Chapter 8: Clever Words and Wonderful Plans, the Monkey King Asks the Patriarch

In the lecture hall, Patriarch Puti saw Sun Wukong acting like this and immediately called out to Sun Wukong: "Wukong, why are you acting crazy and dancing in class instead of listening to my lecture? What is the reason for this?"

There was silence all around, but the Monkey King had already recovered from his surprise. He stopped dancing, and seeing the Patriarch questioning him, he hurriedly stepped forward to report: "Disciple was listening sincerely, and when I heard Master's wonderful sounds, I was overjoyed, so I couldn't help but dance like this. Please forgive me for my lack of etiquette, Patriarch!"

"Since it was an unintentional mistake, there is no need to say more." The Patriarch nodded slightly, not pursuing the matter, but instead said: "Since you recognize the wonderful sounds, it must be that the opportunity has arrived. Then let me ask you, how long have you been in the cave?"

"Thank you, Patriarch, for not blaming me." Sun Wukong bowed slightly, thought for a moment, and said: "Disciple was originally ignorant and didn't know how much time had passed. I only remember that I once went to the back mountain to chop wood and, by chance, saw a mountain with good peach trees. To this day, I have eaten my fill of peaches there seven times."

"En, seven times of eating your fill of peaches?" The Patriarch stroked his beard and said, "That mountain is called the Rotten Peach Mountain. The mountain peaches ripen once a season. Since you have eaten seven times, I suppose it has been seven years. You have been apprenticed for a long time, so I suppose you have your own insights. Then, what kind of Dao method do you want to learn from me now?"

Sun Wukong thought for a long time, not knowing what he wanted to learn, so he had to say: "I rely on Master's teaching; as long as I can cultivate the Great Dao, I am willing to learn."

Patriarch Puti listed various side paths one by one, but Sun Wukong only asked one sentence: Can I achieve longevity?

Finally, he angered Patriarch Puti, who stood up and came to Sun Wukong with a ruler.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Three crisp sounds knocked on his head, making everyone's heart tremble.

Afterward, Patriarch Puti stood up, put his hands behind his back, said nothing, and walked straight toward the back hall, leaving a group of disciples listening in confusion.

The disciples looked at each other, not knowing why.

"What does the Patriarch mean by this?"

"He was preaching well, why did he suddenly leave?"

"Could it be that he is blaming that monkey for being disrespectful?"

Wu Ming snorted coldly, stood up, and scolded Sun Wukong, who was still giggling there: "Sun Wukong! You monkey, the Patriarch's preaching is so solemn, yet you dance here; what kind of behavior is this! Now that you have displeased the Patriarch and he has left in a huff, do you know your crime?"

Sun Wukong had already recovered from that profound realization. Hearing Wu Ming's words, he didn't refute, just giggled.

He had already understood the "riddle of the plate", and his heart was beautiful; he had no time to quarrel with Wu Ming.

Only Su Chen was as clear as a mirror in his heart.

He looked at the monkey who was still proud, then at Wu Ming who looked indignant, and his plan was set.

The lecture hall dispersed, and the disciples went back to cultivate.

Su Chen, however, grabbed Sun Wukong, who was about to go back.

"Monkey Brother, come here for a moment."

He dragged Sun Wukong to a quiet corner, the expression on his face unprecedentedly serious and solemn.

Sun Wukong was startled by his appearance and hurriedly asked: "Little Brother, what's wrong? What happened?"

Su Chen didn't answer directly, but asked instead: "Monkey Brother, just now in the lecture hall, did you realize something from Master's lecture?"

"Hehe, I did realize some, I did realize some." Sun Wukong scratched his head, a bit proud, but didn't dare to say it too clearly.

"That's good." Su Chen nodded, then lowered his voice and said in an extremely solemn tone: "Monkey Brother, we are brothers; I won't hide it from you. My cultivation has a problem."

"What?" Sun Wukong was shocked, grabbed Su Chen's arm, and asked urgently: "What problem?"

Su Chen shook his head, a trace of bitterness on his face. "For these seven years, I have chopped wood every day, thinking my 'Axe Dao' had some small success, and my cultivation was smooth. But just now, listening to Master's lecture, I was shocked!"

He looked at Sun Wukong and said: "I discovered that my 'spirit' and my 'Qi' actually have signs of separation.

"I nourish my spirit with the axe and use my body as a furnace; my spirit and Qi should have merged. But now, my spirit is too sharp, while my Qi can't keep up. If I don't solve it in time, the light will lead to the waste of my cultivation, and the heavy will lead to the destruction of my soul!"

Su Chen's words were half-true, half-false.

He did feel his cultivation bottleneck; his "Axe Dao" focused too much on the condensation of spiritual will, and the accumulation of physical essence and Qi was relatively slow, which indeed had hidden dangers in the long run.

But he deliberately exaggerated the consequences tenfold, which sounded terrifying.

Sun Wukong didn't understand these cultivation keys at all, and upon hearing the four words "destruction of soul", its monkey face turned pale.

"Then what should we do? Should we go find Master now?"

"No!" Su Chen immediately denied, "Master is busy with ten thousand things; how can I disturb him with this small matter? And... my 'Axe Dao' is a wild path to begin with; Master being willing to accept me into the sect is already a huge favor. If I go to bother him with this kind of broken matter of unstable foundation, he might think I'm not worth cultivating and expel me from the sect."

Sun Wukong paced around anxiously: "This won't work, that won't work; are we just going to watch you have your soul destroyed?"

Su Chen was waiting for these words.

He "hesitated" for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, leaned into Sun Wukong's ear, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Monkey Brother, as things stand, only you can save me."

"Me?" Sun Wukong pointed to his own nose, looking blank.

"Yes, that's right!" Su Chen's gaze burned, "You realized something in the lecture hall just now; you must have obtained the true transmission of Master's wonderful method."

"Master hit you three times and walked into the middle door with his hands behind his back; there must be deep meaning in this. I guess Master wants to open a small stove for you privately at the third watch tonight and teach you the real Great Dao!"

Sun Wukong was stunned upon hearing this and said: "How do you know?"

"I guessed it." Su Chen didn't change his expression, his heart didn't beat faster. "Monkey Brother, this is your huge opportunity! But it's also my life-saving straw! You go see Master tonight; you must do me a favor!"

"What favor? Speak!" Sun Wukong promised, patting his chest.

"Listen to me." Su Chen pulled him and explained it like this and that.

Sun Wukong listened, scratching his ears and cheeks, looking distressed: "Little Brother, I can't remember these words!"

"You have to remember them even if you can't!" Su Chen put on a straight face, "This concerns my life. You just memorize it by rote; when you see Master, after he teaches you the method, you must find an opportunity and say you have a junior brother who has encountered a huge problem in cultivation, and then say these words I taught you, and ask Master to give some guidance!"

"But what if Master gets angry?" Sun Wukong was still uneasy.

"Don't worry!" Su Chen encouraged him, "Master is compassionate; you are asking for guidance for a fellow disciple; he will be too happy to be angry!"

Hearing the last sentence, Sun Wukong's hesitation instantly vanished.

"Alright! I've remembered it!" Sun Wukong slapped his thigh, his eyes becoming firm, "It's just a few words; I'll definitely explain it clearly to Master tonight!"

Looking at the monkey's high spirits, Su Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This move, he was betting on two points.

First, betting on Sun Wukong's brotherly loyalty.

Second, betting on Patriarch Puti's reaction.

He believed that with Patriarch Puti's cultivation that could reach the sky and penetrate the earth, he would definitely see through his little trick at a glance.

But would the Patriarch be angry? Su Chen didn't think so.

His statement wasn't fabricated out of thin air, but accurately pointed out the real dilemma in his own cultivation, just slightly exaggerated.

This was a disciple who had encountered a problem in cultivation and was seeking guidance from his master through a clever way.

This itself was a manifestation of a "heart seeking the Dao".

If the Patriarch really appreciated his persistence of "chopping open the immortal path with a mortal axe", then he might not only not be angry at this "unconventional" way of seeking guidance.

The night grew deep, and everything was silent.

At the third watch, Sun Wukong quietly got up, followed Su Chen's instructions, and slipped out of the stone house, heading straight for the back door.

Su Chen sat cross-legged in his room, eyes closed, but his mind was highly concentrated, listening carefully to the movement outside.

Success or failure, it all depended on this.

At the back door, Sun Wukong saw the door was ajar and was overjoyed, pushing it open and entering.

He saw Patriarch Puti lying on the bed, pretending to sleep while waiting for a guest.

Sun Wukong didn't dare to disturb him and knelt before the bed.

After a long time, the Patriarch "woke up" and chanted: "Difficult! Difficult! Difficult! The Dao is the most profound; don't treat the Golden Elixir as something ordinary. Without meeting a supreme person to pass on the wonderful formula, the mouth is exhausted and the tongue is dry!"

He turned over and got off the bed, seeing the kneeling Sun Wukong, and asked knowingly: "You monkey, why aren't you resting in the front, but coming here?"

Sun Wukong was overjoyed and hurriedly kowtowed: "Master, the disciple already knows the riddle of the plate, so I have come here to beg Master to open your compassion and teach the disciple the way of longevity, is that possible?"

The Patriarch heard this and laughed, thinking to himself: "This monkey is indeed born of heaven and earth, understanding everything at a hint."

He pondered for a moment and said: "Very well, come forward, and I will teach you the wonderful method of longevity."

Sun Wukong was overjoyed and was about to kowtow to thank him, but suddenly remembered Su Chen's instructions.

He rolled his eyes and hurriedly said: "Master, the disciple has a request; I don't know if I should say it."

"Oh? What is it?" Patriarch Puti looked at Sun Wukong with interest.

Sun Wukong tried hard to recall Su Chen's words and stammered: "The disciple has a junior brother, who is Wu Chen who entered the sect with me. He has encountered a huge problem in cultivation... I beg Master to show great compassion and save him."

Sun Wukong said these words in one breath and looked at the Patriarch nervously, fearing he would get angry.

Patriarch Puti listened without speaking, just looking at Sun Wukong quietly.

Sun Wukong felt his heart go numb from being watched, and cold sweat broke out.

It's over, it's over, Little Brother has pitted me!

Master must be angry!

Just when Sun Wukong thought disaster was imminent, Patriarch Puti's face showed a smile.

He stretched out his finger and tapped lightly on Sun Wukong's monkey head.

"You monkey, you are indeed loyal. And Wu Chen, he really is a slippery one."

He sighed long, his tone unable to tell whether it was joy or anger.

"Very well, very well."

"You let him come in together." ===== CHAPTER 9 =====