Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told – Chapter 112: Unwilling to Spare Life

Wukong said, “He framed me—of course I must kill him!”
The man in purple robes replied, “Nonsense! My Qianyi Pavilion has always operated honestly—how could we do such a thing?”
Wukong disdained to argue with him and said, “Scram down! Call out the one who can distinguish right from wrong!”
The man in purple robes snapped, “I’ll capture you first, you madman!” He reached out to grab Wukong. Six or seven people nearby saw this and immediately drew their weapons, surrounding the two.
Wukong smiled and said, “Then I’ll capture you first!” With a swift motion, he pulled the man in purple robes over, raised his right leg, and stepped on his chest, saying, “Got you—now speak!”
The man in purple robes struggled a bit, but the weight on his back was like that of Mount Tai; he couldn’t move at all. He then shouted, “Quickly, summon the pavilion master!” Wukong merely sneered and didn’t rush to escape, waiting inside the hall.
After a while, a thin middle-aged man hurried in, entered the hall, and first bowed to Wukong, saying, “Please show mercy, immortal sir.”
Seeing that this man was polite, Wukong said, “At last, someone with some sense.” He kicked the man in purple robes out. The man had been stepped on for so long that his blood circulation was blocked, and he couldn’t stand, falling to the ground with a thud.
The middle-aged man said, “Please calm down, immortal sir. I am Huo Qing, the master of Qianyi Pavilion. I don’t know how we offended you here at Qianyi Pavilion to anger you so.” Wukong didn’t reply but waved his hand to signal Zhang Hui, who understood and stepped forward to explain what had happened.
Huo Qing pondered for a while and said, “Go get those broken ginseng roots; we’ll know right away.” In a short while, two broken ginseng roots were placed before Huo Qing. He bent down to examine them, remaining silent for a long time.
At that moment, someone behind him stepped forward and whispered something. A flash of joy crossed Huo Qing’s face before it vanished, and he said calmly, “This Taoist friend is quite skilled at reversing right and wrong. If you were elsewhere, I wouldn’t care, but you’re the first to hurt someone in Qianyi Pavilion.”
Wukong heard clearly that the person had told Huo Qing, “The city lord will arrive soon.” It turned out that examining the ginseng was a pretense to buy time. Huo Qing was even more cunning than that old man surnamed Sui.
That old man surnamed Sui had simply turned hostile right away, but Huo Qing remained calm the whole time. His strategy of keeping things under control was perfectly timed—truly remarkable. Wukong inwardly sighed at the complexity and deceitfulness of human hearts.
He then sneered and said, “Since you can’t distinguish right from wrong, let the city lord make the judgment!”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone entered from outside, followed by eight men in yellow. Wukong examined the man—who was less than six feet tall, plump, and fair-skinned, resembling a wealthy man. The eight men behind him all appeared formidable, making him seem even more ordinary by comparison.

Apart from Wukong and Zhang Hui, everyone else bowed and greeted the man, saying, “Lord of the City!”

Without waiting for Wukong to speak, Huo Qing first explained what had happened: the two men in white were penniless and had come to cheat. When caught, they became enraged and tried to seize the precious ginseng and kill their way out, only to be stopped here.

The lord of the city carefully observed Wukong and Zhang Hui—Wukong being a fourth-rank Earth Immortal and Zhang Hui a third-rank Divine Immortal. How dare they use such limited powers to cause trouble in Zhongxuan City? There must be some hidden scheme!

How could a fourth-rank Earth Immortal kill a seventh-rank Earth Immortal in one move and capture a first-rank Heavenly Immortal in just one strike? Impossible! The lord glanced at Huo Qing, feeling a surge of anger. This man must be very tricky; otherwise, why hadn’t Huo Qing taken action to capture him?

Keeping a calm expression, he racked his brains and after much deliberation, finally said, “Now that the precious ginseng is lost and the victim is dead with no witnesses, it’s indeed a difficult situation. But do you, the man in white, know that under any circumstances, killing is forbidden within Zhongxuan City?”

Wukong could tolerate the first part, but the second part made him lose his temper. Though highly skilled, he acted based on justice. Hearing the lord’s words, he seemed ready to attack him on the spot. He asked, “May I ask, Lord of the City, what punishment should be given to those who commit grave crimes?”

The lord’s face hardened as he replied, “Capture them outside the city and kill them!”

Wukong laughed loudly, “What’s the difference between inside and outside the city?”

One of the men, seeing Wukong’s disrespect toward the lord, shouted, “You insolent brat! These are the rules set by our lord!”

Wukong’s smile vanished as he said coldly, “Your lord isn’t my lord. Did you even ask me before setting these rules?”

No matter how good-tempered or calculating the lord was, he couldn’t tolerate being challenged in public. He waved his hand and ordered, “Seize him!” A man in yellow stepped forward, drew a soft sword, and without saying a word, thrust it at Wukong’s chest.

Wukong, fearing harm to Zhang Hui due to the outnumbered opponent, wanted a quick resolution to intimidate them. He quickly grasped his Ruyi Jingu Bang. With a snap, followed by a clanging noise, the soft sword shattered to pieces against this divine weapon, leaving only the hilt in the man’s hand.

Everyone was astonished—how could a third-rank Divine Immortal destroy a weapon in just one move?

Qianyi Ge’s master was utterly astonished, but it wasn’t Wu Kong’s cultivation level that shocked him. Pointing at the Ruyi Jingu Bang, he exclaimed in awe, “Pure gold! Truly pure gold…” Indeed! Wu Kong had seen pure gold in that flying sword before, and its material was very similar to that of the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Yet that pure gold was impure and poorly refined—compared to the Ruyi Jingu Bang, it couldn’t even be called pure gold ore. Having spent his entire life immersed in magical artifacts and elixirs, the master of Qianyi Ge immediately recognized that the Ruyi Jingu Bang in Wu Kong’s hands was nothing ordinary. He shouted, “Attack together! Take that staff from him!” The city lord, who also knew his way around treasures, was deeply impressed. Such a large piece of pure gold that could stretch and shrink into nothingness—truly a priceless artifact! He too drew out a gleaming long spear and stood aside, waiting to reap the benefits. More than twenty people surrounded Wu Kong and Zhang Hui. Zhang Hui’s face was pale as he stood behind Wu Kong. Any one of them could kill him in an instant, but fortunately, their attention wasn’t on him—they were all staring at the staff in Wu Kong’s hands. How could Wu Kong care about such ordinary people? With a quick twist, he used his clone technique, causing chaos in the hall with sounds of “thuds” and “oofs.” It took only a moment for Wu Kong to regain control of his powers. All the weapons were damaged—even the city lord’s long spear was broken into three or four pieces. The thugs suffered broken arms or legs; only four people remained in the courtyard: Wu Kong, Zhang Hui, Huo Qing, and the city lord. Wu Kong said, “How bold! Even at the brink of death, you still dare to covet the weapon in my hands!” The city lord reacted quickly, kneeling down and kowtowing without hesitation. “I failed to recognize your divine powers. Punish me as you will!” Huo Qing cursed inwardly. Still shocked, he reacted half a beat too late and also knelt down, begging for mercy. Looking at these people—some greedy, some acting as accomplices, some unable to distinguish right from wrong—Wu Kong raised his staff but hesitated to strike. At that moment, he remembered a poem: “When covered, I cover you; when you use felt, I use felt too. If you have money, we share it; if I have none, I use yours. Up the mountain, you support my feet; down the mountain, I lean on your shoulder. When I have sons, they’ll be your sons-in-law; when you have daughters, they’ll accompany me. If you keep this vow, I’ll die after you; if I break it, you’ll die before me.” The poem, titled “Seeking Advantage,” in just a hundred words, depicted the coldness of human relations, the fickleness of the world, and how people exploit each other for personal gain. From gods to commoners, how many in this world aren’t self-serving? If he killed them all, hardly anyone would be left.

Wukong sighed. “Never mind. After all, I’m too soft-hearted. I can’t learn to treat people’s lives as nothing like true demons. If the Golden Winged Roc or the Nine Spirits Sage were here, they would surely devour these people alive.” He put away his Ruyi Jingu Bang and said, “Get up and talk!” The two didn’t dare stand up; they crawled a few steps on the ground and moved closer to Wukong. Wukong pointed at the city lord and asked, “Lord City Lord, may I ask your name?” The city lord was terrified and replied quickly, “I dare not, I dare not. My humble name is Duan Tiande.” “What? Duan Tiande?” Wukong laughed heartily. As he laughed, tears unconsciously streamed from his eyes. Just hearing the name Duan Tiande reminded him of his past life, when he held a copy of The Legend of the Condor Heroes and studied it all night under the cover in a stormy night…