Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 21, The Wind Rises at Dusk (Part 8)
However, Ao Tu saw through Wukong's transformation, but instead of pointing it out, he said:

“You little demon, you don’t know that my precious fan has a great history.”

Upon hearing this, Wukong quickly asked:
"Second King, may I ask what the origin of this precious fan is?"

Ao Tu said, "I can't say, I can't say."

Wukong hurriedly poured wine for Ao Tu and said, "Second King, please tell me about it, so that I can broaden my horizons!"

Ao Tu said, "This is my secret, and I cannot tell outsiders."

Wukong massaged Ao Tu's shoulders and said, "Second King, I've always been tight-lipped and promise not to tell anyone. Please tell me!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu pinched Sun Wukong's ear and said, "You promise not to tell anyone?"

Wukong, suppressing his anger, said, "I promise, I promise!"

Ao Tu said, "Pour me some wine."

Wukong hurriedly poured wine for Ao Tu.

Ao Tu took a sip of wine and laughed:
"Alright, alright, seeing that you have some filial piety, I'll tell you! Come closer!"

Wukong was overjoyed and quickly leaned in to listen.

Ao Tu said:
“East of here to the Divine Continent, there is a country called ‘Lingjue Kingdom’. In the country, there is a ‘Silent Sound Peak’, at the foot of the peak is a ‘Blindness Pool’, and beside the pool is a ‘Dumb Stone Cave’. In the cave lives a ‘Six-Concealed True Man’, also known as the ‘Withered Wood Venerable’. This magic treasure of mine was stolen from him. Once you know this, you must never tell anyone, otherwise if he finds out, he will surely come to get me!”

Wukong was overjoyed upon hearing this and wrote down the information. Fearing that Aotu might notice something was amiss, he respectfully served Aotu for a while before leaving.

Upon exiting the cave, Wukong quickly rode a cloud and met Nezha and Li Tianwang, saying:
“I have found out the origin of that demon. You wait here, I will go and ask someone to subdue him.”

Nezha asked, "What is its origin?"

Wukong said, "Needless to say, if it gets too late, Master may be in trouble."

After saying this, he somersaulted and rushed to the Eastern Continent.

In Dongsheng Shenzhou, Taoism is revered while Buddhism is suppressed, resulting in a scarcity of temples and an abundance of monasteries.

Wukong descended from the clouds, transformed into a little Taoist priest, and found the king of a small country, asking, "Your Majesty, this little Taoist priest has come from afar. As the ruler of a country, have you ever heard of a country nearby called Lingjue Kingdom?"

The king replied, "No."

Wukong then soared through the clouds, flying into famous mountains and great rivers, summoning the mountain gods and local deities, and asked:

"Mountain gods and earth gods, have you ever heard of a mountain called Silent Peak?"

The mountain god and the local earth god replied, "Never."

Wukong rode the clouds again, arriving at the confluence of the rivers. He summoned the river gods and asked:
Have you ever heard of the Blindfold Pool?

The river gods replied, "No."

Wukong then summoned the demons in the mountains and asked them:
Have you ever heard of the Silent Stone Cave?

The demons exclaimed, "Never! Never!"

After searching all day without finding a single clue, Wukong was so anxious he was jumping up and down, but there was nothing he could do.

Finally, we found a Taoist temple and asked an old Taoist priest:
"Old Taoist priest, have you ever heard of the Six Obscure Immortal, also known as the Venerable of the Withered Tree?"

The old Taoist priest pondered, "The Six Obscured Immortal? The Venerable of Withered Wood? Young Taoist, what do you want with this person?"

Wukong then recounted the whole story.

The old Taoist priest laughed heartily after hearing this:

"Little Taoist, you've been fooled by that demon! There's no such thing as the Venerable Dry Wood. He's cursing you for being spiritually aware yet imperceptible, silent yet speechless, blind to see, mute yet deaf, with your six senses blocked, like a withered tree!"

Wukong suddenly realized what was happening, and feeling both sorrow and anger, he bowed and said:
"This disciple was too anxious and lost his mind. Thank you for your guidance, venerable Taoist!"

He turned around, leaped onto the Somersault Cloud, and returned to Yellow Wind Ridge.

Seeing this, Nezha asked, "Where are the people you invited?"

Wukong said, "Don't even mention it. I, Old Sun, was tricked by that demon and wasted a whole day. Tomorrow, I'll regroup and explore the Yellow Wind Cave again."

They rested for the night, and that's another story. The next day, Wukong transformed into a flying insect once more and flew into the Yellow Wind Cave.

It was during the Monkey King's three visits to the Yellow Wind Cave that he vowed to save the monks on their pilgrimage.

Upon entering the cave, Wukong carefully explored it.

Seeing that his master and the others were still tied to the wind-stabilizing stakes in the back garden and had not been eaten, Wukong breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that Master, Pigsy, Lingji Bodhisattva, and Water Deity were all tied to stakes, but the Dragon King of the East Sea was missing.

Wukong thought sadly:

"My poor old neighbor, who helped me subdue the demon, has now been eaten by it instead. They must think dragon meat prolongs life, because all the demons in the cave devoured him first, leaving not even bones behind. How pitiful! How pitiful!"

Just then, two little demons passing by talked:

"That old dragon is really demanding. The water has to be freshly drawn, and it has to be spring water; the meat has to be perfectly skinned, without a single hair showing..."

"Stop talking, that's a relative of the Second King, be careful in serving him!"

Upon hearing this, Wukong's heart stirred, and he quickly followed.

With the two little demons by his side, Wukong arrived at a secluded house. Inside, he found it to be a fine dwelling.

The room was decorated with colorful embroidery and inlaid with precious stones. A five-colored, gold-painted table and a jade plate with a thousand flowers were set out. On the table were fine wines and fragrant teas, and on the plates were exotic delicacies.

Sitting in the middle, isn't that the old Dragon King of the East Sea?
Once everyone was alone, Wukong revealed his true form, stepped forward, and grabbed the old Dragon King, saying:

"Old mudfish, I was wondering why I couldn't find you in the back garden. I thought you'd been eaten by that demon, but it turns out you're related to that demon. Rejoice!"

Upon seeing this, Ao Guang quickly said, "Great Sage, spare my life! This little dragon is guilty."

Wukong said:
"Tell me quickly, who is that demon to you? Otherwise, I, Old Sun, will personally test this iron rod with you!"

Ao Guang said, “That demon is my nephew, whose real name is Ao Tu. Because my brother-in-law made a mistake in counting, he violated the heavenly rules and was executed by the human court. My third brother, the Dragon King of the West Sea, Ao Run, saw that he had nowhere to live, so he used his connections to send him to the Western Paradise to be a bell-ringer under the Buddha. I don’t know how he escaped from the Western Paradise and came here to commit evil.”

Upon hearing this, Wukong recalled what Guanyin Bodhisattva had told him before, and said:
"So he's Ao Tu! He's already stopped me twice before. I'll go to the Western Paradise to ask Venerable Ananda for help, and we'll definitely capture this monster!"

After saying this, Wukong transformed into a small insect, flew out of the Yellow Wind Cave, and went straight to the Western Paradise.

After Wukong left, Ao Guang looked around and said:

"Great Sage, Great Sage, are you still there? Little Dragon has important business to attend to!"

After waiting for a long time, there was still no response.

Only then did I dare to confirm that the monkey was really gone.

Ao Guang then called to the little demons in the cave, "Quickly call your second king over!"

Before long, Ao Tu arrived and asked:
"What does my uncle want with me?"

Ao Guang said, "My dear nephew, Sun Wukong just sneaked into the cave and discovered our relationship. He has already gone to the Western Paradise to find Venerable Ananda. You should quickly release Tang Sanzang and escape for your life!"

Ao Tu said, "It's alright, I expected this day to come. Thank you for telling me, Uncle. From now on, I, Ao Tu, will sever all ties with you and we will have no further contact."

Ao Guang knew that Ao Tu did this because he didn't want to implicate him, and advised him:
"My dear nephew, my dear nephew, don't be so stubborn!"

Ao Tu said, "Stop arguing! Li Tianwang and the Third Prince are right outside. Why don't you break down the cave door and escape for your lives?"

Upon hearing this, Ao Guang sighed, broke through the cave entrance, and escaped outside.

Ao Tu chased after him and said loudly:

"Old Long, you disregard family ties and report me! Don't run away, or I'll tear you to pieces!"

As he spoke, he kicked out and struck Ao Guang in the lower back.

Ao Guang coughed up a mouthful of blood, thinking to himself, "This kid is going all out!"

Seeing this, Nezha and Li Tianwang came to help.

Ao Tu retreated back into the cave.

(End of this chapter)