glanced at the little demon from a distance and transformed accordingly.

But Sun Wukong kept his composure and said seriously, "Of course I have a Waist Token. But how do I know you aren’t an impostor?"

The little demon, unaware of Sun Wukong’s scheme, proudly lifted his garment and took out a token, shaking it in front of Sun Wukong.

The back of the token read "Intimidating All Demons," and the front bore the name "Little Whirlwind."

Sun Wukong thought for a moment; the pattern on the token likely meant all mountain-patrolling demons had ’wind’ in their names. So he plucked a strand of his fur and transformed it into an identical token, only changing the name on the front to "Chief Whirlwind"!

The little demon, seeing this, was utterly dumbfounded, "We all go by Little Whirlwind, how come yours is Chief Whirlwind?"

Sun Wukong spoke smugly, "That’s because you don’t know. The Great King thought highly of me and specially promoted me to Chief Whirlwind, putting me in charge of your group of forty brothers."

The little demon was taken aback and without giving it much thought, immediately bowed, "Little Whirlwind, at your service, sir! Since you’re new here and I didn’t recognize you, I spoke out of turn, please forgive me."

Sun Wukong laughed, "Ignorance is not a crime, and not only do I not blame you, I even want to offer you a great opportunity!"

Little Whirlwind, overjoyed, said, "Please lead the way, sir!"

Sun Wukong turned and pointed to a distant spot, "Just now while I was patrolling, I spotted a pig-headed human-bodied monk squeezing into that little cave over there."

Little Whirlwind’s eyes lit up, "A pig-headed human-bodied monk? Could it be the famous Zhu Bajie from the scripture seeker’s entourage? The Great King told us to keep an eye on them, looking for a chance to capture them for a meat feast!"

Sun Wukong was somewhat surprised in his heart, even though he had already guessed they had arrived, now it seemed definitely so.

He had not expected such a small place to be well-informed, as the demons and monsters here had already gathered nearby.

Since that was the case, they must already be aware of their formidable presence.

Yet knowing how formidable they were, they still hadn’t left?

It seemed that these monsters all had some abilities after all.

But since he had already encountered a little demon, it was natural to inquire thoroughly and see how much these monsters knew.

After all, the principle of knowing oneself and the enemy to never be defeated in a hundred battles was something he still understood, so he asked, "Since you know Zhu Bajie, you must also know Sun Wukong, right?"

Little Whirlwind immediately said, "Of course I know him, I also know that group includes the Great General Who Lifts the Curtain and a White Dragon Horse."

Sun Wukong nodded and continued to say to this monster, "Since you know, then you must also know that Sun Wukong is skilled in the Art of Transformation."

"Since he’s coming, he definitely might transform into any variety of plants, animals, or even you and me to gather intelligence. Therefore, I suspect that you might not be Little Whirlwind, but Sun Wukong!"

Upon hearing this, Little Whirlwind became anxious: "Officer, I really am Little Whirlwind, not Sun Wukong."

"Just because you say you aren’t? I’ll test you first!" said Sun Wukong, his eyes darting as he spoke seriously.

Little Whirlwind had no suspicions and immediately patted his chest, saying, "Ask away, Officer. There’s little on this mountain that I don’t know about."

Sun Wukong nodded slightly, then asked, "If you truly are who you say, then what abilities does the Great King have, do you know?"

Little Whirlwind immediately said, "I know, I know! My Great King has immense Divine Skills, once swallowed a hundred thousand celestial Soldiers in one gulp!"

Sun Wukong was taken aback upon hearing this.

Having fought with a hundred thousand celestial Soldiers, he knew what kind of force that represented. Swallowing a hundred thousand celestial Soldiers in one gulp was indeed a show of strength!

Little Whirlwind continued, "Back then, during the Flat Peach Banquet set by the Queen Mother of the West, invitations were sent to all Heavens’ Immortals and Buddhas but not to my great king. Dissatisfied, he killed his way up there.

The Jade Emperor dispatched a hundred thousand celestial Soldiers to stop him, but my great king directly used the Art of Transformation, turned into a giant lion that reached the heavens, and swallowed all those hundred thousand celestial Soldiers in one bite! It frightened the celestial Soldiers so much that they dared not leave the Southern Heaven Gate, and his reputation shook the world!"

Listening to this little demon’s words, Sun Wukong became a bit skeptical— if this demon truly were that powerful, wouldn’t it be known throughout the world?

He figured that this Demon King must be deceiving his subordinates.

Nevertheless, now that the little demon had said so, Sun Wukong naturally wouldn’t deny it, continuing, "That’s indeed not incorrect. What else do you know?"

Little Whirlwind, seemingly eager to show off his knowledge, boastfully said, "The Second Great King is equally formidable. He’s three zhang tall, with caterpillar brows, phoenix eyes, a voice like a beautiful woman’s, carrying-exaggerated teeth, and his nose resembling a flood dragon."

"If he fights someone, just a sweep of his nose would suffice, no matter if his opponent has a body of iron and copper, their soul will be swept away, causing them to die on the spot and vanish!"

Sun Wukong hadn’t expected that the Second Great King would be skilled in the Soul Capturing Technique.

The Soul Capturing Technique seemed rather troublesome, but he had long since united his soul and body, so he had no fear of it.

Sun Wukong continued nodding and said, "Well said, continue."

Little Whirlwind, appearing eager to flaunt his extensive knowledge, pompously said, "The Third Beating King is even more formidable. He isn’t a demon of the Mortal Realm, known as the Cloud Traversing Myriad Miles Peng, and he is a Golden-Winged Roc!"

"With a single flap of his wings, he can cover ninety thousand li, moving as fast as the wind and lightning, and he possesses an incredible treasure named the Yin Yang Second Qi Bottle."

"Just by putting someone inside the bottle, within the span of a moment they will dissolve into a pool of blood! There is no deader than that."

Sun Wukong nodded, noting that this Third Elder was fast, but it was uncertain whether he was faster than him.

And considering his treasure, it seemed to have some power, so he ought to be cautious of that bottle...

Meanwhile, Sun Wukong said, "What you’ve said isn’t wrong either, and it’s similar to what I know."

Speaking of which, Sun Wukong’s eyes darted as he said, "One last question, everyone knows that Xuanzang offers Universal Salvation to Demons and Monsters, and although consuming him can grant Longevity, given such danger, why doesn’t our Great King just run away? Instead, he stays here, desperately wanting to capture Xuanzang?"

Little Whirlwind immediately said, "My greatest king and the Second Great King have long resided in Lion’s Camel Cave on Lion Camel Ridge. The Third Great King doesn’t live here; his original residence is about four hundred li to the west of here."

"There lies a great city named Lion Camel Kingdom. Five hundred years ago, he consumed the City King and all the military officials and civilians, men and women, leaving the city utterly clean and took over their land."

"Not long ago, the Third Great King sent a message that he was about to marry."

"My greatest king and the Second Great King were thinking, there was nothing suitable to gift, and just then they heard Xuanzang was coming, so they planned to capture him to offer as a present to the Third Great King to change things up."

"Of course, while many say that Xuanzang has led many small demons to retreat, how could our three Great Kings be afraid? It’s an ideal opportunity to capture him and let the world understand, that to our great kings, even a Holy Monk is but food in their mouths!"

"Of course, they also wanted to display our great kings’ power to the surrounding demons and monsters, assert their fame, and establish their authority."