Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 321: A Great Discovery

There were again rapid currents to block the way, springs hundreds of feet deep, and magic arrays obstructing the path—something strange surely lurked here! By this point, Wukong had concluded that the Mother and Child River must be man-made.
All were water-based arrays, but this one differed from those in the Tongtian River. The arrays in the Tongtian River were hidden, designed to keep others from seeing them; whereas this array’s purpose was obvious—it was meant to block the way.
Unfamiliar with such arrays, Wukong tried probing forward several times. The array seemed carved into a stone slab, tightly sealed—how could he pass through?
An idea struck Wukong. Since it was a stone slab, it must belong to the element of earth. He tried using his Earth Escape technique, but nothing happened. Huh? Could it not be stone after all?
Since the escape technique failed, he decided to take a direct approach. He wanted to see what mystery lay behind it!
In a fit of anger, Wukong took out his Ruyi Tianji Stick and thrust it at the array. He didn’t know what was behind the array, nor how thick the stone-like substance supporting it was. He poured all his strength into the strike.
At that moment, something strange happened. Wukong clearly saw the stick sink three feet deep, yet he felt no resistance. Even more astonishingly, the array spat the stick back out immediately!
Wukong examined the array carefully—it showed no signs of damage. Could it be an illusion?
He tried again, with the same result. It seemed as if some immense force behind the array was pushing the stick back. This was utterly unreasonable! Wukong wasn’t reckless. After careful thought, he decided to follow the current out of the spring.
Only then did he understand Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s intention—to search along the river. It wasn’t upstream but downstream. No matter how long the Mother and Child River was, its water eventually had to go somewhere. And since the water in this river was so strange, if it flowed into the ocean and was devoured by fish and shrimp, countless problems might arise.
At least Wukong had never heard of fish or shrimp devouring humans in the four seas. Such a bizarre creature as a “creation of nature” was rare in the world—how could it be allowed to flow freely in a river and be treated carelessly? Therefore, he believed the water of the Mother and Child River must be different from other rivers and had a special destination.
Wukong traveled downstream along the river. Before long, he reached the end of the Mother and Child River. Its vast waters rushed downward, pouring into a deep pool beneath a cliff.
Without hesitation, Wukong leaped into the pool. The pool was extremely deep—whether due to erosion by the river water or artificial creation, Wukong dived a hundred feet before finally touching the bottom.

The bottom of the pond was not large, and in just a moment, Wukong’s expression lit up with joy—he had discovered a formation identical to one at the spring upstream. Thinking to himself that upstream had a repulsive force, while downstream should naturally work in the opposite way, he took out his Ruyi Tianji Stick and touched the formation. As soon as he made contact, Wukong disappeared from the bottom of the pond and was drawn into the formation. His ears buzzed as if he were being sucked into a narrow passage, but this sensation lasted only a fleeting instant before he fell back into water.

What kind of water was this? Had he returned to the Mother and Child River? Upon initial testing, Wukong found the water to be just like that of the Mother and Child River, but the light here was extremely dim, and nothing could be seen in the pitch-black depths. Looking up, he was shocked—this river seemed to be located within a vast space. The ceiling was extremely high, and the stone walls on both sides were covered with countless caves of varying sizes, carved with terrifying images of demons and monsters.

At that moment, voices were heard on the riverbank. One person asked, “Was there any noise just now?” Another replied, “I didn’t hear anything.” The first person insisted, “There was an unusual sound in the river—how could you not hear it?” Both voices were hoarse and unpleasant, sounding like iron saws cutting through wood.

Wukong realized that he had suddenly fallen from the air into the water without time to use his water-control powers, and perhaps someone had heard him. So he concealed his presence and secretly sent his mind out to investigate.

He saw two bald men on the bank, looking exactly like skeletons, with intact human skin but nothing but bones underneath—no flesh in sight. At first glance, they even seemed less attractive than mere bone frames. These two had weak magical powers, which reassured Wukong.

The bald skeleton spoke again, “We should investigate more carefully to avoid being blamed by the Bodhisattva.”

A Bodhisattva? Was this place under the rule of the West, or had he returned to the realm ruled by Ksitigarbha? These two were clearly not human, resembling the evil demons in the underworld of Yama’s palace.

Since he had hidden his presence, Wukong emerged from the water and stepped onto the riverbank. Only then did he realize that this place was hundreds of times larger than what he had seen in the river. The depth of this space was unfathomable, and its width stretched for thousands of miles. Was this underground? Or had he entered someone else’s constructed realm? What connection could this place have with the Mother and Child River?

Looking up again, he saw a formation above the river, quite similar to the one in the Mother and Child Rivers. He must have fallen from here just now. It seemed that both formations in the Mother and Child Rivers were used for teleportation—one leading to the spring upstream of the river, transporting water from there to the Mother and Child Rivers; the other, which he had emerged from, connected to the bottom of the deep pool downstream, transporting water from the Mother and Child Rivers here.

Wukong finally understood that the water in the Mother and Child Rivers was not just a one-time flow but part of a cycle. Otherwise, it would be impossible to sustain it without some extraordinary means. He couldn’t help but admire the ingenuity of those who came up with this method—only in this way could every drop of water be utilized without waste.

Wukong looked around and noticed that it was slightly brighter behind him, so he turned and flew there. After flying nearly a thousand miles, he finally saw the source of the light: on either side lay two peaks of flame, one large and one small.

Wukong thought to himself that his invisibility technique was so advanced that even the Bodhisattva of Hidden Land could not detect him, and only by listening carefully could one notice him. Thus, confident, he headed straight for the larger of the two flame peaks.

Before reaching the mountain, Wukong smelled a burning, putrid odor drifting from the air. He held his breath, already guessing what lay ahead.

Upon entering the mountain, he saw the rock walls scorched by an unknown fire, glowing a dark red and transparent. On these walls hung countless people, suffering terribly.

Below, there were numerous stone platforms, also heated to such an extent that the stones had become soft. When people were placed on them, their flesh stuck to the stones. Bald skeletons then used five-foot-long iron nails to pierce through the people from below, emerging through their foreheads. The nails were also red-hot, and once they pierced the bodies, flames burst out from all nine orifices. The victims’ throats and tongues were seared by the nails, leaving them unable to scream.

Next to many of these platforms was a large gray pool. After pulling out the nails, the victims were thrown into the pool. Within moments, their flesh separated from their bones, leaving only empty skeletons trembling in the water. Bald skeletons then used giant forks to lift the skeletons and throw them into another pool filled with lotus flowers, emitting a pleasant fragrance.

As one skeleton after another was thrown in, flesh, skin, and hair quickly grew back, restoring them to perfect, flawless human forms. These bodies were extremely pure, like those of immortals, untouchable and pure.

Yet in the next moment, these perfect bodies were hung on the rock walls to be scorched again, then thrown onto the stone platforms to repeat the tragic ordeal of nails piercing through their bodies…

Wukong could sense that whenever these people were thrown into the gray pool, all their vital energy was lost as they merged into it. As for the lotus pond, filled with vital energy, it required much of that energy to allow skeletons to develop flesh, skin, and hair there as well. What was going on here? Wasn’t all this back-and-forth effort in vain? What sins had these people committed to be repeatedly tortured and destroyed, preventing them from being reborn? After observing for a while, Wukong went further inside. Turning a stone path, he saw a large platform ahead, with countless iron-barred houses in the middle. Groups of suffering beings were driven by bald skeletons like zombies into those iron-barred houses. Purple flames emerged from the iron bars out of nowhere. Wukong had also mastered fire powers to a great extent, and at a glance he knew these purple flames were extremely fierce, beyond what ordinary beings could withstand. Inside the barred houses, these suffering beings were burned to pieces, losing their human form. Suddenly, the bottom of the iron bars emptied, and their corpses fell down, only to be caught by the lotus pond below, which reshaped their broken bodies into human forms again. Moving further, there were countless red-hot copper pillars. People were tied to them and turned to ashes. Lotus flowers appeared in the air, restoring them to human form—repeating this cycle of endless suffering. Further ahead, there were several large pots filled with scalding copper liquid. Those forced to drink it died instantly, only to be saved by the lotus pond. Still further on, three flaming spears pierced through their bodies from below. Once they began spewing fire from their mouths and noses, red-hot iron leaves would wrap around them, killing them before scattering them again, only to be saved by the lotus pond… Throughout his journey, Wukong saw only unbearable forms of torture by fire, far more brutal than what he had seen in the underworlds beneath the Netherworld. He noticed that some of the bald skeletons had scars on their heads, clearly belonging to Buddhists. He had guessed this earlier, but now, seeing the lotus pond and numerous monks, he became even more certain—that this must be a Buddhist hell. Since arriving in this realm, he had only heard of the Ten Kings of Hell and had never heard of another hell existing. It seemed this matter was being kept strictly hidden. If it weren’t for his sudden desire to uncover the mysteries of the River of Life and Death, it would have been impossible to know about the existence of this secretive realm. What a “Western Heaven,” what a Buddha—acting silently while committing such atrocities. He remembered when he went to the Hall of the Kings of Hell in the Netherworld, the two kings had casually mentioned that vital energy was dwindling. It seemed they still didn’t realize that their once-monopolized business of dealing with the dead now had a fierce competitor.

One in the light, one in the darkness; it goes without saying which is more skilled. No wonder the Spiritual Mountain in the Western Heaven, which requires countless natural resources, can still stand against the Heavenly Court. No wonder Buddha didn’t care about the loss of the land in Western Ox-Happy Continent—turns out this place is the greatest source of natural resources! As Wukong was thinking, suddenly his vision cleared, and he saw someone being tortured on a copper pillar. After the flying ash formed flesh, a familiar face appeared!