Outside the Hall of Miraculous Mist.
The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea and the King of Hell arrived together, as if they had planned it!
The Jade Emperor sat high upon his dragon throne, radiating majesty. He had once been a Dao Ancestor Hongjun's boy attendant, but through a fortunate twist of fate, he had become the ruler of the Heavenly Court, governing the Three Realms. In status, he stood below only the Saints.
Haotian raised his brows slightly and lifted a hand, saying coolly:
"Summon the two of them into the hall."
A guard's clear announcement rang out from the jade steps outside the hall, and two figures slowly emerged from the clouds and entered.
The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, Ao Guang, wore a pearl crown. His face was purplish-blue, and his eyes brimmed with anger and grievance.
King Yama wore a black-and-gold robe. His brows were tightly knit, dark energy swirled around him, and his face was likewise filled with fury.
The two reached the front of the hall, bowed together, and called out in voices like clanging bells:
"This humble king pays respects to the Great Celestial Venerable. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless longevity and peace throughout the Three Realms!"
The Jade Emperor raised a hand to signal them to rise and said calmly:
"Rise. My two beloved subjects, what matter have you come to report? Speak at once."
Ao Guang hurriedly presented a gold-trimmed jade memorial before the throne, his voice brimming with suppressed anger and grievance:
"Great Celestial Venerable, there is a demon monkey named Sun Wukong on Flower-Fruit Mountain in the lower realm. He is audacious and arrogant, causing a great disturbance in the Dragon Palace and injuring this little dragon! I beg the Great Celestial Venerable to uphold justice for my Dragon Palace and give the Eastern Sea a fair hearing!"
The Jade Emperor furrowed his brow and asked, pretending not to know:
"Oh? Sun Wukong... Where did this demon monkey come from? What is his background?"
An immortal official immediately stepped forward and reported in a clear voice:
"Great Celestial Venerable, this demon monkey was born more than three hundred years ago from one of the five-colored stones left behind by Empress Nuwa when she repaired the heavens. After absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, it gained spiritual awareness and transformed into a monkey spirit. Recently, it attained the indestructible body of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal. Its mastery of the Dao is considerable."
"Oh... So it was him."
The Jade Emperor nodded slightly, a flicker of meaning in his eyes, then asked coolly:
"Ao Guang, what exactly did this demon monkey do to make you, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, come all the way to the Hall of Miraculous Mist to lodge a complaint?"
Ao Guang gritted his teeth and said:
"That demon monkey... That demon monkey stormed into the Dragon Palace, grievously injured this little dragon, and brazenly stole millions of Night Pearls, coral, agate, gold, silver, and other treasures. He even forced my Dragon Palace to pay annual tribute to Flower-Fruit Mountain! He truly knows no bounds!"
At this, Ao Guang took a deep breath and put on a look of profound grief.
"Most importantly, Sun Wukong even took the Sea-Calming Divine Needle Iron, which suppresses the Eastern Sea's seabed!"
"Now the Eastern Sea is unstable, its waters are flooding, and countless sea-dwellers have died. Several mortal kingdoms nearby have already been swallowed by the waters. The land is devastated, and countless lives have been lost!"
The immortals in the hall exchanged glances, and whispers immediately spread through the room.
"Good heavens... How outrageous! This demon monkey even dared to steal the Sea-Calming Divine Needle Iron!"
"Unbelievably audacious! The Sea-Calming Divine Needle Iron was used by Great Yu to control the floods and suppress the Eastern Sea! This demon monkey's crimes are truly heinous!"
"The Dragon Clan was once so mighty, yet now it's being bullied by a mere demon monkey. It really has fallen on hard times!"
The officials whispered among themselves.
The Jade Emperor maintained his stern expression, thinking to himself, Excellent, excellent. Everything has gone exactly according to the script. It seems the Great Tribulation of Journey to the West is proceeding without a hitch.
At this thought, the weight on his heart eased a little. He pretended to inspect Ao Guang's memorial, then raised a hand and waved it away.
"Ao Guang, you may withdraw. I will handle the matter."
"Thank you, Great Celestial Venerable. This humble official takes his leave!"
At those words, Ao Guang knew his performance was over and his part was finished. He could clock out and go home. In a flash, he hurried away without looking back.
At this point, King Yama could no longer hold back. He held a dark iron jade slip in both hands, his face twisted with frustration, and likewise gritted his teeth as he said:
"Great Celestial Venerable, the demon monkey Sun Wukong of Flower-Fruit Mountain in the lower realm holds my Underworld in contempt and shows no respect to the King of Hell. He injured the ghost guards and disrupted the cycle of life and death. He truly knows no bounds! I beg the Great Celestial Venerable to judge the matter fairly and restore justice to my Underworld!"
The immortals below the throne erupted into an uproar, voices rising all around.
"King Yama has always been easygoing. If even he's this angry, that demon monkey must have caused a lot of trouble!"
"A Grand Unity Golden Immortal who wreaked havoc in the Dragon Palace and then in the Underworld—he truly knows no bounds!"
"His crimes are unforgivable and heinous! He must be seized!"
"How dare a monkey insult the majesty of Heaven? Kill! Kill! Kill!"
As the Jade Emperor listened to the gods' discussion, a hint of satisfaction secretly appeared on his face.
Excellent!
The script hadn't gone awry!
Everything was normal!
"Ahem..."
The Jade Emperor cleared his throat, his voice ringing through the hall:
"King Yama, tell me in detail how Sun Wukong disrupted your Underworld. I will make my own judgment."
King Yama clasped his hands in a bow, his eyes wide and his teeth clenched.
"Great Celestial Venerable, that monkey broke into the Hall of Ten Kings at night. He beat Black and White Impermanence and Ox-Head and Horse-Face so badly that even their own mothers wouldn't recognize them!"
"He also stole many treasures from my Underworld, including Water of the River of Forgetfulness, Seeds of the Other Shore Flower, Netherworld Ghost Fire, Fruit of Reincarnation, Seeds of the Grass of Forgetfulness, Seeds of the Mandara Flower, Heart of the Netherworld Lotus... That demon monkey took every last one of them..."
With each treasure King Yama named, the Jade Emperor's eyelid twitched violently!
Damn!
This monkey was something else!
He had stolen treasures that could only be found in the Underworld!!!
Even I, the Jade Emperor, didn't have many of those!
But then the Jade Emperor thought it over. The demon monkey had only cultivated for a few hundred years. How could he recognize those treasures? Could that old fox King Yama be using Sun Wukong as an excuse to cook the books?
The Underworld had probably pinned all its old debts on that silly monkey!
Although the Jade Emperor suspected as much, the Grand Plan of Journey to the West was what mattered most right now. He didn't want to argue with King Yama, so he asked:
"What else did that monkey do? Could he have even burned the Book of Life and Death?"
King Yama shook his head. "No. The Book of Life and Death is unharmed!"
The Jade Emperor's eyes flashed with surprise!
What?
That monkey hadn't burned the Book of Life and Death?
Something was wrong! Why wasn't the monkey following the script?
Just as the Jade Emperor wondered what was going on, King Yama dropped to his knees with a thud and burst into tears.
"Great Celestial Venerable, that demon monkey took the Netherworld Book outright and crossed out the names of countless monkeys from Flower-Fruit Mountain!"
"From then on, those demon monkeys were erased from the Netherworld Book. They were no longer recorded in it, would not enter the cycle of reincarnation, and had escaped life and death!"
"Such a forced escape from life and death has not only disrupted the cycles of cause and effect and reincarnation, but also shown contempt for Heaven's laws. If he goes unpunished, how can the order of the Three Realms be upheld?"
Hearing this, even the Jade Emperor's expression changed for once, his face turning grave.
"What did you say?"
"That demon monkey actually crossed out names in the Netherworld Book?"
At the same time, all the gods in the hall turned their heads, equally stunned.
"Good heavens!!! A demon monkey who's only a Grand Unity Golden Immortal stormed into the Underworld and crossed out names in the Netherworld Book! It sounds like a tall tale!"
"This demon monkey is too arrogant! He even dared to alter the Netherworld Book?"
"This is madness! The world's gone so crazy I don't even recognize it anymore!"
"Wait, the Underworld is nothing like the Dragon Palace. It's full of powerful beings. Great Emperor Beiyin Fengdu, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Ancestor Minghe of the Netherworld Blood Sea—any one of them could step in and bring that demon monkey to justice on the spot, let alone Empress Pingxin, a Saint of the Earthly Dao!"
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