Journey to the West: Break the entire Western Heaven!

"There is..." the old monk was about to speak when Sun Wukong and the others shouted in unison, "There isn't!"

Startled, the old monk subconsciously replied, "There isn't..."

Tang Sanzang frowned and said, "You say there is, then there isn't, what is it really? Is there or not?"

The old monk looked at Sun Wukong, who was making faces, at Zhu Ganglie, who was clenching his fists with a threatening and murderous look, and at Sha Wujing, who silently reached for his demon-subduing staff, and even saw on the windowsill a bizarre and exceedingly long face with fierce eyes—it was a horse's face...

At once, he was baffled, staring at them with a head full of sweat, he asked, "Umm... revered elders... should there be some or not?"

Sun Wokung yelled, "This temple is yours, don't you know if there's any?"

At the same time, their expressions turned even more ferocious, looking as if they were about to devour the old monk.

Quickly getting the hint, the old monk said, "Umm... there isn't."

Tang Sanzang's attention was mainly on the food, and he didn't pay much attention, after all, along the way, wherever he asked, no one had ever let him down; they all said there wasn't any...

The old monk, indeed a monk officer, might not understand Zen, but he knew how to deal with people. Knowing it was not suitable to linger on this topic, he quickly changed the subject, calling out, "Yi Xin, is there someone next door to attend to the masters?"

Yi Xin replied, "Master, yes, we've arranged for five hundred monks."

Then the old monk said, "Arrange for another two to feed Tang master's horses and have some others clean up those three meditation halls in front, lay down the bedding, and swiftly invite the masters to rest."

Following orders, Yi Xin had everything well prepared and then invited Tang Sanzang to rest.

Tang Sanzang was eating greasily, now with young monks helping to lead the horses and carry the luggage, Zhu Ganglie and the others were also extremely pleased with themselves.

On the way, Tang Sanzang said, "Disciples, the food today was quite tasty, wasn't it?"

Zhu Ganglie and the others simply rolled their eyes at Tang Sanzang, who was there gobbling down meat while they ate cabbage stalks and gnawed on steamed buns; if that was tasty, they'd seen a ghost!

Seeing this, Tang Sanzang earnestly said, "Disciples, your master is thinking of your best interests. Look at Wufan and Wujing, how fat they've become. Your master is worried about your health, hence why you should eat less meat and walk more... just like your master..."

Getting to this point, Tang Sanzang saw his disciples collectively rolling their eyes as if to say, you've been riding a horse all this way, how many steps have you walked? And eat less meat, you've been eating nothing but meat!

Tang Sanzang smacked his lips and felt like he couldn't continue with this topic.

Sun Wukong then pointed at himself and said, "Master, I, old Sun, am not fat, why can't I have a few bites of meat?"

Tang Sanzang replied, "You're better off being thin."

"Why's that?" Sun Wukong was puzzled.

Tang Sanzang said very seriously, "Who do you think would give a reward to a monkey as fat as a pig? Your master is counting on you being thin to make money performing monkey tricks!"

Sun Wukong: "@￥#..."

As they chatted, they arrived at the entrance of the meditation hall, where the lights were bright and four rattan beds were laid out between two beams.

Upon seeing this, Sun Wukong immediately called over the monks in charge of the bedding and had them bring in the straw mats, placing them beside the meditation hall, and also added a large bed for good measure.

The White Dragon Horse directly ran over, and under the astonished gazes of all the monks, flopped onto the bed with a snort, his head alone emitting snores; the creature went straight to sleep!

Seeing this, Sun Wukong and the others all laughed.

The old monk stepped forward as if he had something to say, then hesitated...

Sun Wukong understood his meaning, laughed, and said, "Alright, if you serve us well, there's no need for you to go stay somewhere else. Just go back to your own homes."

The old monk, with tears of gratitude, hastily said, "Thank you, Elder, thank you! But there's no need for all to leave; I'll keep five hundred monks on standby to attend to your needs at any time. Just say the word."

Tang Sanzang looked at the five hundred bald heads blocking the doorway; bathed in the moonlight, they looked like five hundred glowing light bulbs...

Tell me, aside from the heartless White Dragon Horse, who could sleep with five hundred light bulbs shining on them?

Tang Sanzang waved his hand and said, "Forget it, forget it, just go."

It was only after Tang Sanzang had spoken that the crowd dared to disperse.

With everyone gone, and finding himself unable to sleep, Tang Sanzang touched his round belly and decided to take a stroll outside.

As he was walking, he suddenly heard voices coming from a small grove in the distance.

Driven by curiosity, Tang Sanzang moved closer, tilting his ear to listen...

"Lord Night Traveler, why can't I go?" It was an anxious voice of a middle-aged man.

Another voice, a bit shrill, said, "It's not that you can't go, it's just... that's not Tang Sanzang. What are you going to do there?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang thought it seemed somewhat related to him, so his curiosity deepened. He tiptoed over and pushed aside the leaves to see two men squatting in the grove, deep in conversation.

One had a sharp, monkey-like face with a small mustache, dressed in black. From the look of his apparel, he must be a Night Traveler from the daily staff of gods, one of the deities who covertly protected Tang Sanzang, along with the eighteen Arhats and the Six Ding and Six Jia.

The other one wore a sky-piercing hat and a jade belt around his waist, clad in a robe decorated with flying dragons and dancing phoenixes in ochre yellow, stepping in worry-free embroidered shoes with cloud patterns, and wielding a white jade scepter ranking the stars. With his square face and large eyes, he was clearly no ordinary man.

Tang Sanzang was puzzled, wondering why these two were squatting in a grove discussing him in the dead of night. What was this all about?

Since he couldn't sleep anyway, Tang Sanzang simply squatted there and listened.

He heard the middle-aged man getting anxious: "How can it not be him? Wasn't it agreed? After three years, Tang Sanzang would arrive, and by my reckoning, it's been just about three years. Plus... didn't you say that Tang Sanzang would have a monkey, a big pig, a stout man, and a white horse with him? All of that matches, so how can it not be him?"

The Night Traveler explained with a troubled face: "Well... you better not ask about the details; even if you ask, I can't tell. Anyway, some complications arose in the meantime. That monkey and pig are right, but this monk is not that monk. Our agreement was that you would help Tang Sanzang through one of the eighty-one tribulations, but since this isn't Tang Sanzang, if you go out, what will happen to that tribulation?"

The man said, "But we agreed on three years! How much longer must I wait?"

The Night Traveler replied, "Your Majesty, don't be anxious. Tang Sanzang has already made it to the Baoxiang Kingdom and will arrive soon. Just hold on a little longer."

"What? He's only reached the Baoxiang Kingdom? There's no telling how many miles lie between there and the Crow-cock Kingdom, and the Flat-Topped Mountain is in between. It would take at least a year and a half to get through. Are you telling me to die for another year? Can't you do your job properly? How could you get the time wrong by more than a year?" The man was agitated.

Hearing this, Tang Sanzang understood that this man must be the King of the Crow-cock Kingdom, already dead, now just a lingering soul waiting for Tang Sanzang.

The Night Traveler too seemed troubled: "Ah, there's nothing I can do about it... well... could you wait some more?"

The King of the Crow-cock Kingdom became frantic...

"Crack..."

Just then, a crisp sound of cracking sunflower seeds arose.

The King of the Crow-cock Kingdom and the Night Traveler whirled around in alarm and exclaimed, "Who's there?"

Then they saw something in the grove reflecting the moonlight.