Chapter 79: The Battle of Huaguo Mountain (1)

  The next day, on the top of the Flower Fruit Mountain, two hundred-zhang tall flags were erected, one golden and one purple. The golden flag had "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" written on it, while the purple flag had "Great Sage of Ten Thousand Merits" written on it.

  These two flags were like dropping two atomic bombs on the land of the demon tribe, and in an instant, they exploded into a frenzy. Mount Huaguo became extremely lively, with some small-time famous demons coming to offer their services every day, and many old demons traveling far and wide to come to Dongsheng Shenzhou, just to catch a glimpse of these two flags.

  "Who says our demon clan has fallen..." An unknown old demon looked at the two flags with a reverent gaze, tears streaming down his face as he muttered to himself.

  Lei Hao and Sun Wukong stood shoulder to shoulder at the top of Huaguo Mountain, the fierce mountain wind blowing their armor rustling.

  "Niú tóu, ǒmen bù jiù shì qǐ le ge wēi fēng de míng hào, guà le liǎng zhāng jīngqí ma? Wèihé zhèxiē lǎo yāo dōu zhè fú múyàng?" Sūn Wùkōng de shuāng yǎn zhīzhōng jīn guāng zhí mào, dìngdì de wàng zhe nàge bù zhīdào huó le duōshao suìyuè de lǎo yāo, yòng yī zhǒng hěn dī chén de shēng wèn Léi Háo.

  Lei Hao was silent for a moment, his eyelids drooping as if lost in thought. Half a beat later, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "Monkey, I think we've been too simplistic in our thinking."

  Lei Hao has lived for over 300 years, and Sun Wukong's age is not much younger than Lei Hao. With the two brothers' cultivation speed being equally fast, in just a short span of 300 years, they have accumulated the same level of cultivation as ordinary old demons would in several thousand years.

  So, considering Leihao and Sun Wukong's cultivation, their current age is indeed the prime of youth. They are hot-blooded, reckless, and can charge forward for the sake of brotherhood without turning back even if they hit a wall. However, they are after all too young, lacking the accumulation of time, and thus do not understand the bitter history of the demon tribe.

  In the era of the Primordial Chaos, how magnificent were the demons? Two demon emperors shone like the sun in the sky, one demon master was unfathomably deep, ten peak demon gods, and countless demon kings and demon armies occupied the Central Heavenly Court, ruling over the entire Primordial Chaos. But just because of a single sentence that didn't know the will of heaven, they died or were captured, and the magnificent demons were reduced to only two or three big cats. Now, whether it's the Heavenly Court or Buddhism, they all shout "suppress demons and eliminate evil" and hunt down newly born demon tribes everywhere. The young demons have already become wild demons that drink blood and eat flesh, unaware of the existence of the Demon Emperor, unaware of the Demon Heavenly Court, and unaware of everything the demons once had. They only know how to live in a daze every day, fleeing for their lives.

  The demon tribe, from what time on, has become the street rat that everyone shouts to beat, everyone can shout to beat, and everyone dares to shout to beat?

  There have been many demon kings who claimed to be the masters of the mountains, but how many years has it been since a demon king dared to raise such a flag that defied heaven? Was it a thousand years? Or ten thousand years? Or even longer?

  Lei Hao didn't understand any of this, but the sorrowful aura that surrounded Huaguo Mountain at this moment had already told him everything, so he fell silent.

  Sun Wukong, who usually seemed carefree and nonchalant, now had a somewhat solemn expression.

  At this moment, in the Lingxiao Treasure Hall above the sky.

  One of the Four Great Heavenly Masters, Zhang Tian Shi, led the Imperial Guard Lieutenant and Deputy to kneel down in front of the throne and report: "We beg to inform Your Majesty that the newly appointed Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, Sun Wukong, dissatisfied with his position, rebelled against Heaven yesterday."

  The Jade Emperor sat high on his dragon throne, slightly moved and softly said "oh", but behind the crown, it was unclear what kind of expression he had.

  At this time, the Tianwang outside the South Heavenly Gate led a group of heavenly soldiers into the palace, knelt down and reported: "Last night, Bianmawen suddenly swung his stick and drove out of the Heavenly Gate. We all knew he had received the celestial decree and was indeed Bianmawen, so we didn't dare to stop him and let him drive out of the Heavenly Gate."

  The Growth Heavenly King had just finished speaking when the Jade Emperor heavily slapped the jade table and angrily said: "Rebellion, rebellion! Does he really think that Heaven's Court is a place where he can come and go as he pleases? Growth Heavenly King, what are you eating? You actually let a small demon monkey rebel against the Heavenly Palace? Drag him out and beat him with three thousand hammers before bringing him back in."

  After a sigh, the Jade Emperor issued another decree: "Let the heavenly stars return to their posts, dispatch the heavenly soldiers, and capture this demon monkey."

  As soon as the words fell, Tathagata Buddha and Nezha, the Third Prince, flashed out from the ranks. The latter stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, your humble minister and his son are not talented, please order us to go down to the mortal world to capture this demon monkey."

  The Jade Emperor was overjoyed, saying: "The wise father and son are truly my pillars." He immediately appointed Li Jing, the Heavenly King of the Pagoda, as the Great Marshal of Demon-Conquering, and Nezha, the Third Prince, as the Great God of the Three Altars and the Sea Assembly. They set out to conquer the mortal world at once.

  Li Jing and his son did not mention how to deploy troops, after retiring from court, the Jade Emperor returned to the Jade Pool, picked up a cup of jade juice and drank it in one gulp.

  The Queen Mother saw the Jade Emperor in this state and asked doubtfully: "Jade Emperor, have you encountered some distressing matter?"

  The Jade Emperor said, "What other worries can there be? Isn't it just that mischievous monkey! Not long ago, Sakyamuni sent a message to me again, saying that I should cooperate with their Buddhist plan for great prosperity, and even asked me to give them a garden of peaches. It's really humiliating, I don't know who is in charge of this heavenly palace, me or Buddhism."

  The Queen Mother heard this and sighed lightly, saying: "This Buddhist revival is what the Great Lord has decreed, we can only follow it. As for that garden of peaches, didn't Buddhism promise to return us a few stalks of lotus root?"

  The Jade Emperor also sighed softly and said, "It's just that the Growing Sky King was wronged, and he suffered three thousand hammerings for nothing. This heavenly court is really getting more and more suffocating. Now that I think about it, it's not as carefree as being a child by the side of the Great Lord."

  …………

  Months later, Lei Hao was drinking tea and discussing Tao with Sun Wukong in the Water Curtain Cave when suddenly a loud rumbling sound came from outside.

  The two brothers looked at each other, took a deep breath, and turned into a golden and purple light, flying out of the Water Curtain Cave at high speed.

  As soon as they emerged from the Water Curtain Cave, Lei Hao raised his head and saw that the sky above Mount Huaguo was densely covered with white clouds, and from the white clouds, the wheels of war chariots and the hooves of heavenly horses were exposed.

  "Ha! Isn't this the heavenly peach banquet? I, old Sun, have waited for so long, and it's finally arrived?" Sun Wukong said with a hand shading his forehead, speaking nonchalantly.

  Lei Hao couldn't help but glance at Sun Wukong and said, "This group of trash is easy to deal with, but if we really provoke the Heavenly Court, it won't be easy to clean up afterwards. So when we fight later, hold back on your killing intent and don't kill too many heavenly soldiers and generals."

  "Ugh, I'm fed up," Sun Wukong said impatiently. "All you do is nag and bother me all day."

  Lei Hao stopped speaking and carefully observed the heavenly soldiers and generals in the sky.

  "Head, Tian Ting has arrived? What should brothers do? Kill him?" After a few breaths, Lei Da Niu appeared behind Lei Hao, panting and saying something that was quite murderous.

  Sun Wukong was delighted, and patted Lei Dabao's shoulder heavily, saying: "Brother Bull has a good understanding. Otherwise, you can follow me, old Sun, to the heavenly court to kill one round."

  Lei Da Niu glared with his big eyes and said in a rough tone, "What's wrong with that?" After finishing speaking, he hastily prepared to leave and get dressed.

  Lei Hao speechlessly patted his forehead, turned around and kicked Lei Da Niu's butt with great force, scolding: "Get your act together! Do you think this is some mountain cave of demons? You say kill one and come back, then kill one and come back? Are you a dead monkey gone mad? And are you going to drag the brothers down with you?"

  Lei Hao's kick didn't have too much force, and Lei Da Niu stumbled backward. He turned his head to look at Lei Hao's face and saw that he was indeed a bit angry. Hurriedly nodding and bowing, he said: "I was wrong, I won't follow the dead monkey's madness again, please spare me." His shamefaced expression was really similar to that of Cang Tou.

  Lei Hao waved his hand weakly at him and turned back to continue observing the deployment of the heavenly soldiers' march, unwilling to speak again.

  Lei Da Niu ran into the Water Curtain Cave, muttering to himself as he ran: "I've had enough, this time I'm really angry... Ah, I always considered my brothers more important than anything else, I was so stupid."

  After a moment, the earth-shaking roar finally stopped. A middle-aged man with a stern face and a few strands of hair, wearing a suit of armor and holding a golden pagoda, emerged from the white clouds. He shouted loudly: "I am Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King! This time I have been ordered to capture the demon monkey Sun Wukong, but I do not want to recklessly deploy troops and cause the innocent creatures of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits to suffer. Therefore, I will wait for Sun Wukong to come and bind himself before me, then follow me to see the Jade Emperor. As long as Sun Wukong comes, I guarantee that not a single blade of grass or tree on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits will be disturbed."

  As soon as Li Jing finished speaking, Lei Hao secretly applauded in his heart: "Good King Li Tian!" This short speech was both intimidating and threatening, with a hint of divisive tactics - truly the mark of a master strategist on the battlefield, something that Lei Hao could never hope to achieve.

  At this time, Sun Wukong also opened his mouth and shouted loudly: "That Tota's Labor Zi Tianwang, listen to me well. I am the dignified Eastern God State Huaguo Mountain Demon Country's one side demon king, my real strength is much higher than yours, but your Jade Emperor insulted me and gave me a humble position of 'Bima Wen'. If I didn't fight against his Lingxiao Treasure Hall, I would be in a good mood. This time you came here, so I will keep all of you on this Huaguo Mountain. With the nourishment of your divine brains and fat intestines, next year my Huaguo Mountain will surely flourish."

  Li Jing's face suddenly turned iron-green, he had thought that this time down to the mortal world was a light task, thinking that after saying this, the demon monkey should come and surrender on its own, but unexpectedly the demon monkey was so arrogant, daring to wipe his face.

  "The Great Spirit, I command you to go and capture that demon monkey. Go quickly and return quickly, do not make any mistakes." With that, Li Jing let out a loud shout, his powerful voice echoing for thousands of miles around the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits.

  As soon as they heard the name "Giant Spirit God", Sun Wukong and Lei Hao burst out laughing.