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墨書 Inktalez
As the sound of hooves gradually faded away, Wu Kong dared to reveal his true form. He scratched his head anxiously, pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, "What should I do? What should I do?"
Wu Kong still could not discern whether this New Tang was real or not. Now, Master Tang Seng had inexplicably turned into a rebel general, filling his heart with both shock and dread, as well as worry and frustration. He jumped up, determined to first seek out his master's whereabouts to gather some news.
He hurriedly made his way to the vicinity of the palace, only to see a group of mortals hammering away at the sky amidst the clouds above the palace!
"I, Lao Sun, have seen my fair share of the world; I've encountered all sorts of demons and monsters. But this business of hammering at the sky is truly unheard of," Wu Kong thought to himself in astonishment. Looking up, he saw four or five hundred people on the clouds, each wielding axes, chisels, and hammers, swinging their tools and striking the sky with a clatter that sent sparks flying. He was left utterly dumbfounded.
"These people are neither Heavenly Soldiers nor any kind of demon; they are clearly mere mortals. How could they possess such divine abilities to fly into the clouds and hammer at the heavens?" Doubts swirled in Wu Kong's mind. "Could it be that the Jade Emperor is tired of this dull sky and wants to open a skylight for some fresh air? Or perhaps the Heavenly Palace is undergoing renovations, and these workers are here to quarry stone? I wonder if the blood flowing from the sky is golden or silver? Is the skin of the sky thin or thick? If they were to break open the heavens, would it have a heart or not? Is that heart inclined or straight? Is this heaven old or young? Is it male heaven or female heaven? Could they be trying to carve out an inverted Mount Meru that is even more perilous than those on earth? Or are they planning to break open a portal in the sky to swallow this world whole? But then again, how could these mere mortals possess such extraordinary powers?"
He scratched his head in confusion, alternating between worrying about the sky collapsing and fearing being swallowed by it. Just then, he thought to himself, "With just these few mortals, how could they have such capabilities? I should go up and ask them what they're really up to!"
The Wanderer performed a somersault closer to them and saw that those hammering at the sky were all dressed strangely, light as swallows in flight. Their tools were no ordinary implements; they could slice through clouds as if cutting tofu. Witnessing such an unusual sight left him puzzled, so he called out loudly, "You people there! Which country or county do you come from? Why are you hammering at the sky here? Have you eaten bear hearts and leopard gallbladders and decided to rebel against heaven?"
The workers paused their actions upon hearing his voice, turning around steadily in mid-air. They all bowed in unison towards The Wanderer and replied, "We have seen Elder Southeast! We are not from any particular country or county; we are villagers from Jin Li Village. Twenty years ago, a wandering Taoist passed through here and taught us the 'Treading Air' technique. Now everyone in our village—men and women alike—can chant spells and draw talismans to ride on clouds. Thus we renamed Jin Li Village as Ta Kong Village, and everyone here is called ' Sky-Stepping Child.'"
Wu Kong was left utterly bewildered by such strange happenings in this world. He scratched his head again and was about to ask more when one of the Sky-Stepping Child stepped forward as if leading them and said to Wu Kong, "It is said that on the Western Road there is a place called Green World. The king of Green World is known as Little Moon King. Recently, a high monk came from Eastern Tang Dynasty seeking scriptures from Western Paradise. This monk is none other than the famous Tang Xuanzang; his disciple is none other than you—Great Sage Sun Wu Kong—who once caused a ruckus in Heavenly Palace. This Elder Tang is humble and compassionate; he has never harmed any living being on his journey westward. However, his disciple Sun Wu Kong is a ruthless killer who has caused great bloodshed along the way, instilling fear in all who hear his name! The kind-hearted king took pity on the suffering people and used his magic to block off the road to Western Paradise by erecting a towering Azure Bronze Wall and laid down a Lovesick Web spanning sixty thousand miles specifically to capture that monkey! Now communication between east and west has been severed; Elder Tang's journey westward has been obstructed, causing him great sorrow while Sun Wu Kong has fled in fear. His second disciple Zhu Bajie and third disciple Sha Wujing can only weep by his side. Even Elder Tang's steed White Dragon Horse refuses to eat its fodder and is on the verge of starving! In this critical moment, Elder Tang devised a plan; he comforted his second disciple and third disciple while riding White Dragon Horse into Green World."
Little did he know that upon seeing Elder Tang, Little Moon King developed feelings for him and wanted to hand over Green World in exchange for their past fate. However, Elder Tang was devoted to Buddhism and refused outright. Little Moon King was infatuated with Elder Tang and pursued him relentlessly; Elder Tang had no choice but to evade him day after day. After several days had passed with no resolution in sight, Little Moon King grew anxious and prepared to take drastic measures when an inconspicuous fellow who rarely spoke timidly stepped forward with an idea but hesitated whether it was appropriate to share.
Upon hearing this, Little Moon King felt like he had grasped a lifeline; disregarding etiquette entirely, he pulled him from the crowd exclaiming eagerly, "Speak quickly! As long as you can solve this problem, you can have any reward you desire!"
The man cleared his throat and lowered his voice saying, "Your Majesty, if you want Elder Tang to continue westward..." He deliberately elongated his words for suspense.
"Continue with what?" Little Moon King urged impatiently.
"Unless we can break open Heaven so that Elder Tang can ascend directly up there to seek permission from Jade Emperor—then wouldn't Elder Tang's path westward be unobstructed?"
Upon hearing this, Little Moon King was momentarily stunned, then he slammed the table in delight and exclaimed, "Brilliant! How did I not think of that? If we can break through the Heavenly Court, we can do whatever we want!" He immediately ordered a nationwide search for skilled craftsmen, determined to find those capable of shattering the heavens.
Meanwhile, we brothers were used to a carefree life. That day, we were lazily floating on clouds, catching geese and playing with cranes, stretching our limbs and practicing our spells—what a joy it was! Suddenly, we noticed a commotion below. A large group of soldiers was marching towards us, led by a general clad in golden armor. From a distance, he pointed at us and shouted, "It's them! It's them! These guys fly around in the sky all day; they must be the ones we're looking for to break the heavens!"
Before we could react, we were surrounded by these fierce soldiers who bound us tightly and dragged us before Little Moon King. Seeing that we were robust and imposing, he quickly concluded that we were indeed the ones he sought. He ordered his men to release our bindings and laid out a feast with fine food and drink to entertain us. After a few rounds of drinks, Little Moon King animatedly described his grand plan to break through the heavens and promised that once it was accomplished, he would reward us with gold, silver, treasures, beautiful women, and luxurious mansions—anything we desired!
As the saying goes, "Those who are at home do not hurry; those who are away do." We brothers had traveled far and wide over the years, battling demons and monsters; we had seen all sorts of storms. However, the idea of breaking through the heavens was truly unprecedented for us. Yet, seeing Little Moon King's eager expression made it hard for us to refuse. We steeled ourselves and agreed. Our reasoning was simple: if Nuwa could mend the heavens back then, how hard could it be for us to break through?
We took out our axes and weapons used for slaying demons and polished them carefully. With our tools in hand, we struck vigorously at the seemingly light sky curtain. However, to our surprise, while it appeared thin and delicate, it was incredibly tough. We labored until breathless and sore but left no mark whatsoever.
After working for a long time with sore necks from looking up and numb feet from standing in mid-air...
Just when we were about to give up, someone unexpectedly struck luck. With a thunderous crash, the heavy sky curtain actually split open a crack! We were instantly overjoyed as if victory was within reach. But before we could celebrate too long, we heard gasps coming from within that crack.
Confused, we looked up only to be shocked! From that sky crack fell a magnificent palace shimmering in gold and jade! Upon closer inspection, it was none other than the legendary Lingxiao Palace! Only then did we realize the calamity we had unleashed!
In an instant, golden light burst forth from the crack along with auspicious clouds; rays of light poured out blinding us mere mortals! Following that came a thunderous sound of war drums echoing from above like rolling thunder that nearly shattered our eardrums!
Chaos erupted in the heavens as shouts rang out demanding the capture of the "sky thieves." After much commotion, things finally calmed down. Fortunately for us, not only did we escape unscathed but someone else took the blame for our misdeed. Once the noise subsided in heaven, we listened closely and heard The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord say to Jade Emperor: "Your Majesty Jade Emperor, please don't be angry or anxious. This wasn't done by anyone else; it must have been Sun Wukong's Stable Supervisor's doing. However, mobilizing heavenly soldiers now might cause further trouble; it's better to ask Buddha to keep him suppressed under Wuxing Mountain. Also, make sure to inform Buddha never to let him out again."
Upon hearing this, we realized we had escaped punishment; someone else had taken the fall for us. We felt relieved and continued our work with renewed vigor, thinking there wouldn't be another Lingxiao Palace falling from above. But poor Sun Wukong—people on earth despised him while those in heaven resented him too. Buddha's side had people fanning the flames against him as well; Guanyin Bodhisattva saw Buddha blaming him and dared not plead on his behalf. We wondered where he could possibly go now!
Beside us someone scoffed: "Pah! What’s so pitiable about Sun Wukong? If it weren't for that monkey, why would we have to toil here?" The others wielding axes echoed in agreement: "That's right! We should curse him!" Soon after, shouts filled the air as they yelled: "Stable Supervisor! Thief of wine! Thief of peaches! Thief of medicine! Sky thief! Robber of ginseng fruits! A rogue monkey demon!" Each person chimed in with their insults as Sun Wukong's eyes flickered with anger as if his very bones would shatter under their words.
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