Journey to the West: Starting with the Hunting of the Three Demons of Twin Fork Ridge

Chapter 129 Lotus Cave - The Great Sage Re-enters Pingdingshan

Upon hearing this, Jinjiao laughed and said, "Brother, don't be impatient. This treasure can be used to make water flow as soon as the person inside is destroyed. There's no need to uncork it and take a closer look."

Upon hearing this, the Arhat Subduing Tiger was at a loss for what to do, so he could only suppress his anxiety and continue drinking with him. Let's leave that aside for now.

Meanwhile, the traveler inside heard this and said, "How could my body possibly make a sound? It would only make a sound if I turned into some kind of liquid. Once I've finished urinating, if it makes a sound then, it will surely lift the lid. I'll just take advantage of the situation and run away!"

Then he thought, "No, no! Although the urine will make a sound, it will only soil this robe. When he shakes it, I'll just gather some saliva to rinse my mouth, making a slurping sound, and coax him to lift it up, then I'll leave."

The Great Sage made up his mind and secretly prepared, waiting for Golden Horn to shake the bottle. But Golden Horn was greedy for wine and was busy talking with Tiger, so he didn't shake the bottle for a long time.

Seeing this, the Great Sage devised a plan. He feigned a loud cry and exclaimed, "Heavens! This pain is unbearable! My crutch has melted!"

The demon, preoccupied with drinking, mistook the monkey's dying struggle for his own and paid no heed, remaining unmoved.

The Great Sage cried out again, "Mother! Even my waist bones have melted!"

Fu Hu then advised, "Brother, that Monkey King has already transformed up to his waist, so he must have completely transformed. Let's pull out the plug and see what's going on."

Jinjiao was already somewhat drunk when he heard this, and said, "Very well, let me take a look."

The Great Sage heard everything clearly from inside the bottle, and was secretly delighted. He immediately plucked a hair from his body and shouted, "Transform!"

It transformed into half a body, sinking to the bottom of the vase; its true form, however, transformed into a tiny cricket, gently anchoring itself to the inside of the vase's rim.

The Golden Horned King, drunk, uncorked the bottle and peered inside.

The Great Sage had already spread his wings and flown away. He rolled on the ground and transformed into a little demon, standing to the side.

The golden-horned man, holding the mouth of the vase, opened it slightly and saw that only half a body was moving. Without taking it seriously, he hurriedly cried out, "My God, close it! Close it! It hasn't been purified yet!"

After saying that, he hurriedly and frantically stuffed the cork into the bottle.

The Great Sage chuckled to himself, "He didn't know I was already here!"

Fu Hu didn't know that the Great Sage had already come out; he thought he was still inside. So he wanted to persuade him to drink a few more cups of wine, get him completely drunk, and then find an opportunity to trick him into pulling out the wine cup.

So he took the pot, filled a cup to the brim with wine, and handed it to Jinjiao with both hands, saying, "Brother, let me pass you a toast."

Jinjiao said, "Brother, we've already drunk half a cup of wine, why are we going to offer another cup?"

Fu Hu said, "Although we captured Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing together, Sun Wukong was the one who pretended to be him. For such merit, you should be rewarded with more wine."

Upon hearing this, Jinjiao couldn't refuse. He simply held the clean bottle tightly with one hand, as it was inconvenient to accept the cup with one hand. So he casually handed the clean bottle to the little demon standing next to him and accepted the wine cup with both hands.

Little did he know that this little demon was none other than Sun Wukong in disguise!

Look at him, holding the clean bottle, serving diligently.

After Jinjiao accepted the wine and drank it, he wanted to return the favor with a cup, but Fuhu said, "No need to return the favor, I'll just drink a cup with you."

The two remained humble. The traveler, carrying the water bottle on his head, watched them pass the cup back and forth without any hesitation. He then slipped the water bottle into his sleeve, plucked a hair from his head to make a fake water bottle, identical to the original, and held it in his hands.

The demon handed out wine for a while, without checking its authenticity, and then took the treasure. Everyone went to their seats, sat down calmly, and continued drinking.

Sun Wukong stepped aside, having obtained the treasure, and secretly rejoiced, thinking, "Even if this demon has some tricks up his sleeve, the Jade Bottle still belongs to Sun Wukong!"

But then he thought to himself, "There are still two monsters inside. Although I have obtained the treasure, I dare not be careless. That one with the blue face and fangs is also quite skilled in martial arts. If I fight two against one, I may not be able to win quickly. Well, let me go and check on the plasma first, and then we'll decide what to do next."

After thinking it over, the Great Sage quietly left the Lotus Cave. Once outside, he revealed his true form, mounted his somersault cloud, and headed towards the Dragon-Suppressing Cave.

As they ascended into the air, they happened to run into Taoist Li Fa, who was rushing from the direction of the Dragon-Suppressing Cave.

Upon seeing this, the traveler was overjoyed and called out loudly, "Taoist! Where are you going? I've been looking for you!"

Li Fa also saw Wukong, descended from the cloud, and smiled, "Elder, I was just on my way back to Lotus Cave to look for you, but I didn't expect to meet you here. Has your master been rescued?"

The pilgrim waved his hand and said, "Don't mention it! I finally managed to rescue them, but that idiot's stomach growled, revealing our whereabouts, and then that Golden Horn used his jade bottle to put me inside."

Fortunately, Old Sun was clever and used a clever escape plan to get away, even managing to steal the other man's treasure along the way!

Upon hearing this, Li Fa chuckled to himself: This monkey's nature is indeed hard to change.

The traveler then asked, "How is it on your end? Have you seen the Silver Horn?"

Li Fa sighed and said, "That Silver Horn has already been killed by this humble Taoist."

The traveler was taken aback: "You killed her? You've got some skills! What about that old hag?"

Li Fa said, "They were killed too."

Upon hearing this, the pilgrim gave a thumbs-up and laughed, "Excellent! I suffered a loss here, but you cleaned up the mess over there!"

Li Fa humbly replied, "Elder, you flatter me. However, there are still two demons in the Lotus Cave. The one who subdues tigers is highly skilled in martial arts. If we try to force our way in, I'm afraid we won't be able to defeat him in a short time."

The pilgrim nodded and said, "Exactly. I was just thinking about this too. Although I got the jade bottle, I'm afraid they still have other treasures, so I dare not act rashly. What are your plans?"

Li Fa pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "Elder, I have a plan, but it will require you to make do with some trouble."

The traveler said, "Speak freely!"

Li Fa said, "When I killed that old fox spirit just now, I disguised myself as Silver Horn to trick her."

Now, Golden Horn neither knows that Silver Horn is dead nor that the Old Fox is gone. Why don't I transform into Silver Horn, and the Elder into the Old Fox, and we return to the cave together?

"Then I'll say I couldn't find Sun Wukong and was worried about my mother, so I've brought her to the cave to share Tang Sanzang's flesh. When Golden Horn sees my mother coming, he'll surely be delighted and lower his guard."

The pilgrim's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands, laughing, "Brilliant! Brilliant! But that old hag is a woman. If I transform into her, wouldn't I just be putting on a show?"

Li Fa laughed and said, "The Great Sage is capable of countless transformations; what is a mere old hag worth mentioning?"

The pilgrim shook his head and laughed, "Alright, alright, to save my master, I'll play the old hag for once!"

Having said that, she transformed herself into the appearance of that old fox spirit: wearing a green flower in her hair, dressed in a brocade jacket, leaning on a dragon-headed cane, standing shakily on the cloud, truly a woman who was beautiful even in her old age.

Upon seeing it, Li Fa couldn't help but laugh, "So alike! So alike! No one could recognize the Great Sage with such a transformation!"

The traveler, in a high-pitched voice, imitated the old fox spirit's voice, saying, "My son, your mother's here, aren't you going to help her?"

Li Fa laughed heartily and transformed himself into the appearance of the Silver Horn King.

After they finished getting ready, the two of them rode the clouds one after the other towards the Lotus Cave.