Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong-Chapter 721 - 722: Kidnapping at the Foot of Spiritual Mountain (First Update!)

After thanking Yama Heavenly Son, Sun Wukong went to the Boundless Blood Sea and returned the Blood God Stone to the Old Ancestor of the Nether River. The words of the Old Ancestor of the Nether River echoed those of the Yama Heavenly Son; he too expressed that should Sun Wukong ever need assistance, he would hasten to his aid at a moment’s notice.

After expressing his gratitude to the Old Ancestor of the Nether River as well, Sun Wukong left the Netherworld and flew in the direction of Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain. Over a month had passed; by his estimation, Jiang Liu’er and his disciples should already have reached the outskirts of Spiritual Mountain. He hoped he was not too late!

Two hours later, Sun Wukong arrived at Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain. From high above the clouds, he spotted Jiang Liu’er and his disciples climbing towards Spiritual Mountain, almost reaching Thunder Sound Temple.

Disregarding the shock it might cause, Sun Wukong directly summoned a Whirlwind and swooped down, sweeping up Jiang Liu’er and his disciples into its embrace. Rising into the sky, they flew ten thousand li in an instant, finally descending upon the top of a tall mountain.

"Great Saint, it’s you?"

Jiang Liu’er and the others had been dizzied by the Whirlwind, but after shaking their heads to recover, they recognized Sun Wukong’s face and their eyes widened in surprise.

"Of course, it’s me, old Sun! If old Sun had arrived even a little later, you would have already ascended Spiritual Mountain and entered the Great Thunder Sound Temple!"

Sun Wukong rolled his eyes, "By then, as you complete your quest for the scriptures and Heavenly Dao bestows Merit and Destiny upon you, I fear you would not have yet walked out of Spiritual Mountain before Tathagata and the others took it away!"

"So, Great Saint, are you here to tell us how to resist the Buddhist Sect’s attempt to draw away our Merit and Destiny?"

Zhu Bajie’s eyes lit up. Merit and Destiny were valuable, and Sun Wukong had promised them they could retain some to absorb and refine. Additionally, they had been promised excellent cultivation resources in Flower-Fruit Mountain. Naturally, Zhu Bajie did not want the Buddhist Sect to extract all their Merit and Destiny.

"Great Saint, you mentioned before that you were going to search for the memories of Master’s past life as the Golden Cicada Child. Did you find them?"

Yuan Hong’s eyes shifted as he asked, and at those words, Jiang Liu’er’s eyes suddenly brightened.

"Yes, I found them. They’re right here!"

As Sun Wukong spoke, he flipped his palm, and a Memory Light Sphere appeared in his hand, belonging to the life when the Golden Cicada Child existed. A strand of essence surrounding the sphere was what Sun Wukong had previously obtained from Jiang Liu’er.

"Go!"

With a flick of his finger, the Memory Light Sphere shot straight toward Jiang Liu’er, burrowing into his forehead.

Jiang Liu’er’s expression instantly turned blank, and he stood there motionless.

"Master, what’s wrong with you?"

Sandy Monk, anxious, moved forward to check but was stopped by Sun Wukong’s outstretched hand, "Jiang Liu’er is fine; he is now integrating the memories of the Golden Cicada Child’s life. Don’t interrupt him!"

Upon hearing this from Sun Wukong, Sandy Monk relaxed and, along with Yuan Hong and the others, patiently began to wait by the side.

In the Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain, inside the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

"Ancestral Buddha, just now, as Tang Seng and his disciples were about to ascend the mountain, a Whirlwind suddenly appeared and swept them all away!"

The duty clerk was reporting to the Tathagata Buddha the incident that occurred at the foot of Spiritual Mountain.

"Swept away by a demonic whirlwind?"

The brow of the Tathagata Buddha furrowed as he tried to calculate the situation, but he couldn’t discern anything, "A Half-Step Saint or someone more powerful must have intervened!"

During the third immeasurable calamity, the Heavenly Dao Laws of the Three Realms were constantly evolving. Although they had gradually stabilized, and the abilities of the Heavenly Dao Saints had recovered somewhat, there was one aspect they couldn’t calculate—if a Half-Step Saint or a more powerful being had established a connection with the Heavenly Dao, they wouldn’t be able to foresee any matters connected to them or the people they were in contact with.

"A Half-Step Saint or someone more powerful? Who could it be? To dare abduct someone right under the foot of Spiritual Mountain, that’s far too audacious!"

A flash of anger crossed the face of Ran Deng Buddha, and suddenly he looked up, as if he had thought of something, "Could it be that demon monkey, Sun Wukong?"

"That must be it!"

A cold light flashed in the eyes of the Tathagata Buddha, "Apart from that Sun Wukong, I can’t think of anyone else who would dare to snatch someone from under my Spiritual Mountain! But what exactly does he want to do?"

"The Journey to the West to Seek Scriptures is only one step away from completion. Without meeting with the Ancestral Buddha to obtain the True Scripture and returning to the Central Plains to disseminate it amongst the officials and people of Great Tang, the merit would not be considered complete. That demon monkey must know this! To abduct Tang Seng and the others at such a time, could it be that he has something to explain to that Yuan Hong?"

Ran Deng Buddha speculated, his complexion turning dark, "If that’s the case, then we’re in trouble! That demon monkey has long been in cahoots with Yuan Hong. If the others have also been bewitched by him, then..."

Ever since Sun Wukong disrupted the situation with the true and false Monkey Kings, Yuan Hong had become a renowned figure in the Buddhist Sect, becoming the bane of the strong practitioners of the sect. Realizing this, Sun Wukong straightforwardly kept in direct contact with Yuan Hong each time, drawing all attention to Yuan Hong. Until now, all the experts of the Buddhist Sect believed that only Yuan Hong was Sun Wukong’s man, while Jiang Liu’er and the others were still under control.

However, Sun Wukong’s abductive action today had them panicked. The Eighty-One Tribulation was nearly complete, and merely reaching Spiritual Mountain to obtain the True Scripture and spreading it in the Central Plains would have gained them recognition from the Heavenly Dao and bestowed them with Merit and Destiny. What exactly was Sun Wukong’s intention by throwing a spanner in the works at this moment?

Was he planning to cause chaos and snatch the victory at the last moment?

"Ancestral Buddha, this is Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain, the holy land of our Buddhist Sect. We cannot allow that demon monkey to run amok here. I implore the Buddha to take immediate action to punish that demon monkey and rescue Tang Seng and the others, lest our Buddhist Sect’s millennium mission be delayed!"

Maitreya Buddha, seated at the foremost on the right, beseeched the Tathagata Buddha with a bow.

"Be at ease and not anxious! I have my own plans for this matter. You need not worry, for Tang Seng and his disciples will return of their own accord soon enough!"

Sun Wukong also desired the Merit and Destiny bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, hoping to use it to rebuild the Demon Clan’s Heavenly Court. This was no secret in the Three Realms, or else he wouldn’t have expended so much effort to move the entire Flower-Fruit Mountain to the Northern Continent of Cattle-grazing and then causing it to float in the air.

The Journey to the West was one step away, and the Heavenly Dao hadn’t yet bestowed Merit and Destiny. Whatever Sun Wukong was doing now seemed futile to the Tathagata Buddha. As long as he had Jiang Liu’er and his disciples in his hands, he could extract the Merit and Destiny from them before Sun Wukong, taking the lead!

Without the Merit and Destiny, even if Sun Wukong took Jiang Liu’er and the others, what use would that be?

"Looking at the Tathagata Buddha, it seems he has a card up his sleeve, as if he had already anticipated this situation and prepared accordingly!"

Ran Deng Buddha glanced at the Tathagata Buddha, pondered for a moment, and was reassured.