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

Chapter 8 The Scheme of the Recluse

The recluse resides inside.

The special official was brewing a pot of tea and leisurely sipping it.

Lu Kunkun is the last remaining undercover agent under General Yin, so he must protect him today.

He loved reading and naturally knew that sometimes, the role of a spy was more effective than that of a thousand troops.

To be honest, among the three demons of Shuangcha Ridge, his power was the weakest.

Among the three demons, the one with the highest combat power is actually General Yin. He and Lord Xiongshan are roughly equal in strength, but both are slightly weaker than General Yin.

But Xiong Shanjun is still stronger than him. When the three of them discussed the Dao, Master Te had heard Xiong Shanjun say that he had a maternal uncle who was the king of a mountain range in Xibang, thousands of miles away. He had the ability to move mountains and fill seas, and the power to uproot mountains and suppress peaks. He was truly formidable.

Xiong Shanjun's ability to transform into wind was learned from his maternal uncle, which made Te Chushi extremely envious.

He had nothing, so he had to calculate every step he took.

The importance of information is self-evident.

Thinking this through, Master Te made a decision in secret. He then summoned one of his rabbit spirit subordinates and said, "Go, find Lu Kunkun. He should be in the search party. Be careful not to let General Yin's men notice. Bring him to me secretly."

The rabbit spirit accepted the order, left the hermit's residence, and disappeared into the mountains and forests.

Less than half an hour later, Li Fa was led by the rabbit spirit to the hermit's residence.

The special clerk frowned and asked, "How did you get here so quickly?"

The rabbit spirit replied, "Your Majesty, I was heading into the mountains when he came this way, and we happened to meet, which is why I arrived so quickly."

Special Envoy nodded, waved for the rabbit spirit to leave, and then stood up and slowly walked towards Li Fa.

He stopped three steps in front of him and then asked, "You weren't in the search party, so why did you run to my residence? Don't you know your mission is to monitor General Yin? How dare you abandon your post?"

Li Fa immediately knelt down and replied, "Your Majesty is wise! How dare I abandon my post! It's just... it's just that a terrible thing has happened at the Skinning Pavilion! My first thought after fleeing was to report to Your Majesty immediately! That's why..."

"A matter of utmost importance?" Special Envoy raised his hand to interrupt Li Fa, his eyes gleaming. "What is it that is so important that you would risk exposure to come here? Get up and tell me in detail."

Li Fa then stood up, took a deep breath, and put on a boastful look. He said, "At four o'clock this morning, General Yin led us to abduct a group of three people and tied them up at the Skinning Pavilion. One of them was a Tang Dynasty monk... Our lord knows all of this. Later, General Yin, Lord Xiong Shan, and our lord were drinking in the front hall, leaving Wolf Xiao Er in the pavilion to deal with the two attendants."

As he spoke, he observed the expression on Special Envoy's face. Seeing that Special Envoy did not intend to interrupt, he continued, "Later, as you know, Wolf Xiao Er died, and a two-legged sheep ran away. General Yin was furious and took his anger out on me. It was thanks to the Lord that my life was saved..."

"Get to the point!" Special Envoy waved his hand impatiently, "Tell me what happened after I left."

"Oh, after you left, we went to search the mountains, and suddenly a star fell from the sky. A man emerged from the star; he was an old man."

"Oh?" Special Envoy raised an eyebrow. "You mean an old man fell from the sky? What did he look like?"

Li Fa shook his head and said, "I didn't see his face clearly, but I saw that he had white hair and a white beard, and he was leaning on a cane."

"Go on."

"The old man went into the cave, and it seemed he said something to General Yin, and then they started fighting."

"They've started fighting?"

"That's right, General Yin drew his sword and slashed," Li Fa swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "That old man... he just lightly swung his cane, really, just lightly! General Yin... General Yin was like he'd been hit by a mountain, flying straight through the air and crashing heavily into a stone pillar in the pavilion! I was quite far away at the time, but I heard a 'crack' sound. I'm afraid General Yin's bones were broken! He just... he just lay there motionless, barely breathing, clearly... clearly going to meet the King of Hell!"

Upon hearing this, the special official's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and his breathing became heavier as he pressed on, "And then what happened? What was the old man's background? What were his intentions?"

"Later, he entered the Peeling Pavilion, rescued the Tang Dynasty monk, and then transformed into a gentle breeze, riding away on a crane."

"Did you see clearly? Did the old man really leave like that?"

"Absolutely true, I guarantee it with my life."

"Good! Good! Good!" Master Te was overjoyed and muttered to himself, "So this tiger has angered the celestial officials..."

Seeing this, Li Fa hurriedly said, "The cave is in complete chaos now, with no one in charge! I... I was just about to come and report to the master! Who would have thought that the master would send someone just in time... It's truly a meeting of minds."

After he finished speaking, the special official fell silent, seemingly hesitant.

Li Fa saw the old fox's hesitation, so he added fuel to the fire, saying, "My lord, as the saying goes, 'Strike while the iron is hot, and act early.' Since I'm in General Yin's cave, there's no guarantee that there aren't any of Xiong Shanjun's men there. If he also comes to get a share, then..."

"Good, good. Kun Kun, you've done very well. It wasn't in vain that I trained you." Finally, Master Te laughed heartily, patting Li Fa heavily on the shoulder. "General Yin has fallen, but his cave, his treasury, his demon soldiers... they can't all fall apart. There has to be someone in charge. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Li Fa quickly bowed again, feigning great excitement: "Your Majesty is wise! This is a golden opportunity! It is Your Majesty's time to step forward and take charge! I am willing to be the vanguard and pave the way for Your Majesty!"

The special official nodded, then shouted, "Beat the drums and gather the generals!"

Before long, the sound of drums rang out from inside the hermitage, and many lesser demons came to the scene.

But the special official took out a token from his pocket and handed it to Li Fa, saying, "Take this token and go quickly to the Skinning Pavilion. Find an opportunity to contact General Yin's underlings and tell them that you are on my orders to stabilize the morale of the army and prevent them from running around. Tell them to wait for me to uphold justice. Is that possible?"

They're here! Li Fa felt a chill run down his spine.

This was to send him back to continue being an inside man; if things didn't work out, he would be the first to be abandoned.

However, this is also part of Li's punishment plan.

"Your Majesty's trust is in my heart; I would gladly die for you!" Li Fa replied without hesitation. "I will go immediately! I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

"Alright, go ahead!" Special Envoy waved his hand.

"Yes! I'll take my leave!" Li Fa bowed again, then got up and left without hesitation, rushing straight towards the Peeling Pavilion.