"Third Uncle Roc, Fourth Uncle Liontusk, Sixth Uncle Gloomape! Where are you? Hurry and come out!"
Monkey King dug at his ear, then released his spiritual sense to scan five li in all directions—finding nothing.
"Third Uncle, what are you waiting for? If we join forces, we can definitely take down this monkey!"
All the demons stared at the panicked Red Boy, some of them visibly shaken.
"Third Uncle! You promised you'd help me!"
His voice echoed through the mountains, reverberating again and again, but for a long time, there was no response from any direction.
In that moment, Red Boy seemed to understand something. His face turned completely pale.
Monkey King grinned and said, "It seems today is not my destined day to die."
With that, he strode forward, leaping across the five-zhang-wide chasm to land before Fire-Cloud Cave, now only ten zhang from Red Boy. Step by step, he advanced toward him.
"You... you can't kill me! If you do, my father will never let you go!"
"I killed your Second Demon King uncle. Did anyone avenge him?"
"No... it's not the same! I'm his own son! I'm his own son! If you kill me, he'll never let you go!"
"Let him come, then. I've never begged anyone to spare me."
Monkey King reached behind his ear and drew out the Golden Staff. Red Boy recoiled two steps in shock. The demons all stared wide-eyed, but none dared move.
"You... you can't kill me! I surrender! I'll submit to you and fight to conquer the Three Realms for you!"
Monkey King planted his staff and stopped, gazing at the tearful Red Boy and chuckling. He sighed meaningfully, "Do I need you to conquer the Three Realms? Once the Western Scripture Pilgrimage is done, won't the Three Realms be mine to shape as I please?"
Gritting his teeth, Red Boy raised the Flame Spear and charged forward yet again!
There was no suspense. Monkey King, holding the staff in one hand, leisurely took a guard stance. As Red Boy approached, he suddenly exploded into motion, sweeping the staff in a horizontal arc and sending Red Boy flying into the cave wall.
Sand and stones flew everywhere!
Seeing this, the demons dropped their weapons and scattered like birds and beasts.
When the dust finally settled, Red Boy—bloodied and filthy—struggled to his feet from the rubble. The three-layer encirclement that had surrounded him was gone, leaving only scattered weapons behind.
For a moment, Red Boy was completely stunned.
In the distance, Tripitaka, Marshal Silver, and General Curtain watched quietly as Red Boy floundered in humiliation.
The danger had passed; the demon army was gone. With only Red Boy left, there was no longer any threat. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Monkey King circled around Red Boy again and again.
Red Boy hurriedly wiped the dust from his face with his hand.
At this moment, Red Boy's face was deathly pale, his armor shattered and stained with blood. Though two tears clung to his eyes, refusing to fall, he looked just like a naughty child waiting to be punished.
"Any other tricks? I hear you have Samadhi True Fire and haven't used it yet." Monkey King hefted the Golden Staff, beckoning to Red Boy. "Show me—let's see if it's really as fearsome as the legends say."
Red Boy bit his lip, staring at Monkey King, and retreated step by step over the rubble until his back was pressed against the cave wall—nowhere left to run.
Seeing Red Boy's pitiful state, Tripitaka started to speak, but Marshal Silver secretly signaled him to remain silent, shaking his head.
This is a Blossom Mountain internal affair. If even this child can't be subdued, the world will fall into chaos. For the sake of all living beings, you must not intervene.
Hearing this, Tripitaka nodded silently, closed his eyes, and sighed, "Amitabha."
Standing less than a zhang apart, Monkey King looked down at the small Red Boy, tapped the Golden Staff in front of him, and said, "Where's your Samadhi True Fire? Show me, I really want to see it."
Normally, if anyone said that to him, Red Boy would have burned them without hesitation. But now, he was on the verge of tears.
Lowering his head, he fumbled at his waist for a stack of Jade Tablets. Perhaps from nerves, his hand trembled and all the tablets fell to the ground. He hurriedly crouched to gather them, flustered.
At that moment, a black figure dropped from the sky, landing five zhang behind Monkey King, kneeling on one knee.
Old Bullhorn bows before the Great Sage!
With that, Red Boy completely broke down.
His tears streamed down like a breached dam.
Father... Father, save me, he's going to kill me... He's going to kill me, please help me kill him!
"Shut your mouth!"
At his father's rebuke, Red Boy quickly shut his mouth, gazing at his father with tearful eyes, choking back sobs.
King Bullhorn clasped his hands toward Monkey King and said loudly, "Old Bullhorn has failed to raise his son well, leading him to offend the Great Sage. I deserve death a thousand times over. I beg the Great Sage's forgiveness!"
Monkey King did not turn around.
He took a deep breath, still facing away from King Bullhorn, and pointed at Red Boy. "Offend me? He tried to kill me, do you understand?"
King Bullhorn quickly shifted his posture, dropping to both knees and kowtowing.
"Father, what are you doing?"
"If you want to live, then shut up!"
At his father's sharp command, Red Boy opened his mouth but could not say another word.
Raising his head, King Bullhorn said loudly, "Great Sage, Old Bullhorn has only this one son. No matter what wrongs he has committed, I beg the Great Sage to spare his life. This favor, Old Bullhorn will remember forever! If my promise is not enough... I am willing to trade my life for his. I beg the Great Sage to grant it!"
With that, he knocked his head on the ground three times.
To the Heavenly Court, he is the notorious King Bullhorn. To other demon kings, he is the old-fashioned, indecisive elder brother. But to Red Boy, he is simply a father—one who spoils his only son.
Monkey King slowly turned to look at King Bullhorn, prostrate on the ground. For a moment, even he did not know what to say.
...
At this moment, on the outskirts of Mount Hua, Ian Liu wandered dazedly into his small town.
Sunlight filtered through the branches overhead, dappling his shoulders. Passersby greeted him, but he seemed oblivious.
He reached into his sleeve to touch the precious medicine he'd obtained with great effort, feeling a wave of unease.
The Third Saintess truly helped him, truly ate the food he offered, and the Heavenly general named Warren Wu really did send his men to gather medicine for him. Not only that, they even escorted him home, promising that if his mother's condition didn't improve, they'd seek an Elixir of Immortality elsewhere.
Of course, this help was not without strings attached: the condition was that if the Third Saintess resumed her fasting, he would have to go persuade her again.
Will the Third Saintess show mercy to me again next time?
Ian Liu didn't know, just as he didn't know what would happen if he took the Third Saintess's hairpin to Simon Sun, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Toward the Third Saintess, whose face he dared not even look at, Ian Liu felt a kind of innate fear. Some instinct told him that if he did exactly as the Third Saintess said, he would die a terrible death.
Wandering dazedly down the street, Ian Liu saw, from a distance, an old white-bearded man dozing under a tree, leaning crookedly on a cane.
He swallowed hard, hurried forward, and nudged the old man: "Old Xiao, Old Xiao?"
The old man started awake, blinking sleepily at Ian Liu. "So it's you, Ian Liu. I heard you went up the mountain to find medicine for your mother. Did you find it?"
Ian Liu forced a laugh and nodded.
"Good, good," Old Xiao nodded. "Your mother is lucky to have such a filial son. If it were anyone else, they'd be arranging her funeral by now."
After a moment's hesitation, Ian Liu lowered his voice: "Old Xiao, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Um, the Third Saintess—do you know her?"
"Yang Chan, the sister of General Erlang, Yang Jian?"
Ian Liu nodded, "Yes, that's her. She's Mount Hua's Holy Mother. After all these years, are there any legends about her?"
"Her legends?" Old Xiao chuckled, straightening up. "What do you want to know?"
"Anything! Old Xiao, just tell me whatever you know." Ian Liu quickly sat down on a stone beside Old Xiao, ears pricked.
Raising his head and thinking for a moment, Old Xiao sighed softly, "The Third Saintess was personally canonized by the Jade Emperor as Mount Hua's Holy Mother. Logically, we Mount Hua folk should worship her most devoutly. But the Holy Mother Shrine at the peak has been abandoned for many years. Do you know why?"
"Because she doesn't answer prayers?"
Old Xiao slowly shook his head, "You know only half the story. If it were just that, incense wouldn't have vanished for centuries."
"Then what happened?"
Stroking his long beard, Old Xiao put on a mysterious air, "Have you ever been to the Holy Mother Shrine?"
Ian Liu slowly shook his head.
"I've been there." Old Xiao stroked his beard and chuckled. "That shrine is nothing but broken walls now, overgrown with weeds. If you don't look carefully, you won't find it at all. But it didn't become ruins because of sun, rain, or wind. It was because..."
At this, Old Xiao paused. Ian Liu quickly widened his eyes and leaned in to listen.
Covering his mouth, Old Xiao lowered his voice, "It was because of human calamity."
"Human calamity? But..."
For a moment, Ian Liu was dumbfounded.
Old Xiao chuckled softly and lowered his voice, "Legend has it that since the Third Saintess was enshrined as Mount Hua's Holy Mother, she almost never answered prayers, and incense offerings ceased. But several hundred years ago, she did answer once—and it was no ordinary miracle. A destitute scholar was lifted to the rank of Chancellor, commanding armies and nearly reaching for the throne. But... his end was tragic, too horrible to witness. The price for fulfilling his vow was so steep it cut off his lineage! Hahaha!"
Hearing this, Ian Liu's mouth twitched, and his face turned pale in an instant.
—End of Chapter—