The Battle in Journey to the West-Chapter 75 - 0 The Monkey King Jin Xing Complains of

Wukong grinned malevolently, “Old Changgeng, what brings you looking for Old Sun this time? Don’t tell me you want Old Sun to be the Protector of the Horses again?”

The six Great Demon Kings chuckled and said, “This time, they may want you to be a Protector of the Horses for bulls. Haha, haha!”

Wukong, ridiculed by his six brothers, felt he couldn’t save face and grew irate, “Old Changgeng, you’ve caused Old Sun to lose face, and now you shall taste Old Sun’s wrath.”

Li Changgeng hastily replied, “Hold on, Great Saint—spare my life! I truly didn’t expect the Jade Emperor would appoint you to such a minor position; it was completely unexpected.”

Wukong then asked, “So, what brings you to my Flower-Fruit Mountain this time? Don’t tell me you want to recruit Old Sun to be a Protector of the Horses for bulls?”

Li Changgeng hurriedly said, “I dare not, I dare not!” After a pause, “This time His Majesty has invited the Great Saint to take up the position of ‘Great Sage Equalling Heaven’, and especially sent me to Flower-Fruit Mountain to deliver the edict.”

“Hand over the decree.” Wukong extended his hand, snatched Li Changgeng’s sacred edict, opened it, and sure enough, it was true.

Wukong returned the sacred edict to Li Changgeng and said to the six Great Demon Kings, “Brothers, look, I was right after all. The old Jade Emperor, unable to defeat me, has come to make peace.”

Li Changgeng hastily added, “Great Saint, please be careful with your words. In the heavens, there are Thousand-Mile Eyes and Ears that Reach Around the Corners who can see and hear you.”

The Macaques King laughed scornfully, “Old Venus, you’re too naive. Those two merely have a trace of Ancient Demonic Beast bloodline; with me here, they can’t snoop around. Do you know my title?”

Li Changgeng quickly bowed and said, “You are the Ventilating Sage, Macaques King.”

The Macaques King, hearing Li Changgeng correctly call his name and title, felt incredibly proud and boasted, “Good to know! With me here, Thousand-Mile Eyes and Ears that Reach Around the Corners are wasting their efforts. If you want to curse that old Jade Emperor, just go ahead and curse.”

Meanwhile, the Jade Emperor had ordered Ears that Reach Around the Corners to listen in on Flower-Fruit Mountain, when suddenly he cried out in pain, “Ouch! It’s killing me!” Ears that Reach Around the Corners was seen rolling on the ground, clutching his ears with blood flowing from them. While listening in, he was suddenly bombarded with a cacophony of sound, a noise loud enough to make his Primordial Spirit tremble, nearly bursting his eardrums. If he hadn’t stopped using his Divine Skills in time, he might have indeed gone deaf.

Thousand-Mile Eyes asked, “Brother, what happened to you?”

Ears that Reach Around the Corners exclaimed, “Ow! Big brother, there’s a master at Flower-Fruit Mountain who interfered with my hearing and nearly made me deaf.”

Thousand-Mile Eyes then said, “I’ll take a look.”

He summoned his divine skills to look toward Flower-Fruit Mountain but could only see waves of mist and haze, a clear indication that Flower-Fruit Mountain was cloaked in a formation, concealed from prying eyes.

Li Changgeng broke out in a cold sweat and thought to himself, “These Demon Kings indeed have audacity that reaches the sky, it’s best not to offend them.” He hurriedly made a bow and said, “Great Sage, this time the Jade Emperor sincerely invited you to Heaven to be the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, what do you intend to do?”

Wukong replied, “If that’s the case, why did they send Heavenly Soldiers to wipe out my Flower-Fruit Mountain earlier?”

Li Changgeng said, “It was all because Li Jing deceived the Jade Emperor with demon talk earlier. It was entirely through my mediation that the Jade Emperor had a change of heart and sought to enlist you, Great Sage.”

Wukong laughed and replied, “So that’s how it was, I’ve wrongly blamed you, Old Venus.”

Li Changgeng responded, “Dare not, dare not take credit.”

Wukong turned to his six brothers and asked, “Brothers, should Old Sun go up to the heavens with Old Venus to have a look?”

Naturally, Li Changgeng was hoping that Wukong would go with him to Heaven, as it would allow him to complete the Jade Emperor’s mission. Furthermore, the Jade Emperor would no longer send troops to attack Flower-Fruit Mountain. In this way, he wouldn’t need to be caught in the middle, worried about Wukong leveraging any leverage against him. Once they were in Heaven, he’d have more options available.

“Who knows if the Old Jade Emperor is up to some secret plot this time? If you go up there, I’m afraid you might get harmed,” said the Ox Demon King.

“Big brother, no need to worry. I, Old Sun, am endowed with vast divine skills; those shrimp soldiers and crab generals in the Jade Emperor’s hands are no match for me. If something really goes wrong, the six brothers can just fight their way up to Heaven together. We’ll stir the Heavenly Court upside down. Besides, with Old Changgeng as our insider, if anything does happen, he’ll let us know,” Wukong said with a smile.

Wukong’s casual references to “Old Venus” and “Old Changgeng” caused White Gold Star a great deal of annoyance in his heart, but he dared not show the slightest displeasure. These Demon Kings were lawless, and even if they killed him, there would be nowhere to argue his case. Especially since Wukong held evidence of his disrespect towards the Jade Emperor, this made his headache unbearable.

The seven great demons had actually already discussed everything in private and were just putting on an act. Knowing what Wukong was doing and his objectives, which wasn’t merely seeking pleasure, they were certain that the play of the Seven Great Saints disintegrating in a previous life would not be replayed.

The Ox Demon King saw that Li Changgeng was getting nervous and chuckled sinisterly, “Old Changgeng, it’s no good to have a foot in two boats! When my brother ascends to the Heavenly Court, you’d better take good care of us. Otherwise, if Old Bull causes trouble, I might just go to the Jade Emperor and sue you for your disrespect.”

Li Changgeng hurriedly replied, “Of course, I will naturally do my best to help.”

The Ox Demon King laughed heartily, patting Li Changgeng’s shoulder, “Come on, let’s have a good drink before we talk.”

Li Changgeng’s face instantly soured, recalling how last time it was a drink that led to trouble, and now having to drink again, he was somewhat trepidatious.

However, he dared not defy the wishes of these Demon Kings, so he had to grit his teeth and accompany them for drinks and chat as if sitting on pins and needles.

The feast was truly uncomfortable, each sip of wine felt like a knife scraping his throat. He swore to himself, he would never come to Flower-Fruit Mountain for any sort of pacification mission again, better to leave the Jade Emperor to find someone more capable. Once back in Heaven, he would excuse himself from duties for a while, under the pretense of cultivation and seclusion, and wait until things settled down.

Li Changgeng thought to himself, is it possible that he’s offended Tai Sui recently, to be so unlucky as to be threatened by these several Demon Kings?

After the feast was over, Li Changgeng proposed, “Great Sage, without further delay, the Jade Emperor’s decree cannot be put off. Let us hurry to Heaven to hear what the Jade Emperor has arranged.”

Wukong set his wine cup down and said, “Alright, alright, let’s not make it difficult for Old Venus here, let’s go up to Heaven and meet the Jade Emperor. But careful, if they give Old Sun another office like Protector of the Horses or Bi Niu Wen, beware I might call on you with my Jingu Bang on your head.”

Li Changgeng couldn’t help but smile bitterly and said, “Fine, fine, be at ease, Great Sage, I will make sure your wishes are fulfilled, and you become the Great Sage Equalling Heaven.”

Peng Demon King declared, “Brother, go ahead. We’ll manage Flower-Fruit Mountain just fine—water won’t even splash in! With just one word from you, we’d rush to the Heavenly Court immediately.”

Li Changgeng inwardly groaned in distress but dared not linger anymore. He hastily took Wukong and soared towards Heaven on the clouds.

To find out what happens next, please join us for the following installment.