Kidnapping the entire Journey to the West, starting by turning Sun Wukong against his own side.

Chapter 9: Kidnapping Tang Sanzang

Inside the Water Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong was lounging on a tiger-skin chair with his legs crossed, eating peaches of immortality while listening to his little monkeys report on the progress of the reconstruction of Flower Fruit Mountain. He was having a great time.

Hearing Chen Fan's urgent voice, he sat up with a start.

"What's the matter that you're in such a panic?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chen Fan rushed in like a gust of wind.

"Great Sage, we've been tricked!" Chen Fan said bluntly, his face grim.

Sun Wukong frowned: "What do you mean? Who dares to play tricks on me, Old Sun?"

"Those bald monks from the Western Paradise!" Chen Fan gritted his teeth. "They think you're hard to control, so they're planning to find a fake to replace you!"

"Fake?" Sun Wukong was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding.

"They found a monster called the Six-Eared Macaque, intending to have him transform into your likeness to protect that Tang Dynasty monk on his journey to the West to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures!"

Chen Fan quickly recounted what the system had told him in his own words.

"Bang!"

The wine cup in Sun Wukong's hand was crushed into dust. He suddenly stood up, his demonic aura soaring into the sky, and his golden hair stood on end.

"He dares?!"

"I, Old Sun, am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven! The one and only Monkey King in the world!"

"What Six-Eared Macaque? What cat or dog dares to impersonate me, Old Sun?!"

Sun Wukong was furious, and his violent killing intent made the entire Water Curtain Cave tremble.

"I'm going to Mount Ling right now, twist off that Six-Eared Macaque's head and kick it around like a ball! I'll also ask that old Buddha if he's taking advantage of me, Old Sun, for being weak!"

As he spoke, he was about to pick up his stick and ride his somersault cloud towards the Western Paradise.

"Great Sage, wait!" Chen Fan grabbed him.

"If you go now, won't you be falling right into their trap?" Chen Fan said anxiously. "If you leave, they can send that fake monkey to meet up with Tang Sanzang. By then, it will be too late. Even if you manage to storm Mount Ling, what can you do?"

"Then the entire Three Realms will think that it was you, Sun Wukong, who was protecting Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West. All the merit and good fortune will go to Buddhism and that fake monkey! You'll be caught in the middle!"

Sun Wukong stopped moving.

He may be impulsive, but he's not stupid.

Chen Fan's words instantly calmed him down.

Yes, by making a scene themselves, they've given counterfeit goods the opportunity to rise to prominence.

"Then tell me, what should we do?!" Sun Wukong scratched his head anxiously. "Are we just going to stand by and watch that imposter use my name to swindle and deceive people?"

"Of course not!" A ruthless glint flashed in Chen Fan's eyes.

"Didn't they want to go on a pilgrimage to obtain Buddhist scriptures? Didn't they need a pilgrim to do so?"

"Let's tie up that pilgrim!"

"Without the monks on their pilgrimage, I'd like to see what that fake monkey can protect on his journey to the Western Paradise!"

"Tie up that monk?"

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up instantly, and he slapped his thigh and burst into laughter.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

"Dude, you're absolutely brilliant! That's called 'cutting off the fuel supply'! That's what you call it!"

"Let them prepare those fake monkeys, let's just take over the whole thing!"

Sun Wukong was so excited that he did several somersaults on the spot. His previous anger was completely gone, replaced by a face full of eagerness.

"Where is that monk now?" Sun Wukong asked.

"Judging by the time, he shouldn't have set off yet. He should be in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, in the Southern Continent," Chen Fan said.

"Alright! What are we waiting for!" Sun Wukong shouldered the imitation iron cudgel. "Brother, let's go to Chang'an now and bring that monk back to our Flower Fruit Mountain!"

"Wait," Chen Fan stopped him again.

"What's wrong now?" Sun Wukong asked, puzzled.

"Great Sage, Chang'an City is under the rule of the Human Emperor, a place where dragon energy gathers, and it is no small matter. If we go there in such a grand manner, we will probably be discovered before we even enter the city," Chen Fan explained.

"Moreover, Tang Sanzang is the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, an important figure in Buddhism. He must be protected by Buddhist teachings, so it wouldn't be easy to find him among thousands of people."

"This won't work, that won't work, this is such a hassle!" Sun Wukong scratched his head.

"I have a way," Chen Fan said with a mysterious smile.

He silently said to himself, "System, open the store."

The 1000 pilgrimage points I just earned from completing the task are now coming in handy.

Soon, an item appeared before his eyes.

【Product: Celestial Compass (Disposable Consumable)】

[Effect: Can pinpoint the location of the person most closely connected to a major celestial event, ignoring all concealment and disguise.]

[Price: 1000 Journey Points.]

"This is it!"

"exchange!"

[Ding! Exchange successful, Journey to the West Points reset to zero.]

A bronze compass, about the size of a palm and covered with intricate patterns, appeared in Chen Fan's hand.

Chen Fan channeled his magical power into the compass, silently chanting, "The pilgrim to the West, Tang Sanzang!"

The compass needle began to spin wildly, and finally, with a "whoosh," it suddenly pointed southwest.

"Found it!" Chen Fan exclaimed with delight.

"However, we can't just go and tie them up directly." Chen Fan looked at the compass and came up with another plan.

"Great Sage, let's try a different game."

"What kind of game is it?" Sun Wukong asked curiously as he approached.

Chen Fan lowered his voice and whispered a few words to Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong beamed with joy and nodded repeatedly.

"Great idea! Great idea! Let's do it this way!"

"This way, we can not only get our hands on the monks, but also leave those bald monks in the Buddhist order with no way to complain!"

The two had reached an agreement and decided not to delay any longer.

Chen Fan transformed into a handsome, refined young Taoist priest, holding a whisk and exuding an air of otherworldly elegance.

Sun Wukong transformed into an inconspicuous bee and landed on Chen Fan's Taoist crown.

"Let's go, Great Sage, to Chang'an City and lure you into our trap!"

Chen Fan smiled slightly, his feet barely touching the ground, and walked unhurriedly towards Chang'an City.

A massive conspiracy targeting the pilgrims was thus set in motion.

Meanwhile, in Chang'an City, inside the Huasheng Temple, a handsome young monk with a red mole between his eyebrows had just finished his morning prayers.

His name was Chen Xuanzang, and he knew nothing of the fate that was about to befall him.

Chang'an City.

As the center of the human race's destiny in the Southern Continent, the entire city is shrouded in a vast and powerful aura of the Human Emperor's dragon.

This dragon energy has an extremely strong suppressive effect on immortals, gods, demons, and monsters.

Let alone a great demon like Sun Wukong, even the righteous gods of the Heavenly Court would have to restrain their magical powers and obediently abide by the rules of the mortal world when they arrived here.

This is why Buddha wanted the Tang Dynasty in the East to believe in Buddhism; it was the West's encroachment on the East.

The young Taoist priest that Chen Fan had transformed into felt an invisible pressure as soon as he stepped into the gates of Chang'an.

The flow of magical power within his body became much more sluggish.

"Good heavens, this Emperor's Dragon Aura truly lives up to its reputation," Chen Fan thought to himself.

The bees on his Taoist hat buzzed, and Sun Wukong's somewhat impatient voice came through: "Brother, this awful place is suffocating, I, Old Sun, feel uncomfortable all over. Let's hurry up and tie that monk up and get out of here!"

"Great Sage, don't be hasty," Chen Fan transmitted his voice. "To make a move in a place like this is tantamount to provoking the fate of the entire human race. At that point, let alone kidnapping people, it's hard to say whether we can even get out of here."

"What should we do then? I, Old Sun, don't have the patience to dawdle here!"

"I have a clever plan."

Chen Fan smiled slightly and took out the bronze compass.

With the infusion of magic, the compass needle spun rapidly, finally pointing steadily in a direction west of the city.

"Found it, at Huasheng Temple."

Chen Fan put away the compass and walked slowly toward Huasheng Temple.

Instead of going in directly, he found an open space on the busiest street corner opposite Huasheng Temple.

Then, he took out a table and a banner from his storage space that read "The Great Way is formless, specializing in solving difficult and complicated diseases, free of charge," and set up his stall in a swaggering manner.

Even Sun Wukong was dumbfounded.

"Brother, what are you doing? Weren't we here to kidnap someone? How come we're doing business together?"

"Great Sage, you don't understand," Chen Fan laughed. "By force, we're doing the worst thing. I want him to come with us willingly."

As he spoke, he took out several jade bottles from his pocket, which were the low-grade pills he had looted from the Black Wind Monster and the Guanyin Temple.

He opened a bottle, and a fragrant aroma filled the air.

"Don't miss out! This ancestral elixir cures all ailments! Lower back pain, leg aches, weakness, and kidney deficiency—one pill is all it takes!"

"The first ten people will receive it for free, it's completely free!"