Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

A great man in later times wrote a poem: "When the cock crows, the world becomes bright."

The world becomes bright after the golden rooster crows at the dawn, which shows its great power of righteousness and yang.

The cry was heard, with Huo Ling'er at the center, and the bluestone under her feet was shaken into crisscrossing patterns like tortoise shells in the high-pitched sound waves. Xuanzang, who was close to her, was caught off guard and was hit by such a cry at close range. His ears immediately bled and he fainted without a sound.

Farther away, the Scorpion Demon was so frightened by the sudden sound that he lost his balance and revealed his true form, a scarlet poisonous scorpion as big as a pipa.

"It's a good thing Wen Jiao didn't come. She hates bugs." Huo Linger said softly.

Over there, as the Scorpion Demon relaxed, the battle suddenly became one-sided. Wukong and the other two were all the type to kill you, so they naturally wanted to take advantage of the situation. Wukong was about to beat her with a stick, but Bajie stepped forward and said, "Brother Monkey, you are tired too, I will do the rest for you." Although Sha Seng did not say anything, his eyes were quite earnest.

Wukong was generous and arrogant by nature, so he did not argue with them. He carried his golden hoop and retreated to defend the battle. Bajie and Sha Seng swung their weapons and attacked, but the scorpion demon was still conscious. It suddenly rolled on the ground, and its scorpion tail trembled, dotting the sky with red stars. The two of them blocked most of the attacks with their weapons, but a few of them still slipped through and pierced their bodies. They were so painful that they could not even hold their weapons and fell to the ground and rolled around.

"This is terrible! They are killing pigs!" Bajie screamed in pain as he rolled over. Wukong rushed forward to take a look and saw that the heads, faces and bodies of his two junior brothers were swollen with lumps as big as steamed buns at a speed visible to the naked eye. The lumps were purple-red and very eye-catching. One could tell at a glance that the poison was extremely strong.

Wukong was shocked and angry, and hit the Scorpion Demon with a stick. The Scorpion Demon wanted to save his life, and he wanted to use his martial arts to the fullest, and his sharp scorpion tail danced more vigorously. Huo Ling'er was afraid that Wukong would be tricked, so she relied on her agility and strong skin and flesh to stuff the echoing stone into Xuanzang's arms, and then she turned back to her original form and rushed forward, waving her claws to block one by one.

Zhengzhengzheng!

The scorpion and the lion exchanged three moves in the blink of an eye, and the collision made a sound of metal clashing. Huo Ling'er was so painful that her soul almost flew out of her head when she was stabbed for the first time. After taking the remaining two moves by instinct, she could not get up and fell softly to the ground.

However, the blink of an eye was enough time for Wukong. Wukong saw a flaw and suddenly attacked the Scorpion Demon's tail with the power of wind and thunder with his golden hoop, smashing her crown to pieces.

At this time, the echoing stone was still playing the crow cry of the Pleiades star official at the highest volume. Wukong picked his ears and said loudly to Huo Ling'er, "Xiao Huo, can this thing be turned off?"

Huo Linger struggled to get up, carefully curled up the claw that had been swollen twice by the scorpion sting, and limped on three legs to the unconscious Xuanzang, chanting a spell to close the echoing stone in his arms.

When the cries stopped, Wukong felt his ears quiet down. He said with a hint of nostalgia, "Is this the star official of the Pleiades announcing the dawn? I haven't heard it for over 500 years. I didn't expect that this voice is still so clear and bright."

He turned his head and looked at Bajie and Sha Seng who were severely poisoned, then looked at Huo Ling'er's big claws that were swollen to the point of being transparent, and said thoughtfully: "You have all been poisoned by this scorpion. This is very troublesome. It is difficult to find a doctor in the deep mountains and old forests. Even if there is one, I am afraid that he cannot cure this scorpion poison."

Huo Ling'er wanted to lick her paws in pain, but she didn't dare to. She could only reply pitifully: "Great Sage, please think of a solution quickly."

Wukong scratched his cheek, "I got it. Since the Scorpion Demon is so afraid of the voice of the Pleiades Star Officer, I guess he is born to be defeated by him. Since ancient times, chickens have been the enemy of all poisons. The Pleiades Star Officer must have a way to cure the Scorpion Demon's poison. You bear the pain first and look after Master and Junior Brother for me, Sun. I will be back soon." After saying this, he turned over and flew into the blue sky.

An hour later, Wukong and his party returned victoriously. Huo Ling'er, who had transformed into a lion, carried Xuanzang on her back. As soon as she stopped, Xuanzang rolled off her back. Wen Jiao was shocked and hurried forward to check. She saw that Xuanzang was breathing weakly, his face was greenish-yellow, and there was blood in his ears. His internal organs were fine, but he looked like he was too tired and had a concussion.

The former is easy to understand, but what about this concussion injury?

The queen was so distressed when she saw Xuanzang's weak appearance. She repeatedly called for the imperial physician to treat Xuanzang. Wukong even said no, and wrote a prescription himself: "Pick the medicine according to this, boil it and have Master take it. Sleep for a night, and I guarantee that you will still be a lively Tang Monk tomorrow when you wake up."

Bajie said, "Brother Monkey, can you treat illnesses? Don't let Master get sick from eating too much. He's very weak right now and can't stand the tossing and turning."

Wukong spat at him, but before he could say anything, Wen Jiao said, "The Great Sage is an expert in medicine. I can trust him."

So she prescribed the medicine for Xuanzang to take, and sent him to the quiet room to rest. After returning to the palace where the queen entertained the group, Wen Jiaofang had time to ask: "What happened to Xuanzang's injury?"

Huo Linger lowered her head guiltily.

Wukong grinned, pointed in the direction of the Poisonous Enemy Mountain, and threw out a giant scorpion corpse with its brains blasted out. Poisonous blood flowed from the corpse, corroding irregular holes in the colorful carpet.

"This evil spirit is the Scorpion Spirit from the Pipa Cave in the Poisonous Enemy Mountain. After she kidnapped Master..." Wukong recounted the details of how he subdued the evil spirit, and added, "Except for me, Master, Second Junior Brother, Third Junior Brother, and Xiaohuo were all poisoned by this evil spirit. I figured that the Pleiades Star Officer should have a way to cure the poison, so I went to the Heavenly Palace to invite him over. The Pleiades Star Officer's true form is a big rooster, and he can really cure poison. He just blew a few breaths on it, and everyone felt refreshed."

So after all this, the most serious injury on Xuanzang's body... was caused by Huo Linger's sudden sonic attack at close range.

Huo Ling'er lowered her head in shame: "Wen Jiao, I'm sorry. It's rare that I have an idea, but I didn't expect to hurt Xuan Zang. Next time I won't..."

"Sister Huo, you did a great job this time." Wen Jiao interrupted. You know, although she had reminded him before, she only hoped that Huo Ling'er would advise Wukong to ask the Pleiades star official to deal with the Scorpion Spirit. It was beyond her expectation that she could perform like this.

Huo Linger then relaxed her brows and said happily, "Next time I will try to think it through! Well, I have lived for so many years and have never seen such a poisonous thing. Wen Jiao, what do you think, should we do something with this scorpion?"

Wen Jiao looked at Wukong: "I do have some ideas, but this scorpion is the Great Sage's prey after all. I wonder if the Great Sage is willing to give it up?"

Wukong waved his hand casually: "Why would a monk want a smashed scorpion? If you like it, take it away, take it away."

"Wait a minute." The Queen interrupted, "I wonder if the gods can lend me this scorpion's body for three days?"