Journey to the West: Break the entire Western Heaven!

Just then, Tang Sanzang stroked his chin and muttered, "Since I'm carrying the name of Tang Sanzang, they can't really scold me."

The crowd: "@#\\$#...%"

The next morning, the group immediately packed up and hit the road, heading straight to the Crow-cock Kingdom's royal palace, forty miles away.

Hearing that a high monk from the Great Tang Nation had come to exchange travel passes, the fake King of the Crow-cock Kingdom ordered it to be announced.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered the imperial gates and arrived at the base of the Jinluan Hall. They then saw two lines of civil and military officials, four hundred in total, each exuding dignity and bearing impressive appearances.

Tang Sanzang didn't speak, standing in front of the white jade stairs, holding his ground, while civil and military officials on both sides frowned and whispered quietly, "This monk is rather disrespectful. How come he neither kneels nor greets upon seeing our king? Not even a chant, truly the height of rudeness!"

At that moment, the fake king spoke, "Where did this monk come from?"

Tang Sanzang replied, "This humble monk is the imperial brother of the Emperor of the Great Tang from the Eastern Continent of the Southern Part of the continent, known for his boundless handsome features, profound Buddhist law, revered by thousands, and an idol to three hundred million young girls! Now by the command of the King of Tang, I am journeying to the Great Thunderclap Monastery in the Western Regions of India to seek the True Scriptures. I have come here today to specifically exchange travel documents."

Tang Sanzang said all this in one breath without pausing for air, leaving a group of ministers wide-eyed and exclaiming, "What a lung capacity this monk has, spouting nothing but nonsense!"

From the side, Sun Wukong transmitted a message, "Master, this fake king is somewhat capable, even my fiery eyes and golden pupils can't see through him."

Tang Sanzang couldn't transmit messages, so he didn't reply.

The fake king above, seeing Tang Sanzang start off with a mouthful of self-praise and not even the slightest hint of giving respect or kneeling, was immediately annoyed, "What does it matter if you are from the Eastern Land? My Crow-cock Kingdom neither tributes your nation nor engages in exchanges with you. How come you don't perform the salutation towards me? Are you implying my kingdom has no one of note?"

Tang Sanzang shook his head, "Of course not."

"Then why don't you show respect?" the fake king rebuked.

Tang Sanzang answered, "Because I'm here to thrash you!"

At these words, the ministers were in an uproar.

"Too arrogant, too arrogant!"

"What's so great about Great Tang? Despite being thousands of miles away, do you think you can just come here and fight?"

"Even though they exude imperial majesty, what have they got to do with us here in the Crow-cock Kingdom? He, a mere monk, wants to beat our king, not behaving like a proper descendant, not behaving like a proper descendant at all!"

...

"How audacious!" The fake king grew furious, slamming the table and standing up, "Take this arrogant wild monk down!"

Tang Sanzang took a step back and said, "Wujing, Wufan, close the doors, release Wukong!"

Sun Wukong was lost for words, but still stepped forward and said, "You, an unknown demon who's managed some trickery to appear like a king, you look quite like the real deal. I almost failed to recognize you. But never mind, once I beat you dead, your true form will naturally reveal itself."

The fake king's expression changed drastically, and he let out a loud shout, "Protect me!"

The military officers around the hall charged forth, shouting, but Sun Wukong laughed heartily three times and pointed his finger, "Freeze!"

The military officers immediately froze in place, unable to move.

Seeing the officers immobilized, the fake king wasted no time and leapt into the air, taking off running!

His reaction was truly beyond Tang Sanzang, Zhu Ganglie, and the others' expectations. They had thought that, even if the demon wasn't up to much, it would at least put up some resistance before fleeing. Instead, this fellow ran without uttering a word or testing the waters.

Fortunately, Tang Sanzang had made preparations in advance, and Sha Wujing bellowed, "Monster, where do you think you're going?!"

As he spoke, Sha Wujing was already blocking the sky with his demon-subduing staff. Seeing no way out, the monster turned to run downwards, only to realize Zhu Ganglie, with his rake already in hand, was waiting below.

With no way up to the sky and no door to the ground, the demon had no choice but to look back at the great hall where it caught sight of Tang Sanzang, who wore a naïve and harmless expression. Its eyes lit up with an idea, and it bellowed, "Alright, alright, so you want to fight, huh? I'm game!"

As it spoke, the monster waved its hand, engulfing the great hall in a cloud of smoke and then diving into it.

Zhu Ganglie and Sha Wujing thought the monster was going to attack Tang Sanzang, so they instinctively shouted, "Don't hurt our master! He's just an ordinary man with no power to truss a chicken!"

As they spoke, the smoke cleared, revealing Tang Sanzang still standing there with his naïve, harmless face.

Only now, there was not one Tang Sanzang in the hall, but two!

"Damn, the monster has transformed into our master!" said Zhu Ganglie, his eyes wide in shock, "How are we supposed to handle this?"

Sha Wujing descended from the clouds and asked, "Big brother, you have fiery-golden eyes, quickly see which one is our master."

Sun Wukong gave a wry smile and said, "This demon has some tricks; even my fiery-golden eyes can't see through his transformation."

Zhu Ganglie approached and asked, "Master, which one of you is real?

Both Tang Sanzang replied in unison, "I am the real one, he is the fake one."

Zhu Ganglie, Sha Wujing, Sun Wukong, and the ministers present were all flabbergasted.

Seeing this, even the fooliest of ministers could tell that something was wrong with their king. After a careful analysis, the smarter ministers started to guess what might have happened…

At that moment, a young man stepped forward from the crowd and asked, "Honorable monks, what on earth is going on? How is it that my father could suddenly fly and perform transformations?"

Someone immediately introduced, "This is the Crown Prince of our Crow-cock Kingdom."

Sun Wukong said, "Crown Prince, you are unaware. Years ago when the Crow-cock Kingdom suffered a great drought, a Taoist from the Quanzhen Sect came and summoned clouds and rain to resolve your kingdom's drought. However, his real intention was to seize power. Three years ago, he lured your father to the edge of an ancient well in the imperial garden under the pretext of enjoying the flowers, pushed him into the well, and using his transformation skills, he assumed your father's appearance and took over as the king of the Crow-cock Kingdom!"

"No wonder, no wonder he hasn't let me meet with the queen mother for the past three years, and he has also become less attentive toward me," the Crown Prince realized.

A minister also said, "Yes, he must have been afraid that the Crown Prince and the queen would notice something wrong and reveal the truth by discussing it. It's also strange that he said the Taoist left without a word three years ago because he wanted to seal the imperial garden to avoid nostalgic reminiscence, probably because he feared someone would notice something about the well!"

Seeing that the ministers had understood, Sun Wukong then released the Body-Fixing Spell.

Though the ministers had resolved their dilemma, Sun Wukong was now troubled by the real or fake Tang Sanzang before him.

Just as he was pondering, one Tang Sanzang said, "Wukong, I'm your master; he's the fake one. Don't you recognize me as your teacher anymore?"

The other remained silent.

Sun Wukong looked suspiciously at both, still unsure.

The talking Tang Sanzang continued, "Wukong... what are you hesitating for?"

Sun Wukong frowned as he looked at the talking Tang Sanzang, gripping his Jingu Bang tightly in his hand.

Zhu Ganglie said, "Big brother, I think the one that's talking too much is problematic, shall we hit him?"