The roar burst like a thunderclap, rolling through the valley and shaking showers of needles from the ancient pines on either side.
It made the scalp prickle.
Liu Boqin went deathly pale and instinctively gripped the Steel Fork at his waist.
"Holy monk..." Liu Boqin swallowed and forced himself to be brave. "That voice... must be the divine monkey imprisoned here. This place holds dangers beyond guessing, and the mountain road ahead is even more rugged. My mother charged me with escorting you, so I'll see this kindness through all the way to the Western Heaven. Even if it takes every ounce of strength I have, I'll get you across Five Elements Mountain, Elder!"
With that, the man thrust out his chest and moved to lead the way.
Looking at this honest, unassuming man, Xuanzang felt a faint warmth in his heart.
Xuanzang reached out to stop Liu Boqin, his gaze gentle. "Protector, I appreciate your kindness. But the road ahead is no ordinary mortal road, and you still have an elderly mother at home. If anything happened to you while you were escorting me, even ten thousand deaths could not absolve me."
"Go home."
Xuanzang pressed his palms together and bowed deeply to Liu Boqin. "I have my own guardian. Please return home, Protector."
Seeing Xuanzang's firm resolve, and recalling his compassionate divine powers, Liu Boqin finally dared not go against him. He could only kneel in farewell, then leave, looking back three times with every step.
With his bundle of dry provisions on his back, Xuanzang followed the voice alone.
The closer he drew, the clearer the calls became.
"Master! Why aren't you here yet? I can already see you!"
Xuanzang rounded a sheer cliff, and the view suddenly opened before him.
Beneath the rocky precipice sat a stone box, with a monkey's pointed muzzle and hollow cheeks protruding from it.
In that instant, Xuanzang stopped dead.
His memories of the original novel from before he came here were hazy, with only a few episodes remaining clear. But the monkey's origins happened to be among them, as was his history of Havoc in Heaven. He was also the character Xuanzang had admired most in that novel.
The divine monkey who had once been so wild and defiant, who had dared to trample the celestial heights, now presented a sight that stirred a sorrowful sigh.
Rotting leaves lay piled on his head, unknown wild grasses sprouted at his temples, and his fiery golden eyes were now crusted with discharge and grime.
Cobwebs had even formed over his brows, leaving him looking both destitute and desolate.
So this was a hero at the end of his road.
A deep compassion welled up in Xuanzang's heart.
He sighed softly, his eyes growing moist.
The monkey-Sun Wukong-was staring fixedly at Xuanzang with eyes so bright they were startling.
He saw the glimmer of tears in Xuanzang's eyes.
Sun Wukong's heart gave a jolt, and he wondered, What's wrong with this monk? We haven't even spoken, and he's already about to cry? Is he some spineless coward frightened by the sight of Old Sun?
His thoughts raced. Rolling his eyes, Sun Wukong immediately put on a pitiful expression of desperate impatience.
He stretched his neck as far as he could, his filthy hand clawing wildly at the air:
"Master! Master! Why have you only just arrived? Hurry and save me! I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven who wrought Havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago. For the crime of defying those above me, the Buddha imprisoned me here."
"Guanyin Bodhisattva said she had received the Buddha's command to seek the Pilgrim in the Eastern Land."
"I asked her to save me, and she urged me to do no more evil, take refuge in the Buddhist teachings, and devote myself to protecting the Pilgrim on his journey west to worship the Buddha. Once the task was accomplished, there would be rewards! I'm willing to protect you as you seek the scriptures and become your disciple!"
Xuanzang said nothing. He merely approached.
He knelt directly on the muddy ground before the stone box.
Reaching out, he gently plucked the dried grass from Sun Wukong's brow.
Then came the moss at his temples and the dirt behind his ears.
His movements were gentle and meticulous.
Sun Wukong froze.
All the honeyed words and solemn oaths he had prepared filled his belly, yet now he could not utter a single one.
The monk's fingers were warm. There was no fear in his eyes, only something Sun Wukong could not understand... sorrow?
How strange.
Was this monk a fool?
Sun Wukong blinked and called out tentatively:
"M-Master? What are you doing? Old Sun has a thick scalp. It's nothing to worry about. Hurry up the mountain and remove that seal. Getting me out is what matters."
Xuanzang took out a handkerchief and wiped the mud from Sun Wukong's face.
He kept at it until the thunder-god features beneath were revealed.
"You've suffered."
Xuanzang spoke softly.
Sun Wukong's eyes darted about. Thinking that this monk really was softhearted and easy to deceive, he promptly climbed the pole offered to him:
"Suffered! Of course I've suffered! Five hundred years of wind and rain, without a scrap of shelter.
"Have mercy, Master. Just get me out, and I'll take you to the Western Heaven! Never mind the Western Heaven-I could even take you to the heavenly court! Whatever demons and monsters we meet along the way, Old Sun will kill them all, one blow of my staff apiece!"
He spoke with absolute conviction, but a trace of slyness lurked deep in his eyes.
Yet at that moment, the compassion in Xuanzang's gaze abruptly changed.
He slowly withdrew his hand, took a clean handkerchief from inside his robe, and unhurriedly wiped the grime from his fingertips.
Xuanzang looked at Sun Wukong without saying a word.
He simply watched him in silence.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Sun Wukong had still been grinning cheekily, but under that gaze, his sly smile gradually stiffened on his face.
He felt as though the monk's gaze were a blade, slicing his chest open and laying every petty scheme in his heart bare.
It left him feeling inexplicably... unnerved.
"M-Master?"
Sun Wukong's voice had grown uncertain.
"Why... why are you looking at me like that?"
Having finished wiping his hands, Xuanzang tucked the handkerchief back into his robe. Only then did he speak slowly, his voice no longer gentle:
"Do not call me Master. We have never met before. Even if the Bodhisattva appointed you, I have not accepted you, and no bond of master and disciple exists between us. You said you would take me to the Western Heaven?"
Sun Wukong said, "Old Sun has vast divine powers. You need my protection to seek the scriptures..."
"If all I needed was a guardian with vast divine powers, I could simply appeal to the gods and Buddhas filling the heavens."
Xuanzang interrupted him, his tone level:
"You say the Bodhisattva guided you toward enlightenment, but I see your eyes shifting and hear nothing but talk of slaughter. Your heart holds only the desire to escape, not devotion to the Buddha."
"N-No! Nothing of the sort!"
Sun Wukong hastily denied it, but this time there was unmistakable panic in his voice. He no longer sounded as effortlessly composed as before.
Xuanzang stood and brushed the dust from the hem of his robe, his gaze still bearing down on the monkey:
"I journey west to obtain the true scriptures and deliver all people from suffering, not to recklessly incur the sin of slaughter. Nor can my disciple be a demon whose mouth is full of lies."
"This mountain has pinned you down for five hundred years, yet it has not restrained the delusions in your heart."
"I can remove this seal."
"You have been imprisoned for five hundred years. Your punishment is complete, and you ought to be freed. Since you have no wish to journey west, I will not force you."
The smile on Sun Wukong's face froze instantly. "M-Master, what do you mean?"
"I mean that if I save you, it is out of compassion. As for this supposed bond of master and disciple, we need not form it."
Xuanzang spoke without expression. "But your delusions remain, and your wild nature is untamed. If I release you, you may become a scourge."
"If you want me to remove the seal, you must swear an oath to Heaven."
Xuanzang bent down, a faint golden light gleaming in his eyes as he looked directly into Sun Wukong's. That gaze weighed more heavily than Five Elements Mountain:
"With the Heavenly Dao as witness, once freed, you must not recklessly commit slaughter or act however you please. If you break this oath, may all your cultivation be lost, may Heaven and Earth destroy you, and may you endure another five hundred years of suffering!"
"If you dare swear this oath, I will release you."
"Will you?"
Before you continue