Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 346 - 347 Kill Them All

Chapter 346: Chapter 347 Kill Them All

Sun Wukong furrowed his brow, swung up his Jingu Bang, and smashed it down with the force that could split mountains and crack rocks. However, the blow merely made the net tremble and then dissipated his strength, leaving Sun Wukong scrambling to withdraw the Jingu Bang, only to find it stuck to the net.

"What sort of devilish thing is this that can even stick to my Jingu Bang?" Sun Wukong frowned and hastily pulled at it.

Just then, from within the courtyard, a white celestial rope suddenly extended, sweeping rapidly towards Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong knew the power of this thing; if it were to entangle him, escape would likely be difficult. He pulled with all his might and finally freed the Jingu Bang. By then, the rope had already flown in front of him.

Sun Wukong quickly took to the air, the rope chasing after him, trailing behind his rear end. It shot out several hundred feet before it drooped down, powerless.

Sun Wukong breathed a sigh of relief and dared not act rashly again. Hiding at a distance, he thought to himself, "Let me find someone to ask about the details of this demon. Then I’ll devise a plan to subdue it." Thinking this, he started chanting an incantation.

Inside the Land Temple, the Old Land Deity heard Sun Wukong’s incantation and started pacing anxiously.

"Old fellow, why are you pacing around? Are you having a seizure?" asked the Land Granny.

Shivering, the Land Deity said, "You don’t understand. The Great Sage Equalling Heaven has come, and I failed to greet him. Now he’s chanting an incantation to summon me!"

"You don’t understand, this Monkey Sun’s cudgel is heavy. If he strikes without care, where would I, an old soul, still have my life?" said the Land Deity.

"You’re such a coward," scolded the Land Granny. "Seeing how old you are, why would he strike you?"

"You don’t get it," the Land Deity said. "This Sun Wukong caused Havoc in Heaven; he doesn’t care if someone is elderly. If I don’t go, not only might I die, but you could as well."

As they spoke, Sun Wukong’s chanting became more urgent, clearly growing impatient. With no other choice, the Land Deity hurried over and knelt on the ground, kowtowing, "Great Saint above, the local Land Deity bows before you."

"Rise," said Sun Wukong. "I won’t strike you. Just remember this. I’m asking you, what place is this? And what kind of demon is inside that cave?"

Trembling, the Old Land Deity replied, "Reporting to the Great Saint, this place is called Coiled Silk Ridge, and there is a cave called Coiled Silk Cave beneath the ridge, where seven female demons reside. A couple of years ago, this humble old one happened to see the true form of these demons—they are seven Spider Spirits."

Sun Wukong nodded and then asked, "What kind of divine skills do those demons possess?"

The Land Deity answered, "This humble old one has meager mana and does not know of the demons’ divine skills, but there is a Cleansing Fount in the mountains behind us, a naturally occurring hot spring, originally the bathing spring of the Seven Fairy Sisters."

"A few years ago, those seven demons suddenly arrived here and took over the Cleansing Fount. The Fairy Sisters did not dare to dispute with them, and thus, the Cleansing Fount was freely given to the demons. It seems these demons are not lacking in abilities."

Sun Wukong continued asking, "What are those demons using the spring water for?"

The Land Deity hastily replied, "After seizing the spring, the demons bathe there three times daily. Seeing as the hour is almost midday, the demons should be coming out to bathe."

Upon hearing this, the Land Granny suddenly leaped out, grabbed the Land Deity’s ear, and scolded, "You old dead ghost, how do you know they bathe three times a day and even recall the exact times so clearly? Aren’t you watching them every day?"

"Merciful wife, please spare me!" pleaded the Land Deity.

Sun Wukong couldn’t care less about the Land Deity couple’s antics. His eyes darted about, and he thought, "There’s some trick to that demon’s spider web. Now that the entrance to the cave is tightly sealed, it is better for me to wait by the spring for the demons to come out so that I can slay them and save my master."

Thus, without concerning himself with the Land Deity and his wife, Sun Wukong leaped onto a cloud and headed straight for the Cleansing Fount in the mountains.

When Sun Wukong arrived at the mountainside, he indeed saw a clear spring whose waters were transparent to the bottom. Wisps of steam rose intermittently from the spring, clearly a natural hot spring. The surroundings were beautifully scenic; no wonder even the female immortals from the heavens would come here to bathe.

He searched around the hillside behind the spring and found a hidden cave entrance with a sealed door.

Touching his chin, Sun Wukong mused, "This must be the back door to the demons’ cave. Those demons have blocked the front entrance, so if they wanted to bathe, they would have to use this door. I’ll wait here for the demons to come out, then I can kill them and rescue my master."

Afterward, Sun Wukong transformed into a tiny insect and landed in a clump of grass by the roadside, waiting patiently.

Sure enough, after a while, the cave door suddenly opened, and laughter and chatter could be heard. Soon, seven women emerged—it was the seven Spider Spirits.

Sun Wukong looked up to see them, holding hands and laughing, chirping and fluttering their way to the spring.

By the spring, there was a pavilion with some clothes racks inside, presumably where they placed their garments.

Seeing the seven female demons, each one enchantingly alluring and breathtakingly beautiful, Sun Wukong thought to himself, "No wonder my master insisted on coming here for alms; with these seven beauties, even a monk might be tempted."

"It’s just uncertain whether these demons are out to seduce or to devour. If it’s to devour, my master alone would hardly suffice for the seven demons to feast upon. If it’s to seduce, he’d probably be tossed around in turns, meeting his untimely end either way."

"Let Old Sun first inquire about Master’s well-being before making any plans,"

Considering this, Sun Wukong flapped his wings and flew to the edge of the pool, crouched in a crevice between the rocks, and pricked up his ears to listen carefully.

The seven demons arrived in the pavilion, laughing and talking as they began to loosen their clothing, preparing for their bath.

Wukong looked up and saw the seven female demons, undoing their buttons, loosening their sashes. *Their jade-like bodies were as white as snow, their elbows surpassing the beauty of rouge, their fragrant shoulders rivaling powdered mochi, their bellies soft and silky, their backs smooth and clean.

In a blink of an eye, the seven female demons were undressed, completely naked, and, holding hands, they proceeded to the spring water, still chatting and laughing.

The seven Spider Spirits entered the water, chattering and laughing, splashing, and frolicking with high spirits.

Just then, Wukong heard one of the monsters say, "Sister, after we finish our bath, let’s steam that chubby monk and eat him." The other demons cheered in agreement.

Hearing this, Wukong knew Xuanzang was still alive and was reassured, thinking to himself, "These demons don’t have much strategy, steaming instead of boiling to save some firewood. Roasting would be even more convenient and probably tastier."

Wukong couldn’t help but follow the demons’ train of thought.

Soon after, he shook his head vigorously, casting aside these distractions and continued to listen. As the female demons were engrossed in their play, not seeming likely to finish bathing any time soon, the impatient Monkey began to think about taking action.

But then he hesitated, knowing it would be easy to kill the female demons; just stirring the Jingu Bang in the pool would scald them like boiling mice, killing them all in one go.

However, if word got out that Old Sun not only attacked women, but did so while they were bathing, ambushing them from behind, it would tarnish his reputation.

As the saying goes, decent men do not fight with women; killing these young ladies would undeservedly stain Old Sun’s staff, better to let it be!

This time, he decided to spare them and simply trap them in the pool, preventing their escape. The best course of action would be to quickly rescue the Master and get on their way.

Thinking this, Wukong flapped his wings and took to the air.

In the blink of an eye, he was midair, transformed into an eagle with a piercing cry, swooping down directly into the pavilion. With claws and beak, he snatched away all seven demons’ clothes.

The seven female demons were too engrossed in their play, and by the time they realized what had happened, the eagle had already taken their clothes and flown high into the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The infuriated female demons cursed loudly.

Meanwhile, Sun Wukong had snatched the clothes of the seven demons and soared high, quickly flying back to the main road, where he saw Zhu Bajie sleeping against a large stone.

He then dumped the entire bundle of clothes onto Zhu Bajie’s head.

Zhu Bajie awoke with a start, opened his eyes to see colorful clothing all around him, hastily throwing them aside as a faint fragrance wafted into his nose.

Only then did Zhu Bajie realize that these were women’s clothes.

Zhu Bajie tossed the clothes aside and couldn’t help but say with a laugh, "Brother Monkey! Did you sneak into a women’s bathing house? Where did you get all these women’s clothes?"

Sun Wukong, who had reverted to his true form, landed and replied with a smile, "You actually guessed it right this time, but it wasn’t a women’s bathhouse, rather a demon’s bathing pool."

Zhu Bajie said with a smirk, "You shameless rascal, always up to no good, even peeping at female demons bathing. Wait till I tell Master."

"You moron, if you dare spout nonsense again, watch as Old Sun cuts off your tongue to accompany my wine," Sun Wukong snapped in anger.

Sand Monk quickly interjected, "Elder brother, don’t listen to this fool’s babble. How is Master doing now?"

Only then did Wukong speak, "I went to scout for information and found that Master has indeed been captured by demons, specifically by seven female demons. I heard from the Old Land Deity that those demons bathe daily in the spring water behind the mountain, so I waited there. After a while, as expected, those demons showed up."

"They stripped off their clothes and entered the spring water to bathe. I wanted to kill them all, but I was wary of sullying my staff. So I changed into an eagle and took all their clothes!"

"Trapping them in the pool so they can’t leave, we can now rescue Master and make our escape," he explained.

Hearing this, Zhu Bajie’s eyes gleamed, and he quickly said, "Elder brother is too soft-hearted today. Since they are demons, we should kill them, eliminate them root and branch."

"What if they catch up after we rescue Master? Won’t that cause trouble? Even if they don’t pursue us, we’ll have to pass by here again when we return from seeking the scriptures. Wouldn’t the grudges we leave today cause the demons to seek revenge?"

"Coming back later will still be troublesome. If it were up to me, Old Pig, I would kill them all now and prevent future problems."