Volume 1: Unsayable Chapter 50: Insulting the Four Monsters

Upon seeing these four, Wukong thought of their master and, though unaware of the full details, guessed almost everything correctly. What a pair of so-called “Four Great Bodhisattvas”—appearing calm and non-confrontational on the surface, yet secretly coveting others’ treasures. What a false mask they wore!
Hearing the Green Lion Demon’s provocation, Wukong remained silent. His own Bull Demon King loved battle above all else, so there was no need for him to step in.
Sure enough, when the Bull Demon King saw the lion daring to insult Wukong—and already feeling guilty over the matter with Erlang Shen—he stepped forward and said, “You four ungrateful brutes, come here quickly and face your death!”
Seeing that neither Wukong nor Fengtong dared speak, and only the Bull Demon King was defending them, the four monsters grew even more confident. “Can’t we even take down an old ox?”
The Green Lion Demon glared fiercely, swung its great sword at the Bull Demon King, and since it was just ordinary iron, the Bull Demon King didn’t even dodge. He braced himself and met the attack head-on. The Green Lion Demon rejoiced inwardly—what a foolish ox that didn’t know its limits! No one had ever dared to block my sword before!
As the steel sword met the ox’s head, a clang of metal rang out. The Green Lion Demon felt severe pain in both arms. Looking at its sword, it had now turned into a bent, serrated rod. The Bull Demon King rubbed his forehead and laughed, “You lion does have some strength. Now take this stick from me too!”
The Green Lion Demon didn’t dare confront him and turned to flee. The White Elephant Demon rushed up behind it, speaking in a soft voice that sounded extremely awkward, “Don’t be arrogant!”
The Bull Demon King was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. “I, an old ox, don’t fight women!” The White Elephant Demon’s face turned slightly red—not from shyness, but from extreme anger. It thrust its spear forward, and the Bull Demon King swayed his iron rod, knocking it right at the middle of the spear. The White Elephant Demon managed to hold on, preventing the spear from slipping from its hand. Thus, it dared not engage head-on anymore and instead used intricate spear techniques to attack from a distance.
Seeing the two locked in combat and realizing the White Elephant Demon was likely to lose, the Golden Fish Demon suggested, “Catch those two monkeys first, then deal with this old ox later!”
The Green Lion Demon and theWeasel and rat Demon suddenly understood. The three of them rushed forward to capture Wukong and Fengtong. But the Bull Demon King wasn’t at all panicked. He sneered inwardly—these death-defying fools! Even my brother couldn’t catch me.

Wukong sneered, and his Golden Cudgel met the steel fork in themink mouse demon’s hand. With just one clash, the demon’s fist burst open, and he fled in terror. The Golden Fish demon was quite cunning; though he shouted early, he lagged behind in action. Seeing that themink mouse demon couldn’t hold out even for a moment, he panicked and tried to flee without fighting. Wukong had always hated him, so he chased after him and struck with his cudgel. The Golden Fish demon, in a state of panic, had no chance to dodge. His golden scales fell one by one as he plummeted from the clouds.

What had originally been a three-versus-two battle now turned into a three-versus-two situation. Fengtong also refrained from fighting the Green Lion demon, merely circling around it. The Green Lion demon looked utterly confused, unable to find a way out. Wukong praised Fengtong’s tactical skills, noting that he could employ strategies even during battle.

By now, the White Elephant demon had exhausted all his strength. Knowing he couldn’t defeat the Bull Demon King, he threw away his spear and surrendered, stopping the fight. The Bull Demon King laughed, “So you’re playing the fool. Fine, I won’t go to extremes. Just make that Green Lion demon come out and kowtow three times to my brother.”

Hearing this, Fengtong dissolved his formation and set the Green Lion demon free. Upon hearing he had to kowtow, the Green Lion demon flew into a rage. The White Elephant demon whispered something in his ear; whatever it was, the Green Lion demon pondered for a while before suppressing his anger and kneeling down to bow to Wukong three times before standing up.

The Bull Demon King said, “You lion are really reckless. You just bowed without thinking. I said three loud kowtows—there was not a sound from your three bows. Are you trying to deceive my old ears?”

The White Elephant demon smiled apologetically and said, “How can there be a sound in this empty sky?”

The Bull Demon King stretched out his iron rod and said, “If you’re sincere, there will surely be a sound.” He really wanted the Green Lion demon to make a sound by hitting the rod.

At this point, the Green Lion demon calmed down. Since he was already outmatched today, what difference did it make whether he kowtowed once or ten times? So he silently kowtowed three more times before taking the White Elephant demon and fleeing far away.

Wukong saw how skillful the Bull Demon King was at manipulating people and laughed so hard he almost fell from the clouds. The Bull Demon King came over and said, “My brother, you must be feeling satisfied today.” Wukong replied, “Sure, sure! He’s in pain, but I’m happy—haha!”

The three of them fought a pointless battle, then stood in the clouds, each lost in their own thoughts.

After a while, the Bull Demon King said, “I wonder what’s going on at the Wuzhuang Temple. Why have these four scoundrels come to cause trouble?”

Wukong was pondering this huge problem when he had seen the Bull Demon King fighting against the green lion and white elephant. He felt that these two demons were not very skilled. If the Bull Demon King used his full strength, he could drive them away within just a few rounds. Even if Wukong intervened, it would take only a few rounds to defeat them. As for the Yellow Wind Monster and the Golden Fish Spirit, he thought their abilities were even weaker, completely unfit to be taken seriously.

But why, on the journey to obtain the scriptures in Journey to the West, did encounters with these demons often last dozens of rounds? What exactly had changed? Had the demons become stronger, or had Wukong’s skills declined?

Tongfeng stood on the clouds and looked down for a long time before sighing and saying, “What a strong wind.”

Wukong found this strange and asked, “Where does the wind come from?”

Tongfeng replied, “It’s not wind; it’s a gust.”

Wukong was confused. “What is a gust?”

Tongfeng explained, “As the name implies, a gust is wind that occurs in bursts. I see signs of fallen leaves in the wind, so I guess some large formation must have been disassembled, giving rise to such strength.”

Tongfeng’s words were obscure, and since neither Wukong nor the Bull Demon King knew anything about formations, they naturally didn’t understand. Then Tongfeng added, “With such a large formation set up, the treasures inside must be extremely valuable. I wonder why it was dismantled?”

Although Tongfeng had never been here before, he was remarkably perceptive. Wukong asked the Bull Demon King, “There’s actually a formation in the Wuzhuang Temple. How come we didn’t notice it last time?”

The Bull Demon King replied, “Do you still remember that invisible force that blocked us when we entered the temple? In my opinion, that was definitely not human power—it was the effect of a formation.”

Wukong recalled that force; it was indeed overwhelming. Under its influence, he couldn’t take a single step forward. This showed just how powerful the formation was—otherwise, it couldn’t protect the highly coveted ginseng fruit. Now that the formation had been dismantled, someone would surely come to steal it. It seemed Zhenyuanzi would have a lot on his hands.

What was intriguing was that as soon as the formation was dismantled, the four great bodhisattvas sent their subordinates. Where did they get their information? Given their abilities, they should have known their subordinates couldn’t defeat Zhenyuanzi—so why send them? If it was to serve as a warning, a letter would have been enough, and they could even gain some favor. This action was truly baffling.

Wukong thought of the four demons who were defeated in just one strike and suddenly slapped his thigh, sighing, “How could I forget the important task!” The Bull Demon King and Tongfeng didn’t understand, so Wukong explained, “Those four demons, though not very skilled, must have some method of cultivation. Why did I let them go so easily?” At this thought, he felt regret in his heart.

Wukong recalled in “Journey to the West” how the green lion and white elephant gathered many demons and, with their demonic powers, established the Lion Camel Kingdom. Among the demons, they were considered top figures. With this as evidence, these two demons must have extensive connections, so obtaining some cultivation books would be no problem at all.

Thinking of this, Wukong’s mind became more active. If they had wide connections, they must be good at speaking. Once the grand formation at Wuzhuang Temple was removed, an opportunity would arise. If they spread this news to other demons, which demon wouldn’t desire immortality? If word spread from one to ten and from ten to a hundred, Zhenyuanzi would not only be facing a few demons—he might have to deal with anyone who wanted eternal life.

Ultimately, who would spread this news first, and what was their purpose? Zhenyuanzi couldn’t act alone and surely wouldn’t willingly give up the Ginseng Fruit. Logically, he would seek help from others. But who would that be—the Heavenly Court? The Buddhist realm? Or the wandering immortals across the world? That was uncertain.

History has shown that in any conspiracy, the beneficiary is often the one who initiated it—a proven truth. Those who put righteousness before profit are honored, while those who put profit before righteousness are disgraced. Hmph, this person truly understood Xunzi’s teachings well.