The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 85 - 084: The Celestial Palace Gods Capture the Monster

Chapter 85: Chapter 084: The Celestial Palace Gods Capture the Monster

The Seven Fairies and others, immobilized by Wukong’s freezing spell, were finally able to move. When they opened their eyes again, they were shocked to see that all the Peaches of Immortality in the garden had been picked clean.

The Seven Fairies hurried back to Yao Pond, entered the Queen Mother’s sleeping palace, and reported to her, "Your Majesty, there’s trouble!

The Queen Mother, displeased, said, "What trouble? You’re making such a fuss."

The White-robed Fairy Maiden said, "Your Majesty, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, has stolen all the Peaches of Immortality from the Peach Garden, immobilized us with a freezing spell, and now he has escaped."

The Purple-robed Fairy Maiden said, "Your Majesty, the Great Sage has swept clean the entire garden of its Peaches of Immortality."

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother was truly shocked. She had already been notified by the Jade Emperor but had not expected Sun Wukong to be so daring as to whisk away all the Peaches of Immortality in an instant! She suddenly stood up from her couch and exclaimed loudly, "What are you saying? All the Peaches of Immortality, over three hundred thousand of them, have been taken away?"

The Blue-robed Fairy Maiden said, "Your Majesty... we were originally picking Peaches of Immortality for the Flat Peach Festival. The Great Sage suddenly immobilized us and the garden guards and warriors with a freezing spell, then used his divine powers to steal all of the peaches. We are incompetent, so please punish us, Your Majesty."

With a total of three thousand six hundred peach trees in the Peach Garden, each tree capable of bearing one hundred peaches, making a total of three hundred and sixty thousand peaches, the loss of all of them in an instant was a great one indeed. It made the Queen Mother feel as if the heavens were spinning, and she nearly fell from her couch from the shock, managing only to slowly sit back down with the help of the armrest.

Seeing the Queen Mother remained silent for a long time, the Seven Fairies grew even more fearful. The Queen Mother had always ruled with strictness, and they were very afraid of her punishment.

The Queen Mother waved her hand and commanded, "Prepare my chariot, I’m going to the Hall of Light to see the Jade Emperor!"

Suddenly, a steward from the Flat Peach Festival came to report, kneeling down and saying, "Your Majesty, there’s big trouble! All the drinks and precious fruits for the festival have been stolen. We were incompetent, allowing someone to put us to sleep with the Sleepy Insect and failing to stop them."

Once again, the Queen Mother’s face turned pale. She waved the others away, waited for the Immortal Officials to bring the Heavenly Horse and prepare the chariot. She then said, "Prepare my chariot to the Hall of Light. We’ll see His Majesty first and then discuss."

As the Queen Mother sat in her chariot, her face constantly changing, she felt an immense heartache. Even for someone with great divine powers, ripening those Peaches of Immortality would take substantial time. Now, all were stolen at once, a great loss! Moreover, Sun Wukong also took away all the Immortal Brew and precious fruits from the Flat Peach Festival, which was even more humiliating... The Queen Mother’s heart was filled with secret irritation, as she urged the charioteer to hasten the horses.

Upon arriving at the Hall of Light, they encountered the Barefoot Immortal. The Immortal greeted her, "I have seen the Queen Mother. Just now, I met the Great Sage, who said he would come to pay his respects at the Hall of Light before heading to the Flat Peach Festival. He even joked that he had deceived me."

The Queen Mother’s face turned furious, ready to erupt in anger. The Seven Fairies quickly pulled the Barefoot Immortal aside. The carriage stopped in front of the Hall of Light, and the Queen Mother strode into the hall.

The Immortal Official outside had gone to alert the Jade Emperor who came out to meet her and asked, "Your Majesty has come to see me, is there something the matter?"

The Queen Mother, with a gloomy expression, said, "A fine job you have done, Your Majesty!"

The Jade Emperor, still unaware of what had transpired, saw the Queen Mother’s unhappy face and asked, "What matter?"

The Queen Mother angrily said, "Your Majesty claimed that monkey, despite his divine powers, could not take away my entire Peach Garden. But now, that monkey has taken away all three hundred and sixty thousand Peaches of Immortality, not leaving a single one. He also caused chaos at the Flat Peach Festival, and stole countless Immortal Brew and precious fruits. How will you explain this to me?"

The Jade Emperor was also surprised upon hearing this, as he had not expected Wukong to have such ability. He stomped his foot, saying, "Is this true?"

Suddenly, the Golden Horned Boy came to report, entering the hall to inform the Jade Emperor, "I have seen the Queen Mother and Your Majesty. The Grand Supreme Elder Lord sent me to report that he had been refining Five Gourds of Nine-turn Elixir, but today he went to the Vermilion Ridge Pavilion to discuss the Taoist ways and scriptures with the Dipankara Buddha, leaving no guards in the Doulu Palace, and the Great Sage Equal to Heaven stole them. He sent me to inform Your Majesty!"

The Jade Emperor inwardly cursed, "This monkey head is lawless. Is this not the Three Pure Ones acting behind the scenes, while pretending to catch the thief?" He waved a hand, signaling the Golden Horned Boy to leave and report back to Laojun.

"To think even Laojun’s elixirs he dares to steal; is he tired of living?" the Queen Mother exclaimed in shock.

"Your Majesty does not know, the reason this monkey acts so lawlessly is precisely because the Three Pure Ones are behind it all! That Grand Supreme Lord Lao is truly abominable, playing the thief while crying ’Stop the thief!’. As for the Peach Garden incident, who knows if it was his scheming too," the Jade Emperor said through gritted teeth.

Having lost so many Peaches of Immortality, and once again facing suppression by the Three Pure Ones, his intention was to use the peaches to win over masters of the Taoist arts, or to cultivate a group of experts. Now, however, all had been taken by Wukong in an instant. This grudge was such that he truly wanted to skin him, chew his flesh, and gnaw his bones!

The Queen Mother said in shock, "Your Majesty, you must not speak recklessly. The Demon Monkey is beyond reform, but would the saintly Three Pure Ones really indulge him like this?"

The Jade Emperor replied, "Your Majesty is unaware, allow me to explain everything."

The Queen Mother and he were originally both a boy and a girl under Hongjun Daozu, who had gone missing. Later, with Yuan Shi taking charge of the Heavenly Dao, these two were selected to rule over the Three Realms. Thus, they turned to Yuan Shi Immortal Monarch as their teacher. Yuan Shi, wielding his Divine Whip, reestablished the Heavenly Dao, arranged the celestial ranks, and laid the foundation for the Heavenly Court. When the Jade Emperor’s power had grown, he began to vie with Yuan Shi for power, resulting in an open and covert struggle, even demanding the Twelve Celestial Chiefs to submit as vassals. They eventually fell out completely and have been strictly controlled by the Three Pure Ones ever since.