Great Demon Sun Wukong

Bajie didn't say anything this time, and everyone went back to their rooms to continue sleeping. It was a double room; Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing slept on the bed while Zhu Bajie rolled out a mat on the floor with his luggage. As for Sun Wukong, he merely sat on the windowsill pretending to sleep. Sun Wukong rarely truly fell asleep; ever since he followed Tang Sanzang on the journey to the Western Paradise, he never had a full night's sleep. Even if he did sleep, it was very light.

Because Sun Wukong never dared to truly sleep, he had to always ensure Tang Sanzang's safety. Although, many times on the road to the Western Paradise, Tang Sanzang was captured by demons, nothing ever happened at night. This night was no different. According to Sun Wukong, he had already slept enough during the five hundred years pressed under the Five Elements Mountain, but Tang Sanzang and the others all knew that Sun Wukong was just worried about their safety.

Early the next morning, the group had breakfast, although breakfast just meant Tang Sanzang drinking a bowl of thin porridge, and Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing eating half a flat cake each. Sun Wukong rarely ate, "Brother Monkey, they say you're skinny, you don't eat daily; no wonder you're thin." Zhu Bajie said while chomping on a flat cake. Sun Wukong waved his hand and replied, "Go, go, if I ate and became as fat as you, how would I protect Master?"

After sharing a few jokes, they set off again. That strange light did not appear during the day. Three days later, Tang Sanzang's group came to a very grand city. Over these three days, they used the intensity of the light at night to navigate, though their general direction was always west. At night, Sun Wukong determined the direction, and during the day, they traveled. Finally, at noon on this day, they arrived at the imperial city of this country.

In the past few days, as they got closer to the imperial city, more and more people were seen kneeling collectively at night welcoming the light, and the situation of spirits being devoured became increasingly severe. By last night, an entire city of citizens had become walking corpses.

At the city gate, they saw the plaque above the gate with three large characters reading, "City of Jisai." "Oh, so this country is called Jisai. Today we'll just deal with the travel documents and then see what's really happening here," Sun Wukong said as he stepped forward, with Zhu Bajie leading the horse and following behind.

When Sun Wukong saw a group of city guards, he suddenly stopped, then his eyes gleamed with golden light, followed by a cold snort, "Oh, so that's the case. Master, Bajie, Wujing, be careful; this city is full of demons." None of them had ever doubted Sun Wukong's words; the previous incidents were just performances to fool the people lurking secretly.

"Where are you from? Are you entering the city?" Just as Sun Wukong and the others reached the city gate, someone stepped forward to ask them. It was these people whom Sun Wukong stopped upon seeing earlier. Because within this grand city, the light was the strongest, clearly indicating its source was here, yet these gate guards showed no signs of strangeness and were all in good spirits and strong.

Without seeing other cities, one would certainly think this country was prosperous and strong militarily, but in reality, that's not the case. But everything was not clear yet, and it wasn't the right time to break facade. Thus, Sun Wukong stepped up with a smile and said, "We are monks from the Eastern Land of Great Tang, here to exchange travel documents with the Emperor." After finishing, Sun Wukong took out the ascetic's certificate.

After checking, the guard found no issue and said, "Monks arriving in our country will stay at Near Light Monastery; just ask around after entering the city to find it." After hearing this, Sun Wukong thanked them and entered the city with Tang Sanzang and the others. Upon entering the city, immediately they were met with the bustling sounds of vendors and the clamorous sounds of people.

"Finally bustling, but it all feels so fake," Zhu Bajie said, glancing around as he whispered to Sun Wukong. Zhu Bajie, actually somewhat timid, was precisely because of his timidity that he was often more careful and sensitive than Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong chuckled, "Didn't expect you to be smart today, hahaha."

Zhu Bajie rolled his eyes at Sun Wukong, then said nothing more. After asking a few passersby, Sun Wukong and the others quickly arrived at Golden Light Monastery. The monastery appeared somewhat dilapidated, but the pagoda was extremely tall, not only tall but also very elaborately decorated with carved beams and painted rafters, inlaid with gold and silver, the most prominent feature being a head-sized crystal bead at the pagoda's top that was particularly eye-catching.

As soon as Sun Wukong saw the crystal ball, he furrowed his brows, then chuckled, realizing he had a plan.

Within this imperial city, everything seemed normal, but precisely because it was so normal, it appeared abnormal. But for such matters, not only Sun Wukong but even Tang Sanzang were long accustomed. It wasn't a matter of being fearless due to skill; many things would still happen despite attempts to avoid them as they were essentially predestined. Instead of consistently hiding, it was better to face things directly, for whatever comes is bound to come eventually.

The entire afternoon, Sun Wukong and the others rested because they anticipated that if anything were to happen, it would certainly be at night. As the sun gradually set in the west, and as the not-so-bright moon rose, within Golden Light Monastery where Tang Sanzang and the others stayed, the high pagoda's peak, its crystal ball or rather the luminous pearl, began to emit exceedingly bright light.

"So the culprit is this thing, huh, Brother Monkey, give me a moment; I'll use a rake to smash it." After saying this, Zhu Bajie was about to leap up to smash the luminous pearl. Sun Wukong stopped him and chuckled, "Haha, Bajie, don't rush; if they dared to place it here, they're not afraid of you smashing it. Just wait; the real drama is about to begin."

Seemingly to validate Sun Wukong's words, under the radiant light of the luminous pearl, everyone in the imperial city started leaving their homes, not with the previous lifeless eyes like walking corpses, but instead each was spirited and grinning evilly. Suddenly, someone blew a whistle, and numerous figures surged towards Golden Light Monastery. Even the monks of Golden Light Monastery, all with ferocious grins, rushed at Tang Sanzang's group.

These folks were clearly not being controlled; each moved quickly and flexibly, thus setting off a chaotic battle. Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing surrounded Tang Sanzang from three directions to provide protection. Soon people from every corner began to appear—merchants, farmers, officials, civilians; basically, nearly the entire city was attacking Tang Sanzang's group in a crazed frenzy, regardless of cost. Sun Wukong quickly dealt with one, and took down a pair when faced with two.

"Brother Monkey, what's going on? There are so many!" The first person who rushed over was killed by Sun Wukong with a swing of his staff. At that time, Tang Sanzang initially wanted to advise Sun Wukong to show mercy, but soon that person who was killed turned into a corpse-like dry figure. "These people had actually long been dead. They're moving and alive only because of that luminous pearl up to no good."

Tang Sanzang said nothing further, simply sitting cross-legged on the ground, continuously reciting the Kṣitigarbha Sutra to bless these deceased souls. Yet, as they disposed of more and more, a mountain of corpses piled in front of the trio. "Brother Monkey, this is not working, there are too many." Although these people were not strong, even Sha Wujing could kill one with a spade, the numbers were overwhelming.

"Push these corpses away; if we don't get rid of these nuisances, the mastermind won't emerge." After saying this, Sun Wukong looked up again at the luminous pearl atop the tower. Hearing this, Zhu Bajie had no choice but to fight on while pushing away the mountain of corpses. After a battle lasting over an hour, the relentless mobs began to dwindle, leaving only a dozen stubborn individuals still showing no fear in the mount of corpses, struggling towards Zhu Bajie.

"If you don't come out now, believe it or not, I'll smash your lousy pagoda!" Standing amidst the corpses, Sun Wukong shouted while looking up at the luminous pearl atop the tower.

"I believe, how could I not believe? Who would dare not believe the words of the Great Sage Equalling Heaven?"