Chapter 51- Oh, That Omnipotent Ring!

Tang Monk is captured. But maybe even worse, uh, Wukong's golden cudgel, his super powerful staff, gone. Taken by the monster. It's a massive blow. Wukong's not just beaten, he's effectively disarmed. Master's captured, the quest is stalled, and whatever this monster is, it just, well, walked all over him and took his signature weapon. Exactly. Wukong is alone, behind the mountain, Jinsen Mountain, and he's, well, the text says he's weeping. Just sitting there, tears streaming down. Wow, weeping. That really hits home, doesn't it? For someone usually so, you know, cocky and powerful. It really does. And there's even a poem quoted where he's lamenting, you know, being without his staff, without his master, talking about how they face things together, and now he's just empty fisted, completely vulnerable. It shows how much that staff means to him. It's not just a weapon. Definitely not. But then, amidst the despair, he remembers something specific from the fight. He recalls the monster actually recognizing him. Recognizing him? How? Yeah, the monster apparently praised him, in a way, said something like, he really is one of those who cause trouble in the Heavenly Palace. You know, the Havoc in Heaven reference. Ah, that line. Why is that the detail that sticks out to Wukong? Because it flips a switch in his head. He thinks, okay, wait, if this monster knows about that, this isn't some ordinary mountain spirit. Right, this isn't just a random powerful demon. Exactly. He concludes, this must be a fear, a fear star, basically a celestial being from Heaven who decided to, as the text says, think of the mortal world and descend. So the problem isn't just raw power. It might be heavenly connections, a rogue god. That's his immediate theory, and it changes his whole plan. He realizes he can't just punch his way out of this one. He needs to go investigate the source. Which means? Up to Heaven. Straight to the Jade Emperor to report this, figure out who's missing. Okay, so he heads off, let's follow him. What happens when he gets to the Southern Heaven Gate? Well, he runs into the usual guards. The broad-eyed Heavenly King, the four marshals, Ma, Zhao, Wen, Guan. Do they stop him? Ask questions. They do, yeah. They greet him, kind of surprised to see him back, ask how the journey's going, but Wukong's pretty blunt. Says he's got urgent business with the Emperor, no time to chat. A little bit of the old Monkey King impatience there, even without the staff. A little flicker, yeah. He pushes on, goes past the gate, towards the main hall, the Hall of Miraculous Mist. And it's there? He sees the four Heavenly Masters, Zhang, Jie, Xu, Qiu, and some other high-ranking celestial officials, like the Dipper Stars, folks. They also express surprise. Ask him why he's back. And this is where we really see the shift in him. The text highlights. Oh, absolutely. When he gets audience with the Jade Emperor, the text makes a point of saying he bows really low, almost cringing. It's a huge contrast to his usual rebellious self. So what does he tell the Emperor? He lays it all out. The monster at Jinshan Mountain, Tang Monk captured, and critically, how the monster took his golden puddle because it was so powerful. He repeats his theory and must be a celestial-gone-rogue. He begs the Emperor, basically, order a search, send troops, help. And doesn't someone call him out on this sudden change in attitude? Yes. Zhe Shun'an Weng, one of the Heavenly Masters, points it out directly, asks him, Hui, why so arrogant before and so humble now? A great question. How does Wukong answer that? His reply is just so honest, almost poignant. He says, Asura, this old son, well, I don't have my staff to wield now. Wow. Lays it there. No staff, no swagger. Pretty much. It shows how tied his confidence, his whole persona is to that weapon. Without it, he's kind of lost. Okay, so Wukong's made his plea. How does the Jade Emperor react? Does he buy the rogue celestial theory? He takes it very seriously. He immediately orders Qihan Master to conduct a massive search, check every level of heaven, every god, every official, find out if anyone has secretly descended. And the text describes this search in detail, right? It sounds incredibly thorough. It really is. They check the gate gods, the celestial courts, the thunder generals, it even lists some names like Tao, Zhang, Xin, Deng, then the 33 heavens, the 28 constellations broken down by east, west, south, north groups. Even the planets. Yep. The sun, moon, the five main planets, plus the four extra ones like Rahu and Ketu. Basically, if anyone was playing hooky from heaven, this search should have found them. And the result. What does Qihan Master report back? This is kind of a twist. It's a total dead end. Qihan Master comes back and reports to the Jade Emperor, absolutely no one is missing. Every single celestial being is accounted for, present, and correct. No one. Not a soul. The text even notes Wukong was waiting, he even wrote a little poem about how peaceful heaven was. Which just makes the result more baffling for him. So Wukong's big theory, the one based on the monster recognizing him, seems to be wrong. According to heaven's own census, anyway. Exactly. It completely blows his initial idea out of the water. If it's not a known celestial being who's gone down, then what is this thing? It deepens the mystery considerably. This monster operates outside the known heavenly roster, but has the power to beat him. Okay, so the Jade Emperor hears this, no missing gods, what's plan B? Plan B is more straightforward, maybe a bit less subtle. The Emperor just tells Wukong, okay, since no one's missing, just pick some heavenly generals you trust, take them down there and capture the demon. Back to relying on force, but heaven's force this time. But Wukong isn't exactly brimming with confidence about that, is he? The text mentions his internal doubts. No, he's definitely worried, he's thinking to himself, you know, most of these generals, they're weaker than me. He even thinks back, like only Erlang Shen was maybe a real match for him back in the day. Right. So his logic is, if I couldn't beat this thing and it took my staff, how are these other guys going to manage? It's a fair point. But someone encourages him, right? One of the heavenly masters. Yeah, Xu Jingyang steps in, he tells Wukong, one thing subdues another. It's like saying, don't just think about raw power, maybe there's a specific trick, a specific counter. He tells him not to delay, just pick someone. That seems to convince him. So who does he choose and why them specifically? He makes a very specific request. He asks for Li Tianwang, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. And his son. And his son, the famous Prince Nezha. Wukong's reasoning, according to the text, is that they have several demon-subduing weapons. He's banking on them having that specific one thing Xu Jingyang mentioned. So it's about their specialized gear, not just raw strength. Exactly. He even adds, look, if they manage to capture the monster, great, that's my luck. If not, well, we'll figure something else out then. It's practical, maybe a bit desperate. And he asks for aerial support too. He does. He specifically requests two Thunder Gods, Danghua and Zhangfan. His idea is for them to hang back in the clouds during the fight, and when the time is right, hit the demon on the head with new, like, thunderbolts or sparks to stun it or pin it down. A coordinated attack plan. Okay, so the Emperor agrees. Yep. The Heavenly Master relays the request, the Jade Emperor grants it, Li Tianwang, Nezha, and the two Thunder Gods are dispatched. They all head down to Jinshan Mountain. Alright, the reinforcements have arrived, Li Tianwang sets up his troops. What's the first move? Li Tianwang suggests Nezha should go first. He points out Nezha's track record subdued 96 caves of demons, plus his transformation powers and his weapons. Makes sense to send him in. Wukong agrees. Yeah, Wukong leads Nezha right up to the cave entrance and starts yelling for the demon to come out. And inside the cave. The little demons run to their king, reporting Wukong's back, and he's brought a small boy with him. The demon king remembers taking the staff, figures Wukong must have fetched help, grabs his own spear and heads out. And the text gives us a description of Nezha when the demon sees him. Oh yeah, it's quite visit. Jade-like face. Like a full moon. Red lips, white teeth, eyes like lightning, hair tied up. Dressed in bright armor, small but radiating power. The text calls him here. The three heavens protecting the fierce Nezha. He looks impressive. Does the demon recognize him? Instantly. Calls him Prince Nezha, Li Tianwang's third son. Nezha confirms who he is and states his mission. Jade Emperor's orders. Here to capture you. The demon king kind of scoffs at his youth but admits, yeah, I'm the one who caught the monk. Then challenges Nezha. And the fight's on. Nezha attacks first. Yep, with his demon-slaying sword. Wukong, meanwhile, is trying to signal the thunder gods for that aerial strike. Does it work? The thunder strike? Not yet. The text says they were delayed somehow, the timing wasn't right. So it's just Nezha versus the demon king for now. And Nezha really brings the power, doesn't he? Oh, absolutely. He immediately transforms three heads, six arms, and he's wielding six different weapons. The demon-chopping sword, demon-slaying saber, demon-binding rope, demon-subduing pestle, an embroidered ball, and his fire wheel. It's a classic fearsome display. But it gets even crazier, right? Multiplication. It does. He doesn't stop there. He shouts. And those six weapons suddenly become thousands. The text uses that amazing line. One becomes ten, ten becomes a hundred, a hundred becomes a thousand, thousand becomes ten thousand. Ten thousand weapons, all attacking at once. All attacking at once, raining down like sudden rain and hail. Just an overwhelming barrage aimed right at the demon king. You'd think nothing could possibly stand up to that. It sounds completely impossible to defend against. What does the demon do? Well, the text says he's totally unafraid, calmly. He just reaches out with one hand. Oh no. And pulls out that sin, that white gleaming ring again. Same kind of ring that took Wukong's staff? It seems to be the very same type, yes. He just tosses it up into the air, shouts, which means something like, take, or get them. And? And, definitely. The text says, with an urch sound, a whoosh, the ring comes down and just sucks in all of Nezha's weapons. All ten thousand. The swords, the ropes, the wheels, everything. Every single one. The text is clear. It. Or no. Lassoed or netted them all. Just like that. Gone. Leaving Nezha. Escaping barehanded. Completely weaponless. Utterly defeated in an instant. Wow. The demon king wins round one against heaven's reinforcements decisively. Nezha has no choice but to flee, just like Wukong did. And the reaction from the other gods is interesting too. The thunder gods, Dang and Zang, they apparently saw this and secretly laughed. Well, yeah. They were relieved, you know. They hadn't used their stuff yet, their thunder dust. Ah, so they saw Nezha get totally shut down and thought, phew, glad that wasn't us. Exactly. It shows how baffling this circle is. Even the gods are like, whoa, okay, that's new. And Wukong. He laughs too. But it sounds more like, what else can you do? He literally says he can't cry, so laughing's the only option. It's pure Wukong, isn't it? That resilience. Yeah. But also just the absurdity of it. Their best shot. Completely useless. So physical weapons are out. That forces a rethink. A major rethink. Back to the drawing board with Jing, Nezha, everyone. Okay, so in this huddle, what's the new angle? If physical objects don't work. The logic they come up with is, well, maybe something non-physical. They mention that old saying, water and fire are merciless. Ah, elemental forces. You can't exactly grab fire with a hoop, right? Or water. That seems to be the idea. Maybe the circle only works on tangible things. And Wukong jumps on this. Oh yeah, immediately. He says it makes sense. So they decide to try one of those elements. Which one first? Fire or water? They opt for fire. Wukong's plan, according to the source, is pretty specific. Right, he's going to head to the South Heaven Gate. Uh-huh. Then the Crimson Flower Palace to get the fire god. And the hope is basically, burn the demon, burn the circle, get the weapons, save the master. Straightforward enough, if it works. So, Wukong zips back up to Heaven. Does the fire god just say, sure, let's go roast a demon? Not quite. He's hesitant. Understandably, really. He says something like, uh, look, if Nezha couldn't beat him with all those weapons, what chance do I have? That's a very good point. How does Wukong talk him into it? He uses that same logic they worked out. He basically argues, look, fire isn't like a spear or a sword. It's elemental. Maybe that's the trick. Maybe the circle can't handle fire. Persuasive, as always. It works. The fire god gathers his troops, his Indicaer divine fire soldiers. And they come up with a battle strategy. Can't just charge in blindly again. No, they coordinate. Wukong lures the demon out. Li Jing engages him, gets him focused. Okay. Then, when the demon uses the circle, which they expect him to go, Li Jing backs off. And that's the signal. That's the signal. The fire god unleashes everything. And the source really paints a picture here, doesn't it? This isn't just, like, a campfire. Oh, no. It talks about fire from the south, its essence. How a tiny spark can burn down everything. All the different kinds of fire weapons. Spears, knives, arrows. And the magical creatures. Fire crows, fire horses, red rats, even fire dragons. All blasting fire and smoke. The source compares it to, like, red cliffs. A massive, overwhelming inferno. You'd think nothing could possibly survive that. That sounds absolutely devastating. An all-out elemental assault. So, the big question. Does this incredible firestorm finally overwhelm the demon and that blasted circle? You'd think so, right. But the source says the demon was, yes, completely fearless. Didn't even flinch. Seriously. Faced with that onslaught, what does he do? Just stand there? Nope. Same move as before. Takes out the circle. Yeah. No. And throws it into the air. Again. What happens to the fire dragons and everything? Gone. The source gives this sound. Ochigani. Like a whoosh or a gulp. And the circle, it captures all of it. Wait, it captured the fire dragons? The fire horses? The actual flames? Everything. The magical fire creatures, the fire weapons. The entire attack just gets swallowed by the circle. But fire isn't a physical object like Nez's swords. How can it capture fire? That's the terrifying reveal, isn't it? This circle isn't just grabbing things. It seems to be neutralizing. Well. Any kind of deployed force or energy directed at the demon. Physical, elemental, magical constructs. That doesn't matter. Wow. So it's even more powerful than they thought. Much more. The fire god is left literally holding an uh, an empty flag. Yeah. All his fire tools, his magical fire beasts, just vanished into the circle. Okay. Defeat number two. Even more stunning than the first, really. The celestial forces must be completely demoralized. Yeah. The source mentions them lamenting their lost fire gear. They're stumped. Frustrated. But Wukong. He doesn't quit, does he? Never. Failure just seems to make him pivot faster. His mind is already on to the next idea. Still following that water and fire logic. Exactly. Right. The saying goes, water conquers fire. Right? So if fire didn't work. Maybe water will. That's his next pitch. Go to the North Heaven Gate. Find the water god. And basically, flood the place. Drown the demon in his cave. Flood the cave. Uh oh. Doesn't someone point out a rather major flaw in that plan? Yes. Immediately. Li Wuxing speaks up. He says, wait a minute, Wukong. If we flood the cave. Yeah. What about your master? Tangcun Zhang is still in there. Right. You'd drown him too. That seems like a terrible idea. It's a huge risk. Potentially fatal for the person they're trying to rescue. So what does Wukong say to that? Does he reconsider? His response is, well, it's pure Wukong. Perhaps at his most reckless. He basically says, don't worry about it. He claims, I myself have a method to make him live again. Even if he drowns. He says he can bring him back from drowning. Just like that. He doesn't explain how. Just states he has a way. That's incredibly bold. Or maybe desperate. He's willing to drown his master on the off chance he can perform some kind of resurrection. It definitely shows how cornered they feel. How powerful this circle seems. Wukong's ready to take an immense gamble. And despite Li Jing's warning, he just sets off for the North Heaven Gate to get the Water God. Yeah. The water strategy is now in motion, risks and all. Wukong, heading off to fetch the Water God. Fully intending to potentially drown his master, but claiming he can fix it. So he zips up to the North Heaven Gate. Looks for the Water Virtue Star Lord. Needs some help. And the Star Lord brings in reinforcements. The Yellow River Water Master God King. And this God King has something pretty special. His white jade basin. Now when I hear basin, I'm thinking, you know, a bowl. How's a bowl going to flood a cave? Well, that's the amazing part. It really shows you the scale of these celestial items. It's not just any bowl. Okay. The Water Master himself says it holds the water of the Yellow River. And get this, he says, half a basin is half a river. A whole basin is a whole river. Half a river. In a bowl. That's what the text says. It's basically a contained natural disaster. Wow. Okay, so Wukong sees this potential. Massive amounts of water. His plan is pretty direct. Maybe a bit unsubtle. Sounds like Wukong. Get the Water Master to the cave. Lure the demon out. Door opens. And then just unleash half a river right inside. Flood the whole place. Drown the demon. Drown the minions. Rescue the master. Quick and wet. Seems like a solid plan, especially after fire failed so spectacularly. Overwhelming force. Opposite element. So they get to the cave. Wukong shouts his usual challenge. Demon comes out, spear in hand, circlet ready. Opens the big stone door. And the Water Master tips the basin. Here we go. But the circlet, again, the demon sees this wall of water coming and super fast just whips out the circlet and uses it to brace the doors. Like a doorstop from hell. Seriously. It can do that too. Apparently. And the result is, well, completely unexpected. And kind of baffling. What happened? That huge volume of water, half the yellow river, right, instead of pouring in, it surges out. Away from the cave. Oh. Yeah. It boils up, churns around, floods the whole area outside the cave. Doesn't go in at all. So it just washes over the landscape. Exactly. The text is really specific. Water has flooded the four fields, drowned the civilian fields, but hasn't gotten into his cave. Total mess outside, nothing inside. And Wukong must be seeing this. Can't they just, like, suck the water back up? He asks. He asks the Water Master, can you take it back? The Water Master says basically no. I can release it, but I cannot take it back. And he even quotes a saying, silt water is hard to retrieve. Ah. So once it's out, it's out. That attempt is just done. Failed. Completely failed. And the proof, a moment later, some little demons just hop out of the cave, totally dry. Seriously? They're just playing around? Still happily playing, yeah. Just rubbing it in. And the Heavenly King watching just sighs. This water actually didn't enter the cave. A futile effort. Wow. Okay, so fire didn't work. Water definitely didn't work. Both stopped cold by the circlet. Wukong has got to be fuming at this point. Strategy isn't working. Elemental force isn't working. So what's left? Pure frustration, basically. He gets really angry. And decides, fine, direct approach. Physical fight. Okay, so he storms up to the cave door again. Yeah. Fists clenched, ready to throw down, shouting challenges at the Demon King. And the Demon King comes out, probably feeling pretty smug. Oh, definitely. He starts mocking Wukong, right? Hey, fire didn't work, water didn't work, what now, monkey? But then Wukong does something unexpected. Yeah, instead of pulling out his staff, he challenges the Demon to a straight-up fist fight. Come here and take a punch from your old grandpa, he says. A boxing match? Seriously? And the craziest part, the Demon agrees. Maybe he's overconfident, maybe just curious. He actually puts down his spear. He puts his weapon down. Puts it down. Says something about Wukong's fist being only walnut-sized compared to his own iron hammers. But yeah, they square off, hand-to-hand combat. Okay, I did not see that coming. How does the fight go? It's actually described really vividly in the text. Lots of specific boxing moves mentioned. Things like hungry tiger pounces, flood dragon plays in water. Even Guanyin's palm and Arhat's foot really paints a picture of the action. So it's a proper martial arts fight. Who's winning? That's the interesting thing. The text says, after a bunch of rounds, they were generally equal in skill with no obvious advantage or disadvantage. Really? Wukong is holding his own against this Demon King in a fist fight? Yeah. Even the gods watching are impressed, praising the fight. And this tells us something really important. What's that? The Demon King himself, without that circlet, can be matched. Maybe even beaten by Wukong alone. The demon isn't the invincible part. It's the treasure. Ah, okay. That's a crucial difference. So the fight's even, but things are about to change. Right. The heavenly gods watching decide, okay, let's help Wukong out. They start moving in. And the demons menu. They rally, too. See the gods coming, move to protect their king. The whole scene is about to turn into a big, chaotic brawl. So Wukong needs an edge. Quick. And he goes for a classic Wukong move. Pulls out a bunch of his hair. Ah, the clones. Exactly. Transforms them into, like, 30 to 50 little monkey clones. A whole swarm of them. And they just rush the demon. All it wants, grabbing him, pulling his hair, climbing on him. Just overwhelming him with numbers. Chaos. Does it work? Does it throw the demon off? It does. The text says he gets flustered. He's panicked, can't handle all these attackers at once. So this is it. They've got him. Well, being overwhelmed, like, that forces his hand. He goes for the one thing that always works. His ace in the hole. The circlet. He pulls it out. And the gods. They see it coming and immediately back off. Like, nope, not dealing with that thing again. They retreat right back up the mountain peak. Smart move. They learn their lesson. And the circlet does its thing. The demon throws it up. Whoosh. Don't tell me. Collects all the monkey clones. Every single one. Sucks them up. Turns them back into hairs. Pulls them right into the cave. Wow. Just like that. Another plan. Completely shut down. Overwhelming numbers. Didn't matter. Nope. Physical combat. Clones. Potential divine backup. All useless against that one piece of treasure. It's the ultimate counter. So, okay. This is getting serious. They need to regroup. Definitely. There's a bit of a debrief afterwards. Wukong. Li Heavenly King. Prince Nezha. The fire and water guys. Yeah. They all get together. Gotta figure out what just happened. What went wrong. Again. And they finally boil it down to the real issue. They reach this very clear conclusion. Which is? The demon head is easy to handle. Only the circlet is hard to overcome. Right. The demon himself. Manageable. Maybe tough, but manageable. The circlet. That's the game breaker. Exactly. They realize they can't win using their usual strategies as long as he has that thing. Their whole approach has to change. So it's not about beating the demon anymore. Not directly, anyway. Not first, no. The fire and water star lords say it flat out. If you want to defeat him, unless you get that treasure first, then you can capture him. The priority shifts. Step one. Neutralize the circlet. Step two. Deal with the demon. Precisely. They have to get the treasure away from him. So how do you get an all-powerful magic treasure away from a powerful demon king? Wukong must have an idea. His immediate thought. Give him the new goal. Let's steal it. Steal it. Okay. That's very Wukong. Right. And you might think the heavenly generals would be like, whoa, hold on. But no. They're okay with theft. They're enthusiastic. Generals Deng and Zhang are like, great sage, you're the best thief we know. Seriously. They bring up his past exploits. Oh, yeah. They list them off. Remember when he stole the imperial wine? The peaches of immortality from the queen mother's garden? The peaches, right. And lousy pills. Exactly. Dragon liver, phoenix marrow. The list goes on. They basically say, look, you've got a history of pulling off impossible heists. If anyone can snatch this circlet, it's you. Wow. So his reputation as a troublemaker actually comes in handy here. It absolutely does. It connects this tactical problem back to his unique, maybe less conventional skills. Brute force failed. Elements failed. Yeah. Maybe cunning and stealth are the answer. A total strategic pivot. Okay. So the plan is theft. Wukong needs to scout the place out first. Yeah. He agrees to go sneak into the demon's lair. Reconnaissance mission. All right. So how does the great sage, equal to heaven, the guy who fights armies, sneak into a demon's heavily guarded cave? He goes small. Really small. He transforms into a tiny gray fly. A fly. Like a housefly. Yeah. A little gray fly. It's such a great contrast to his usual style, right? Shows how much the strategy has changed. Totally. No grim entrance this time. And the details are great. The source says the fly has wings thin as bamboo film, body small as a flower heart, hands and feet sturdier than hair so it can crawl, eyes sparkling clear. To see everything, it flies quickly carried by the wind, and it weighs almost nothing, like barely enough to budge a scale's pointer. Practically weightless. Incredible stealth. So he flies up to that big stone door and just crawls through a crack, squeezes right in. No fuss, no fight, just pure infiltration. Okay, so he's inside. What's the scene? Party time for the demons. Oh, yeah. Big celebration. The little demons are dancing, singing. The demon king is having a proper feast. What are they eating? Anything good. Sounds like it. The text mentions snake meat, venison jerky, bear paw, camel hump. Fancy stuff. Plus mountain veggies and fruit. Living it up after beating a heavenly forces. Pretty much. Drinking fragrant sheep milk or coconut wine from a blue porcelain wine pot into large bowls. They're having a good time. And Wukong is the tiny fly. He's just buzzing around trying to find the target, the circlet. Exactly. He's looking everywhere near the main platform where the demon king is feasting, but did not see where the treasure was placed. He can't find it. The main reason he went in. Can't spot it initially, no. So he keeps moving deeper into the back hall, and then he sees something else. Something very important to him. Hanging high up on the east wall. What is it? His own weapon. His golden staff. His staff. The one the circlet stole earlier. The very same. It wasn't the primary goal of the scouting mission, but finding his staff back is huge. He must have been thrilled. So thrilled, the text says. His heart itched uncontrollably. He forgot to maintain his transformed appearance. He forgot he was a fly. The excitement just made him change back instantly. He grabs his staff. Stealth mission over. Oh, yeah. Big time. Staff in hand. He just fights his way out, creates a bloody path, knocks over a bunch of demons, and makes a break for it. So he gets out with his staff. He escapes, yes. And he has his staff back, which is a massive win for him personally. His main weapon is recovered. Circlet, the reason he went in. Still with the demon king. The infiltration didn't achieve the main objective, stealing the circlet, but it did yield a really valuable, if unexpected, result.