"I've thought about it, but I've decided against it. You can just keep him locked up!"
Xiao Ning pretended to ponder for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly.
------------
Chapter 11 Releasing the Monkeys [8k]
At the foot of Five Elements Mountain.
Upon hearing Xiao Ning's words, the monkey immediately became anxious.
"No!"
"Big brother... no, grandpa!"
"Let me out, and I promise I will never retaliate against him. I swear to the heavens!"
"What happened back then is completely forgotten. I've long forgotten about it, I really have!"
Having been imprisoned in this godforsaken place for over six hundred years, the first hundred years or so were alright. Humans would appear every now and then, and occasionally we could hear their conversations to relieve our boredom.
Later, this place gradually became desolate and rarely visited by humans. Apart from wild animals and monkeys in the mountains, they had not seen any trace of humans for more than three hundred years.
As for the Earth God and the Five Directions Protector?
This place is too desolate; even the local earth god couldn't survive here and applied to be transferred elsewhere long ago. A new earth god hasn't been recruited yet.
The Five Directions Protectors are powerful guardian deities of the five directions in Buddhism, similar to the Yellow Turban Warriors in Taoism.
They are just robots that only follow pre-programmed procedures and have no intelligence!
After living such a miserable life for hundreds of years, and being so bored that he was practically in despair, Sun Wukong was almost at his wit's end.
Now that there's finally a glimmer of hope for escaping its predicament, it's so excited it could jump for joy. It would call anyone "big brother" or "grandpa" without hesitation.
"You really want to come out?"
Xiao Ning turned his head to stare at it and asked.
"think!"
Sun Wukong answered without hesitation, his tone firm and powerful.
"Alright, swear it!"
Xiao Ning nodded and said calmly.
"Alright, alright, I, Old Sun, swear... Oh, right, sir, what was that human kid's name again? I've forgotten!"
Sun Wukong was overjoyed and immediately raised his right hand to swear an oath, but then he suddenly remembered that he didn't even know Wang Mang's name.
"His name is Wang Mang. Thanks to you, he's still alive and well! Just say you won't take revenge on Wang Mang and his descendants, and that'll be enough!"
Xiao Ning looked at the monkey suspiciously, wondering if it had even forgotten its name.
That shouldn't be the case. How could a monkey have such a broad mind?
"Alright, I, Sun Wukong, swear to the Heavenly Dao that I will never intentionally seek revenge against the human brat Wang Mang or his descendants!"
"If I break this oath, may my spirit be tainted and I be condemned to eternal reincarnation!"
The monkey grinned and immediately pointed to the sky, swearing an oath.
Then, it looked at Xiao Ning with pleading eyes and said, "Grandpa, I've finished making my solemn oath, can you let me out now?"
"You bastard, I keep my word, I'll let you out right now!"
Xiao Ning nodded, and did not break his promise to play tricks on it.
He stood up, took a step, and arrived at the summit of Five Elements Mountain.
A talisman emanating an aura of infinite mystery and supreme power appeared before them, seemingly eternal and indestructible, suppressing the entire universe.
The top has six large cloud-patterned characters written on it: Om Mani Padme Hum!
This is the six-syllable mantra that Buddha used to suppress the monkey for over six hundred years.
In the original story, Xuanzang, an ordinary mortal, simply peeled off the curse scroll with a light touch, thus freeing Sun Wukong.
But in reality, it's never that simple.
Otherwise, Sun Wukong only needed to call a mortal to come up the mountain to help him remove the mask, and he would have been freed long ago. Why would he have been imprisoned for so long?
This incantation can only be unveiled by highly virtuous monks who are well-versed in Buddhism, and only by those whose spiritual attainment surpasses that of the Tathagata.
Unfortunately, Xiao Ning does not fit either of these criteria.
He has never believed in Buddhism, nor has he ever studied Buddhist scriptures, so he naturally cannot be said to be proficient in Buddhist teachings.
He was able to defeat Tathagata because of the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique he cultivated; his own cultivation and realm were lower than Tathagata's.
However, since he dared to tell Sun Wukong to release him, he was certainly not just spouting nonsense.
Concentrating on the incantation scroll, Xiao Ning flew into the air, reached out and made a sweeping motion, and a dark hole appeared in front of him.
The black hole emitted an endless suction force, and the opening grew larger and larger until it completely surrounded the top of Wuxing Mountain before stopping.
With a thought, Xiao Ning caused the cave entrance to descend, like a gigantic maw that swallowed the summit of Five Elements Mountain.