NOVEL WEB Chapter 46 Do Not Neglect
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"So, the six-eared macaque has such divine skills: excellent at listening, able to discern logics, aware of past and future, clear about all things." Ao Yun suddenly realised, and it became clear why her brother wanted her to assign many people to guard it.
If it heard any secrets and found an opportunity to escape, it would be difficult to catch it again."
"Brother, I heard you sprung out from a stone, could it be you're the very first one, the spiritually acute stone monkey?" Ao Yun blinked her eyes, taking interest in Sun Wukong's identity, wanting to probe a little.
Sun Wukong sat upright on the cloud platform, laughing heartily, and said, "Not so."
Although he was born from an immortal stone, he was not a monkey at that time, but transformed by a gust of wind, and by a twist of fate, he became the form of a monkey.
"That's also true."
Ao Yun nodded, "Brother, you have all the divine skills and abilities of the four monkeys, naturally, you do not belong to the mixed breed of the four disorderly monkeys... Right, brother, the four old monkeys under your command, they do seem to be the red-bottomed horse monkey and the bare-backed gibbons from the mixed breed, but they don't seem to have the divine skills you mentioned.
The Marshal Ma Liu Duo only has great strength; the Bengba Two Generals, on the other hand, are eloquent."
Sun Wukong said, "The division of the four monkeys is but a categorization, without Qi cultivation and forging of divinity and power, even if divine skills are innate, they are hard to utilize. I, born from heaven and nurtured by earth, have no mantra, and am just a wild monkey."
Then Ao Yun understood.
Immediately after, Ao Yun went down and instructed everyone to keep a closer watch on the six-eared macaque, to prevent it from causing any troubles.
Meanwhile, Sun Wukong summoned the simulator and scrutinized it carefully, but still could not comprehend it fully.
"To be able to simulate the current me, and encompass all the celestial Buddhas, such predictive spell is truly powerful. However, if it can only simulate, aside from solving some minor troubles, for me, there isn't much use."
For Sun Wukong at the moment, as long as he doesn't act recklessly, whether in the Heavenly Court or on Spirit Mountain, he can avoid the Journey to the West that he had to undergo the first time he used the simulator.
Sun Wukong remembered that when the Heavenly Dao life simulator first bound to him, it vaguely told him, wishing for him to achieve his own true fate.
In the first simulation, he sought teachings from Bodhi, sought the Way and truth, exiled his original heart, and then was suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain. Later, he accompanied the Tang Monk through eighty-one tribulations to become the Victorious Fighting Buddha. In the end, the simulator recognized that he had achieved the true fate, and thus it ended.
In the following two simulations, in the previous one, he was conferred by the Heavenly Court as the Carefree Emperor of the Equal Heavens, and this time, he was titled as the Carefree Sage King and Sovereign of Equal Heavens, Venerated King Buddha, Holy Sage of Heaven and Earth. The simulations did not end but continued, requiring him to terminate them himself.
What exactly is the true fate mentioned by this simulator?
If it is becoming a Buddha as in the first instance, then on the third time, he also became a Buddha, and even as the Venerated King Buddha, Holy Sage of Heaven and Earth. Although there is no hierarchy in Buddha status, in terms of identity, this one indeed carries a little more weight than the Victorious Fighting Buddha.
However, the simulation continued even after being conferred by Tathagata.
Could it be that these two titles from the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain, the Carefree Sage King and Sovereign of Equal Heavens, Venerated King Buddha, Holy Sage of Heaven and Earth, aren't the true fate in this simulator?
Sun Wukong reflected thoughtfully, murmured to himself, "The first simulation, where I, with a firm will to seek the Way, to exile my original heart, and then to find back my true nature on the Journey to the West, that was a true fate."
"And now, my destiny is already different, and moreover, I have been titled as the Eastern Leisurely Spirit King. So, my true fate is this Huaguo Mountain."
"Most likely so."
Realizing this, Sun Wukong got up, ready to step out of the Shuilian Cave to have a good look at Huaguo Mountain.
Speaking of which, since the city was built, he had begun to work harder only recently. At other times, he would mostly travel and play, using only a hair avatar to scout until Ao Yun came. Then he gradually retracted his hair avatars.
Now, as the Eastern Leisurely Spirit King, even if those Demon Kings had thoughts, they would, for the sake of his favor, join the immortal ranks, pushing their small schemes to the very bottom...
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Huaguo Mountain, Shuisheng Cave.
This place was originally the dwelling of a disorderly Demon King, but after the Demon King submitted to Sun Wukong and changed his name to Shuisheng, this place did not establish a city like the other Demon King's dwellings in Huaguo Mountain. Instead, a mine was dug.
Because here lied a cold iron mine.
Cold iron is one of the main materials for forging divine weapons. Even a little bit of cold iron powder mixed into an ordinary weapon can turn it into a divine weapon.
Therefore, cold iron is of extraordinary value, and each pound could be traded for a thousand silver-patterned coins.
The six-eared macaque's pipa bones were penetrated by chains, which bound its entire body, and it was pressed down here by two monkey soldiers with a small tag hanging around its neck, labelled "3676" – a number.
"Brothers, who might this be?"
An expansive-bodied fat boar demon approached; he was the overseer of the cold iron mine. Under him were a group of demons from various races, who supervised the mining of the condemned demons.
Why from various races? T*h%is& chapter is from the co-l-l.e$ct%i%o@n* at M%-V.L-$EM.-&PY.R.%
First, for the sake of harmony; with a myriad of spirits in Huaguo Mountain, they should cooperate with each other.
Secondly, different races can monitor each other and reduce all kinds of corruption.
And in this mine, not only are there demons, but humans as well.
Those who violated Huaguo Mountain's laws would be sent here for labor reform.
Even, there were refugees from overseas, who smuggled into Huaguo Mountain, just to mine here. After all, as long as they were not lazy, three meals a day would not be neglected, they even had meat to eat.
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Then, once these refugees have served their sentences, Huaguo Mountain will give them two options: one is to send them away from Huaguo Mountain, and the other is to help them arrange credentials to live in the cities of Huaguo Mountain.
Most of the refugees who came to Huaguo Mountain voluntarily choose the latter.
Apart from these humans, there are also non-human warriors who come here to train, battling with the monsters to hone their skills.
But even the monsters have their rights. Sun Wukong, the ruler of Huaguo Mountain, stipulates that even if human warriors pay money, they cannot be allowed to wantonly kill these mining monsters with crimes.
Therefore, these warriors intentionally breach Huaguo Mountain's rules and then come here to mine. Afterwards, they spend their free time challenging these fierce monsters.
During their bouts, overseers keep vigilant watch, ready to intervene should things go too far.
After all, aside from Sun Wukong's rules, these creatures are all mining workers. If a few were injured, productivity would surely decline.
Huaguo Mountain is currently in a period of development, urgently in need of this cold iron ore to forge a large number of divine weapons.
"This one is an outsider monkey demon who caused a disturbance in front of Shuilian Cave. He was captured by the second king, pierced through the shoulder blades, and sentenced to three hundred years of mining here," a monkey soldier said. "This six-eared monkey is now your responsibility to oversee. Make sure he doesn't escape."
"Do not worry, elder brothers, I, Zhu San, will assuredly not let him slip away," declared the boar named Zhu San, pounding his chest, as he assured the two monkey soldiers.
"Then we leave it to you."
"We're leaving."
The two monkey soldiers departed and Zhu San, his belly protruding, approached the Six-Eared Macaque to give him a look and said, "Indeed six ears, remarkable, most remarkable."
"What is your name?"
"Where do you come from?"
The Six-Eared Macaque watched Zhu San coldly and laughed, "Untie these chains and let me go, and when I do, I'll appoint you as the Boar General, to live a merry, carefree life in the Northern Jambu Continent. Wouldn't that be grand?"
"So you are a demon from the Northern Jambu Continent."
Zhu San slapped his belly, his small eyes darting around as he chuckled, "But once you've committed a crime in Huaguo Mountain, don't think about leaving. Just mine obediently for three hundred years. To think you dared to cause such a commotion in front of Shuilian Cave, you truly seem tired of living."
After that, Zhu San led the Six-Eared Macaque to a row of low buildings outside the mine.
As far as the eye could see, there were rows of small square houses.
He entered one and found a small house with the numbers 3676 on the doorplate. He said to the Six-Eared Macaque, "The previous 'guest' of this room has been released upon completing his sentence. You'll reside here now, the small tag around your neck is the key."
Having said that, Zhu San took the tag off the neck of the Six-Eared Macaque, inserted it into the small hole in the door, and turned it clockwise.
The door creaked open.
The interior space was small, with a bed, a wooden barrel, and a washstand.
"That barrel is for your waste, the washstand has a handle—just twist it slightly, and water will come out," Zhu San explained. "Also, you need to clean the toilet every day yourself."
The Six-Eared Macaque let out a cold laugh, clearly indifferent to Zhu San's directions.
Zhu San didn't pay him any mind and proceeded to take him to the mining field, where he changed into the miners' clothing—a grey-white outfit bearing the numbers "3676."
"Follow those wearing the same clothes as you into the cave to mine. The chill from the cold iron ore is piercing; each person is only required to mine ten pounds a day. Any excess can be traded for money, which you can then spend at the nearby mining market to purchase some corresponding goods."
With a bamboo basket on his back and a shovel in hand, the Six-Eared Macaque followed others into the mine, where every five meters stood a guard. He had no opportunity to slack off.
"Pfft, just you wait Sun Wukong, Dragon Princess, once I get out, I'll tear you to pieces!" The Six-Eared Macaque swore silently in his heart; this vengeance must be exacted, or he wouldn't be the Six-Eared Macaque!
Outside the mine, Ao Yun personally arrived, seeking out the overseer Zhu San.
"Second king, what brings you here?"
Zhu San hurried over, face fawning, "What's the issue? You could've sent someone to inform me, why come in person?"
Ao Yun said, "This matter is of great importance. You must keep a tight watch on the Six-Eared Macaque. Assign extra people to monitor him while he mines, undertake a daily search of his person, and note down everything he does. Let not a single detail be missed, understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
Zhu San trembled, nodding respectfully.
However, he couldn't quite understand—was an ordinary Six-Eared Macaque, rendered powerless with pierced shoulder blades and sealed mana, incapable of using Divine Skills or spells, worth such caution from the second king?
"This matter pertains to your very lives; do not be negligent."
"Yes, sir!"