Journey to the West: The gods and Buddhas panicked when the monkey was trapped inside him.

Tang Sanzang's voice became much gentler.

"Since you are truly sincere, then this humble monk will accept you as my disciple today."

Tianpeng was overjoyed and immediately bowed in reverence.

"Thank you so much, Master! Thank you so much, Master!"

"Disciple greets Master!"

Tang Sanzang looked at Tianpeng, whose face was beaming with joy, and pondered for a moment.

"Now that you have entered my Buddhist order, you should have a Dharma name, right?"

"Did Guanyin Bodhisattva ever give you a Dharma name?"

Tianpeng stood up and answered respectfully.

"Reporting to my master, I was enlightened by Guanyin Bodhisattva, who touched my head and gave me the precepts. The Bodhisattva bestowed upon me a Dharma name, 'Wuneng'."

"Wuneng..." Tang Sanzang murmured to himself and nodded.

"The Bodhisattva bestowed this name upon you in the hope that you will devote yourself to Buddhism, sever worldly desires, and attain enlightenment. The meaning is very auspicious."

Tang Sanzang continued.

"Since Guanyin Bodhisattva has already given you the Dharma name Wuneng, this humble monk will not change it."

"Since you are new to the Buddhist order, you still have many worldly flaws. I will give you a Dharma name."

Tang Sanzang pondered for a moment, looking at Tianpeng's robust physique.

"Monks must abstain from the five pungent vegetables and three forbidden foods. In the past, you inevitably became tainted by meat in the secular world, and your behavior was less restrained."

"From this day forward, I, this humble monk, will bestow upon you the Dharma name Bajie (八戒)."

"I hope that you will be able to observe a vegetarian diet and keep these eight precepts in the future, and always remind yourself that you are a person practicing spiritual cultivation."

Pigsy clasped his hands together and bowed repeatedly in gratitude.

"This disciple thanks Master for bestowing upon me this name. From now on, I will be called Pigsy."

Tang Sanzang nodded with a smile, but secretly began to make plans in his heart.

Sun Wukong under the Five Elements Mountain, the White Dragon in Eagle Sorrow Stream, and now Pigsy from Gao Village.

This is already the third disciple secretly arranged by the Bodhisattva.

Tang Sanzang remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he knew perfectly well whether there was more to come.

……

Meanwhile, high in the sky.

Guanyin Bodhisattva and Pilanpo Bodhisattva were hidden in the clouds, watching the movements below with great tension.

Upon seeing Zhu Bajie obediently kowtow and formally become his disciple without uttering a single nonsensical word, the two Bodhisattvas breathed a sigh of relief.

"Amitabha, we've finally accepted Tianpeng."

Guanyin Bodhisattva spoke softly, her expression softening considerably.

The Bodhisattva Vimalamitra chimed in from the side.

"Thankfully, nothing else went wrong. This Tianpeng is much less troublesome than that monkey."

Guanyin Bodhisattva nodded slightly, her expression softening somewhat.

"As long as Tang Sanzang doesn't suspect anything, the framework of the pilgrimage team is basically complete."

……

Inside the Gao family compound.

Seeing that the master-disciple relationship had been established, Grandpa Gao quickly stepped forward, his face beaming with smiles.

"Congratulations, Holy Monk, on the arrival of your worthy disciple! Congratulations, Elder Pigsy, on finding your wise teacher!"

"I have already ordered someone to prepare the finest vegetarian meal. Please, Holy Monk and the two elders, have breakfast here before you continue your journey."

Tang Sanzang nodded.

"Thank you for your trouble, esteemed benefactor."

After a sumptuous vegetarian meal, the three masters and disciples bid farewell to the Gao family and resumed their journey westward.

Tang Sanzang rode the white dragon horse, walking at the very front.

Sun Wu followed behind the horse, while the heavy luggage naturally fell on the shoulders of the newly arrived Zhu Bajie.

Pigsy carried the load, swaying with every step, grunting and groaning, clearly not satisfied with the job.

He moved closer to Sun Wukong, nudged him with his elbow, and asked in a low voice.

"Brother Sun," Pigsy asked in a low voice.

"You've spent a lot of time with this monk, so tell me, what's his temperament like? What's his style of doing things?"

Upon hearing this title, Sun Wukong stopped in his tracks.

He turned his head and stared at Zhu Bajie, his arms crossed, watching him with a leisurely air.

"Bajie," Sun Wukong deliberately drawled out the sound.

Pigsy, carrying his load, stopped and looked on with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong? Did I, Old Pig, say something wrong?"

Sun Wukong stretched out a finger and tapped Zhu Bajie's shoulder.

"Before you became my apprentice, we were old acquaintances. You called me Brother Sun, and I didn't hold it against you."

Sun Wukong said with a smile, his tone slightly mischievous.

"But you've already become a disciple of the master. In terms of seniority, I entered the sect first, and you entered later."

"According to the rules of this sect, what should you call me now?"

Pigsy's expression suddenly froze.

His large ears drooped down, and his face instantly fell.

Looking at Sun Wukong's smug expression, he felt a tickle in his teeth.

Back in the Heavenly Court, when this monkey saw him, he had to respectfully call him "Marshal Tianpeng".

It hadn't been long before he was the one riding on my head.

It's true what they say: a tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs, and a phoenix in distress is no better than a chicken.

Pigsy grumbled inwardly for a long time, but the situation was beyond his control; when you're under someone's roof, you have no choice but to bow your head.

He called out in a muffled voice, very reluctantly.

"Monkey King".

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong was overjoyed and burst into laughter, laughing so hard he bent over backward.

"Hahaha! Hey! Junior Brother Pigsy!"

"I, Old Sun, have been waiting for this day for hundreds of years!"

He patted Pigsy on the shoulder heavily, looking very earnest.

"Junior brother, from now on, follow me, and I'll protect you!"

Pigsy was so struck that he stumbled and almost dropped the load he was carrying.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance and muttered something.

"Don't get too cocky."

"We're just going through the motions on this journey to the West, this is all we're doing."

"After the journey to the West is over and our mission is accomplished, we'll go our separate ways, but you'll still be my brother."

Sun Wukong chuckled.

"That's not necessarily true. You're my junior brother for life, once you're one."

"Even if we succeed in obtaining the scriptures, we'll still each follow our own path."

"You call me 'little brother,' and I'll call you 'junior brother.' It won't interfere with either of us."

The two exchanged a few playful banter, which eased the tension considerably.

Sun Wukong suppressed his smile and returned to the main topic.

"You just asked about Master's temper, so I, Old Sun, will tell you the truth." Sun Wukong looked at Tang Sanzang's thin back in front of him.

"Our master is not the kind of foolish monk who only knows how to chant scriptures all day long."

"You saw it at Grandpa Gao's house; he was very fair in his dealings, clear about right and wrong, and never ambiguous."

He knows perfectly well who is right and who is wrong, and he will never take sides or be afraid of offending anyone. Even if it is Guanyin Bodhisattva's arrangement, he has his own opinion.

Sun Wukong paused, lowered his voice, and spoke with unprecedented solemnity.

Sun Wukong slowed his pace, and his tone became very serious.

"Never break any precepts in front of this monk again."

"Especially avoid mentioning things like breaking up the group, quitting, or not going on the pilgrimage."

Pigsy frowned, somewhat puzzled.

"Can't I, Old Pig, even grumble a few words?"

"It's a long and arduous journey to the Western Paradise, so it's understandable to grumble a bit when you're tired, isn't it?"

Sun Wukong sneered.

"Complain? You can try it."

"If you actually dared to say something like 'I don't want to do this anymore,' that monk would definitely take it seriously."

"They might even kick you out on the spot, without the slightest hesitation."

"He was a very stubborn man at heart. He would rather go to the Western Paradise alone than force others to follow him."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy's face showed surprise, and he even gasped.

"Is that so?"

"It seems this master is quite a formidable character, completely different from what I, Old Pig, expected."

"Then I, Old Pig, really need to be more careful with my words and actions in the future, lest I accidentally anger him and lose the ticket to earn merit on my journey to the West."

Seeing that he had taken his words to heart, Sun Wukong adopted a more relaxed tone and offered him a few words of comfort.

"Just pay attention to these bottom lines, you don't need to be on edge all the time."

"Actually, the master is very easy to get along with. As long as you follow the rules and do your job well, he will never be harsh on you."

"After a while, once you get to know his temperament, you'll naturally understand that he's usually quite gentle."

Pigsy lifted the load on his shoulder, strode forward, and felt much more relaxed.

"Alright, I've got it. Thanks for the tip, Brother Monkey."

"In the future, we will still need to rely on Brother Monkey for help in this pilgrimage team. Let's work together as brothers."

Sun Wukong felt comfortable listening to this and waved his hand.

"We're family, no need to be so polite."

Just then, Tang Sanzang, who was walking in front, reined in his horse, turned around, and saw his two disciples whispering behind him, having fallen quite a distance behind.

He raised his voice and shouted.

"Wukong, Bajie! What are you doing behind us? Hurry up and catch up!"

Upon hearing the shout, Sun Wukong immediately responded loudly.

"Master is here!"

He turned to look at Pigsy and raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go, Junior Brother Pigsy."

Pigsy sighed helplessly and strode away.

"Here it comes!"

The two quickened their pace, keeping up closely with the white dragon horse.