Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told – Chapter 187: Entering the Thunder Array

As he descended, the little demons saw Wukong returning and were overjoyed. They hurriedly brought forth fresh fruits and fine wine.
Wukong asked the demons, “Has anyone come to cause trouble on Flower-Fruit Mountain these days?” The demons replied, “Never.”
Wukong had just drunk half of a pot of fine wine when he suddenly exclaimed, “Trouble!” and leaped into the sky. Seeing over a hundred heavenly generals closing in, he fought against them.
At the forefront was still the God of Gouchen. This time, he did not intervene but simply carried his twin whips behind his back as he watched the battle unfold.
These heavenly generals were all immortals under the Thunder Department. Wukong realized that the Heavenly Court had been keeping an eye on Flower-Fruit Mountain all along. Allowing these little demons to roam here was actually to avoid alerting the enemy. They waited for him to return before sending forces to capture him.
After fighting for a while, seeing that several Taiyi Golden Immortals among the heavenly troops had not yet intervened, Wukong knew he could not gain an advantage. He shouted, “Kids, run for your lives!” and fled on cloud.
The God of Gouchen waved his hand, and everyone chased after Wukong, with none paying attention to the little demons on the ground. Though Wukong claimed to be fleeing, he was actually luring the enemy away from Flower-Fruit Mountain. Fighting and escaping at the same time, he quickly traveled thousands of miles and soon arrived at the Guanjiang Mouth area.
Suddenly, a group of soldiers emerged from the mountains, armed with weapons, blocking Wukong’s path. Leading them was the Second Lord Xian Sheng. Yang Jian held his three-pronged, two-edged divine sword, his divine eyes glowing as he fixed his gaze on Wukong. He shouted, “Yang Jian is here! Where can you run, you demon monkey?”
Wukong chuckled. Yang Jian had been summoned by the Heavenly Court again—seemingly, the Jade Emperor had put a lot of thought into this. Wukong picked up his staff and faced Yang Jian.
After parrying a few attacks, Yang Jian was surprised. The staff in Wukong’s hand was more than ten times heavier than before, yet Wukong seemed to be using only half his strength. This inspired the Second Lord Xian to fight harder, unleashing his ultimate skills with attacks as fierce as a storm. Wukong parried each move, smiling and saying, “Brother Yang, you’re really serious now!”
Yang Jian shouted, “Stop pretending to be friends with me! Surrender right away!”
Seeing Yang Jian’s conflicted expression and knowing there were many eyes watching, Wukong also sneered, “With just you, I’m afraid it won’t work!”
The Second Lord Xian then sent a message, “Wukong, I’m just showing off for my uncle. If you head north, no one will stop you!”
Wukong refused to listen to the Second Lord Xian and said, “It’s fine. Brother Yang, just attack freely. I’ve come here to lose today!”
Yang Jian was stunned. He hadn’t planned much in the battle. Realizing he couldn’t capture Wukong, he sent a signal, and the Meishan Brothers surrounded Wukong. But Wukong wasn’t afraid. He used his staff skills to fight alone against the seven saints of Meishan.

At that moment, something darted in from the side, heading straight for Wukong’s lower legs—it was the Howling Heaven Dog of Erlang Shen. Wukong had no time to look in all directions; he feinted with his leg, and the dog twisted its waist to dodge, continuing its charge and slamming into Wukong’s other leg. The dog was incredibly strong; with that single strike, even Wukong’s iron-like body was forced to sway, with several weapons pressing down on his head. Wukong glanced sideways and saw pity in Erlang Shen’s eyes, instantly understanding his intentions. He had never fully utilized his abilities, merely creating an illusion for the others—otherwise, with his skills, he would have long escaped. Wukong raised his staff to block six or seven weapons, but his body still plummeted downward. The Seven Saints of Meishan pressed down together, seemingly determined to crush Wukong into the ground. Pretending to be overwhelmed by their combined force, Wukong fell like a meteor. Before he hit the ground, the pressure above vanished, and he found himself inside a massive formation. Unaware of this, the Heavenly Court had put in great effort—using the All-Seeing Eye and the All-Hearing Ear to monitor the Huaguoshan region around the clock. Once Wukong arrived, the Thunder Department would launch a full-scale attack to drive him away. No matter which direction he fled, he would be surrounded by Heavenly Court experts: the Eastern Extreme Qinghua Emperor leading troops in the east, the Purple Micro Emperor with the Twenty-Eight Constellations in the south, Erlang Shen in the north, and the Left and Right Assistants along with the Nine Bright Stars in the west. This formation was the treasure of the “Nine Heavens Yingyuan Mansion”—the “Heavenly Gang Earthly Fiend Purple Thunder Formation,” which required 108 Thunder Department immortals to set up. There were also the General of the Nine Heavens Flowing Golden Fire Bells, the Messenger of the Nine Heavens Howling Wind and Thunder, the Thunder Command Messengers, the Four-Eyed White Elder, the Thunderous Tooth Lightning Immortal, the Thunderlight Supreme Saint, and many other gods in charge of thunder. The Five Thunder Swift Messengers, the Five Directions Thunder Generals, the Eight Directions Cloud Thunder Generals, the Five Directions Barbarian Thunder Messengers, the Three Realms Barbarian Thunder Messengers, the Nine Societies Barbarian Thunder Messengers… All these Thunder Department immortals channeled their powers, infusing the formation with Jade Pivot Thunder, Taiyi Thunder, Divine Sky Thunder, Blazing Fire Thunder, Iron Armor Thunder, Fire Cloud Thunder… turning it into a thunderous hell. Not even a Taiyi Golden Immortal, let alone a Hunyuan Golden Immortal, could escape once inside. As soon as Wukong entered the formation, his vision became blurred, surrounded by flashing lightning and purple thunder. The electricity touching his skin caused a burning smell, clearly damaging his fur. Thunder seems simple—just the combination of metal and fire. With ordinary thunder spells, Wukong might have easily figured out their secrets. But with so many different types of talismans and thunder techniques in this formation, his eyes were overwhelmed—how could he possibly decipher them?

At that moment, Wukong thought of the Ruyi Tianji Stick and imitated the method he had used to absorb lightning with it. Sure enough, as the stick appeared before him, the lightning and electric nets, as if recognizing something very familiar, were all drawn into it. Feeling no immediate threat, Wukong didn’t rush to leave and simply sat down calmly within the formation.

Outside the formation, Emperor Gouchen was overjoyed that he had finally captured Wukong and kept thanking Yang Jian. Yang Jian, along with the Six Brothers of Meishan and the Grass-Head God, also bid farewell to Emperor Gouchen. Though worried about Wukong, he knew Wukong was no ordinary Golden Immortal—having managed to escape from Laojun’s grasp, who else in the Heavenly Court could possibly deal with him?

Wukong could have escaped, but today he realized the Heavenly Court was relentless in pursuing him, which seemed strange to him. He had destroyed the Demon Hunting Garden, and the Jade Emperor had personally ordered his release. Why then change his mind just a few days later? Moreover, both pursuits involved a massive effort, clearly indicating a determination to capture him at all costs. Even if they captured him, what could the Heavenly Court do to him?

The Heavenly Court and the Three Pure Ones seemed to be acting against each other, suggesting that the Jade Emperor must have made this decision on his own. So who else could influence his decision and change his strategy toward Wukong?

Recalling the alliance between the Jade Emperor and the Western Heaven, Wukong somewhat believed it was Buddha’s doing. If indeed Buddha had instructed the Jade Emperor to pressure him, the reason was obvious: to drive him into a corner. As Wukong thought about this, he even smiled. He was exactly looking for a way to obtain the scriptures openly—what seemed impossible to find suddenly became easy.

However, if this had nothing to do with Buddha and was instead the Jade Emperor’s own scheme, that would be a different matter.

He would remain low-key for now, never revealing his true abilities. He would stick to a flexible approach and see how the Heavenly Court would act next.

Emperor Gouchen sent Yang Jian away and ordered his many thunder officials to move the formation. Together, the 108 of them used a mountain-moving technique to dig the formation out of the ground, then soared into the clouds and flew westward.

They flew all the way to South China Continent, passing through the territory of the Great Sui Dynasty. Emperor Gouchen looked west and saw a distant, rugged mountain range. He asked, “Does anyone know where this place is?” One of the thunder officials, whose jurisdiction included this area, replied, “This place has no name, but the mountain ahead is very famous—it’s called Snake Coiling Mountain.”

Emperor Gouchen said, “Then this must be it!”