Journey to the West: Starting with the Hunting of the Three Demons of Twin Fork Ridge

Chapter 78, Fifth Manor: Tear Down the Ginseng Fruit Tree

It turns out that Sun Wukong's earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique for escaping through the earth) was taught to him by Li Fa. Although it is one of the Five Elements Great Escape Techniques, it is not the complete version, so he can only burrow about ten feet deep.

The local deity then said, "If you still don't believe me, Great Sage, you can try striking this ground."

Wukong immediately drew his golden cudgel and struck it once. With a loud bang, the cudgel flew up and left no trace on the ground.

Wukong said, "Indeed! Indeed! My staff can shatter stones and leave marks on cast iron, so how come it didn't hurt you at all this time? If that's the case, then I've misunderstood you. You should go back now."

The land deity then returned to his original temple.

So Wukong climbed the tree again, this time being more careful. He picked three fruits, then covered them with his clothes, jumped down the tree, and went straight to the kitchen.

When they arrived at the kitchen, Sun Wukong took out the fruit, and the three brothers each ate one.

Pigsy, with his large stomach and mouth, saw the fruit, grabbed it, opened his mouth, and swallowed it whole. Then, rolling his eyes at Monkey and Sandy, he asked, "What are you two eating?"

Sha Wujing said, "Ginseng fruit."

Pigsy asked, "What does it taste like?"

Wukong said, "Wujing, ignore him! You should eat first, then who are you going to ask?"

Bajie said, "Brother, I ate in a hurry, unlike you who chewed and swallowed carefully, tasting the flavor. I didn't even know if there was a pit or not, I just swallowed it."

Brother, if you're going to help someone out, go get another one so Old Pig can have a good taste.

Wukong said, "Brother, you are so ungrateful. This stuff is not like rice or noodles, which can fill you up easily."

"Only thirty fruits are produced in ten thousand years. For us to consume this one is a great blessing, not something to be taken lightly."

After saying that, Wukong leaned forward and threw the golden cudgel through the window into the Taoist room.

But Bajie was still unwilling to give up and kept muttering to himself, which was overheard by Qingfeng and Mingyue as they returned to their rooms.

The two men turned around and saw the golden cudgel on the ground, realizing something was wrong.

So the two of them hurriedly went to the ginseng garden, leaned against a tree, and looked up to count; going back and forth, they found only twenty-two.

Mingyue said, "Senior brother, there's no need to say anything. It must have been those villains who stole it. Let's just curse Tang Sanzang."

The two left the garden gate and went straight to the hall. They pointed at Tang Sanzang and said that he was bald in the front and back, using foul language to curse him as a thief with a rat's head and a short, smelly body.

Tang Sanzang, unable to bear it any longer, said, "Immortal boy, what are you doing? Speak slowly."

Qingfeng said, "Are you deaf? You stole the ginseng fruit, why won't you let me know?"

Tang Sanzang asked, "What does the ginseng fruit look like?"

Mingyue said, "I just brought it for you to eat, and you said it looked like something a child would eat?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Amitabha! I was terrified the moment I saw that thing, yet I still dared to steal its food! Don't blame people wrongly."

Qingfeng said, "Even though you haven't eaten any, your subordinates are still trying to steal some."

Tang Sanzang said, "That makes sense. Don't shout yet. Let me ask them. If it was stolen, I'll make them compensate you."

Mingyue said, "We'll lose money! Where can we buy it with that kind of money?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Even if you have money, there's nowhere to buy it. As the saying goes, 'Benevolence and righteousness are worth a thousand pieces of gold.' Just have him pay his respects, and that's it. The key is, you still don't know if it's really him or not."

Mingyue said, "How could it not be him? He's complaining about not getting his share, and he's still making a fuss over there."

Tang Sanzang called out, "Disciples, come here."

Upon hearing this, Sha Wujing exclaimed, "Oh no! We've been caught! The master called us, but the young novice was cursing and swearing; he must have found out!"

Wukong said, "How shameful! This is nothing but food! If we tell anyone, it would be like we stole something, so let's not admit it."

Pigsy said, "That's right, that's right, let's forget about it."

The three of them had no choice but to leave the kitchen and go up to the palace, refusing to admit it to the death.

Tang Sanzang advised, "Disciple, calm down. We are monks; we should not lie or eat food that goes against our conscience. If you did eat it, apologize to him. Why deny it like this?"

Wukong, seeing that his master's words made sense, told him the truth.

But he forgot there was another one in the field, so the numbers didn't match, and they started arguing again.

Pigsy chimed in, "Amitabha! If you stole four, why only take out three to divide? Did you already have a pre-arranged scheme?"

Sun Wukong was so angry that he gritted his teeth and widened his fiery eyes. He used a clone technique, leaving the fake body to stand in place and be scolded, while his real body escaped to the orchard and knocked down the ginseng fruit tree by the roots.

Just as the leaves fell and the roots sprouted from the soil, the Taoist severed the grass and restored the elixir!

Qingfeng and Mingyue cursed for a long time, but Tang Seng and the others did not retaliate.

Qingfeng said, "We've been scolding them for a while, but they haven't said a word. Could it be that he really didn't steal any food? Or maybe the tree is tall and the leaves are dense, and he couldn't count them all. Let's go check again."

Mingyue said, "That makes sense."

They went to the garden again, only to find that the tree had fallen and the fruit had not fallen.

So frightened was Qingfeng that his legs went weak and he stumbled, and Mingyue's waist trembled and she was terrified.

The two of them collapsed to the ground, their words incoherent, crying out, "What's wrong! What's wrong! You've ruined the alchemist of my Wuzhuang Temple, severing the lineage of our immortals! How are we supposed to explain this to our master when he comes home?"

Mingyue said, "Brother, don't make a fuss yet. Let's calm them down first. This must have been done by Tang Sanzang's men. Let's appease them first, then lock them in the room and wait for Master to return."

Qingfeng said, "Junior brother is right. I just don't know how long it will be before Master returns. If he returns late and Tang Sanzang and his group fight their way out of the temple, we will be no match for them and we may be in trouble."

Upon hearing this, Mingyue pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Senior brother, have you forgotten that there is an old immortal in the temple?"

Qingfeng asked, "Are you referring to the Ultimate Transformation True Person?"

Mingyue nodded and said, "Since this person is an old friend of my master, he must be someone with great supernatural powers. Why don't we ask him?"

Qingfeng said, "That makes sense! But he also has a past with Tang Sanzang, I'm afraid..."

Mingyue said, "Senior brother, don't worry. This sage is a virtuous person. As long as we explain the situation, he will not favor Tang Sanzang."

Therefore, we must go our separate ways. You go and keep Tang Sanzang occupied, locking them inside the door for now, while I go find the immortal.

So the two boys did as they were told, and Qingfeng went to the hall to calm Tang Sanzang down.

Although Sun Wukong was suspicious, he only said that they had a way to bring the dead back to life, and didn't say anything more.

Qingfeng went out, but locked the main hall, and then came another round of insults, which I won't go into detail about.

Then, Mingyue arrived at Li Fa's room, bowed deeply, and cried out, "Master! Help! Something terrible has happened!"

Upon seeing his appearance, Li Fa knew that Sun Wukong had already knocked down the fruit tree, but he pretended to be surprised and said, "Immortal boy, what is the matter? Please get up quickly and tell me what happened."

Mingyue kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face: "Master, the very lifeblood of my Wuzhuang Temple has been destroyed today!"

We were ordered by our master to guard the ginseng fruit tree. We just discovered that the fruit was missing, and we argued with Tang Sanzang and his disciples. Who would have thought that Tang Sanzang's men would get so angry that they would push down our ginseng fruit tree by the roots!

The tree withered and the fruit fell; the immortal roots were severed; the spiritual root of ten thousand years was destroyed in a single day!

If Master returns, my two little fairy attendants will surely be shattered to pieces and die a thousand deaths for their sins!

We earnestly beg the Immortal to spare our lives and save our Wuzhuang Temple's immortal roots, out of respect for our master!