Chapter 52: Attending the Banquet at Accumulated Thunder Mountain (Part 2)
After traveling for several days, they finally arrived at their destination: Mount Accumulated Thunder.
In the distance, Lei Hao saw a towering mountain peak that pierced the clouds. This mountain stood out even among the many high mountains of Xīnú Hé Province. As he drew closer, Lei Hao couldn't help but exclaim, "What a magnificent mountain!"
Only see this mountain: high or not, peak touches the blue sky; big or not, root reaches the yellow spring. The sun is warm in front of the mountain, and the wind is cold behind the ridge. In front of the mountain, the sun is warm, with three winters, grass and trees are unaware; behind the ridge, the wind is cold, seeing nine summers, ice and frost do not melt. Dragon Pool connects to the stream water flowing long, Tiger Cave relies on the cliff flowers blooming early. Water flows in thousands of streams like flying jade, flowers bloom with one heart like brocade silk. Bay rings around the bay ring trees, rocky cliffs outside rocky pines. Indeed it is a high mountain, steep ridge, precipitous cliff, deep stream, fragrant flowers, beautiful fruit, red vines, purple bamboo, green pine, emerald willow: eight sections four seasons color unchanged, thousands of years ancient color like dragon.
Lei Hao, Sun Wukong and Wu Lei all stopped in their tracks to take in the view, each one being awed by the majestic Mount Accumulated Thunder.
"Haha... Old Ox thought it was that noble guest who didn't enter, but it turned out to be the Beautiful Monkey King and the Lei brothers." Just as Lei Hao San Daoren was about to step into the mountain, he heard a loud and majestic voice coming from afar.
Lei Hao and Sun Wukong laughed at the same time, saying in unison: "Old Niu is being polite, my brother and I are bothering you at your doorstep, please don't be surprised."
As soon as the words fell, a majestic figure broke through the void and arrived. It was indeed the Bull Demon King. Today, this old cow wore a golden armor with brocade and jade inlays all over his body, stepped on a pair of boots with rolled-up toes and pink soles made of deerskin, and tied a belt made of three-strand lion silk around his waist, showing off the demeanor of a mountain overlord.
After the appearance of Niu Mo Wang's figure, his eyes stayed on Lei Hao for two seconds without blinking, then stared straight at him and said, "Who is this?"
Lei Hao laughed and said: "It's my younger brother's wife, she followed me here to pay respects to Auntie Tie Shan."
The Bull Demon King laughed and said, "I didn't expect the Thunder Brothers to be a man who loves his wife dearly. Among the dozens of demon kings who have come to my Accumulated Thunder Mountain, you are the only one who brought your wife along. Your sister-in-law has arrived just in time, as my mountain wife was just complaining that there were only rough men everywhere on this mountain, and not even a single sister with whom she could share her inner thoughts."
After finishing speaking, Bull Demon King stretched out his muscular hands, one hand grasped Sun Wukong and the other hand grasped Lei Hao, raising a gust of wind to fly towards Accumulated Thunder Mountain.
Before arriving at the entrance of Moyun Cave, the Bull Demon King loudly said: "Little ones, beat the drums and set up a banquet to entertain our noble guests." The thick and majestic voice shook the entire Mount Accumulated Thunder, probably all the demons within dozens of miles around knew that Lei Hao and Sun Wukong had arrived at Mount Accumulated Thunder.
Seeing this, Lei Hao secretly thought: "This Niu Mo Wang is indeed rough but with a delicate mind. This move to buy people's hearts is done effortlessly and without leaving any traces." Indeed, even if Lei Hao was previously proud of his own strength, after coming to the Western Cow Herder State, he knew that his Tian Xian level cultivation was not high, and it only belonged to the middle to upper level of demons. He was still a distance away from Niu Mo Wang, who was a top-notch demon famous in the three realms.
And yet, the Bull Demon King treated him with such enthusiasm, without any of the airs one would expect from a top-tier demon. Even if there was an element of trying to win Sun Wukong over in this, Leihao felt that it was still quite extraordinary.
In less than the time it takes to breathe, the Ox King led Lei Hao and the three demons to Moyun Cave. This Moyun Cave is also extraordinary, as evidenced by this poem:
The forest is dense, the cliffs are steep.
The wisteria flowers bloom in the shade, their fragrance wafting gently.
The clear spring water flows through the bamboo grove, cleverly arranged with fallen petals.
Misty clouds envelop the distant peaks, sunlight shines on the cloud screen.
Dragons roar, tigers howl, cranes cry out, and orioles sing.
A tranquil and secluded place, truly lovely,
The flowers and grasses are always in bloom, a sight to behold.
Not inferior to the heavenly platform's immortal caves,
Superior to the sea of clouds' floating islands.
Niú Mó Wáng directly led Léi Háo and the three demons into the Moyun Cave Hall. Even though it was a grand hall in the Jiǔ Léi Mountain, it still had a wild and ancient feel to it, matching the aesthetic of the demon tribe perfectly. However, upon closer inspection, one could see the subtle touches of the mountain's mistress, such as the few blooming plum blossoms in the hall, which added a hint of elegance to the atmosphere.
After entering the main hall, Sun Wukong still jumped onto the throne without any politeness and started eating the fruit on the table. While eating, he said: "Old Cow, where did you find this mountain? Compared to my Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, it's much more beautiful."
Niú Mó Wáng didn't show any displeasure towards Sūn Wùkōng's nearly overbearing behavior, apparently he also knew that Sūn Wùkōng was just this kind of person and didn't have any other intentions.
When Sun Wukong asked, the Bull Demon King smiled and said: "It's lucky for me that this mountain was originally the foundation of a senior member of the demon clan, the Ten Thousand Year Old Fox King. The Ten Thousand Year Old Fox King had occupied this mountain since the Primordial Era, over 10,000 years ago. Recently, the Ten Thousand Year Old Fox King felt his life was coming to an end and visited me, thinking that my reputation was good, wanting to marry his daughter, the Jade Face Princess, to me, and give this Accumulating Thunder Mountain as a dowry to me. But I wouldn't betray my first wife! So, the Ten Thousand Year Old Fox King senior gave this Accumulating Thunder Mountain to me, only asking me to keep his clan safe."
The Bull Demon King spoke of the Ten Thousand Year Old Fox King, a senior member of the demon tribe, with great respect. When he mentioned not wanting to wrong his own wife, he was also deeply emotional.
Looking at the Ox King in front of him, Lei Hao's heart was a bit dazed. How did this passionate and righteous Ox King become that ungrateful and ruthless Flat Heaven Great Sage Niu Mo who wouldn't save his own brothers in distress, wouldn't care for his own son in trouble, and abandoned his own wife?
Nowadays, Lei Hao is thinking again about the Journey to the West he saw in his previous life. There are too many things that he doesn't understand. What he sees and hears with his own eyes and ears is really quite different from what is described in that classic novel. However, these causes and effects are linked too deeply, and with Lei Hao's current cultivation, he still can't figure it out, so he can only wait for the future to see how things develop.
After a while, the little demon outside the hall shouted loudly: "The princess has arrived."
Lei Hao looked up and saw a fairy in a narrow-sleeved shirt and skirt walking in from the door, while Sun Wukong jumped down from his throne, smiled and bowed to the fairy, saying: "Long time no see, Iron Fan Auntie, how have you been lately?"
It turned out that the fairy was Princess Iron Fan. She made a curtsy and said, "Thank you, Uncle Sun, for your concern. I've been doing well lately."
Lei Hao, who was standing beside him, also came forward with his wife Lei Wu Lei and said: "Junior Lei Hao and his wife Lei Wu Lei pay their respects to Auntie Tie Shan."
Iron Fan Princess looked up and down at Lei Hao and Wu Lei, then smiled and said: "Last year I heard the king say that he met a good man in Sun Wukong's Huaguo Mountain, could it be King Lei? Indeed, one is talented and extraordinary, this sister Wu Lei is also a beauty." Iron Fan Princess's few words dispelled Lei Hao's strangeness.
Lei Hao secretly thought to himself "as expected of a couple" and then smiled and said: "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry."
After finishing, Princess Iron Fan took Wukong to one side to chat about some gossip that only women could talk about, while Lei Hao drank and chatted with Sun Wukong and the Ox King, waiting for other demon kings on Mount Accumulated Thunder.
After a stick of incense, the hall suddenly lit up with a black and red light, and then two ferocious-looking monkeys appeared, one black and one red. The clothes on these two monkeys were somewhat disheveled, with some places even having torn marks.
It seems like the two monkeys were fighting before they came here.
Two monkeys appeared and stared at Sun Wukong, ignoring Lei Hao and Niu Mo Wang who were chatting. The black monkey stepped forward, grabbed Sun Wukong and shouted: "You're the first demon to make me and Erlang Shen wait for so long, you beautiful Monkey King!"
After the two rays of light appeared, Sun Wukong also started to glow with both eyes. Hearing what the black monkey said, Sun Wukong raised his head and said: "Gibbon King, how dare you? Let me defeat you first before talking." His tone was extremely arrogant.
Originally, the one with black fur among these two monkeys was the Monkey King, and the one with red fur was the Bull Demon King, both of whom were great demons among the Seven Saints.
Three monkeys, one gold, one black and one red, were in the great hall, staring at each other with wide eyes. After a breath, they simultaneously shook their bodies, leaving behind three residual shadows before disappearing into the great hall.
Inside the hall, Lei Hao and Niu Mo Wang looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously. Niu Mo Wang sighed and cursed: "These three monkeys have simply taken my Accumulated Thunder Mountain as their training ground."
Lei Hao couldn't help but smile wryly, having one martial arts enthusiast Sun Wukong was enough to stir up trouble, and now three bellicose monkeys were gathering together, making it impossible for the Accumulated Thunder Mountain to be peaceful. "Fight away! Fight away! After all, it's not in my Kan Yuan Mountain." Lei Hao had a hint of schadenfreude in his heart.
Iron Fan Princess and No Tears, who came from the side hall, only saw the two oxen in the main hall smiling bitterly. Iron Fan Princess was a sensible person and rushed to Cow Demon King saying: "Are those three monkeys fighting again?"
The Bull Demon King continued to smile wryly and nodded, it was clear that these three monkeys were not the first time they had a fight on his turf. Only although he knew early on that when these three monkeys met, they couldn't help but itch for a fight, but it didn't have to be this intense.
After a wry smile, Niu Mo Wang finally said: "Why don't we go take a look at the battle situation of those three monkeys?"
Lei Hao nodded, while Princess Tie Shan said with a bad tone: "Who has the interest to go watch those three mischievous monkeys fight? Let's go, Wu Lei sister, we will continue our chat." After finishing her sentence, she pulled Wu Lei, who still didn't understand what was going on, back to the side hall.
…………
When Leihao and Niu Mo Wang arrived at the battlefield of Sun Wukong, Houwang and Xueying Wang, the three monkeys' battle had already entered a state.
Sun Wukong wielded the Golden Hoop Rod with great mastery, while the Macaque King wielded a large gun that shone with cold light. As for the Houwang King, he also wielded a black and shiny staff.
