Chapter 149: Sun Wukong's Epiphany

"Master, I'm feeling quite depressed and conflicted right now. Tell me, what should I do?" Sun Wukong asked with a pitiful expression, looking at the leisurely Chu Xiaoyu.

Chu Xiaoyu put down his fishing rod, curled his finger at the monkey, and said, "Come here and light a cigarette for me."

No matter what Chu Xiaoyu asked of him, even if it meant climbing mountains of daggers or plunging into seas of fire, the monkey always obeyed without hesitation.

He dared not disobey his master's commands.

Ever since that time he was ruthlessly suppressed under the Five Finger Mountain by the Big-Eared Tathagata, right up until the moment Chu Xiaoyu rescued him, Sun Wukong knew that this Immortal Venerable Chu Xiaoyu was his heaven and his earth.

The cigarette was lit. Chu Xiaoyu took a puff and blew out a cloud of smoke. After a moment, looking at the monkey's conflicted, constipated face, he intended to guide him.

"Actually, your problem isn't a problem at all. The reason you're conflicted is because deep down, you feel a sense of resentment and a loss of face.

"Deep down, you're thinking: the monk got into trouble, suffered, and when he couldn't solve it himself, he finally thought of you and came to you for help. Yet that obnoxious monk actually drove you away, completely disregarding the goodwill built up from your long employment. You simply can't swallow this bitter pill.

"Wukong, we are upright men. Since we are fellows of character, we sometimes have to stand tall and proud; our minds shouldn't be as small as the eye of a needle. That doesn't make you a real man; it makes you more like a fussy woman."

Chu Xiaoyu took another couple of puffs and continued, "If you keep obsessing over this matter because of pride and status, you'll just fall into a vicious cycle, becoming increasingly anxious and unhappy. Since that's the case, why not broaden your perspective? Just think of it as having been bitten by a rabid dog—it hurt for a moment, but now that it's passed, it's nothing worth dwelling on."

Sun Wukong's eyes suddenly lit up. "Thank you, Master, for your guidance. Disciple feels enlightened. However... disciple feels that if old Sun were to just scurry back tail between legs like this, cough cough... Master, regarding my pride, old Sun really finds it hard to save face."

As the monkey spoke with hesitation and awkwardness, Chu Xiaoyu smiled faintly. "Actually... you're dying to go back anyway. After all, regardless of everything else, your journey to the Western Heaven to retrieve the scriptures is already about halfway done. If you were to give up just like that, it truly would be a terrible pity. Very well, it seems you're quite proud and finicky, monkey. Go on back. Once you rescue that monk, I'll have a good long talk with him and give him a piece of my mind."

"Ah... Master, is that really alright? Can Master really..."

The monkey was so excited he was incoherent.

As long as the Immortal Venerable stepped in, there was nothing in the world that his master couldn't handle.

Humph, that obnoxious, bald-headed monk! Having the Immortal Venerable lower himself to lecture him was doing the monk an unimaginable honor.

Even the Big-Eared Tathagata didn't matter to Master, let alone some mere monk. This was giving him more face than he deserved.

"Hehe, look at how happy this monkey is. Why wouldn't it be alright? Go on back. Once you've resolved the matters over there, your master will naturally have a word with that monk. From now on, I guarantee that monk will never dare chase you away casually again."

Sun Wukong's inner conflict wasn't about the monk himself, but rather whether the mission of escorting the monk to the Western Heaven could be successfully completed.

Only upon achieving fulfillment of virtue would the monkey have a chance of being canonized by Tathagata as the "Victorious Fighting Buddha," thereby escaping the register of demons and ascending into the ranks of the immortals.

This was what Sun Wukong cared about above all else.

As for those other trivial matters, Sun Wukong was capable of yielding or standing firm as circumstances required, and never truly took them to heart.

Chu Xiaoyu saw right through the monkey's petty thoughts.

Once his mental knot was untied, Sun Wukong was no longer conflicted, instantly reverting to that mischievous, bouncing stinky monkey.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Zhu Bajie was snoring away delightfully on the table.

Sun Wukong walked right over and kicked the pig head awake. "You lazy pig! You've eaten and drunk your fill, and had a wonderful nap to boot. Now, shouldn't we be heading back?"

"Ah... heading back where?" The pig head was still half-asleep.

"Oh ho, just arrived, have you? Look at your pig's memory! Could you have forgotten about your master? What, do you not plan on rescuing your master anymore?"

"Monkey Brother, does that mean you've agreed to go back? Haha... Monkey Brother, old Zhu knew you wouldn't just abandon Master."

"Bah! You pig, let me warn you: that bald monk is no master of mine! My master's Daoist title is Dao FA Zi Ran, and he is the Immortal Venerable of this Carefree Residence."

"Yes, yes, old Zhu knows. Hey... whatever you say! As long as Monkey Brother agrees to go back, hehe, everything is negotiable."

Zhu Bajie looked left and right, but didn't see Chu Xiaoyu anywhere. Eager to catch another glimpse of him, the pig quickly asked Sun Wukong, "Monkey Brother, where is that powerful Immortal Venerable of yours? Old Zhu wants to pay my respects to him. Is that alright?"

A trace of alertness rose in the monkey's heart. "You want to see Master? What for? If you have anything to say, just tell me directly, and I'll pass it on to Master."

Such a wonderful master had to be carefully hidden away; he must never be coveted by outsiders.

Seeing Sun Wukong's nervous posture, Zhu Bajie hurriedly explained, "Monkey Brother, it's not what you think! I just want to ask your Immortal Venerable if there's a chance I might be able to visit again next time, hehe. Monkey Brother, just look at all those marvelous, exquisite delicacies, old Zhu hasn't..."

He hadn't eaten his fill yet.

"Alright, with a trivial matter like yours, my master won't even deign to see you. Hurry up and get moving; your master has suffered enough hardships by now."

"Aiyah, Monkey Brother, don't drag me, wait a moment... Let old Zhu take some things with us first..."

"Get lost! Those all belong to my master..."

Sun Wukong gave the pig head another swift kick, sending him flying.

Journey to the West World.

Xuanzang, tragically transformed into a beast, was locked in a cage day and night. Sometimes he even suffered abuse from others. Such days were truly bitter beyond endurance.

Xuanzang now felt a pang of regret—regret for having driven that monkey away.

If the monkey had been here, how could these fiend-demons have dared to act so rampantly and wildly? In the end, they had actually turned him, a monk, into a beast.

He looked like a seemingly ferocious old tiger.

However, the people outside the cage had no idea that the beast imprisoned within was actually a human—a monk who had come from the Great Tang in the East to retrieve scriptures from the Western Heaven.

Alas!

Several days had already passed. Xuanzang, transformed into a tiger, had been tormented back and forth for days, making him feel that death would be a mercy.

Xuanzang shed tears of grievance.

"Hey! Look over here, everyone! This beast is actually crying! Haha... How hilarious! Didn't they say tigers are the kings of beasts? But looking at this beast now, it's complete trash."

"Boss, why don't we stew this beast for meat tonight? It'll make a nice savory snack for all the brothers, what do you think?"

"Good, good! We'll stew this beast and eat it tonight," said a tall, burly demon.