Journey to the West: A clone sacrifices to the heavens, possessing boundless magical power.

Chapter 136 Kui Xing Returns to His Position

Above the Wave Moon Cave, a fierce wind howled.

Sun Wukong stood in mid-air, his wrist slightly lowered, golden light flickering in his eyes.

Opposite him, the yellow-robed monster retreated dozens of feet, barely managing to regain his footing. His hands, which were gripping the knife, were split open, blood gushing out. His chest heaved violently, and his breathing was disordered.

"Good monkey, you're quite strong." The yellow-robed monster sneered through gritted teeth, but his eyes betrayed his weakness.

Sun Wukong, with his fiery eyes, quickly discerned the clues.

Although this monster possessed formidable magical power, its inner energy was depleted, resembling a shell whose core had been drained.

What caught Sun Wukong's attention even more was that although the monster was filled with demonic energy, every time it mobilized its magic power, a trace of pure Taoist starlight would flash deep within its meridians.

"You impudent monster, your inner core is gone, yet you dare to act tough in front of me?" Sun Wukong sneered, raising his staff to strike again, "Take this!"

The golden cudgel swelled in the wind, transforming into a pillar supporting the sky, and crashed down with immense force.

Knowing that continuing the fight would surely lead to his death, the Yellow-Robed Monster's eyes flashed with determination. Instead of retreating, he advanced, raising his steel-dipped knife to feint an attack against the Golden Cudgel.

"clang!"

The moment the weapons clashed, the yellow-robed monster did not exert any force. Instead, he used the recoil from the golden cudgel to fly backward.

In mid-air, his body suddenly disintegrated.

The yellow-robed monster's body transformed into a dim starlight, tearing through the clouds at an incredible speed and soaring towards the heavens, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Sun Wukong missed his target with his staff, put it away, and frowned.

This starlight, balanced and peaceful, faintly carries the trajectory of the celestial constellations; it is the most orthodox and authentic Taoist method of the Heavenly Court.

Moreover, the direction in which this monster fled was straight towards the Heavenly Court.

"No wonder this Moon Cave is so strange; it turns out someone from heaven has descended to the mortal realm to cause trouble."

Sun Wukong sneered. Having traveled the journey to the West, he had already figured out some of the tricks of the trade. In the Three Realms, where were there so many wild and powerful demon kings?

Most likely, they are pawns deliberately placed there by those high and mighty deities for some ulterior motive.

"Since you're running off to the sky, I'll go find you there!"

Sun Wukong swayed, somersaulted on his cloud, and headed straight for the South Heavenly Gate.

Outside the South Heavenly Gate, the Four Heavenly Kings were on duty when suddenly a golden light rushed towards them—it was none other than the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

The heavenly generals dared not stop him, allowing Sun Wukong to drive straight in and head straight for the Lingxiao Palace.

Inside the Lingxiao Palace, celestial energy swirled.

The Jade Emperor sat solemnly on the golden throne with nine dragons, his face majestic and his expression calm and serene. On either side of him stood civil and military officials, silent and still.

"You old Jade Emperor!"

Sun Wukong strode into the hall without even a bow, and immediately said, "When I, Old Sun, was escorting Tang Sanzang through Baoxiang Kingdom, we encountered an old demon in yellow robes who transformed my master into a fierce tiger. I fought him, but the demon turned into a streak of starlight and fled back to Heaven. I suspect that you, a celestial being, have descended to the mortal realm to cause trouble!"

These words caused a slight stir among the immortals in the hall, but they quickly returned to calm.

The Jade Emperor lowered his eyes, looking at Sun Wukong below him, and said calmly, "Monkey, don't speak recklessly. The laws of Heaven are strict, and all the immortals have their own duties. How could they easily descend to the mortal realm to become demons?"

"Whether there's a mortal realm or not, a simple investigation will tell!" Sun Wukong, leaning on his golden cudgel, refused to back down. "Your Majesty, please examine all the celestial constellations and divine generals to see which positions are vacant!"

The Jade Emperor gave Sun Wukong a deep look.

This monkey is much smarter than it was five hundred years ago.

"The Four Celestial Masters," the Jade Emperor said calmly.

"Your subject is here." The four Celestial Masters, Zhang, Ge, Xu, and Qiu, stepped forward.

"Issue the decree to investigate the Nine Luminaries, the Twelve Earthly Branches, the Twenty-Eight Mansions, and the Eastern and Western Constellations to see if any divine generals have neglected their duties."

.

"As you command."

The four Celestial Masters received the order and immediately took the jade slip register, beginning to use their divine senses to check each name one by one.

A brief, deathly silence fell over the hall.

A moment later, Master Xu stepped forward, bowed, and reported: "Your Majesty, the Nine Luminaries and the Yuan Chen are all in their original positions. However, among the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Western White Tiger Mansion is missing the Kui Wood Wolf."

"Whoosh!"

The immortals inside the hall immediately erupted in a low murmur of commotion.

The Twenty-Eight Constellations are important officials of the Heavenly Court, in charge of the movement of the stars in the heavens, and hold extremely high positions. Kui Mulang actually descended to the mortal realm without permission, which is a serious crime that violates the Heavenly Laws.

The Jade Emperor's expression shifted between light and dark.

"That Kui Mulang! How dare he descend to the mortal realm without permission!" the Jade Emperor said coldly. "Issue a decree ordering the remaining twenty-seven constellations to descend to the mortal realm immediately and capture Kui Mulang!"

"Your Majesty, we obey!"

Outside the palace, twenty-seven beams of starlight shot into the sky, heading straight for the mortal realm.

In less than half an hour, the twenty-seven constellations returned.

There was an extra person in the center of the main hall.

It was indeed the Yellow-Robed Monster, but now he had shed his demonic form and returned to his original form as Kui Mulang, wearing starlight armor and with a cold expression, though his aura remained weak.

"Kui Mulang, do you know your crime?" The Jade Emperor looked down at him, his voice like thunder.

Kui Mulang knelt on the ground, his expression calm, as if he had been prepared for this.

"Your subject acknowledges his guilt."

Kui Mulang kowtowed and said, "Back then, in the Pixiang Palace, I secretly fell in love with a jade maiden who served incense. That jade maiden longed for the mortal world and was reincarnated as the third princess of Baoxiang Kingdom, Baihuaxiu. I couldn't bear to see her suffer, so I followed her down to the mortal world, occupied the Boyue Cave, and lived with her as husband and wife for thirteen years."

This statement is logically sound and presents a clear cause and effect.

Upon hearing this, all the immortals in the hall fell silent. Love between immortals and mortals, and the desire to descend to the mortal realm, were the most common crimes in Heaven, and also the best excuses to conceal one's true intentions.

Sun Wukong watched coldly from the sidelines.

He didn't believe any of that nonsense about a celestial maiden longing for the mortal world. If a star general really wanted to protect a mortal, he had plenty of ways to do so. Why did he have to become an outlaw and provoke the pilgrims?

"The audacious Kui Mulang has violated the Heavenly Laws and deserves severe punishment."

The Jade Emperor spoke with an air of authority, but then his tone shifted slightly, “Considering your honest confession and the fact that no major disaster has occurred, I will take away your golden token and demote you to the Tushita Palace to tend the fire for Laozi. Once you have rendered meritorious service, you will be reinstated to your original position.”

"Your subject accepts the decree and expresses his gratitude." Kui Mulang kowtowed again, and was then escorted away by two heavenly generals.

"Monkey, Kui Mulang has been brought to justice, and your master's tribulation has been resolved. Why don't you hurry down to the mortal realm to protect your master on his journey to the West?" The Jade Emperor looked at Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong was too lazy to argue with these gods anymore. He had already achieved his goal. The Yellow Robe Monster had been taken away, and the journey to the West was now open.

"Old Sun is off!"

Without saying much, Sun Wukong turned around and strode out of the Lingxiao Palace, transforming into a golden light and returning to the mortal realm.

In the mortal realm, in the Kingdom of Baoxiang.

Inside the royal palace, the atmosphere was no longer as oppressive and panicked as before.

With the Yellow Robe Monster taken away by the Heavenly Court, the sorcery of the Wave Moon Cave collapsed on its own. Princess Baihua Xiu, who had been kidnapped for thirteen years, finally returned safely to Baoxiang Kingdom under the escort of several guards.

The old king looked at his daughter, who still looked the same but was now a mother, and tears streamed down his face. He stumbled down from the throne and hugged Baihuaxiu tightly in his arms.

"My son! Thirteen years have passed, and your father has finally awaited your return!"

Baihua Xiu was also sobbing uncontrollably. These thirteen years of life in the demon cave were like a long and absurd nightmare, and now she had finally woken up.

On the other side of the main hall.

Sun Wukong descended from the clouds and landed in front of Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.

"Brother Monkey! You're finally back!" Pigsy rushed forward, beaming. "Where's that monster? Did you kill him with your staff?"

"Kill him? That monster has some powerful backing; he's a descendant of the Kui Mulang constellation from heaven." Sun Wukong sneered. "The Jade Emperor only sentenced him to a minor offense of tending the fire, and that was it."

Sha Wujing listened silently from the side. He had once been the Curtain-Rolling General and knew all too well the ins and outs of the Heavenly Court.

"Never mind that monster, where's Master?" Sun Wukong asked.

Zhu Bajie pointed to an iron cage in the center of the main hall: "Look, it's still locked up over there."

Inside the iron cage lay a striped tiger, but there was no ferocity in its eyes; instead, they revealed endless grievance and fear.

Sun Wukong walked to the cage, looked at Tang Sanzang who had turned into a tiger, and sighed.

"Master, you are just a mortal with no eyes to distinguish truth from falsehood. You drove away Old Sun, but mistook the monster for a good person, and now you've ended up in this state."

Upon hearing Sun Wukong's voice, the tiger shed two lines of clear tears, lowered its front paws to the ground, and nodded repeatedly.

Sun Wukong stopped pretending and exhaled a breath of immortal energy onto the tiger.

With a flash of golden light, the tiger's fur instantly disappeared, transforming back into the handsome Tang Sanzang, clad in a cassock.

"Wukong————"

Once Tang Sanzang regained his human form, the first thing he did was to tightly grasp Sun Wukong's arm, his face full of guilt. "I was wrong to blame you! If you hadn't returned in time, I'm afraid I would have lost my life in this Baoxiang Kingdom."

"Alright, alright, Master, let's not talk about the past." Sun Wukong waved his hand and helped Tang Sanzang up.

The old king was overjoyed to see the holy monk restored to his original appearance.

He knew that if it weren't for these people's intervention, his daughter would have had no chance of survival, and Baoxiang Kingdom would never have peace.

"Quickly! Convey my decree!"

The old king waved his hand and loudly ordered, "Hold a grand feast! Prepare a vegetarian banquet of the highest standard from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. I will personally entertain the four holy monks!"

That evening, the Royal Palace of Baoxiang was brightly lit, and the sounds of string and wind instruments filled the air.

The four members of the Tang Monk's group sat in the seats of honor, enjoying the toasts offered by the king and his officials.

Pigsy ate to his heart's content, his mouth dripping with oil. Although Tang Sanzang was still shaken, seeing his disciples by his side, a long-lost smile finally appeared on his face.

The banquet was lively, and the calamity had passed.

With this, the Kingdom of Baoxiang officially came to an end. As for Yun Zhongzi, who had displayed his immortal abilities in the capital, he was gradually forgotten by the old king and the Lei family after the news of his death brought back by Baihuaxiu.