The Dragon King's Lair
It did not take long for Wukong to reach the fabled Dragon King’s Lair. He simply went out to the ocean and swam to the closest fish in the sea. The first thing he met was a lobster who he promptly ordered to take him to the Dragon King’s Lair. The journey was short as the lobster took Wukong to a current that led straight to the lair.
The Lair of the Dragon King was spectacular. It was filled with colorful coral, floating algae, and pearls the size of Wukong’s head. The Dragon King was even more impressive as his shiny multicolored scales almost blinded Wukong.
“Wukong! What brings you to my humble lair?” boomed the Dragon King.
“I am in search of a weapon and some armor that is worthy of my skills and power,” replied Wukong.
“I think I can help with that. On the last full moon the Ruyi Jingu Bang began to emit heavenly light. Ever since then I have been waiting patiently for someone worthy to come and claim it,” said the Dragon King.
“That’s great! Where is it so that I can try it out?”asked Wukong.
“It is not as simple as that, young monkey. I must first discern your worthiness. We shall play a game of Go to see if you are worthy enough for the Ruyi Jingu Bang. I assume you have had some experience with the game?” mocked the Dragon King.
“It’s a good thing that I played Go a lot back when I was training with my master. Hopefully it will give me an advantage if the Dragon King thinks I am simply a novice,” Wukong thought to himself. “I have seen the game played a few times and have played it just one or two times. However, I do believe that I know all the rules,” replied Wukong.
“Excellent! Let’s get started. However, I propose that we make the game interesting. If you win the game of Go, that will show me that you are in fact worthy of Ruyi Jingu Bang. However, I still have no incentive to give it to you. To make it more interesting I propose a wager. If you win, I will give you Ruyi Jingu Bang. But if you lose, you will have to join my army and work as a slave for me for the rest of your days. What do you say, stone monkey?” asked the Dragon King.
“I accept!” Wukong hastily replied.
The game of Go was short and Wukong made quick work of the Dragon King. The Dragon King begrudgingly handed over Ruyi Jingu Bang after. As Wukong was turning to leave the Dragon King called out, “You are leaving so soon. Do you not require armor as well?”
“You are quite right. Shall we play another game of Go?” asked Wukong mockingly.
“Why yes of course! Let us make it even more interesting. If you win, you get your armor and can leave here undisturbed. However, if I win not only do you return Ruyi Jingu Bang to me but you and your precious monkeys will have to join my army for the rest of your lives. What do you say, stone monkey?” asked the Dragon King.
“There is no way that I lose a game of Go to the Dragon King. I won the last one so easily,” Wukong thought to himself. “I accept! I am always down for a wager,” answered Wukong.
The next game did not go as quickly as the first. In fact it took much much longer. Wukong and the Dragon King played for days. On the third day Wukong noticed something that he had not before: the Dragon King was cheating! Wukong realized that he must have been too engrossed in the game to have noticed earlier.
Wukong did not stay long after seeing that the Dragon King was cheating. Upon noticing it he picked up his staff and began to make copies of himself using his hairs. He was delighted to see that his copies also had copies of Ruyi Jingu Bang as well. He was able to quickly overcome not only the Dragon King but his armies as well. Wukong ordered the Dragon King to outfit himself and his monkeys with his finest suit of armor. He then left taking the best weapons and armors from the Dragon King’s armory.
Wukong ended up traveling up and down the world facing many challenges and enemies. However, no matter where he went or what happened to him he always had his trusted Ruyi Jingu Bang with him. My story for Wukong ends here. However, some say he is still out there and that you can find the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers with all of his monkeys if he deems you worthy enough.
Author’s Note: In the original story Wukong goes to the Dragon King’s Lair and orders him to bring him a weapon worthy of himself. Wukong tries out several weapons all weighing more than a 1000 pounds and claims that all of them are too light for him. The Dragon King’s wife then suggests that Wukong try out Ruyi Jingu Bang as it has been emitting heavenly light recently. Wukong is delighted and is able to control Ruyi Jingu Bang with ease. He then orders the Dragon King to bring him armor and begins to wreck his home until he does what he says. I didn’t like the original story because it seems like Wukong just steals both the staff and armor from the Dragon King. So in my version I wanted them to have a wager. I also wanted the Dragon King to be the bad guy so I made him cheat at the game. This gave Wukong an out to be able to demand what he wanted from the Dragon King without seeming like a spoiled brat. I added the game of Go because I needed an old game for them to play and Go is an ancient Chinese game that is even hard for modern AI to play against.
Banner Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.
Embedded Image: Courtesy of Phantom_Stranger.