I start by accepting Sun Wukong as my disciple and reshape the Journey to the West

Chapter 196 What a wonderful master-disciple drama!
Sun Wukong's words sounded like a typical conversation between master and disciple: "Master, in your opinion, should I wear these clothes or not?"

Tang Sanzang met Sun Wukong's gaze without fear. After a long while, he lowered his eyes and said, "The six thieves are nowhere to be found. My mind is made up. Just follow your heart. Why ask me? And why bother asking me?"

Without hesitation, Wukong put on the clothes, then picked up the hat, examined it carefully for a while, and then put it on.

"Master, do you think this is suitable?"

When Tang Sanzang saw Wukong actually put on the clothes, his eyes immediately lit up. He then put his hands together, touched his lips slightly, and released his clasped hands.

"You monkey head look quite human in this. Let me tell you, this clothing is the work of Buddha. If you dare to disobey me in the future, I only need to chant a spell and you will have a splitting headache."

Tang Sanzang had a smug look on his face. Wukong said, "Master, you're good at scaring people. I, Old Sun, made a great disturbance in the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago. I was struck by lightning and burned by fire, but I was not harmed in the slightest. You think you can suppress me with just a hat? You are underestimating me too much."

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang said, "If you don't believe me, I will chant a spell, and you can see if you can resist it."

"Okay!"

Wukong's smile remained unchanged. At that moment, Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together and recited the mantra to calm his mind. In that instant, Wukong collapsed to the ground, clutching his head with both hands, his face contorted in agony, crying out: "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

Seeing Wukong in this state, Tang Sanzang's face lit up with even greater joy, and he chanted even faster.

Wukong dodged and weaved, banging his head on the ground – a truly tragic sight.

"Master, I know I was wrong. Please stop! I will definitely be obedient from now on!" Wukong began to beg for mercy. This Great Sage Equal to Heaven seemed to be tormented beyond recognition by the headband.

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang put down his hand and rushed over: "Wukong, are you alright!"

Wukong glared angrily and shouted, "Bald monk, how dare you harm me!"

With a furious roar, Wukong's golden cudgel appeared in his hand and slammed down towards Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang's face showed great fear. He immediately chanted the incantation again, and Wukong was sent flying backward with a somersault, his golden cudgel falling to the ground.

"Pain Pain!"

Wukong's screams were incessant as his head repeatedly slammed into the mountainside not far away, creating craters in the air.

"Master, Master, your disciple knows he was wrong and will never do it again! Please stop!"

Wukong begged for mercy again, but this time Tang Sanzang did not stop immediately. Instead, he continued chanting for a while until Wukong fainted. Only then did he stop, slowly walk to Wukong's side, and check his breath.

"It's good that you're not dead. Since you're going to the Western Paradise, you must be sincere. Buddha is merciful, but he won't tolerate a traitor like you who betrays his master and ancestors. Today, I'll teach you a lesson."

As he spoke, Tang Sanzang took out some dry rations from a bag on one side, sat down next to Wukong, and began to eat them by himself.

Guanyin Bodhisattva, watching this scene from mid-air, smiled and said, "This Tang Sanzang is indeed worthy of being the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi. Although he is a mortal, he is quite decisive when he gets ruthless. With this kind of temperament, the journey to the West will be much safer."

Looking at the two below, Huian Xingzhe felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. However, his master was clearly in a good mood, so he didn't dare to question him and immediately chimed in, "It's all thanks to Master's methods that we were able to subdue this unruly monkey."

"There are undercurrents in Buddhism now. Since Sun Wukong was trained by Ye Xuantian, he must be quite capable. Being able to completely subdue him will be of great benefit to us in the future. Let's go."

Guanyin Bodhisattva was heading west; she still had many things to attend to. The merit of her journey required accumulating enough to correspond to the eighty-one tribulations, and she wanted to channel all the merit into Buddhism. The glow in the sky gradually faded, and Tang Sanzang tossed a piece of dry rations into Wukong's arms: "Wukong, how long are you going to keep up this act? The Bodhisattva has already left."

Wukong rolled over like a carp and stood up, taking a bite of the dry rations: "Master, you actually really cooperate? You don't trust this headband at all? It's the work of a Bodhisattva, after all."

“When I recited it the first time, I cursed you several times in the middle, but you didn’t stop. I knew then that the headband was useless to you. As for the second time, I cursed Buddha and Bodhisattva many times.”

Tang Sanzang took a big bite of his dry rations: "The Buddha's methods are really not that great. Luckily, I didn't take it seriously. I still have to rely on you. Don't worry, I'll try not to chant along the way. We, master and disciple, will discuss things together!"

"It seems you're very unwilling, Master!"

"Of course, after all, if this mantra of reassurance really works, you can't betray me along the way, my safety will definitely be the top priority. It's a pity."

"Don't worry, since I have been ordered to protect you on your journey to the west, I will take this journey seriously."

"That's good. If we don't need any more rest, let's get going."

As Tang Sanzang spoke, he mounted his horse and set off. Wukong straightened his clothes and touched the golden headband on his head: "Master is truly a visionary. Even with Master's abilities, he still needs to make every move carefully, which shows that his plans are very grand. Now that I have awakened the true meaning of the Chaos Demon Ape, I should devote myself to cultivation on this journey."

"Wukong!" Tang Sanzang suddenly called out from his white horse.

"Master, did you call me?"

"Where did you relieve yourself just now? Why did it take you so long?"

"I did a somersault quite hard and ended up in the East Sea. Unexpectedly, the Dragon King told me a story about Huang Shigong."

Tang Sanzang: "You recently subdued a tiger and obtained a tiger skin for protection. Now you have gone to the Dragon Palace and been able to calm your mind. You truly have the ability to subdue dragons and tigers. Your master is truly impressed."

“When you relieved yourself, you had the thought of abandoning me. Now that you have changed your mind, you should observe carefully and diligently in the future, and strive to move forward. You must not have any other thoughts, lest you give up halfway.”

"No matter why you wear this outfit, you have finally entered the Buddhist order. Once you enter the Buddhist order, you must not deceive yourself. Now that you have extinguished the six senses and your resolve is firm, you should focus on moving forward and not let human desires arise. Be careful of what you hear and see."

Looking at Tang Sanzang on the white horse, Wukong closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and chanted the scriptures. There was not a trace of the cowardice and timidity he had shown when facing the six senses.

Even Wukong felt at this moment that Tang Sanzang had the air of a true Buddha.

"Wukong has remembered this and will be careful in everything he does from now on."

……

At Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, the sky was ablaze with rosy light. The fortune of the dragon clans from all four seas had been flowing back to this day. Ao Lie himself had already reached the early stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. Suddenly, a gust of wind arose, and Ye Xuantian landed on Eagle's Sorrow Gorge. Looking at the flow of fortune here, he couldn't hide the smile on his lips.

"How can mortals and mortal horses travel 108,000 li? How can they ensure that the pilgrims fall into my trap without any mishap? The move of yesterday has come to pass today. Ao Lie, the pilgrims are about to arrive. When will you leave your seclusion now?"

As Ye Xuantian's voice fell, Ao Lie, who was enveloped in aura of fortune, suddenly opened his eyes.

A dragon's roar echoed from the bottom of the ravine, and a white dragon flew out, eventually transforming into the likeness of Ao Lie: "Disciple Ao Lie greets the Sage!"

(End of this chapter)