txolops Chapter 173 Blackwater River
Chapter 173 Blackwater River
The traveler listened and thought about it, and realized that it made sense; he was at a loss for what to do.
At this moment, Pigsy said, "Brother, when the old Taoist priest Guangming died on Jieyang Mountain, didn't you get a treasure?"
The traveler's eyes lit up, and he quickly took out the treasure.
It was a net that stretched from heaven to earth.
Pigsy said, "As the saying goes, 'It's better to weave a net than to stand by the water and envy the fish.' Isn't what you have in your hand a net? And what's in the water just fish?"
Upon hearing Pigsy's words, the Monkey King's eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh and laughed, "You fool! What you say makes some sense. This treasure can even trap me, so why would I be afraid of a mere monster?"
As he spoke, he took out the Heavenly Net from his bosom, held it in his palm, and it shone with golden light and auspicious energy.
Pigsy sidled up, grinning, and said, "Brother, lend me this treasure. I'll go into the water, secretly catch that monster in a net, and drag it up for you to deal with. That's called 'catching a dragon by netting a fish,' isn't that wonderful?"
The pilgrim glanced at him sideways: "You? You just went down there and got beaten to a pulp, even losing Brother Sha. If you go again, don't lose this treasure too."
Bajie patted his chest and said, "Brother, you don't know what I'm capable of. That was an open attack just now, but this is a sneak attack."
The old pig went into the water and quietly laid out his net at the entrance to his burrow. He caught one fish as soon as it came out; two fish as soon as they came out, he caught both. How could that not be as reliable as fishing!
The traveler, still somewhat doubtful, handed him the inescapable net, instructing him, "Be careful, don't catch the wrong people. Don't catch us and Brother Sha too."
Pigsy took the net, weighed it in his hand, and beamed with delight: "Don't worry, brother, I know what I'm doing. I'll go right now and catch that monster like a fish!"
Having said that, he took off his robe, exposing his belly, and, carrying a rake and a net, jumped into the Blackwater River with a splash.
Once the fool reached the bottom of the water, he didn't seek out monsters to fight. Instead, he tiptoed to the entrance of the Blackwater River God's Mansion in Hengyang Valley.
He looked around and saw two little demons dozing at the door, snoring loudly.
Pigsy chuckled to himself, "Perfect, perfect! Let's test the treasure with these two smaller ones first."
He spread out the net, but it didn't get wet when it came into contact with water; instead, it became even lighter and longer as it swayed in the wind.
Bajie raised his hands and cast the net out, catching the two little demons and their weapons perfectly.
The two little demons awoke with a start and struggled wildly in the net, but the net only tightened around them, crying out, "Grandpa, spare us! Grandpa, spare us!"
Bajie put away the net, dumped the two little demons out, tied them up with rope, stuffed their mouths with water plants, and locked them in a crevice in the rocks.
They then spread out the net and hung it on top of the two large rocks, thus setting a trap.
Pigsy, however, transformed himself into the appearance of an old turtle.
That fool, eager to make a name for himself, went to the Water Palace, pounded on the gate, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang's eldest disciple, has arrived!"
The demon inside the cave was greatly surprised upon hearing this, and said, "I have long heard of Sun Wukong's abilities, but I never expected him to go into the water himself. It seems that the one inside must be Tang Sanzang. Well then, let me have a go at him."
So he picked up the steel whip, strode to the cave entrance, but suddenly stopped.
Upon seeing Pigsy, the demon asked, "Where did you come from, you rascal? I've never seen you before!"
When Pigsy saw that the monster was not moving forward, he deliberately coaxed him, saying, "Your Majesty, I am the vanguard turtle under the command of the Dragon King of the West Sea. The River God of the Blackwater River complained to Sun Wukong that the monkey has invaded the West Sea and asked the Dragon King to send troops to capture Your Majesty!"
The Dragon King, mindful of his kinship with the Great King, naturally refused. So the monkey wreaked havoc in the Dragon Palace, and even the shrimp soldiers and crab generals were no match for him. He specially sent me to ask for help!
Upon hearing this, the monster flew into a rage and stepped out of its cave, saying, "Lead the way!"
So Bajie led the monster away, but when they reached the space between two rocks, Bajie stopped.
Seeing this, the monster asked, "Why have you stopped?"
Pigsy wiped his face, revealing his true form, and cursed, "You damned monster, you have no idea what Grandpa Pig is capable of!"
The monster was shocked and roared, "You pig-headed idiot! How dare you deceive me!" He swung his steel whip and struck the monster on the head.
Pigsy was prepared and dodged to the side, then urged the treasure on.
With a whoosh, the net above their heads fell down, covering them completely.
The monster was shocked and tried to lift the net with his whip, but the net was soft and yielding, instead tightening its grip until it wrapped him and his whip completely.
Enraged, the monster roared, "You damned pig! Using such despicable tactics! If you have the guts, release me and we'll fight three hundred rounds!"
Pigsy laughed, "Let you out? Do you think I'm stupid? Use your wits, okay? I call this 'outsmarting' you. You've occupied the River God's residence, captured my master's benefactor, and even my junior brother Sandy. I've got you in my net!"
He couldn't say anything, so he grabbed the net rope and dragged it towards the water with all his might.
Although the monster was a crocodile dragon with immense strength, this net of heaven and earth could even trap Sun Wukong, so how could he break free? He could only watch helplessly as Pigsy dragged him away.
Tang Sanzang and Wukong were anxiously waiting on the shore. They were relieved to see that Bajie had returned safely and that a monster had been captured in the net.
The traveler laughed and said, "What a fool! This time you've done a great service."
Pigsy, beaming with pride, threw the net to the ground and panted, "Brother, this is what you call 'catching them all in one fell swoop'! Aren't you going to thank me?"
The Monkey King kicked him and said, "Thank you? I haven't even settled the score with you for getting Brother Sha involved! Oh, right... you idiot, Brother Sha and the others are still down there!"
Upon hearing this, Pigsy slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Oh dear! I was so focused on catching this monster that I forgot about Old Man Wa and Old Man Sha!"
Tang Sanzang hurriedly said, "Wuneng, now that you've captured the demon, quickly go down and rescue the Taoist priest and Wujing!"
Pigsy looked troubled and said, "Master, it's not that I don't want to go. It's just that there are still quite a few lesser demons in that cave, and I'm afraid I can't handle them all by myself."
The pilgrim laughed and said, "You fool, what are you afraid of? Weren't you quite imposing just now? Fine, I'll go with you."
Having said that, he picked up his golden cudgel, made a water-repelling spell, and said to Tang Sanzang, "Master, please wait a moment, I'll be right back."
Only then did Pigsy muster his courage and jump into the Blackwater River with Monkey.
The two separated by water and went directly to the Shenfu (divine abode) of the Black Water River in Hengyang Valley.
The cave entrance was wide open, and the little demons inside, having already heard that their king had been captured, scattered in terror.
The Monkey King wielded his cudgel in front, while Pigsy followed behind with his rake, and they fought their way into the mansion.
Turning past the front hall, one sees Li Fa and Sha Wujing tied to stone pillars.
It turned out that Li Fa's old injuries had not healed, and his magical powers were insufficient, so he was unable to escape.
The pilgrim smashed the chains with his staff, freeing the two, who quickly thanked him.
Li Fa asked, "What about the monster?"
The traveler said, "I was caught by that fool with his net, and now I'm drying on the shore."
Sha Wujing said, "Eldest brother, there are still many aquatic creatures in this water palace that have been captured by monsters, as well as the river god's subordinates. Let's release them all."
The Monkey King nodded and told Pigsy to drive all the little demons out of the cave. He then opened the prison doors in the water palace and released the imprisoned fish, shrimp, crabs, and turtles. The aquatic creatures were extremely grateful.