On the boundless, endless surface of the river, the current was driven by magical force, pushing the floating ice and carrying the small boat bit by bit toward the distant shore of the Blackwater River.
Barry Bear and General Curtain grabbed their weapons and swiftly leapt from the boat, standing alertly on the ice floes as they scanned their surroundings.
Marshal Silver gripped his Nine-Toothed Rake, shielding Tripitaka securely behind him.
The ferryman stood motionless, loosely grasping the oar now frozen solid, as if everything unfolding had nothing to do with him.
In the center of the boat, Monkey still sat cross-legged, tilting his head slightly to gaze at the sky. He let out a quiet sigh and said, "Speak. Who are you? Why did you target Master Tripitaka? What is your intent?"
Upon hearing this, Prince Adrian hurriedly shrank behind Monkey. At this moment, he was likely the only one among them still completely in the dark.
"Gr—Great Sage, you must be joking," the ferryman forced a dry smile, sighing softly. "What kind of person could I possibly be? I... I am merely the ferryman of this Blackwater River, nothing more."
Wind swept across the ice conjured by Monkey’s magic, striking his face with a chill. Yet despite the cold, beads of sweat couldn’t help but trickle down.
"With acting that poor, you might as well drop the pretense," Monkey stretched lazily, rose to his feet, hefted the Golden Staff onto his shoulder, and turned to the ferryman with a languid gaze. "Last chance. Who are you?"
"Great Sage... Have you perhaps misunderstood?"
"Three."
"I truly am only the ferryman of the Blackwater River. Please, Great Sage, don't mistake an honest man!"
"Two."
The ferryman's face turned instantly pale.
"One."
Before the words had even faded, the ferryman dropped to his knees with a heavy thud.
In a flash of white light, the ferryman was transformed, revealing his true form—a monstrous being nearly seven feet tall.
With jaws nearly a foot long, his entire body covered in brown scales, ten elongated fingers ending in razor-sharp claws, and a long tail whipping behind him.
He looked just like a crocodile demon.
For everyone else, this seemed expected—only Prince Adrian cried out in shock.
"Jack Rivers?"
The crocodile demon lifted his head slightly to glance at Prince Adrian but said nothing.
"It really is you? How did you end up here?"
Marshal Silver asked quietly, "You know him?"
"He's my cousin—the son of my uncle, the Jing River Dragon King, whom I just mentioned." Prince Adrian hastily blocked Monkey, saying, "Great Sage, this is my cousin Jack Rivers. There must be some misunderstanding."
"Is that so?" Monkey stared coldly at Jack Rivers, unmoved.
Just then, a dull crash sounded—boat and frozen river alike shuddered violently.
Tripitaka nearly toppled to the deck.
At the same time, the ice-sculpted wave suspended overhead split in two and crashed down toward the boat.
In that instant, Monkey rolled forward; his staff abruptly extended, stabbing into the falling wave of ice.
In an instant, the massive sculpture of ice shattered, yet continued to fall toward the boat like a landslide.
Such a violent hail of ice—if it struck a mortal, they would surely perish.
In the chaos, Marshal Silver hurriedly raised a shield to protect Tripitaka.
By now, all the ice outside the boat had split apart. Barry Bear and General Curtain, who had been standing on the floes, scrambled and leapt back onto the boat in confusion.
But just then, as everyone’s attention was diverted, Jack Rivers—still kneeling on the deck—suddenly burst forth, shoving aside Prince Adrian and lunging straight at Tripitaka.
In that split second, Monkey reversed his grip; the Golden Staff subtly shifted course, whistling toward the charging Jack Rivers.
Before Jack Rivers’ hand could even brush the hem of Tripitaka’s robe, Monkey struck him hard in the waist.
With a heavy thud, Jack Rivers was knocked to the deck, blood spraying from his mouth.
Were it not for the cramped space on the boat, that blow alone might have taken Jack Rivers’ life.
The opportunity vanished in a flash; clutching his wound, Jack Rivers rolled off the deck and plunged into the water.
It all happened in an instant.
Within that brief moment, the ice that was meant to shield them shattered instead; Monkey and Marshal Silver struggled to block the falling shards, Barry Bear and General Curtain were forced back, Jack Rivers attacked Tripitaka, Monkey countered, and Jack Rivers fled. From start to finish, Prince Adrian didn’t even have time to say a word before it was all over.
Broken ice pelted the boat like rain, producing a cacophony of splashes.
Prince Adrian stared at the ripples spreading across the distant water, stunned into silence.
"After him!" General Curtain gritted his teeth and was about to leap off the boat, but Marshal Silver yanked him back.
"Don’t chase—he’s got allies." Monkey looked up and saw that, at some point, a colossal magic array had appeared, hovering barely three zhang above the river’s surface.
The array was so vast it spanned nearly ten li across the river, stretching out of sight.
Following Monkey’s gaze, Barry Bear also spotted the enormous array and hesitated. "Now that I think about it, we couldn’t seem to use our cloud-riding arts just now."
Monkey sighed helplessly. "It must be a Flight Ban Spell. Protecting Master Tripitaka comes first."
Back then, White Ape’s prized Flight Ban Spell was nothing compared to this. The caster this time was far beyond White Ape’s abilities, and the spell’s range was immense.
The waves and wind on the river grew wilder by the moment; the boat pitched and tossed like a dead leaf, as if it could be swallowed by the surging water at any time. If not for Marshal Silver's steadying hand, Tripitaka might have been thrown overboard already.
Supporting Tripitaka, Marshal Silver looked up at the array and asked softly, "Can it be broken?"
"It can. But it'll cause a stir." Monkey lowered his gaze to the churning river. "That array above is just an illusion. If they'd drawn it right over our heads, we would've noticed. The real array must be on the riverbed. And our enemy is down there too. Looks like these black waters have been lying in wait for a long time."
(Irrelevant system message skipped)
...
Meanwhile, deep within the Blackwater River, the wounded Jack Rivers had already fled a good distance.
He pulled a piece of white jade from his belt and clamped it between his teeth. Instantly, the pitch-black river appeared as normal again, with fish faintly visible swimming nearby.
In a blink, he collapsed atop a hill on the riverbed.
Standing on that hill were three demon kings: King Roc, King Liontusk, and King Gloomape. At their feet, a blue array inscribed with Sanskrit swirled, its diameter over ten zhang.
At the center of the array sat a gaunt monk, legs crossed and hands pressed together in prayer. A headscarf hid his face from view.
Seeing Jack Rivers arrive, King Roc hurried over to greet him.
"Did you fail?"
Jack Rivers lay on the ground clutching his wound, nodding painfully: "That monkey is too fast... As long as he's near that monk, there's no way to get close."
King Liontusk snorted, glancing at Jack Rivers on the ground. "So what now?"
King Roc glanced back at the monk in the center of the array, then looked up at the river surface. "Even if we can't strike, as long as this thing holds, they can't escape. Trap them for now; if we can force them into the water, so much the better."
With that, King Roc strode toward the array, taking one corner. The other two demon kings quickly took their places at the remaining corners.
Slowly, the three began channeling spiritual power into the array.
...
By now, whirlpools were forming one after another on the river’s surface.
Monkey even saw a fish flung out of the water, only to be torn in two by the force of two whirlpools.
If Monkey hadn’t reinforced the boat with spiritual power and forcibly steadied its balance, it would have been torn apart like that fish.
This was no longer water—it was liquid blades!
Yet amid the raging river, the little boat pressed forward, undisturbed by waves or tossing, inching ahead at a snail’s pace.
But just as everyone thought reaching the far shore and escaping the array was only a matter of time, the boat suddenly shot forward, veered wildly off course under the river’s strange currents, and darted erratically through the churning waves.
General Curtain and Barry Bear were barely able to keep themselves safe; Marshal Silver clung tightly to Tripitaka, while Prince Adrian struggled at the stern and nearly got thrown off.
With great effort, Monkey finally managed to steady the boat again, but he no longer dared to move in any direction.
Everyone was left gasping for breath, feeling as if they’d lost half their lives.
Marshal Silver stared at the waves held back by spiritual power, a cold bead of sweat sliding down his forehead.
"This is… not just a Flight Ban Spell, is it?"
At that moment, Monkey’s face had turned ashen.
"This is a Buddhist spell."
"A Buddhist spell?"
"Yes, it’s from Buddhism. Looks like Jack Rivers has already thrown in with the Buddhist Order."
"Impossible!" Prince Adrian cried out. "The dragon clan has little contact with Buddhism—how could Jack Rivers possibly join them?"
At his shout, everyone turned to look at Prince Adrian.
Monkey gazed at him expressionlessly. "You’re his cousin?" he asked softly.
"Yes." Prince Adrian nodded.
"All right then. You go down and talk to him—get the facts and come back."
As Monkey reached for Prince Adrian, the latter clung to Tripitaka for dear life, refusing to let go and nearly choking Tripitaka. Monkey finally let him be, storming over to the rail in frustration.
Gesturing to the flying river water, Marshal Silver said, "This array is powerful. Who do you think has arrived? There aren’t many in the Buddhist Order who could conjure a formation this strong, are there?"
"At minimum, it’s one of the Four Great Buddhas," Monkey replied without hesitation. "Right-Dharma Radiance Tathāgata, Saint Samuel, Manjusri—or perhaps that enigmatic King Kṣitigarbha."