Chapter 601

A golden light burst from a slightly lower mountain peak on the other side, flashing past in an instant.

Beside the white elephant, a figure suddenly appeared.

Compared to the towering white elephant, this person was of normal build, wearing feathered robes, with a fairly handsome face.

However, he had an exaggerated hooked nose, and his eyes were sharp and arrogant like those of a hawk or falcon.

At first glance, one would certainly not feel any handsomeness; instead, it was more like seeing a truly "sharp-beaked and sharp-tongued," "iron-clawed and silver-hooked" eagle.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle, also known as the Peng of Cloud Journey Ten Thousand Li, feeds on dragons and slays true dragons as easily as slaughtering snakes.

The moment he appeared, the white dragon lowered itself to the ground, not daring to move at all, closing its eyes and awaiting death.

The third brother among the Three Demons of Lion-Tu Ridge; though the third brother, his origin was the earliest, and his strength was the greatest.

After the Lion-Tu Ridge incident, the Qing Lion died, the white elephant, and the "Black Bird" managed to escape by luck.

The white elephant, besieged by Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, suffered severe injuries; Sun Wukong even found time to strike it with a staff, the broken tusks and half-destroyed trunk being Sun Wukong's handiwork.

The escape of the white elephant and the Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle was not truly an escape.

Instead, they were brought back to the Subduing Demon Pagoda in the Great Thunderclap Temple of Ling Mountain and suppressed there.

Until the Shanhai Realm shattered.

The shattering of the Shanhai Realm was the rupture of spatial turbulence.

Where one would "appear" had no direct relation to one's position at the time.

Even if inside the Subduing Demon Pagoda, and even if the pagoda's shattering formed a whole new heaven and earth, it did not mean that the "demons" suppressed within would certainly end up in that world.

With the shattering of the Shanhai Realm, the two demons fortunately survived in this world; their injuries were not considered severe.

Without the suppression of the Subduing Demon Pagoda, and with the heavenly and earthly qi so abundant, their strength gradually recovered over time, and even improved further.

Besides these two demons, the Golden Horn and Silver Horn Kings, and the Spirit-Sensing Great King, this world also had many other "old acquaintances."

Some minor soldiers and minor immortals of the Heavenly Court, as well as some monks from the Buddhist sect of Ling Mountain.

And some monsters from the Shanhai Realm.

Among them, the Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle was the strongest; he began gradually developing his own power, following the principle: those who follow me prosper, those who oppose me perish.

Basically forming the present false Ling Mountain Thunderclap Temple.

As for why it is the Thunderclap Temple.

After all, those monks still had some use; wearing such a facade helped them deceive themselves and others.

Gradually falling into depravity, then with a single thought becoming Buddha, they completely knelt and submitted, becoming the claws and fangs of the Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle and his ilk.

The Golden Horn, Silver Horn, and Spirit-Sensing Great King were relatively more independent.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle's Thunderclap Temple forces were vast, becoming the hegemon of this world; then they discovered "Sun Wukong."

A Sun Wukong who had lost his former memories, severely wounded, and weak!

Is this acceptable? Really letting this monkey recover, return to his former peak—would these monsters, gods, and buddhas still get away with it?

Faced with a boss who had not grown, everyone suddenly united in cooperation.

Thus, a series of events followed.

Here it should be mentioned that Tang Luo was disliked by many monks, who secretly called him "demon monk"; Sun Wukong's situation was actually not good either.

Many monks held considerable disdain for him, roughly because they were dissatisfied that a monkey demon could press down on their heads.

Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life; the Buddhist sect embraces the world with compassion, and can accept monster types into the Buddhist door.

But that is only for existence as a mount; what right does a mere monkey demon have to become Buddha?

Monks harboring such thoughts were not few in number.

Even so, the disdain toward Sun Wukong was even greater than that toward Tang Luo.

As for Tang Luo, more was anger at his improper conduct and speech, plus Maitreya's "demon monk" remark making some feel they had a backing to follow the trend.

If Tang Luo could behave properly, follow the precepts, accept punishment and absorb his past sins.

Reverent titles like "Holy Buddha," "Venerable One," "Holy Monk," etc., could still be used.

Even if Sun Wukong did so, he would likely only invite mockery of "monkey wearing a hat."

Monks and immortals who refused to go with the flow had naturally already died.

Now, amidst this heaven full of gods and buddhas, one could still see those mocking faces.

Ironically, they now submit under the claws of the Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle, still wearing their self-deceptive facades.

"Third brother——" if he comes, the true white elephant looks toward the Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle.

"Tang Xuanzang, you demon monk haven't died." The Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle stretched out his hand to stop the white elephant's words, looking at Tang Luo and said.

Tang Luo calls his secular surname "Tang," and Xuanzang is his dharma name; the title Tang Xuanzang is the combination of the two.

As for the name "Tang Luo," in the Shanhai Realm, no one knew of it.

After Tang Luo called out the Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle, he completely ignored him, instead raising his hand and waving, causing the giant palm that had trapped Sun Wukong to suddenly shatter and vanish.

"Little monkey, wake up yet." Tang Luo said.

The Merit Jade Lotus appeared above "Sun Wukong"'s head, scattering specks of starlight.

"Merit Jade Lotus……" the Golden-Winged Great Peng Eagle murmured, his voice tinged with envy; such a profound mystical treasure falling into this monk's hands was truly a pity.

If he had this Merit Jade Lotus, he would have already fully recovered a hundred years ago, and even progressed further.

The body of the "Sun Wukong," calm as a stubborn stone, suddenly trembled, like a calm sea instantly stirred into towering waves.

He fiercely stretched out his hand, seized the Golden Cudgel, and exhaled a breath like blazing flames.

His form shrank, becoming a mighty and awe-inspiring Beautiful Monkey King, identical to the monkey in the picture waving the Golden Cudgel on Flower-Fruit Mountain.

He was also nine-tenths similar to Sun Wukong.

He walked up to Tang Luo, knelt down, and kowtowed, saying: "Many thanks for the life-saving grace, Holy Monk Grandfather, and also for saving those few little monkeys……"

Even with Tang Luo as his backing.

When memory returned and truth struck, he too nearly fell into deathly silence, the flame of his life like a guttering candle in the wind, weakened considerably.

Even if he did not die this time, next time, the time after that—there would come a moment when his heart would die.

The debt of saving his life was owed to him; what the little monkey spoke of was the six-eared macaque and monkey demon encountered on the road.

Those monkeys were originally the monkeys of "Flower-Fruit Mountain," his disciples and grand-disciples, left behind by these "gods and buddhas" as deliberate survivors.

To have personally slain the monkeys and grand-monkeys he was meant to protect—this taste was like a blade forged from despair.

"You are not Sun Wukong?!"

From the moment Tang Luo appeared, the "gods and buddhas" who had been as quiet as chickens finally saw one monk speak up.

His voice was sharp and piercing.

"Could this monkey not be Sun Wukong?"

"Even the eldest senior brother's monkey—you all go to such great trouble to deal with it, and still you cannot handle it." Zhu Bajie shook his head, mocking, "You people—truly, the longer you live, the more you regress. Go out and don't even dare say you're a renegade monk of Great Thunderclap Temple; it's utterly embarrassing."

This monkey truly is not Sun Wukong.

To speak frankly, it's no wonder the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the others mistook him, for this monkey's origin is quite complex.

Back when Sun Wukong entered the underworld, he erased the "names" of a group of Flower-Fruit Mountain monkeys from the register of life and death.

This amounted to a gift, allowing that group of monkeys to live much longer.

But it also had a downside: as the monkeys lived longer, with the passage of time, their bodies aged and died, their spiritual awareness rotting alongside, reducing them to walking corpses.

This monkey before us, however, is a special one—his body rotted, yet his soul and spirit remained clear, preserving his awareness from falling.

Sun Wukong simply used the three special hairs he had cultivated through Guanyin's great vajra power to reshape this monkey's body.

In a certain sense, this monkey is the true bloodline continuation of Sun Wukong—his "monkey."

Thus, the two are naturally similar to the utmost degree.

Few know of this matter, and even fewer can truly distinguish the difference between the two.

Even Tang Luo and Zhu Bajie only realized who this "Sun Wukong" truly was after seeing the little monkey and recalling the original scene.

This little monkey has not lost his memory; he is guarding the monkey troop—perhaps these monkeys come from Flower-Fruit Mountain, a continuation of the bloodline of Flower-Fruit Mountain monkeys.

What truly made him regard himself as Sun Wukong was the false memories implanted by the Golden-Winged Great Peng and others.

The white elephant loosened his shackles somewhat, and he naturally recalled his own identity.

He also recognized that white-haired monk—this is none other than the king's master, the Holy Monk Grandfather!

Back then, it was the Holy Monk Grandfather who gave him his name.

Steady.

"Wu Tian bows before you!" the little monkey said, then bowed heavily twice more.

"Cough." Tang Luo coughed once, "I said, don't call me grandfather."

The little monkey's name is "Sun Wu Tian," yes, that's right—Tang Luo, in his mischievousness, originally meant to call him Sun Wukong Tian, but all are of the "Wu" generation, which is inappropriate.

So he changed it to Sun Wu Tian, which sounds even more domineering than Qi Tian.

Sun Wukong, upon hearing it, laughed heartily; back then, the little monkey waved a golden hooped staff that someone had refined for him at Sun Wukong's request, declaring he would surely learn from the Great King and also cause havoc in the Heavenly Palace.

Upon hearing this, the heavenly immortals would furrow their brows, feeling the matter was not simple—a humble dream.

"But if not calling him Holy Monk Grandfather, what should we call him?"

Before Tang Luo and the others, Sun Wu Tian revealed his purest original heart, unhidden, like a young child.

In terms of seniority, Sun Wu Tian is Sun Wukong's monkey, and Tang Luo is Sun Wukong's master.

Then calling him grandfather is entirely unproblematic.

"Call him Master Grandfather," Tang Luo said.

He is not Sun Wukong's uncultured monkey, fond of being called "Great Sage Grandfather."

A crowd of demons again cried, "Holy Monk Grandfather, spare our lives!" "Great Sage Grandfather, save us!"—hearing it just sounds strange.

"Holy Monk Master Grandfather!" Sun Wu Tian said again, still sounding strange.

Forget it—Tang Luo also grew weary of correcting him.

"Tang Xuanzang! What do you want!" the Golden-Winged Great Peng, left hanging aside, shouted.

"What are you still standing there for?" Tang Luo looked at these demons and monsters, "Commit suicide, or must I, the poor monk, personally ferry you to hell?"

"Arrogant!"

The white elephant and the Golden-Winged Great Peng shouted in unison.

"You are indeed a troublesome opponent, but what is the situation now? Dare you still act so…"

A monk fell from the sky, crashing onto the mountain peak, splattering liver and brains on the ground—exactly the one who had just spoken.

Then several more monsters shattered their bodies, turning into blood mist, not even leaving a whole corpse behind.

"..."

The Golden-Winged Great Peng's sharp gaze swept over them, and the rest dared not meet his eyes.

Unlike before, this time they were not afraid of him, the Golden-Winged Great Peng, but afraid of Tang Xuanzang!

These fellows, they don't even have the courage to oppose that demon monk!

Not a single one!

If he weren't still here holding his ground, these people might even be like the white dragon on the ground—stretching their necks to await slaughter, closing their eyes to wait for death!

That way, they'd die a little more cleanly.