Great Demon Sun Wukong

Zhu Bajie nodded and said, "Now that you mention it, it does seem quite similar. Brother Monkey, why do I have a bad feeling about this? You're not going to trick me again, are you?" Sun Wukong, maintaining a serious tone, patted Zhu Bajie's shoulder and asked, "Bajie, do you know how sad it makes your elder brother when you say things like that? Go with confidence, your cultivation is so high now, there will definitely be no problem. After handling this little demon, we, as brothers, will return and have a good, hearty drink!" Zhu Bajie, initially still somewhat puzzled, immediately nodded vigorously upon hearing Sun Wukong's words and said, "Brother Monkey, I'm off then, just watch me!"

Having said this, with a twist of his fat backside, he had already jumped straight in. Due to Zhu Bajie's large size, he stirred up countless splashes of water. After Zhu Bajie had jumped in, Sun Wukong chuckled to himself and muttered, "It's not me who's tricking you this time, it's all Sandy's idea, heh heh!"

Once Zhu Bajie entered the river, he found that the sands were rolling and the visibility was even lower than he had imagined. Out of necessity, Zhu Bajie had to rely on divine consciousness scouting to replace his eyesight. He sank to the riverbed, where the bottom was also entirely made of flowing sands, impossible to stand upon. The more he observed, the more Zhu Bajie felt that this place was identical to the Flowing Sands River where he first encountered Sandy. Although the familiarity made Zhu Bajie nostalgic, he did not forget his purpose. Sensing the source of the demon qi at the bottom of the water, Zhu Bajie took out his Nine-Toothed Rake and swam in that direction.

The appearance of Zhu Bajie's Nine-Toothed Rake had completely changed; although it still had nine teeth, its color was now as red as jade. Upon closer inspection one could see flames flowing within it. Not only that, but atop each of the nine teeth was an engraved sculpture of the Three-legged Golden Crow, lifelike as though it could come alive at any second. After taking out the Nine-Toothed Rake, Zhu Bajie suddenly remembered something. He was no longer the Marshal of the Heavenly River, but the Jade Emperor himself. But that wasn't the point; the main thing was that he was no longer of the water attribute, but of the fire attribute, and on top of that, he had a pure Fire Spirit Physique.

He had gotten overly excited upon seeing his eldest brother and had thoughtlessly agreed to help upon hearing his brother's request. Now that he wanted to back out, it was already too late. If he turned back now, wouldn't his eldest brother laugh himself to death? He was no longer the timid and fearful Zhu Bajie from the Pilgrimage Route to the Western Paradise. After steadying his spirit, Zhu Bajie wanted to take a deep breath to calm himself, but then he remembered that he was underwater and had to give up on the idea. On second thought, with his greatly increased cultivation, armed with the Power of the Golden Crow and the Fusang Divine Tree, should he be afraid of a little water demon?

After persuading himself, Zhu Bajie no longer hesitated and swiftly swam towards the location where the demon qi was emanating. Soon, Zhu Bajie saw a rather rudimentary palace that barely passed for one. Catching sight of this rundown palace, Zhu Bajie's confidence swelled. Whoever lived in such a wreck couldn't possibly be a powerful demon. With newfound courage, Zhu Bajie straightened his back, plunged the Nine-Toothed Rake into the ground next to him, cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, and bellowed out, "Hey, you little demon, your venerable Zhu is here to send you off to the Western Paradise today! Hurry up and come out to kneel and welcome your venerable Zhu!" Zhu Bajie's shouts were clear and forceful, full of righteous indignation; after shouting, Zhu Bajie felt a sense of complete relief wash over him.

Just as Zhu Bajie was ready to shout some more, the dilapidated doors suddenly shook and then were kicked open from the inside. Zhu Bajie quickly dodged the incoming door panel, thinking to himself, "This demon sure has a temper. This tiny temple will probably fall apart in no time." Because the door panel had been kicked open, the sandy bottom was suddenly churned up. Once the roiling sands had cleared with the flow of water, Zhu Bajie saw the person coming out of the broken palace, and at that sight, he was utterly dumbfounded.

"How dare you, you audacious demon, to take on the appearance of your venerable Zhu? You've really got a lot of nerve. Here's your chance: Change back immediately. Otherwise, today I'll show you what your venerable Zhu is capable of." The demon, who had emerged from the rundown palace, looked exactly like Zhu Bajie, from the clothes on his body to the rake in his hand—utterly indistinguishable. After Zhu Bajie finished speaking, the Zhu Bajie who had come out of the palace wasn't angered and instead, raised both hands from afar. Then, clasping them together, he mimicked the swimming of a turtle in the water.

Zhu Bajie was instantly furious. This demon was too brazen, not only transforming into his likeness but even daring to call him a turtle. In a burst of rage, Zhu Bajie grabbed the Nine-Toothed Rake beside him and swung it at the other, and immediately nine Three-legged Golden Crows burst from the tines of that rake. After circling Zhu Bajie, they all charged toward the other Zhu Bajie. Watching the fierce momentum of the nine Golden Crows and the river boiling instantly, that Zhu Bajie calmly retracted his left hand. With a casual wave of his right hand, as though shooing away flies, nine turtles made of water elements appeared and headed straight toward the nine Three-legged Golden Crows.

Then Zhu Bajie was taken aback. His nine Three-legged Golden Crows were actually swallowed up by those water turtles! Watching the Golden Crows gradually extinguishing in the bellies of the turtles, Zhu Bajie couldn't quite believe it. How was this possible? Were his Three-legged Golden Crows extinguished just like that, effortlessly by someone? His current strength was supposed to be the strongest in the world, how could he not prevail?

While feeling surprised, Zhu Bajie's actions were not slow. Seeing the Nine Three-legged Golden Crows being effortlessly wiped out by the other party, Zhu Bajie completely withdrew his previous contempt. With both hands clutching the rake, his body suddenly spun in place, and as he spun, a flame tornado gradually formed around his body. The temperature of the flame tornado was so intense that it evaporated a great swath of the river into a void. After spinning at a tremendous speed, Zhu Bajie let go of the rake in his hands.

The rake, due to the huge inertia, carrying the swirling flames, headed straight towards the opposing Zhu Bajie. At the same time, Zhu Bajie grabbed into the void with both hands, and then, exerting his divine power, pulled outward, drawing a deep red log about five or six meters long and a meter thick from the void. The Fusang Divine Tree—although Zhu Bajie had refined the Fusang Divine Tree, it was only the most basic bond, and he was far from adept in wielding it, so if he had to confront an enemy, he could only reveal its true form.

After pulling out the thick, fiery-red log, Zhu Bajie held the bottom of the Fusang Divine Tree with one hand and steadied the side of the Divine Tree with the other, then with a burst of strength from his feet, he followed behind the hurtling Nine-Toothed Rake and the flame tornado, pushing the Fusang Divine Tree towards the opponent as well. The flame tornado carried by the Nine-Toothed Rake was merely a feint—the real attack was the colliding Fusang Divine Tree.

However, in the next moment, Zhu Bajie froze in place as the flame tornado, only halfway across, was engulfed by a Water Tornado coming from the opposite direction. The flames were instantly extinguished, and the Nine-Toothed Rake was swept to the ground by the Water Tornado. Then Zhu Bajie's vision blurred as the opposing Zhu Bajie suddenly appeared before him, slapping a palm on the other end of the Fusang Divine Tree. Zhu Bajie felt as if he had suddenly run into a massive mountain, his motion stopping instantly, but he wasn't injured from the abrupt cessation of his forceful charge.

In just a few exchanges, Zhu Bajie clearly realized that this person in front of him far surpassed him, and was not at all comparable to the two demons that had invaded last time. He could not possibly defeat him, and there was a good chance he might be killed by this person.

Though fearful in his heart, Zhu Bajie's mouth was still tough as he said, "You coward, afraid to even show your true face. Is it because you're too ugly? Or do you believe this grandpa Zhu is handsomer than you?" As soon as Zhu Bajie finished speaking, the body of the person opposite him visibly trembled. Seeing an opportunity, Zhu Bajie quickly added, "If you truly think I, your grandfather Zhu, am handsome and dashing, then it's no problem for me to lend you this face. Seeing how much you admire your grandfather Zhu, I shall spare you this time!"

As he spoke, Zhu Bajie tried to withdraw the Fusang Divine Tree, but the person opposite didn't release it. Instead, he suddenly spoke up, "Don't you want to know who I am?" Zhu Bajie thought to himself that he couldn't care less who he was; as long as the other party released his Fusang Divine Tree, even if it were the Erlang God Yang Jian, he wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised. In Zhu Bajie's mind, the only ones capable of such transformation were his big brother Sun Wukong and the Erlang God, and Erlang God had not died but had instead disappeared to live in seclusion somewhere.

Although Zhu Bajie just wanted to leave that place immediately, he was at a disadvantage and could only chuckle before saying, "To tell you the truth, I really don't care. But if you want me to have a look, it's no big deal. However, you have to let go of this wooden log first; otherwise, I'm afraid I might burn you!" As soon as Zhu Bajie said this, the other party showed a clearly helpless expression, looking like he wanted to laugh but held it back. What surprised Zhu Bajie was that the other person actually did release his Fusang Divine Tree.

Hurriedly storing the Divine Tree away, Zhu Bajie rubbed his fingers together somewhat embarrassedly and said, "About that rake of mine, you see... could you, well, toss it over here?" The person opposite sighed and flicked a finger, a stream of water curling around Zhu Bajie's rake and throwing it at Zhu Bajie's feet. Zhu Bajie picked up the rake without a word and turned to run, when the voice of the person behind him suddenly rang out again. But this time, Zhu Bajie's body stiffened completely, because the voice—he knew it all too well!

"Second Brother, Master has been captured by demons!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation or a monthly pass on the Starting Point ). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)