Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 168: The Demon-Hunting Garden
Wuzhiqi glanced at Wukong, then at Fengtong Wang Yu, seeing no intention to stop him, so he remained silent. At that moment, Chisongzi said, “Wukong, don’t be too proud. With such matters, one must be prepared for even the slightest possibility of trouble. How about we leave one of us here with you?”
Wukong smiled and said, “Thanks to your kindness, senior. There’s actually another reason for my actions. I’m not afraid that the Heavenly Court will come after me; I’m afraid they won’t.”
Chisongzi replied, “Though I don’t know how many capable people exist in the world now, given your skills, there are truly few who can capture you. But if you become overly arrogant and provoke powerful enemies, come to me quickly.”
Wukong said, “Of course. Then it’s settled.” He turned to Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng and the others, saying, “Hou Yi and Chisongzi are our seniors; we must respect them greatly and never be rude to them.”
He then said to Fengtong and Wang Yu, “You two go with them. Choose a suitable place to settle down, and bring over the descendants of Guanjiang. But don’t touch those ten thousand chosen by the Four Marshals and the Seventy-Two Demon Kings—I have plans for them.”
Fengtong asked, “Are there any particular requirements for choosing a place to settle?”
Wukong replied, “Since we’re establishing a foundation here, it must last long. Choose a rugged, mountainous area, far from ordinary people to avoid accidental harm. There should also be rivers and streams so that aquatic creatures can thrive. One thing to remember: capture the local earth gods, mountain gods, river gods, and dragon kings if possible. If not, bind them to prevent leaks!”
Fengtong said, “Understood!”
Then Wukong said to Fuhai Jiao and Wuzhiqi, “You two return to the Northern Sea. I’ll come find you in a few days to discuss more matters.” Wuzhiqi said, “Then we’re off!” Seeing Wukong safe, he felt no worries and, taking Fuhai Jiao with him, soared away on clouds.
Wukong then said to Hou Yi, “Senior, if my brothers make any mistakes, please discipline them without mercy.” Hou Yi smiled and said, “I doubt anyone has as much courage as you.” Wukong whispered, “I keep that in mind at all times. No need to worry, senior.” Hou Yi nodded and said, “Now that my mind is calm, let fate decide everything.”
After arranging everything, Hou Yi, Chisongzi, along with Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng and Fengtong Wang Yu, also left. In the vast Water Curtain Cave, only Wukong and the Bull Demon King remained.
The Bull Demon King saw that everyone else had tasks to do and only he was left behind, unsure of Wukong’s intentions, so he asked, “Where should I go?”
Wukong smiled and asked, “Where do you want to go?”
The Bull Demon King shook his head and scolded with a laugh, “You monkey are so cunning. I really don’t know what you’re up to now.”
Wukong said, “If you have time, brother, please accompany me to handle an important matter.”
The Bull Demon King asked, “What matter?”
Wukong replied, “You must be very familiar with the paths in the Heavenly Court. How about accompanying me to the Guanghan Palace?”
The Bull Demon King asked, “That’s where the Lord of the Moon resides. Are you going there… to find Chang’e?”
Wukong nodded. “Exactly!”
The Bull Demon King asked, “Why do you want to see her?”
Wukong said, “Of course, it’s for Senior Hou Yi. Will you go or not?”
The Bull Demon King frowned and said, “You treat the Heavenly Court as your backyard—just go whenever you want. But you should know I hate using transformation spells the most. I’m not as agile as you.”
Wukong said seriously, “Brother, Senior Hou Yi is currently working hard for our demon race’s cause. If we hesitate to do such a small thing for him, and if others find out, the title of the Eight Great Saints might fall into your hands! Sigh!”
The Bull Demon King glared at Wukong and said, “Stop making up such excuses. Just go, so I won’t have to listen to your nonsense anymore!”
Wukong smiled and said, “I knew you were a man of great righteousness! Let’s go!”
The two left the Water Curtain Cave and soared into the sky on clouds.
When they reached the South Heavenly Gate, the Bull Demon King said, “From here on, we need to be more careful.”
They used invisibility spells and circled around behind the stone pillars of the South Heavenly Gate.
Although the Bull Demon King had lived in Tushita Heaven for a long time, he had few opportunities to enter the Mahavastu Heaven. He only remembered that the Guanghan Palace was in the east of the Mahavastu Heaven.
The two moved slowly eastward, staying close to the walls of the palace. Along the way, they saw few people. Occasionally, palace maids and celestial soldiers passed by, unable to detect their spells.
As they reached the foot of a high wall, they suddenly heard faint sounds of imperial processions behind them. The Bull Demon King shouted through telepathy, “Bad news! That’s the Jade Emperor’s procession!” Wukong said, “Let them go. What’s the problem?”
Without time to explain, the Bull Demon King pulled Wukong and leaped into a gap in the wall. Inside was a vast forest, its purpose unknown. The Bull Demon King led Wukong deep into the forest before saying, “When the Jade Emperor travels, he’s surely accompanied by the All-Seeing Eye and the All-Hearing Ear. The All-Seeing Eye has extremely sharp eyes—no invisibility spell can deceive it. The All-Hearing Ear can even hear conversations several miles away.” At that moment, Wukong remembered the “Secrets of the Mysterious Sky Art.” Could it be that the All-Seeing Eye also relied on this art?
Wukong asked, “These two guys don’t look impressive, but they possess such powers?” The Bull Demon King replied, “Who among those in the Heavenly Court is easy to deal with?” After waiting for a while, assuming the Jade Emperor’s procession had already gone far away, they got up ready to continue.
At that moment, the Bull Demon King stood up and looked around, murmuring, “Is it really here?”
Wukong looked at the distant mountains. Birds took off from the grass, and beasts moved about in the forests—all appearing to be fleeing in panic. He asked the Bull Demon King, “Where is this?”
The Bull Demon King replied, “My master once mentioned a Demon Hunting Garden in the Great Luo Heaven. I suppose this must be it.”
Upon hearing this name, Wukong knew it was no good place.
At that moment, he saw a heavenly general coming out from afar, holding a giant bow. Standing on the peak, he glanced around and shot arrows one after another without pause, hitting every target. With each pull of the bowstring, a demon beast let out a scream before dying abruptly.
Wukong watched the archer closely and was shocked. He recognized him as Marshal Tian Peng!
The Bull Demon King cursed, “All those imprisoned here are demons and beasts captured from the lower realms. They’re kept in this garden for the gods in heaven to hunt. How pitiful for our kind to be slaughtered like this!”
Wukong saw Tian Peng’s face filled with cold cruelty and bloodthirst. His handsome features were twisted, and he drew his bow to full tension with each shot, clearly filled with rage. There was not a trace of a gentlemanly demeanor in him now—only someone sent to deliver death.
Seeing how skilled Tian Peng was with the bow, Wukong wondered where he had learned such skills and why he was so angry. He thought of the Jade Emperor traveling eastward and unconsciously connected the two events. Tian Peng had drunk at the Peach Festival and played tricks on Chang’e—so they must have known each other before. Otherwise, why would he go all the way to the Moon Palace just to find her while drunk?
Could it be that the Jade Emperor and Chang’e had some secret relationship? Was Tian Peng so enraged because of jealousy? The Jade Emperor, being of supreme status, surely could take an ordinary fairy as a wife or concubine—so what was the problem? Since Tian Peng was still here, it seemed the incident at the Peach Festival hadn’t happened yet, meaning the festival hadn’t begun.
Wukong asked the Bull Demon King, “Brother, do you know in which year the Peach Festival takes place?” After calculating, the Bull Demon King replied, “Exactly three hundred years have passed. The next Peach Festival will be in sixty-five years.”
Wukong nodded. That wasn’t too long; he could wait.
Wukong said, “Let’s go back.”
The Bull Demon King asked, “Not going to the Moon Palace?”
Wukong replied, “The Jade Emperor has also gone east. Aren’t you afraid of running into the All-Seeing One?”
The Bull Demon King thought about it and said, “Then this trip was in vain.”
Wukong smiled and said, “It wasn’t in vain at all. I’ve gained a lot.” The Bull Demon King was confused, so Wukong added, “How far is the Moon Palace from here? Next time, I’ll go alone.”
The Bull Demon King said, “It’s not very far. Just about 1,800 li due east.”
Wukong said, “Good, second brother. Go to the mortal world to find Feng Tong and help them build their great cause!”
The Bull Demon King exclaimed in surprise, “If you’re not going down with him, what are you doing here?”
Wukong smiled and said, “I feel angry at this Monster Hunting Garden. I must destroy it to relieve the hatred in my heart!”
The Bull Demon King asked, “How can I help you in such a lively affair?”
Wukong replied, “Brother, I won’t hide it from you. I want to act alone so that the Heavenly Court will know that the demon monkeys on Flower Fruit Mountain are now isolated and helpless, so they’ll come to capture me.”
The Bull Demon King asked, “Why do you need to do this?”
Wukong said, “Give first to take later. You’ll understand someday.”
The Bull Demon King nodded and said, “Wukong, be careful. I’m off now!”
Wukong stayed in place for a while. Assuming the Bull Demon King had gone far, he revealed his true form and headed toward the Monster Hunting Garden.
The garden was extremely vast. Wukong carefully advanced half a mile inward and found a formation surrounding it, likely set up to prevent the monsters inside from escaping. This formation was far inferior to that of the Primordial Heavenly Lord. Wukong used the “Mysteries of the Void Art” and identified several foundation points of the formation. He took out his Ruyi Tianji Stick and struck those points several times, instantly destroying the formation. A loud ringing sound was heard—upon destruction, the formation triggered an alarm.
Wukong thought to himself, “This is bad.” He leaped into the air, turning his Ruyi Tianji Stick into one thick as a zhang, which rolled far away with a clattering sound. With a weight of 54,000 jin, it crushed everything in its path—mountains, rocks, and trees—all destroyed. A gap of seventy or eighty zhang appeared in the garden.
Knowing that heavenly soldiers were approaching, Wukong didn’t flee outward but flew back into the garden. There were many monsters inside, but most of them had low cultivation levels, at most at the third or fourth rank of immortals. There were also few hunting generals, all of whom were above the rank of earth immortals, so they were invincible here. Hearing the ringing sound and seeing a monkey break in, these generals naturally knew it was the demon monkey at work.
The first to charge in was Tian Peng. He was shocked to see Wukong—hadn’t this monkey been thrown into the Eight Trigrams Furnace by the Old Lord to be refined? How could it still be alive after four hundred years and have escaped again?
Wukong swung his stick at Tian Peng, who countered with his Nine-Toothed rake. But Wukong skillfully twisted aside and swept his iron stick wildly at the area where the formation once was.
Tian Peng shouted, “Stop him!” A few more heavenly generals charged forward, but they were no match for Wukong in a single clash. Wukong moved swiftly through the Demon Hunting Garden, creating more than a dozen gaps. The garden had always relied on formations to defend itself, but these were designed to protect against attacks from within, not from outside. Such formations were more than sufficient to fend off demons and beasts of the third or fourth rank among immortals. Yet here came a Taiyi Golden Immortal who broke in from the outside, ignoring the complexity of the formations and simply causing chaos. Seeing a chance to escape, the demons in the garden fled outward in droves. Whether they could reach the South Heavenly Gate and survive the nine thunderbolts in the sky depended on their own luck.