I just became the Pirate King, and you're telling me I also time-traveled at the same time.

Chapter 1114 Seven days, one day rest

"Your Majesty." The old monkey approached, first bowing to Sun Wukong, then his gaze fell on Zhu Bajie. He squinted at him for a while before recognizing him, "Marshal Tianpeng? What brings you here?"

"Don't call me Marshal." Pigsy waved his hand, got up from the ground, and brushed the grass off his rear. "Now I'm the mountain king. Got some wine?"

The old monkey smiled, his wrinkles deepening like a dried red date. "Yes. Last year's peach blossom wine from the back mountain is buried in a crevice under the waterfall, chilled, just about to be opened." He turned and waved to the monkeys behind him, who immediately busied themselves, opening the lotus leaf wrappings to reveal translucent steamed glutinous rice cakes and honey-coated roasted sweet potatoes. On the stone plate were piled chunks of peaches, pears, and a purplish-red berry that Pigsy had never seen before. The water poured from the bamboo tube was pale green and steaming coolly.

Pigsy's nostrils twitched a few times, and saliva almost dripped from the corner of his mouth. He reached out and grabbed a piece of glutinous rice cake, stuffing it into his mouth. The cake was soft, sticky, and slightly sweet, with the fragrance of lotus leaves. He chewed it a couple of times and swallowed it, then reached for a second piece.

"Slow down." Chu Yang poured a bowl of pale green water from the bamboo tube and handed it to him. "This water comes from the spring under the peach grove, with a little royal jelly added."

Pigsy took the bowl and gulped down a large mouthful. The icy liquid slid down his throat, sending a shiver down his spine. He put down the bowl, let out a long breath, leaned against a sun-warmed rock, and squinted at the two people in front of him.

Sun Wukong squatted on a large rock, holding a purplish-red berry in his hand, looking it over but not eating it. Chu Yang sat on a low rock, leaning against an old peach tree behind him, his legs stretched out and crossed, a thin old scar on his ankle.

Sunlight filtered through the peach grove's branches, casting dappled patterns of gold on them, while the gentle, steady sound of the waterfall drifted from afar.

"Speak," Sun Wukong said, popping a berry into his mouth, chewing it, and spitting out a small pit. "You came all the way from the west, there must be something you need."

After finishing his third piece of glutinous rice cake and drinking two sips of spring water, Pigsy wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Monkey, you make it sound like I, Old Pig, can't come to see you unless there's something wrong."

"Yes." Sun Wukong jumped down from the rock, walked up to Zhu Bajie, and poked at the bruise on his shoulder that was showing through the tear in his cassock. "But you have injuries. Your left rib is swollen, it's an injury from at least three days ago. The cut on your right hand hasn't healed yet. You have a bruise on your forehead—not from hitting a wall, but from fighting with someone."

Pigsy looked down at his hand. The cut on the tiger's mouth hadn't completely healed yet, and the edges were still faintly red.

"Your eyesight is still so sharp." He muttered to himself, casually tossing the peach pit he had just finished eating into the grass.

"Tell me," Chu Yang said. His voice wasn't loud, but it was steady, each word sounding as if it had been weighed before being uttered. He remained leaning against the tree trunk, not moving, but his deep brown eyes were fixed on Zhu Bajie, waiting quietly.

Pigsy remained silent for a while. He finished drinking the last mouthful of spring water, placed the bowl on the grass, and then sat up straight, supporting himself on his knees with his hands.

"I took over a mountain. Black Wind Cave. It's about 800 li west of Chang'an, over three mountains, near a small river."

"Black Wind Cave?" Sun Wukong frowned. "I remember that place. The mountain isn't very high, the cave entrance faces north, there are many stalactites inside, and it's filled with a heavy yin energy. A black bear spirit used to live there?"

"Yes. The previous king died, and when I took over, there were still thirty-two lesser demons left on the mountain." Pigsy paused, "There were forty-seven on the roster in total. Fifteen are missing."

"Where did it go?" Sun Wukong narrowed his eyes.

"They were taken hostage by the neighboring Copperhead Mountain. More than three months ago, Copperhead Mountain came to collect rent, and Black Wind Cave couldn't pay, so they took people as collateral. Fifteen of them, and they picked the strongest ones." Pigsy gestured with his hands to indicate the location of Copperhead Mountain. "West of Copperhead Mountain, you have to cross three mountains, cross a river, and then cross another mountain. The mountain is a copper mountain, with a flat top and vertical cliffs on all four sides. The second-in-command is called Eagle Soaring, and he's an eagle demon with over five hundred years of cultivation."

He picked up the rake from beside him and turned the handle over to show Sun Wukong and Chu Yang. There were six clear scratches on the handle, of varying depths.

"It was caused by Eagle's claws," said Pigsy. "I just went there to demand his return."

"Didn't you get it back?" Sun Wukong asked.

"No. We fought, but I lost." Pigsy put his rake aside, wiped his face, and lowered his voice. "I went into the mountain gate and exchanged a few blows with Eagle Yang. At first, I could hold my own for a bit, but then he got serious and sent me flying with a single spear thrust. My ribs were broken from the spear shaft. My tiger's mouth was torn open when I caught that spear."

He recounted how the fox spirit had blocked his way. He told him about the weasel spirit's boast of "paying back the principal and interest within three years." He told him about the old rat spirit leaning on his wooden stick and shouting, "We refuse to accept this!"

When Zhu Bajie mentioned that the fox demon's leather armor kept slipping down and falling to the ground, revealing her thin, gray back, his voice paused.

He lowered his head, looking at his hands resting on his knees, his fingers clenching slightly.

"I never expected them to come here," he said. "When I came out of the cave, I didn't tell anyone where I was going. It wasn't until the next day that someone noticed I was gone, and then they went to inquire and found out I had gone to Copper Head Mountain. Those little demons, the strongest of them couldn't even beat a fox—like that little fox demon blocking my way. It had just learned to transform and couldn't even retract its tail yet, but they came running. They ran for a whole day and night."

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After he finished speaking, he released his grip, his palms were covered in sweat.

The cave was quiet for a while. Only the sound of the waterfall continued, just as it had been before.

Sun Wukong squatted on the rock, his playful expression gone. His claws rested on his knees, his nails tapping lightly against his kneecaps.

Chu Yang sat up straight. He had been leaning against the tree trunk, but now he leaned forward slightly, his hands crossed on his knees, his gaze fixed on Zhu Bajie's nose.

"What did Yingyang say after he beat you to a pulp?"

"He said get lost. Don't let me see you again." Pigsy raised his head. "But I said something as I left."

I told them I'd keep those fifteen people for myself, and I'd pick them up next time I come.

"How do you plan to receive it?" Chu Yang asked.

"I'd like to ask you two to go," Pigsy said, his gaze shifting between Chu Yang and Monkey King. "The monkey's abilities are beyond question; one of his golden cudgels could smash Copper Head Mountain from its summit to its base. You—" He looked at Chu Yang, "You just fought the monkey to a draw, so you're even more capable. Help me go and rescue those fifteen. Black Wind Cave owes Copper Head Mountain rent, and that should be paid off within three years. Then this matter will be settled."

Sun Wukong jumped down from the rock, walked to Zhu Bajie's side, and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll go with you."

We'll leave tomorrow.

Just as Pigsy was about to grin, Chu Yang spoke up.

"no."

Pigsy and Monkey King turned to look at him at the same time.

Chu Yang stood up from the low stone, walked to the edge of the scripture-drying platform, faced west, and gazed into the distance for a while. The setting sun cast a long shadow of his, spreading it diagonally across the grass, its edge outlined in gold by the sun's afterglow.

He turned around.

"I'm not going," he said. "At least not now."

Pigsy was stunned. "Not going? You—"

"Not only am I not going, but the monkey can't go either," Chu Yang said. "You go back alone."

"Are you crazy?" Pigsy jumped up from the ground, his legs so numb from squatting that he almost stumbled. "What would I go back for? To get shot again? I only survived last time because Eagle Yang thought I wasn't worth him continuing to attack me. Do you think he'll show mercy next time?"

"I didn't tell you to go now," Chu Yang said.

Pigsy stared at Chu Yang with his mouth agape for a few moments, then turned to look at Monkey King. Monkey King scratched the back of his head and tilted his head at Chu Yang: "Explain yourself clearly, don't beat around the bush."

Chu Yang walked back to Zhu Bajie and pointed to the six scratches on the rake. "Eagle Yang has five hundred years of cultivation, while you have over a thousand years of foundation. But you didn't use it when you fought him."

Pigsy's face wrinkled slightly. "Why didn't it work? I—"

'

"You're using brute force," Chu Yang interrupted him. "You're carrying a 5,000-pound rake, using only the strength of your arms. Ying Yang's gun is lighter than yours, but when you took his second shot, your hand broke. Why? Because your strength was scattered. You only used less than 20% of the strength needed to lift the 5,000-pound rake."

Pigsy opened his mouth as if to refute, but Chu Yang squatted down, ran his finger along the handle of the rake, and pointed to the deepest scratch.

"This mark was left when the tip of his spear slid down the rake handle. Your hand couldn't keep up with his speed. Your force traveled from your feet to your waist, to your shoulders, to your arms, but it stopped halfway at your shoulder. That's why you couldn't block it."

Pigsy looked down at the scratch. The moonlight had dimmed, and the stars in the night sky above Flower Fruit Mountain were shining one by one, the handle of the rake gleaming with a faint, cold light.

"you mean----"

"I can help you reconnect those broken forces within a month." Chu Yang stood up, dusting off his hands. "When you were a marshal in Heaven, someone taught you how to exert force. But your body is no longer that of Marshal Tianpeng. You were reincarnated as a pig, so the structure of your bones has changed, the direction of your muscles has changed, and even your center of gravity is lower. What you knew before is useless in your new body. You'll have to learn it all over again."

Pigsy was silent for a while, then looked down at his round belly and then at the six scratches on his rake.

"A month?" he said. "Just a month?"

"That's enough for you to beat Ying Yang," Chu Yang said. "You were capable of beating him anyway. You just didn't know how to use your body."

Sun Wukong slapped his thigh. "I think it's feasible. Pigsy, I was burned in Laozi's furnace for forty-nine days back then. When I came out, I was completely gone, and I had to start all over again from a single monkey hair. Can you be harder than my rock?"

"That's a stone—" Pigsy muttered.

"You're a pig," Sun Wukong retorted quickly.

Pigsy's snout twitched, and two heavy breaths escaped from his nostrils. He looked into Chu Yang's eyes, those deep brown eyes that stared at him quietly, without pity or impatience, simply reflecting his image like a mirror.

"You'll go back alone in a month," Chu Yang said. "You signed a three-year agreement with Copperhead Mountain. Your little demons are waiting for you. If it's me and the monkey who bring them back, will those fifteen little demons still recognize the Black Wind Cave's king? Or will they think that the king brought in outside help to bring them back?"

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Pigsy's ears twitched.

"You just said that the fox spirit was blocking your way," Chu Yang continued, "and the weasel spirit said it would be paid back in three years. The old mouse said they wouldn't accept that." Why would they do these things for you?

Pigsy didn't say anything.

"Because you are their king," Chu Yang said. "Their mountain king. These forty-seven monsters recognize you."

A mountain breeze blew in from the waterfall, carrying a damp mist and the faint fragrance of peach blossoms. Pigsy stood still, his gaze fixed on the patch of grass in front of him, illuminated by the moonlight. Dewdrops clung to the blades of grass, shimmering with tiny silver light in the moonlight.

"You want me to do it myself?"

"Go ahead and hit me," Chu Yang said.

Pigsy raised his head and looked at Monkey King. Monkey King squatted on the rock, his hands supporting his cheeks, looking at him without saying a word, but there was a light in his eyes that Pigsy was very familiar with—the kind of light that Monkey King had only shown when he saw Pigsy shouldering his rake, ready to fight to the death, back by the Flowing Sand River, at the foot of the Flaming Mountain, and outside the gates of Lion Camel Ridge.

He then turned to look at Chu Yang.

Chu Yang stood in the moonlight, his silver-white hair now black, and his right eye completely dark brown. His tattered coarse cloth trousers swayed slightly in the night breeze, and the pink scar on his right arm was faintly visible in the moonlight.

"A month," said Pigsy, "and what if I can't make it?"

Chu Yang looked at him calmly. "You made it through. You walked from the Flowing Sand River to Mount Ling, a journey of over ten years, and you made it through."

.

Pigsy remained silent for a long time. He picked up the rake from the ground, hoisted it onto his shoulder, the teeth facing upwards, their sharp points gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

"How do I practice?"

Chu Yang looked around, his gaze sweeping over the Sutra Drying Platform, the waterfall, and the peach grove, finally settling on a flat rocky ground at the foot of the mountain. The ground was a single piece of granite, smoothed by the constant erosion of the waterfall, and was about three or four zhang square.

"Starting tomorrow," Chu Yang said, "we'll finish work at nightfall, and have one day off every seven days."

"What about food?"

"Enough is enough." Sun Wukong jumped down from the rock. "I also had the old monkey open the 300-year-old monkey wine in the cellar."

After a day of training, take a sip; it will improve your blood circulation.

Pigsy's face lit up for a moment, but then it fell back down.

"Tell me how to train first. Don't do it like that—the kind where you crawl on the ground."

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