Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Because the Southern Continent is guarded by the Heavenly Venerable of Subduing Demons, even if there are monsters, they are generally peaceful and focused on cultivation. Big monsters like the Black Bear Monster are even vegetarians. Although the Yellow Wind Monster caused trouble to Tang Monk, it was the small monster Tiger Vanguard who took the initiative to capture Tang Monk, and in the end he did not really eat Tang Monk. Compared with the monsters in the Western Hezhou who often eat people to add to the fun, the painting style is really harmonious.

The only three murders that actually happened were the first two committed by Sha Monk and Zhu Bajie, who were both in prison. After all, they were once great generals in heaven, so the two generals had to turn a blind eye. Fortunately, after receiving the guidance of Guanyin Bodhisattva, the two generals stopped causing trouble, which made the two generals feel relieved.

The other is the monster in Shuangchaling. These three monsters didn't even have a chance to be nominated among the monsters in Journey to the West, but they ate people under the rule of the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord. It can be seen that the big monsters still know the height of heaven and the depth of earth and remain respectful, while the small monsters are always ignorant and difficult to deal with.

Wen Jiao is now the leader of a sect. If she wants to go to another place, she can't just wave her sleeves and leave. In a hurry, Wen Jiao rushed back to the Duke of Yun's Mansion and said hello to her parents. She also summoned officials from all over Chang'an and held an emergency meeting. She asked her deputy to take charge of the sect's affairs temporarily and asked him to submit a petition to the Honglu Temple to ask for leave on her behalf, saying that "I have realized something in my heart and I want to go to strange mountains and rivers to seek the mystery. I will be back in a month at most and three to five days at least."

Just as he was about to run away, Huo Linger was so anxious that she chased him to the door: "At least take me with you! My nephew is in trouble, and I can't just stay at home and worry about it!"

Wen Jiao patted her back to her original form, put her in her sleeve, and flew away.

As early as twelve years ago, when she ate the fire dates given by Taibai Jinxing, Wen Jiao had already begun to have the ability to fly. After that, she took the magic pill and practiced diligently, and she had already mastered the ability of flying and hiding. Although it was far from the monkey's ability of a thousand miles with a somersault, she could still easily walk ten thousand miles in an hour. She flew thousands of miles in one breath with Huo Ling'er and rushed to the border of Shuangchaling. Although the mountains were high, there were not many tall trees and strange rocks. There was only a vast autumn grass, everything was withered and yellow, and it was bleak. It really didn't look like the feng shui that could breed many great monsters.

While observing, she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps in the southwest corner, and smelled a strong fishy smell from afar. Wen Jiao had an idea, and put an invisibility charm on herself, and quietly approached, only to see a dozen little goblins digging traps with hoes, and they were all deer, foxes, rabbits, etc.

This one said: "Is digging this pit really useful?"

The other said, "Just dig if the king tells you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

This one said, "It's already autumn, and there's less and less edible grass. In previous years, we should have stored more fodder for the winter. This year, we're just busy digging holes. What if we don't catch much prey? We'll starve in the winter, and that's no joke."

The other one said, "What are you afraid of? At worst, we can go down the mountain together to rob. With the king here, we can get whatever we want. This is not the old days without the king's support. We can still enjoy a good life and rob whatever we want! Besides, this trap was secretly learned by our king from the mountain guardian at the other end of Liangjie Mountain. I heard from the king that the mountain guardian has been digging traps like this for generations, and it is very useful if you can catch someone."

Wen Jiao watched them dig the trap, and when they were carrying their hoes back, she grabbed the last little demon by the collar and quickly flew away. By the time the little demon reacted and called for help, she had taken him dozens of miles away.

This little monster looked like a squirrel, with round little ears, a long furry tail, and a pair of round eyes. It stared at Wen Jiao in horror: "Who are you? Why did you arrest me? I, I, I'm telling you, I'm a monster backed by the king! Our king is so fierce!"

Wen Jiao smiled, flicked the whisk she had taken from another Taoist official before leaving, and had the air of a master in the bright moonlight: "I am an unknown Taoist monk. Seeing that the clouds on this mountain are dense and lush, I thought there must be a great master, so I came here to seek refuge. But I don't know the name of this master, or what his preferences are, so I specially invited you here to find out a little. Please don't blame me if I offend you a little."

The little monster looked her up and down for several times. Seeing her beautiful face and elegant demeanor, he naturally felt close to her. He said with a smile: "So you came to seek refuge with our king? Can't you just ask what you want to ask directly? You had to drag me out here, which scared me to death."

"Our king is called General Yin. He was originally a tiger guarding the Liangjie Mountain. Two years ago, Avalokitesvara visited the monkey god, and a purple Ganoderma lucidum grew where he stayed. Our king ate it, and his fur turned completely white that year. Last year, all the fur disappeared, and this year he has transformed into a human form. He occupied our Shuangcha Ridge, recruited the little goblins from several nearby mountains to be his subordinates, and made friends with Xiong Shanjun and Te Chushi from Qianhou Ridge. He is about to do something big! Now he is short of a wife, and I see that you are beautiful, why don't you..."

Wen Jiao interrupted it and said, "I want to meet your king, but I don't know what he likes to eat. I want to cater to his taste and prepare a gift for him."

The little monster scratched his head, "The king likes to eat people. Every time he talks about the taste of the living people he ate when he was a tiger in the mountains, his mouth waters. He keeps complaining that the position he occupies after becoming a spirit is not good. For several months, no living people have passed by, and his mouth is bland. He wants us to learn from the method of the mountain guardian of Liangjie Mountain and dig some traps to see if we can catch a fat, living person to eat."

So, she actually arrived a step too early, and Xuanzang and his companions hadn't passed Shuangcha Ridge yet? Wen Jiao nodded and smiled, "That's a good idea." She took out Huo Ling'er and said, "Sister Huo, I'll give it to you. You can play with it for a few days. We'll release it when we go back."

Huo Linger changed into a human form: "Why not just kill him?"

Ignoring the little monster who was so scared that he knelt down and begged for mercy, Wen Jiao said, "It's not easy for creatures to become spirits. Since they haven't eaten humans yet, let them go. The king cannibalized people before he became a spirit, and he hasn't eaten humans yet. Why should I kill them?"

She said, a group of man-eating monsters came out of Shuangcha Ridge, and the two generals, Turtle and Snake, could still tolerate it? It turned out that this situation had only become serious this year.

Huo Ling'er said blankly: "Since we are not going to fight, why don't we continue on our way? Aren't we still going to find Xuanzang?"

"This is the only way to the west. Since the demons in this mountain have not seen any strangers passing by, Xuanzang must not have passed by here yet. I will stay here and wait for a few days." Wen Jiao said with a low smile, "Maybe, when he passes by, we can kill him?"

The little monster trembled, his eyes rolled up and he fainted.

At dawn three days later, Xuanzang and his two followers arrived at Shuangcha Ridge. But they saw wild grass that was so thick that it could cover their calves. It was dark and they could not see the road clearly, so they had to dismount and walk slowly. Suddenly, their feet went soft and they fell into a trap. Xuanzang got up, found his staff in the dark, and pulled up the horse. As the followers were searching for their luggage, they felt a cold wind blowing around them, and a group of goblins came out: "There are living people. Take them back and serve them to the king as wine!"

Xuanzang shuddered, swung up his nine-ring staff and started to hit him, shouting, "You two, get behind me!"

In the distance, Huo Ling'er saw Xuanzang dancing with his nine-ring staff with great vigor. The dozens of goblins could not get close to him for a while, and hesitantly asked, "Should we go save them?"

Wen Jiao also hesitated: "Take another look?"