WuKong: The Monkey King

Chapter 22 Benefited Greatly

In a moment, Wukong made his way back to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit along the same path he had come. Marshal Liú was the first to see him return, dressed in his chain-linked golden armor and a phoenix-feathered purple gold crown, looking extraordinarily majestic and valiant. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, "The king has returned with treasures!" The group of little demons surrounded Wukong like stars around the moon, brothers bustling around to get a look at Wukong's attire. Wukong shouted, "Stand back, children!"

The group of monkeys stepped back, and Wukong smiled, "What I wear is not the treasure; the real treasure is right here!" He took out the Ruyi Golden Cudgel from his ear, tossed it into the air, and it stood upright on the ground.

Marshal Liú asked, "What's so precious about this little iron stick?" Wukong replied, "Little iron stick? Try picking it up!" Marshal Liú attempted to lift it, but the Dinghai Shen Zhen, weighing 13,500 jin, didn't budge an inch. Wukong burst into laughter, "This is the Dragon Palace's most treasured item; how could you possibly lift it?" Having obtained the Golden Cudgel, Wukong was delighted and naturally wanted to show off.

The Ruyi Golden Cudgel, standing on the ground, grew taller with the wind, reaching a height of over a hundred feet before Wukong retracted his magical power and took the cudgel back into his ear. If it had grown straight into the heavens, it might have caused trouble. Even so, the sight of it made the seventy-two demon kings so terrified that they bowed down in worship, trembling as if their souls were about to leave their bodies.

Having accomplished a great feat, Wukong returned to his cave, feeling exhilarated. By chance, he saw two books under the lampstand on his desk, which he had obtained from his master Bodhi. He couldn't understand the text and had left them untouched.

One day, he decided to take these two books and flew on a cloud towards the Kingdom of Aolai.

As he approached, he retracted his divine power and transformed into an elderly man, walking into the city. He noticed the characters on a signboard by the road were similar to those in his books, which pleased him.

Finding a bookstore, he took out one titled "The Stick Fighting Technique of Equaling Heaven" and asked, "Shopkeeper, I cannot read. Could you tell me what this book is about?"

The shopkeeper praised the book as a rare find. After flipping through a few pages and becoming suspicious, he asked, "Where did you get this book?"

Thinking the shopkeeper might not be an ordinary human, Wukong fabricated a story about his son exchanging for the book without knowing how to read and sent him to inquire in the city.

The shopkeeper laughed, "I see. I was wondering what use you had for this stick technique; I spoke out of turn."

Wukong inwardly chuckled, thinking it was his fate to give the shopkeeper a scare.

"What? You say this book is about stick fighting?"

The shopkeeper replied, "It's clearly written on the cover, 'The Stick Fighting Technique of Equaling Heaven'! Though there are no illustrations, it contains methods of channeling and practicing energy. There can be no mistake." After explaining, he returned the book to Wukong, suggesting he find someone literate to teach his child, otherwise, how could he practice?

Wukong, being clever, asked the shopkeeper to find someone literate to read the book to him, pretending he would dispose of the book if it was too advanced to prevent his son from learning to fight and causing trouble.

After some hesitation, Wukong took out two bright silver ingots, "This is for reading the book. Would that be acceptable?"

The shopkeeper was tempted but tried to refuse, "This is unnecessary for just reading a book."