Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 410 - 396 The Monk Who Subdued the Monkey and the Pig, Part 2

Chapter 410: Chapter 396 The Monk Who Subdued the Monkey and the Pig, Part 2

According to the elder brother’s intention, the Jade Emperor who manages myriad affairs daily, really has no time to bother with such trivial matters and has probably forgotten about them long ago. As long as the marquis truly repents and considering their journey to the West, the Jade Emperor won’t bother with further words.

The marquis promptly said, "This official has truly repented wholeheartedly."

Sun Wukong nodded and said, "We of course believe you, but that old man, the Jade Emperor, is not aware!"

"You should prepare another table of vegetarian offerings, worship the heavens, and sincerely recite scriptures in repentance. As the saying goes, a sincere heart is a spiritual one. As long as your sincerity moves the heavens, the timely rain will arrive immediately," he said.

"Thank you, elder, for your guidance. This official will prepare right away," said the marquis.

Upon hearing this, the marquis immediately thanked Xuanzang and the others, then ordered another table of offerings prepared for the heavens, and the marquis himself, after bathing and changing clothes, knelt before the table and recited scriptures in penitence.

At the same time, the marquis ordered all the people of the county to pray to the heavens together.

Xuanzang also recited scriptures and prayed to the heavens along with the marquis.

In the Nine Heavens above, the Talisman Enforcer, carrying Daoist and Buddhist documents, arrived outside the Celestial Gate to pass on these documents, which were directly brought to the Hall of Illumination and presented to the Four Celestial Masters, who in turn presented them to the Jade Emperor.

After reviewing the documents, the Jade Emperor nodded slightly and said, "Since those folks have good intentions, let’s see how the three affairs at the Fragrance Spreading Hall have gone?"

Suddenly, a general in charge of the Fragrance Spreading Hall reported, "The established mountains of rice and flour have all collapsed. In a moment, all the rice and flour were lost, and the locks also broke."

Then, the celestial official leading the Land Deity of Fengxian County, the City God, and the Community Order and other deities all came together and reported, "In our county, the commandery princess and all families, big and small, have turned to benevolence, respecting Buddhist houses and the heavens. We now ask for your compassionate intervention to bring rain for the relief of our people."

The Jade Emperor was overjoyed at these words and immediately issued a decree, "Order the departments of wind, clouds, thunder, and rain, each follow command, go to the lower realm, to the boundaries of Fengxian County, and this very day and hour, let thunder roar, clouds gather, and rain down three feet and forty-two points."

The Four Celestial Masters conveyed the decree to the four departments, and the deities of these departments descended to the lower realm to manage the clouds and rain.

In an instant, a strong wind rose, dark clouds gathered, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and heavy rain poured down.

The people of Fengxian County were overjoyed, and one by one, ignoring the wind and the rain, they rushed into the streets, cheering jubilantly, "It’s raining, we are finally saved. Thank God for his mercy."

The marquis was also overjoyed, promptly kneeling in front of Sun Wukong and the others to thank them again.

Sun Wukong smiled and said, "There is no need to thank me, thank the heavens instead! I hope that through this incident, you will sincerely repent and commit wholeheartedly to benevolence, never again defying the heavens. If there is a next time, the heavens will not tolerate you!"

The marquis hurriedly said, "This official has learned his lesson, please rest assured, teacher. Having recognized my sins, I will indeed commit wholeheartedly to benevolence and will not commit any acts of defiance against the heavens."

"That is best!" Sun Wukong nodded in satisfaction.

After three years of severe drought, timely rain finally fell, raining continuously day and night before it stopped.

The officials and people of Fengxian County were ecstatic, as the three-year drought had left the fields barren, and the people could only survive on relief food from the Imperial Court of the Tianzhu Country.

Since the drought lasted so long, the relief food provided by the Imperial Court was very limited, resulting in many people of Fengxian County starving to death.

Moreover, many people fled the drought to other lands for refuge, so when Xuanzang and the others first arrived in Fengxian County, they found the streets sparsely populated and desolate.

Now that the heavy rain had come, the people of Fengxian County were saved, and naturally, both officials and citizens were immensely grateful to Sun Wukong and the others.

The marquis was so overwhelmed with joy that he wept, promptly instructing his servants to prepare a lavish banquet to entertain Sun Wukong and his companions. After they had their fill of food and drink, he invited them into the living room to serve tea.

The marquis, with gratitude, said, "Thank you all for deploying your Divine Skills and saving all the people of my county from calamity. We are endlessly grateful and at a loss for how to repay you."

"In this humble official’s opinion, a piece of land should be allocated from within the city, funded by the County Government Office, to build a temple for you, establish your life memorial tablets, engrave your names, and offer sacrifices all year round to repay your great kindness. In this way, you need not travel endlessly, wouldn’t that be wonderful?" he said.

Xuanzang spoke, "We appreciate your kindness, sir, but we are on an important mission and dare not stay long. We must be on our way as soon as possible to reach Mount Meru and obtain the True Scriptures. We really cannot afford further delays, we hope you understand."

The Marquis insisted on building a temple for Sun Wukong and the others, but Xuanzang politely declined. However, the officials and people of Fengxian County were very enthusiastic and persistently wished to keep them, leaving them with no choice but to stay a few days.

Xuanzang kept refusing, but the Marquis still ordered his men to work day and night to start building the temple and shrine for Xuanzang and his disciples.

By the time Xuanzang and his disciples left, the main structures of the temple and shrine had nearly been completed, and they couldn’t help but marvel at the efficiency of Fengxian County’s work.

Originally, the Marquis also wanted Xuanzang and his disciples to stay until the temple and shrine were completed before leaving.

However, Xuanzang, wary of the delay, repeatedly urged to proceed on their journey, and the Marquis had no choice but to let them go.

When they left Fengxian County, all the officials and citizens organized a grand farewell ceremony, escorting them thirty miles out of the city. They watched as Xuanzang and his disciples’ silhouettes disappeared into the distant horizon before they reluctantly returned.

Yet, even after Xuanzang and his disciples had left, the work on the temple and shrine continued day and night.

Xuanzang and his disciples left Fengxian County and continued westward along the main road for some days until another city appeared ahead of them.

Riding on horseback, Xuanzang asked, "Wukong, what city is that ahead? Do you know what place it might be?"

Sun Wukong, somewhat impatient, replied, "Master, your question doesn’t make much sense. We’ve never been here before, so how would we know? We’ll find out when we meet someone to ask."

Xuanzang had no choice but to keep quiet as the group continued forward. Not long after, an elderly man with a walking stick emerged from a nearby grove.

Xuanzang smiled and said, "There’s someone ahead; we can ask him."

Xuanzang dismounted, quickly approached the old man, and respectfully asked him for information.

The elderly man was very polite, smiling as he asked, "Elder, where are you from?"

Xuanzang promptly replied, "I am a monk from the Tang Dynasty of the Eastern Land on a mission to Thunder Sound temple to seek the scriptures. We have traveled to this treasured place and, seeing the city walls, do not know what place this is. I am hoping you, old benefactor, can enlighten me."

The old man quickly said, "So you are a high monk from the Great Tang of the Eastern Land! This humble place is known as Yuhua Province, a commandery of Tianzhu Country."

"The lord of this city is a royal relative of the Emperor of Tianzhu, ennobled as King Hua. This king is wise and greatly respects monks and loves his people. If the revered monk were to meet him, he would surely be treated with great respect."

Xuanzang was overjoyed at hearing this, thanked the old man, and quickly went back to inform Sun Wukong and the others about what the old man had said.

When Xuanzang and his disciples entered the city, although Yuhua Province was just another commandery of Tianzhu Country like Fengxian County, it was more prosperous. This prosperity was due to the regular good weather contrasting with the three years of drought in Fengxian County.

The city was bustling with traffic, a sight of flourishing prosperity, which made Xuanzang joyful. He couldn’t help exclaiming, "The prosperity here is comparable to the Great Tang; truly it is as blissful as the Western Pure Land."

Sun Wukong and his brothers, being of grotesque appearance, attracted much attention upon entering the city. Among the crowd, someone shouted, "I’ve heard of monks who subdue dragons and tigers but never a monk who subdues monkeys and pigs."

Zhu Bajie, following Xuanzang’s instruction to keep a low profile, was walking with his head down but, upon hearing this, abruptly got angry, jumped in front of the man, thrust his snout forward, flapped his ears, and loudly demanded, "Where have you seen a monk who conquers the Pig King? Introduce me to this ’old pig’ to see."

The onlookers were immediately terrified, scattering in all directions to flee for their lives.

Zhu Bajie snorted dismissively and said, "Hmph! These fools just need to be chastised."

Sun Wukong quickly said, "Fool, don’t cause a scene, just keep walking quietly, why bother with these idle people?"

After hearing this, Zhu Bajie then restrained himself, keeping his head down and continued to quietly follow Xuanzang.

Soon, the group arrived outside the Royal Palace.