Chapter 146: Zhu Bajie's Special Primate Affinity

"Finally... Zhu Bajie will go to your Flower-Fruit Mountain to seek you out to rescue the monk."

"Ha! That pig-head will go to Flower-Fruit Mountain to seek out Old Sun? This... well, but this disciple is not at Flower-Fruit Mountain, haha... I imagine that pig-head will definitely make a wasted trip. Tch, let them toss and turn however they please."

...

In the Journey to the West world, things unfolded exactly as Chu Xiaoyu had predicted.

Sun Wukong thrice beat the White Bone Demon, ultimately killing the fiend with his rod, yet Xuanzang remained ungrateful in the end. He directly severed his contract with Sun Wukong, terminating their employer-employee relationship.

Sun Wukong at that moment was so furious he was practically coughing up blood, wishing he could smash the monk to death with a single strike of his rod.

Yet upon second thought, he let it go.

Lacking the protection of the Heaven-Defying Great Sage Sun Wukong, Xuanzang and his companions soon suffered immensely.

Along the way, a distressing incident befell them.

Xuanzang was directly transformed into a fierce beast through spells and locked inside a cage.

What? Master was actually cast into a beast by a demon?

This was extraordinary, an act terrifying enough to rival any monster.

Zhu Bajie and Monk Sha were both completely dumbfounded.

Upon a mountain peak, Zhu Bajie and Monk Sha sat down facing each other, both wearing deeply sorrowful expressions.

After sighing for ages, Zhu Bajie suddenly offered a suggestion to Monk Sha: "Junior Brother Sha, now that Master has turned into a terrifying beast, and Monkey Brother was driven away by Master himself, what do you say we do next? How about... we just split our travel funds, and I, Old Pig, will return to Gao Family Village? As for you, Junior Brother Sha... hehe, you can figure something out for yourself."

"Brother Bajie, you cannot speak thus. Both of us received enlightenment from the Bodhisattva before taking Master as our teacher. Now that Master is in trouble, how can we disciples abandon him and care for naught? This is hardly the duty of a disciple."

Monk Sha spoke with impeccable logic, yet Zhu Bajie refused to hear a single word of it: "I care not! You saw it yourself earlier—that fiend was so formidable, casting a spell in an instant to turn Master into a beast. Neither you nor I are a match for that monster; since we cannot win, we can only run for it."

Zhu Bajie continued to complain: "If not for Master driving that monkey away—such a powerful monkey who surely could have beaten that monster to death—yet now... everything has been ruined. We might as well just wash our hands of each other and part ways."

"Brother Bajie, why must you speak thus again? Master drove Senior Brother away, but we can go find Senior Brother and bring him back to rescue Master."

Monk Sha had always regarded Sun Wukong as his true senior brother.

Although Master and the monkey had not yet formed any deep master-disciple bond, along this journey the monkey had cared for them meticulously. Even without a formal master-disciple relationship, their ties surpassed one.

Master driving the monkey away was fundamentally a misunderstanding.

Monk Sha held steadfast to his inner conviction.

"Find the monkey and bring him back? Hmph, easier said than done. The heavens are vast and the earth is boundless, where are we to look? Besides, the monkey was driven away by Master; no doubt he is harboring deep resentment right now. Furthermore, they share no master-disciple ties, so he might not appreciate our gesture at all."

Zhu Bajie muttered with an extremely disgruntled expression: "Tell me, isn't our Master utterly stubborn? The monkey told him clearly that the old man, the old woman, and that daughter were all transformed by demons, yet Master simply refused to listen. And now look—he chased people away, and turned himself into a beast. Oh, what kind of mess is this?"

Zhu Bajie was genuinely furious about this, profoundly furious.

"Brother Bajie, since these things have already transpired, no amount of complaining on our part will be of any use. At present, the most pressing matter is to rescue Master."

"Brother Bajie, I believe Senior Brother must have returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain. Why don't you personally go and invite Senior Brother back to save Master?"

Zhu Bajie immediately muttered in discontent: "Rubbish Senior Brother! Right now that monkey has not the slightest connection to us. Furthermore, he and Master share no master-disciple bond, so where on earth is this supposed senior brother of ours? I, Zhu Bajie, am your true senior brother."

"Yes, yes, Brother Bajie teaches wisely. You are indeed my senior brother. Then now, I beseech Senior Brother to go invite Monkey Brother back."

Zhu Bajie wore an expression of utter exasperation: "The way you speak... aren't we just going in circles again? Goodness me, being a senior brother is so exhausting, I truly want to drop this burden and quit."

Complaining aside, Zhu Bajie ultimately hardened his scalp and flew off in haste toward Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Yet the monkey was not at Flower-Fruit Mountain. Having rushed all that distance, he had actually made a wasted trip?

Zhu Bajie was utterly bewildered.

On the return journey, Zhu Bajie cursed incessantly all the way, railing against the monk master for being unappreciative and falsely righteous.

Then he cursed the monkey for his irresponsibility, having promised to escort the monk safely all the way, yet when the monk genuinely ran into trouble, he had vanished without a trace.

In the end, the one who suffered and labored the most was none other than his own pig-head.

Thus, Zhu Bajie cursed and grumbled all the way back.

Monk Sha, who had been waiting for ages, was greeted by the pig-head's incessant ranting.

Monk Sha was also completely bewildered.

Sun Wukong was not at Flower-Fruit Mountain? Then where could he have gone?

Zhu Bajie glared at Monk Sha with a sour expression: "You're asking me? Then who is Old Pig supposed to ask? I don't know, and I don't want to know."

"Brother Bajie, if we cannot bring Monkey Brother back, there is no way to save Master! We must think of a solution as quickly as possible, otherwise..."

"Hmph, what other solution could there be? Old Pig can't think of any. Having flown back and forth for half a day, I am exhausted. I'm going to sleep for a bit first."

Zhu Bajie found the base of an old tree, lay down horizontally, and began to snore loudly.

Yet before he could sleep for long, that utterly annoying Monk Sha shoved Zhu Bajie awake: "Brother Bajie, I suddenly remembered—doesn't Monkey Brother have a very powerful master? Perhaps Monkey Brother went to his master's place!"

"Oh, Monk Sha, you are truly the most annoying creature alive! Old Pig can't even catch some sleep. Nag, nag, nag... are you a fly?"

"Brother Bajie, won't you make the trip personally?" Monk Sha pleaded.

Zhu Bajie flared up for no apparent reason: "Why must it be me making the trip again? Very well, pray tell, where am I to run to? That monkey did indeed take on a powerful master, but where is the monkey's master? Where does he live? Monk Sha, do you happen to know?"

Monk Sha looked at Zhu Bajie with a troubled expression: "This... this, Brother Bajie, I don't know either. But we could find someone to ask!"

"Find someone to ask? Ask whom? This is driving me mad." Zhu Bajie was so exasperated he felt like exploding on the spot.

Monk Sha pondered with a furrowed brow for a moment, then suddenly said: "I remember Monkey Brother once mentioned that he studied under two formidable masters. One of them is an Immortal Venerable named Daofa Ziran [Following Nature's Way], and the other is the Patriarch of the abstruse square inch Mount Lingtai."

"Patriarch Bodhi? Ah, right... it is him!"

Zhu Bajie sprang up in a single bound and flew in a rush toward Fangcun Mountain.

...

In the twilight of dusk, under the guidance of the Patriarch and after enduring immense hardship, Zhu Bajie finally waited for the opening of that bizarre and grotesque Gate of Immortals.