Chapter 48: The Mischievous Monkey, You May Leave

Sun Wukong, not convinced, stepped forward, took the plate of grapes, and similarly smashed it hard on the ground.

All the grapes were smashed to a pulp, yet not a single one was a human eyeball.

This time, Wukong was stunned.

He became greatly enraged, overturned the wastebasket, and stomped the steamed buns and bamboo shoots on the ground one by one. But no matter how he stomped, they were just steamed buns and bamboo shoots, not the human flesh and fingers he had seen before.

“Aiya, how can we eat this? It’s all smashed like this.” Pigsy started throwing a tantrum on the spot.

Sha Wujing also felt very regretful, such a good vegetarian meal.

Most importantly, now that the Eldest Brother had killed someone, Sha Wujing, who had killed and eaten countless people, didn’t feel anything. But how could they explain it to their Master?

“How could it be…where did it go wrong…” Sun Wukong stood there, dazed and lost in thought.

Tang Sanzang said, “You mischievous monkey, did you see any human eyeballs?

Did you see any human fingers?

And what about human flesh and brains?”

Sun Wukong said, “Master, it’s true that this disciple misidentified the watermelon and grapes, but that demon was definitely not mistakenly killed by this disciple.

Before this disciple struck him down, he even transformed into a demonic form to tease this disciple.

If you don’t believe me, come and see…this…”

Sun Wukong walked to the corpse of the young man. When he looked again with his Fiery Eyes, it turned out to be an ordinary human corpse. Although there was a trace of demonic energy remaining on it, this was definitely not a demon.

“Silence, Wukong!”

Tang Sanzang was furious. Although he was a mortal, he knew that when a demon died, it would reveal its true form. This was clearly a human corpse!

Tang Sanzang said, “Wukong, do you know your mistake?”

Sun Wukong: “This disciple is not wrong. Although I don’t know what kind of blindfold technique this demon used, this disciple absolutely did not kill the wrong person!”

Pigsy: “This monkey is still being stubborn. Master, use the Tightening Fillet Spell on him!”

Tang Sanzang said, “Enough, I cannot keep a wicked disciple like you. Go back to your Flower Fruit Mountain and be your Handsome Monkey King.”

Upon hearing that, the Great Sage felt a pang in his heart. After all, Tang Sanzang had rescued him from under the Five Elements Mountain, and after being together on the road, they had developed feelings for each other.

Looking at the tiger skin jacket he was wearing, it was all sewn for him stitch by stitch by Tang Sanzang, who stayed up late at night.

This monkey was originally a person of great loyalty. Although he would be free and unrestrained if he left Tang Sanzang, how could he bear to let this mortal Tang Sanzang walk on foot across 108,000 miles?

Sun Wukong immediately knelt down and admitted his mistake, “Master, it was this disciple who was reckless. Please forgive this disciple this time.”

Pigsy wanted to mock him but didn’t say anything. He was happy to see Sun Wukong being punished with the Tightening Fillet Spell, but if it was said that Sun Wukong was to be expelled, he still felt a bit reluctant to part with this Eldest Brother.

Sha Wujing said, “Master, everyone in this world makes mistakes. Forgive Eldest Brother this time. There are many demons on this journey to the West. Without Eldest Brother, we won’t be able to reach the Western Heaven.”

Tang Sanzang’s furrowed brows slowly relaxed. He said, “Alright, I’ll forgive you this time. But next time, you must not harm the innocent. These are fresh lives!”

“Yes!”

Sun Wukong jumped up with joy.

Tang Sanzang came to the corpse, put his palms together and recited ‘Amitabha’, then recited a Rebirth Mantra to help the soul transcend.

Tang Sanzang instructed, “Don’t let him be exposed to the wilderness. Dig a pit and bury him.”

Sun Wukong flipped a somersault very high, took out his Golden Hoop Rod, and with one strike on the ground, a large pit appeared.

Sha Wujing moved the corpse into the pit, and Pigsy transformed into a wild boar tens of meters tall. With a shove of his snout, the soil covered the corpse.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples continued on their journey. They didn’t get to eat the good vegetarian meal, and they had to travel under the scorching sun. Everyone’s mood was very low.

“Xiao Ming…Xiao Ming, where are you…”

At this moment, an old woman, leaning on a cane, came from afar, searching as she walked.

This old woman was naturally also Bai Ze in disguise!

Only when he was killed for the third time would he reveal his main body as a demon. The other two times, he was just a normal human corpse.

Moreover, the corpses left behind the first two times could not be identified as abnormal. This was also a characteristic of corpse demons.

Soon, Bai Ze arrived in front of Tang Sanzang and his disciples: “This Elder, may I ask if you have seen my Xiao Ming?

He said he found a group of monks in the mountains, so he took a vegetarian meal from home, packed a large watermelon, and ran off to offer it to the monks.

But half a day has passed, and I haven’t seen my child return.

This old woman is very worried!”

“Oh no, his mother is here looking for her son. What should we do now!” Pigsy said.

Tang Sanzang stepped forward, put his palms together, and said, “This old woman, I am truly sorry. My disciple acted rashly and unintentionally killed your son. This poor monk apologizes on behalf of that disciple.”

◈◈◈

“What, this monkey actually killed my son? I’ll fight him! I’ll fight him!”

The old woman staggered, raised her cane to hit Sun Wukong, and her face actually turned into the appearance of the young man from before.

“Halt! The demon is here again!”

Sun Wukong was exasperated and struck down again with his rod. The old woman was smashed into a bloody mess, with red and white splattering everywhere.

But in reality, Bai Ze had already activated the Corpse Separation Technique, and his body was reborn a hundred miles away.

He believed that these two times would be enough to make Tang Sanzang expel Sun Wukong.

In the original story of the Three White Bone Demon encounters, only after the third time, when the White Bone Demon was killed, and with Pigsy’s instigation, was Sun Wukong driven away by Tang Sanzang in a fit of anger.

But this time was different. This time, the young man really came to deliver food. The food in the basket was genuine, and after the young man was killed, he did not transform into a demon’s original form.

Anyone would see this as a kind person coming to deliver a vegetarian meal, but instead, they were harmed.

Therefore, Sun Wukong had no chance to explain. In addition, this time he had killed the old woman, making it even more impossible to defend himself.

Therefore, Bai Ze estimated that this would be enough to make Tang Sanzang expel him.

Even if he wasn’t expelled, it didn’t matter. Bai Ze would just come again tomorrow.

As for today?

Sorry, he could only use the Corpse Separation Technique twice a day. The third time, he would be truly killed. He wouldn’t be that stupid.

Anyway, White Tiger Ridge was a full 800 miles long. It would be impossible for Tang Sanzang to walk across it in less than ten or fifteen days. Bai Ze had plenty of time.

Over there, as expected, this time Tang Sanzang was not calm. He began to urge Sun Wukong to leave.

“You leave, I don’t want you as my disciple anymore. In just half a day, you have killed two innocent people. I don’t want a wicked disciple like you!”

Sun Wukong said, “This journey to the West is extremely dangerous. I’m afraid that without Old Sun, you, a monk with a mortal body, won’t be able to reach the Western Heaven.”

Tang Sanzang said, “Without you, you mischievous monkey, we won’t go to retrieve the scriptures?

Are Pigsy and Sha Wujing just eating for free?”

Sha Wujing lowered his head. Pigsy expressed his disagreement: “Without you, I can still subdue demons and eliminate monsters. Watch Old Pig protect Master to the Western Heaven to retrieve the scriptures!”

“Idiot!”

Sun Wukong glared at Pigsy, and Pigsy didn’t dare to speak, so he had to lower his head.

Sun Wukong said, “Since Master is determined to expel me, can you recite the Loosening Fillet Spell and remove the golden hoop on my head?

Otherwise, if you encounter a disaster and recite the Tightening Fillet Spell, wouldn’t Old Sun have to return immediately?”

Tang Sanzang said, “The Bodhisattva only taught me the Tightening Fillet Spell at the time, and did not teach me the Loosening Fillet Spell, so I cannot help you remove that golden hoop.

But rest assured, even if I die, I will not recite the spell to summon you back.”

“Alright, alright, alright!”

Sun Wukong felt a pang of sadness. He had assisted this old monk with hardship all the way, but today he was being insulted like this. If he didn’t leave, he would be too insensible.

He wanted to bow to Tang Sanzang three last times to formally end this master-disciple relationship. If they met again, they would just be strangers.

Tang Sanzang refused to accept the bows. Sun Wukong transformed into several avatars, surrounded Tang Sanzang, and bowed three times before leaving freely.

Pigsy shouted towards the sky, “Don’t you ever come back, Old Pig will still protect Master to the Western Heaven to retrieve the scriptures.”

Sha Wujing frowned and said, “Second Senior Brother, you’re still talking. Eldest Brother has really left this time.”

“……”

Pigsy smacked his lips, feeling very uneasy in his heart: “So what if he left? Can’t we still make pancakes without him?”

The pilgrimage team was now missing one person, an important person.