That night, when those two demon children spoke harsh words and revered their father in all matters, they never once considered that Bai Huaxiu was their mother.
At that time, they might even have felt that having a mortal mother was something that brought shame upon demons.
But at this very moment, they were weeping and begging Bai Huaxiu to take them away.
Nezha glanced at Yang Jian. “Second Brother, this Yellow Robe is the Celestial Wolf Star Kui Mulang who descended to the mortal realm. Since he is a deity like us, even if he has committed a crime, he should be captured and brought back to the Celestial Court for the Jade Emperor to deal with.”
“Why don’t you say hand him over to Li Tianwang for judgment?” Yang Jian felt uncomfortable all over at the mention of the Jade Emperor.
Nezha fell silent. He turned to look at the two Lesser Demons trembling behind the mortal woman.
“Are you the wife and children of the demon?”
Bai Huaxiu nodded timidly. “Yes.”
“Then you may leave.”
“Thank you, Immortal.” Bai Huaxiu expressed her gratitude.
“Wait.” Nezha pointed to the two demons behind her. “They cannot leave.”
“Immortal, they… they are still my children, no matter what. Please spare their lives.” Bai Huaxiu pleaded hesitantly.
Although she had little affection for the Yellow Robe Monster, and had lived in fear and trembling for over a decade, treading on thin ice, her feelings toward these two children were also complex.
She knew these children were her own flesh and blood, but she…
Nezha had originally intended to spare these two children out of consideration for Kui Mulang.
But before he could speak, Sun Wukong, who had already found Tang Sanzang and escorted him to safety, arrived.
As soon as he entered the cavern abode, he saw the demon corpses scattered haphazardly on the ground.
“Eldest Brother, this princess of the Precious Elephant Kingdom, who was forcibly taken, is begging us to spare these two demon offspring,” Nezha said.
“Spare them?”
Sun Wukong only heard the words “forcibly taken.”
Since she was taken by force, the princess must have unwillingly given birth to these abominations.
Since they are abominations, keeping them in this world would only bring harm to innocent women.
He raised his staff and swung it left and right. In the blink of an eye, he sent those two children to their deaths.
When Bai Huaxiu realized what had happened, she instinctively cried out, “How could you kill them?”
“Oh? Does the princess wish to take them back to the Precious Elephant Kingdom?”
Bai Huaxiu fell silent. She did not want to bring back children with green faces and fangs. Firstly, she feared gossip, and secondly, she worried they would bring disaster to the kingdom.
Especially since just looking at them would remind her of the thirteen years of nightmarish life she had endured.
“Exactly. Now you can return and continue being a princess, with a bright future ahead. What use is keeping such abominations in this world?”
Bai Huaxiu stood up, wiped away her tears, and stumbled out of the cavern abode.
For some reason, the mountains she could never escape before were now easily traversed.
Even the journey of a thousand miles took her only one night. By dawn, she appeared before the palace gates of the Precious Elephant Kingdom.
She was home.
…
Li Miaoci was quiet and well-behaved inside the cave. But once she left the cave, she wept and wailed all night long.
“It’s all your fault. You… you’re irresponsible, abandoning me and our master and running off.”
“Wahhh…”
“Stop crying.” The Monk was so disturbed by her crying that all his monkey fur stood on end.
Nezha, who followed behind, covered his ears with his Chaos Heaven Silk the entire way.
Tang Sanzang had never been one to talk much. It seemed he had little to say to his disciples, except when ordering them to do tasks.
This time, he spoke up unusually. “It is all my fault. You suffered to save me.”
“You? To save Master?” Nezha looked at her incredulously.
Li Miaoci had always been timid, so it was unexpected that she possessed such courage. Not simple at all.
Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together, “Amitabha, Miaoci was captured by the demon’s son, and at the critical moment, she shouted for me to escape quickly.”
She forced a dry laugh and wiped away tears that were no longer there at the corners of her eyes, “It’s what any disciple should do.”
Should my foot! What she had shouted was, “Master, save me!”
Who knew that as soon as she shouted, Master had fled as if running for his life.
Turns out, Tang Sanzang had misheard.
“Not bad, little Miaoci, quite courageous.”
“Speaking of which, wasn’t Second Brother guarding you and Master? How did you still end up captured by demons?” Nezha asked with a teasing smile.
Yang Jian replied indifferently, “I was out begging for alms at the time.”
“What about Xiaotian Quan?” Nezha asked again.
Li Miaoci retorted angrily, “Don’t even mention it! The bone you gave it that day was some centuries-old zombie bone! Xiaotian Quan ate it and started foaming at the mouth, and it still hasn’t recovered!”
She pointed at Xiaotian Quan, who was trailing behind listlessly, staggering every few steps, with three of its four legs barely obeying commands.
…
Meanwhile, beyond the heavens.
All the gods and buddhas were trapped in an illusory void.
Taiyi looked at the unreliable Nezha, while the Jade Emperor observed the utterly indifferent God Erlang.
“Sigh, entrusting the hopes of all beings in the Three Realms to them truly offers little promise.”
“Your Majesty, don’t be too hasty. At least so far, no major mishaps have occurred along the journey,” Taiyi stroked his beard and sighed softly.
“But look, ever since they became Scripture Seekers, even the monkey has become increasingly unreliable.”
“And who is that woman? Why has she appeared by their side?”
Taiyi calculated with his fingers and shook his head, “She is a variable. Perhaps the key to making those three proceed peacefully on the Journey to the Western Heaven lies with this woman.”
“Since things have come to this, even the Buddha has no other solution. We can only wait and see,” the Jade Emperor sighed.
What should have been a calamity three hundred years later had unexpectedly arrived early.
…
The master and disciples entered the territory of the Precious Elephant Kingdom.
Late at night, they lodged at an inn, waiting to present their official documents at court the next day.
Li Miaoci languished in her room.
The window was wide open, offering a view of the bright autumn moonlight through it.
Although her body had fully recovered, the heart-wrenching pain from that day still lingered in her mind, making her shudder with fear whenever she recalled it.
“Come on, little junior sister, let’s go play in the city,” Nezha hung upside down outside the window, teasing her.
Li Miaoci was startled and screamed, thinking demons had come again.
Her scream even startled Nezha.
Nezha stood suspended outside the second-floor window, looking at her seriously, “Have you been scared silly by demons?”
“Yes,” Li Miaoci nodded irritably, “If Second Brother hadn’t arrived in time, I would have been utterly destroyed by the demons.”
Nezha’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly; he hadn’t expected Master and little junior sister to face such danger.
He felt a pang of regret.
“From now on, I won’t go off to slack so casually,” he muttered softly.
“What did you say?”
“I said, since you’re so clumsy, you should learn some powerful spells for self-defense,” Nezha raised his voice.
Li Miaoci hurried to the window, “Could you please not float outside the window in the middle of the night? You’ll scare mortals to death!”
“Oh.”
Nezha added, “Then come downstairs, I’ll take you out to play in the streets.”
After speaking, he landed steadily in the courtyard of the inn, quietly waiting for her.
He wore clothing patterned with lotus blossoms, his entire being like a lotus flower untouched by the mud it grows from, standing alone apart from the world.
Li Miaoci leaned against the windowsill, resting her chin in her hands as she watched him. That kind of pure and peerless face truly had no equal in this world.
“Hurry up and come down!”
Just as Li Miaoci was admiring him, Nezha gritted his teeth, not caring in the slightest what kind of expression he made with that face.