Sun Wukong scratched his head and cried out, "Didn’t Taibai say that my official rank was already of the highest grade? Who could be higher than me?"
His eyes flashed fiercely as he said, "Could he be deceiving me?"
Bai Jin said, "Wukong, follow me!" and turned to walk to the side.
Sun Wukong hesitated for a moment, then followed, feeling a familiar aura emanating from this person.
"Hey~ do you recognize me, Old Sun?"
"Of course I recognize you! But you don’t recognize me."
Bai Jin took Sun Wukong directly out of the East Heavenly Gate, riding on a cloud to the East Sea Huaguo Mountain, which used to be filled with Immortal Spirit Qi but now was shrouded in a rolling Demon Cloud, with demons brandishing knives and sticks fiercely.
"The Great King has returned~"
The Seventy-two Cave Demon Kings came out to welcome him.
Many monkeys also jumped onto the fruit trees, excitedly shouting, "Great King~ Great King~"
Sun Wukong raised his head, puffed out his chest, and waved his hands while laughing, "My children, your Great King is back~"
General Beng, and General Ba, riding on a cloud, came up.
General Beng joyfully shouted, "Great King, are you not leaving again this time?"
Sun Wukong instinctively looked towards Bai Jin.
Bai Jin said indifferently, "Let them disperse!"
Sun Wukong waved his hands and shouted, "Disperse, disperse, all of you disperse!"
The Seventy-two Cave Demon Kings, along with many from the Monkey Clan, all gave Bai Jin a few glances, then dispersed.
Bai Jin and Sun Wukong descended from the cloud, landing on Huaguo Mountain, walking towards Shuilian Cave along the mountain path.
Bai Jin, while walking, lamented, "I didn’t expect that after just a few years, Huaguo Mountain has already changed to this state."
Sun Wukong, struck by a thought, asked, "Hey~ have you been to Huaguo Mountain before?"
"How come Old Sun doesn’t remember seeing you?"
Bai Jin smiled and said, "When I came, you weren’t here!"
"Could it be that you came during the years when Old Sun was learning his skills?"
"Strange, who exactly are you?" Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
"You’ll know in a moment!"
Sun Wukong followed Bai Jin, hopping and jumping to the front of Shuilian Cave, where the waterfall cascaded down, crashing into the pond with a roaring sound.
Sun Wukong boasted proudly, "Inside here is my Shuilian Cave, the blessed land of Huaguo Mountain, a cave heaven, carefree and at ease, where in the Three Realms can compare?"
"Do you know to whom this Shuilian Cave originally belonged?"
Sun Wukong proudly exclaimed, "Heaven bestowed it on Old Sun."
Bai Jin stretched out his hand, slicing through the air in front of him, and boom~ the waterfall ceased flowing, the upper part congealed, the lower part crashing into the Cold Pond below, revealing a huge cave entrance, from which came the chattering voices of monkeys, poking their heads out in alarm.
Above the entrance of Shuilian Cave floated four large characters: Gouchen’s Garden!
Sun Wukong widened his eyes in surprise and exclaimed, "How could there be characters here?" He scratched his ears and cheeks, truly puzzled; usually going in and out of the Cave Mansion was through water, he had never noticed characters here before.
Bai Jin chuckled and said, "Wukong, now do you know the origin of this Cave Mansion?"
Sun Wukong’s eyes darted around and he immediately shook his head and said, "I don’t know! Are these just some characters? How would I, Old Sun, know?"
Bai Jin pointed at a large character above and pronounced slowly, "Gouchen’s Garden, this is Emperor Gouchen’s residence in the mortal world."
Sun Wukong subconsciously frowned and pondered, muttering, "Emperor Gouchen, this title sounds so familiar."
A lightning bolt struck his mind, and he blurted out, "Emperor Gouchen Bai Jin was here!"
Excitedly, he exclaimed, "I remember, I, Old Sun, remember, it’s him, it’s him, it was indeed him!"
Sun Wukong grabbed Bai Jin’s arm and asked excitedly, "Do you know Emperor Gouchen? You must know him, right? Take me to meet him."
Bai Jin smiled and said, "I know!"
Sun Wukong asked urgently, "Where is he?"
"Far at the horizon, yet close right before your eyes!"
Sun Wukong was stunned, quickly let go, and looked at Bai Jin somewhat flustered, excitedly saying, "It’s you, it was you taking care of me back then, you were the one imparting the Tao to me!"
Bai Jin was speechless inside, when did I take care of you? What kind of plot is this monkey imagining?
He restrained a smile and said, "This Huaguo Mountain was originally my garden in the mortal world, I would occasionally come down to play.
The last time I came to the mortal world, I happened to discover a Spirit Stone conceived at the mountain top, nurtured by the Creation of Heaven and Earth into a stone fetus. Since you were conceived in Huaguo Mountain, there is a fate between us, teaching you a bit of the Tao was also worthwhile for this connection."
Sun Wukong hurriedly straightened his clothes, nervous, it was Emperor Gouchen who first showed kindness to him before he was born, and who first gave him warmth.
In Sun Wukong’s heart, Emperor Gouchen had a very special place, awkwardly bowing he said, "Thank you, I, Old Sun, thank you."
"There’s no need to be nervous!"
Bai Jin chuckled and said, "This time in the Heavenly Court stopping you, I just wanted to see what that stone fetus has become."
Sun Wukong felt even more uncomfortable, with his monkey face turning red; he had just yelled at him.
The stagnant waterfall suddenly got moving, with tons of water suddenly pouring down, crashing loudly into the lake below.
Sun Wukong suddenly remembered, he was still occupying Shuilian Cave; if it were anyone else, with Sun Wukong’s nature he would just occupy it, but this was Emperor Gouchen who had taken care of him before his birth, his only kin, holding a place in his heart like a father.
Sun Wukong hurriedly said, "Emperor, I... I will move the children out of Shuilian Cave."
Bai Jin chuckled and said, "No need, this Shuilian Cave and Huaguo Mountain were always meant to be left for you."
Sun Wukong anxiously exclaimed, "How could that be? This is your Huaguo Mountain."
"No, this is your Huaguo Mountain."
Bai Jin’s figure faded, turning into a wisp of blue smoke and disappearing.
Sun Wukong quickly called out, "Emperor~" Turning around and looking everywhere, he shouted loudly, "Emperor~" but there was no longer a trace of Bai Jin.
Hearing Sun Wukong’s shouts, General Beng and General Ba hastened over.
Both monkeys quickly said, "Great King~"
"Great King, what are you calling out for?"
Emperor Gouchen must definitely be in the Heavenly Court, Sun Wukong immediately said, "You two watch over Huaguo Mountain, I, Old Sun, am off~"
Sun Wukong soared straight up, did a somersault over Huaguo Mountain, and disappeared in an instant.
Above Huaguo Mountain, General Beng whispered, "I heard the Great King calling ’Big Emperor,’ does our Great King have a brother?"
General Ba pondered for a moment and said, "Probably not!"
Bai Jin returned to the Bird’s Nest, washed a plate of fruit, sat by the swimming pool, and started eating leisurely, unable to suppress a smile. Initially, he just wanted to see if he could form a master-disciple relationship with Sun Wukong; although they did not establish a master-disciple bond, there was an unexpected gain, which seemed pretty good too.