Volume 3: A Long Journey Chapter 279: Speaking Carelessly Donghua the Emperor and Dongfang Shuo followed behind. Zhu Bajie was the first to rush in and bow. Just as the Jade Emperor was about to drink, he was startled by Zhu Bajie and turned to ask the Queen Mother, “Who is this?” The Queen Mother smiled and said, “If I hadn’t known in advance, I wouldn’t have imagined that the once dashing Marshal Tianpeng would end up like this.” “He’s Tianpeng?” The Jade Emperor recalled Tianpeng’s original appearance and compared it with the man before him, causing him to shudder. But he reacted quickly and said, “Someone, offer him a seat and some wine!” Zhu Bajie was overjoyed that the Jade Emperor was speaking to him and happily sat down. He raised his cup and drank it in one gulp, exclaiming, “Still, the wine in heaven is the best. These past few years have really made me… extremely hungry for it.” He had grown accustomed to calling himself “Old Pig” and almost said it again. The Jade Emperor then asked Donghua the Emperor to sit as well and remained silent. Previously, when Donghua the Emperor came here, he didn’t know the situation and waited for the Queen Mother to speak. The Queen Mother whispered to the Jade Emperor, “Tianpeng was banished back to Gao Laozhuang by a decree from Tang Seng. Later, Sun Wukong was sent to hunt him down. With nowhere to hide, he sought refuge with Donghua the Emperor. That monkey wouldn’t give up and caused a ruckus on Fangzhang Immortal Island, using his status as a Buddhist disciple to intimidate people. That’s why Donghua the Emperor came here to complain.” After hearing the Queen Mother’s account, the Jade Emperor uttered an “Oh” and asked Zhu Bajie, “Has the journey to obtain the scriptures gone smoothly?” Zhu Bajie replied, “Smooth… well, not really. There were always some demons blocking the way. Fortunately, my brothers are united, and their strength is unmatched…” As he spoke, he suddenly realized that he had already been banished by Tang Seng—how could he still talk about brotherhood? The Jade Emperor asking about the quest was actually to see if this undercover agent was useful. Back then, Tai Bai Jinxing had asked him to gather information along the way. Although he had been banished, he still knew some details. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have had the chance to meet the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother. Zhu Bajie wasn’t that stupid either. He knew this opportunity was hard-won and might only come once. So he began to think about how to fabricate a lie that would make the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother see him as someone who, despite his sins, was sincerely working for the heavenly court. If the Jade Emperor was pleased, even if he couldn’t restore him to his position as Marshal Tianpeng, giving him a minor official role would be better than being a demon on earth. Hearing Zhu Bajie’s mess of a story, the Queen Mother laughed and said, “You must still remember which demons you encountered along the way, how you dealt with them, and why you were banished.”

Zhu Bajie drank another cup of wine and said, “Of course I remember.” Then he began recounting everything from Huangfeng Ridge, through Liusha River, Wujiazhuang, Baihu Ridge, Pingding Mountain, to Wujiguo—every detail without omission, sharing everything he knew.

He deliberately exaggerated his own abilities, claiming to be brave and heroic, always taking the lead in battles and achieving remarkable feats. But that Sun Wukong was truly detestable; whenever the two worked together to subdue demons, he would take all the credit for himself. Over time, Tang Seng developed a prejudice against him. In Wujiguo, he was framed by Sun Wukong, who stuffed a few meatballs into his pocket. When the naive Tang Seng saw this, Sun Wukong’s scheme succeeded, and he incited Tang Seng to drive him out of the pilgrimage team.

But the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother immediately realized he was boasting. Compared to Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie was far inferior in both wisdom and strength. Throughout the entire pilgrimage, it was undoubtedly Sun Wukong who carried the load alone.

Zhu Bajie’s mind was already a bit confused, and as he rambled on, he forgot his original purpose—reporting the intelligence he had gathered as a spy—only to end up trying to save face and seek justice for himself.

The Queen Mother naturally had no desire to listen to his nonsense. She interrupted Bajie and asked, “Why did Sun Wukong frame you and hunt you down? Did you discover some secret that he wanted to silence you?”

If the Queen Mother hadn’t mentioned it, Bajie would never have thought of this. He assumed Sun Wukong was chasing him because he had broken the precepts of chastity and angered Tang Seng.

Bajie glanced at the Queen Mother and saw that she had stopped smiling and was looking at him expectantly. Realizing he needed to come up with an excuse, he thought back to the journey and decided that even if it meant finding faults where none existed, he had to come up with something.

Suddenly, Bajie remembered something and was overjoyed. He declared firmly, “The Queen Mother is right. Sun Wukong definitely has some secret he can’t reveal, which is why he wants to kill me to silence me.” At this point, he tilted his head slightly, narrowed his eyes, and put on a thoughtful expression, saying, “It was that time…”

“Which time?” asked the Queen Mother.

Bajie replied, “That year, we reached Pingding Mountain. There were two terrifying demons on that mountain, called the Golden Horn King and the Silver Horn King. These demons were extremely fierce. At first, Sun Wukong didn’t realize how dangerous they were. He wanted to take all the credit for himself, so he just ordered me to watch over Tang Seng while he went alone to fight them.”

“He kept losing battles, so he had to seek help everywhere. Oh, the gods in heaven also tried to assist, but they were helpless against those demons too. Actually, I had already begun to suspect something.”

The Queen Mother hurriedly asked, “Why did you start to suspect?”

Bajie made up nonsense and said, “I also watched as Sun Wukong fought that demon. He clearly didn’t put in any real effort; both of them were just pretending to fight! Otherwise, with his skills, he would have been captured by the demon long ago!”
The Queen Mother smiled and said, “Just based on your word alone, it probably isn’t enough as evidence.”
Bajie replied, “Don’t worry, Queen Mother. The best part is yet to come. When the monkey saw that he couldn’t defeat the demon even with so many helpers, he even invited Guanyin Bodhisattva, but it still didn’t help.”
The Jade Emperor, impatient at Bajie’s rambling, said, “I naturally know that Sun Wukong came to the heavenly court to ask for reinforcements. Just tell me what happened next.”
Bajie said, “Well, later on, that demon got more allies, and one of them I recognized—it was the Bull Demon King from Flower Fruit Mountain!”
The Jade Emperor said, “I know that too!”
Bajie continued, “At that time, Sun Wukong was a pilgrim seeking the Golden Body and ultimate enlightenment, while the Bull Demon King was still a demon. Moreover, they used to be sworn brothers. Isn’t there something strange about this?”
The Queen Mother asked, “What’s strange about it? Do they have to fight as soon as they meet?”
Bajie replied, “Because of their past friendship, they naturally wouldn’t fight. But the strangeness lies in the fact that Guanyin later went to invite Buddha to subdue the demons. By the time Buddha arrived, all those demons had disappeared without a trace. If it weren’t for the monkey reporting the news, how would they have known Buddha was coming?”
The Queen Mother’s eyes lit up, and she asked, “Do you have any proof?”
Bajie said, “Sigh, that monkey is good at transforming. I kept losing track of him as he kept coming and going. But this whole thing is just too coincidental. The demons kept winning battle after battle and were at their most arrogant—how could they possibly retreat easily? In my opinion, the monkey must still be involved with that Bull Demon King. Maybe his goal of obtaining the scriptures isn’t what it seems.”
The Queen Mother asked, “Is there anything else?”
Bajie replied, “When Buddha arrived, Sun Wukong was still pretending to fight that demon. He was captured by a shiny golden rope. When the demon saw Buddha coming, it even abandoned its magic weapons and fled right away.”
The Queen Mother frowned and said, “It’s not surprising if he’s outmatched.”
Bajie countered, “That’s not right. Sun Wukong still has some skills. Back in the day, when he established his own mountain, many heavenly soldiers and generals couldn’t capture him. Even if that demon is strong, it can’t capture Sun Wukong in just a few rounds. So this time, it must still be a fake fight!”

After Zhu Bajie said all this, only this sentence caught the Jade Emperor’s attention. What kind of figure was Sun Wukong? Even the Tathagata had lost to him in a duel back then. After the incident on Pingding Mountain, the Jade Emperor naturally sent people to investigate the origins of the Golden Horn and Silver Horn, and learned that they were disciples of Laozi. In the Jade Emperor’s mind, even if they possessed extraordinary magical weapons, they were no match for Sun Wukong, so those few encounters might very well have been feigned.

Thinking further that Sun Wukong had been imprisoned by the Three Pure Ones for four hundred years, the Jade Emperor had some realization. It was understandable for the Three Pure Ones to prevent him from obtaining the scriptures—after all, one group followed Buddhism and the other Taoism. But what was Sun Wukong’s motive? Could it be that he still had connections with monsters like the Bull Demon King? Was his pretended piety toward Buddhism just an act?

The Jade Emperor glanced at Zhu Bajie and nodded in slight approval, then turned to the Eastern Emperor and said, “Your Majesty, please take Zhu Bajie back to Fangzhang Immortal Island for the time being. I’ll devise a suitable position for him and have him return to the Heavenly Palace later.”

Hearing this, Zhu Bajie was overjoyed. He quickly kowtowed in gratitude several times and added, “In my haste earlier, I forgot to mention one thing. That young disciple, Huo Wu Hui—his background seems unclear. On Pingding Mountain, he went to take a look at those monsters, and when he returned, he was furious. He ignored me when I spoke to him. In my opinion, he might also be a transformed monster!”

The Jade Emperor had no memory of Huo Wu Hui and simply replied, “I see.”

The Eastern Emperor ordered Dongfang Shuo to take Zhu Bajie back to the island. Still angry, Zhu Bajie naturally didn’t want to leave.

The Queen Mother, knowing his feelings, said, “Your Majesty, what you mentioned concerns the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism—it’s a major issue that requires careful consideration.”

The Eastern Emperor retorted angrily, “The Ten Continents and Three Islands have always stayed away from the world and never participated in such disputes. It’s the first time we’ve been bullied like this!”

Hearing this, the Jade Emperor’s expression darkened as he recalled that mysterious man in the hat plundering immortal herbs in the Ten Continents. He had sent the Thousand-Mile Eye to watch over Wuzhuang Temple and naturally knew that person was Guanyin Bodhisattva. The fact that the Ten Continents and Three Islands had been attacked twice, both times related to Buddhism, made him uneasy, even though he had secretly allied with the Western Heaven.

Seeing that neither of the two seated before him spoke, the Eastern Emperor said, “If the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother won’t take action, I’ll go and demand revenge from that monkey myself! I’ve heard much of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s fame. I really want to see if his Sword That Kills Immortals, which has been unused for ten thousand years, has lost its edge.”

The Queen Mother knew that the Eastern Emperor held a very high status, and if he failed to regain this face, his prestige among the Ten Continents and Three Islands would likely decline greatly. So she said, “If the Emperor takes action personally, wouldn’t that be bullying the weak? Don’t worry; I will definitely help you regain this face!” She only said she would retrieve it, without specifying when or how—this was the cleverness of the Queen Mother.
At any rate, since the Queen Mother had given her word, the Eastern Emperor said, “Very well! Since the Queen Mother has spoken, I only need the monkey to come to the island and apologize to me.”
At that moment, laughter came from outside the door, and someone said, “How can that work?”