The soul of the King of Wuji stood inside the meditation room, hiding in a corner, staring wide-eyed at the scene before him.
He had originally hoped that the eminent Monk would help him clear his grievances, but before he could even finish recounting his wrongs, the demonic Taoist who had killed him and impersonated him as king had already been captured.
The one who captured the demon was breathtakingly handsome, yet exuded an oppressive aura that made even a ghost feel immense pressure.
If he weren’t the king, protected by his fortune, he would have long been scattered to dust by the overwhelming presence before him.
When the Monk and Li Miaoci arrived at the meditation room, this was the scene they witnessed.
“Master,” the Monk spoke.
“Wukong, I just saw the King of Wuji come to plead his grievances,” Tang Sanzang said.
The Monk glanced at the demon bound by Nezha, then looked toward the corner, understanding everything in an instant.
“Eldest Brother, let me send him to hell with one thrust of my spear,” Nezha said, a crimson spear materializing in his hand.
“You can’t kill me! I am… I am the mount of Bodhisattva Manjusri.”
“Oh?” The Monk cast a skeptical glance at him.
Beside him, Nezha scoffed and kicked him to the ground. “Demon, how dare you drag Bodhisattva into your wicked deeds in the mortal realm?”
“I’m telling the truth!” the lion demon urgently explained.
Nezha stepped on his back, his eyes filled with doubt. “I don’t believe you.”
…
“Holy… Holy Monk, it was this demonic Taoist who harmed me,” the King of Wuji stammered from the side.
Why did he feel that, aside from the Great Tang’s Holy Monk, everyone else standing before him seemed… unusual?
“Wukong, Nezha, what do you think we should do?” Tang Sanzang asked.
Nezha impatiently replied, “He killed someone; he deserves to pay with his life. I’ll send him to meet the King of Hell right now.”
“Brother,” the Monk pressed his hand down. “Don’t rush. Since he killed someone, if we can revive the person, there might still be a chance for him to repent.”
“Revive… someone?” The lion demon swallowed hard. As a neutered pet mount, he… no, which mount knew how to revive from death?!
“Yes, revive someone.”
The Monk kicked him flat on the ground, forcing him to stand up by the waist.
And so, in the dead of night, Sun Wukong and Nezha escorted the demon back to the palace of the Kingdom of Wuji.
They watched as the lion demon retrieved the king’s corpse from the Eight Treasures Glazed Well in the imperial garden.
Thanks to the kindness of the well dragon king, who had used a treasure to preserve the king’s body, even though three years had passed, the king’s body remained as fresh as ever.
The lion demon knelt on the ground, soaked through with well water. “To revive a mortal from death, you’d at least need Taishang Laojun’s Revival Elixir.”
“That’s not difficult,” the Monk said.
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the Sky-Pouncing Eagle circling the imperial garden once before landing steadily.
Hanging from its neck was a sachet bag—the very one Li Miaoci used to carry Immortal Elixirs.
Sun Wukong reached out and took it, rummaging through the bag before selecting an Elixir and feeding it to the king’s corpse.
Moments later, the King of Wuji slowly awoke.
The demon still knelt on the ground. Nezha tugged at the tassel on his Fire-Tipped Spear. “What should we do with this demon? Should we just kill him?”
“Don’t kill me! I want to go home,” the lion demon wailed, honestly confessing that someone had planned to use his hand to drug Tang Sanzang and his disciples that very night.
“Who was it?” The Monk exclaimed in surprise. How could there be such a formidable figure? Knowing their identities yet still daring to seek their lives?
The lion demon transformed back to its original form, lowering its head even further. “I don’t know. I was just about to pry for information, but the Third Prince directly reduced that person to dust.”
Nezha scratched his head, his strikingly handsome face furrowed in a frown. He had indeed felt the Cosmic Ring strike something.
So, someone had the audacity to try to harm him? Ridiculous.
Had they eaten too much of Lao Jun’s coal slag from refining Immortal Elixirs, daring to court death under his watch?
“Senior Brother,” Nezha spoke, his gaze fixed on the lion demon. “Since he harms others, why not finish him off?”
“Very well.”
The Monk nodded.
The lion demon had initially not intended to flee, but upon hearing this, even if he didn’t fight desperately, there was no path to survival. So, with all his might, he soared into the sky, heading straight for the clouds.
He had thought that with his cultivation base and skills, it was naturally impossible to escape from the Great Sage Equalling Heaven and Third Prince Nezha. Yet, to his utter astonishment, the two remained where they were, talking, with no intention of pursuing him.
Could he really escape so easily…
Crack! A bolt of heavenly lightning struck, hitting him squarely on the skull. His entire cultivation base dissipated like mist.
Everything went black before his eyes as he plummeted into the deep mountains, his fate unknown.
The next day, Tang Sanzang and his disciples obtained their travel documents from the Kingdom of Wuji and continued their journey to the west.
The demons in the kingdom had not delayed their journey in the slightest.
Leaving the city, they entered the deep mountains once more.
In winter, the forests were barren and withered, with few birds or beasts to be seen.
In the valleys, the biting cold wind pierced to the bone, and the frost and snow on the ground made travel difficult.
Li Miaoci was exhausted, a weariness that not even Immortal Elixirs could remedy.
Yet Tang Sanzang did not complain in the slightest. He persisted on his westward journey, enduring wind and dew.
Sometimes, when the path was difficult, he would even lead the white dragon horse.
After about seven or eight days, Li Miaoci finally couldn’t help but ask, “Where is Second Senior Brother?”
“He hasn’t been seen since we left Baolin Temple?”
“He returned to the Celestial Court on some business. Probably delayed.”
Nezha replied.
A day in heaven is a year on earth. Even if Yang Jian were just having a cup of tea in heaven, ten days to half a month would pass in the mortal realm.
“Alright then,” Li Miaoci replied listlessly.
The Monk, still tireless, continued to clear the path ahead, while the Sky-Pouncing Eagle circled in the sky above.
Nezha walked intermittently, sometimes far ahead, sometimes falling to the rear.
Li Miaici trekked across mountains and rivers, climbing peaks and traversing ridges. In winter, the cold was secondary; what was even more unbearable was often going without a single hot meal or soup.
After another half month of travel, she began to chant “I really wish I were dead” daily as a mantra.
“So annoying! Such a huge mountain, we’ve been climbing for days, and still no sign of a way down.”
Nezha shook his head as he watched her stumbling figure, while also feeling a bit of longing for the usually silent Yang Jian.
Why hadn’t he returned yet?
Nezha looked up toward the Ninth Heaven. Could it be that he had found liberation? No longer needing to endure the torment of the journey to the west?
Perhaps… that was for the best.
Late at night, the group still hadn’t found a way down the mountain.
They sat beneath a withered, fallen tree, a campfire burning on the ground.
Tang Sanzang guarded the luggage under the tree, the night wind beating against his face. The flickering firelight made his expression appear even more resolute.
He was the most stubborn and persevering ascetic monk in this world.
Even without demons, merely traversing this path was a hardship beyond what ordinary people could endure.
Thousands of miles, a long and arduous journey.
The Monk seemed very lonely, sitting alone on the highest branch of the tree.
Lonely, gazing at the eastern night sky.
Even though he had two capable companions who wouldn’t hold him back on this journey to the west, he still seemed truly lonely and silent.
Li Miaoci didn’t know what he was thinking. Perhaps, in a daze, he was remembering that gluttonous, lustful, big-eared, and chubby-faced junior brother?
“What’s on your mind?” Nezha walked over to her, hopped onto a rock, and sat down.
Li Miaoci withdrew her gaze and said listlessly, “I really want to die.”
Nezha’s robe, adorned with lotus patterns, fluttered in the night breeze.
His face, even after seeing it for so long, still took one’s breath away with its breathtaking beauty at a single glance.
“Could you try to be a bit more positive and optimistic about life?”
“Oh.” Li Miaoci changed her expression to one of determination, clenched her fists, and declared, “I really want to live, I really want to live.”