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Chapter 214 Did this stick really pierce the sky?
The sunshine on Flower Fruit Mountain is always warm and gentle. Several newly hatched monkeys, wearing crooked golden crowns and tattered golden armor, grinned and imitated him. The most lively one jumped onto a rock, hands on his hips, and shouted in a high-pitched voice...

"I, Old Sun, can somersault over... eighteen li! This stick weighs one hundred and eighty jin!"

What he was waving in his hand was nothing more than a sharpened tree branch.

Several older apes nearby shook their heads in disapproval. One gray-furred ape stepped forward and gently patted the little monkey's head.
"Little monkey, what nonsense are you spouting? Back in the day, our Great King could somersault 108,000 li! That Ruyi Jingu Bang weighed 13,500 jin! So what if the Queen Mother of the West's Peach Garden, the Jade Emperor's Lingxiao Palace, or 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals surrounded the mountain? Our Great King, with just one Ruyi Jingu Bang, turned the world upside down. That's what you call mighty! He's the number one demon in history!"

"Really? Is the King really that powerful?" The little monkey blinked, full of doubt. "But we've never seen him before! The King is in the cave right now, and he doesn't look... that fierce, does he?"

"You scoundrel!" The old ape feigned anger, making a move to strike. "The Great King only stayed here for the sake of our Flower Fruit Mountain. Does he need to show off his skills to you little monkeys every day?"

"Your Majesty... did your staff really pierce the sky back then?"

A slightly bolder little monkey timidly sidled up to him, its little face tilted up, its eyes full of longing for the great hero.

"Of course it's true! Back in the day, I, Old Sun, wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace. I tore off the glazed tiles of the Lingxiao Palace, smashed the plaque of the South Heavenly Gate, and sent 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals fleeing in terror! This stick of mine stirred up the heavens and chilled the earth, and even made that old Jade Emperor crawl under the table! Within the Three Realms, who doesn't know the name of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!"

The little monkeys swarmed around, jumping and cheering.

"The mighty king!"

"Your Majesty is the greatest in the world!"

"We must be as powerful as the King!"

Looking at the excited little faces before him and hearing their innocent cheers of "Number One in the World," Sun Wukong felt a long-dormant flame in his chest ignite for a moment.

He looked up into the cave and seemed to see Chen Guangrui's resolute figure leaving Huaguo Mountain. At that moment, he almost got up and chased after him.

But when his gaze returned to the jubilant monkeys, he gripped his staff tightly and remained motionless. The safety of Flower Fruit Mountain was these little creatures' only refuge. He couldn't leave.

……

Fragments of memory were torn apart by the cold reality. The stench of blood and burnt smells from Lion Camel Ridge pierced his nostrils, as if instantly transporting him back to Flower Fruit Mountain that day.

"You monkey, how dare you be so insolent!" Guanyin's voice was clear and ethereal, yet carried a weight that pierced through everything.

"The three demons of Lion Camel Ridge have their own karma. The Buddha avoided suspicion, but the demons ran rampant, causing great suffering to all living beings. The monkey still had to share the burden for the World Honored One."

Sun Wukong's golden eyes shot out blinding light. "Share the burden? You want me, Old Sun, to help those three man-eating demons? Bodhisattva, you've got the wrong person! I, Old Sun, haven't gone to raze their demon cave, which is already out of consideration for... Don't even think about asking me to aid and abet evil."

Guanyin Bodhisattva's gaze was calm, piercing through the water curtain and landing on him.
"Huaguo Mountain, a blessed land with a spiritual vein, is hard-won. The frolicking monkeys and vibrant life are even more precious. Wukong, you are so loyal and righteous, can you really bear to see this idyllic paradise repeat the same mistakes and turn into scorched earth?"

threaten! A naked threat!
Sun Wukong's anger flared instantly, and the golden cudgel rang in his ears.

"Hey! If you dare touch a single hair on my Flower Fruit Mountain, I, Old Sun, will storm Mount Ling, overturn your lotus throne, demolish your Luojia Mountain, and turn Mount Ling upside down!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva remained expressionless and silent. Her lotus platform turned slightly, and she drifted away with Muzha, leaving behind only the oppressive aura and the turbulent waves churning within Sun Wukong's heart.

Repeating the same mistakes... reduced to scorched earth...

The tragic scene at Flower Fruit Mountain instantly flashed into my mind:

Broken walls and ruins, charred peach trees, monkey carcasses lying haphazardly, the only remaining old and weak shivering in the cold wind, their eyes empty and desperate... These were the sufferings he endured on Flower Fruit Mountain during the five hundred years he was imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain. Each scene was like a red-hot iron, searing into his heart.

He promised to give them a stable home!
……

Lion Camel Ridge Battlefield
Sun Wukong's heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand. His fiery eyes, like molten gold, swept over Tang Sheng, then over the Yellow Wind Monster, Red Boy, Nezha, and Ao Run, the Dragon King of the West Sea…

Then, his gaze swept past the ferocious, laughing green lion and white elephant spirits in the distance, landing on the unfathomable golden eyes of the golden-winged roc. Behind the three demons were countless demon soldiers roaring and preparing to counterattack, and the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle emanating a terrifying suction force.

The clear, adoring eyes of the monkeys on Flower Fruit Mountain, and the scene of devastation and carnage that once littered Flower Fruit Mountain, intertwined and collided wildly in his mind.

"Your Majesty, can your stick pierce the sky?"

"Your Majesty is the greatest in the world!"

"Huaguo Mountain... scorched earth..." Pain! Torn apart pain!
We must not let the tragedy of Flower Fruit Mountain repeat itself! Absolutely not!
A chilling resolve instantly suppressed all the chaos. Sun Wukong's face was expressionless; the arrogant light that once belonged to the Great Sage Equaling Heaven in his eyes had completely vanished, leaving only a heart-wrenching indifference.

As he swung the stick, he saw the disappointment of some and the jubilation of others.

"Your Majesty, can your stick pierce the sky?"

"Flower and Fruit Mountain, scorched earth..."

"Your Majesty, can your stick pierce the sky?"

"Flower and Fruit Mountain, scorched earth..."

Chaos! Absolute chaos!

One blow!

The golden cudgel, whipped with wind and thunder, crashed down on the allied forces' positions. The Yellow Wind Monster, his eyes bloodshot, roared hoarsely, "You impudent monkey! Have you gone mad?"

On the somersault cloud, Tang Sheng's tears burst forth, her small body trembling in confinement.

Bring down another stick!

Amidst the piercing whistling of the wind-blown club, the Green Lion Spirit's wildly ecstatic roar echoed.
"Hahaha! The Great Sage Equaling Heaven is now at the service of Lion Camel Ridge! Heaven is on our side! My men, charge!"

The white elephant spirit excitedly curled its trunk towards the sky, letting out a deafening roar of triumph. A frenzied cheer, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami, erupted from the demon army: "Great Sage, you are mighty! You will crush the Heavenly Court!"

The clamor of victory was like a poisonous thorn, piercing Sun Wukong's ears.

Pain! Torn apart pain!
He knew perfectly well that he had been coerced! Guanyin's cold words were like the most vicious curse, haunting his soul.

He wanted to resist, to smash this sordid deal to pieces, but the innocent smiles of the little monkeys in the peach grove of Flower Fruit Mountain, who had just learned to wear tattered golden crowns and wield tree branches, were instantly overshadowed by the horrific scene of the scorched ruins, broken walls, and monkey corpses scattered everywhere, a scene of purgatory-like devastation from five hundred years ago.

We must not let the tragedy of Flower Fruit Mountain repeat itself! Absolutely not!
Another blow was delivered, accompanied by screams of agony from the Allied soldiers.

The images in my mind were clashing and tearing each other apart wildly:
"Your Majesty, can your stick pierce the sky?"

The charred peach branches turned to ashes in the wind.

"Your Majesty is the greatest in the world!"

The old ape held its dead cub, its face blank as it stared at the sky.

In this extreme torment and numbness, the last and youngest monkey, struggling to stand on tiptoe, raised a crooked twig high and shouted with all its might:
"Your Majesty! I want to be like you in the future, a great hero who stands tall and upright!"

On the battlefield, the Golden-Winged Roc's claws tore through the True Martial Emperor's black robes, the Green Lion Demon's giant axe forced Nezha to retreat repeatedly, and the White Elephant Demon's long trunk swept up several heavenly soldiers and slammed them to the ground. The demon soldiers overwhelmed the allied forces' resistance like ants. The allied forces retreated faster and faster, and an atmosphere of despair permeated the air.

Just then, Sun Wukong, at the center of the chaotic vortex, suddenly raised his head. His knuckles were white as he gripped the golden cudgel, his chest heaved violently, and a suppressed rage and resentment, mixed with the pride and wildness buried deep in his blood, suddenly erupted!

A voice, no longer cold or indifferent, but wild and unyielding, piercing the clouds and shaking the heavens, erupted like a dormant volcano, resounding throughout the entire Lion Camel Ridge battlefield:

"I am, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong!!!"

Before the roar had even faded, the golden figure moved!

No longer hovering, no longer looking down! He transformed into a golden lightning bolt that tore through the sky, so fast that even the True Martial Emperor was taken aback.

The dark iron rod that had just been smashed into its own men now burst forth with an unprecedentedly dazzling golden light, stirring up wind and thunder, carrying boundless ferocity and a resolute rage that broke through all shackles!
The target was no longer the struggling coalition forces.

Instead,

The smug and triumphant Green Lion Demon was directing his demon soldiers in a massacre!
That white elephant spirit with its long, curling trunk and terrifying aura!
And then there was the Golden-Winged Roc, whose golden eyes held a calculating and icy gaze!
Golden light like a meteor, the shadow of the staff like the sky collapsing.

With a single blow, he struck the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge!

(End of this chapter)