Testing the Waters

Zhu Bajie, displaying his divine might, followed Sun Wukong as they soared through the clouds to a high mountain. They arrived at the cave entrance, only to find it tightly shut and deserted. Sun Wukong instantly brandished his Ruyi Jingu Bang) and shouted:

"You monsters, open the door right now and let your king come out to fight me!"

Upon hearing Sun Wukong's shout, the little demon inside the cave immediately reported to the Azure Lion, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Sun Wukong has already arrived at our cave entrance!"

The Azure Lion, somewhat flustered and trembling with fear, said, "I've long heard that Sun Wukong is extremely ruthless, and it's certainly true."

The two old demons asked from the side, "Brother, why do you say that? And I haven't seen what makes Sun Wukong so powerful."

"Back then, Sun Wukong disguised himself as Little Wind Scout and sneaked in. None of us recognized him. Luckily, the third brother saw through his disguise and put him in a bottle. But who would have thought that Sun Wukong would use some of his skills to break the bottle, and then leave wearing his clothes."

"Now he's clamoring for battle, but who dares to be the first to fight him?"

After he finished speaking, not a single demon dared to answer. He asked again, but still no one answered. All the demons pretended to be deaf and dumb. The Azure Lion angrily said:

"We have a reputation in the Western Continent, yet this Sun Wukong looks down on us. If we don't fight him, it will ruin our reputation. In that case, I might as well risk my old life and fight him."

"If I can beat Sun Wukong, then Tang Xuanzang will be our food. If I can't, then we'll just close the door and let him pass."

Then the Azure Lion put on his armor, took his weapon, and went out to greet them. Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie stood at the door and looked at the monster whose eyes were as big as copper bells, whose sharp claws were as sharp as knives, and whose teeth were dense and gleaming silver.

The steel knife in his hand gleamed, making him appear like a living hero, and his roar was like Lei Zhen.

Who was shouting at the door just now?

After he finished speaking, all the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees were completely stripped bare, but Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie stood still, motionless. Sun Wukong turned around and said:

"It is indeed your Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Grandpa Sun, who is here."

Upon hearing this, the Azure Lion laughed and said:

"You're Sun Wukong, you audacious monkey! I haven't provoked you, so why are you shouting for us to fight? You've even scared away so many of my men and damaged my treasures."

"Waves only appear when the wind blows; when there's no wind, the water is naturally calm. If you hadn't provoked me, would I have been able to find you? It's only because your cronies have formed a gang and are plotting to eat my master that I'm here."

Sun Wukong gritted his teeth and said to the Azure Lion, as if he wished he could grind him to dust the next second.

"You've come to my door so arrogantly, do you want to fight me?"

After speaking, the Azure Lion raised his weapon and looked at Sun Wukong as if he was about to pounce on Sun Wukong at any moment. However, Zhu Bajie was so frightened that he dodged away into the distance.

However, Sun Wukong nodded without flinching, which enraged the Azure Lion, who shouted:

"You impudent monkey, don't get too cocky. If I summon all my little demons and form a battle formation to embolden me to fight you, it would make me look like I'm bullying you. How about this: it's one-on-one, and you're not allowed to call any help."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong laughed and said to Zhu Bajie, "Bajie, you go over there first and see what he can do to me."

These words truly resonated with Zhu Bajie promptly dodged to the side. Seeing this, the Azure Lion said to Sun Wukong:

"Come here now and sign an agreement with me. I'll have to go to great lengths to chop three times on your bald head. If you can hold out, I'll let you bring Tang Xuanzang over. If you can't, then you might as well hurry up and send Tang Xuanzang over so I can have something to eat."

"Heh heh, you monster, do you have a pen and paper in your cave?"

"If you have it, then take it out. Let's make an agreement: starting today, even if the price cuts continue until next year or the year after, I won't have any problems."

After speaking, Sun Wukong looked at the Azure Lion with a cold smile, but the Azure Lion indeed returned to the cave entrance and retrieved paper and pen.

The Azure Lion, displaying its majesty, stood there in a horse stance, motionless for a while, then raised both hands to chop down on the head of the creature resembling Sun Wukong.

However, when Sun Wukong raised his head, there was a loud bang, but his scalp didn't budge at all. The Azure Lion was shocked and said, "This monkey's head is so hard! What should we do now?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong laughed and said, "Have you not eaten? Why are you so weak? Don't you know that my head is made of bronze and my arms of iron?"

"When I was captured by the Jade Emperor, all the gods threw their Law Treasure at me, but my head was unharmed. Now, Tang Xuanzang is still afraid that my head isn't hard enough, so he put Tightening Headband on me."

After saying that, the Azure Lion said disdainfully, "Don't brag now. When I strike with my second blade, it will definitely take your life."

"That's what you say, but it's just a back-and-forth attack that's ultimately useless. I just didn't want to expose you."

Upon hearing this, the Azure Lion said seriously, "You monkey have no idea where this knife comes from."

He then continued:

"This knife of mine was forged in that furnace, tempered and refined a thousand times. Its blade could flatten an entire mountain in one stroke. Now, as I try to cut off your head, my knife is almost broken in two, yet your head remains completely unchanged."

Seeing this, Sun Wukong laughed and said:

"You monster, you have no sense of propriety! You're just using your knife to demean my head, fine, that's all. So what if you want to cut me again? Come on, cut me all you want."

After speaking, Sun Wukong immediately thrust his head towards the Azure Lion's blade again.

The Azure Lion raised his knife and slashed it down at Sun Wukong's head with a thunderous clang. In an instant, Sun Wukong was cut in two, and then Sun Wukong rolled on the spot, turning into two.

Upon seeing Sun Wukong's appearance, the Azure Lion panicked and quickly put down his steel knife. Zhu Bajie, seeing this from afar, laughed and said:

"That was a good strike from that monster! If it had struck again, wouldn't Brother Monkey have become four people?"

"I've heard you can Clone Technique, so why are you trying to fool me with this trick now? Let me tell you, it won't work at all."

After saying this, the Azure Lion felt as if he had been tricked.

At the same time, the Azure Lion angrily said to Sun Wukong.

But Sun Wukong disagreed. He walked over to the Azure Lion, patted it on the shoulder, and said: