Journey to the West: Break the entire Western Heaven!

The old man said, "To the west lies the Flame Mountain, which stretches across the earth, its length and width unknown. To go to the Western Heaven, you must cross this mountain. But the mountain is always ablaze with fire, not a blade of grass grows, and even steel, upon falling on it, would instantly melt into molten metal. The intense heat here is all because of that Flame Mountain."

The six-eared macaque frowned and said, "This mountain is indeed strange; without a way to extinguish the fire, it would be difficult for ordinary people to cross."

The old man nodded and said, "Difficult? It is absolutely impossible to cross.

So if you want to continue your journey to the west, you'd better seek the help of the Iron Fan Immortal."

"Iron Fan Immortal?" Zhu Ganglie asked, "Who is that immortal?"

The old man said, "Because of the Flame Mountain, it is dry and scorching here all year round. The only reason we can survive is thanks to the Iron Fan Immortal. The Immortal resides in the Banana Leaf Cave on Emerald Cloud Mountain, one thousand and four hundred miles to the southwest of here.

When we need to farm, we prepare pigs and sheep..."

At this point, he looked at Zhu Ganglie.

Zhu Ganglie glared back and said, "What are you looking at me for? Carry on with your story!"

The old man cleared his throat and continued, "We also prepare offerings of red ribbons and arrangements, exotic fragrances and seasonal fruits, chickens, geese, and fine wine. We bathe, change clothes, and pray devoutly as we kneel and worship all the way to the cave, where the Iron Fan Immortal often lends a hand.

The Iron Fan Immortal has a magical banishing fan, with one wave to put out fire, two waves to raise the wind, three waves to bring the rain; it allows us to farm our land and rear livestock.

If you want to cross Flame Mountain, you could also ask the Iron Fan Immortal to wave the fan three times. When the fire is extinguished and the temperature cools down, naturally, you can cross."

Hearing this, Sun Wukong frowned and said, "This is so troublesome… troublesome, far too troublesome."

Then Sun Wukong said to Tang Sanzang, "Master, if you ask me, let's just take a big leap over it."

But Tang Sanzang insisted, "Where's the fun in that? I'd like to see this fan extinguishing the fire; it must be interesting. Which one of you will go and ask the Iron Fan Immortal to borrow the fan to fan some wind… um… if the Iron Fan Immortal doesn't need the fan much, borrow it for a longer while. If we get hot on the way, it can also serve to cool us off."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong and the others thought, "Great… this baldy must fancy that fan; if we borrow it, it's uncertain whether we'll return it at all."

The six-eared macaque, already somewhat reluctant to follow Tang Sanzang and now asked to do this chore, was utterly unwilling, pretending not to have heard by keeping his head down on the side.

But Sun Wukong knew very well, in this team, doing more work had its benefits, at least the next time he was punished, the baldy might be gentler.

Moreover, he had erred and had been seeking to redeem himself.

So Sun Wukong said, "I'll go, Master. Please wait here for a moment."

Then Sun Wukong diligently instructed the old man to make arrangements for Tang Sanzang and the others to stay at his home. After ensuring everything was in order, Sun Wukong rose into the sky and headed for Emerald Cloud Mountain.

Seeing this monkey Riding Clouds and Mist, the old man was startled and exclaimed that he was a divine being.

To repay such kindness, Tang Sanzang took up the copper gong and said, "Your generosity knows no bounds, old benefactor, and I have nothing with which to repay you, so let me entertain you with a performance of the Great Tang monkey for your pleasure!"

The six-eared macaque instantly regretted not going with Sun Wukong to Emerald Cloud Mountain…

At this very moment, Sun Wukong had arrived at Emerald Cloud Mountain.

He stomped his foot, and the local deity sprang up: "Deity of Emerald Cloud Mountain, at your service, Great Saint."

Sun Wukong waved his hand and said, "Dispense with those useless formalities, I ask you, is this Emerald Cloud Mountain?"

The disciple nodded and said, "Exactly."

Sun Wukong asked, "Is there a Banana Leaf Cave on this mountain? And is there an Iron Fan Immortal living inside?"

The local deity replied, "Yes, yes, all present. Great Saint, look over there, see where the mountain top is shrouded in mist? That's where Banana Leaf Cave is!"

Sun Wukong was overjoyed and then inquired, "Do you happen to know what sort of background the Iron Fan Immortal comes from? What does she like? Whom is she friends with?"

Sun Wukong's idea was simple: after all, asking to borrow something right away from someone he didn't know likely wouldn't work. If he could establish a rapport and get chummy, that would be ideal.

After thinking for a moment, the local deity said, "Great Saint, that Iron Fan Immortal is what outsiders call her, but we prefer to call her Iron Fan Princess or Rakshasi."

Sun Wukong asked, "I've heard she owns a Banana Fan that can extinguish the fires of Flame Mountain—is that true?"

The disciple replied, "It's absolutely true. The Iron Fan Princess indeed possesses such a treasure. She often helps the people near Flame Mountain by extinguishing fires and bringing rain, so the locals there call her Iron Fan Immortal. However, here in Emerald Cloud Mountain, the weather is fine, and the locals never have to seek her help, so they all call her Rakshasi.

As for her hobbies, even I am not sure, as she rarely interacts with us deities. Her gates are shut tight every day; who knows what she's doing inside."

About relationships... I've heard that she's the wife of the mighty Bull Demon King."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong suddenly felt a headache coming on and thought to himself, "Damn, it's true that misfortune never comes singly. We beat up her son, stewed her husband and his brother, and Wujing's bag still has quite a few of their remains... borrowing that fan is going to be difficult!"

Seeing Sun Wukong's troubled expression, the local deity curiously asked, "Great Saint, are you facing some kind of problem?"

Sun Wukong smirked and said, "Well... how should I put it? Along the way, there's been a bit of a misunderstanding with her family..."

Sun Wukong felt guilty even as he mentioned a minor misunderstanding.

Was it really a minor misunderstanding?

They had nearly turned old Ox's home into a stew!

The local deity thought it was indeed just a small misunderstanding and, thus, smiled and said, "Great Saint, the heavens are vast. News doesn't travel that fast here. Furthermore, that Rakshasi doesn't even come out once a year, so she must be even more out of the loop. You just go and knock on the door. Don't bring up any unpleasantness, just request to borrow the fan. Who knows? You might actually be able to borrow it."

Sun Wukong thought about it and nodded, gratefully saying, "Thanks. If I manage to borrow it, I'll owe you one."

The local deity repeatedly said not to mention it.

But Sun Wukong had already leaped toward Banana Leaf Cave.

Upon reaching the entrance of Banana Leaf Cave, he saw the gate was tightly closed, covered in moss, indicating it hadn't been opened for quite some time.

Sun Wukong was delighted and hurried over, knocking on the gate, "Brother Ox, open up! Open up!"

After knocking for a while, the cave gate slowly opened, and a young girl peeked out. She looked Sun Wukong up and down with a frown and asked dubiously, "Who are you?"

Pointing to himself, Sun Wukong chuckled and said, "Miss, may I trouble you to pass on a message? Just say that monk from the Great Tang, who is on a pilgrimage to the West, is having trouble crossing Flame Mountain and has come specially to request the Banana Fan."

The girl's frown deepened as she said, "Which temple's monk are you? What's your surname and name? So I can relay your message."

Sun Wukong replied, "We are monks from the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands, ah... my name is Sun Wukong."

The young girl nodded and said, "Wait here for a moment, I'll go and pass on the message."