To win them over, Li Miaoci shyly turned her face away. “I also heard from the demons in the mountains that a handsome man passed through our area, so I secretly followed to take a look. Who knew I’d accidentally get lost?”
The woman in green grew even more hostile toward her. “You too?”
“But don’t misunderstand, sisters. The one I fancy is that ethereal, beautiful-looking gentleman.”
“You mean Tang Sanzang’s third disciple?” the woman in yellow probed.
Li Miaoci delightedly stepped forward and grabbed her hand. “So he’s actually Tang Sanzang’s third disciple? I chased after him all this way without knowing who he was.”
The two women smiled, their hostility fading. Instead, they felt the three of them shared the same aspirations, giving them plenty to talk about.
“However,” Li Miaoci looked at them with slight concern, “I’ve heard that Tang Sanzang’s disciples all possess extraordinary Magical Power and keep their distance from women. Do we really have a chance?”
The woman in green stroked the hair falling over her chest, her eyes filled with affection. “I am my mother’s most beloved child and also the sworn sister of the Great King. What’s so difficult about wanting Tang Sanzang’s second disciple as my husband?”
“Little girl, the third disciple you like seems to have been captured by the Great King as well. Why don’t you come with us to Lotus Cave to see?”
“Okay, okay!” Li Miaoci nodded eagerly.
This was perfect—she wouldn’t have to exhaust herself trying to find her way back.
The woman in yellow seemed somewhat sad. “The monkey hasn’t been caught yet, so even if I go, I won’t get to see my beloved.”
The three of them agreed to head to Lotus Cave together. Halfway there, a male demon with fox ears and a tail caught up to them.
“Hu Qi, what are you doing here?”
The male demon called Hu Qi rubbed his ears, looking bashful. “My Lesser Demons told me a Tang dynasty monk passed by from Pingding Mountain.”
“Oh? So you also want to eat Tang Monk’s flesh for immortality?”
The woman in green was named Hu Qing. They all seemed to share the surname Hu, making their demon species quite obvious.
Hu Qi denied it. “Of course not. I heard the monk has a beautiful young lady among his followers. I wanted to go to the Great King’s place to see if I could ask for her to be my wife.”
Li Miaoci narrowed her eyes, a stampede of ten thousand herbivores racing through her mind.
She knew the journey to the west wouldn’t be easy.
Especially Nezha—so beautiful that both male and female demons would take a liking to him.
Fortunately, they could fight, or they would have been forced into love eight hundred times over by now.
“Who is this?”
Hu Qi looked at Li Miaoci.
Li Miaoci guiltily lowered her gaze, which he interpreted as shyness and timidity.
“She’s also going to Lotus Cave to see Tang Sanzang’s disciples.”
“Oh, oh.” Hu Qi was entirely focused on seeing the young lady, with little attention to spare for anyone else.
Their group adopted the simple method of walking to Lotus Cave.
Although they moved swiftly, much faster than Mortals, they still traveled all night before finally arriving at Lotus Cave.
Li Miaoci followed the Hu siblings into Lotus Cave. The Lesser Demons guarding the entrance recognized them and did not stop them.
Along the way, Li Miaoci thought to herself that she had come to find her master and Nezha, and she could also serve as an inside agent.
But as soon as she entered, she heard a Lesser Demon say that the Purple Gold Red Gourd had captured Tang Sanzang’s third disciple, the Jade Vase had trapped the second disciple, and only the scrawny monkey kept coming to challenge them but was repeatedly defeated and driven away.
Li Miaoci: …
Golden Horn King saw the newcomers and warily fixed his gaze on Li Miaoci. “Who is she?”
Hu Qing stepped forward with a smile. “Elder Brother, this is our friend. She heard you captured Tang Sanzang and his disciples and wanted to see for herself.”
Golden Horn King narrowed his eyes menacingly, staring intently at her. “That monkey knows seventy-two transformations. She couldn’t be…”
Li Miaoci instantly shrank back, looking innocent and frightened. “What monkey?”
Seeing her fear seemed genuine, the great demon didn’t press further.
“Just you two came? How has Godmother been lately?”
Hu Qing replied, “All is well.”
Then she pulled Silver Horn King aside and whispered something to him.
Silver Horn King appeared shocked, but Hu Qing remained insistent.
“Do you know he is God Erlang?”
“What about God Erlang? Didn’t Elder Brother capture him too?”
Hu Qing was a lesser demon from the mortal realm. Though she had cultivated for centuries, she paid little attention to affairs of the Three Realms and knew nothing of great deities.
All she knew was that in Dragon-Suppressing Mountain, her mother was the most powerful great demon.
And her two sworn brothers were demons a hundred times more formidable than her mother. For thousands of miles around, even the Mountain Deity and Earth God had to bow and scrape before them.
Silver Horn King glanced fearfully at the Jade Vase placed on the corner of the table, then covered Hu Qing’s mouth. “Be quiet! Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Elder Brother, you really don’t care for me anymore. I’m going to tell Mother.”
“Nonsense!”
He was nearly driven to laughter by frustration.
Before they finished speaking, Hu Qi, who had been lurking nearby, sidled up.
“Second Great King.”
“What do you want now?”
He wondered if this lad had also taken a fancy to God Erlang!
Hu Qi scratched his head sheepishly. “I heard Tang Sanzang has a beautiful, lovely female disciple…”
“Hmm?”
“That female disciple can’t grant immortality if eaten. Second Great King, why not let me take her back as my wife?”
Silver Horn King pondered briefly, completely ignoring Li Miaoci, whom he had casually swept aside with a gust of wind.
What female disciple did Tang Sanzang have? Could this lad be talking about Nezha?
His vision darkened, feeling as if he could no longer see the future of Flat-Top Mountain and Dragon-Suppressing Mountain.
“Go, invite Godmother to bring the Golden-Binding Rope.”
Hu Qi’s eyes lit up with understanding—this must be the Second Great King’s plan to capture Sun Wukong with the Golden-Binding Rope.
Once Godmother arrived and the captives were secured, with all of Tang Sanzang’s disciples caught, he could take the little lady back.
Li Miaoci settled into Lotus Cave with them. She had originally planned to search for her master in the cave late at night when the demons were quiet, but the demons were exceptionally lively, singing and dancing half the night.
She sat quietly, her peripheral gaze falling on the stone table beside the throne.
A Purple Gold Gourd emitting a faint glow rested there.
On the other side, a Jade Vase shimmering with a cold, clear light sat undisturbed.
Li Miaoci’s first thought was: Such precious magical treasures left in a crowded, easily noticed place?
Perhaps… she could secretly open them.
So, seizing an opportunity during the drinking, she urged Hu Qing to go examine the treasures.
Hu Qing readily agreed.
The two swaggered forward, unimpeded.
Li Miaoci reached out and pulled the stopper from the Purple Gold Red Gourd, but inside was pitch black, revealing nothing.
Hu Qing initially meant to stop her, but seeing nothing happen after the gourd was opened, she didn’t intervene.
Then Li Miaoci casually opened the Jade Vase as well—still, nothing occurred.
She peered into the bottle again and again, only to see a vast expanse of white, as if it were a void.
By all accounts, both Yang Jian and Nezha were deities who had attained sainthood through their physical forms, and it was unlikely they would be so easily subdued by such a magical artifact…
But where were they?