Great Demon Sun Wukong

The night was deep and quiet, but I knew many people were not asleep. Tathagata was not, Jade Emperor was not, Master was not, and neither was I. Perhaps the only one fast asleep was Bajie, that fool. He’s been carefree ever since he followed me from the time his Cloud Ladder Cave was burned down back at Gao Village, which is several hundred years till now.

I don’t know if it was right or wrong, but had I not existed, Master would still be a monk, going through countless reincarnations just for the sake of acquiring scriptures, Bajie would still be a pig demon with his heart set on Moon Palace, and our younger brother Sha would still be at Flowing Sands River, searching for pieces of his cassock, and the White Dragon would still be reigning as the Water Dragon King.

But if it was always ’if,’ the beginning wouldn’t have been as such, nor would the outcome be the same. Now, the only thing I can do is to conserve energy and build up strength, preparing for the great battle ahead.

Spiritual Mount, Great Thunderclap Monastery.

"Kashyapa, how well prepared is the War Buddha?"

"Amitabha Buddha, Buddha, the War Buddha has severed his two corpses, but he has yet to formally attain Nirvana and certify the Dao. Perhaps he is afraid of alarming the Jade Emperor."

"Well, that’s good. You should also prepare. It’s not certain that our Spiritual Mount can stay out of this.

Notify the Buddha of the Past, the Buddha of the Future, The Four Heavenly Vajra Kings, the Buddhas of the Five Directions, the Eight Bodhisattvas, the Ten Great Disciples, the Eighteen Arhats, and the Eighteen Brahmas, as well as the Twenty Heavenly Gods to come to me, I have something to say. Amitabha Buddha, go now."

"Yes, Buddha."

Mount Wuzhuang, Five Villas View.

The Grandmaster Zhen Yuanzi flicked his sleeves and murmured to the Ginseng Fruit Tree, "Back then, Sun Wukong uprooted you with his staff. Although Guanyin revived you, you still need time to recover. Well, it’s also a karmic connection. This time, I will lend that Monkey a helping hand, after all, I once made an eight-prayer brotherhood oath with him.

Infinite Life Buddha, I wonder if it’s right or wrong."

A long sigh seemed to sway heaven and earth, and the only response seemed to be from the Ginseng Fruit Tree itself.

Emerald Cloud Mountain, Banana Leaf Cave

"Husband, have you really thought it through? Are you truly going to help that monkey?"

"My dear wife, I know you bear a grudge against the monkey, but he had no choice back then. Besides, so many years have passed, and our daughter Hong is fine, isn’t she? Although Guanyin took her to the South Sea, thankfully, her life was not in danger. Moreover, I and the monkey are sworn brothers; I cannot refuse to help him.

Even if I put aside all that, even if it’s just for the sake of avenging Hong, I have to make a commotion. Let all the Heavenly Gods and Buddhas know that I, Bull Demon King, am not one to shy from conflict."

"Sigh, I know I can’t dissuade you, but I’m just worried for your safety. This time is not like before. If we lose, we’re done for."

"So what? I, Old Bull, am not afraid of that. Back in our days, the seven brothers swore a brotherhood to seek freedom and happiness, but could not bear the heavy-handed treatment from the Heavenly Palace. This drove us brothers to scatter and hide, not seeing each other for over a thousand years. They even instigated me to fight against the Monkey King, an affront that must be avenged.

My lady, after I leave, you must protect our home well to prevent other demons from taking over in my absence."

"Husband, your wife understands."

With that, the Bull Demon King stepped out of the cave, where a dense crowd of various demons filled the sky, but no one made a sound.

"My minions!"

"Here!"

A roaring shout thundered through heaven and earth.

"Good, this time, we will assist Flower Fruit Mountain in storming the Heavenly Palace, making everyone aware that our Demon Clan is not to be trifled with. However, some of us may die; are you afraid?"

"We are not afraid."

"What if there are too many enemies?"

"Even if only one remains, we will fight to the death!"

"Hahaha, minions, tell me, where do you come from, whose demon soldiers are you?"

"Mount Pingding, Demon Cloud Cave, Bull Demon King. Fight, fight, fight."

"Hahahaha, Monkey, Old Bull is coming."

North Sea Dark Abyss Water Palace

"Report, Your Majesty, five hundred thousand water soldiers are ready, and the cave is about to be closed, ready to follow Your Majesty into battle any time."

"Good, tell everyone, we will march at dawn tomorrow, destination: Flower Fruit Mountain."

Monkey, it’s not that I fear death, just that the Heavenly Palace is too powerful for me to shake alone, so I retreated to the shores of the North Sea, conserving strength and biding my time. Now, at last, I can be put to use.

The War Buddha of the North Sea, Flood Dragon Demon King, is finally about to emerge. Monkey, you must wait for me.

Western Star of Kui Mulang

"Kui Mulang, have you really made up your mind?"

"Jiao Mu Jiao, Big Brother, I’ve made up my mind. This time, I’m determined to help the Great Sage. First of all, although we are one of the twenty-eight stars in heaven, we are essentially members of the Demon Clan. Since we ascended to heaven, which of the immortals has ever looked at us with respect? This is an opportunity.

I’d rather face utter destruction after failure than continue living as a blissfully ignorant immortal in heaven."

"Brother Wolf, I know the second reason is for your Baihua, hehe."

With a blush, Kui Mulang said to the Heart Moon Fox, "You’ve never been in love, so how could you understand the agony of yearning?"

"Alright, the twenty-eight constellations have always shared honor and disgrace together. After being immortals for thousands of years, continuing as such wouldn’t make much difference. Since this presents an opportunity, let’s stir things up with the Great Sage.

Even if we fail in the end, at least people will know that the twenty-eight constellations are beings with flesh and blood, with feelings and loyalty."

The constellations exclaimed, "Good!"

South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest

"Mu Zha, go call for the Black Bear Spirit."

"Yes."

A moment later

"Bodhisattva, the Black Bear Spirit has been brought here."

"Black Bear, how long have you been with me?"

"Back to Bodhisattva, it has been more than a thousand years."

"Have you ever thought of leaving?"

"That..."

"Consider yourself honest. This seat knows that you’ve long had the intention to leave. This time, I order Mu Zha to take you to the Heavenly Palace to meet with King of the Heavenly Tower Li Jing and to follow his commands."

"Yes, I shall heed the Bodhisattva’s decree."

"Mu Zha, off you go."

"Yes, Bodhisattva."

Court of the King of the Heavenly Tower in the Heavenly Palace

"Father, is, is everything you said true?"

"Hmm, when has your father ever lied?"

"But, aren’t we from the Heavenly Palace? Why... why should we help Sun Wukong of the Demon Clan, although I hold no ill will toward him?"

"Nezha, do you know why you, a deity of the Three Altars Sea Meeting, bear no malice and even feel kindly toward a demon?"

"Father, I hold no affection for him. He is a demon, and we are deities; deities and demons cannot coexist."

"Haha, indeed, I was not mistaken; you truly are not my son Nezha. If it was Nezha, he would certainly have admitted it."

"Ah? Father, what—what are you saying? I am Nezha, I am your third son, Nezha. Don’t you recognize me, Father? Or have I done something wrong?"

After speaking, Nezha knelt down hastily, his severe panic not feigned at all.

"Rise, although you are not that Nezha, you are this Nezha."

"Father, I don’t understand what you’re saying."

"It’s alright if you don’t understand, let me tell you a story. Long ago, Fire God Zhurong battled with Water Deity Gonggong. Defeated, Gonggong, in a fit of rage, broke Mount Buzhou, causing the Heavenly Pillar to fall and a great hole to appear in the heavens. Consequently, Progenitor of the Demon Clan Nuwa smelted the Five-Colored Divine Stone to mend the sky.

However, during the repair, due to the fierce storm, Nuwa inadvertently caused a small piece of the Five-Colored Divine Stone from the tortoise shell that propped up the sky to fall out. Since the Five-Colored Divine Stone had been tempered by the Nine-Flavor True Fire, it was scalding hot, and the small piece alone was enough to bring another disaster upon the creatures of the earth.

Therefore, Nuwa, disregarding the burning heat of the stone, swallowed it, preventing another catastrophe."

Having said this, Li Jing looked up into the distance, pausing for a while in contemplation before continuing, "After Nuwa had mended the sky, a small piece of the Divine Stone still remained in the tortoise shell. Nuwa placed the Divine Stone on the peak of Flower Fruit Mountain, hoping to use nature’s spiritual energy to quench the fire of the Divine Stone.

Millions of years later, that piece of Divine Stone gave birth to the current Great Sage Equalling Heaven, the Beautiful Monkey King."

"Then Father, what about the piece Nuwa had in her mouth? What happened to it?"

"That piece, Nuwa placed it in what later became Chentang Pass. She hoped to use the water vapor from the four seas to extinguish its sacred fire."

"Ah? Father, The Divine Stone, it couldn’t be, couldn’t it...?"

"Yes, that Divine Stone is indeed you, for at that time it was nourished by the Spiritual Charm of Nuwa, which is why you came into being earlier than that monkey and entered your mother’s womb to take human form."

"Father, how do you know all this?"

"Because on the day of your birth, Nuwa descended to Chen Tang Pass and told me all this. The Goddess also said that you were born rebellious, and your existence was meant to destroy heaven and earth. However, you would face many tribulations; if you overcame them, you would become the spirit of heaven and earth, but if you failed, you would turn to ashes and smoke."

At this point, Nezha stood there, stunned. But Li Jing, seemingly indifferent, continued, "After your birth, Heavenly Palace immediately became aware of your existence. They were afraid, afraid that all of this would come true, afraid that you would truly destroy heaven and earth.

Therefore, the Jade Emperor conspired with the East Sea Dragon King to trap you, leading to your wrathful slaying of the Dragon King’s son. This gave them sufficient reason, and all that followed was a conspiracy devised by the Jade Emperor, ultimately driving you to a dead end where you took your own life on the city walls."

At this, Li Jing was full of tears of regret, but he did not stop, and continued to speak, "I curse my cowardice back then, for knowing it was a conspiracy and yet being powerless, I could only watch you die with my eyes wide open. Later, your body was taken by the Immortal Taiyi, who used a lotus root to make a body for you, resurrecting you.

But, but as your father, I know, that wasn’t really you, that was just one soul and three spirits with a puppet body."

"Father, why did they have to force me? Why didn’t they send Immortals to kill me directly?"

"Because in this world, apart from yourself, no one can take your life. However, thankfully, the Ancient Buddha of the Lamp bestowed upon me the Exquisite Pagoda. Though at that time you only had one soul and three spirits, after thousands of years nourished within the pagoda, you have now regained all three souls and seven spirits. It’s only that you’ve lost many of your memories."

"Father, is there a way to restore my memories? I want to return to my original self, not remain this puppet."

"There is only one way, and that is for Sun Wukong to transform into the Five-Colored Divine Stone and then infuse you with the essence of the Five-Colored Divine Stone. In this way, you will become your true self. Therefore, we must help Sun Wukong this time, helping him win this war. By the way, your brother will also return to join us in aid of Flower Fruit Mountain."

"Yes, Father, I will prepare now and head to Flower Fruit Mountain tomorrow."

That night, Nezha had a dream, in which he and a monkey roamed freely, laughing defiantly at the world.

Eight Hundred Li of Lion Camel Ridge, Lion Camel Cave

"Big brother, it’s been a few hundred years since we returned, hasn’t it? Remember how carefree and joyful we were when we claimed the mountain as kings - it’s just a pity, alas!"

"You’re still alright, third brother, staying by the side of Tathagata every day, listening to the Buddhist Law and advancing your cultivation. But second brother and I suffered, serving as mounts for Manjushri and Samantabhadra for hundreds of years, only able to eat grass – I’ve even forgotten what the taste of meat is like."

"Big brother, once that rat comes, let’s go down the mountain and have a big feast. I’m not planning to go back this time. I’d rather die in battle than be a mount again. Second brother has missed you and big brother greatly over these years."

"Second brother has it right, I don’t want to go back to Western Paradise either. This time, we three brothers must thoroughly establish ourselves as kings and join that monkey in a fight,"

The Three Demon Kings had just finished speaking when a gust of yellow wind swept by, dropping a figure nearby.

"Lion big brother, Elephant big brother, and Roc big brother, I’m late, please don’t blame me."

"Haha, you thieving, oil-guzzling rat, what took you so long?"

"Hehe, without thieving oil, how could I have achieved today’s cultivation? To be honest, I’m not planning to return to Spiritual Mount either, so I need to take care of that nest of rat progeny."

"So, Rat, you feel the same way. We three brothers are of the same mind; we really don’t want to return to Spiritual Mount either. Well, this time the four of us will go to Flower Fruit Mountain and make some noise with the monkey. Let the world witness the prowess of the Demon Clan. Roc, you fly fast, take our fourth brother with you, let’s go."

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