Chapter 383: Setting Out to Visit an Old Friend, Calling Upon the Monkey

Lake Heart Pavilion.

Clusters of fresh flowers surround it, and precious lingzhi grow all around.

The light of heaven shines down, reflecting off the golden waves, clear and bright.

Fang Longye leans against the window, finishes the fragrant tea in his cup, picks up a piece of pastry from the table, crumbles it, and sprinkles it into the water outside the pavilion.

Between the sparse lotus leaves,

several koi of various colors cannot help but poke their heads out, look left and right, quickly swallow the pastry crumbs, and then dive back into the water.

After a few plops, only circular ripples remain, spreading in all directions, giving the originally quiet and secluded scene a touch of liveliness.

"It must be him~"

Fang Longye gazes out the window, his eyes deep and dim.

If it is truly as the Danxia True Monarch just said, that he is about to serve a five-hundred-year rotation at Doushuai Gong, watching the fire and guarding the furnace for Laojun,

then the unlucky fellow in the original story who was implicated by Monkey and demoted to the mortal realm to become the Earth Deity of Flame Mountain is undoubtedly this Danxia True Monarch~

"Hmm, perhaps not necessarily an unlucky fellow," Fang Longye thinks, turning his head. "Perhaps it was arranged by Taishang Laojun himself, intended to share in the Merit and Luck."

After all, the entire Journey to the West path is full of Merit and Luck; even if one just plays a bit part or shows their face, one can still scrape together a share of Merit and Luck.

Thinking of this,

Fang Longye decides that once the nephew of Danxia True Monarch comes to report under his command, he will take good care of him, or at least show a certain amount of goodwill.

According to his original plan,

he had no intention of taking special care of Danxia True Monarch's nephew; his constant thought had been that if the person was talented, he would keep them, and if not, he would just send them away.

But as the saying goes, who can blame the nephew for having an uncle with such a background and history?

Most importantly, when the Journey to the West arrives and the Flame Mountain tribulation comes, he might be able to use this to get involved and share in some Merit and Luck~ This point alone is enough to make him change his attitude and plan to build a closer relationship with this Danxia True Monarch~ Having made up his mind,

Fang Longye reaches out to the sandalwood table beside him and picks up a Dharma Pill Gourd; it is none other than the gift Danxia True Monarch brought when he visited just now~ Pulling the stopper from the mouth of the gourd, a wave of pill fragrance rushes toward him, and Fang Longye cannot help but praise: "This pill is quite good!"

He does not know if this gourd of pills was refined by Danxia True Monarch himself or obtained from elsewhere.

Pouring one out into his hand, golden and the size of a dragon's eye, Fang Longye tosses it into his mouth like a candy and swallows it~

"Truly a fine immortal pill!"

Once the immortal pill enters his belly, for a moment, his mouth and nose are filled with fragrance; within his seven orifices, starlight is swallowed and exhaled, and Yin and Yang, water and fire, fish heads and fish tails intertwine, forming a picture of their own.

His whole body is even more agitated by flowing clouds and strange colors.

Although this pill does not provide much benefit to him now, if a Golden Immortal were to ingest it, they would certainly make a great leap forward~

"The craftsmanship is quite good; it is not without reason that this Danxia True Monarch has such a reputation in the Heavenly Court~"

Although he is a novice in alchemy, he has consumed many spiritual pills and medicines throughout his cultivation journey, so he can be considered half an expert in evaluating pills~ Once the immortal pill enters his belly,

he can naturally tell that this gourd of immortal pills must have come from the hands of Danxia True Monarch.

"I will keep them as rewards for those around me, or take them to my Wanling Workshop to sell~"

Fang Longye appraises them, puts away the Dharma Pill Gourd in his hand, and thinks to himself.

Thus,

after receiving a few more rounds of guests at the mansion,

Fang Longye finds a moment, immediately calls for the steward of the mansion, and instructs: "Prepare the carriage, and come with me to the East Tianmen~"

Monkey has been in heaven for several days, and as his good big brother, he should go and visit him.

If he were not in the Heavenly Court, that would be one thing, but since he is not only here but also holds a high position, it would be inexcusable not to go over and see Monkey.

If Monkey found out later, he might think that his big brother had become successful and forgotten his little brother.

Heavenly Court, East Tianmen.

The location of the camp where the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals are stationed.

Inside a military tent,

Sun Wukong is on duty today and does not need to go to the East Tianmen to stand guard, so he is not wearing armor or a helmet, but is dressed in a formal court robe.

It is just that his body is a bit thin, with a thunder-god face, and his body is covered in long monkey hair, so even though this official court robe of a Guardian Marshal is very majestic and good-looking~

it always feels uncomfortable when worn on him.

This discomfort is not only felt by himself, but others also feel uncomfortable after seeing it.

Hmm, how does that idiom go?

A monkey dressed in a hat~

Sun Wukong is biting on a brush handle, hunched over the table in the center, writing and drawing on several stacks of booklets, scratching his ears and cheeks from time to time.

He looks very serious~ A short while later,

he throws down the brush, stretches, and sighs: "This Guardian Marshal is really not easy to be!"

"I originally thought that fighting and killing would be enough, but it turns out I have to process official documents. I wonder when the Chief Clerk they said they would assign to me will arrive?"

Sun Wukong collapses behind the table and begins to complain.

Although a Guardian Marshal at the East Tianmen has hundreds of people and cannot be said to have the final say on everything, he is not a commander without troops; he still leads a contingent of men.

As a result, there are no small number of documents that require the Guardian Marshal's signature and review, such as feeding the men and horses, material allocation, leave requests,... and so on.

How could Monkey handle this?

Plus, he has always been impatient; how could he have the patience to sit here and process official documents one by one?

Now, struggling to do so is merely relying on the enthusiasm of a new official, and even this has already made him scratch his ears and cheeks, hoping for his Chief Clerk to arrive soon.

"Marshal!"

Sun Wukong rests for a while, gathers his spirits, takes the brush back into his hand, and prepares to continue "battling" the pile of documents on the desk.

At this moment, one of his subordinate commanders hurried in and shouted loudly:

"Marshal!"

If it were any other Guardian Marshal, seeing a subordinate so jumpy would have long since scolded them, but Sun Wukong's temperament was naturally not like that.

He simply said: "What is the matter?"

"Marshal,"

The commander came before Sun Wukong and reported:

"Someone outside is looking for you~"

"Someone is looking for me?"

Seeing Sun Wukong stand up, the commander couldn't help but shrink his neck and said: "They didn't give a name, only said they were an old friend of yours."

Then, he glanced at Sun Wukong and said: "But I saw that carriage; it belongs to the newly appointed Water Origin Holy Lord's mansion, and it appears to be the Water Origin Holy Lord's exclusive carriage~"

The latter was actually the commander's guess, mainly because he recognized the driver, called Meng Lingkuan, who was considered his old superior~ It is said that some time ago, this old superior of his was selected to be a steward at the Shuiyuan Shengjun Mansion.

And if he, as a steward of the Shuiyuan Shengjun Mansion, could personally drive the carriage to visit, who else could it be but that Water Origin Holy Lord himself? It seems his own superior is truly not so simple; otherwise, how could he have a connection with the Water Origin Holy Lord?

"Water Origin Holy Lord~"

Sun Wukong was puzzled. He used to be a demon immortal in the lower realm, and now he had only been in the Heavenly Court for a few days; he didn't know many people in the Heavenly Realm at all.

He had never even heard of the Water Origin Holy Lord, so how could they be an old friend? While puzzled,

he couldn't help but become interested. He moved his body, leaped over the desk, signaled for his subordinate commander to follow, and said: "Let's go, let's go out and take a look~"

……

Monkey was indeed decisive; after saying this, he flicked his robes and walked toward the door.

Just as he went out, Sun Wukong saw a person outside the camp, dressed in luxurious robes, with a handsome and dashing appearance, and an aura like the Abyssal Sea.

"Hahaha,"

Seeing Sun Wukong in his military officer's robes, Fang Longye laughed out loud. Monkey's attire was incongruous, giving quite the feeling of a monkey dressing up in human clothes.

"Big Brother!"

After Sun Wukong saw clearly that the person outside was Fang Longye, he was both surprised and happy. He bounded over in one step, patted Fang Longye on the shoulder with his hand, and said:

"Great! I never thought you, Big Brother, would actually arrive at the Heavenly Court a step ahead of me. It looks like you're a high official too; why didn't you mention it before?"

Fang Longye shook his head and smiled: "It's just serving as an official in Heaven, nothing worth mentioning~"

Hearing this, Sun Wukong thought of his own recent complacency and couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed.

"Big Brother has such vision; this younger brother feels inferior."

Fang Longye pulled Monkey and said: "I noticed you when you first ascended to the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, but I was busy, and thinking you were also quite busy as you just entered the Heavenly Court, I didn't come to find you."

"The two of us brothers can now be considered to have met an old friend in a foreign land. Let's go, follow your brother back to my mansion, and the two of us will drink a few cups!"

Fang Longye pulled Monkey, looking like a pair of good brothers, extremely enthusiastic~

Sun Wukong had no friends or relatives in the Heavenly Court, and having finally seen a familiar face today, he was naturally very happy.

However, upon hearing Fang Longye's invitation, he still shook his head, instead pulling Fang Longye into the camp, saying as they walked:

"I shall visit your mansion another day, Brother. I am already very happy that you came to see me today; we must drink until we are drunk!"

Perhaps fearing Fang Longye would refuse, or perhaps his innate nature for showing off had flared up again: "Don't look at me as having just arrived in the Heavenly Court; I have already accumulated some things, and I am not lacking in good wine and food~"

Fang Longye felt a sense of wonder in his heart. Just as this Monkey said, he hadn't been in the Heavenly Court for long, so how did he accumulate so much so quickly?

Moreover, this camp was stationed with countless Heavenly Soldiers and Generals; it could be considered an important strategic location.

Yet, with Monkey's tone, he, a Guardian Marshal, was actually able to drink and play at will inside the military camp—was he being this derelict in his duty?

But thinking of Monkey's current situation, Fang Longye felt it was reasonable. Clearly, this was likely special indulgence from above for Monkey~……

Pondering in his heart, the two walked one after the other back to the tent where Sun Wukong was stationed.

Sun Wukong immediately ordered his subordinates to set up a feast, bringing out the best wine, spiritual fruits, delicacies, cooked food, and side dishes he had; nothing was missing.

Every item was an immortal delicacy of great value, especially the several jars of wine Sun Wukong brought out, each one worth a fortune.

Especially a small blue-and-white jar in the middle; the Immortal Brew inside would be considered a treasure even in the hands of a Golden Immortal, not easily given to outsiders.

It can only be said that the current Monkey is truly hot-blooded, straightforward, and loyal; he is most suitable to be a friend.

However, Fang Longye's focus was not on this aspect; instead, he was very interested in how Monkey could produce these wines and dishes that were worth a fortune to ordinary Golden Immortals.

These things could not be explained by a simple "Huaguo Mountain is rich in natural treasures and resources."

After exchanging cups and drinking to their hearts' content, Fang Longye brought up the confusion in his heart.

"Haha!"

Sun Wukong exhaled a breath of wine and said with a chuckle: "These were all given to me by my colleagues and superiors; I still have plenty here!"

Fang Longye understood in his heart; this must be because someone saw that Monkey's foundation was extraordinary and specifically came over intending to build a good relationship with him~ "By the way!"

Monkey let out a wine burp, in a tipsy state, and asked: "I wonder if you have any spare Chief Clerks, Brother? Lend me one to use~"

"Chief Clerk?"

Hearing this, Fang Longye couldn't help but be stunned.

"That's right, a Chief Clerk."

Sun Wukong nodded, confirming.

"I do have one, but what do you need a Chief Clerk for? Do you still need to process documents?"

Fang Longye nodded and asked.

It really wasn't that he looked down on people~ The key was that Guardian Marshal, just hearing the name, one knows it is a military post; to put it bluntly, it is just guarding the gate.

Perhaps there is some status, and one counts as a small leader. But no matter what kind of small leader, when all is said and done, it is just a small leader among those guarding the gate.

How many documents could there possibly be to process? "Sigh, Brother, you don't know; although my Guardian Marshal position at the East Tianmen doesn't manage many people, there is truly a hell of a lot of work~"

Seeing Fang Longye ask, Sun Wukong couldn't help but list the tasks he needed to do one by one, and in the end, he even started to complain~ "I won't hide it from you, Brother; these past few days, I have been truly overwhelmed by processing official documents." Sun Wukong spoke of his own difficulties.

"If the Chief Clerk position promised to me is still not assigned, in a few more days, I intend to throw in the towel and head straight back to Huaguo Mountain."

Honestly, if not for the thought of being a newly appointed official, he would rather fight someone for three hundred rounds than look at a single page of documents submitted by his subordinates.

It was truly because he was not skilled in this way at all!

Previously, the affairs of Huaguo Mountain were all handled by the Four Generals, those four old apes; as the Great King, he rarely concerned himself with mundane matters.

"So that's how it is~"

Fang Longye nodded, indicating he understood, then pondered for a moment and said:

"How about this, I will simply reassign a few Chief Clerks and Civil Officials to you; from now on, they will follow you directly and help you handle official documents~"

"As for the Chief Clerk assigned to you from above, even if they arrive later, you had best keep your guard up and try not to entrust them with major responsibilities~"

"It is better for a Chief Clerk to be one of your own people."

With these words, Fang Longye truly had no other motives; he was simply and sincerely offering advice to Monkey.

For a chief official, the assistants who help manage everything are truly too important~

Especially for someone like Monkey, whose head aches at the sight of official documents; if a Chief Clerk or assistant adds or erases a stroke on a document, it becomes a problem for him, the chief official.

If one really fails to choose a good Chief Clerk or assistant, and one does not look at any documents, delegating full authority to these subordinates, then one might as well wait to be the scapegoat for others~ Furthermore,

To be honest, Fang Longye actually suspected that big figures like the Jade Emperor were likely planning exactly this, letting Monkey "himself" make a "huge blunder" in his position to force Monkey back down to the mortal realm.

Otherwise,

In the vast Heavenly Court, how could it be that they were short of a Chief Clerk specifically for Monkey, with no sign of one appearing for so long?

(End of this chapter)