I am the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven.

Mist and waves stretched boundlessly, the great surges rolling. Since Sun Wukong departed White Tiger Ridge, he had, in the blink of an eye, crossed a thousand mountains and arrived at the shores of the Eastern Sea.

He lay atop a multicolored auspicious cloud, legs crossed, humming a nocturne, when suddenly the sound of crashing waves reached his ears. Glancing down, he saw he had already arrived at the East Sea.

At once, Sun Wukong rose and, with a light leap, floated over the Eastern Sea, landing within the bounds of Mount Huaguo. The sight before him made his heart lurch.

“What the hell is this place?” Sun Wukong stood at the mountain’s peak, gazing out. The entire Mount Huaguo resembled the bald pate of a Tang Dynasty official—nothing but barren patches:

The mountains were stripped of flowers and grass, the sky devoid of clouds and mist; crags and rocks had collapsed, the forests and bamboos were scorched and withered.

“What the hell? This is supposed to be Mount Huaguo?” Sun Wukong shaded his eyes with his hand, surveying the desolate, charred land. Not a single monkey was in sight, which filled him with shock and fury. “Who did this?!”

“Chirp, chirp! Grandpa Great Sage! Grandpa Great Sage!” Suddenly, the cries of monkeys rang out, and from the grassy slope at the mountain’s base, seven or eight little monkeys leapt forward, crowding around Sun Wukong and kowtowing repeatedly.

“My children, who the hell did this?! How did my Mount Huaguo end up like this?!” Sun Wukong demanded, seeing the monkeys’ emaciated bodies and tattered clothing, unable to suppress his anger.

“Grandpa Great Sage, back when you caused havoc in Heaven and were taken away, it was the Sage Manifest True Lord Erlang and the Six Brothers of Meishan who set Mount Huaguo ablaze!

The fire raged for seven days and nights, turning the very sky above Mount Huaguo red. We only survived by hiding under the Iron Bridge and behind the waterfall!”

“Damn that three-eyed fiend!” Sun Wukong spat, not knowing why he said “again.”

He looked upon his pitiful monkey kin and the mountain, now nothing but scorched mud and ashes, and was consumed by rage. “Three-eyed freak, if I don’t beat the crap out of you, I’ll take your surname as mine!”

Thinking on, Sun Wukong asked, “If I recall, our Mount Huaguo troop had over forty-seven thousand monkeys. How many are left now?”

The monkeys chattered sorrowfully before replying, “Erlang, the Sage Manifest True Lord, burned and killed most of us. After the flames died, many fled, unable to survive here.

Those who remained hid in the mountains, living off wild grass and fish, but even so, half of us were caught by hunters who came to the mountain. Some were bludgeoned to death, some were skinned and eaten, some were trained to walk on two legs!”

“These wild game-eating beasts—because of them, countless innocent people in the Tang realm fell sick. They deserve nothing less than annihilation!” Sun Wukong cursed, then called out, “Marshals Ma and Liu, Generals Ben and Ba, where are you?”

“Grandpa Great Sage, you’ve finally returned!” Ma, Liu, Ben, and Ba, having heard the young monkeys’ report, hurried over to bow before him.

Sitting at the center, Sun Wukong looked around and asked, “When do those hunters come to Mount Huaguo?”

Marshal Ma replied, “Grandpa Great Sage, no matter the season, they always come to the mountain to hunt us!”

“Very well! Today, I’ll let them taste the feeling of having their brains bashed in!” Sun Wukong ordered, “Children, go fetch ropes. Today I’ll get some laborers for you to play with!”

With that, Sun Wukong leapt to the clouds. From the southern half of Mount Huaguo, he saw drums and gongs resounding—a band of over a thousand men and horses, leading hawks and hounds, bearing sabers and spears, approaching the mountain.

“Cosmos in My Sleeve!” Sun Wukong rolled up his right sleeve, invoking a spell he had learned from Zhen Yuanzi, and swept the thousand men, along with their hawks and dogs, straight into his sleeve.

He then summoned the monkeys, who bound the hunters, hounds, and horses, striping the captives’ clothing for warmth. “Take their clothes for yourselves to keep out the cold. Throw the dead ones to the sea for the fish, keep the living as laborers!

Slaughter the horses and hounds, skin them for boots, salt the meat for later;

Use their bows, arrows, spears, and swords to train your martial skills; collect all their banners for my use!”

After the monkeys finished, Sun Wukong washed and remade the captured banners into one splendid, multicolored flag, upon which he inscribed, “Great Sage Equal to Heaven,” and planted it atop Mount Huaguo.

In the following two or three days, Sun Wukong borrowed divine rain and celestial water from the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, cleansing Mount Huaguo, transplanting countless elms, willows, pines, cypresses, peach, plum, jujube, and apricot trees, restoring the mountain to its former glory.

At last, he solemnly buried the remains of Bai Jingjing at the sunniest spot atop Mount Huaguo’s highest peak.

He planted a golden ginkgo tree before the grave, said to symbolize longevity, prosperity, and good fortune.

As the sun sank scarlet at the edge of the sky, Sun Wukong sat in silence beside the grave for a long time. At last, he sighed softly, “Miss Bai, the truth is, I am not Sun Wukong, much less the Legendary Hero.

I am just Sun Rong, a university student from Yandu in the 21st century.

If I recall correctly, I should have died on June 26, 2018. It was on that day I crossed into the world of ‘Journey to the West’—

Or rather, a world that began anew after ‘A Chinese Odyssey.’

When I first arrived, I was terrified, helpless, bewildered, and yet exhilarated, for I was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong!

But I had no idea what I could do, or should do...

In my heart, I kept telling myself to leave things to fate, but at the critical moment, I was unwilling to accept it. Why should someone else be the player and I the pawn?

Why?!

This question,

I must find the answer to!

And this story,

I will see it through to the end!

You—

If you remember, then give a smile.

If not, then let it be forgotten.

So,

Old Sun departs—”

...

Three days later, at Guanzhou, by the mouth of the Guan River.

The Temple of the Sage Manifest True Lord Erlang was ablaze with incense and bustling with people.

Suddenly, a rainbow-hued auspicious cloud sped from the horizon and in an instant hovered before the temple gates. The spirit judge guarding the door hurried out to greet it, saying, “May I ask which immortal has arrived? Please announce your name so I may inform the deity within!”

“I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven! Tell my dear grandson Erlang to come out and greet me!” Sun Wukong revealed himself, clad in golden armor, the golden cudgel slung across his shoulder, eyes gleaming gold as he swept his gaze below, every inch the fierce predator.

“This is...” Hearing Sun Wukong’s words, the spirit judge realized trouble was at hand and rushed inside to report to Erlang: “Second Lord, trouble! That Great Sage Equal to Heaven from five hundred years ago has returned!”

“What?” Erlang was puzzled. Seeing the judge’s anxious face, he knew something serious was afoot. He and his six brothers hurried out of the temple to find Sun Wukong glowering in the clouds above.

Erlang, perplexed, quickly asked, “Great Sage, aren’t you supposed to be escorting the monk to the West for scriptures? What brings you here to see me?”

“Yang Jian, damn you!” Sun Wukong, spotting his target, wasted no words. He raised the golden cudgel and charged straight at Erlang.

Erlang grew even more bewildered, having no idea what was happening. He could only raise his three-pointed, double-edged halberd and join battle with Sun Wukong, asking as they fought, “Great Sage, what brings you to trouble me?”

“Enough talk! You all come at me together!” Sun Wukong offered no explanation, spinning the cudgel with such ferocity that Erlang’s four lieutenants—Kang An-yu, Zhang Boshi, Li Huanzhang, Yao Gonglin—and the two generals, Guo Shen and Zhi Jian, were all swept into the melee.

“Great Sage, if you don’t stop, don’t blame us for showing no mercy!” Even clay figures have tempers; how much more so Erlang himself?

Seeing Sun Wukong attacking without cause, Erlang grew furious. Wielding his halberd, parrying and thrusting, he fought back fiercely.

The drums thundered in the temple below as 1,200 of Erlang’s soldiers marched out, waving flags and beating gongs, shouting and banging drums, creating such an uproar that even Heaven itself took notice!

Golden light rolled across crimson clouds, auspicious vapors spewed purple mist.

Outside the Southern Heavenly Gate, the Four Heavenly Kings, hearing of lightning and thunder in the mortal realm, dispatched Clairvoyant and Far-Hearing Ear to investigate, soon learning that Erlang and Sun Wukong were locked in battle for reasons unknown.

Alarmed, the Four Heavenly Kings hurried into the Hall of Supreme Harmony to report to the Jade Emperor: “Your Majesty, the True Lord Erlang and Sun Wukong are fighting at the mouth of the Guan River!”

“What?” The Jade Emperor, who had been resting with eyes closed, opened them wide. “Wasn’t that monkey supposed to be escorting the Tang Monk for the pilgrimage? Why has he shown up at Guanzhou fighting Erlang?”

“This... We do not know yet, Your Majesty!” said King Guangmu, Magu Lishou, with embarrassment.

“Then why are you still here?!” The Jade Emperor, now irritated, wondered what use these kings were if they couldn’t even figure out what was happening.

“At once!” Seeing the emperor’s displeasure, the Four Heavenly Kings quickly bowed and scurried out the Southern Gate, hurrying toward the mouth of the Guan River.

“Grand Marshal of the Supreme Polestar, summon the Elder Lord at once,” the Jade Emperor ordered the immortal under the dais.

“At once!” The Grand Marshal bowed, but just as he was about to leave, a kind and harmonious voice sounded from outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony: “No need. This old Daoist has already arrived.”

An immortal with hair as white as a crane’s and the face of a child, holding a dust whisk, entered gracefully. It was none other than the Elder Lord, Taishang Laojun, long resident of the Outer Tushita Palace.