Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

When people talk about the Kingdom of Women, they always have many associations. It seems that there are beautiful women everywhere, and young girls everywhere. It is a paradise for husbands and a man's paradise.

And those merchants who often go to the Kingdom of Women to sell goods always show an ambiguous smile that is full of mystery when they are asked about the situation in the Kingdom of Women by curious people.

There seems to be a trace of fear as if encountering a flood or a beast.

Xuanzang didn’t understand why they were afraid before, but now he understood it very well.

Xuanzang covered his stomach, feeling the rush of the contents in his stomach in horror, and was sweating profusely from the pain.

This is really a very profound understanding.

His lips trembled as he staggered to see Bajie leaning against the door frame, holding his belly and groaning at the old lady of the host family, "Auntie over there, I have three feet of cloth here. Please help me sew a headband to tie on my head for confinement. Use the rest of the cloth to sew a swaddling cloth. If Monkey Brother and Junior Brother Sha can't come back in three days, I might give birth soon, so I have to prepare for the piglet."

This is really outrageous!

Xuanzang pointed at him and was in so much pain that he couldn't speak.

Bajie saw it and suddenly realized, "Oh, Master, we have to prepare this side as well. I don't have enough cloth, and my luggage is all at Monkey Brother's place. Auntie, how about you use some for us first? I'll return it to you when Monkey Brother comes back."

Xuanzang was angry and in pain, and he passed out. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but he was awakened by a fragrance.

The aroma seemed to be the smell of food, and no one knew what ingredients were added, but the strange fragrance went straight into his nostrils. When Xuanzang opened his eyes, he saw a bowl of porridge handed to him.

The bowl was a flawless white jade bowl, and the porridge was amber in color. No one knew what it was made of, but it had a pleasing gelatinous luster.

The jade spoon stirred gently, scooped up a spoonful of porridge, and put it to Xuanzang's mouth. Xuanzang subconsciously opened his mouth and drank it, and felt a warm and fragrant current flowing through his throat and tongue, sliding down his stomach, and spreading along the meridians and blood vessels. The whole person suddenly felt warm, a little sweat appeared on his forehead, and the chaotic gas in his stomach also subsided a lot.

Xuanzang's pain eased, and he could see the face of the person who fed him the porridge. She had black hair like lacquer, eyes like bright stars, and a face as peaceful as a handful of newly opened jasmine. She was wrapped in green silk, and there was a faint auspicious light in her. Who else could it be but Wen Jiao?

"Ah, mother!" Xuanzang was so shocked that he immediately sat up with his hands, ignoring the abdominal pain, and said, "You are not...how come you..."

Wen Jiao pushed another spoonful of porridge to his lips: "Drink it, it's made with red fruit, very nourishing, just right for your current symptoms."

Xuanzang had no choice but to open his mouth and drink. Just as he was about to ask another question, his mouth was blocked by another spoonful of porridge. Wen Jiao fed him and said, "You want to ask me, 'Shouldn't you be in heaven? Why did you come to this unpopular theater?'"

Xuanzang's mouth was full of red fruit porridge. Although his abdominal pain was greatly relieved, he was very distressed because he couldn't speak. He could only blink and nod.

Wen Jiao said calmly: "As a mother, I am here to take care of my son during his confinement."

Xuanzang coughed violently and almost choked to death on the porridge.

Bajie rushed over quickly, and was heartbroken when he saw this. He shouted, "Master, if you don't like this porridge, just tell me. Why are you coughing? This red fruit is a fairy fruit from heaven. I haven't tasted it for hundreds of years. Master, you can't drink it anyway, so why don't you give it all to me?"

Wen Jiao glanced at him and said, "Ninety percent of the porridge just went into your stomach, and you're still not satisfied?"

Bajie hesitantly said, "It's because the tea cooked by the nanny is too sweet, like honey water. Isn't I, the old pig, full?" Seeing that Wen Jiao had no intention of paying attention to him, he could only mutter to himself and continue to lean against the door frame and step on the threshold in a daze.

Only then did Xuanzang see a three-foot-three-inch-high jade tripod floating in the air not far away. There was a strong aroma coming from the tripod, which was exactly the taste of the porridge.

He looked away blankly and said awkwardly, "If Bajie wants to drink, give it to him. He is a heavy man and it is rare for him to have a full meal. The child has a poor appetite right now."

"Morning sickness?" Wen Jiao asked.

Xuanzang was glad that he had swallowed the porridge in his mouth, otherwise he would have coughed again. His face turned red and he waved his hands repeatedly: "Mother, please stop teasing me."

"Who wants to joke with you?" Wen Jiao's expression was as calm as ice and snow, very serious and solemn, "My mother went to heaven, and she went to see the Queen Mother of the Jade Pool, to the Lingxiao Palace to be conferred, to meet the emperors of the heavens, and to recognize the brothers under my master. I finally returned to my own Xingjun Mansion, and just recognized the little fairies on duty, and then I heard you shouting in the lower world that you wanted to find a pill for an abortion."

She started feeding him porridge again, and the spoon was pressed against his face, forcing Xuanzang to drink. "You are a Buddhist disciple after all, can you abort this baby casually? You always tell Sun Wukong about compassion, but when it comes to your own flesh and blood, you are so cruel. You can really do this. Aren't you afraid of falling into hell after death?"

Xuanzang had never thought about this question before. His face changed slightly, he clenched his teeth, and even stopped eating the porridge. After a long struggle, he finally answered: "Mother, I entered Buddhism when I was born, and I have been abiding by the precepts and rules until now. I have never dared to slack off for a day. How could I dare to commit the sin of killing an infant? But this child was really conceived by accident. I was just thirsty for a while, so I drank the water outside the Kingdom of Women. I didn't expect that it was the Mother and Child River? I am a man and a monk. I have to take on the important task of obtaining scriptures. How can I have a child midway? It is better to eliminate this root of trouble as soon as possible while the fetus is not yet a sentient being. In the future, I will chant sutras for it to be liberated and eliminate its sins."

"So that's what you're worried about? Don't worry, you're carrying the first great-grandson of the Yin family in your belly. You're so precious, how could anything go wrong? Just take care of the baby, and mother will take care of it after the baby is born. Mother came down to the mortal world this time just for this." Wen Jiao looked at his belly with a loving look.

Xuanzang was stunned by her words. His lips opened and closed, and finally he regained his consciousness and said angrily, "Mother, I am a man. How can a man give birth to a child?"

"Everything will work out when the day comes. You'll know how to give birth." Wen Jiao put down the bowl and touched his smooth head with a kind look. "What woman didn't go through this? Darling, you're a man, you can't be more delicate than a woman."

Xuanzang's face turned pale. Following her words, he couldn't help but imagine the situation when he was giving birth, and he was immediately frightened and broke out in a cold sweat.

He cried out in a tone that could almost be called desperate: "But mother, where can I give birth to a child?"

Even though Xuanzang was a strong man with arms that could run a horse, he didn't have the structure to have children!

Seeing his confused and bewildered appearance, Wen Jiao suddenly smiled. This smile was like the melting snow in spring, instantly diluting her solemn attitude just now: "Haha, Xuanzang, you actually believed it?"