Son Goku Escapes Prison, the First Trial of the Westward Journey

At the foot of Five Finger Mountain, jagged rocks abound.

Tang Sanzang lay prone in front of the dark mountain crevice. He turned to look at Fang Yu, his voice trembling. "Are you really going to crawl in?"

"Otherwise what?" Fang Yu kicked Earth Grudge Fear, and the twisted black line immediately shrank back into his shadow. "The Holy Monk rode this thing for two days, and now Nezumi?"

Tang Sanzang's face turned deathly pale.

The nightmarish experience of the past two days is still vivid in my mind.

Those wriggling tentacles, the foul-smelling slime, and the fleshy tendrils that suddenly wrapped around his waist whenever he was about to fall.

"But the Journey to the West was originally intended..."

"What should have been done? Kneeling and kowtowing three times and begging nine times? Enduring hardship and sleeping in the open?"

"You only care about whether you're sincere or not," Fang Yu sneered. "Have you ever considered that the people can't wait?"

The mountain wind whipped up sand and gravel, and Tang Sanzang's lips trembled.

"I"

"Selfish! You keep talking about saving all living beings, yet you're taking more than a decade to achieve this! What are those people who are waiting for the true scriptures to save their lives? Just stepping stones for your cultivation?"

Tang Sanzang staggered backward, his back hitting the rock wall.

"Sincere and trustworthy"

"Sincerity? By the time your 'sincerity' reaches Spiritual Mountain, the Great Tang will have already been overthrown!"

Fang Yu's voice suddenly softened. "Do you know how far we've traveled these past two days?"

"At your speed, it will take you ten years to reach the Lion Camel Country."

He leaned close to Tang Sanzang's ear and said, "Ten years later, those corpses strung on the gates of Lion Camel Country will have long since weathered into bones."

As the sun sank behind the mountain ridge, the last rays of Golden Light swept across Tang Sanzang's pale face.

"I"

"To drill or not to drill?"

Tang Sanzang took a deep breath and shouted, "Drill!"

As soon as they entered the mountain, Tang Sanzang sensed something was wrong.

"If the Holy Monk is afraid of the dark," Fang Yu said, a wisp of lightning igniting at his fingertips, "I have a lamp here."

Tang Sanzang suddenly grabbed his wrist. "Wait!" He pointed to the dense Sanskrit characters in front of the mountain crevice, "These are golden characters."

"Oh, this." Fang Yu stepped inside, and the sole of his shoe exploded with dazzling sparks upon contact with the Sanskrit characters! He grimaced and bounced around a couple of times. "Hot! But it's not a big problem."

Tang Sanzang was dumbfounded.

"Don't worry, if you get electrocuted by these scriptures, it means that the scriptures are harmful, not saving."

Tang Sanzang swallowed hard. "Stop talking, I'm going to crawl through."

The crevice was much deeper than they had imagined. The two walked hunched over for about fifteen minutes when suddenly a hoarse humming voice came from ahead. "The peach tree is young and tender, its blossoms are bright and beautiful."

Fang Yu greeted him, "Brother Monkey!"

Two golden lamps lit up in the darkness. Sun Wukong blinked his Fiery Golden Eyes, which were covered in dust. "Hey! You little brat, you still know how to talk back—" His voice stopped abruptly, and the monkey suddenly struggled violently, "Bald monk! It's that bald monk who comes to chant sutras again! I've said it more than eight thousand times! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Stop chanting! Stop chanting!"

"Don't get excited! This is the Pilgrim!"

"Old Sun, don't care who he is." Sun Wukong suddenly froze, staring intently at Tang Sanzang's bald head. "Wait, what did you just say?"

Fang Yu magically produced a water pouch and splashed it on Sun Wukong's face, washing away centuries of accumulated dust and revealing the hairy face of the Thunder God. Monkey King realized, "Is he really the Pilgrim?"

Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together and said, "That's right."

"Ahhh! It's me, Old Sun! Old Sun going, I'm going out!?"

"Yes, Brother Monkey, you're getting out of prison."

"Hurry! Go and remove that talisman! Old Sun, have waited far too long! Far too long!"

At the summit of Five Finger Mountain, the golden Buddhist verses gleamed dazzlingly in the setting sun.

When Tang Sanzang's trembling fingers touched the seal that was as thin as a cicada's wing, the entire mountain suddenly trembled violently!

Dust fell softly from the crevices in the rocks, and at the foot of the mountain, the severely weathered stone tablets simultaneously lit up with Sanskrit characters.

"Quickly, peel it off!" Fang Yu grabbed Tang Sanzang, who almost fell over. "This tattered paper has been pasted for five hundred years; it should have been torn down long ago!"

Tang Sanzang swallowed hard and exerted force with his fingertips!

"Sizzle!"

A crisp tearing sound echoed through the valley.

In an instant, the weather changed dramatically!

Five Finger Mountain resembles dough being kneaded by an invisible giant hand, with its rock layers twisted and cracked, and countless fragments of rock shooting into the sky.

From underground came Sun Wukong's roar, suppressed for five hundred years. "Your maternal grandfather has come out!"

Fang Yu grabbed Tang Sanzang's arm, and in the distortion of space, the two appeared in a safe area.

Almost simultaneously, the entire mountain exploded!

Amidst the smoke and dust, a Golden Light shot straight into the sky.

The figure somersaulted more than a dozen times in the air before crashing heavily into the ravine in front of the two, sending up a splash ten feet high.

"Hahaha!" A wet monkey head leaped out of the stream, its Fiery Golden Eyes shining terrifyingly. "Old Sun! Old Sun free!" It frantically scratched at the hardened mud on its body, and with each scratch, years of grime fell off.

Tang Sanzang was so shocked that he fell to the ground. He stared blankly at the hairy-faced thunder god with a mouth that was both crying and laughing, and suddenly realized that this was far from the "pilgrim who had converted to Buddhism" he had imagined.

Fang Yu squatted on a rock by the stream and winked at Sun Wukong: "Brother Monkey, clothes." He tossed over a set of clothes that he had specially altered for Monkey's size in Chang'an City.

Sun Wukong took the clothes and suddenly froze.

The Monkey's voice suddenly choked up, "Old Sun, have been imprisoned for five hundred years!"

Fang Yu empathized with Monkey King, saying, "I understand. Being imprisoned for five hundred years, let alone seven or eight, would be devastating! Five hundred years... you're finally out."

Sun Wukong fought back tears, "I..."

"Stop talking, Monkey King, go wash off the mud on your body first."

The night breeze swept through the valley, carrying the coolness of early autumn.

Tang Sanzang silently recited the scriptures, but then Fang Yu magically produced a wine gourd and shook it. "Brother Monkey, this is a thirty-year-old vintage from Drunken Immortal Restaurant."

Sun Wukong snatched the wine jug with his hairy claws, tilted his head back, and gulped down the amber liquid, which dripped down his chin. Suddenly, he coughed violently, "Cough cough... It's been too long, too long since I've had any. It's really awful, not even as good as a single hair brewed by a monkey. If only I could go back to Flower-Fruit Mountain..."

Tang Sanzang stood awkwardly to the side, unsure whether he should say anything.

"Master Tang," Fang Yu suddenly turned his head, his breath reeking of alcohol, "Do you think it has truly come to believe in Tang Sanzang now, or is it just afraid of being imprisoned?"

He pointed at Sun Wukong, who was using his monkey paws to scoop peanuts out of the ground, and asked, "Is your kindness genuine, or is it something you're Binding Vow do?"

Tang Sanzang heard Sun Wukong mutter drunkenly, "Recite a sutra for Old Sun to liven things up!"

"You!" Tang Sanzang instinctively straightened his face, "Since you've entered the Buddhist order..."

"Bullshit!" The Monkey somersaulted to the treetop, plucked a leaf, and began to whistle a tune, "Old Sun, was tricked by that Tathagata Buddha!"

It suddenly darted in front of Tang Sanzang, its Fiery Golden Eyes almost touching his nose. "Little Monk, do you know what it feels like to have ants crawl into your ear under the Five Elements Mountain?"

Tang Sanzang took two steps back, his back pressed against the cold, hard rock wall.

Fang Yu, shaking his wine jug, interjected, "Under the Five Elements Mountain, Monkey King can only see a tiny patch of sky at three quarters past dawn each day."

Sun Wukong suddenly fell silent, grabbed the wine gourd, and gulped it down.

Tang Sanzang found his monk's robes soaked with cold sweat, and he remembered Fang Yu's question.

What kind of devout conversion is this mischievous monkey showing? It's clearly been five hundred years of imprisonment that has smoothed out his edges.

"Isn't this good?" Tang Sanzang suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse. "At least, it won't do evil anymore."

Fang Yu chuckled, and lightning from his fingertip illuminated Sun Wukong's filthy face. "Evil and good have always been unilateral definitions."

"You think it's evil, but its Monkey offspring think it's a hero, don't you think?"

Tang Sanzang's lips trembled as he thought of the people in Chang'an City who knelt and worshipped the Buddha Statue. If Buddhist scriptures could truly enlighten people, why would they need to restrain this Monkey?

"Alright, stop thinking about it." Fang Yu patted Tang Sanzang on the back. "From now on, the three of us are in this together. Let's finish these Eighty-One Tribulations as soon as possible, get to the Western Heaven as soon as possible, and complete our mission."

"When the time comes, you'll be your Holy Monk, and I'll be my wandering immortal. Once Brother Monkey regains his freedom, we'll each go our separate ways!"

As he spoke, he stroked his chin and said, "Let me think, Eighty-One Tribulations? Well, I'll make you some."

Tang Sanzang frowned. "What do you mean?"

Fang Yu smiled, "Tomorrow, I'll take you to Dengdualang."

The Monkey became interested. "What does that mean?"

Fang Yu smiled mysteriously and whispered in Monkey King's ear, "It means... visiting brothels."