Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 165 A Perilous Crossing of the Tongtian River (Part 5)
When Wukong revealed his true form, the villagers were terrified and scrambled to their feet, shouting, "Monster! Monster!"

A villager standing next to Chen Qing said, "Master, it's him, and there are two even more frightening monks!"

Chen Qing was also startled, but quickly recovered.

He had personally seen the King of Pingyou in the river, and he was far more imposing than this skinny monkey. Recalling what the monkey had just said, Chen Qing scoffed:
"Fellow villagers, don't be afraid! This monster monk is so thin, how much power could he have? Let's all drive him away!"

As the head of the manor, Chen Qing held considerable prestige. Upon hearing this, the villagers examined Wukong closely and, seeing that he was indeed thin and not particularly fierce, their fear subsided considerably.

Some of the bolder ones picked up hoes and shovels from the side, pulled out pieces of wood from the fence, picked up bricks and stones, and surrounded Wukong, attacking him.

"Fight the monster! Fight the monster!"

Wukong laughed and didn't dodge or evade.

Tang Sanzang, seeing this scene from inside the house, exclaimed, "Bajie, look! Something terrible has happened!"

Chen Si, standing to the side, said worriedly, "Oh dear, if this continues, Elder Sun might get beaten to death! I'd better go out and stop them!"

Tang Sanzang said, "No, benefactor. I'm afraid that my disciple might get angry if they beat him too hard, and he might accidentally kill them!"

Chen Si said, "Huh?"

Bajie said, “Benefactor, you don’t know my senior brother’s supernatural powers. He has the strength to lift mountains and fill seas, and the skill to chase the moon and the sun. If those people provoke him, he can just push them away and they will scatter and fly to the Western Paradise!”

Chen Si said, "This...this...Elder Sun has such great supernatural powers!"

Bajie said, "That's right! Master, I'd better go out and take a look."

Tang Sanzang said, "Go quickly! Go quickly!"

Pigsy hurriedly went out.

Outside, Sun Wukong was indeed annoyed by the villagers' beatings.

Although not a single hair on its body was lost, it wasn't easy to be constantly hit, was it?
Wukong shook his body, sending all those surrounding him flying.

The hoes, shovels, sticks, and clubs were all shaken and split in two. The villagers were also shaken so badly that they fell to the ground groaning in pain.

Pigsy hurriedly said, "Brother, you can't kill!"

Wukong laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm holding back! Otherwise, a shake of my body would have sent them flying to the South Heavenly Gate!"

The villagers were all horrified when they heard this.

Wukong bared his fangs, and his body grew ten zhang in the wind, with each foot alone being one or two zhang long. When he stomped on the ground, the earth shook. He held an iron rod in his hand, which he planted in the ground like a pillar supporting the sky.

Wukong said, "I kindly helped you foolish and stupid villagers to get rid of the demon, and you come to attack me instead! I think you're asking for a beating!"

Wukong pretended to fight.

The villagers turned pale with fright.

Tang Sanzang quickly came out and said:

"Wukong, don't fight. These villagers are just ordinary people and don't recognize your abilities. They've mistaken you for a monster. Don't blame them for this."

Upon hearing this, all the villagers knelt on the ground and said:
"Grandpa Immortal! We were mistaken, we misjudged you, we didn't recognize the true god. Please, have mercy on us!"

Wukong said, "Since that's the case, I'll spare your lives. Each of you come here and receive an iron rod as a form of punishment!"

The villagers cried out, "Grandpa! This iron rod of yours, let alone taking it, even if you just put it on the ground and roll it, we'll still die. Please, spare our lives!"

Tang Sanzang said, "Wukong, for my sake, let's spare them this time!"

Wukong said, "I'll spare you this time for Master's sake, but if you do it again, I will not forgive you!" After saying that, he transformed back into his original form.

The villagers thanked him repeatedly. Chen Qing was also forced to bow and thank him, though he couldn't help feeling resentful. However, he knew he couldn't resist now, so he suppressed his resentment and, seeing that Tang Sanzang was kind and was his master, stepped forward and said:

"I thank you for your intercession, Elder. May I ask your honorable name and where you come from, so that you have such a distinguished disciple?"

Tang Sanzang said, "This humble monk comes from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East. I am a monk on my way to the Western Paradise to obtain Buddhist scriptures. My Dharma name is Sanzang, and these three are my disciples."

Chen Qing said, "So you are a holy monk from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East. No wonder you have such abilities!"

Wukong said, "Old man, don't try to get close to me. Are you here to capture children for sacrifice?"

Chen Qing said, "This...is it."

Wukong said, "You old codger, you're working so hard for that monster? I, Sun Wukong, said I'd be subduing the demon for you, and you still send people to beat me up? Don't you have any descendants?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing's old eyes welled up with tears, and he said, "This old man has no children!"

Wukong said, "Then it must be because you aided and abetted the tyrant, which is why you have no offspring!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing staggered a few steps and almost fell.

The villagers beside him quickly helped him up, looking at Wukong with anger but not daring to speak out.

Seeing this, Chen Si came out from inside the house and whispered to Wukong, "Elder Sun, stop talking!"

Wukong asked, "What's wrong?"

Chen Si said, "The manor lord is a good man. He has done many good deeds. However, he and his brother's son and daughter have already been sacrificed two years ago."

Upon hearing this, Wukong opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Tang Sanzang said, "Amitabha."

Chen Qing couldn't help but wipe away her tears.

Many villagers were also there, some sad, some crying.

Wukong said, "Alright! I, Old Sun, misunderstood you! At worst, I'll just help you subdue the monster!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing remained silent, took a few steps forward, and knelt down with a thud.

“Elder, you are monks who have come from afar and are passing through this place. If you are short of money, I have some assets at home and am willing to sell my land and houses to give you travel expenses. I only ask that you not interfere in this matter anymore.”

Seeing this, Tang Sanzang quickly helped him up, saying, "Old benefactor, what are you doing? You mustn't do this!"

Chen Qing kept his head down and did not get up. At this moment, about twenty villagers stepped out from the crowd and knelt down with Chen Qing in front of Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

Tang Sanzang asked anxiously, "Benefactors, why are you doing this?"

Chen Qing kowtowed and said, "I beg the Holy Monk to stop interfering!"

The others also said, "Please, Holy Monk, stop interfering!"

Wukong looked at the group of twenty-odd people, thought for a moment, and understood the reason. He said, "You are all from the families who participated in the sacrifices in previous years, right?"

Chen Qing said, "Yes."

Wukong said, "Then this is where you are wrong. It seems that the demon said he could save your child, so you believed him and even tried to harm someone else's child. How can you be so unreasonable?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing, his face streaked with tears, said:

"Elder, when did we ever have the right to harm other people's children? In the past, it was our children who were sacrificed to protect the peace of the whole village. Now that it's their turn to make sacrifices, they tell us to harm their children. Does that mean our children died in vain?"

(End of this chapter)