Before the altar, a Ghost Messenger hurriedly approached the Earth‑Store King, bowed, and said, "Revered One, Tripitaka, Simon Sun, and their party have reached the border of the Women's Kingdom."
"Oh?" The corners of the Earth‑Store King's mouth lifted slightly. "I see."
The Ghost Messenger silently saluted and withdrew.
Saint Raymond, titled Right-Dharma Radiance Tathāgata, glanced meaningfully at the Earth‑Store King and said, "Aren't you planning to send those three demon kings to stir up trouble for them—test them once more?"
"What trouble could they cause? Lacking both cunning and strength..." The Earth‑Store King stared intently at the cocoon on the altar, which was glowing with a dark golden light and pulsing gently. He sighed softly, "There's no need. Once they've entered her domain, even with no one interfering, trouble will surely arise. All we need do is wait here. It's just a pity we can't send anyone inside to see for ourselves."
Saint Raymond nodded slightly.
At that moment, the cocoon suspended over the center of the altar began to pulse more rapidly—almost matching the rhythm of a human heartbeat.
......
Border of the Women's Kingdom.
The group stared at the half-buried border stele, shrouded in weeds, for a long time, each of them frowning.
"Women's Kingdom..."
This place is rather strange... Monkey still remembers the plot clearly, but unfortunately, things have never played out according to the script—one tiny deviation, and everything goes awry.
Pointing at Barry Bear, Monkey asked, "Ever heard of the Women's Kingdom?"
Barry Bear shook his head.
Monkey pointed at Tripitaka. "What about you?"
"This humble monk has never heard of it."
Prince Adrian pushed his horse face in front of Tripitaka: "Neigh! Snort! Snort!"
"And you?" Monkey pointed at Marshal Silver.
"Never heard of it."
"You've fought east and west for a thousand years, and there are still things in the mortal world you haven't heard of?"
Prince Adrian shoved his horse face in front of Marshal Silver: "Neigh, neigh, neigh!"
Monkey turned his face away, not even bothering to look at him.
"Neigh, neigh!" Now fully a white horse, Prince Adrian was clearly agitated. He circled Monkey again and again, awkwardly gesturing with his hooves: "Neigh, snort~ snort~ hiss~"
General Curtain turned his head and asked, "What is he trying to say?"
"Who knows?" Marshal Silver glanced at Monkey. "Just unseal his spiritual power and let’s see what he wants to say."
"No." Monkey shot Prince Adrian a blank look. "A horse should act like a horse. Why all the chatter?"
"Neigh, neigh!" Prince Adrian grew even more agitated, scratching at the sand with his hooves and writing: "He's taking personal revenge! That night he threw two rocks at me and still wasn’t satisfied, now he just—"
After quite a bit of fuss, Prince Adrian finally managed to write out everything he wanted to say. But just as he stretched his neck to bite Marshal Silver's sleeve and pull him over to read, he snapped at empty air. Looking up, he suddenly realized everyone had already walked far ahead.
"Snort! Snort! Snort! Snort!"
Helpless, he could only trot after them, constantly switching up his calls to express his frustration. Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention.
"I never thought the Women's Kingdom actually existed." Monkey strolled along, asking idly, "Is there really a Mother-and-Child River here?"
"No idea." Marshal Silver replied without even thinking.
"You really don't know? What, I heard you used to hunt demons all over the Three Realms—never came here for a demon hunt?"
"Heaven's army has a strict rule: under no circumstances is anyone allowed to enter this area. Besides, there's never been any word of monsters causing trouble here. Even demons chased to the brink who escape into this region—most never show up again."
"Why is that?"
"No idea."
"You've never tried to find out?"
"It's not a big area, and it's surrounded by wasteland—almost no one ever comes here. Is it really worth the effort to investigate?"
Monkey stroked his chin, growing a bit hesitant.
A region even Heaven's army dares not enter—it's almost like a forbidden zone of the Three Realms.
But even if it’s forbidden, so what? As long as it’s not Buddhist territory, is there anywhere the Great Sage Equal to Heaven can’t go?
"Neigh! Hiss—" Prince Adrian called out again.
Seeing Prince Adrian stretch his horse head between the two of them, Marshal Silver sighed softly, "Maybe he knows?"
Monkey rolled his eyes helplessly and tapped Prince Adrian's ear.
With that tap, Prince Adrian coughed twice—and could suddenly speak human words.
"My father told me about this. The Women's Kingdom is absolutely forbidden. There are monsters here—terrifying ones. If you go in, you won’t come out alive!"
"And then?"
"That’s what my grandfather told my father."
"Did your father say anything else?"
"No, that’s all my grandfather told my father."
Before he finished speaking, Monkey tapped Prince Adrian's ear again, making Prince Adrian puff up his cheeks in frustration. He hopped and jumped behind the two, but there was nothing he could do.
"Now you know why I won't unseal him?"
Marshal Silver nodded silently, fully agreeing. Prince Adrian’s words really were completely pointless.
General Curtain craned his neck and said, "If there are monsters and it's this dangerous, maybe we should go around?"
Marshal Silver burst out laughing and pointed at Monkey, "If we’re talking monsters, we’ve got the ancestor of all monsters right here."
Monkey didn’t comment, though it was the plain truth. Others might avoid the road ahead because of monsters, but Monkey was a demon king, and apart from General Curtain and Tripitaka, the rest of the party were all demons. If anyone should take a detour, it ought to be the other monsters.
"Well?" Monkey turned to Tripitaka. "Should we go around or head straight through?"
Tripitaka was momentarily stunned, as if waking from a dream. He looked at the group for a long while before regaining his composure, pressed his palms together, and said, "Since we travel west to prove the Dao, we must go straight. How can we seek profit and avoid harm?"
And so, the group continued along the original path.
Soon, they entered a patch of forest.
The forest was lush and green, bursting with flowers and fruit. Birds and animals were everywhere, leaving everyone marveling at the sight.
It was hard to imagine such a scene right at the edge of the wasteland. Monkey even took to the air for a better look.
Wasteland and forest—on one side, not a blade of grass; on the other, vibrant greenery.
Monkey had seen this kind of sight before. Back when he sailed the seas in search of immortals, this was exactly what greeted him when he first landed on the Southern Jambudvipa Continent.
The difference was, back then, a mountain range separated forest from wasteland. Here, there was no such barrier—just a line as if drawn by a ruler across a map, as if some force was sustaining the forest’s growth in the wilds.
It even made Monkey feel a bit puzzled.
After walking about a li farther, the group suddenly saw Monkey stop and look up.
Everyone else followed his gaze upward.
High above, in the clouds, an eagle circled back and forth, occasionally crying out.
"What's wrong? A monster?" Marshal Silver asked.
"No." Monkey slowly shook his head. "It's just an ordinary eagle, but... I feel like it's following us."
"Coo... Neigh neigh~"
Monkey shot Prince Adrian a glare and sighed softly, "Someone’s coming. Be careful."
At those words, the others quietly readied themselves.
Soon enough, figures appeared ahead in the forest. They didn’t step out directly, but hid behind the trees, as if waiting for something.
Of course, such hiding would only fool mortals; for Monkey’s group, it was completely useless.
"Come out!" Monkey shouted at the top of his lungs. "No point hiding! It won’t work!"
They waited quietly for a while, until the others were certain their presence was exposed. Then, one by one, they stepped out.
They were all charming young girls.
They wore clothes woven from leather, vines, and leaves, but carried finely crafted weapons—longbows, crossbows, short knives, and more. The contrast with their primitive dress was striking.
"Cultivators," Marshal Silver concluded before they’d even steadied themselves.
One after another, more than twenty girls stepped forward. Their leader was a tall woman with long hair draped over her shoulders, clutching a longbow.
"Who are you? Why have you come here?"
"Yuyuy! Yuyuyuyuy!"
Monkey shoved the horse-faced Prince Adrian aside and stepped forward, arms folded. "We’re passing through on our way to Spirit Mountain to retrieve the scriptures."
"Spirit Mountain?" The woman paused, her gaze falling on Tripitaka. "Are you Buddhists? Didn’t your Buddha tell you Women’s Kingdom is forbidden, and men aren’t welcome here?"
After a moment, she realized she’d left something out and quickly added, "Nor do we welcome male monkeys, male pigs, male dragons, or male bears. In short, no male creatures at all!"
"No... male creatures at all?" General Curtain reached out and drew a rabbit from the forest into his palm.
At this, all the armed girls opposite were taken aback.
General Curtain checked the rabbit’s ears and told Monkey, "It really is female."
"So?" Monkey pursed his lips, a little annoyed. "We’ve barged in—what do you plan to do about it?"
As he spoke, Monkey deliberately released the aura he’d been hiding.
At that, the lead woman’s face changed instantly.
Not just her—the other girls’ faces changed as well.
They couldn’t gauge Monkey’s cultivation exactly, but as cultivators they knew he was far beyond their ability to handle. And from General Curtain’s earlier display, it was clear everyone in the party was hiding their true strength—none of them were to be trifled with.
The woman didn’t answer Monkey directly. Instead, she turned to a subordinate and whispered, "Go inform General Pear Blossom."
"General Pear Blossom... will she be able to handle it?"
"Just tell the general what’s happening—let her decide."
"Yes, ma’am!"
Just as the attendant was about to turn away, she froze—like someone had cast a binding spell on her.
All the girls around were stunned.
The tall woman leader quickly recovered, drew her longbow and aimed at Monkey, shouting, "What are you trying to do?"
"Obviously she’s going to report us. If I let her go, wouldn’t that make me look stupid?" Monkey scratched his face and grinned, strolling over to the leader. "No one’s going anywhere. Let’s sit down and talk—tell me about these 'monsters' in your Women’s Kingdom. What’s really going on?"