Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 768 - 767: Activation of the Tightening-Crown Spell

"Two fruits have gone missing from this tree, and your disciple has already admitted to eating one. So where’s the other one? It can’t just disappear into thin air, right?" Mingyue looked at Xuanzang, his heart already branding Xuanzang as a hypocrite. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"I didn’t, I haven’t, Little Immortal Boy, I’m an ascetic, and ascetics do not lie. I truly did not eat the Ginseng Fruit. Upon seeing it, I was afraid, how could I possibly eat it?" Xuanzang hurriedly explained.

"Really? In my view, you’re afraid in front of others but secretly craving behind their backs. It’s just one fruit, and I really can’t understand why you didn’t eat it when it was offered to you before, but now, you’ve conspired with your disciple to sneakily devour it. Isn’t stolen food always more exquisite than what is given, isn’t it?" Mingyue mocked.

Xuanzang was at a loss for words in that moment, feeling a surge of anger he could only direct at his own disciple. If it weren’t for his disciple’s unmentionable deeds, he wouldn’t be subjected to such accusations.

"Evil disciple, kneel down!" Xuanzang commanded Six-Eared Macaque, "Tell us, how many fruits did you actually eat?"

"One," said the Six-Eared Macaque, and he was indeed telling the truth—he had eaten just one fruit.

"You’re still not admitting it?" Xuanzang said angrily, "You steal someone else’s fruit and won’t own up to it. Now that you’ve been confronted, you still refuse to tell the truth, right? For the last time, tell me, how many fruits have you really eaten?"

"Since you’ve all figured out that I ate the fruit, there’s no need for me to lie anymore. But I really did eat just one fruit."

The Six-Eared Macaque said, "Master, it was indeed wrong of me to steal the fruit, but look at these doormen. Haven’t they done something wrong as well?"

"What do you mean?" Mingyue and Qingfeng exchanged glances, surprised that the blame could be shifted onto them, "What do we have to do with this? You were caught red-handed stealing fruit, and you still think you’re in the right!"

"It’s indeed your fault!" the Six-Eared Macaque declared in exasperation, "We’re all guests, yet you give fruits to my master but not to me. Even if you don’t give me any, I asked you for one, and after all was said, you still refused. And yet just now, I saw you sneaking around and eating them in secrecy!"

This was classic deflecting blame. Once the fruit was picked, it couldn’t be stored for long, so it could only be freshly harvested from the Immortal Pond. Their master had declared that the fruit was intended only for the Tang Monk and hadn’t mentioned offering it to this monkey, so they didn’t give him any to eat.

If we give you the fruit, you eat; if we don’t, you don’t. Can’t you grasp such simple logic? Even if we didn’t give you any, stealing is still wrong. Besides, you’ve admitted to stealing one already, so why not admit to it all? Why confess to just one?

After Mingyue’s speech, the Six-Eared Macaque didn’t know how to respond, but he indeed had eaten only one Ginseng Fruit, and even if threatened with a knife to his throat, he would insist, "I ate only one!"

"Then it must have been the Monk who ate it!" Mingyue turned to Xuanzang, "By now, there’s no need to say any more. If you’ve eaten it, admit to it openly and at least maintain a reputation for owning up to your mistakes!"

"I have not eaten it!" defended Xuanzang, and then turning to the Six-Eared Macaque, he demanded sharply: "Evil disciple, since the fruit was stolen by you, confess quickly! Stop talking about one or two!"

"I only ate one!" the Six-Eared Macaque persisted. "Evil disciple, you steal a Ginseng Fruit and even try to falsely accuse your master. Since you are so obstinate, don’t blame me for reciting the Tightening-Crown Spell!" warned Xuanzang, and began chanting the spell.

This golden circlet had been given by The Bodhisattva Guanyin when he first took in the monkey as his disciple, with instructions to use it should the monkey prove disobedient.

But along the journey so far, the monkey had been obedient, so Xuanzang had never needed to use the spell. He had thought the matter settled, but now, surprisingly, an opportunity had arisen to use the Tightening-Crown Spell.

It was the first time the Six-Eared Macaque experienced the terrifying effects of the Tightening-Crown Spell, causing a splitting headache.

The golden circlet, originally sitting comfortably on his head, now felt like it was about to crush his skull. The pain was unbearable for the Six-Eared Macaque, and he began to plead with Xuanzang, "Master, please stop chanting, my head is killing me, please stop, ah!"

After chanting for a while, Xuanzang stopped and demanded, "Evil disciple, tell the truth to our host quickly. Were two Ginseng Fruits eaten by you?"

As the circlet on his head ceased its torment, the Six-Eared Macaque breathed a sigh of relief. But about the Ginseng Fruit, he had truly eaten only one and thus shook his head, saying, "As I told you, Master, I only ate one Ginseng Fruit, not two."

"Evil disciple, even now you won’t confess?" Thus, Xuanzang resumed chanting the spell.

"Ah! Master, stop chanting, please, I really did only eat one Ginseng Fruit, not a second one!" cried the Six-Eared Macaque, writhing in pain on the ground.

"Evil disciple, unless you confess, I will keep chanting the spell until you do so," said Xuanzang as he continued reciting the binding mantra.

Chen Nuo, watching the commotion between the master and disciple, chuckled, "With this kind of pressure, even if the monkey truly didn’t eat it, he will be coerced into confessing."

Indeed it was true, for Xuanzang had declared he would continue the spell until the monkey confessed, and unless the monkey was remarkably steadfast,

it was quite possible that, even if he hadn’t actually eaten the Ginseng Fruit, he would be forced into admitting he did.

Sure enough, after a while, the Six-Eared Macaque began begging for mercy, "Master, stop chanting, please, I admit it, I admit I ate the second fruit."

Xuanzang ceased chanting the Tightening-Crown Spell only after the Six-Eared Macaque admitted, and then he addressed Mingyue, Qingfeng, and Master Zhenyuan, "Gentlemen, my disciple has confessed to eating two Ginseng Fruits. Please decide how to deal with this matter."

The Six-Eared Macaque was gasping for breath, his eyes red, whether from the pain caused by the Tang Monk’s chanting or something else.

Regardless, he seemed on the verge of madness, but no one present, except for Chen Nuo, took any notice.