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

Chapter 82, 5th Village: Sun Wukong Suffers Disaster in Place of His Master

Meanwhile, Zhenyuan Daxian, along with Mingyue and Qingfeng, rode in auspicious light and chased after Tang Sanzang to the west. He traveled swiftly on clouds, covering a thousand miles in an instant. He looked over but could not see Tang Sanzang. He looked back again and finally spotted him.

It turned out that the immortal was too fast on his feet and covered more than 900 li in one go; Tang Sanzang and his disciples only traveled 120 li in one night.

The fairy boy pointed and said, "Master, the one sitting under the tree by the roadside is none other than Tang Sanzang."

The immortal said, "You all go back to the temple first and prepare ropes for me to take him."

The two children responded and returned immediately; the rest is omitted.

The immortal descended from the clouds, transformed into a wandering Taoist priest, holding a whisk and lightly tapping a fish drum. He slowly walked to the tree and called out to Tang Sanzang, "Elder, this humble Taoist bows in greeting."

Tang Sanzang hurriedly returned the greeting, saying, "My apologies! My apologies!"

The sage asked, "Elder, where do you come from? Why are you meditating and resting here?"

Tang Sanzang said, "This humble monk is a messenger from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East, sent to the Western Paradise to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. I am just passing through and will be resting here for a while."

The immortal feigned surprise: "Elder, when you came from the east, did you pass by the Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain?"

Tang Sanzang asked, "Where does the immortal reside, sir?"

The Great Immortal said, "The Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain is where I cultivate."

Upon hearing this, Wukong inwardly cried out in alarm and quickly replied, "No! No! We came from the main road and did not pass by any immortal temple."

The immortal pointed at Wukong and laughed loudly, "You mischievous monkey! Who can you fool? You knocked down my ginseng fruit tree and fled here overnight, and you still dare to use clever words to cover it up? Don't go, quickly return my immortal tree!"

Sun Wukong was both shocked and furious. He drew his golden cudgel and, without saying a word, struck her on the head.

The immortal dodged to the side and ascended into the sky on auspicious clouds.

Wukong also rode the cloud and hurried after them.

The immortal revealed his true form in mid-air, holding a jade whisk, blocking left and right. After a few rounds, he used the "Hidden Universe in Sleeves" technique.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

He simply unfurled his robe sleeves in the wind, and with a "whoosh," he swept the entire group of Tang Sanzang and his disciples, along with their horse, into his sleeves.

My vision was blurred and I couldn't tell which way was which.

Pigsy cried out in the darkness, "Brother, have we arrived in the underworld? Why is it so dark!"

Wukong said, "Fool, stop yelling! This is that old Taoist's sleeve."

Pigsy exclaimed in surprise, "Sleeves? Where in the world are there sleeves this big!"

Wukong said, "You don't know, this is the great supernatural power of 'the universe hidden in the sleeve,' it's no small matter."

Pigsy said, "What's there to be afraid of! I'll beat my rake, make a few holes in it, crawl out, and just say the cage isn't secure enough and I'll hang it down!"

After saying this, he raised his rake and struck wildly, but the sleeve, which looked soft, was harder than refined iron when he struck it, and it didn't budge an inch.

The immortal turned back to the temple on a cloud and ordered someone to fetch a rope.

He then pulled out the people one by one from his sleeve, like puppets.

All the celestial children stepped forward and tied Tang Sanzang to a pillar under the eaves of the main hall; they also tied Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing to a pillar each; the horses were led in the courtyard, and the luggage was left under the eaves.

Seeing that the ropes were tied up, the immortal laughed and said, "Monkey, even if you have some supernatural powers, you'll have to behave yourself here. My Wuzhuang Temple, though not an inescapable net, still doesn't allow you to come and go as you please! Boy, bring the instruments of torture!"

The disciples then brought out a set of instruments of torture.

The immortal said, "Tang Sanzang is a monk; he doesn't need swords or spears. Bring a leather whip and give him a good beating to avenge my ginseng fruit tree!"

Before long, the fairy presented a long whip—not made of cowhide or sheepskin, but a dragon-skin seven-star whip.

A young immortal, holding a whip, asked, "Master, which one should we strike first?"

The immortal said, "Tang Sanzang is not disciplined properly, so punish him first."

Upon hearing this, Wukong thought to himself, "My master is only human; how can he withstand such a beating? If he gets hurt, it will be my fault."

He shouted loudly, "Immortal Master, you are mistaken! I was the one who stole the fruit, I was the one who ate the fruit, and I was the one who knocked down the immortal tree. Why don't you punish me, but instead punish my master?"

The immortal laughed and said, "This mischievous monkey does have some sense of loyalty. In that case, I'll hit you first."

The fairy asked, "How much?"

The immortal said, "Give me thirty lashes, according to the number of ginseng fruits."

The fairy raised her whip and struck.

Wukong was afraid that the immortals' magic was powerful, so he opened his eyes wide and watched intently, trying to see where they would strike.

But when he saw the fairy whipping his leg, he twisted his waist and shouted, "Transform!"

His legs were like two pieces of wrought iron, enduring the whipping.

After the little fairy had lashed him thirty times, it was nearly noon.

The immortal then ordered, "Tang Sanzang should also be punished. He was not disciplined properly and allowed his disciple to commit violence."

Wukong hurriedly cried out again, "Immortal Master, you're wrong again! My master knew nothing about stealing the fruit; it was all my brothers' doing. Even if he is guilty of failing to discipline his disciples properly, I should bear the blame. Beat me again if you will!"

The immortal laughed and said, "This mischievous monkey, though wicked, does have some filial piety. In that case, I will still beat you."

Xiao Xian whipped him thirty more times.

Wukong looked down and saw that his two legs had been beaten until they were shiny and smooth, but he felt no pain or itching at all.

As dusk approached, the immortal said, "Let's soak the whip in water and torture him again tomorrow."

Little fairy, put away your whips and go back to your rooms.

The Great Immortal returned to the hall and, upon seeing Li Fa, said, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, fellow Daoist."

Li Fa said, "That monkey was refined into an indestructible body in Laozi's Eight Trigrams Furnace. Not to mention whips, even knife cuts and axe chops cannot harm a single hair on his head."

The immortal said, "I do know a little about this, which is why I should beat Tang Sanzang first. But this monkey does have some filial piety."

Li Fa said, "He is by no means a wicked person, just a bit cunning and clever, so I predict he will have to run away again tonight."

The sage said, "Let him run it. We must make him submit willingly."

Li Fa said, "That makes perfect sense."

So the two chatted for a while longer before returning to their rooms to rest.

Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang, with tears in his eyes, complained to his three disciples, "It's all your fault! You've made me suffer along with you. How could you do this?"

Wukong said, "Stop complaining. If you're going to hit someone, hit me first. You haven't been hit before, so why are you sighing and complaining?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Although I wasn't hit, my body still aches from being tied up."

Sha Wujing said, "Master, there are others here who were tied up as well."

The traveler said, "Don't make a fuss, let's stop and walk a little longer."

Pigsy said, "Brother, you're pulling another trick. This rope has been sprayed with water and tied so tightly, how are we supposed to walk?"

The traveler said, "I'm not bragging, but even if his three-strand hemp rope were sprayed with water, or even a palm fiber cable as thick as a bowl, it would be no match for the autumn wind!"

As they were talking, all was already silent; the streets were quiet and still.

Good Wukong, shrinking his body slightly and taking off the rope, said, "Master, let's go quickly!"

Sha Wujing panicked and cried out, "Brother, please save us too!"

The traveler said, "Keep your voice down! Keep your voice down!"

He first untied Tang Sanzang, then released Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, tidied his clothes, led the horse, took the luggage from the corridor, and quietly left Wuzhuang Temple together.

Wukong then said to Bajie, "Go to the edge of the cliff and cut down four willow trees."

Pigsy asked, "What do you want him to do?"

Wukong said, "It's useful! Go and come back quickly!"

The fool had no choice but to go over, knock down four willow trees with his mouth, and hug them.

Wukong broke off the branch, and then secretly returned with Bajie and Sha Wujing, tying the original rope to the pillar as before.

Then he chanted a spell, bit his tongue, spat his blood onto the willow tree, and shouted, "Transform!"

One tree transformed into Tang Sanzang, another into himself, and the other two into Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie, all looking exactly alike. He could speak when asked and respond when called by name.

After doing all this, the four of them set off again, taking advantage of the darkness, and fled Wuzhuang Temple without stopping.