Deliverance in the Bhikshu Kingdom (VIII)

Meanwhile, the King the Bhikshu Kingdom begged Wukong for mercy.

Wukong said, "What nonsense are you spouting! Who's your grandpa? Look closely, I am Tang Sanzang's eldest disciple, Sun Wukong! I captured you to question you because you were making things difficult for my master in a dream!"

Upon seeing this, Tang Sanzang quickly said, "Wukong, don't frighten His Majesty."

Upon hearing this, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom stood up.

Wukong shouted at him again, knocking him to the ground, and then laughed as he said to Tang Sanzang, "Master, I'll ask him a few questions, but I won't make things difficult for him."

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom, seeing that Wukong was not someone to be trifled with, dared not look him in the eye and remained subservient.

At this moment, Bajie and Sha Wujing were also awakened and asked what had happened.

Wukong explained the whole story.

Upon hearing this, Bajie bared his fangs and stepped forward, his face extremely vicious, which frightened the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom to the ground.

Tang Sanzang quickly said, "Bajie, don't frighten him!"

Bajie said, "You Old King, what kind of country do you rule! Not a single decent person remains in your court! My master kindly sought justice for you, and now you've ended up in this state!"

Wukong also questioned:

"Confess immediately! What heinous crime have you committed that has caused such widespread resentment that the entire court rejects you and instead recognizes that Demon?"

Upon hearing this, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom dared not speak and looked at Tang Sanzang, saying, "Holy Monk!"

Tang Sanzang turned his head away, ignoring him.

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom had no choice but to lie:

"It is not that I have committed any heinous act, but rather that my officials were disloyal, and my Imperial Harem were unworthy, and thus I was won over by that Demon. I have been dead for many years, with no way to seek justice. That Demon has ruled the country for decades, hence his immense authority."

Wukong pondered upon hearing this.

Bajie said, "It's fake! As the ancients said, 'Even after the fall of the Jin Dynasty, the world still remembers the Han Dynasty.' Therefore, some people impersonate the Han Dynasty to win over the hearts of the people. If you Youde, how could no one recognize you?"

Sha Wujing said, "Second Senior Brother is right!"

The king of Bhikkhu said, "The people of my Bhikkhu kingdom are not as loyal and filial as the people of China. Therefore, they do not wish to acknowledge me."

Wukong said, "Humans all have Nine Apertures, seven emotions, and six desires. If you Youde, how could they not recognize you? It must be because you have lost your virtue."

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom had no choice but to say a mixture of Zhenzhen:

"Because I am old and frail, incapable of governing the country, that Demon claimed to have concocted Agelessness Elixir to cure my illness. I then believed his wicked words, causing hardship and waste of resources, discord between the rulers and the people, and hurting the hearts of many, thus losing my virtue."

Upon hearing this, Wukong realized that the Old King's words didn't seem like a lie this time, and said, "This does sound like the truth."

Sha Wujing asked, "Elder Brother, what do we do now?"

Wukong said, "When that jailer comes again, I'll use a Immobilization Spell to freeze him in place, then we'll escape and leave this to our own devices!"

Bajie exclaimed happily, "That's great! That's great!"

Upon hearing this, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom panicked and hurriedly said to Tang Sanzang, "Holy Monk, you promised to save my kingdom; you cannot abandon me now!"

Tang Sanzang said, "This... Your Majesty, it's not that I, this monk, don't want to help you. It's just that no one in the Imperial Court recognizes your abilities, and I, this monk, am powerless to do anything about it!"

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom hurriedly said, "The Sangharama Bodhisattva once told me that the Holy Monk and his disciples have the power to bring the dead back to life. The reason why none of my ministers recognize me is because I am dead, the dust has settled, and therefore no one dares to oppose that Demon. If I am brought back to life and confronted that Demon in court, surely there will still be loyal ministers willing to recognize me."

Tang Sanzang listened, looked at Wukong, and said, "Wukong, what do you think?"

Sha Wujing whispered to Wukong, "Elder Brother, our Travel Permit and luggage are still being held by that Demon!"

After listening, Wukong thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll give it a try, but I can't guarantee anything."

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

Wukong asked, "Old King, is your Fleshly Body still intact?"

The King of Bhikkhu said, "Years ago, that monster transformed into my likeness, then transformed me into his likeness, and hanged me outside the palace. Later, I went to beg the City God to preserve my body, but the City God colluded with the monster, saying I was immoral, and let my corpse rot."

Wukong said, "Then that's it. In this case, it's impossible to bring you back to life through King of Hell. Taishang Laojun certainly won't allow such an immoral ruler as you to enter his gates. I'll take you to find someone else. If he takes pity on you, he can save you. If he doesn't, there's nothing I can do."

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom then thanked him again.

Wukong grabbed the soul of the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom and Somersault Cloud up to the Heavenly Court.

On Ao Tu's side, seeing Wukong riding the clouds, he guessed that Wukong must be going to find him, so he transformed back into the appearance of Perfected Lord Taixi and returned to the Flower Realm in an instant.

Xiao Zhenying ran over happily and said, "Master is back!"

Ao Tu lifted her onto his arm and asked, "How's the pill refining going?"

Xiao Zhenying held up a half-turned Golden Elixir and said:

"I could have finished it, but my magic power was insufficient, and I only managed to complete half of it; later, when I recovered my magic power and tried to complete the other half, I ruined it."

Ao Tu looked at the somewhat damaged pill and laughed, "It's good that it's damaged! It's good that it's damaged! I'll teach you how to refine it in a bit!"

Xiao Zhenying was confused and didn't know why.

Ao Tu came to the Elixir Chamber, put Xiao Zhenying down, sat opposite her, and tested her alchemy skills.

Xiao Zhenying remembered it fairly well; the content of the first round consisted of 8,400 steps, each different, but she had memorized them all.

This is the difference in aptitude; if it were Mortal, it would probably take several years to learn.

As for the second transformation, each of the 8,400 steps in the first transformation is also 8,400, so Xiao Zhenying is far behind.

However, one level of alchemy is sufficient.

As for accidentally damaging some parts during practice, it's not a big deal.

Before long, Wukong came to visit.

Ao Tu instructed Jiangzhu to invite Wukong in, but instead of personally greeting him, he continued talking to Xiao Zhenying in the Elixir Chamber.

Upon seeing that it was Jiangzhu, Wukong dared not approach rashly and asked from outside, "Fairy Jiangzhu, is the True Lord here?"

Jiangzhu said, "They're Alchemy in the Elixir Chamber!"

The Old King, who was in Wukong's palm, heard a woman's voice and couldn't help but peek out. He saw that the Fairy was graceful Wind-Swayed Willow delicate, with a face as beautiful as the moon when she frowned. He couldn't help but feel happy and envious of the beauty of the fairy realm, hoping that one day he could also ascend to the fairy realm.

Jiangzhu noticed the spying and looked down. The Old King, fearing the immortal's wrath, quickly hid back inside and dared not come out to look again.

Wukong was furious when he saw this.

The Old Daoist Taixi was highly regarded by the Jade Emperor, and all the immortals were on good terms with him. Even the Jade Emperor himself dared not offend him. How could this Old King have the audacity to come and offend him?

Once you offend someone, from the moment you are born, their fate, wealth and poverty, appearance, intelligence and foolishness, all your life's encounters, marriage and family, disasters and blessings, and even your Reincarnation after death—everything is under their control! Even if you are reborn as a dog, you won't find anything fresh to eat!

However, Wukong couldn't afford to lose his temper with the True Lord, so he had no choice but to go to the Elixir Chamber.

Upon seeing this, Ao Tu held little Xiao Zhenying in his arms and teased, "Disciple, look! The monkey that stole the elixir is here!"

Upon seeing this, Wukong laughed:

"Old Daoist, I never stole your elixir, why are you so wary of me? This must be Nezha's little sister! When did you take her as your disciple?"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "I received it a few days ago. I said I wanted to invite the Great Sage, but the Heavenly King said that the Bimawen was a minor official and it was inappropriate to invite him."

Upon hearing this, Wukong angrily exclaimed, "Fine! That Heavenly King Li! I'll settle the score with him another day!"

Xiao Zhenying knew the two were joking, so she just giggled and didn't interrupt.

After laughing, Ao Tu said, "I haven't seen the Great Sage for many days. I suppose your journey to the Journey to the West has been smooth and peaceful. Have you succeeded?"

Wukong waved his hand and said, "Good morning! Good morning! If you're talking about smooth sailing, then it's been smooth sailing, unlike the usual dangers. It's just that the danger has beenfallen others."

Ao Tu, feigning ignorance, asked, "Why is that?"

Wukong said, "I won't say any more, my master is waiting! I've come today because I have a favor to ask of you."

Ao Tu asked, "What is it?"

Wukong said, "I am ashamed to speak, let him speak for himself. All matters are decided by the True Lord, I dare not ask for more."

After saying this, Wukong threw out the Old King's soul.

The Old King was thrown to the ground by Wukong, landing in a daze. Looking around, he saw Ao Tu's venerable and otherworldly bearing and quickly bowed, saying, "Greetings, Immortal!"

Upon seeing this, Ao Tu pretended to be frightened and said, "Disciple, there's an Evil Souls! Quickly protect your master!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhenying was also frightened, and quickly threw out the Longevity Lock, hitting the Old King.

The Old King was knocked to the ground and nearly Dispersed Soul and Scattered Spirit.

If the Longevity Lock hadn't been primarily for self-protection, it would have killed him instantly.

Xiao Zhenying took out the Treasure Casket again, and with a whoosh, put the Old King inside.

The poor Old King only managed to say "Greetings, immortal" before being stuffed into a box and about to turn into pus.