Chapter 96: The Monkey King Shows Off His Power, Bodhi Chases After Wukong

  "Just as Master said, take advantage of this good opportunity, why don't you show off a bit, reveal one or two tricks, and let us open our eyes wide? On the one hand, it will add to the excitement of this gathering, on the other hand, it is also a test for you, so that you won't be timid at critical moments." The crowd heard this and showed surprise and delight on their faces, all shouting in agreement.

  The Monkey King was born with a love for excitement, and now that he's receiving praise from everyone, he feels like all eyes are on him, and his heart is itching like a cat scratch.

  The Monkey King, with a flourish of spirit, wanted to show off his skills. He loudly declared, "Since that's the case, I'll make a fool of myself now. However, there is one thing - as the saying goes, 'self-chosen topics can't reveal true abilities.' So, please, fellow masters, give me a topic and tell me what you want me to transform into. That way, I can try out my skills."

  Everyone applauded and cheered, saying that the Monkey King was magnificent. The monkey was delighted, scratching his ears and cheeks, jumping up and down, constantly urging everyone to hurry up and come up with a topic.

  As for what kind of question to ask, it was indeed a difficult task for everyone. Everyone had different opinions and the noise didn't stop. Longxuzi saw the situation and stopped the noisy crowd, saying, "What's so difficult? You've already transformed into a rabbit before, you must be very familiar with it, so we can't use that to test you. Then why don't you transform into a pine tree?" He pointed to a nearby pine tree, Longxuzi's long beard moved slightly, with an expectant look on his face.

  "Alright, I'll transform into a pine tree, as Master Big Brother has said!" The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, and then suddenly fell silent. Everyone stared at the Monkey King with sparkling eyes, their faces filled with anticipation. The Monkey King, in front of everyone, formed a hand seal, recited an incantation, and his body shook violently for a moment before transforming into a pine tree, exuding an air of proud elegance amidst the snow and frost. What a wonderful skill!

  Everyone saw, applauded and laughed loudly, praising "Good monkey, good monkey, really good skills." Unconsciously the sound got louder and louder, echoing through the mountains and fields. In the inner cave, Bodhi Patriarch opened his eyes, a flash of light in his eyes, and secretly thought: "Now Sun Wukong has been out of the mountain for 20 years, he has already learned this skill, it's time for him to return. But now is my turn to take the stage."

  The Bodhi Old Ancestor pretended to be in a state of being disturbed, hastily grabbed his cane and rushed out the door, without even tying up his hair properly, looking somewhat disheveled. At this time, the old ancestor burst forth, came to the front of the crowd, with an iron face, sternly shouted: "Who is making noise here? Such disrespect! What kind of behavior is this? Are you trying to seek death?"

  Everyone saw the ancestor's iron face, hastily tidied up, dressed properly and came forward to pay respects, all of them only nodded and dared not speak. Looking at this appearance, the ancestor was in a state of great anger, and everyone did not dare to provoke him.

  The Monkey King himself also heard the scolding of his master, and hastily transformed back into his true form, returning to his monkey body, and slipped into the crowd. However, he was still somewhat discontented in his heart, and with a bit of stubbornness in his mouth, said: "I beg to report to Master, we were just discussing something here, without any outsiders making a disturbance, please Master investigate clearly."

  "Hum! You dare to deceive me!" Bodhi Old Ancestor's robe sleeves shook, and he shouted angrily: "You are all shouting and yelling, not like a cultivator at all. How can you find the truth and ask for the Tao? It's likely that in the end, it will still be empty. Cultivators, when their mouths open, their spirits scatter, when their tongues move, they speak of right and wrong, when they take action, they shock heaven and earth, and fight against ghosts and gods. You have such big guts, how dare you shout and laugh here? Do you think you are already deeply moral and virtuous?"

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, thinking to themselves "The Master has a huge temper, but what's the reason for it?!" Seeing that the Master was not going to let up and insisted on getting to the bottom of things, everyone had no choice but to speak the truth. They said: "We dare not deceive the Master, just now we were searching for the Master and saw that he was in closed meditation, so we didn't dare disturb him. We gathered under this pine tree, where Sun Wukong transformed into a monkey to play and have fun. Just now, he changed into a pine cone, which really looked like one, and all of us disciples cheered and clapped loudly, startling the Master. Please forgive our crime."

  After hearing these words, the Patriarch's face slightly cleared up. He said, "Since that's the case, you are not at fault. Get up first and leave for now. Wukong will stay behind." The crowd did not dare to disobey and left one after another.

  After everyone left, only Wukong was left in this place. Bodhi said with a smile, "I ask you, what's the point of showing off your skills and turning into a pine tree? This kind of skill is not to be shown off in front of people! What if someone else has it and doesn't want to give it to you? If someone sees that you have it, they will definitely ask for it. If you don't pass it on to them, won't they harbor resentment towards you? In this way, you will inevitably bring about disaster and calamity."

  The Monkey King merely knocked his head, the Ancestor sighed and said "Forget it, forget it, this is heaven's will. Heaven's will is thus, what can be done? I won't blame you for today's events. It seems that our master-disciple fate has come to an end. You, leave now!"

  Sun Wukong heard this, his eyes filled with tears, and said: "Master, the disciple knows he was wrong. Please forgive me, and let me off this one time. I will never dare to again. Besides, although the world is big, where can I go? Where would you have me go?"

  "Where are you going?" Bodhi Old Ancestor hummed, "Could it be that after twenty years of leaving home, you have already forgotten where you came from?..."

  “。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。”

  After Bodhi's enlightenment, the beautiful monkey king suddenly repented and left. The ancestor warned: "You go now, you will definitely be born with evil intentions, no matter how much trouble you cause, I won't care, but there is one thing, you are not allowed to say that you are my disciple of Bodhi. If you say half a word, I will know it and peel off your skin, pull out your tendons, demote your soul to the ninth underworld, and let you never turn over in ten thousand kalpas."

  The Monkey King bowed down and said, "Your disciple will strictly follow the master's orders and dare not mention the master's name again. If someone asks, I'll just say it's a family matter."

  "You go, go ahead, take care of yourself." Bodhi nodded and his figure gradually faded away, disappearing into the air, apparently having left.

  The Monkey King bid farewell to the crowd, reluctant to part with them. With a flip of his筋斗云 (cloud somersault), he arrived at the highest peak of Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, where Sun Wukong's training grounds were located. There, another monkey was practicing the Heaven Splitting Palm technique.

  Seeing this, the Monkey King didn't say another word and pounced down from the clouds with a raised fist. Facing Sun Wukong's sudden attack, Sun Yuan remained calm and took a slight step back, opening up space, then put out his fists and rushed forward.

  Two hours later, the sky turned dark, and a loud noise came from the top of the cliff. Two figures were separated from the center of the explosion, revealing two panting figures, who were Sun Yuan and Sun Wukong after their intense battle.

  "Ah, what a coincidence! How did you have the time to come here and fight me today?" Sun Yuan slowly circulated his spiritual energy, relieving the numbness in his arm. Under the moonlight, he walked to the edge of the cliff and pulled out two gourds of wine from a cave, saying "You're quite lucky, this wine is all that's left, come taste it!" As he spoke, he tossed one of the gourds to the silent Monkey King beside him.

  The Monkey King took it, sat cross-legged on a protruding rock, pulled out the gourd stopper, and with a "gulp" he downed it in one mouthful, drinking the whole gourd of wine upside down.

  "What's wrong? What happened?" Sun Yuan only now discovered that the monkey's face was not quite right, and immediately handed over another gourd of wine in his hand to Sun Wukong, saying "Drink slowly, this wine is very strong. If there's something on your mind, speak up."

  After a long silence, the Monkey King let out a deep sigh and said, "Brother, I'm going back to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits now."

  "What! When did this happen?" Sun Yuan had just sat down, but after hearing these words, he was like a bee that had been stung and suddenly stood up again, with a look of shock on his face. Had Bodhi Old Ancestor driven the monkey away?

  "Haha, it's easy to say. The monkey sighed and took a big gulp of wine, saying "It was like this, like that..." and recounted the events of the afternoon. Then he shook his head and said "It's good, you and I have been away from home for twenty years, always thinking about our master's kindness. Although we've thought about returning to our hometown, we didn't dare leave. Now that our master's favor has been repaid, we finally have the chance to go back and take a look. I wonder if they're doing well?"

  The atmosphere on the scene was dull for a moment, Sun Yuan saw the monkey drinking all the wine in the gourd with one mouthful, and sighed "It's okay, it's good to go back early, now you and I are also considered to have achieved our cultivation, you've learned the tendon cloud, these distances are no longer insurmountable, if there's a chance, we can come back at any time in the future, and don't need to worry about it."

  After drinking two calabashes of wine, the Monkey King was visibly intoxicated. After listening to Sun Yuan's words of advice, he smiled slightly and said: "There is no banquet in the world that does not disperse, but today's battle was indeed a pleasure. Today I drank your two calabashes of wine, and when you return one day, I will host a grand banquet at Mount Huaguo for two months! Ha ha, take good care of yourself while cultivating, I'm off!"

  After finishing speaking, the Monkey King made a somersault and jumped into mid-air, riding on a cloud to distinguish the route, directly returning to the Eastern Victory Divine State. Sun Wukong looked at the disappearing Monkey King in the clouds, his outstretched hand finally unable to catch him, and the words stuck in his throat were not spoken. At this moment, it was not yet time for him to leave the mountain, and there were still many things he wanted to learn.

  Farewell, Sun Yuan. The Monkey King circled around the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, shedding two heroic tears, and directly turned eastward. In no time, he saw the vast Eastern Ocean. Pressing down the clouds, the beautiful Monkey King searched for a path through the clouds and saw the Flower-Fruit Mountain. At this moment, he cast aside his feelings of loss, and a surge of excitement arose naturally.

  It is indeed that "In the past, when I was in a state of confusion and my body was heavy, after achieving enlightenment, my body became light; When no one in the world was willing to make a commitment, making a commitment to cultivate the Tao would naturally bring clarity; At that time, it was difficult to advance through the waves of the sea, but today returning to the mountain is quite easy; The parting words are still in my ears, how could I have expected to see the Eastern Ocean in an instant?"

  After a long while, Sun Yuan continued to practice, and Sun Wukong had already left. It seemed that he wouldn't be staying on this mountain for too long either. According to the Journey to the West, it was possible that in a few years, the Bodhi Patriarch would disperse the mountain gate, and everyone here would scatter and go their separate ways. He must seize this opportunity to learn as much as he could. To say nothing of other things, just the technique of shrinking the earth into an inch alone - without a master's guidance, it was like taking tiny steps forward, extremely difficult to cultivate.

  Without mentioning Sun Yuan's efforts on the mountain ridge, after the Monkey King left the mountain, in the cave of Xie Yue San Xing, where Bodhi Old Ancestor was closed, there were two figures sitting on the cloud bed, chatting.