Chapter 12: This strike will reduce you to ashes and smoke

The wind stopped.

It wasn't just the wind.

Even the light seemed to be devoured by that golden figure.

Sun Wukong stood there.

He did not move.

He simply tightened his five fingers slowly, grasping the Ruyi Golden Hoop Staff hovering at his side.

Creak.

Space let out a groan that could not bear the weight.

This pressure was not caused by magical power.

This is mass.

The reforged fleshly body took chaos as bone and primordial chaos as flesh.

Merely the existence of this body caused the surrounding spatial structure to begin collapsing.

The Six-Eared Macaque stood opposite him.

A distance of three chi.

Yet it felt as if separated by an uncrossable heavenly chasm.

"Playing at being divine!"

The Six-Eared Macaque let out a loud roar.

The sound was loud, yet it could not hide the trembling undertone within.

He was afraid.

Even though the monkey opposite had not yet made a move, the fear rising from deep within his blood already made him want to kneel and kowtow.

But he could not kneel.

To kneel would be death.

Strike first!

A flash of light appeared in the Six-Eared Macaque's hand.

A black iron staff appeared in his palm.

Heart-bound Iron Rod.

This too is an acquired supreme treasure, though it cannot compare to the Divine Needle of Calming the Sea, yet it once fought Sun Wukong to a stalemate on the Journey to the West.

"Die!!"

The Six-Eared Macaque pushed off the ground with both feet.

The diamond ground exploded, forming two deep pits.

He leapt high into the air.

The iron rod in his hand coiled with a force of ten thousand jun, carrying a howling wind, and smashed fiercely toward Sun Wukong's celestial crown.

This strike, he used all his strength.

He even burned his essence blood.

He sought only a sliver of vitality.

Sun Wukong raised his head.

His eyes, burning with stellar flame, were calm to a frightening degree.

He did not use the Golden Cudgel to block.

He did not even make a dodging motion.

He simply raised his left hand.

That hand, covered in golden fur, seemed slow, yet it arrived first despite acting later.

It directly met the iron staff coming down.

Clang——!!

It was not the crisp ring of metal striking metal.

But a deep, muffled explosion to the extreme.

The shockwave radiated outward from the two as its center.

The few remaining walls of Da Lei Yin Si collapsed with a roar.

Just when everyone thought Sun Wukong's palm would be broken.

Crack.

A soft sound.

It transmitted into everyone's ears.

The Six-Eared Macaque widened his eyes.

The Heart-bound Iron Rod in his hand began to break from the point of contact with Sun Wukong's palm.

It shattered.

Like a toy made from pinched flour.

It fractured inch by inch.

Countless black iron filings scattered.

That golden hand, with the force of splitting bamboo, pierced through the sky-full of iron filings.

It seized the Six-Eared Macaque's neck in a grip.

There was no flourish.

It was pure strength crushing down.

Even if the Six-Eared Macaque had the cultivation of a peak Taiyi Golden Immortal, even if he had myriad transformations.

Under this grasp.

All failed.

All magical shields, upon touching that palm, shattered like soap bubbles.

Boom.

The Six-Eared Macaque was forcibly yanked down from mid-air.

His feet left the ground.

Like a plague-ridden chicken awaiting slaughter, Sun Wukong held him aloft with one hand.

Air pressure.

Terrifying air pressure emanated from within Sun Wukong's body.

It directly acted upon the Six-Eared Macaque's body.

Pfft!

One of the Six-Eared Macaque's eyeballs could not withstand the pressure and burst directly in its socket.

Fresh blood mixed with the crystalline lens flowed down.

"Ah——!!!"

The wail was horribly shrill.

"Let go… let go!"

The Six-Eared Macaque clenched both hands around Sun Wukong's wrist, desperately trying to pry open that iron-clamp-like big hand.

Not a budge.

Sun Wukong's expression showed not a ripple.

He brought his face closer.

His nose almost touched the Six-Eared Macaque's face, smeared with blood.

"Weren't you just shouting fiercely a moment ago?"

Sun Wukong's voice was very soft.

Like a casual greeting between old friends.

Yet it made the Six-Eared Macaque's fur stand on end all over.

"Buddha Patriarch! Buddha Patriarch, save me!"

The Six-Eared Macaque snapped his head, using his remaining single eye to look toward the not‑far Liántái.

The Rulai Buddha sat there.

His complexion was pallid.

The wound on his left hand was still bleeding.

Hearing the cry for help, the Rulai's eyelid twitched.

Then.

He lowered his head.

He earnestly stared at a shard of stone beneath the Liántái.

As if that stone were inscribed with some supreme scripture, worthy of him, the Lord of Myriad Buddhas, to contemplate for a hundred eighty years.

Could not see.

Could not hear.

I am in meditation.

The Six-Eared Macaque's heart turned half‑cold.

He then looked toward the other side.

Two Saints stood there.

That was his last hope.

"Venerable Saint! Saint Zhùntí! I am the one you watched grow up!"

"Save me! I'm willing to be an ox and a horse…"

Saint Zhùntí stood with hands behind his back, gazing up at the great breach in the hall's ceiling.

He was still whistling.

"Shhh—whoosh—"

The tune was a bit off.

But his attitude was clear.

The weather today is fine.

As for that monkey down below?

Who is he?

I don't know him.

The two Western Saints who had just been shouting for battle were now like two passing onlookers.

Bodhi was still standing nearby.

Now who dares to step forward?

Whoever steps forward becomes the bird that gets shot.

The Six-Eared Macaque fell into despair.

That is truly a heaven with no road, an earth with no door.

"Done shouting?"

Sun Wukong looked at him, the corner of his mouth curling in a sneer.

"Looks like your masters don't really want to acknowledge you as their dog."

The Six-Eared Macaque trembled all over.

His lips turned purple.

"Great Sage... Great Sage Grandfather..."

He began to beg for mercy.

"I'm fake... I'm just a fart..."

"Just treat me like a fart and let me go..."

"I was wrong... I shouldn't have coveted your name..."

Sun Wukong shook his head.

He leaned in to the Six-Eared Macaque's ear.

That was the ear that Bodhi had torn apart, bloody and raw.

"You were wrong?"

"No."

"You weren't wrong."

"People die for wealth, birds die for food; this principle, I, Old Monkey, understand."

Sun Wukong's fingers began to exert force slowly.

Creak.

Creak.

That was the sound of the cervical vertebrae rubbing and deforming bit by bit.

"Your mistake lies in..."

"You shouldn't think that wearing my clothes and wielding my staff makes you the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."

Sun Wukong's gaze suddenly turned cold.

Killing intent like a blade.

"You stole my face."

"You stole my name."

"You stole my life."

"Only this proud spirit..."

Crack!

A clear sound of bone breaking.

The Six-Eared Macaque's neck bones were crushed outright.

His head went limp and slumped to one side.

But he wasn't dead.

A golden light pierced his brow, sealing his Original Spirit and locking his last breath.

Want to die?

Not that easy.

"This proud spirit, you can't steal it."

Sun Wukong loosened his grip.

Thud.

The Six-Eared Macaque went limp on the ground.

Like a pile of mud.

The intense pain made him want to pass out, but that golden light sealing his Original Spirit forced him to stay fully conscious.

Feel every bit of pain.

Feel every second of torment.

A foul stench spread.

Beneath the Six-Eared Macaque, a puddle of yellowish-white fluid flowed out.

He lost control of his bowels and bladder.

This one who once lofty above, revered by myriad beings as the "Victorious Fighting Buddha."

Now he was like a mangy dog with a broken spine.

Ugly.

Dirty.

Revolting.

The surrounding arhats all turned their heads away and closed their eyes.

They dared not look.

Too horrible.

This is practically a massacre.

"Hmph."

A cold snort came.

Bodhi Patriarch stood there, the broom in his hand gave a light tap on the ground.

Open your eyes for me.

The voice wasn't loud.

Yet it carried an indisputable authority.

Who dares to close their eyes?

Old Dao, I'll help him cut off his eyelids.

Swish.

All the arhats and bodhisattvas opened their eyes in unison.

Even if frightened to tears.

They also had to stare wide-eyed.

They fixed their gaze on the six-eared macaque, like a puddle of rotting mud.

This is killing a chicken to scare the monkey.

It is also to establish authority.

Sun Wukong no longer looked at the six-eared on the ground.

Such trash, killing him would dirty my hands.

He turned around.

He shouldered the golden cudgel in his hand.

His gaze swept across the hall.

Finally.

He stopped at the left side of the lotus platform.

There stood a bodhisattva in white robes whiter than snow.

Guanyin.

She held the recently repaired jade purity vase, lowered her brows and eyes, trying to diminish her presence.

Sun Wukong stepped forward.

Walking toward Guanyin.

His footsteps were heavy.

Creak.

Creak.

Each step felt like stepping on Guanyin's heartbeat.

Guanyin's fingers began to turn white.

The jade purity vase trembled slightly.

Sun Wukong stood before her.

At this moment, he was tall and towering, his whole body emanating a violent demonic aura.

He was no longer the monk who only cried 'Bodhisattva, save me.'

Bodhisattva.

Sun Wukong spoke.

His tone was teasing.

Back on the journey to fetch the scriptures, you sure helped this old monkey 'discern truth from falsehood' plenty.

Guanyin said nothing.

Cold sweat trickled down her temples.

Why won't you speak?

Sun Wukong brought his face closer.

Those fiery golden eyes of his were like two searchlights, leaving Guanyin nowhere to hide.

Back then, the true and false Monkey King.

I could tell from listening, but I didn't dare say.

Your magic penetrates the mysteries, you govern the Three Realms, saving those who suffer.

You can't tell either?

Guanyin's lips twitched.

She wanted to explain.

But the Tathagata didn't dare speak, the saint didn't dare speak.

What could she say?

Say it was for the great plan of Buddhism?

That would be courting death.

Forget it.

Sun Wukong waved his hand.

As for the past, this old monkey doesn't want to bring it up much.

He extended his hand.

Palm facing up.

Reaching it in front of Guanyin.

Borrow something.

Guanyin was stunned.

He subconsciously guarded the Jade Pure Bottle in his hand.

"Great Sage…… what do you want to borrow?"

Sun Wukong grinned.

He revealed a mouth of eerie white fangs.

"I've heard that the willow branch in your bottle can raise the dead and put flesh on white bones."

"Six-Ears is about to die."

"I, Old Sun, haven't had enough fun yet."

Sun Wukong hooked his finger.

"I want to borrow your willow branch to use."

"Help him…… wake up his mind."