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

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Nine heavens above, the clouds churned.

A golden ray of light rushed from the west and landed steadily beside the Bodhisattva Pilanpo.

The Bodhisattva Pilanpo turned his gaze from the pilgrimage group below to Guanyin.

"How will the World Honored One decide regarding the situation at Mount Ling?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva sighed deeply, her tone filled with undisguised frustration.

"The World Honored One speculated that Sun Wukong's ability to see through the restrictions must be due to the awakening of some kind of innate supernatural power to see through illusions."

"The matter of tightening the reins must be put on hold for now."

The Bodhisattva Vimalamitra was slightly surprised.

"Sun Wukong is unruly and arrogant. If he is not restrained by external forces, it will be even more difficult to control him in the future."

Guanyin Bodhisattva shook her head, her tone becoming exceptionally solemn.

"There are more important things to do right now than tightening the reins."

"What could be more important than controlling Sun Wukong?" Bodhisattva Pilanpo asked, somewhat puzzled.

Guanyin Bodhisattva's expression was solemn.

"The Buddha specifically warned that anything unusual must be suspicious."

"Sun Wukong is known for his vindictive nature. He suffered a loss in secret this time but remained silent, which means he must be harboring a wicked plan."

"If you keep going forward, you will reach the Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Hill."

"The World Honored One suspects that Sun Wukong might use the Wuzhuang Temple as a pretext to secretly sabotage things, drag Zhenyuan Daxian into the mess, and severely harm our Buddhist sect."

After listening, the Bodhisattva Pilanpo nodded thoughtfully.

"The Buddha's concerns are indeed reasonable."

"That monkey has always been fearless; if it really causes a huge disaster, it will be difficult to deal with."

Guanyin looked down at Sun Wukong, who was walking forward, and gave him another instruction.

"Therefore, for the rest of the journey, the two of us must be on high alert and keep a close eye on Sun Wukong."

"We must never let Sun Wukong run amok at Wuzhuang Temple."

The Bodhisattva Vimalamitra responded with palms joined.

"Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will certainly keep a close watch."

The two Bodhisattvas withdrew their Buddha-light and stood quietly in the void, closely watching what was below.

On the ground, the mountains and forests stretch endlessly, and wild grasses grow in abundance.

Sun Wukong, carrying his golden cudgel, strode ahead.

He seemed to be looking around, his eyes constantly scanning between the rocks and ancient trees along the roadside, his expression showing a hint of wariness.

But in reality, his heart had already flown elsewhere.

Counting the days, it has been more than a year since I parted ways with Li Chen at Guanyin Temple.

As agreed upon near the Guanyin Temple, Li Chen would come to find him along the westward route once he emerged from seclusion.

These past few days, Sun Wukong has been moving very slowly, searching along the way for any secret marks left by Li Chen.

Pigsy led the white dragon horse behind, with a nine-toothed rake slung over his shoulder.

Seeing that Sun Wukong would stop and look around after taking two steps, he couldn't help but shout.

"Monkey King, what have you been looking at all along the way?"

"With the three of us protecting our master, and you leading the way, what kind of foolish monster would dare to show its face in this desolate wilderness?"

Sun Wukong turned around and chuckled.

"You idiot, what do you know?"

"This is the territory of Kexiniuhezhou, do you think this is the Great Tang Dynasty in the East?"

"This Xiniu Hezhou is full of demonic energy, and demons and monsters gather together."

"Better safe than sorry. What if some clueless fool suddenly appears from some mountaintop and startles the master?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang, riding on the white dragon horse, gently put his palms together and uttered a Buddhist chant.

"Amitabha Buddha, what Wukong said makes sense, Bajie, don't say anything more."

"The journey to the west is extremely dangerous; it's always good to be cautious."

Pigsy curled his lip.

"Alright, alright, you two, master and disciple, are of one mind. I, Old Pig, will stop talking, okay?"

Pigsy verbally agreed, but secretly he was still having doubts.

He always felt that there was something strange about Monkey King's current appearance, but since Monkey King kept it to himself, he would never say anything more. This was the tacit understanding between him and Monkey King.

The four travelers continued their journey along the winding mountain path for another half a day.

The midday sun was gradually setting in the west, and a gray-brown reclining ox stone stood at the edge of the woodland ahead.

Sun Wukong's gaze fell on a shallow scratch beneath the stone, and his steps suddenly slowed.

The scratches appeared to be marks unintentionally made by the claws of wild beasts, blending into the surrounding weathered patterns.

However, at the end of the scratch, there are three faint indentations, two long and one short, arranged at an extremely hidden angle.

This was the secret code that Li Chen had agreed upon with Sun Wukong, combining symbols from his previous life.

Even if ordinary immortals and Buddhas scanned it with their divine sense millions of times, they would only see it as ordinary wear and tear on rocks, and would never be able to see the mystery within.

Sun Wukong's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm.

He calmly stepped past the stone and continued leading the way.

After walking for another half an hour, dusk fell, and a large expanse of deep red sunset appeared on the horizon.

Tang Sanzang raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and reined in the horse.

"It's getting late, let's rest here for the night. The mountain path is difficult to travel at night, so don't rush."

Sha Wujing put down the load on his shoulder and responded with a simple and honest voice.

"I will follow your instructions, Master. I will go and gather some firewood to start a fire."

Pigsy shoved his nine-toothed rake into the ground and leaned against a rock, groaning in pain.

"I'm exhausted! I've been walking all day, and my stomach is growling."

"Brother Sha, do you have any dry rations in your bag?"

Sha Wujing sighed.

"Second Brother, we finished our dry rations yesterday, and there's only a little bit left in our water pouch."

Pigsy immediately let out a wail, clutching his belly and groaning.

Sun Wukong jumped onto a blue stone, looked around, and laughed and cursed.

"You blockhead, all you know is eating."

"When I passed by the mountain pass ahead just now, I saw a wild fruit grove over there."

"You all rest here while I go and pick some wild fruit to eat."

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang nodded gently.

"Thank you for your hard work, Wukong. The mountain path is dark and gloomy, so don't go too far."

"Don't worry, Master, I'll be right back!"

Sun Wukong responded and leaped into the dark forest.

After entering the forest, Sun Wukong followed the extremely hidden traces along the way and quickly arrived at a lush wild pear tree.

Seven or eight wild pears, green and yellow, hung from the branches of the tree.

Sun Wukong swept his gaze across the room, his eyes landing precisely on the wild pear in the very center.

The fruit appeared ordinary on the surface, but inside it emanated a subtle, almost imperceptible, pure fragrance.

Sun Wukong felt a surge of excitement and leaped up to the treetop in three quick steps.

He reached out and grabbed the wild pear.

Just as I was about to pick them, a familiar voice suddenly rang in my ears.

"Monkey, pull gently."

It was Li Chen's voice.

Sun Wukong could no longer hide his smile and quickly loosened his grip slightly.

As he reached out to pick other wild fruits around him, he responded using telepathy.

"If you hadn't left the pass ten or fifteen days later, you wouldn't have been able to eat a single ginseng fruit!"

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