Chapter 66: Encountering Demons In Black Pine Forest
Previously, when Ba Jie went to fetch Wukong, Ao Tu saw Ba Jie riding clouds away and knew Sun Wukong was coming, so he sent the White Bone Spirit to notify Kui Mu Lang and have him prepare in advance.
Bowl Mountain, Moon-Washing Cave.
The White Bone Spirit arrived at the cave.
Kui Mu Lang said: “Who are you?”
The White Bone Spirit said: “I come by order of my Great King to rescue you.”
Kui Mu Lang said: “Who is your Great King?”
The White Bone Spirit said: “My Great King is named Spirit Mountain Great King!”
Upon hearing this, Kui Mu Lang did not dare to be neglectful and hurriedly invited the White Bone Spirit to sit down, asking: “What instructions does the senior have? What message did he send you to convey?”
The White Bone Spirit said:
“My Great King said that soon a hairy-faced, thunder-god-mouthed monk will come. He is the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven who caused the Great Havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago. He might come to your cave. If you are not his match, do not resist forcefully. Go to Bao Xiang Kingdom and seek aid from my Great King.”
Kui Mu Lang said in surprise: “Is it that Marshal of the Heavenly Horses?”
The White Bone Spirit said: “Exactly.”
Hearing this, Kui Mu Lang felt some fear in his heart. When that Marshal of the Heavenly Horses caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he had followed the Heavenly King down to the Mortal Realm to subdue demons and knew that the monkey had supernatural power and was likely not an opponent. He hurriedly replied: “I will obey the senior’s order.”
The White Bone Spirit then prepared to leave.
Kui Mu Lang hurriedly said: “Wait a moment.”
The White Bone Spirit said: “Is there anything else?”
Kui Mu Lang said: “I still have family here, and I’m afraid they will be implicated.”
The White Bone Spirit said: “My Great King said that your wife is the Princess of Bao Xiang Kingdom and will not be implicated. As for your two sons, if they have nowhere to go, they can be arranged for by my Great King.”
Kui Mu Lang said joyfully: “In that case, I am deeply grateful!”
The White Bone Spirit then took Kui Mu Lang’s two sons away with her, one eight or nine years old, the other around ten.
The White Bone Spirit brought the two back to the Imperial Palace. Ao Tu saw them and instructed the Tiger Vanguard:
“Take them to my brother’s Black Water River. While you’re at it, go back and check, and after returning, don’t come back to Bao Xiang Kingdom. Go directly to distant Flat-Top Mountain and wait for me.”
The Tiger Vanguard said: “Understood!”
Ao Tu said: “Wait.”
Ao Tu took out a Six-Revolving Golden Elixir.
In an instant, the fragrance of the elixir filled the room, and the golden patterns on the elixir shone brilliantly.
The Tiger Vanguard stared blankly at the golden elixir, his heart pounding uncontrollably.
Beside him, the White Bone Spirit acted even more unseemly than the Tiger Vanguard, her eyes fixed greedily on the golden elixir, wishing she could pounce over, hug Ao Tu’s leg, and beg for one.
But the White Bone Spirit knew that Ao Tu was indifferent to her beauty, so pouncing would be useless, and thus she could only hold back.
Ao Tu used magic power to lift the Six-Revolving Golden Elixir and send it to the Tiger Vanguard.
The Tiger Vanguard hurriedly cupped it carefully with both hands, afraid of damaging it even slightly.
The Tiger Vanguard asked carefully yet expectantly: “Great King, what is this?”
Ao Tu said: “Since you have followed me and worked diligently, how could I mistreat a meritorious minister? This is your reward. Take it!”
Hearing this, the Tiger Vanguard knelt on the ground, tears streaming as he kowtowed: “Thank you, Great King!”
Ao Tu said: “Go.”
Only then did the Tiger Vanguard take his leave.
The White Bone Spirit watched with envy.
For wild monsters like them, cultivation relied entirely on absorbing the essence of sun and moon. Treasures like the Six-Revolving Golden Elixir were not only impossible to eat, but even smelling one was out of reach.
After the Tiger Vanguard left, some days passed.
Wukong and Ba Jie rode clouds together and arrived at Bao Xiang Kingdom.
Wukong said: “Ba Jie, where is Master?”
Ba Jie said: “Master is in the Palace!”
Wukong then descended from the clouds and hurried toward the Palace.
Arriving at the Palace, he saw rows of palace guards surrounding the great hall inside and out, not allowing anyone to enter or exit.
Wukong said: “Why are there so many guards?”
Ba Jie said: “That monster deceived Master and took the position of King of Bao Xiang Kingdom. Now all the civil and military officials of the court support him and obey his commands.”
Wukong said: “This is tricky! Now that this monster holds the position of King, if he summons these soldiers and generals to fight me, I cannot fight back easily.”
Ba Jie said: “Why can’t you fight back?”
Wukong said: “If I move even slightly, it would be with the force of a thousand jun. These mortals would surely suffer heavy casualties, and I’m afraid Master would blame me again.”
Ba Jie said: “Senior Brother, just use the Immobilization Spell to freeze them, and it’ll be fine.”
Wukong said: “I can cast it, but surely that monster can dispel it?”
Ba Jie thought for a moment and said: “I have an idea!”
Wukong said: “Tell me.”
Ba Jie said:
“Three hundred miles from here, there is a Yellow Robe Demon.
Previously, that monster said that the Third Princess of Bao Xiang Kingdom was abducted by that Yellow Robe Demon. I don’t know if it’s true or false. If it’s true, we rescue the Third Princess, and we can expose this monster’s identity.
If it’s false, no harm done. Junior Brother Sha was captured by that demon. We first rescue Junior Brother Sha, and then the three of us can figure something out, right?”
Wukong said: “Good plan. Ba Jie, lead the way.”
Ba Jie mounted his cloud and headed toward the Yellow Robe Monster’s dwelling.
Wukong rode his cloud to follow, and soon they saw a golden pagoda emitting light. It was the Yellow Robe Monster’s Cave Mansion.
Wukong stood on his cloud, released the Golden Cudgel, and it grew to the thickness of a mountain waist, intending to topple the pagoda.
Ba Jie hurriedly said: “Brother, hold on! There might be a princess inside!”
Hearing this, Wukong retracted his move and merely thrust the Golden Cudgel into the ground.
There was a loud rumble, the earth quaked and mountains shook, startling the Mountain God and Earth God. The little demons in Moon-Washing Cave fled in all directions, shouting: “Run, run! The earth dragon is turning over!”
Kui Mu Lang jumped up from the stone bed and went outside to look.
He saw a hairy-faced, thunder-god-mouthed monk standing in the clouds.
At first glance, he seemed unfamiliar.
Looking closely, wasn’t it that Marshal of the Heavenly Horses who caused the Great Havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago?
It was just that his attire had changed, hence the initial unfamiliarity.
Seeing Kui Mu Lang come out, Wukong shouted:
“Monster, don’t run! Take a hit!”
He jumped down and brandished his cudgel to strike.
Kui Mu Lang felt some fear and called the little demons in the cave to come out together and fight Sun Wukong.
Seeing them, Wukong was not afraid but delighted. He straightened the staff with both hands, shouted “Change!”, and transformed into three heads and six arms; he shook the Golden Cudgel, turning it into three Golden Cudgels.
With his six hands wielding three cudgels, Wukong fought onward, smashing the little monsters he hit squarely so their heads shattered like mush; those grazed bled like flowing water!
Ba Jie followed behind, wielding his iron rake, racking his brains to catch one, but after going a ways, he hadn’t caught any.
Those little demons suffered too many casualties. Seeing how ferocious the monkey was, they ignored their Great King and scattered in all directions.
Only Kui Mu Lang remained, fighting Wukong.
Kui Mu Lang wielded his blade and barely held off Wukong’s Golden Cudgel. But with Wukong’s three heads and six arms, a few blows inevitably landed on Kui Mu Lang.
This Kui Mu Lang was honest and had an Exquisite Inner Elixir in his body, so he endured over twenty strikes from Wukong.
Wukong thought gleefully: “This monster is tough. He’s vented all the pent-up frustration in Old Sun’s heart.”
After Kui Mu Lang took a few more strikes, having taken too many, he could no longer hold out. He released a cloud of smoke and fled toward Bao Xiang Kingdom.
