Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 377 - 378 Zhu Bajie Turns the Tables

Chapter 377: Chapter 378 Zhu Bajie Turns the Tables

Liulin Slope?

Upon hearing the King’s words, Sun Wukong’s face showed a look of surprise.

"Where exactly is it?"

The King dared not conceal anything and hurriedly told Sun Wukong and the rest about the location of Liulin Slope.

"Let’s go, Bajie!"

Sun Wukong turned and looked at Zhu Bajie.

Zhu Bajie frowned and said to Sun Wukong, "Brother Monkey, we still don’t know the specifics.Even if we go there now, I’m afraid we won’t be able to find the monster, right?"

Just a Liulin Slope, how can we find any monster.

"We’ll ask the Land Deity once we get there, we should be able to find it!"

After pondering for a moment, Sun Wukong then said.

Zhu Bajie, feeling that he could not escape this task, no longer refused and left the Royal Palace with Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie leaped onto clouds and flew southward out of the city together.

A short while later, they quickly arrived at Liulin Slope and indeed found a small stream with willows lining the banks, at least tens of thousands of them.

Seeing this, Zhu Bajie couldn’t help but complain, "These are all trees; there’s not even a cave or anything. How do we find a monster?"

Sun Wukong also slightly frowned, clearly the monster was much harder to find than they had imagined.

Afterwards, he stamped his foot on the ground and with a muffled sound, Sun Wukong shouted, "Land Deity, appear before me immediately!"

In an instant, smoke rose from the ground, and within the smoke appeared an old man, the Land Deity of this place.

"Greetings, Great Sage. I wonder what task has prompted the Great Sage to summon this Minor Deity?"

As soon as the Land Deity saw that it was Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, he did not dare to delay and hurriedly spoke.

"Old man, speak swiftly. Is there a monster here or not?"

Before Sun Wukong could speak, Zhu Bajie directly asked.

"A monster?"

The Land Deity nodded and said, "Indeed, there is a monster here!"

"But there’s no cave around here. Where could the monster be?"

Zhu Bajie looked at the surrounding trees and frowned as he spoke.

"This monster has a cave heaven, and outside the cave heaven, there is a Formation. Great Sage, look there—at the intersection, that large poplar tree is the entrance. The Great Sage only needs to walk under the poplar tree, turn left three times, right three times, and then place both hands on the poplar tree and call out ’Open Sesame’ three times, and Qinghua Cave will appear!"

The Land Deity pointed it out to Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie.

Both Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie looked over, indeed seeing a large poplar tree at a fork in the road. This poplar tree was clearly much thicker than those in other places.

"You may go now," Sun Wukong waved his hand.

"This Minor Deity takes his leave!"

Hearing this, the Land Deity, as if pardoned, quickly burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

So Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie hurried over to the tree.

"Brother Monkey, will the method the Land Deity spoke of work?"

Zhu Bajie looked at the large tree and felt that the method was rather peculiar.

"Regardless if it works or not, let’s just try it and see!"

With that said, Sun Wukong began to try.

As he spoke, Sun Wukong arrived under the large poplar tree and started to make three turns to the left, three to the right.

Zhu Bajie looked at Sun Wukong turning in circles and couldn’t help but find it funny, holding back a laugh he said, "Brother Monkey, to anyone unaware, it looks as though you’re having a seizure!"

Sun Wukong couldn’t be bothered with this fool. After completing the turns, he placed his hands on the poplar tree and shouted loudly, "Open Sesame! Open Sesame! Open Sesame!"

In an instant, the large poplar tree disappeared, revealing a cave heaven.

Clouds and mist swirled around it, as if it were an Immortal Realm.

Inside, it was radiant with colorful lights and devoid of human presence.

"It seems that what the Land Deity said was right!"

Sun Wukong looked at the scene before declaring, "I didn’t expect there to be another world inside. You blockhead, guard the outside to prevent the demon from escaping. I, Old Sun, will go in to Subdue Demons."

"Hold on a moment, Brother Monkey! Let me, Old Pig, go inside instead!" At this moment, Zhu Bajie suddenly stopped Sun Wukong.

"Why?" Sun Wukong asked, frowning.

With a twinkle in his eye, Zhu Bajie said with a laugh, "Brother Monkey, since you’ve already brought me along, I don’t want to just wait here. How foolish would that be?"

"But I don’t know how much ability this monster has, if she escapes, and you’re here, you can at least try to block her for a moment!"

Sun Wukong said with a frown.

"Then, I want to ask Brother Monkey, who do you think is more powerful, me or you?"

Zhu Bajie asked with a smile.

Sun Wukong looked at Zhu Bajie and said with a smile, "Do I even need to say it?"

"Isn’t that settled then?" Zhu Bajie quickly explained, "The situation here is unclear; if you go in and get trapped by that demon, and she takes the chance to escape, Old Pig standing guard outside might not necessarily be able to stop her."

"My abilities are modest, and if I get trapped inside, Brother Monkey could still rescue me. But if the demon escapes, with Brother Monkey lying in wait in hiding, with your abilities, how could you let that demon escape?"

Sun Wukong’s eyes spun around, regardless of what Zhu Bajie was scheming, letting him try first couldn’t hurt, so he nodded and said, "We’ll do it your way, but once you’re inside, be careful with everything. If you run into any trouble, just shout, and Old Sun will come in to rescue you immediately."

"Alright, alright! Then Old Pig will go inside now." Zhu Bajie said brimming with joy, picking up his rake and energetically rushing inside.

Zhu Bajie, carrying the Nine-toothed Rake, charged inside and indeed saw a different realm, where the clouds were brightly lit with the stealthy brilliance of the sun and moon.

White clouds often emerged from the cave, and green moss chaotically covered the courtyard. A path of exotic flowers vied for beauty and splendor, and every step was covered with precious grass competing in fragrance and glory.

Zhu Bajie walked straight ahead following a path, and at that moment, in front of him, there was a stone screen inscribed with four large characters: "Qinghua Fairy Mansion!"

Zhu Bajie couldn’t help but curse inwardly, "Pah, shameless demon, it’s clearly a demon cave, yet you claim it to be some fairy mansion. Today shall be the day Old Pig achieves a great feat. Just watch as Old Pig wreaks havoc in the Qinghua Fairy Mansion and captures the nation-ruining evil spirit."

Zhu Bajie, while daydreaming of glory, continued forward, turned past the stone screen, and saw a Fragrant Pavilion in the distance. A woman was hiding in the pavilion, sobbing softly, seeming incredibly sad.

Zhu Bajie stole a glance and, even though he could only see the woman’s profile, was completely astonished by her beauty. Indeed, she had a face that rivaled flowers and the moon, and at the moment, she was crying behind her hands, tears streaming down her face like rain on pear blossoms, which was all the more pitiable to behold.

Witnessing this scene, Zhu Bajie couldn’t help but feel, no wonder the King was bewitched by this demon, her beauty alone could unsettle even an immortal!

Luckily, he had seen Chang’e, and if he could remain unmoved even in her presence, not to mention this mere demon.

Zhu Bajie looked around and, seeing no one else, tiptoed toward the woman, quietly approaching her from behind. Perhaps because she was overwhelmed with sorrow, she didn’t notice someone approaching and continued to sob behind her hands.

Zhu Bajie tightened his grip on the Nine-toothed Rake and asked, "Young lady, why do you weep here?"

"Ah~!" The woman was startled by the noise behind her, screamed in fright, and leapt up. When she turned around, she saw a simpleton with a large mouth and big ears coldly watching her.

Seeing the simpleton wearing a Buddha hat, she realized he was a Monk.

With her heart settled slightly, she spoke out loudly, "Who are you? A monk from where? Why have you intruded into my Qinghua Fairy Mansion uninvited?"

Zhu Bajie’s eyes darted about, somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected this female demon not to recognize his identity as Tianpeng.

Zhu Bajie smiled faintly and replied, "Old Pig is but a monk passing by. I heard crying from within as I was passing by, and out of curiosity, I came in to have a look."

"I wonder why this young lady is so sad, crying her heart out. I think it’s better to just kill you too, then you won’t have to cry!"

As Zhu Bajie finished speaking, his Nine-toothed Rake emitted a glow and he smashed it directly towards the monster.

"Ah!" The female demon was startled by Zhu Bajie’s unhesitating attack. Her complexion changed drastically, and with a scream, she quickly dodged to one side, cursing loudly, "You insolent monk, we have no grudges nor grievances, why attack me? If you dare to strike again, I won’t be polite anymore."

Zhu Bajie, of course, paid no attention, chuckling, "Very well! Very well! Old Zhu would like to see what abilities you, this demon, have to be so brazen."

"To dare commit child murder in the Imperial Palace and to engage in such evil, today I, Old Zhu, shall administer justice on behalf of the heavens!"

Zhu Bajie roared and swung his Nine-toothed Rake towards the woman once more.

Boom!

The woman hurriedly dodged, and the ground rumbled.

Hearing Zhu Bajie’s words, the female demon immediately understood that this hateful pig-faced monk must be the culprit who killed her deer lover.

When she was at the Royal Palace, she had heard the commotion and known that the white deer was no match, so she had hurriedly left, hoping the white deer could escape and meet her here. But to her dismay, it was this pig-faced monk who showed up.

Clearly, he came specifically to trouble her.

Although she was nominally the white deer’s daughter, in reality, they were in a lover’s relationship.

The white deer had gone to great lengths to set up this scheme, even offering his own lover to the foolish ruler.

Originally, she had thought that the white deer, having taken to the skies, should have been able to escape, but now it seemed that he likely hadn’t eluded the monks’ tactics.

Knowing that these monks were even too much for the white deer, she feared she was no match either.

If she tried to fight back forcefully, she would probably end up dead.

Confronted with this pig-faced monk, what else could the female monster do but attempt to seduce him, hoping to escape from his grasp?

"My lord, do you really intend to kill me? I haven’t done anything, it was all that white deer!"

The female demon put on a pitiable face and spoke softly.

Zhu Bajie looked at the female demon and instantly understood what she wanted to do.

However, if she kept on evading, she wouldn’t be easy to hit. Better to go along with her ploy.

Zhu Bajie already had a plan in mind, smiling at the female demon.

"Old Zhu also feels the same, seeing the young lady look so pitiable, I know she must not be a demon who would harm others, so..."

As Zhu Bajie spoke, he reached out to grab the female demon, but ended up grasping at air.