Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 345 - 346 Master must have been captured

Chapter 345: Chapter 346 Master must have been captured

Upon hearing Zhu Bajie’s words, Sun Wukong glanced at him and said, "Are you underestimating your master, or overestimating yourself?"

"Indeed, Second Senior Brother, there aren’t many demons that can deal with our master!"

Sand Monk also couldn’t help but express his feelings.

"That’s true!"

Zhu Bajie said with a smile.

It wasn’t long before Xuanzang arrived at the outside of the courtyard, and through the window, he saw four women, all of whom were there embroidering phoenixes and outlining phoenixes with their needlework.

Xuanzang saw that there were no men in this household, and he dared not rashly enter. He thought about turning back, but he feared that his disciples would laugh at him for being a master without the ability to even beg for a vegetarian meal. He hesitated, undecided.

After a while, Xuanzang gritted his teeth and continued to walk forward. When he got closer, he suddenly saw a wood Fragrant Pavilion in the courtyard, where three women were playing with a ball inside.

Xuanzang didn’t dare approach and could only stand there, waiting for someone to emerge. After waiting for a long time, those women played with the ball and continued their needlework, seemingly not noticing Xuanzang’s presence there.

Xuanzang had no choice but to walk forward and said, "Amitabha Buddha, the monk pays his respects. Lady Benefactors, the monk is a wandering monk passing through your treasured place. Please show your great compassion and bestow some vegetarian food."

Upon hearing the voice, the three ball-playing women finally noticed Xuanzang. They stopped playing ball and gathered around him, examining him from head to toe.

The leading woman in red hurriedly said, "Elder, my apologies for not welcoming you sooner. It’s our honor to have the elder visit our humble abode today. How can we let the elder beg by the roadside? Please come inside for a more comfortable seat."

Upon hearing this, Xuanzang couldn’t help but feel moved, "Good, good! The Western Direction truly is a land of Buddhism! Even women pay attention to feeding monks, wouldn’t men be even more devout towards Buddha?"

Although he was very dismissive of the Western Buddhist Sect, seeing people who paid such attention to Buddhism still made him happy.

Thus, Xuanzang followed the women into the courtyard, passing through the outer thatched house and walking inside. To his surprise, there were no corridors or houses ahead, but two stone gates.

One of the women walked forward and slowly pushed open the stone gate, revealing a cave dwelling inside. The women smiled and said, "Elder, please come in."

Xuanzang furrowed his brow, suspicion growing in his mind, but since things had come to this point, he had no choice but to follow them in, steeling himself. Once inside the stone gate, he saw stone tables and chairs set up, and the cave was filled with a chilling Yin Qi. Xuanzang was alarmed and thought to himself, ’This place must hold more danger than fortune, and it’s certainly no place of good.’ Yet, looking at the women, each one lovely and engaging, innocent and cheerful, they didn’t seem like evildoers.

The women said with a giggling, "Elder, please take a seat."

Xuanzang had no other option but to sit down.

The woman in red, who seemed to be the leader, asked with a smile, "May I know from which Treasured Place the elder comes, what karma do you seek? Are you repairing bridges and paving roads, building temples and offering pagodas, or crafting Buddha statues and printing scriptures? Please show your karma book for us to see." Xuanzang hastily said, "Amitabha Buddha, the monk is not here for alms."

"If you are not here for alms, then what are you doing here?"

A woman in green clothes asked with a smile.

Xuanzang answered honestly, "The monk is on a mission from the Great Tang of the Eastern Land to seek scriptures in the Western Heaven. I passed by your Treasured Place, feeling hungry, and have come to visit the Donor’s Residence to beseech a vegetarian meal, after which the monk will promptly depart."

The woman in red rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Very well, very well! As the old saying goes, ’a real monk can chant scriptures.’ You must be a High Monk who has attained the Dao. We mustn’t slight you, my sisters. Hurry and prepare the vegetarian meal."

So, three of the women stayed to accompany the Tang Monk, while the other four hurried to the back kitchen to prepare the vegetarian meal.

Xuanzang sat there silently, not speaking, while the three women chatted with him, asking various questions, to which Xuanzang gave honest answers.

Before long, the four women brought out two plates of vegetarian food, placed them in front of Xuanzang, and said with a smile, "Elder, please enjoy your meal."

Xuanzang looked down at the plates and saw one was blackish and seemed to be gluten, while the other was fried tofu cubes. However, there was a strong smell of fishiness emanating from them.

Xuanzang, who had been vegetarian since childhood, was particularly sensitive to this and knew it couldn’t be vegetarian food. He quickly said, "Amitabha Buddha, lady Benefactors, the monk has been vegetarian since conception and does not eat meat."

The group of women laughed and said, "Elder, this is vegetarian, indeed!"

Although Xuanzang knew this food was not vegetarian, he was unaware of what exactly it was.

The women couldn’t help but smile upon seeing Xuanzang’s expression.

The dish that looked like gluten was actually made from human fat fried and human flesh simmered until blackened to resemble gluten. As for the tofu, it was even made from human brains, fried in human fat as well.

Xuanzang quickly said, "Amitabha Buddha, if the monk eats such ’vegetarian’ food, he would never see Buddha Ancestor again."

The woman in red frowned and said, "What is this, monk? We kindly offer you vegetarian food, and you pick and choose."

Xuanzang explained hastily, "Not at all! The monk abides by the King of Tang’s decree, journeying to the west, has not harmed any living creature and aids in suffering. When encountering grains, I pick them up to eat; when finding threads, I gather them to cover my body. How could I reject any benefaction!"

The woman laughed and said, "Although the elder does not reject any benefaction, it seems we have neglected you. Please do not disdain our humble food and make do with some."

Xuanzang replied quickly, "I truly dare not eat it, for fear of breaking my vows and being unable to see the Buddha Ancestor. Please, lady Bodhisattvas, to preserve life is better than to grant life. Just let the monk leave!"

As Xuanzang stood up and attempted to walk away, several women blocked his way.

The woman in red scoffed and said, "It seems this business at our doorstep will not be so easy to conclude. You’ve passed gas but now cover it with your hands; what use is that? Sisters, seize him for me."

"Yes!" the other six women responded in unison, swarming toward Xuanzang, intending to pin him to the ground.

However, upon entering, Xuanzang had already guessed that these women might be demons.

He dared to come in, naturally relying on the powerful force of his Buddhist law.

In the face of these women pouncing on him, he sat down cross-legged and began to chant Buddhist scriptures.

A powerful Buddha power spread out.

In an instant, Buddha’s light shone, falling upon the women.

The women let out screams of agony.

Soon after, the expressions of pain on their faces disappeared, replaced by ones of devotion.

Seeing that the situation was not in her favor, the woman in red hurriedly took out an object.

This object was a string of Buddha Beads.

As she flicked them, the beads shot out, striking Xuanzang squarely on the forehead.

Although Xuanzang contained the Method of Universal Salvation, he was caught off guard and knocked out.

"Sister, this monk is really tough to deal with, he’s so terrifying."

"Yeah, we almost got universally saved by him!"

"That was indeed a little too terrifying!"

"..."

As Xuanzang passed out, the demons finally came to their senses.

"Quick, tie up this monk before we do anything else!"

The woman in red shouted.

The female monsters pushed Xuanzang to the ground, then secured him with a white rope and hoisted him up.

Xuanzang’s one hand was tied to his waist, the other stretched forward, both legs tied and bent backward, this form of hanging was known as ’Immortal Points the Way’.

This time, Xuanzang was gagged and his inner mana was sealed.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself powerless and quickly became more alert due to being hung in such a way.

Xuanzang felt helpless inside, thinking, "It seems I was a bit too arrogant this time, otherwise I wouldn’t have been so easily captured by these demons!"

"I wonder when my disciples will come to save me. If it’s two more hours, I’m afraid my life will be over!"

At this point, the red-clothed demon beckoned, "Sisters, I heard that Xuanzang has three disciples, each of whom is highly skilled. If we want to enjoy Tang Monk’s flesh in peace, we’ll have to use some tricks."

Hanging in mid-air, Xuanzang saw the female monsters huddling together, discussing for a while, and then they began to undress.

Xuanzang quickly closed his eyes, thinking to himself, "Amitabha Buddha, these female demons are not only intent on devouring humans but now they seem to crave lust! Do they want to ... and then eat the poor monk? Wukong ah! Quickly come and save your master!"

But Xuanzang was clearly overthinking it, as those female demons only removed their outer garments, exposing their bellies, and each displayed their divine skills.

Threads as thick as duck eggs emerged from their navels, bright as bone and silver, and these white threads rapidly weaved into a large net. They first covered the outer courtyard and thatched pavilion completely, then sealed the cave dwelling tightly.

When Xuanzang went to the donor’s residence to accept alms, Sun Wukong and his two brothers stayed by the roadside to wait, Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk found a clean place to sit down and rest.

But Sun Wukong couldn’t sit still, jumping up and down, climbing trees and picking fruits. Suddenly, he spotted that the residence was enveloped by a white net, shining with a silvery light from a distance, eye-catching.

Seeing that the house had changed, Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "It looks like the master has been captured. This monk is really useless, actually failing to convert these demons with universal salvation!"

Hearing Sun Wukong’s words, Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk quickly stood up and looked towards the manor to the south. From a distance, it was so white, even whiter than snow and brighter than silver.

Zhu Bajie exclaimed in panic, "It’s over! It’s all over, the master must have been captured by demons, let’s go save him quickly!"

"What’s there to panic about!"

Sun Wukong was originally thinking of leaving Xuanzang in the demons’ cave dwelling, as he assumed they wouldn’t dare to harm Xuanzang.

However, after the recent events, Sun Wukong was no longer so sure.

If the monk died, they would truly have to face being killed without any scruples.

Sun Wukong hurriedly said, "Do not worry, my brothers. Let me, Old Sun, first go and scout out the situation. We can make our plans after."

"Be careful, big brother," said Sand Monk urgently.

At this moment, Sun Wukong had already soared into the air and instantly arrived at the courtyard. Only then did he see clearly that the whole courtyard was covered with a net woven from thick ropes like duck eggs, sealed so tightly that one couldn’t see inside at all.