The Monkey King leaped to the bridge and performed a water-sealing spell. With a swift motion, he plunged into the waves, parting the waterway as he headed into the depths of the Eastern Ocean.
Suddenly, a patrolling yaksha[1] blocked his path and inquired, "Who dares to disturb these waters? Identify yourself so that we may report and welcome you."
Wukong replied, "I am Sun Wukong, the handsome Monkey King from Flower Fruit Mountain. I'm your neighbor, so why don't you recognize me?"
After the guardian heard that, he rushed to the Crystal Palace to report, "Great King, there's a monkey king from Flower Fruit Mountain outside. He claims to be your close neighbor and is heading here."
Immediately, the East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang[2] rose and left the palace with his dragon sons, grandsons, shrimp soldiers, and crab generals. "Honorable Immortal, please come in, please come in."
Once they returned to the palace, they exchanged greetings and served tea. The Dragon King then inquired, "When did you achieve enlightenment and acquire immortal skills?"
Wukong replied, "Since birth, I have been cultivating and attained an indestructible body. Recently, I've been instructing my descendants and guarding my mountain cave. However, I lack a proper weapon. I've heard about the extravagant luxuries of your Crystal Palace and the abundance of divine artifacts. I've come specifically to request one."
Not wanting to deny him, the Dragon King ordered his minister to bring forth a large polearm. However, the Monkey King expressed his lack of proficiency with such a weapon and requested another.
The Dragon King then had the shrimp marshal and carp general bring out a nine-pronged trident weighing 3,600 catties. However, Wukong deemed it unsuitable as well.
In fear, The Dragon King ordered the eel superintendent and carp general to bring out a painted-gold square-headed halberd weighing 7,200 catties.
Wukong inspected it, pretended to test it, and inserted it into the ground, declaring, "It's still too light, too light."
This alarmed the Dragon King. "Honorable Immortal, that halberd is already the heaviest I have. There's nothing else."
Wukong laughed. "There's an old saying: ‘The Dragon King of the Sea worries he has no treasures!' Look again, and if you have anything to my liking, I'll pay the price."
The Dragon King replied, "I'm afraid there's nothing more."
As they were talking, the Dragon Queen whispered, "Great King, this saintly figure is no ordinary person. In our hidden treasury, the divine iron rod has been emitting brilliant light and auspicious signs these past few days. Could the divine iron rod have acted up because of this immortal?”
The Dragon King replied, "That's the one from the time of Great Yu's flood control, which measures the depths of the Milky Way. What use could it have now?"
Dragon Queen said, "Never mind its use. Let's just present it to him. Let him do whatever he wants with it once he's out of the palace."
Following her advice, the old Dragon King told Sun Wukong about the rod.
Sun Wukong said, "Show it to me."
The Dragon King shook his head and said, "It's too heavy to carry and too big to lift. You'll have to go and see it in person, esteemed immortal."
Sun Wukong asked, "Where is it? Lead the way, and I'll take a look."
The Dragon King guided him to the sea treasury. Suddenly, countless beams of golden light illuminated the water.
The Dragon King pointed and said, "That's the one emitting the light."
Sun Wukong rolled up his sleeves, approached, and felt it with his hands. It was a thick iron pillar, about the circumference of a bushel and over twenty feet long. He used all his strength to pull it.
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"It's too thick and too long. It needs to be shorter and slimmer for use." After the Wukong spoke, the treasure became a few feet shorter and thinner. He nodded and said, "Even slimmer would be better."
And just like that, the treasure became a bit thinner. Sun Wukong was overjoyed and took it. On both ends were two golden bands, and a section of black iron was in the middle. On one of the bands, an inscription read, "Compliant Gold-Banded Rod[3], weighing thirteen thousand five hundred catties."
"This treasure is exactly what I wanted." As he walked, he kept thinking and chanting, adjusting it to be even shorter and slimmer. When he twirled it through the air, it was only two feet long and as thick as a rice bowl.
Showbooting his magical skills, Sun Wukong strolled through Crystal Palace. The Dragon King was terrified, and even the little dragons were trembling. All the turtles and sea creatures were hiding in fear.
Sun Wukong held the precious staff, seating himself on the Crystal Palace throne, and smiled at the Dragon King. "Thank you for your generous gift."
The Dragon King replied, "You're welcome, you're welcome."
Sun Wukong continued, "Although this staff is great, there's still something missing."
The Dragon King asked, "What else does the esteemed immortal need?"
Sun Wukong said, "Now that I have this staff, I need proper clothing to match. Can you provide me with some set as a gesture of thanks?"
The Dragon King regretfully replied, "I'm sorry, but we don't have any clothes here."
Sun Wukong insisted, " If there are no clothes, I won't leave this place."
The Dragon King suggested, "Maybe you can try other seas; they might have what you need."
Sun Wukong persisted, "It's better to get everything from one place. A guest shouldn't trouble two hosts. Please, give me a set of clothes."
The Dragon King insisted, "I truly don't have any. If I did, I would gladly offer it to you."
"Are you absolutely sure? Let's put this staff to the test!"
The Dragon King panicked and said, "Please, esteemed immortal, don't be hasty. Let me see if my younger brothers have any clothes to spare, and I'll present them to you."
"Where are your younger brothers?"
The Dragon King replied, "My younger brothers are the Dragon Kings of the South Sea, North Sea, and West Sea."
Sun Wukong replied, "I won't go and bother them. As the saying goes, 'If you owe three, you can't face two.' I hope you can provide a set of clothes without much fuss."
The old Dragon King said, "You don't need to go. I have an iron drum and a golden bell here. When there's an urgent matter, beating the drum or ringing the bell will summon my younger brothers in no time."
Sun Wukong said, "In that case, hurry up."
As the turtle headed to ring the bell, the tortoise came to strike the drum.
Not long after, when the bells and drums sounded, the four sea Dragon Kings gathered outside.
Ao Qin asked, "Big brother, what's the urgent matter with all this drumming and bell-ringing?"
"Little brother, it's not good. There's this monkey from the Flower Fruit Mountain, claiming to be some kind of sage. He came this morning and recognized me as his neighbor. Then he asked for a weapon, rejecting the steel trident as too small and the painted halberd as too light. After that, he took control of the Milky Way’s measuring rod, flaunting his mastery with some impressive tricks. Now, he's sitting in the palace, demanding clothes. We don't have any, so I rang the bell and beat the drum, inviting you, dear brothers. Do any of you have any spare clothes to give him and send him on his way?"
Upon hearing this, Ao Qin got furious and said, "Shall we raise an army to capture him?"
The elder Dragon King replied, "Don't even think about it. That piece of iron can kill you with just a tug or crush you with just a knock. It can leave you bruised and battered just by touching it."
Ao Run, the Dragon King of the Western Sea, said, "Big brother, don't lay a finger on him. Let's just offer him some garments and send him off. Then, we can report to the higher authority, and Heaven will deal with him."
Ao Shun, the Dragon King of the Northern Sea, agreed, saying, "That's right. I've got a pair of Lotus Silk Cloud-Stepping Shoes."
Ao Run added, "I brought along a suit of Locked Yellow Gold Armor."
Ao Qin said, "I've got a Phoenix-Feather Purple Gold Crown."
The elder Dragon King was overjoyed and invited Sun Wukong to meet them. They presented the garments, and Sun Wukong put on the crown, armor, and shoes.
Wielding his Magic Staff, he marched away, shouting to the dragons, "Come on, make some noise!"
The four Dragon Kings were quite displeased, but let's not dwell on their subsequent discussions on how to report this matter to Heaven.
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[1] A yaksha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaksha) is a class of supernatural beings or nature spirits in Indian mythology and Hindu-Buddhist traditions. They are often depicted as powerful and benevolent spirits that guard natural treasures in forests, mountains, and rivers. In Chinese Folklore, they have a strong association with water.
[2] Wiki on the Dragon Kings (Beware of spoilers): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_King
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruyi_Jingu_Bang Ruyi Jingu Bang AKA Golden-Hooped Staff/Rod/Cudgel AKA Gold-Banded Staff/Rod/Cudgel