Great Demon Sun Wukong

"Fool, if you bring down The Moon Palace, what will you do about your little Chang'er, huh?" Sun Wukong plucked a monkey hair and transformed it into Chang'er, teasing Zhu Bajie with coquettish gestures.

"You damned monkey, put away that disgusting monkey hair right now. If you dare to mock my Chang'er again, I, old pig, will fight you to the death! And I haven't even started to settle the score with you about what happened just now." Having said that, he brandished his rake menacingly.

"Alright, alright, no more fooling around," Sun Wukong said, having put away the monkey hair, and turned to ask Sha Wujing, "Old Sha, how much longer until the waters have eroded the entire Heavenly Palace? We don't have much time left!" Sha Wujing pondered for a moment and then said, "Probably about half an hour. And there are some places where the protective Great Formation is too powerful; even this dead water won't be able to erode it completely in a short while."

"Oh? Which places are those? Can we divert the water from other areas there?"

"The hardest to erode is the Peach Garden..." Sha Wujing had not finished speaking when he felt a breeze drift by, and Sun Wukong had vanished. Only a lingering voice from mid-air could be heard, "You three quickly retreat, go meet up with Nezha and the others. Damn it, the peach trees cannot be lost."

"Second Brother, do you think Big Brother will get mad doing this?" Sha Wujing asked Zhu Bajie somewhat nervously. "Hmph, who made that dead monkey always pick on me? And it's not like you don't know how Big Brother feels about her, it's just... sigh. It's better for Big Brother to be angry with the two of us than for them to miss each other again! Come on, we three should retreat too. The Jade Emperor and the rest will soon be free of this dead water, and by then the three of us won't be able to fight them off."

"Okay, I'll transform into a dragon. Second Brother, Third Brother, sit on my back, let's go." After these words, a resounding dragon's roar filled the air, and a white jade-like water dragon appeared, plunging into the water with a splash, then revealing its back. Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie jumped onto it, and the three departed gracefully.

The Jade Emperor and his three companions, although fuming with rage, were helpless against the entangling dead water, only able to slowly strip it away with Great Magical Power. The mighty rulers of Heaven, elevated beings in charge of countless lives, had been duped by a mere Golden Body Arhat, and it appeared they had lost the entire Heaven. You can imagine how furious the four Heavenly Emperors would be—should Sun Wukong and his companions fall into their hands, there's no doubt the Emperors would use the most vicious of punishments to vent their outrage.

So who did Sun Wukong encounter in the Peach Garden?

Upon hearing Sha Wujing's words, Sun Wukong immediately felt an urgency in his heart! The Peach Garden, the Peach Garden, how could he forget about the Peach Garden? He traveled there in an instant on his cloud somersault, moving at the fastest speed of his life, arriving at the Peach Garden. However, when Sun Wukong landed at the gates of the Peach Garden, it seemed as though he heaved a sigh of relief inside. The dead water summoned by Sha Wujing had not eroded the Peach Garden; it merely circled around the entrance. The gates of the Peach Garden were still firmly closed.

"That old Sha, learning bad habits from the fool, has even started tricking me." He was just about to walk away when a faint voice came through: "You've already come, why won't you even glance at me? Do you still feel sorry for me?"

Hearing this voice, Sun Wukong felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His stepping foot stayed suspended in mid-air and never touched down. After a long pause, Sun Wukong sighed deeply and said, "Are you... are you alright? When did you wake up? I..." he faltered!

If someone who knew Sun Wukong saw him then, they would have been utterly shocked. The usually domineering Great Sage Equalling Heaven, Sun Wukong, was actually showing such a tender and guilt-ridden expression. And who was the owner of this soft voice? Regrettably, aside from Sun Wukong, there was no one else present.

"What's past is past; why can't you let it go? Regardless of who was right or wrong, so many years have passed; why are you still fixated? Moreover, I have healed from my injury now and will soon be able to transform into human form. It's been so many years; I've already stopped blaming you!"

"But I cannot forgive myself. It was I who harmed you! Before going on the journey to fetch the scriptures, I swore that unless I overthrew Heaven, I would never see you again! Fan Xin, I'm about to succeed. Just wait a little longer; I will avenge this for sure. You stay here in the Peach Garden and cultivate properly. Once I succeed, I'll come to take you back to Flower Fruit Mountain!" Sun Wukong declared, not looking back as he resolutely walked away.

However, the ground where Sun Wukong had stood was already wet with tears.

In the deepest part of the Peach Garden, an inconspicuous peach tree gently swayed its branches, as if shaking its head. "Nearly a thousand years, and you're still so stubborn! Ah, when will you understand that I don't care about Heaven or the hatred from the past? What I care about is only you—the you who, despite being the supreme of the Demon Clan, would always play with a group of little monkeys; the you who, for my sake, did not hesitate to wage war against Heaven; the you who was a fearless and upright man; the you who, back in the days, loved only me. Sun Wukong, you idiot!"

The soft voice drifted through the entire Peach Garden. Then, a memory surfaced in the long-silenced heart!

That year, she was still just a small, unripe peach tree, with green leaves and tender branches that bloomed and withered with the coming of spring and autumn, carefree. The only drawback was that although there were thousands of peach trees in the Peach Garden, none of them would talk to her to ease her boredom. Even the thousand-year-old peach tree at the very heart of the garden bloomed only once every nine thousand years, and as a sapling, all she could do was chat with the occasional bird that stopped by.

Days passed, uneventful and quiet, a very long time indeed. That was, until a monkey arrived at this place, looking rather commanding in battle armor, cloaked in a crimson cape, indescribably dashing! Yet, what displeased the little peach tree was that ever since this monkey had come here, it only spent its days drinking, sleeping, or going out to have fun with friends, never once stopping to talk to her. So, the little peach tree decided to play a mischievous trick; when the monkey went out one day, she turned all the peaches on the trees into stones.

When the monkey returned, it bit viciously into a stone peach! Unexpectedly, the monkey got angry, swung its iron staff, and was about to strike the peach tree. The little peach tree got scared and immediately said, "Stop, stop, you silly monkey."

"Eh? Who's talking to Old Sun? Come out now! Otherwise, I'll club you to death with one swing," the monkey threatened.

"Oh, come on, it was just a joke, no need to get mad. It's your fault for ignoring me for so long." While muttering to herself, the little peach tree shook its branches, and in an instant, all the peaches reverted to their original state. Then, with another flick of its branches, a very large peach flew to the monkey's mouth.

"Here, eat this. It's the biggest peach in the whole garden. Please don't be mad anymore!" the little peach tree said, coquettishly shaking its slender branches.

The monkey looked at the peach tree with suspicion, then took a tentative bite. Indeed, it was extraordinarily delicious, many times tastier than the peaches it usually stole. Smiling from ear to ear, the monkey said to the tree, "For the sake of this peach, I won't hold a grudge against you. But if you dare to play tricks on Old Sun again, I'll strip off all your leaves." Having said that, it made a fierce face.

"Hehe, there won't be a next time. By the way, what do you mean by 'Old Sun'?" the little peach tree asked.

"My surname is Sun, and my name is Sun Wukong. So, that makes me Old Sun. What about you? What's your name?" the monkey said while nibbling on the large peach.

"I, I don't have a name. Ever since I was born, no one but the little birds in the sky has talked to me. Hey, could you give me a name?"

"Me? My name was given to me by my master. I'm not good at naming," the monkey replied, quickly finishing off the rest of the peach.

"Please, give me a name! If you do, I'll give you big peaches to eat every day!" the little peach tree said, even extending a branch as if to show off.

"Hmm? Alright then, let me think. Get me another big peach, and I'll come up with one," the monkey said, meticulously wiping the eaten peach pit with its robe.

Soon, another big peach flew before the monkey, but instead of reaching for it, the monkey stretched out his hand toward the setting sun, and the next moment, a colorful Zixia rope appeared in his hand. The monkey also took the Golden Hoop from his ear, turned it into a fine needle, and then pierced through the top of the peach pit. After threading the Zixia rope through it, Sun Wukong finally lifted his hand to catch the peach and took a big bite, saying, "I was originally a Stone Monkey from Flower Fruit Mountain, but later I came to the Heavenly Palace to serve as an official. The thing is, I always miss Flower Fruit Mountain in the Mortal World, so you shall take the surname Fan."

With those words, the monkey carved a 'Fan' character just above the center of the peach pit and continued, "Moreover, ever since I saw you, I felt as if I was seeing family. Though you're a peach tree from Heaven, you give off a warm feeling, just like the peach trees from my Flower Fruit Mountain. Hmm, let's call you Fan Xin."

The monkey then carved the character 'Xin' below on the pit. After finishing, it stood up, reached for the peach it had bitten, and headed toward the small peach tree. When it reached the tree, it held the peach in its mouth, extended both hands, and tied the peach pit necklace around the peach tree's trunk, making a secure knot.

Then the monkey stepped back, removed the peach from its mouth, and looked at the small tree, "Mm, it matches you well. Hehe. Fan Xin, from now on you are the only peach tree in this garden named Fan Xin. Haha."

The little peach tree—no, that is to say, Fan Xin—had an image embedded deeply in her heart from that moment on.

That peach pit necklace, fashioned with a Zixia rope, became the most precious thing in Fan Xin's life!