Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

The dim oil lamp emitted a flickering flame with the gentle breeze, casting the woman's soft silhouette in a way that sometimes became longer and sometimes shorter, as if she had an uneasy heart.

Shakuntala was praying to the tablet of the Demon-Subduing Goddess. She made this tablet based on the one offered by the head of the caravan of the Western Liang Women's Kingdom. After these days of communication, she had already figured out that the fairy who met her and her son by chance that day and then guided them to join the caravan and find a place to stay was the Demon-Subduing Goddess worshipped by the whole country of the Western Liang Women's Kingdom.

What she didn't tell others was that she suspected that the curse she made in anger, "turning her head into a hundred pieces", could come true because of the help of the fairy. After all, although she was the adopted daughter of the fairy, she had never practiced any magic, so where did she get the magic power to curse others?

Regardless of whether the latter was true or not, the former alone was enough to make her a believer of the Demon-Subduing Goddess. Dou Shantuo had been desperately trying to amass wealth everywhere for as many days as she had offered flowers and prayed in front of the shrine of the Demon-Subduing Goddess every night.

The flame gradually dimmed, and Shagong's eyelids drooped before she knew it, and she fell into a deep sleep. Her body sank rapidly, breaking through the thick black fog, and suddenly a magnificent city appeared under her feet. Although she had never looked down at the city from this angle before, she knew inexplicably that this was the Elephant City.

A man with a burly figure and a golden crown on his head rode an elephant out of the city gate. He was Dushyanta, the king of Elephant City. A man dressed in a foreign race and gorgeous clothes came from outside on a horse and wanted to enter the city.

The two met at the city gate, and Doushantuo suddenly drew his sword and chopped off the man's head.

"Ah!" Sha Gong screamed, and subconsciously reached out to stop the tragedy from happening. But she was too far away, and she could do nothing. She could only watch Dou Shantuo, whose face was stained with blood, grinning, tearing off the man's jewelry, stripping off his shiny silk, and taking away his horse.

"You robber, you actually killed people for the sake of stealing money!" Sha Gong shouted, and was about to tear Doushantuo apart, but suddenly he was startled.

At the gate, the spilled blood began to flow backwards, and when the blood stopped flowing, it was replaced by the wind. The headless man's body quickly expanded and expanded, and in the blink of an eye it was taller than the city wall. He stretched out his arms, and two strangely shaped blood-red giant swords appeared in his hands. He swung the sword vigorously and chopped it heavily on the wall of Xiangcheng.

As the ground shook, Doushantuo, who had fled into the city, froze, his golden crown fell off, and his head suddenly exploded into a hundred pieces. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, like a strange fountain.

With another sword strike, the earth and rocks on the high city wall collapsed, and the people in the city screamed and fled in all directions.

With another sword strike, the city gate collapsed, and the headless giant raised his pillar-like legs, ready to step into the city.

Everything seemed to be heading towards the end of the world. All the citizens looked despairing and knelt on the ground praying to their respective gods for their afterlife.

A young hand picked up the golden crown that symbolized the king and fell among the rubble, put it on his head, and raised his long pestle towards the seemingly invincible giant.

Shakun could no longer scream. She could only feel her heart pounding in her chest, and the strong beats made her dizzy. Only one sentence echoed in her mind: "Bharata, it's my Bharata!"

It was as if the sun had fallen from the earth, and a blinding white light exploded. When the picture became clear again, the giant had disappeared, the city walls were restored, and all the subjects were wearing new clothes, happily saluting the person on the throne. Sitting on the golden throne was Bharata, wearing a crown and looking dignified. On the side of the throne, there was another throne, and the woman sitting on it was dressed in gorgeous clothes and graceful. It turned out to be...

Sha Gong suddenly opened his eyes and covered his chest tightly, as if trying to suppress some stirring emotions.

That woman...that woman...

She had an air of majestic beauty that Shagun could never dream of, but why did her face look exactly like her!

Shagong got up in a hurry and saw Bharata also sitting up from the bed, looking at her blankly: "Mom, I had a dream." After a pause, "I can't tell whether it is a nightmare or... a sweet dream."

Shagong looked at his son's expression and realized something: "What did you dream about?"

The sleepiness quickly left Bharata's eyes, and he recounted his dream, not missing a single detail. His dream was largely the same as Shakun's, except for one more scene. After Dusyanta's crown fell off, Bharata saw a female fairy standing in the sky.

"Heroes are revealed in times of great turbulence. Why don't you shoulder the destiny given by heaven?" Her green dress bloomed like a green lotus in the blue sky, and she scolded him in a clear voice.

Then Bharata felt courage filling his whole body, he walked towards the crown, picked it up, and placed it on his head.

He thought that the headless giant would stand in front of him, but in the blink of an eye, there stood a multi-armed god with a gorgeous crown and skin like a blue lotus, which spanned the sky and the earth. He looked down at him, and his lotus eyes were filled with ruthless smiles.

Under the gaze of the deity, Bharata was filled with anger and injustice for some reason. He roared and raised his long pestle towards him.

Shagong tried to calm himself down. If a person had a dream that was too bizarre, it would just be a dream. If two people had it, it would be a divine prophecy. After all, Shagong had served the sage Ganpo for many years and had a deep understanding of these mysterious phenomena.

She pondered for a while, trying to interpret the dream: "Xiangcheng is about to be destroyed. This disaster is the revenge of the greedy Doushantuo for killing foreigners. It is also the opportunity for you to inherit Xiangcheng."

She was somewhat dazed, fearful, but also had some secret expectations and excitement: "Your future enemies are not those Avengers, but..."

The god who is high above and has defined all the dharmas, but at the same time protects insects like Dusyanta and Arahant so that they can enjoy themselves to their heart's content, and cannot even give a place to stay for the innocent mother and son...

She shuddered and stopped talking, but she knew that Bharata understood.

The young boy knelt on one knee and rested his head on her knee. That day in the palace of Xiangcheng, he realized that his kind, tough and beautiful mother, who seemed to be hurt by anyone, actually had nothing. The only thing she had and could rely on was her son.

The Fa had deprived her of her chastity, her youth, and her right to love, yet she was reluctant to give him an explanation. So, as a son, he should ask for an explanation from the so-called Fa.

"Mom," he corrected, "is our enemy."