Determined to Be Captured

Seeing Sun Wukong struggling so much, Sha Wujing wanted to help Sun Wukong, but the Demon King suddenly revealed his true form, capturing both Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing in the cave, and then said:

"Get the ropes over here right now, I've already caught them both."

Upon hearing the Demon King's words, the two lesser demons immediately took two ropes and bound Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing tightly. The Demon King grabbed Sun Wukong's head and said to Sun Wukong:

"You monkey, you captured all my descendants! I'll capture you all now, and that'll be more than enough to pay for the lives of my descendants."

After speaking, the Demon King continued to address his demon subordinates, "What are you all standing there for? Quickly bring me a wooden stick; I'm going to beat this monkey up and avenge my brother."

The three little demons immediately grabbed a wooden stick and set out to beat Sun Wukong.

What they didn't know was that Sun Wukong's body had already undergone countless trials and tribulations. Even if those wooden sticks were just tickling Sun Wukong wouldn't say a word.

However, when Zhu Bajie, Tang Xuanzang, and the old prince saw it, they were all terrified. After a short while, the wooden stick broke.

He then picked up another stick and continued beating him, continuing until dawn. Seeing that he had been beating him for so long, Sha Wujing felt a little guilty and said, "Stop hitting him! Come down and beat me instead!"

The Demon King scoffed, "Don't be in such a hurry. I'll be beating you up tomorrow. You'll all come one by one."

Upon hearing the Demon King's words, Zhu Bajie immediately retorted, "You'll defeat me the day after tomorrow!"

After fighting for a while, as night approached, the Demon King said:

"Men, light the lamps first. Eat some food and let me sleep in my bed. You three have all been victims of their cruelty, so you must guard them carefully. We'll beat them again tomorrow morning."

The three little demons then lit lamps and hit Sun Wukong on the head with wooden sticks for a while, the sound like the beating of a wooden clapper.

As night deepened and everyone fell asleep, Sun Wukong shrank back to emerge from the rope, shook his hairs, and took the Ruyi Jingu Bang) from his ear. He then said to the three lesser demons:

"You beast, you've been beating me for so long and I'm still unharmed, but I'll hit you now and see if you can take it."

After speaking, Sun Wukong instantly turned the three small pills into meat patties, then lit the lamp and released Sha Wujing. Seeing this, Zhu Bajie immediately became anxious and said to Sun Wukong:

"Brother Monkey, my legs are numb right now, why didn't you come and pick me up first?"

Zhu Bajie's actions had long since awakened the Demon King immediately jumped to his feet and shouted, "Who untied them all?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong quickly blew out the lamp, grabbed Sha Wujin, took out his Ruyi Jingu Bang), smashed down the iron gate, and fled. The Demon King arrived at the cave and shouted:

Why is it so dark? Have you all gone to sleep?

He called out a few more times, but no one answered. He then took out a lamp and saw that there were only three bloody meat patties left on the ground. He looked in the direction of Tang Xuanzang.

Tang Xuanzang, the old prince, his son, and Zhu Bajie were all there, but Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing were nowhere to be seen.

After searching for a while, they found Sha Wujing at a corner and took him inside. After Sun Wukong rushed out, he saw that the ground was full of Land God.

Sun Wukong asked the Land God, "Why are you only coming to see me so late? What happened?"

Upon hearing this, the Land God immediately spoke respectfully to Sun Wukong:

"Great Sage, please don't be angry. We knew you had come here beforehand, but the prince here treated us so warmly that we dared not approach you. Now that we know you have encountered a monster, we have come specifically to tell you."

After speaking, Sun Wukong said to the Land God, "Since that's the case, do you know how to defeat that Nine-Headed Lion Spirit?"

"Great Sage, you've come to the right person! You must go to the Eastern Pole Palace and invite his master over to subdue him; no one else can capture him."

After hearing what Sun Wukong said, the Land God thought about it carefully for a long time, then pointed out a direction to Sun Wukong and said to Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong rode his Somersault Cloud through the night and arrived at the Heavenly Gate. There he encountered Wide-Eyed Heavenly King and a group of immortals conversing. Upon seeing Sun Wukong, they bowed to Sun Wukong and said:

"Why do you insist on coming here instead of taking the journey to the Western Heaven Great Sage?"

"Don't mention such things! Why are there so many monsters on this journey to the Western Heaven? We've encountered another one this time, with nine heads. They say only by going to the Eastern Pole Palace can my master be saved."

After speaking, Sun Wukong sighed, scratching his monkey fur, looking extremely annoyed.

"Since it was that monster who captured your master, then I know who it is. Now go inside, and after walking for a while, you will see the monster's master."

After hearing what Sun Wukong said, Wide-Eyed Heavenly King lowered his head and thought for a long time before speaking to Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong believed the words of the Wide-Eyed Heavenly King and continued inside. After a while, he saw a celestial boy standing outside a palace gate. Upon seeing Sun Wukong, the boy immediately went into the palace to report:

"Grandpa Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, has arrived!"

Upon hearing this, Taiyi Heavenly Venerable immediately instructed all the deities to welcome Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong approached Taiyi Heavenly Venerable and said, "I have come here to ask you something."

However, Taiyi Heavenly Venerable didn't listen to what Sun Wukong said at all, and only asked Sun Wukong:

"Great Sage, I haven't seen you for several years. I heard you've converted to Buddhist Order and are now protecting Tang Xuanzang on his journey to the Western Heaven to retrieve the scriptures. Now that we've met today, you must have already obtained the true scriptures."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong waved his hand and recounted the entire incident.

Upon hearing this, Taiyi Heavenly Venerable pondered for a long time before following Sun Wukong to his backyard.

Seeing that his apprentice was already asleep, he woke him up and said to him, "I asked you to guard my mount, but where is it now?"

Upon hearing this, the fairy boy immediately burst into tears, repeatedly pleading, "Spare me! Please don't hit me!"

"Hmph, since Great Sage Sun is here today, I won't hit you yet. Now tell me quickly, where exactly did that Nine-Headed Lion go?"