Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 477: Helping to Deal with the Rabbit

"The backyard has more!" Tian Peng exclaimed in alarm, no wonder Chang’e hasn’t been out to buy milk tea these past two days, and she looked weary. If he lived in such a place, he’d probably have a headache too, and how could he find the energy to go out for milk tea.

It seemed Chang’e’s mental fortitude was much stronger than his; at least he couldn’t maintain composure like Chang’e did.

"The number of rabbits has been too many over the years. I haven’t had the time to count them, but there must be at least tens of thousands," sighed Chang’e, her eyes still fixed on the milk tea Tian Peng brought.

These past few days she’d been busy with rabbit matters and didn’t have time to go to the milk tea shop. Mainly because there were too many rabbits, and the milk tea shop was always crowded. If she went to buy milk tea, she’d have to queue for a long time.

After all, for Chang’e, buying milk tea and dealing with rabbits were two conflicting matters.

A few days ago, when the rabbits hadn’t multiplied, the situation was manageable, but once they started to breed, things gradually became uncontrollable. It would take at least half a month to get used to it.

"Tens of thousands!" Just hearing this number made Tian Peng’s scalp tingle. With so many rabbits, even specialized breeders couldn’t manage this number. "Are these all Jade Rabbits?"

"No, these are all ordinary rabbits," answered Chang’e, "There is only one Jade Rabbit. Although these carry the bloodline of the Jade Rabbit, the Jade Rabbit wasn’t born as such. It only became the Jade Rabbit after following me to the Guanghan Palace. So these rabbits that mated with the Jade Rabbit are still just ordinary rabbits."

"Ordinary rabbits shouldn’t live that long, right?" Tian Peng voiced his confusion, "Ordinary rabbits live only a decade or so. They shouldn’t live this long. I see so many rabbits here; if they were dying off as they were born, there shouldn’t be this many, right?"

Chang’e looked very surprised, "So many rabbits, breeding and dying at the same time, wouldn’t that make dealing with the dead rabbits even more troublesome?"

"The dead rabbits still have to be buried, and there is a place in the Lunar Palace for that. Just thinking about walking in the Lunar Palace and stepping on the bodies of unknown rabbits underneath makes me feel uncomfortable all over."

The more Chang’e spoke, the more agitated she became; she even felt goosebumps rising on her body.

"So because of this, you let these rabbits live for such a long time?" Tian Peng was shocked, "Did you cast an immortality spell on them?"

"No, I did not do that."

"Then how come these rabbits...?"

"I know how to grind herbs," said the Jade Rabbit cradled in Chang’e’s arms.

Tian Peng was startled, "This Jade Rabbit, it can talk?"

"Why can’t I talk? Haven’t you been going out with the Xiaotian Dog? Why do you find it strange when I talk?" said the Jade Rabbit, its voice a tender one, sounding even younger than Chang’e’s.

It wasn’t unusual for the Xiaotian Dog to talk, but since he was accustomed to it, it didn’t seem like anything remarkable.

But the Jade Rabbit had always been imagined as just a rabbit, with a gentle and obedient image. He had never considered that the Jade Rabbit could also speak.

"I just don’t bother to talk when I’m outside." The Jade Rabbit explained, "I know Fairy Chang’e brought these rabbits for me, but as time went by, I didn’t see them as my offspring. I can’t even understand what they say. It seems I’m ultimately not the same kind as them. Seeing Fairy troubled by these rabbits saddens me. Do you have any way to deal with these rabbits?"

"This, I really don’t know." Tian Peng scratched his head. It wasn’t just one or two rabbits, but tens of thousands of them; how could they possibly deal with so many?

"Can’t these rabbits be sent to the human world?" asked the Jade Rabbit.

"The human world is full of farmland, and rabbits can eat a lot. If we release them there, it could cause a disaster, not much different from the locust plagues and droughts of past years. Besides, we would need approval from above, which really isn’t a wise choice," Tian Peng explained.

"What should we do now?" Chang’e also sighed. "With so many rabbits, and a thousand more each year, if we keep having this many rabbits, we might have to let them roam free in the Lunar Palace."

Tian Peng stared at the yard full of rabbits. It really wasn’t easy to deal with these rabbits; if he wasn’t careful, other places might end up like Guanghan Palace, plagued by rabbits. It seemed like no course of action was the right one.

Seeing Tian Peng’s troubled expression, Chang’e sighed, "This problem is really mine; I shouldn’t trouble you with it."

"What are you talking about, Fairy Chang’e?" Tian Peng quickly responded. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He couldn’t think of a way to help Chang’e deal with the rabbits, but planned to ask Sun Wukong later if he had any ideas.

After staying a while with Chang’e, the rabbits gradually got used to his scent, one after another trying to climb onto his feet. Tian Peng couldn’t stand this scene, and after a short time, he quickly bade farewell and left Guanghan Palace.

Back at the Chaos Pavilion, Sun Wukong saw Tian Peng’s pleased face and teased, "What’s this? You just went to visit Fairy Chang’e, and it seems you’ve made quite some progress. Has Fairy Chang’e started to fancy you?"

"That’s not it," Tian Peng replied. "Although she doesn’t fancy me, I feel like our relationship has gotten a bit closer."

"Oh, getting closer in just a short meeting? It looks like I’ve really underestimated you," Sun Wukong ribbed.

"It’s not like that," Tian Peng scratched his head. "Actually, she needed help with something. I think she wouldn’t have asked unless she considered me a friend."

"That makes sense," nodded Sun Wukong. "But it’s also possible that you, the fool, just happened to be there."

At Sun Wukong’s words, Tian Peng felt that the latter possibility was quite likely. He sighed, "For once I have something happy to talk about, Mr. Monkey, could you not dampen my mood, please?"

"Alright, alright, I’ll drop it, okay?" Sun Wukong wasn’t keen on taking the wind out of Tian Peng’s sails over the matter and asked, "So what exactly did Fairy Chang’e ask for your help with?"

"It’s about the Jade Rabbit she keeps in her palace. She didn’t want it to be lonely, so she found it a mate. Then year after year, more rabbits were born, and now Guanghan Palace is full of rabbits, so much so that there’s no room to step. She wanted me to come up with an idea on how to deal with these rabbits."

"What? All these rabbits are Jade Rabbits?" Sun Wukong was also surprised, "If they are all Jade Rabbits, they can only stay in Guanghan Palace, right? What else can be done about it?"

"She said these aren’t Jade Rabbits. It seems there’s only one Jade Rabbit; the others are just ordinary rabbits. But they don’t have the same lifespan as ordinary rabbits. Chang’e, fearing how to deal with the rabbits’ corpses, had the Jade Rabbit concoct a medicine to feed them, which has now led to an overpopulation of rabbits in Guanghan Palace. If not addressed, soon the entire Lunar Palace might be overtaken by rabbits," Tian Peng added.

Sun Wukong didn’t think this was a difficult issue, "It’s good to have many, the Lunar Palace is so vast; what’s a few more rabbits going to do? Moreover, the Lunar Palace isn’t connected to other places, so even if the rabbits get out, they can’t reach anywhere else."