Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong remembered that in his previous life, it was the Netherworld's Ox-Head and Horse-Face that came to take his soul. Why had it changed to Black and White Impermanence this time?

While Sun Wukong was muttering to himself in his heart, Black and White Impermanence had already made their move. White Impermanence flung the Soul Hooking Chains towards Sun Wukong, which "swooshed" into his body, causing his divine soul to shake violently, as if it was about to leave his body. He quickly circulated his Mysterious Power to suppress it.

"Strange, why can't it be pulled out?"

White Impermanence furrowed his brow and tried to operate the Soul Hooking Chains again, but to no avail. Sun Wukong's soul was as stable as Mount Tai within his body, refusing to be pulled out.

"Could it be that his hour has not yet come, thus his soul is stable and can't be pulled out?"

Black Impermanence also furrowed his brow. This was the first time they had encountered a situation where the Soul Hooking Chains could not extract a soul. "Even if his hour has not come, our Soul Hooking Chains should still be able to forcibly extract his soul, right? This is really strange!"

Black Impermanence shook the Soul Summoning Banner in his hand, and strange music rang out again, but this time Sun Wukong was prepared. Despite appearing to be in a deep slumber, the Eight-Nine Profound Skill inside him firmly blocked the sound waves and he was not affected.

Black and White Impermanence were out of options. They were Netherworld officials with limited strength, having not even reached the Earth Immortal Realm. They relied on the Soul Hooking Chains and the Soul Summoning Banner, their tools of soul extraction. If these tools were ineffective, they had no other means.

"If this won't do, we'll have to take him and his physical body back together and let Judge use his pen to separate them."

White Impermanence suggested.

"That sounds like a plan, it seems that's the only option."

After contemplating for a while, Black Impermanence nodded. The two moved forward, lifted Sun Wukong from the couch left and right, and walked into the vortex. A cold wind rose again, and the vortex slowly shrank into the ground, disappearing from sight.

In the Netherworld, on the road of Yellow Springs, a vortex appeared, and Black and White Impermanence emerged carrying Sun Wukong.

"This is just unfortunate. If we had known earlier, we wouldn't have taken this job for Ox-Head and Horse-Face. This monkey is dead heavy. Bringing him to the City of Unjust Deaths will exhaust so much of our ghostly force!"

Black Impermanence grumbled unhappily. For them, soul fetching had always been a routine task, but this time, taking both the physical body and the soul into the Netherworld was not so simple. It required a significant amount of mana, known as ghostly force in the Netherworld.

This was already about bringing the physical body of a person from the world of the living. If they were to send him back, probably only the Ten Yama Lords would have the power to do so. Small underworld soldiers like Black and White Impermanence were not capable of that.

"It's only because I lost the bet yesterday. I can only accept the loss. Besides, we didn't know it was going to be such a tough job beforehand. Let's hurry and finish this task at the City of Unjust Deaths, then ask Ox-Head and Horse-Face for compensation!"

White Impermanence sighed and also displayed a helpless expression.

As they were lamenting, they heard a mocking laugh beside them, "What kind of compensation? Shouldn't I, Old Sun, get a share first?"

"Mommy!"

Black and White Impermanence were startled and let go of Sun Wukong's arms. They leapt two meters away, widened their eyes in disbelief, and stared at the mocking and sneering Sun Wukong. Their eyelids twitched and their mouths twitched uncontrollably, "You, how are you fine?"

"Who says Old Sun is fine? This is serious trouble!"

Sun Wukong's expression suddenly darkened. He darted toward Black and White Impermanence, grabbed their shoulders with both hands, "Old Sun was sleeping soundly, and you two audacious little ghosts dared to try to capture Old Sun's soul. When that didn't work, you directly brought Old Sun to this Netherworld. Who gave you the courage? Speak!"

"Immortal, spare our lives! We were just following orders!"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Black and White Impermanence cried out in pain as Sun Wukong grabbed them, unable to move as if clamped by iron hoops, screaming for mercy.

"Following orders? What a great 'following orders'! Whose orders? Take Old Sun to him! Old Sun would like to see which guy has the guts to mess with Old Sun!"

Sun Wukong growled fiercely and with a shove, he pushed Black and White Impermanence to the ground. He kicked both of them, forcing them to get up and lead the way. They dared not resist and obediently got up, leading Sun Wukong along the Yellow Springs road toward the City of Unjust Deaths.

Internally, they cursed the ancestors of Ox-Head and Horse-Face who asked for their help, nearly swearing through all eighteen generations. It was those two rascals who wanted to switch shifts with them; otherwise, how could they have encountered such a calamity like Sun Wukong?

Today, they might just lose their ghostly lives!

Looking at Black and White Impermanence's mournful faces, as if their parents had died, Sun Wukong secretly chuckled. He, of course, knew that it was the Ten Yama Lords who had ordered his soul to be fetched according to the Book of Life and Death, but what of it? The ghost messengers of the Netherworld always bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Giving them a taste of their own medicine was only right!

"What's with this speed? You're like turtles! Now, which way to go?"

From the moment he entered the Netherworld to the City of Undead, there was a long road through the Yellow Springs, and at the pace of Black and White Impermanence, it would likely take a day and a night. Sun Wukong did not have the patience to waste time with them and immediately whipped up a gale to envelop them both, speeding along the road to the City of Undead in a whirlwind flight.

Using the Somersault Cloud could have made them even faster, but the skies of the Netherworld were shrouded with Chaotic Nether Thunder, blocking the connection line to the World of the Living. Flying too high would subject them to the bombardment of the Chaotic Nether Thunder. Thus, Sun Wukong could only ride the wind and use the Divine Skill of Shrinking Earth into Inches.

Black and White Impermanence only saw the scenery whizzing by, "whoosh, whoosh", and by the time they realized it, they were already standing in front of the gates of the City of Undead.

"We, we haven't pointed out the direction yet..."

Black and White Impermanence were flabbergasted. Sun Wukong had wanted them to point out the way but before they could even make a sound, they were swept along to the gates of the City of Undead like lightning.

"There's only this one path, do you really need to point out the direction?"

Sun Wukong gave Black and White Impermanence a disdainful look and urged them impatiently, "Stop talking nonsense, hurry and lead the way into the city. I, Old Sun, want to find out who dares to order the capture of my soul!"

Black and White Impermanence dared not resist and nodded meekly, heading towards the gates of the City of Undead.

"Halt! Who dares to trespass into the City of Undead?"

As they approached the gate, Black and White Impermanence stepped inside, but Sun Wukong was stopped by the gate-guarding Underworld Soldiers. He frowned slightly, a fierce light flashing in his eyes, ready to erupt.

"Misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding!"

Frightened, Black and White Impermanence's eyelids twitched, and they hurriedly turned to block the gate-guarding soldiers, essentially to cover Sun Wukong. Otherwise, these soldiers would likely have been vanquished with a few blows, "We brothers were ordered by Judge Left to fetch a soul from the World of the Living. This is the one we, cough, uhh, fetched..."

White Impermanence coughed while desperately signaling to the gate-guarding soldiers, but unfortunately, whether these soldiers were too dim or just brain-stiffened from guarding the gate, they utterly failed to grasp his meaning.

"Nonsense! You fetched a soul, but this person clearly still has both his physical body and soul. How could he be the fetched soul? Tell the truth, who are you really and what is your purpose in sneaking into our Netherworld Court?"

"Explain to your grandma's leg! Looking for a beatdown!"

Sun Wukong was not one to have a good temper, and though he had restrained his killing intent quite a bit compared to his past life, it depended on who he was dealing with. These Underworld Soldiers dared to strut and spout nonsense before him, which was simply courting death!

With a furious roar, Sun Wukong pulled out his Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod from his ear, enlarging it to the thickness of a bowl, and swept across with a single strike. Instantly, the soldiers and their weapons were smashed to pieces. He grabbed Black and White Impermanence and charged into the City of Undead, sweeping through anyone who dared to block the way with his rod, turning them into smithereens.

The terrorized ghost soldiers trembled uncontrollably, and no one dared to obstruct him any further, allowing him to reach the Senluo Hall briskly.

"Who ordered these ghost messengers to hook my soul? Come out here, Old Sun demands it~!"

Standing in the center of the grand hall of the Senluo Hall, Sun Wukong slammed Black and White Impermanence onto the ground, causing them to reel. He then slammed his Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod onto the ground, making the entire hall shake. His arrogant shout quickly spread in all directions.

"Trouble, big trouble!"

Lord Qin Guang of the Ten Yama Kings was sitting in his hall when suddenly, shouting ghost judges and soldiers rushed in, crying and reporting that Sun Wukong had broken into the City of Undead and stormed up to the Senluo Hall. He was greatly alarmed, "What demon immortals dare to barge into our Netherworld Court? Follow me to take a look at once!"

Not just Lord Qin Guang, but the other Nine Halls' Yama Kings also received news of Sun Wukong causing havoc in the City of Undead, and they hurriedly rushed to the Senluo Hall with their swords in hand.

"What demon immortal dares to assault our Netherworld Court, not fearing being sent to the Eighteen Levels of Hell for eternity after death?"

Lord Qin Guang was the first to arrive at the Senluo Hall. Upon entering, he saw Sun Wukong standing proudly in the center, his Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod planted on the ground, causing a web of cracks to spread across the hall. The sight shocked him, but as the leader of the Ten Yama Kings, his dignity and pride made him unsheathe his sword from his waist and shout sternly at Sun Wukong.

"Oh, it's Lord Qin Guang!"

Upon hearing the voice, Sun Wukong glanced at Qin Guang, his lips curling into a mischievous smile, "Why only you? Where are the other nine great Yama Lords?"

"You know me?"

Qin Guang was startled, his expression then darkened, "Since you know who I am, how dare you act so recklessly? This is our Netherworld Court, you can't behave so arbitrarily here!"

"Huh?"

Sun Wukong let out a curious huh. Strange, during his past life's uproar in the Netherworld, Qin Guang hadn't shown this much backbone! Back then, he had merely fought his way up to the Senluo Hall, and this guy, along with the other nine Yama Lords, promptly bowed and paid their respects. Why was he acting so tough today?