Chapter 85: The Abandoned Graveyard, The Yellow Weasel’s Wedding
Just as Sun Wukong was puzzling over the situation, he suddenly heard the sound of drums and suona ahead, as if a wealthy family was marrying off their daughter.
Hey!
Could it really be a grand wedding from a wealthy household?
Sun Wukong, ever fond of lively scenes, joyfully hopped over to join the excitement.
Scarlet bridal sedan chairs and lanterns were hung high.
The drummers and suona players were all in high spirits, celebrating merrily.
The mischievous and restless Monkey King wandered here and there, playing to his heart’s content.
Drawing near the grand sedan chair, Sun Wukong couldn't resist lifting the curtain, only to be startled out of his wits.
Inside the sedan chair was not a bride, but a monk, bound tightly with ropes.
A monk?
Why was there a bald, and rather handsome, monk seated in the bridal sedan instead of a bride?
The monk’s hands and feet were tied, his mouth gagged, making him look utterly miserable, yet his masculine elegance still shone through his brows.
“Monk? Hey, who are you? Why are you bound like this?” Sun Wukong asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
But the monk’s mouth was blocked, so he could not reply.
Seeing the monk unable to respond, Sun Wukong pressed on: “Monk, let me ask you, are you not from the Eastern Land? A monk from the Great Tang?”
The monk looked startled, then nodded furiously.
Well!
He really was a monk from the Eastern Land of the Great Tang.
So this monk had been brought here by force—it was no wonder that Sun Wukong had waited in vain at the old site beneath Five Finger Mountain, seeing no sign of the monk’s arrival.
This fellow nearly ruined Sun Wukong’s grand plans!
If he hadn’t happened upon this monk, where would he have looked?
“Hehe, don’t worry, monk. Old Sun is here to rescue you from this fiery pit.”
“Hey! You lot of scoundrels, hurry up and release this monk!”
Sun Wukong swung his golden staff and charged at the cheerful crowd.
Ah...
The wedding party scattered in panic.
A puff of white smoke rose, and when it cleared, the ground was strewn with discarded clothes, but not a single person remained.
Uh...what’s going on?
The blow he had just dealt was merely a bluff, but where had everyone gone? Why were only clothes left behind? How had they all vanished without a trace?
How strange!
Sun Wukong scratched his head, baffled.
Well, if he couldn’t figure it out, he’d let it go!
He shrank his golden staff and tucked it into his ear, then hurriedly rescued the monk from the sedan chair.
Though disheveled, the monk was exceedingly polite, bowing gracefully to Sun Wukong: “I am a monk from the Eastern Land of the Great Tang, my religious name is Xuanzang. Thank you for your timely rescue. I am deeply grateful. Blessings upon you!”
“Hehe, so you truly are a monk from the Tang Dynasty. My efforts were not in vain saving you. Now, tell me, what on earth happened?”
Sun Wukong was intensely curious.
Xuanzang sighed and replied, “Alas, I don’t know what happened myself. I came from the East, and halfway along my journey, a group of bandits suddenly appeared. Without a word, they seized my white horse and finally kidnapped me into this bridal sedan, parading all the way with music and fanfare. I still don't know what is going on.”
“Oh, so that’s what happened. No wonder I waited all day beneath Five Finger Mountain, wasting a precious day for nothing. But now…”
“Hmph! Where did this wild monkey come from, daring to ruin my plans?”
As the monkey spoke with the monk, a woman suddenly appeared.
She wore a bright red robe, festive and striking, wielding a red-tasseled spear, proud and valiant.
A woman?
She was quite peculiar.
“Hey, who are you? Tell me, how did I ruin your plans?” Sun Wukong watched her anger with great interest.
Not ugly, but not beautiful either.
Her eyes glared venomously at Sun Wukong, and she coldly rebuked, “Monkey! You ruined my plans. I have chosen this monk to be my husband!”
“Amitabha, so it was you, madam, who kidnapped me? I am a monk, having renounced the world long ago. Worldly affairs hold no concern for me. Please, madam…”
“Monk, don’t bother with so many words. She wants to bind you as her husband. Who told you to be so handsome? Haha, amusing, truly amusing,” Sun Wukong laughed heartily.
“Bah! Meddlesome monkey, take a taste of my spear!”
The woman lunged at Sun Wukong with her spear, fierce and imposing.
Sun Wukong was utterly fearless, dodging with ease.
The woman snarled, launching over a hundred strikes at Sun Wukong, but he easily parried them all.
With a backward somersault, Sun Wukong drew his golden staff and, without a word, smashed it down upon the woman.
She scarcely had time to cry out before the staff struck, and a strange white smoke billowed forth.
Accompanied by Sun Wukong’s shout: “Ah...what a stench! What on earth is this foul thing?”
When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of the woman.
Under the loose red robe, curled up, was a weasel.
Blood poured from its mouth and nose, clearly mortally wounded.
“Well now! It turns out she was a weasel spirit in disguise. No wonder the stench—it's enough to gag Old Sun.”
Sun Wukong stored away his staff and pinched his nose and mouth, full of disgust.
Xuanzang staggered backward in fright: “This...this was truly a weasel spirit?”
“Of course it was. Look at its true form—how could it be otherwise?”
Suddenly, with a great crash!
The surrounding houses all collapsed one by one...
At this moment, Sun Wukong realized this was no village or marketplace, but a desolate graveyard.
Everything that had seemed bustling and festive was nothing but illusion.
“Well, now! It’s a graveyard?”
Surveying the eerie, frightening surroundings, Sun Wukong was thoroughly startled.
Xuanzang’s legs gave way in terror, barely able to stand.
“Monk, you see now? This is no village or market, but a wild graveyard. That vile weasel spirit cast an illusion—everything we saw was false, nonexistent.”
The surrounding scene was cold and terrifying.
The living should not dwell among the dead.
This was no auspicious omen.