The next day, the monkeys climbed over mountains and hills, collecting many celestial fruits and peaches. They also brought out the monkey wine that had been stored for a long time, placing it on the wooden raft for Sun Wukong to enjoy on his journey.
After bidding farewell to the monkeys, Sun Wukong boarded the raft, used a bamboo pole as a paddle, determined the direction, and set off towards the Aolai Kingdom in the East.
Midway through the journey, they looked at the houses on the shore, but unexpectedly, a sudden southeast wind arose on the previously calm sea surface without any warning.
The strong southeast wind pushed the raft northwestward, making it unable to approach the coastline of the Aolai Kingdom. The southeast wind persisted for three months, eventually bringing Sun Wukong to the northwest coast of the Southern Vulture Continent.
Upon reaching the shore, Sun Wukong abandoned the raft and went ashore. He saw an old man fishing and was delighted. He quickly approached, bowed, and asked, "Old man, may I ask where this place is?"
The old man, still focusing on collecting his net, replied, "This is the territory of the Southern Vulture Continent."
Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong revealed a meaningful smile. When he left Flower Fruit Mountain, he intentionally headed towards the Aolai Kingdom in the East to test if someone was manipulating his whereabouts.
As expected, after three consecutive months of southeast winds approaching the Aolai Kingdom, he was eventually brought to the Southern Vulture Continent. In normal circumstances, where would there be three months of continuous southeast winds? Someone was clearly manipulating events to prevent him from heading to the Taoist-dominated Aolai Kingdom.
Although Sun Wukong wasn't sure of the motives behind the person manipulating him, the strange occurrences confirmed one thing – someone wanted him to embrace Buddhism rather than Taoism.
"The person manipulating me from behind, just wait and see. I am not the old Sun Wukong. When the time comes, we'll see who outsmarts whom!" Sun Wukong smirked and proceeded inland.
To avoid startling ordinary people and unnecessary trouble, Sun Wukong deliberately avoided crowds and walked along mountain paths. Along the way, he enjoyed the beautiful scenery, lifting his spirits.
Gradually, the sun had set behind the mountains, and the dark night enveloped the land. Sun Wukong arrived at the central part of a forest, where a clear pond appeared before him.
"The weather is so hot; it's better to take a bath here, very refreshing," Sun Wukong thought to himself.
He quickly walked towards the pond. When he approached within five meters, Sun Wukong suddenly froze, staring without blinking at what lay ahead.
In the pond, seven fairy-like maidens were playing in the water. Their lotus-like arms were as white as jade, and their graceful figures were captivating.
Suddenly, one of the maidens turned around and noticed the stunned Sun Wukong. She immediately screamed, "Ah! Sisters, someone is peeping!"
Her scream woke up Sun Wukong, and his face immediately turned red. Fortunately, with so much monkey fur on his face, it was hard to tell if he was blushing.
The other six sisters heard the noise and also spotted Sun Wukong. Seeing them swiftly transforming, the clothes that were originally by the pond magically appeared on them.
"Oh no, these women possess magical powers and spells," Sun Wukong realized that these were not ordinary human women. In a flash, he pretended to be an ordinary monkey with undeveloped intelligence.
"This monkey is audacious, daring to peep at us sisters bathing! I'll teach him a lesson!" One of the red-dressed girls, with anger in her eyes, waved her hand, ready to attack Sun Wukong.
"Big sister, look at the monkey's appearance; he obviously has undeveloped intelligence. Why bother with him and create unnecessary troubles?" Another slightly younger girl in purple suggested, thinking that Sun Wukong was just an ordinary monkey.
Hearing the words of the purple-dressed girl, the rest of the sisters, observing Sun Wukong's actions and seeing no signs of magical power within him, immediately breathed a sigh of relief. They persuaded, "Yes, big sister, this monkey is still unenlightened. Letting him see us doesn't matter. We should avoid unnecessary killing."
Seeing the other sisters calming down, the red-dressed girl could only snort indignantly and led the way as they flew away from the scene.
"That was close! Luckily, I acted cleverly; otherwise, I'd be in trouble today," Sun Wukong carefully confirmed that the group of girls had indeed left, patting his chest in relief.
With his current minimal strength, he wouldn't stand a chance against these girls who clearly mastered spells.
"Good! Just as I expected, you monkey are indeed pretending!" However, just as Sun Wukong was relaxing, a pleasant yet domineering voice exploded in his ears.
Startled, he looked up and saw a red-dressed woman glaring at him. It turned out this red-dressed woman was unwilling to let Sun Wukong off easily and had returned with an excuse midway through their departure.