Upon hearing that the weapons were gone, Zhu Bajie immediately jumped out and asked loudly, "Is my rake still there?"
Hearing Zhu Bajie’s accusation, the three princes all became anxious and said, "All three weapons are gone. Have the masters really not taken them?"
"Could it be that the masters are deliberately hiding them on their persons to fool their disciples?"
said the three princes.
Sun Wukong frowned, then said in a serious tone, "We really haven’t taken them. Why would we fool you? Since that is so, let’s all go and look for them!"
With that, a group of people hurried to the workshed and asked the craftsmen about the situation. Zhu Bajie became furious and said, "It must be these craftsmen who, upon seeing our treasures, harbored thievish thoughts, stealing our weapons out of self-guarding larceny. Confess immediately!"
The craftsmen, hearing this, quickly knelt down on the ground and incessantly kowtowed, begging for mercy, "We are truly wronged, masters. We have worked hard for days on end and were asleep last night. By the time we woke up, the masters’ treasures had all disappeared. We, mere mortals, cannot possibly move the treasures of the masters. We implore the masters to see the truth and not to wrong the innocent!"
With a look of annoyance, Sun Wukong said, "It is our negligence too. Since the craftsmen had already seen the designs, we should have taken back the weapons and kept them by our sides."
"Leaving the treasures here, with their radiant lights and colors, would unavoidably attract the covetous. Surely some evildoers were disturbed and stole them under cover of darkness."
Zhu Bajie disagreed, saying, "What nonsense Brother Monkey speaks. Here is a city among men, a world of peace, not some wild wasteland. Where could evil-doers come from? I am certain it is these blacksmiths who’ve taken our treasures and hidden them."
Frightened, the blacksmiths kept kowtowing and swearing their innocence, claiming they’d been wronged.
The noise here alarmed the King of Yuhua, who hurried over and was informed of the matter.
After pondering for a long while, King of Yuhua then said, "Please calm yourselves, divine masters. Your weapons are not ordinary and may not even be moved by hundreds of men. Furthermore, as the king of this city for five generations, I do not boast without merit. My name carries weight even beyond these borders, and the military, craftsmen, and citizens here have a healthy fear of my laws and would not dare to commit such thievery. Please, divine masters, use your discernment."
Smiling, Sun Wukong said, "Prince speaks the truth. Old Sun is not one to be unreasonable. This matter truly has nothing to do with these blacksmiths."
"Prince, may I ask, nearby Yuhua Province, are there any mountain monsters?" After pondering for a while, the King of Yuhua replied, "Inside my Yuhua Province, peace has always reigned, and we’ve not heard of any monsters."
"However, about seventy li straight north of this city, there is a Leopard Head Mountain, atop which lies a Tiger’s Mouth Cave. Previously, there were rumors that there were immortals in that cave. Others have claimed it to be home to wolves, tigers, leopards, and serpents, while yet others say it’s a group of demons. As to what exactly resides there, I have not conducted a thorough investigation, so I am not entirely clear."
Nodding, Sun Wukong said, "Immortals, I think, are most likely a group of demons. No need to discuss further, for sure it is those evildoers. They saw the radiant splendor coming from the Royal Palace by night, and thus, harboring evil intentions, stole our treasures under the cover of darkness."
Sand Monk nodded and said, "Big brother is right!"
Zhu Bajie couldn’t help but give Sand Monk a sideways glance and said irritably, "Besides saying ’big brother is right!’ what else can you say?"
"Second Senior Brother is right!" Sand Monk said earnestly.
Stifled by the retort, Zhu Bajie rolled his eyes but was too lazy to argue with him, and quickly said, "Since we know the thieves are the monsters from Leopard Head Mountain, what are we waiting for? Let’s go up Leopard Head Mountain and take back our treasures!"
Sand Monk spoke up, "Second Senior Brother is not right!"
"What’s wrong again? Junior Brother Sand, can you stop flip-flopping?" Zhu Bajie said irritably.
Quickly, Sand Monk said, "We are weaponless now. How can we fight those monsters? What if we encounter strong monsters and get captured instead of defeating them? That would be disastrous. Hence, we should properly discuss a plan."
Sun Wukong nodded, "Junior Brother Sand speaks sensibly. Though Old Sun isn’t feeling timid without the Jingu Bang, my strength certainly isn’t what it was with it."
Previously with the Jingu Bang, using a third of my strength was comparable to five parts without it.
Before I used the Jingu Bang, it was natural to do without it, but once I had it, it became second nature.
Now, suddenly without it, of course, I feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"So, you all protect Master here, while Old Sun goes out to survey the situation. Once the facts are clear, it won’t be too late to plan."
"Brother Monkey is more cautious. Go ahead!"
Zhu Bajie said, smiling as he heard that Sun Wukong was going to scout.
"Big brother, can’t you calculate a bit? This demon dared to steal our treasures; he must be somewhat troublesome!"
Sand Monk expressed his worries.
He was concerned that the demon, since daring to take them, must also know about them and might seize the opportunity to target their master.
"Junior Brother Sand, what do you mean? You want to check on that demon?"
Zhu Bajie continued, "It’s not a bad idea! You go check, Junior Brother Sand."