69novels Chapter 1007 Monkey King, Laugh!
Chapter 1007 Monkey King, Laugh!
"Master, look ahead." Chu Yang didn't answer directly, but instead pointed with his chin to the road directly ahead.
As a strangely regular breeze blew by, the thin mist in the distance gradually dissipated. A magnificent city suddenly appeared on the horizon.
The city wall soared into the clouds, constructed entirely of pure white boulders, its surface polished smooth as a mirror, without a single crack or speck of moss. Not a single soldier patrolled the wall; only a few white flags fluttered rhythmically in the wind, their movements perfectly synchronized.
The city gates were wide open, and above them hung a huge white jade plaque with three large characters written in neat and rigorous, almost rigid, script:
"The Immaculate City".
"Immaculate City?" Tang Sanzang read the words on the plaque, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. "What a fine name. Immaculate and pure, it is the highest realm pursued by Buddhism. Wukong, Benefactor Chu, this place seems to be a pure land of extremely devout faith. Let us enter the city to rest tonight."
"Pure Land my foot!" Sun Wukong spat. "I've traveled all over the country for so many years, and I've never seen such a strange city! The city gates are open, but there's not even a gatekeeper. It's as quiet as a graveyard inside. Master, do you still dare to go in?"
Chu Yang drew his Sword of Slaying Karma and Ignorance, the tip carving a deep mark on the ground. He stared coldly at the white city: "Master, Brother Monkey is right. Something is definitely amiss. This city appeared without warning, and the surrounding scenery is so deliberately designed; it's clearly aimed at us. Let's go around it."
"Go around?"
Just as Chu Yang finished speaking, a clear, vast, and emotionless voice suddenly boomed above the three of them.
"Since we've come this far, why bother going around in circles? In the Immaculate City, only those with a karmic connection are allowed entry. If your heart is pure, the city gates will open wide; if your heart is tainted, you'll find it difficult to move an inch."
The sound seemed to be pressing in from all directions simultaneously, causing Tang Sanzang to sway precariously on his horse, clutching his ears and bowing his head in pain. Sun Wukong roared, his golden cudgel pointing sharply to the sky: "Who's playing tricks on me! Come out and see me, your old Sun!"
There was no response from the sky, only the echo of the sound continued to reverberate.
Chu Yang's eyes narrowed. He noticed that the neat rows of trees that had been lining the roadside were now moving silently! They were like impenetrable high walls, rapidly closing in behind them and completely blocking their escape route. Not only that, the ground on both sides began to rise violently, transforming into two smooth, steep white cliffs.
In the blink of an eye, they had nowhere to go but to walk straight into the "Immaculate City".
"Well done." Chu Yang sneered, sheathing his sword. "They've even altered the earth's veins. They're determined to lure us into a trap. Monkey King, don't waste your energy shouting. The guy up there is probably just sitting there watching the show with a teacup in hand."
Sun Wukong slammed his staff into the white cliff beside him with a crisp "clang," but not a single white mark was left on the wall. Instead, the impact left his hands numb, and the fierce light in his fiery golden eyes intensified: "This rock is strange! I, Old Sun, can smash half a mountain with one blow, yet I can't even break through this broken wall! Brother, what do we do now? Really go in?"
"We have to go in, whether we like it or not." Chu Yang walked up to the white dragon horse and soothed the frightened creature. "Master, are you alright?"
Tang Sanzang removed his hands from his ears, his face pale, and shook his head: "This humble monk is unharmed... but that voice carried an extremely powerful Buddhist pressure. Benefactor Chu, could this truly be a test set up by some Bodhisattva?"
"A test? Calling it a trap is more accurate." Chu Yang snorted coldly. "Master, remember this. Once you enter this city, no matter what you see or hear, don't act rashly. The rules here are probably stricter than your entire book of precepts. Monkey, you have a bad temper, so tone it down later. I suspect there are formations in this city that suppress cultivation levels."
"I, Old Sun, want to see what kind of formation can suppress the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!" Sun Wukong snorted defiantly, but still obediently shrank his golden cudgel into a needle and stuffed it into his ear.
The three men and one horse slowly set off towards the desolate white city.
The moment Chu Yang stepped through the city gate, he felt an extremely heavy pressure pressing down on him from all directions. This pressure wasn't directed at his body, but at his soul. The flow of spiritual energy within his body instantly slowed by half, and the Sword of Slaying Karma emitted a low, mournful cry from its sheath, its light dimming.
Sun Wukong's reaction was even more intense. He had only taken half a step into the city gate when his knees buckled, and he almost fell to his knees. He gritted his teeth, his muscles tensed, and he withstood the invisible pressure, but fine beads of sweat had already seeped from his forehead.
"This...this city gate is strange! I feel like I'm carrying ten mountains on my back!" Sun Wukong said through gritted teeth, and with each step he took, the white stone slabs under his feet creaked under the weight.
In contrast, Tang Sanzang, riding on the white dragon horse, although his face was a little pale, did not have as much difficulty walking as Sun Wukong.
"Wukong, why are you struggling so much?" Tang Sanzang asked Sun Wukong in confusion. "I only feel that the air here is heavy, but I have no other discomfort."
Chu Yang took a deep breath, forcibly circulating the remaining spiritual energy within his body to resist the pressure. He turned to look at the three large characters above the city gate and sneered, "Master, have you forgotten what that voice said? 'If the heart is pure, the city gates will open wide; if the heart is impure, one cannot take a single step.' The formation in this city targets people's desires and violent tendencies. Brother Monkey is wild and has a strong killing intent, so he naturally experiences the greatest suppression in this city. Although my killing intent is not as strong as his, I have too many distracting thoughts, so I also find it difficult. You, with your six senses purified, will naturally have no obstacles."
Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "So that's how it is. It seems this place is indeed a pure land of Buddhism, used to test our devotion to the path."
"Pure Land?" Chu Yang sneered, pointing to the street ahead. "Master, why don't you take a look at the people in this 'Pure Land'?"
Tang Seng looked in the direction Chu Yang was pointing and immediately gasped.
The streets behind the city gate were wide and straight, paved with smooth white boulders. The buildings on both sides of the street were remarkably similar in style, all square white stone houses, without carvings, signs, or even the same size doors and windows.
On this lifeless street, hundreds and thousands of "common people" are walking.
These people, regardless of age or gender, were all dressed in identical white linen garments. They stood in neat, straight lines, the distance between each person precise to the inch. Their gait and the way they swung their arms were so perfectly synchronized that they resembled marionettes cut from the same mold.
What's even more chilling are their faces.
Expressionless. No smiles, no sadness, no anger, no weariness. All faces were like smooth masks, their eyes staring blankly ahead, seemingly oblivious to the arrival of Chu Yang and his group.
Occasionally, two people would meet face to face, and they would sidestep at the exact same angle, move aside at the exact same speed, and then continue on their way. There was no communication, no friction, and the only sound was the synchronized footsteps.
"What...what's going on?" Tang Sanzang stared wide-eyed in horror. "Why are these people...like puppets?"
"Because they dare not show any expression, nor dare they make any unnecessary movements." Chu Yang's eyes became extremely solemn. He looked at a white stone tablet at the street corner and slowly walked over.
The stone tablet is inscribed with densely packed rules in gold lettering:
The Code of Immaculate City:
Article 1: No loud noise is permitted in the city; those who violate this rule will suffer excruciating pain.
Article 2: No one in the city may be greedy. Anyone whose gaze lingers on something that is not theirs for more than three breaths shall be punished by having their finger cut off.
Article 3: One must not be angry in the city. Anyone who shows anger on their face will suffer the pain of having their tongue pulled out.
Article 4: Those who walk improperly or with disorderly steps within the city shall be punished by having their legs broken.
... "
The stone tablet contains over a hundred rules, covering every aspect of human life, from eating and drinking to excretion and all emotions. In short, as long as you are alive and breathing, you are always at risk of breaking these rules.
Sun Wukong, enduring the immense pressure on his body, walked to the stone tablet. He glanced at it and was so enraged he was about to unleash a torrent of curses: "What kind of rules are these! This is clearly treating people like wooden stakes!"
"Monkey King, shut up!" Chu Yang was shocked and quickly reached out to cover Sun Wukong's mouth.
But it was too late.
No sooner had Sun Wukong finished speaking than a crimson bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky, striking him directly on the back without any warning.
"boom!"
A dull, loud thud. Sun Wukong groaned as he was slammed into the white stone slab, large patches of his monkey fur singed and emitting acrid black smoke.
"Wukong!" Tang Sanzang was so frightened that he tumbled off his horse and tried to help him up, but Chu Yang grabbed him.
"Master, don't move! Even a sloppy gait will be punished!" Chu Yang held Tang Seng down tightly and shouted in a low voice.
Just then, the white-clad "commoners" who had previously ignored them suddenly stopped in unison, turned around, and stared at Sun Wukong lying on the ground with their empty, lifeless eyes.
That vast and ethereal voice echoed once more from the sky:
"Those who violate the first and third rules of the city law—loud noise and anger—will suffer excruciating pain and the agony of having their tongues pulled out. Execute immediately."
As the voice faded, countless white chains suddenly extended from the white stone slab beneath Sun Wukong, instantly binding his limbs tightly. Immediately afterward, a transparent cone formed from pure lightning slowly materialized above Sun Wukong's chest, its tip pointing directly at his heart.
On the other side, a strange pair of pincers, also formed from lightning, silently appeared near Sun Wukong's mouth, poised to probe into it.
"This kind of evil magic, you think you can trap me, Old Sun!" Sun Wukong's eyes widened in anger, his muscles bulging wildly as he tried to break free of the white chains. However, the more he struggled, the brighter the runes on the chains became, and the greater the pressure he felt.
"Brother... this broken formation has suppressed my magic power!" Sun Wukong gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words from his throat. The awl was less than an inch away from his chest, and the sharp pain had already pierced through his skin.
"Bodhisattva, have mercy! I beg you, Bodhisattva, to have great mercy and spare my disciple's life!" Tang Sanzang saw Sun Wukong's life hanging by a thread and was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to the sky.
"Master! Kneeling down won't help! This is a place for rules, not for mercy!" Chu Yang's eyes were bloodshot. He suddenly drew the Sword of Slaying Karma and slashed at the lightning cone without regard for anything else.
"Clang!"
The Sword of Slaying Karma slammed into the lightning cone, unleashing blinding sparks. Chu Yang felt an overwhelming force surge through his body from the hilt of the sword; he groaned, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and staggered back three steps before regaining his footing. The lightning cone, however, didn't even show a crack.
"Benefactor Chu, you must not rashly resort to violence! This will anger the gods!" Tang Sanzang shouted anxiously from the side.
"Gods? What kind of gods are these! They're trying to torture us to death!" Chu Yang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a mad glint flashing in his eyes.
He watched the awl and pliers approaching Sun Wukong, his mind racing. The rules of this city were ironclad; no physical attack could break the divine punishment. The only way to save Sun Wukong was to find a loophole in this bizarre system of rules!
"Brother Monkey, laugh!" Chu Yang suddenly roared.
"What?" Sun Wukong was taken aback by this inexplicable command.
"I'm telling you to laugh! Laugh out loud! Laugh heartily! Show that you're thoroughly enjoying yourself!" Chu Yang shouted hoarsely, "Hurry up!"
Although Sun Wukong didn't understand, he had developed an almost blind trust in Chu Yang. He suppressed the sharp pain in his chest and the anger in his heart, forcing his facial muscles to contort into a smile that was more like a grimace.
"Haha...ha...I, Old Sun...am really happy today! These chains are so comfortable! This awl...it's so pleasing to the eye!" Sun Wukong shouted loudly while chuckling.
The mighty sound in the sky seemed to pause for a moment. The lightning cone that had already pierced Sun Wukong's skin, and the pliers that were about to be inserted into his mouth, stopped abruptly in mid-air.
For the first time, a hint of confusion appeared in the eyes of the white-clad commoners who were staring intently at them.
"Foul being assessed..."
"No anger was detected..."
"The content of the clamor was intended to express pleasure and does not constitute malicious noise..."
The voice from the sky rang out again, and this time, within that lofty and majestic aura, there was a hint of mechanical hesitation.
Seizing the opportunity, Chu Yang immediately stepped forward and shouted loudly at the sky, "You, the god who set these rules, please open your eyes! My elder brother is naturally optimistic. When he encountered this peculiar massage service, he got excited and laughed a few times. Is that considered a violation of the rules? Your first rule only states 'Do not make loud noises,' but it doesn't say you can't 'express joy loudly,' right? Your third rule states 'Do not be angry,' but my elder brother is clearly laughing happily right now! If you punish people arbitrarily like this, won't the rules of Wugou City become a joke!" (End of Chapter)