Chechi Kingdom

"You must have come from afar and are unaware of what has happened in my city. Let alone the civil and military officials, everyone in my city is fond of Daoist practices, and even the common people have portraits of Daoist priests hanging in their homes."

"And my king especially favors Daoist priests."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong suddenly realized what was going on and quickly said:

"I started this journey when I was young, and it has taken me a long time to get here. I really don't know what this place is called. Could you please tell me the name of this place and why the king likes it, but could you please explain it to me in detail?"

Upon hearing this, the two Daoist priests immediately said:

"This place is called Chechi Kingdom, and the king on the throne is related to us in some way."

Sun Wukong laughed and said upon hearing this:

"Could it be that your Daoist priest has become emperor here?"

Upon hearing this, one of the Daoist priests, looking at Sun Wukong's appearance, slowly explained to Sun Wukong:

"No, it's just that my master and the emperor are sworn brothers, and the master is the national advisor of this country."

Sun Wukong nodded upon hearing this, and after a short while, Sun Wukong suddenly thought of some questions and said to the Daoist priests:

"Then why was he appointed as the Imperial Preceptor?"

After hearing Sun Wukong's words, the two Daoist priests pondered for a moment, exchanged glances, and then quietly said to Sun Wukong:

"Several years ago, our area suffered from a prolonged drought, with no rain at all. All the crops in the land had died. Then, three immortals descended from the sky and saved the lives of the people."

"Those three immortals possess the ability to summon wind and rain, stop water, and turn stones into gold."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong nodded and couldn't help but sigh:

"If they really have those abilities, that's incredibly impressive. How long must they have trained to reach that level?"

The two young Daoist priests ignored Sun Wukong's words and then said to Sun Wukong:

"Having said so much, I don't know if you'd like to enter the palace with us. If so, we can introduce you to some people."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong was overjoyed and immediately said to the two young Daoist priests:

Are you really that confident?

Upon hearing this, the two young Daoist priests, seeing Sun Wukong's bewildered expression, felt a surge of pride and said:

"You want to see my master? That's easy enough. We're his darlings, and he loves Daoists. He'll go out the moment he hears the word 'to'. If the two of us can get you in, it'll be a piece of cake."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong was overjoyed and bowed to the two Daoist priests.

"In that case, we'll leave it to you."

After a short while, Sun Wukong asked the two Daoist priests again:

"So what exactly do these monks do? Why have they been exposed to such a low level?"

After hearing what Sun Wukong said, one of the Daoist priests smiled and explained to Sun Wukong:

"Back then, when they were praying for rain, the monks were worshipping Buddha on one side, while the Daoist priests were praying on the other. The relief grain from the imperial court was simply not enough. They were just chanting in vain; there was no way to help them."

"Ever since my master arrived, he has been able to control the wind and rain and solve the problem of grain production. However, this angered the imperial court, who said that the monk was useless. So they demolished his mountain gate, destroyed his Buddha statues, and prevented them from retiring to their hometowns."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong said to them:

"If I said we weren't meant to be, then we really weren't. I'm afraid your master and I will never meet."

The two Daoist priests looked at Sun Wukong with blank expressions. Seeing this, Sun Wukong slowly explained to them:

"Since I began my journey through these turbulent times, my reasons have been twofold: to save my life and to find my relatives."

Do you have any other relatives?

The two Daoist priests asked Sun Wukong in confusion.

After listening to this, Sun Wukong thought about it seriously for a while, then, with bloodshot eyes, he said to the two Daoist priests:

"I have a master who became a monk when he was young. He spends his days begging outside and hasn't been home for a long time."

"I came here out of gratitude to my ancestors, and I suppose I'm trapped in a place like this. To be honest, I don't know how to find him."

Those two Daoist priests were fools too; they didn't understand what Sun Wukong was saying at all. The two priests patted Sun Wukong the shoulder and said:

"Don't worry about this. Sit down here first, and come with us to the beach later to check which one is your uncle. If he is, we'll let him go and he can come into the city with you."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong was immediately filled with gratitude. He then went to the beach with the Daoist priests, and the monks, seeing this, knelt down and kowtowed, saying:

"We haven't slacked off either; all five hundred of us are here pulling carts, not one less."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong was immediately filled with pride and said to them:

"Do you know what I'm laughing at? I'm laughing at you monks who haven't made any progress at all. Your parents brought you into this world so that you would properly respect the Buddha and follow the Dharma."

"But what I didn't expect was that you would become slaves to these Daoist priests."

The monks were furious after hearing Sun Wukong's words. One of them finally couldn't hold back any longer and said to Sun Wukong:

"It's one thing if you don't come to help us, but why do you have to come and humiliate us? I suppose you're from out of town and have no idea how terrible this place really is."

After the monks finished speaking, they immediately burst into tears and said:

"Our country's ruler favors Daoist doctrines but has harmed us."

Sun Wukong looked surprised upon hearing this, and the monks quickly explained to Sun Wukong:

"Because we could summon wind and rain, those three immortals came here and destroyed us. In order to deceive the king, they took all our lives, refusing to let us go back or give us official positions. We can only be slaves to those immortals."

"Those Daoist priests must know some Law Technique to deceive the king. If it's just about summoning wind and rain, that's just unorthodox magic and wouldn't touch the hearts of those kings at all."

After saying this, Sun Wukong looked at the monks with a puzzled expression.

"They would even befriend each other by touching water or use stones as foundations. Now that they've built those three strange temples, they're all praying for the king to live forever, which has moved the king's heart."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong instantly understood and said to the monks:

"If that's the case, then you should leave now."