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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 in frustration, pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, "What am I going to do? What am I going to do?"
Wu Kong still couldn't discern whether this New Tang was real or not. Now, his master, Tang Seng, had inexplicably become a rebel general, leaving him both shocked and anxious. He leaped up, determined to find out his master's whereabouts and gather some news.
Hastening towards the vicinity of the palace, Wu Kong noticed a group of mortals hammering away at the sky amidst the clouds above the palace!
"I've seen my fair share of the world; I've encountered all sorts of demons and monsters, but this business of hammering 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, striking away at the sky with sparks flying everywhere. He was left dumbfounded.
"These people are neither heavenly soldiers nor demons; they are clearly just ordinary folk. How could they possess such divine abilities to fly up into the clouds and hammer at the heavens?" Doubts flooded Wu Kong's mind. "Could it be that the Jade Emperor is bored with this 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 stones? I wonder if the blood flowing from the sky is golden or silver? Is the skin of the sky thin or thick? If we break open the heavens, does it have a heart or not? Is its heart inclined or upright? Is this old heaven or young heaven? Is it male heaven or female heaven? Could they be trying to carve out an upside-down Mount Tian that is even more perilous than those on earth? Or are they planning to break open a mouth in the sky to swallow this world whole?" But then he thought again: how could these mere mortals have such earth-shattering capabilities?
He scratched his head in confusion, worrying about whether the sky would collapse or if he would be swallowed by it. Just then, he had another thought: "With just these few ordinary folks, how could they possibly have such powers? I should go up and ask them what they're really up to!"
The Wanderer flipped through the air and landed nearby. He saw that those hammering at the sky were dressed in peculiar clothing, light as swallows, wielding tools that were no ordinary items; they seemed capable of slicing through clouds as if they were cutting tofu. Witnessing such an odd sight filled him with curiosity, so he called out loudly, "You folks there! Which country or county do you hail from? Why are you hammering at the sky here? Have you eaten bear hearts and leopard gallbladders to dare defy heaven?"
Upon hearing his voice, all those hammering paused their work and turned around steadily in mid-air. They bowed in unison towards The Wanderer and said, "We pay our respects to Elder Southeast! We are not citizens of any country or county; we are villagers from Jin Li Village. Twenty years ago, a wandering Taoist passed through here and taught us the 'Sky Treading' technique. Now everyone in our village—men, women, and children—can chant spells and draw talismans to ride clouds and soar through the skies. Thus we renamed Jin Li Village as Ta Kong Village, and everyone here is called 'Sky Treaders.'"
Wu Kong was utterly bewildered; he had never heard of such a strange occurrence before. He scratched his head again and was about to ask more when one of the Sky Treaders stepped forward as if leading the group and continued speaking to Wu Kong: "There is a place on the Western Road called Green World. The king of Green World is known as Little Moon King. Recently, a high monk arrived from Eastern Tang Dynasty who intends to journey westward for scriptures. This monk is none other than the renowned Tang Xuanzang; his disciple is none other than you—Great Sage Sun Wu Kong—who once caused a ruckus in Heaven. Elder Tang is humble and compassionate; he has traveled west without killing any living being. However, his disciple Sun Wu Kong is a ruthless killer whose path has been stained with blood along the way; people in the West fear him greatly! The kind-hearted king took pity on his suffering subjects and used magic to block off the road to Western Paradise by erecting an Azure Bronze Wall. Next to this wall lies a Lovesick Web spanning sixty thousand miles specifically designed to capture that monkey! Now with east-west communication severed, Elder Tang's journey westward has been obstructed, leaving him heartbroken while Sun Wu Kong has fled in fear. His second disciple Zhu Bajie and third disciple Sha Wujing can only cry by his side. Even Elder Tang's steed White Dragon Horse refuses to eat grass and is on the verge of starving."
In this critical moment, Elder Tang devised a plan; he comforted his second and third disciples while riding White Dragon Horse into Green World forcefully. Little did he know that upon seeing Elder Tang, Little Moon King developed feelings for him and offered to hand over Green World for their past life connection. 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 avoid him daily.
Days passed like this until finally Little Moon King noticed that Elder Tang was determined to leave. He summoned wise men from his kingdom for counsel.
Those advisors who usually only spoke poetic words wore worried expressions as they racked their brains but couldn’t come up with any solutions. Who would dare challenge Heaven’s authority? Who could untangle this deadlock blocking Western Paradise? Just as Little Moon King was growing anxious enough to overturn tables in frustration, an inconspicuous fellow timidly stepped forward claiming he had an idea but hesitated whether it was appropriate to share.
Upon hearing this, Little Moon King felt as if he had grasped a lifeline; disregarding etiquette entirely, he pulled him from the crowd saying urgently, "Speak quickly! As long as you can solve this problem, I will reward you handsomely!"
The man cleared his throat and lowered his voice: "Your Majesty, if you want Elder Tang to continue westward..." He deliberately prolonged his words for effect.
"Continue what?" Little Moon King urged impatiently.
"Unless we can break open Heaven’s gates so that Elder Tang can ascend directly into Heaven seeking permission from Jade Emperor—then wouldn’t Elder Tang's path westward be clear?"
Little Moon King listened, momentarily stunned, then slammed his hand on the table in delight. "Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? If we can break through the Heavenly Court, then 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, my brothers and I, accustomed to a carefree life, were leisurely floating in the clouds that day, catching geese and playing with cranes, stretching our limbs and practicing our spells. Suddenly, a commotion erupted below. A massive crowd was rushing towards us, led by a general clad in golden armor who pointed at us from afar 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 a pack of fierce soldiers who bound us tightly and dragged us before Little Moon King. Upon seeing our robust figures and imposing demeanor, Little Moon King was convinced we were the ones he sought. He quickly ordered his men to release us and laid out a feast with fine food and drink to welcome us. After a few rounds of drinks, Little Moon King animatedly described his grand plan to break the heavens and promised us riches, beautiful women, and luxurious homes once it was accomplished.
As the saying goes, "A busy family won't have time for leisure." My brothers and I had traveled far and wide over the years, battling demons and monsters; we had seen all sorts of storms. But breaking the heavens was something we had never encountered before. However, seeing Little Moon King's eager expression made it hard for us to refuse, so we reluctantly agreed. We thought it was simple enough—after all, if Nuwa could mend the sky, how hard could it be to break it?
We took out our axes and weapons used for slaying demons and polished them carefully. With our tools in hand, we swung at the seemingly light sky with all our might. To our surprise, while it looked thin, the sky was incredibly hard. We labored until we were 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 on air, just as we were about to give up, someone struck gold. With a thunderous boom, a crack appeared in the heavy sky! 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 startled! From that tear in the sky fell a magnificent palace shimmering in gold and jade! Upon closer inspection, it was none other than the legendary Lingxiao Palace! It dawned on us that we had caused an unimaginable disaster!
Just as we realized what had happened, brilliant golden light burst forth from the crack along with auspicious clouds and radiant rays that blinded us! Following that was a thunderous drumbeat 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 thief." After much ado, calm was restored. Fortunately for us, not only did we escape unscathed, but someone else took the blame. Once the uproar subsided, we listened intently as The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord spoke to Jade Emperor: "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. But mobilizing heavenly soldiers now might cause more trouble; instead, let's ask Buddha to keep him suppressed under Wuxing Mountain. Also, we need to ensure he is never released again."
Upon hearing this, we realized we'd dodged a bullet; 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. Poor Sun Wukong though—down below he was hated by those on his path westward and resented by those in heaven; even Buddha's side had people stirring trouble against him. With Buddha blaming him too, no one dared plead for his sake. We wondered where he could possibly go now!
Beside me, someone scoffed: "Hmph! What's so pitiable about Sun Wukong? If it weren't for that monkey, why would we be working so hard here?" The others wielding axes echoed in agreement: "That's right! We should curse him!" Soon enough, shouts filled the air: "Stable Supervisor! Thief of wine! Thief of peaches! Thief of medicine! Sky thief! Robber of ginseng fruits! You rogue monkey demon!" Each person chimed in with their insults until Sun Wukong's eyes sparkled with fury as if his iron skin would fall apart under their words.
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