The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 95 - 093: Flowers Not Flowers, Fog Not Fog

Chapter 95: Chapter 093: Flowers Not Flowers, Fog Not Fog

Meanwhile, Tao Yao had ascended to the Taqing realm in the Thirty-Three Skies and caught sight of the resplendent Doulu Purple Mansion, which filled her with great joy.

Tao Yao hurriedly descended from her cloud and briskly approached the entrance of Doulu Palace where she found two Taoist boys dozing off by the door.

Without disturbing them, she transformed into a streak of colorful light and flew inside. Just as she entered, she was met with a flash of golden light that swiftly bound her tight, draining her of all strength and causing her to fall to the ground while exclaiming, "Ouch, that hurts!"

Alerted by the commotion, the two Taoist boys called out, "What demon dares to recklessly barge into Doulu Palace without knowing its own strength?"

Out from the palace came Laozi, who upon seeing Tao Yao, slightly furrowed his brows and asked, "Who are you?"

The golden light that had ensnared her was one of Laozi’s Magical Treasures, the Golden Rope, which he usually wore around his waist. Sensing an intruder, he had casually cast the Golden Rope, managing to capture Tao Yao perfectly.

After retracting the Golden Rope back into his hand, Laozi helped Tao Yao up and she inquired, "Are you the Grand Supreme Lord?"

Laozi nodded and replied, "Indeed, I am he. What brings you here seeking me?"

Rubbing her sore shoulder, Tao Yao bowed respectfully and said, "Grand Lord, my friend Sun Wukong has wronged you by stealing your Immortal Pills; he is at fault, but I beg you to forgive him and not refine him to death. A lighter punishment would suffice! If that is not acceptable, I am willing to take his place and offer recompense for the Immortal Pills."

Stroking his beard, Laozi pondered and responded, "Your offer of compensation seems appropriate. These Seven-Colored Flat Peaches are indeed rare in this world."

Tao Yao’s complexion turned pale, but she still bowed and said, "If you really insist on compensation, then please just take it, but first release my friend."

With a smile, Laozi said, "Follow me."

Eagerly, Tao Yao followed Laozi into Doulu Palace and straight into the Alchemy Room, where she saw the Alchemy Furnace blazing fiercely. Uncertain if Wukong had been refined to death, she cried out, "Sun Wukong, where are you? I’ve come to see you!"

Suddenly, Laozi lifted the lid of the Bagua Oven, struck a blow on Tao Yao’s back, and sent her flying right into the Alchemy Furnace, engulfed by the raging flames.

"Master!"

Golden Horn exclaimed, "Are you really going to use her for alchemy?"

However, Laozi simply shook his head, offering no reply, and closed the lid of the furnace again. He then sat down quietly on a meditation cushion beside the furnace and fanned the fire at the "Xun" wind position with a Banana Leaf Fan.

"What fate, what fate!" sighed Laozi as he formed a spell with his fingers. The characters representing the eight directions on the Bagua Oven started to flicker one by one.

Wukong, thrown into the Xun Wind Position, first had his eyes irritated by the smoke blown by the Soothing Wind, which gave him Flaming Eyes. Feeling reassured, he quietly waited for Laozi to release him so he could wreak havoc and draw out Tathagata.

Suddenly feeling dizzy and disoriented, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the Flat Peach Garden.

"Huh? How did I end up here?" puzzled Wukong, just as he felt someone pat his shoulder. Turning around, it was Tao Yao.

"Ha ha! Sun Wukong, you sure slept in late today!" exclaimed Tao Yao, reaching out to tug at his face.

Wukong said, "Eh? Wasn’t I locked in Laozi’s furnace? How did I end up here?"

Appearing as if she knew nothing, Tao Yao said in confusion, "What furnace of Laozi? This is the Peach Garden!"

Wukong scratched his head, unsure of the situation. Was he still in the Peach Garden performing his duties, and had all that been merely a deep sleep?

After trying to do some calculations, he realized he could not figure out what month or year it was, and his brow furrowed tightly as he wondered, "What’s going on? Am I dreaming, or... have I actually been in the Peach Garden the whole time, and all these events are just part of a long dream?"

Looking up, he saw the Peach Garden filled with succulent, large, and lustrous peaches that whetted one’s appetite.

Wukong slapped his head, concluding it must indeed have been an illusory dream.

Still contemplating, Wukong then felt that it couldn’t have been a dream because it seemed too real. Now utterly confused, he wondered if the memories of his past and present had become intertwined along with this dream, causing the mix-up. Deciding it was too perplexing to ponder, he resigned himself to cease trying to understand it.

"Tao Yao, do you know how long I’ve slept this time?" Wukong leaned against a tree and asked with squinted eyes.

"Not long at all, just a short while," Tao Yao replied with a smile, her own eyes narrowed.

Yawning, Wukong stretched and inquired, "I can’t even remember how many years I’ve been waiting here in the Peach Garden. Do you remember, Tao Yao?"

After pondering for a moment, Tao Yao suddenly said, "Let me think... It should be about one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years!"

Wukong’s eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed, "I clearly remember I’ve only been here for less than a year or two as a servant; how could it have been 129,600 years?"

With a helpless smile, Tao Yao replied, "You’ve forgotten!"

Curiously, Wukong asked, "Forgotten what?"

Tao Yao explained, "You’ve forgotten that the Heavenly Court has already been destroyed, and the Four Great Continents have also shattered in the great calamity between heaven and earth? This place is now the last sanctuary left."

Wukong’s lips twitched, and he took the Jingu Bang out of his ear, holding it upside down and struck his own forehead with it! With a dull thump, the hit left Wukong dazed, nearly bringing tears to his eyes, and immediately a large bump swelled on his head.

"Giggle... Sun Wukong, what are you doing? Why are you hitting yourself with your own staff?" Tao Yao couldn’t help covering her mouth and laughter burst forth.

Struck dizzy with pain by his own blow, Wukong collapsed to the ground, nearly passing out, and after a while he mumbled, "It’s not a dream!"

He had hit himself to make sure it wasn’t a dream, but the blow made him feel as if his Primordial Spirit was about to burst open, clearly indicating it wasn’t a dream. Rubbing his head, he got up from the ground, still feeling a bit woozy.

With a belly laugh, Tao Yao said, "Of course it’s not a dream. Did you sleep for so long that you’ve become muddled?"

Wukong frowned and said, "Did I really sleep for 129,600 years? And what’s this great calamity all about?"

Tao Yao replied, "It’s the Heavenly Dao executing a cleanse of the Karmic Forces of the world! But there were too many Karmic Forces, so the clean-up was incomplete, and the Heavenly Dao collapsed. The Four Great Continents shattered, everyone died, with only this place preserved. Weird, you experienced it, didn’t you? Seems you really were too confused by your sleep."

Wukong felt a chill throughout his body, his mind teeming with thoughts.

First, if he could reverse time and space to before he was born, then perhaps time and space are now being driven by someone else, and he has arrived in a future world?

Second, maybe this is truly a dream, and he is still inside Laozi’s Pill Furnace.

Third, maybe his previous life and current life are the real dreams, and perhaps he really has slept for that long, with no schemes between Tathagata and the Three Pure Ones, all just imagined within a dream.

Struggling with belief, Wukong said, "Tao Yao, I want to go out and take a look, are you coming out?"

Shaking her head, Tao Yao replied, "Not at all; this is my home, and I would not go out. I’ve never gone out. If you want to go out, then go on your own, but come back early. I will be bored alone."

Wukong felt his thoughts were completely muddled, unable to distinguish what was real and what was false. Everything seemed like an illusory dream, yet also as if it had truly happened.

"Thus have I heard!"

Wukong remembered the "Sutra of the Other Shore," and instinctively brought his hands together in prayer, chanting a verse and closing his eyes slightly, hoping to see through the illusion.

Although Buddha Light rose around him, everything his Wisdom Eye saw seemed real, without a trace of falsehood... wait, how did he get this "Sutra of the Other Shore"?

"Oh... It seems I’ve attained True Fruition and then was honored as the Victorious Fighting Buddha; the Buddha Ancestor gave me the Scriptures."

"And then I came to the Peach Garden and fell asleep, sleeping for over a hundred thousand years? Is this the true course of events?"

Suddenly, Wukong remembered accompanying Tang Sanzang and their total of four people, going through eighty-one trials, finally reaching the Western Heaven, acquiring the Western Scriptures and securing his position, being named the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Then Tathagata passed him a scroll of the "Sutra of the Other Shore," allowing him to reach the other shore. Afterwards, he came to the Peach Garden to find Tao Yao but then fell into a deep sleep, unwittingly for over a hundred thousand years.

All the resistance against Tathagata, the many schemes, past and present lives were but a wild and fanciful dream; he had long ago reached Western Heaven, obtained the true scriptures, and achieved True Fruition.

With a sigh, Wukong thought that since everything was just a dream, it was time to face reality. Tao Yao had mentioned a devastating heavenly ordeal causing the collapse of the Heavenly Dao and the shattering of the Four Great Continents; it was time for him to go out and see for himself what was actually happening.

Wukong said, "I’m going."

"Go then, go! Come back soon!" Tao Yao replied.

"Understood, I’ll be right back," Wukong affirmed.

After Wukong left the Peach Garden, what he saw outside shocked him. Before his eyes were fragments of a shattered world, with these broken parts drifting with murkiness of Primordial Chaos Qi.

Once Wukong was gone, Tao Yao suddenly slumped down, bit her finger, and repeatedly wrote "Sun Wukong" on a peach tree with the script of the Xia Dynasty Dragon Seal; each stroke a heart-piercing pain, murmuring, "Please come back soon..."

Every time she finished writing the name, it would disappear, and thus, she had to keep writing continuously.

To find out what happens next, tune in for the next installment.