Journey to the West: Please Call Me the White Bone Demon

In less than half a year, a deafening roar came from Huaguo Mountain, accompanied by golden light falling straight down from the sky and crashing onto the open ground in front of the Water Curtain Cave, raising dust and cracking the rocks.

Sun Wukong held his golden cudgel, his face full of anger, his monkey hair bristling, and golden light surging around him, clearly enraged.

Yun Zhao was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself, "They're back so soon?"

"In the original story, the monkey stayed in the Imperial Stables for some time, but this time he rebelled against Heaven in just half a year. In Heavenly terms, that's only half a day. Could it be that my words 'investigate carefully' had an effect?"

He stepped forward, pretending not to know, and asked, "Brother, why have you returned so soon? What has made you so angry?"

When the monkey saw Yun Zhao come out to greet him, his anger subsided slightly, but he was still resentful. He slammed his golden cudgel on the ground with a loud bang, which made the nearby little demons shrink back.

He jumped to Yun Zhao's side, scratching his ears and cheeks as he cursed, "Brother! I, Old Sun, was almost tricked by that Jade Emperor and all those gods!"

"They invited me to Heaven to be an official, appointing me as the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses, which is just a lowly official in charge of tending horses! The lowest of the low! I, Old Sun, have cultivated to the level of a Primordial Golden Immortal, how can I let them tend my horses and suffer such humiliation?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Zhao understood.

He led the monkey into the cave, ordered the little demon to serve wine, and the two sat facing each other. Only then did Sun Wukong tell the whole story of his journey to heaven.

It turned out that the monkey followed Venus to heaven and kept Yun Zhao's instructions in mind. As soon as he entered the South Heavenly Gate, Venus took him straight to the Lingxiao Palace. He originally wanted to mention his elder brother's matter in front of the Jade Emperor and go to heaven to become an official together.

However, the Jade Emperor sat high on his throne and did not care much about the monkey's attitude. He only asked a few questions before appointing him as the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses and ordering him to take up his post in the Imperial Horse Stable.

At first, the monkey didn't notice anything unusual, thinking to himself, "My brother told me to investigate carefully, so I'll just have to bear with it for now. There will be plenty of opportunities to bring up my brother's matter later. After all, immortals live forever, so there's plenty of time."

Upon arriving at the Imperial Stables, the monkey was delighted to see the magnificent steeds. He noticed that each one was plump and spirited, and even personally inspected them.

Seeing his remarkable abilities and the fact that he was a newly appointed celestial official, the officials in the prison came to offer their congratulations.

The monkey seized the opportunity to ask, "Gentlemen, what is the position of Bi Ma Wen? What rank does he hold?"

When questioned by their superiors, the officials looked apprehensive and finally stammered out the words "unworthy of rank".

The monkey, unaware that "no grade" meant the smallest of things, thought it meant the largest of things, and laughed loudly: "No grade? Good! No grade means limitless and infinite, as long-lived as the heavens, wonderful!"

Seeing his misunderstanding, one of the officials couldn't help but extend his little finger and gesture, saying, "Sir, 'unranked'... is the lowest of the low, the lowest-ranking honorary official, not even as good as a ninth-rank official!"

Upon hearing this, the monkey was struck dumb, his eyes wide with rage. He immediately realized that the Heavenly Court's invitation for him to "become an official" was nothing more than a ploy to trick him into tending horses!

He was hot-tempered to begin with, and in a fit of rage, he shouted, "You damned Jade Emperor! You've gone too far!"

With a flick of his wrist, the golden cudgel grew to the thickness of a bowl, and slammed down on the Imperial Stables. With a deafening roar, the beams and pillars of the stables snapped, and the neighing of the heavenly horses scattered in all directions.

The officials were terrified and knelt down, begging for mercy.

The monkey wouldn't listen. With a flick of its staff, it smashed the cage in the prison, releasing countless celestial horses that transformed into streams of light and scattered throughout the three realms.

He shouted, "I, Old Sun, am not serving you anymore!"

With a somersault, it descended straight down to the South Heavenly Gate and returned to Flower Fruit Mountain.

After hearing this, Yun Zhao thought to himself, "As expected, my advice worked. I never thought that the original fifteen years of horse raising would be shortened to just six months."

So he patted the monkey on the shoulder and comforted him, saying, "Brother, those gods in the Heavenly Court are high and mighty, thinking themselves the orthodox ones. They look down on us demons as nothing more than wild grass. Asking you to be the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses is just a joke."

What are the benefits of becoming an official in Heaven?

"Being bound by the heavenly rules all day long, and constantly incurring punishment, is not as good as being carefree and unrestrained in this Flower Fruit Mountain, becoming the Great Sage! Anyway, those gods all regard us as wild demons, so why should we cater to them? We can just do whatever we want."

These words were exactly what the monkey wanted to hear. He already hated being restrained, and upon hearing his elder brother's words, his blood boiled and his eyes lit up: "Brother is right! Well said!"

"Why should I, Old Sun, bother tending their horses? Why should they bestow official titles upon me?"

Having said that, he leaped out of the cave and shouted, "My children! Quickly fetch some red silk! I, Old Sun, want to make a great banner with the four characters 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven' written on it, and raise it high! Let the Three Realms know my name!"

Upon hearing this, the little demons cheered in unison and went off to carry out their orders.

Before long, a large red banner was completed, more than ten feet long and several feet wide, with four golden characters "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" written on it, the calligraphy powerful and vigorous, and spiritual energy faintly visible.

The monkey himself took the baton and erected the flag at the highest point of Flower Fruit Mountain. The flag fluttered in the wind!

Seeing this, Yun Zhao also became interested.

Since we can't change the monkey's fate, we might as well play along and cause some trouble.

At least, it makes the monkey's antics in Heaven even more impressive!

He smiled slightly and ordered the little demon, "Go, fetch white silk and spirit satin, make a large banner, write the four characters 'Great Sage of White Bones' on it, and raise it alongside the banner of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!"

The little demons were overjoyed. Another banner of the Great Sage of White Bones was ready. It was white with gray and black borders. The four characters were personally carved by Yun Zhao. It exuded a faint death aura and flowed with laws. The banner fluttered without wind, and the gray and black light shot straight into the sky, complementing the red banner. One red and one white, two pillars of light pierced through the heavens and earth, with astonishing power!

No sooner had the monkey rebelled than a celestial official urgently reported: "Your Majesty! The demon king Sun Wukong, dissatisfied with his position as the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses, has smashed up the Imperial Stables, released the celestial horses, and rebelled against Heaven!"

"Now, a demon king in Flower Fruit Mountain calls himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, raising a great banner, while another white-robed demon king calls himself the Great Sage of White Bones, standing alongside him!"

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor feigned fury and said, "You audacious monkey! How dare you be so disobedient, letting the celestial horse escape! Your evil is beyond measure! And you dare call yourself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, showing no respect for me! Who dares to go and annihilate this fiend?"

Seeing that no one responded, Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, stepped forward and said, "Your subject Li Jing requests permission to lead my son Nezha to annihilate the Demon King!"

Although he was not strong enough, his son Nezha was highly skilled and had many magical treasures. Ordinary demons would not be his match, and he felt that he had another opportunity to make a name for himself.

Li Jing's words secretly drew contempt from the immortals.

Everyone knows that he and Nezha are only superficially compatible. If it weren't for the Linglong Pagoda, he would have been chopped into mincemeat by Nezha long ago. Now, he not only wants to go, but he also brings Nezha along. He really has no shame.

The Jade Emperor, feigning great delight, declared: "Granted! Li Jing is appointed Grand Marshal for Subduing Demons, and Nezha is appointed Great God of the Three Altars and Seas. Gather 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals to descend to the mortal realm and vanquish the demons!"

Upon hearing this, Nezha frowned, feeling extremely unwilling.

Although he was warlike, he was most annoyed by Li Jing using his name to descend to the mortal realm to exorcise demons.

Every time the Great Celestial Venerable issued a decree, he would use it to blackmail him. If he was even slightly displeased, he would be taken into the pagoda and refined.

Even though he was used to it, he still felt nauseous when he heard Li Jing's hypocritical voice.

Li Jing then appointed the Giant Spirit God, Fish Belly General, and Yaksha General as vanguards, leading heavenly soldiers and generals with banners waving and a murderous aura, straight down from the South Heavenly Gate to the Eastern Continent of Victory, heading towards Flower Fruit Mountain.