Chapter 46：Head-on, What A Showdown #journeytothewest #monkeyking #sunwukong #pigsy #zhubajie #tripitaka #bodhisattva #xyj #g

Just before this, things were actually looking pretty good for the monks, weren't they? Yeah, surprisingly good. Sun Wukong had just, you know, shown his power by calling for rain, which was a huge deal for the kingdom. Solved a drought. So the king was impressed, ready to just let them go on their way. Exactly. He was all set to stamp their passports, basically. But, uh, the Taoists weren't happy. Ah, here we go. They'd been advisors for, what, 20 years? 20 years, yeah. And suddenly these monks show up and steal their thunder, quite literally with the rain thing. The sword says they were distressed. Makes sense. Their influence, their whole reputation, it's all on the line. Totally. So they plead with the king, basically begging him, hold on, stop them, let's have one more contest, a final showdown. And the king, what's his deal? The text gives us a hint. Yeah, it does. He's described as, uh, confused and disorderly, which suggests he's, well, easily influenced. Not the most decisive leader, maybe? Probably not. He sees his long-time advisors upset and he just goes along with it. Yeah. Okay, stop the monks, let's have another gamble. So what's this grand final challenge? It's not exactly arm wrestling, is it? No, not even close. The head Taoist, Hulu Dajian, proposes something called Cloud Ladder Manifestation, Seated Meditation. Cloud Ladder, Seated Meditation. Those two things sound kind of contradictory. They really do. And the rules are just bizarre. You need two platforms, okay? Each one, 50 tables high. 50 tables stacked up. That's huge. So 100 tables altogether. 100 tables total. Yeah. Massive towers. And here's the kicker. You have to get up there without climbing. No hands, no ladders, no stools. So how? You have to ride up on a cloud head. That's the rule. Use magic, essentially. Ride a cloud up 100 tables and then sit perfectly still in meditation for hours. For a set number of hours, yeah. That's the challenge. That is specific. What's the point supposed to be? Well, ostensibly it's a test of spiritual attainment, I guess. Even the king kind of doubted at first. He mentions, you know, Tang monk is from the Chan school, Zen, so he should be good at meditating. But the cloud riding part is the real filter, isn't it? Seems like it. The Taoists are pretty confident this will trip the monks up. So how do the monks react? There's this great bit where they discuss it amongst themselves. Wukong's reaction is gold. Oh, it's classic Wukong. He lists all the insane things he can do. Kick heavens, stir up the seas, carry mountains, juggle stars, transform into anything. All the usual great sage stuff. Right. But then he just flat out says, I cannot sit still. He literally says he doesn't have the sitting nature. Huh. The monkey king can't sit still? He even jokes that if you tied him to an iron pillar, he'd just find a way to climb around on it. Immense power, but zero patience for just sitting. It's a brilliant character detail. So Wukong's out for the sitting part. What about Tang Monk? Well, Tang Monk pipes up and says he can do the meditation part. He mentions he's practiced deep concentration before, maybe for like two or three years, cumulatively. OK, so he's got the discipline. He does. Wukong then clarifies, look, it's only for two or three hours this time, master, not years. So the duration isn't the issue for Tang Monk. Right. So what is the issue for him? The getting up there. He says, point blank, I cannot ascend. He can sit, but he can't do the magic cloud riding thing of 50 tables. OK, so they have opposite problems. One can get up, but can't sit. The other can sit, but can't get up. Exactly. It's a perfect dilemma, which, of course, sets up Wukong's solution. Ever the problem solver. What does he suggest? Super practical. He tells Tang Monk, basically, you go agree to the contest. I'll get you up there. Simple as that. I'll handle the transport. Pretty much. He'll provide the cloud ladder service. So Tang Monk goes, yep, I can meditate, tells the king he's in. They build the platforms really quickly. And the contest starts. The Taoist champion, Hulu Dajian, goes first. He uses something called a sheet cloud to float up to the west platform. A sheet cloud? OK. And Wukong? Wukong uses a much fancier five-colored auspicious cloud to gently lift Tang Monk onto the east platform. Very stylish. But Wukong doesn't just drop him off and leave, does he? He's already scheming. Never. He always steps ahead. First, he plucks out a hair. Standard Wukong move. Transforms it into a perfect copy of himself, standing down below with Bajie and Sha Seng. He even tells them, don't talk to the fake me. Why the decoy? So he can be somewhere else without anyone noticing he's gone. Because then he transforms himself into something tiny. But with a time. A little insect. The text calls it a Jolio insect, maybe like a cicada or a gnat. Super small. OK, so he's tiny Wukong now. Where does he go? He flies up and buzzes near Pigsy's ear, whispering, watch the master closely. He suspects trouble. Good instinct. Because trouble is definitely coming. The Taoists aren't playing fair. Not at all. Another Taoist, Luli Dajian, is watching from below. He decides to interfere. How? More magic. Yep. Pulls a hair from the back of his own head this time. Rolls it into a little ball. OK. And flicks it up towards Tang Monk, who's trying to meditate peacefully 50 tables high. And the hair transforms, let me guess. Something nasty. You got it. It becomes a large, painful bed bug. Ew. A giant magical bed bug that bites him on the head while he's meditating. Right on the head. Poor Tang Monk feels the suddy itch and pain. But he knows if he moves, like scratches or flinches, obviously, he loses. What does he do? He must be going crazy up there. He tries to be subtle. The text says he tries rubbing his head against his collar, trying to relieve the itch without actually using his hands or making a big movement. That sounds agonizing. What are the disciples doing down below? They see him sort of twitching or looking uncomfortable, but they totally misunderstand. What do you think it is? Bajie thinks maybe he's having an epileptic sheep wind, they call it. Sha Seng thinks it's just a bad headache, headwind. They have no clue about the magic bed bug. But Wukong, the tiny insect, hears them worrying. Right. He hears them saying epilepsy and headache, flies up to Tang Monk's head to check it out. He sees the bed bug. He sees this huge bed bug munching away. So even as a tiny insect, he manages to pinch it off. Wow. And gives his master's head a little rub to soothe the pain. Tang Monk immediately settled down, resumes his perfect meditation posture. Crisis averted thanks to invisible insect Wukong. But Wukong knows where that bug came from, right? Oh, yeah. He's instantly suspicious. Thinks it's got to be those cowists and their dirty tricks. And Wukong doesn't let things like that slide. Retaliation time. Absolutely. He flies down off Tang Monk's head, lands on some decorative carving on the palace like a beast head, and transforms again. From tiny gnat to... Something much nastier. A seven inch long centipede. Whoa. A big one. Who's he going after? Straight for the source of the problem. Or at least the guy currently representing the problem up high. He goes for Huludajian. The Tao is still meditating on the other platform. And where does he bite him? The text is specific, isn't it? Very specific. He bites him right in the dip of his nose. Ouch. Right in the nose. By a seven inch centipede. Yep. And the effect is immediate. Huludajian completely loses his focus. His balance. He falls. From fifty tables up. Tumbles right off. The text says, a somersault two flips right off the platform, falls the whole way down, and nearly dies. That's decisive. Wukong doesn't mess around with counter-sabotage. Not even slightly. Palace officials rush over, manage to save the Taoist, carry him off. Probably in pretty bad shape. So the competition is kinda over by default now. Pretty much. With Huludajian out of commission, Wukong just floats Tang Monk back down on his auspicious cloud. And the result? Tang Monk is declared the winner. The elder is victorious, the text says. The king, seeing his Taoist champion fall, and probably realizing things went sideways, finally agrees. Let the monks pass. So Deer Power Immortal steps up and suggests a new contest. Guessing behind a board, he calls it. Inside a sealed cabinet. And the king, who the text mentions, is maybe not the sharpest. Yeah, dim-witted or confused is the phrase used, I think. He goes for it. Maybe he just wants to move past the earlier loss. So contest one starts. Okay, so they bring out this red lacquer cabinet, royal looking, and the king tells the queen, put a treasure inside. She does. And it's something specific and valuable, right? A mountain and river robe, heaven and earth skirt. Sounds grand. Very grand. Clearly a palace treasure, something identifiable. Okay, but here's where Sun Wukong steps in. Unseen, of course. Right. He doesn't just sit back, he transforms into a tiny gadfly. An insect. A little bug. And he flies over to the cabinet. Finds a crack, you know, between the boards. Small enough to squeeze through. He's in, sees the fancy robe and skirt, but he's not just going to report back. No way. His plan is way more involved. He grabs the robe, messes it all up. Then does that thing bites his tongue, sprays blood? Yeah, like mustering magical energy, shouts change, and poof. It's not the fancy robe anymore, it's what? A ragged monk's robe. Just a tattered old thing. Wow. Talk about a downgrade. And then he adds a personal touch. Oh, yes. Classic Wukong. The text says he, uh, urinates on it. Owl monkey. Then zips back out the crack as a fly and tells Tang Monk, okay, guess a ragged monk's robe. Tang Monk must be thinking, what are you talking about? Totally. He asks like a ragged treasure, what kind of treasure is that? But Wukong just tells him, don't worry, just say it. We need to win. So the guessing starts. Deer Power Immortal steps up, all confident. And guesses the original item, the fancy robe and skirt. Makes sense. That's what the queen put in. But Tang Monk, probably sweating a bit, trusting Wukong. He says, nope. Inside that cabinet, it's a ragged monk's robe. And the king immediately loses it. Right. Thinks he's being insulted. Yeah. Orders Tang Monk seized. This is an insult to the kingdom's treasures. But Tang Monk manages to plead, just open it first, look inside. And they do? And there it is. Exactly what Tang Monk said. The ragged monk's robe, maybe still a bit damp. Probably. It's brilliant, though. Wukong didn't guess what should be there. He changed reality inside the box. To match the guess. He completely flipped the script. It wasn't about identifying the queen's treasure anymore. It was about identifying his creation, something specific to them, the monks. Or everyone's noses. The king's just baffled. Right. The queen confirms she put the original robe in. Yeah. The king just kind of gives up. Yeah. Blames it on weird palace magic or something. Things change in palaces, basically. And decides he'll place the next item. No more mistakes. Okay, so contest two. The king's turn. He goes to the royal garden himself. Picks a huge immortal peach. Like, bowl-sized. Just one? Just one. Places it in the cabinet personally. Seals it up. Okay, so Wukong again. Yep. Same move. Gadfly form. Through the crack. Seize the peach. And the text says he's happy about this. Delighted. Just what he wanted, it says. So does he transform it this time? Turn it into something weird? Nope. Different tactic. Changes back to his monkey form inside the cabinet. Uh-oh. And just eats the peach. Oh. The whole immortal peach. Every last bite. The text is really specific. Like, he gnawed it clean. Even the little dents on the pit. So all that's left? Is the pit. Just a bare peach pit. Nothing else. That's audacious. Instead of transforming, he just removes the item. Consumes it. Exactly. Shows how adaptable he is. The challenge changed. King puts it in himself so the solution changes. Eliminate. Don't just transform. Clever. And simple. In a way. Then he changes back to the fly. Pops out. Finds Tang Monk. And tells him. That's a bare peach pit. Tang Monk must be terrified now. After the last close call. Oh yeah. He's like, stop messing with me. A peach pit isn't a treasure. We almost got arrested last time. Pretty much. But Wukong's just like, don't be spared. Just win. So. Goat power immortal guesses. An immortal peach. Logical guess. But Tang Monk. Taking a deep breath. It's not a peach. It's a bare peach pit. And the king. He put the peach in. He knows what's in there. He's adamant. Says the Taoist guest right. I put a peach in, not a pit. Tang Monk insists. Open the cabinet. They open it. And. Only the pit. Cleaned. No flesh, no skin. The king must be really freaked out now. Startled, the text says. His heart is startled. He's wondering who ate it. Does he suspect Wukong? Not exactly. He says, I think. A ghost or spirit must be secretly helping him. He goes supernatural. And there's that little side note about Pigsy and Sandy, right? Yeah. They're quietly chuckling. Because they know Wukong is a. Seasoned peach eater. A little inside joke for the reader. Love that. So Wukong wins again. By changing the reality inside the box. This time by removal. Making the impossible guess the only possible reality. And the king's just left scratching his head. Okay. Round three. This one feels like the peak. Tiger Power Immortal is back. Yeah. The one who lost the meditation contest. He's recovered. And he seems to have heard about the object changing tricks. And he thinks he has the solution. He boasts Wukong can change objects. Fine. But he can't change a person. That's his theory. So his plan is. Hide a person in the cabinet. A young Taoist acolyte. He's sure this will stump the monk. An acolyte goes in. Sealed up. Wukong's move. You guessed it. Gadfly. Through the crack. Sees the kid. Okay. Now what does he do? He can't just eat him. Huh. No. This is where it gets really really clever. He transforms himself. Into what? Into an old Taoist priest. Someone the acolyte might trust. Smart. Deceptive. Very. He appears to the acolyte inside the dark cabinet. Calls him disciple. Claims he snuck in using magic. Yep. Escape magic. He spins his whole tail. Says. Listen. The monk outside. He's gonna guess Taoist acolyte. So we need to change things up to make sure we win. He's pretending to be on the acolyte side. Exactly. Playing on the kid's loyalty to the Taoist and his desire to win. It's psychological. So what's the plan? He suggests. We need to make you look like a monk. I'll shave your head. No way. That way. He says. When they guess Taoist acolyte. You stay hidden. But if we get them to guess monk. You reveal yourself. And we win. He completely twists the logic. And the acolyte. Buys it. Amazingly. Yes. He wants to win. Wants to uphold the Taoist's honor. He agrees. So Wukong just. Shaves his head. Right there. Transforms his staff into a razor. Shaves the kid's head. Hides the hair in a corner. The detail is incredible. And the clothes. Taoist robes wouldn't work. Right. Wukong points that out. Takes the kid's fancy embroidered Taoist robe. Blows on it with immortal breath. And turns it into a plain earth yellow monk's robe. Puts it on the acolyte. But wait. There's more, isn't there? Oh yeah. The final touch. Pulls out two of his own hairs. Transforms them into a wooden fish. You know. The Buddhist percussion instrument. Gives it to the kid. Yeah. And instructions. Tells him. Okay. If they guess Taoist acolyte. Stay quiet. Don't move. If they guess monk. Then you jump out. Push open the lid. Knock this wooden fish. And chant some Buddhist scripture. But the kid's a Taoist acolyte. He says that. I only know Taoist scriptures. Like. The Three Official Sutra. The Big Dipper Sutra. So Wukong asks. Do you know Amitabha? You know. The basic Buddhist chant. Everyone knows that one. Kid says yes. Wukong says perfect. Just chant that. Loudly. Reminds him of the plan. Turns back into a fly. And leaves. That is. Next level. He didn't just change the acolyte's appearance. He changed his clothes. Gave him a prop. Coached him on a performance. And got the kid to cooperate by tricking him. Using the kid's own loyalty against his master's. It's manipulation plus magic. Mind-blowing. Okay. So Wukong gets out. Tells Tang Monk. Guess a monk. Tang Monk hesitates again. Points out that monk is sacred. One of the Three Treasures. Like. You don't just guess that. Understandable hesitation. Meanwhile. Tiger Power Immortal makes his guess. A Taoist acolyte. Confident. He keeps calling for the kid to come out. But the kid stays hidden. Just like Wukong told him. So Tang Monk makes his guess. It's a monk. And Pigsy jumps in. Yeah. Pigsy shouts, there's a monk in the cabinet. Loving every minute of it. And on cue. The acolyte throws open the lid. Starts banging the wooden fish. Chanting, Namo Amitabha. Climbs out looking like a little monk. The reaction. The court officials just erupt in cheers. They love it. The three Taoists. Speechless. Utterly floored. Wow. Just. Wow. What does the king do now? He's properly astonished. Says, okay, this monk definitely has supernatural health. And tries to figure it out, right? Yeah. He kind of reasons, well, maybe someone could sneak in. Maybe even shave a head. But change the clothes and teach him Buddhist chanting. Instantly. That's impossible. That's beyond understanding, he concludes. He finally tells the Taoists. Give it up. Let them go. The head demon. Huludajian. Basically says, hey, we learned some stuff as kids. Some martial arts. Let's gamble with them. And the king, understandably, is like, what? Especially when things like, you know, chopping off heads, cutting out guts, bathing in boiling oil. Yeah. The king calls them paths to death. Which seems pretty accurate for most people. For sure. But Huludajian. He insists they have this power and they have to gamble everything. It's about saving face after losing earlier. So the king tells the Tang monks group about this, well, frankly, insane idea. Yeah. And the reactions are X. Tang monk. Terrified. But guess who finds it hilarious? Monkey king, of course. He'd been off doing something else, comes back, hears this and just bursts out. Good fortune! Businesses come right to my door! Classic monkey. Pigsy tries to inject some reality, like, uh, monkey, these are deadly things, not business opportunities. But monkey just brushes him off. That signature confidence, almost arrogance, right? Saying Pigsy just doesn't get what he can do. He even does his boastful little rhyme about how tough he is. Oh yeah. Cut off my head, I can still speak. I chop off my arm, I can still hit people. Cut off my legs, I can still walk. It's embalmed me and I'm perfectly fine. And then that weird bit at the end. The dumpling part. Yeah. It's like someone folding dumplings, pinch it, and it's whole again. It's such a strange image, isn't it? It makes his healing sound so easy. Almost domestic. It really does. And Pigsy and Sandy just laugh when they hear it, which tells you, you know, this level of weird power is something they're kind of used to with monkey. So monkey says, okay, I'll go first. Beheading contest. Let's do it. The king is still unsure. Looks at monkey. Thinks he looks young. Maybe it's suicide. But to Gorilla, he's all for it. Wants revenge. So they set up an execution ground. Guards everywhere. And monkey just strolls out. Looking, like, happy about it. His master, Tang Monk, tries to pull him back. You know, genuinely worried. This isn't a game. Monkey's just like, yeah, yeah, it's fine. Completely nonchalant. They tie him up, put him on the block. Executioner yells, W-A-C-K, off comes the head. And the source describes it bouncing away like a watermelon. Rolls quite a distance. But the key thing. No blood. Right. From the next dump. Just nothing. Exactly. And then, from inside his chest somewhere, a voice calls out, head, come back. Now this is where it gets interesting. The second demon sees this. And he doesn't just watch. He immediately starts chanting. Ordering the local earth spirits, you know, minor nature deities, to grab monkey's head and hold it down. He even bribes them. Promises a bigger temple if they help him win the bet. And the earth spirits, they actually do it. They grab the head and pin it. So monkey calls for his head again. But nothing happens. It's stuck. He gets a little anxious, you can tell. But then he just flexes, snaps the ropes, shouts grow, and poof! A whole new head just sprouts right there on his neck. Instantly. Naturally, this sends the executioners and guards running back to the king in terror. Meanwhile, Pigsy's just calmly explaining to Sandy. Oh yeah, the 72 transformations thing. Pigsy says, well, he has 72 transformations, so he probably has 72 heads. That's a funny line. Does it mean literal spare heads? Or just that his ability to change and regenerate is immense? The text implies the latter, I think. He grows it, doesn't pull one out of a bag. Yeah, it seems inherent. So monkey walks back, totally fine. His master asks if he's tired, and monkey's like, mm, good fun. Pigsy asks if he needs, like, medicine or something. And monkey just tells him, feel my neck. And Pigsy is just amazed. Marvelous, perfect, not even a scar. That instant, perfect, scarless healing, that seems key to monkey's power here. The king is totally freaked out by now, wants to just call it quits, give him the travel papers. Demons lost, right? But monkey's not having it. He insists, nope. Hoolidaxian has to face the blade too. He tied up, head chopped off, rolls away. And just like monkey, initially no blood from the neck, he calls for his head. And this is where monkey gets clever. Plucks out a hair. Transforms it into a little yellow dog, sends it running. The dog snatches his head and bolts, throws it right into the imperial river. But the head's gone, and here's the difference. Unlike monkey, who can just grow a new one when his was held down. He starts like spurting red light from his neck. The text says something like, pity he only had weather magic, not true immortality. And he collapses. And boom, the disguise drops. The guards see it's not a human immortal at all, it's a headless yellow haired tiger. That's crucial, isn't it? His immortal form was just a disguise. When the magic fails or the ritual is interrupted, his true animal nature is revealed. Dead animal nature. The king is horrified. His trusted advisor was a tiger demon. But the second demon, he's furious. Yeah, he accuses monkey of cheating, basically. Says monkey used a trick to reveal his brother's form and challenges him to the next test. Disembowelment. And monkey agrees, but with the weirdest excuse ever. Oh yeah, this is great. He says something like, well, I haven't had cooked food in ages, but someone gave me too many steamed buns recently. And my stomach hurts, probably worms. So yeah, let's cut me open. It's so perfectly monkey. Using this horrifying contest as an excuse for, like, personal hygiene because he ate too many snacks. Zero fear. Monkey says he'll walk himself, but asks him not to tie his hands. Right, so I can wash my organs properly. And monkey just reaches in, pulls out his own intestines, spends a while, like, arranging them on the ground. The detail there is pretty graphic, but also casual. He's just handling his insides. Then he puts them back in, fiddles with them again, pinches the skin closed, blows on it, yells, grow! And just like the neck, it seals up instantly. Perfect. King's amazed all over again, offers the travel permit immediately. Please just go. But monkey's like, hold on. This deer power. He steps up, and he's utterly convinced he cannot be beaten. Just radiating confidence, right? Our source describes him striding onto the killing ground, just like Wukong did before. The executioner gets him ready, rope, knife. And then the sorcerer takes the knife himself. That's the twist. Yeah, he cuts open his own belly. And it gets more graphic. He proceeds to pull out and manipulate his own internal organs. We're talking liver, intestines, the five vital organs. It's designed to look like absolute mastery over life and death. Gosh, but Sun Wukong's move isn't physical, is it? No, not at all. It's pure, unexpected magic. He just plucks a single hair, blows on it, says transform, and it turns into a hungry eagle. A hungry eagle, okay. And this isn't just any eagle. The source emphasizes its speed. It swoops down and snatches all of those vital organs, carries them off to eat, just poof, gone. Now, just snatch them right out of him. So the effect on deer power must be immediate. Oh, yeah, fatal. The source doesn't pull punches, describing him as an empty cavity, broken belly, dripping gut. With his organs gone, well, there's nothing left. And then the reveal happens when they cut him down. Exactly. The executioner cuts him down and he transforms back into his true form, a white-haired, horned deer. Deer. Yep. The supervising official is absolutely stunned, reports to the king asking, how is he a horned deer? All that human form, all that supposed power, and ultimately just an animal. So all that spectacle, the self-mutilation, showing off the organs, it was a deer doing that. That's quite the reveal. The king must be terrified. He is. But the other remaining sorcerer, sheep power, he's just blind with rage. Right. He blames the monks for his brother's death. Totally. And immediately escalates things. Proposing the next challenge. And this one sounds just as impossible. He says he'll gamble on bathing in a pot of boiling oil. Yoko! Boiling oil? Seriously? Boiling oil. The king agrees, orders this massive pot filled with oil, and has a roaring fire built underneath until the oil is literally bubbling hot. It's another impossible test, you know, for anyone without real supernatural protection. And Wukong's response, it's just perfect. He hears the challenge and deadpans, oh, much obliged for your consideration. This little monk hasn't had a bath in a while. My skin's been feeling a bit dry and itchy. Might as well just go rinse off. He's heading to a spa. It completely deflates the sorcerer's attempt at intimidation. Totally. And then Wukong introduces this bizarre concept of different bathing styles. Yeah, he asks if it's a civilized wash or a military wash. Right. He explains civilized wash. Like, quick, you keep your clothes on just a dip, and you lose if you get oil on your robe. But the ga- That's the full show. Military wash. Strip down completely, leap into the pot, and just treat it like playtime. Doing acrobatics, splashing around. Naturally, sheep power chooses the military wash. So Wukong, ever the showman, apologizes for going first again. He strips off his robe, the show, and his tiger skin skirt, and just dives in. He's fine. Oh, more than fine. The source says he's in there turning waves and fighting currents. Playing around just like he's swimming. Completely unfazed by boiling oil. Okay, meanwhile, Bajie and Sha Sing are tied up watching this. What do they make of it? Well, our source tells us they're, like, biting their fingers, whispering in amazement. Really? Yeah. Bajie turns to Sha Sing and says something like, wow, we totally misjudged this monkey. We've been ridiculing him all this time. But who knew he had such genuine ability? They're actually truly impressed by his power. But Wukong overhears them and misinterprets it. He does. He thinks they're just relaxing while he does all the hard work. Maybe even mocking him. He mutters that proverb. You know, it's like, the clever ones work hard. The clumsy ones relax. Oh, Wukong. So what does he do? Well, being Wukong, he decides to mess with them a bit. Make them think he's actually in trouble. He splashes down, sinks to the bottom, and turns himself into a tiny date kernel nail. So, he pretends to be dead. A date kernel nail? That's specific. Okay, so he's faking it. Exactly. Which, of course, immediately leads the supervising official to report to the king, your majesty, the little monk has been cooked to death in the boiling oil. And the king is thrilled. Right. Because he thinks he's finally won. They try to get the body out using an iron scoop, Amita. But Wukong, being this tiny nail, just slips right through the holes. Huh. So they can't even retrieve the body. How does the official explain that? He improvises. Desperate. He comes up with this lie. The monk's body was just so small and bones so tender that he simply melted away in the heat. Melted. That's impressive on-the-spot fabrication. Isn't it? The king buys it, orders the remaining three monks arrested. Baji, in particular, gets roughly handled. The text says he looks fierce as the guards throw him down and tie him up. Oh, dear. And poor Tang Sanzang. He's also tied up, but he maintains some composure. He pleads with the king, asks for just a moment to perform a ritual for Wukong. He speaks really emotionally about Wukong's deep loyalty and everything he's done for him. And a you. Oh, that's quite touching. It is. He even prays that Wukong's soul might still find its way to enlightenment, even from the underworld. It's a rare moment of genuine affection from the master. But then you have Baji. Oh, Baji. Tied up and absolutely furious, he just starts cursing Wukong. What does he say? This sounds like classic Baji. It is. He calls Wukong the troublemaking you. The ignorant tu cha. Bringing up that old sore point about Wukong's stable boy job in heaven. Ouch. He went there. Oh, yeah. He just goes on. The deserving to die. The oil cook do. The monkey is finished. The stable boy is rooted out. He is just so done with Wukong at this point. And that's what gets Wukong's attention down in the oil, right? Exactly. Hearing Baji just lay into him like that. He can't stand it anymore. Snaps him right out of his prank. So what happens? He just pops back up. Pretty much. He instantly reveals his true form, naked and dripping wet at the bottom of the pot, and yells up, The reactions must be priceless. Oh, yeah. Tang Sanzang is terrified seeing him reappear. Sha Seng, ever the pragmatist, just calmly notes, Big Brother always fakes being dead. He's used to it. Well, Frank, she's seen this before. Apparently. But the officials who just reported him dead are in total panic. Especially the one who said he melted. Right. That supervising official, still trying to save face, tells the king that Wukong did die, but he's come back as a manifestation of his spirit. A ghost. Oh, bad move. Terrible move. Wukong hears that lie and is absolutely enraged. He leaps out of the pot, dries off, gets dressed, grabs his staff, grabs the official who told the lie. Oh, no. And beats him into a lump of flesh. What spirit manifestation, he roars. Yikes. Okay, note to self. Don't lie about the son of Wukong being a ghost. So, chaos. Total chaos. The other officials quickly untie Baji, begging for mercy. The king tries to make a run for it. Does he get away? Nope. Wukong catches him, forces him back to his throne, then he turns his attention back to sheep power and demands that he now get in the oil. Oh, right. It's sheep power's turn. Exactly. The king, trembling, basically tells sheep power to obey to save his own skin. So sheep power, thinking he's got the same protection Wukong had. Right. He descends from the hall, strips off his clothes, just like Wukong, and leaps into the pot. And at first, he seems okay. He's in the pot. Just like Wukong did. Exactly. Wukong releases the king, goes over to the pot, tells the fire stokers to add more wood, make the fire even hotter. But then he reaches in to test the oil and realizes it's ice cold. Whoa. Ice cold. So Wukong's bath was boiling, but sheep power's is freezing. Ow. That's what Wukong thinks. When I washed, it was boiling hot, but for him, it's cold. I understand. Some dragon king must be protecting him here. Ah, outside help. Bingo. He doesn't waste a second. Leaps into the air, utters a magical phrase, and summons the North Sea dragon king, Ao Shin. And I bet Wukong is polite about it. Not a chance. He immediately starts chewing him out, calling him, you horned earthworm, you scaled mudfish. Yo, Wukong. Demanding to know why he's helping the sorcerer with a cold dragon. To cool the oil. A cold dragon. So it's not sheep power's own ability. It's a magical cooling effect. Precisely. It's a trick. The dragon king is terrified. See, Boon. And quickly explains. He denies teaching sheep power genuine cultivation. He says sheep power only has true reception of the five thunder method. On a specific type of magic. But the rest are just cosmetic side doors. Meaning? Meaning these sorcerers rely on specific learned tricks and techniques. Not deep fundamental cultivation that grants real immortality or power. It's surface level stuff. Ah, so the cold dragon technique is just a learned illusion. Not real power. Exactly. The dragon king reveals this cold dragon is something sheep power learned from a minor mountain school. Small Mao Mountain. Boy, you. He says this trick is only good for deceiving and entertaining ordinary mortals. It would never fool someone like Wukong. The dragon king was just sort of assisting in maintaining the illusion for the king. So the dragon king was just part of the stagecraft. Wow. Wukong tells him to get rid of it. Immediately. Or face upbeating himself. So the dragon king quickly transforms into a whirlwind. Woro goes to the pot, grabs the cold dragon, and takes it back to the sea. And with the magical cooling effect gone. Sheep power is instantly exposed to the real boiling oil. Oh no. Yeah. The source says he struggles, can't climb out, slips, and is instantly burned to death. Bones separated. Skin charred. Flesh. Just like that. Wow. That quickly. Instantly, the official reports to the king. Your majesty, the third national teacher has melted too. Still sticking with the melting story. Bless him. Oh, that poor official. you