Serene and unhurried, Jiang Liu slowly opened his eyes, as if awakening from a deep slumber.
Upon opening his eyes, Jiang Liu found himself bound by chains of an unknown material to a stone pir, tightly tied so that he could not move.
Looking around, Jiang Liu realized he was inside a demon''s cave, surrounded by many corpse demons.
A female demon with an ashenplexion kneeled quietly to the side, while a handsome man sat on a throne fashioned from bones, clearly having noticed Jiang Liu''s awakening, was watching him.
"Has Master Xuanzang woken up?" As Jiang Liu came to, the fine-looking man seated on the throne of bones began to speak, upon seeing him awake.
However, while he spoke, his eyes revealed a greed that made him unconsciously lick his lips.
"Great King, it is said that this Tang Monk has cultivated goodness for ten lifetimes. By eating a piece of his flesh, one can achieve evesting life…" The pale-faced woman, her body exuding an aura of death, gazed intently at Jiang Liu and spoke.
"Indeed, your information is urate," the man nodded in agreement. "Eating a piece of this monk''s flesh can indeed grant eternal life!"
In the midst of speaking, his eyes looked at Jiang Liu with the same avaricious gleam, evidently seeing Jiang Liu as a rare delicacy of the world.
"Then what are we waiting for? Great King, let''s y and dismember this monk right now!" The pale-faced female demon eagerly said by the side, showing an expression of wild joy and an impatience to act.
"Wait!"
Nevertheless, the handsome man suddenly shouted out loud, stopping the female demon''s actions, saying, "You don''t understand, while this monk may not be very capable, his disciples are all extraordinary. If theye here causing trouble, what shall we do? We should wait for a few more days until his disciples stop making noise, then we can peacefully enjoy this Flesh of Longevity."
"Cough cough, I think you simply don''t want to eat me, do you?" Jiang Liu suddenly chimed in, after the handsome man had finished speaking.@@novelbin@@
"Hahaha, you monk must be losing your mind, right? Whoever could eat a piece of your flesh and gain immortality would want to!?" The handsome man burst intoughter upon hearing Jiang Liu''s words, as if he had heard something amusing.
"The reason you just said for not wanting to eat me makes no sense at all!"
Unfazed by the man''s mockery, Jiang Liu, though bound, remained calm with no hint of fear. He then said, "You say you''re worried about Sun Wukong and the others causing amotion, so you want to wait until they lose patience and leave before you eat me. But if you are sure that Sun Wukong and the others will eventually leave without patience, there''s no harm in eating me now, is there?"
"This..." Confronted with Jiang Liu''s analysis, the handsome man was momentarily at a loss for words, unsure of how to respond.
Pausing for a moment, Jiang Liu continued, "If you''re afraid of Sun Wukong and his abilities and believe you can''t defeat them, why would you bother tying me up and waiting for them toe? Logically, you should eat me now, acquire the Longevity Life, and flee before Sun Wukong and the others arrive, isn''t that the sensible thing to do?"
"But here you are, capturing me without eating me, and instead, waiting for Sun Wukong and them to show up. This doesn''t look like you want to eat me at all!"
Shaking his head with amusement, Jiang Liu looked at the handsome man and said, "So, do you not want to eat me, or are you afraid to eat me?"
"Now, here''s the question, whether you don''t want to or are afraid to eat me, you''re not going to eat me in the end. So, why did you bother capturing me in the first ce? What exactly is your purpose? You..."
"Guard! Plug this monk''s mouth!" But before Jiang Liu could continue, the fine-looking man, seemingly in a fit of anger and embarrassment, loudlymanded.
Following his words, some little demons came over, stuffed a piece of cloth into Jiang Liu''s mouth, and gagged him, preventing him from speaking further.
The more Jiang Liu spoke, the more the handsome man felt rmed. His own excuse to spare Jiang Liu''s life had been seen through, based on just a few words. Could the wisdom of this Scripture Seeker really be so terrifying?
It was better to gag him; otherwise, who knew if he would eventually deduce that everything was a plot!
"Why are you all looking at me like that!?" After having sessfully gagged Jiang Liu''s mouth, the handsome man had just breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed several of his subordinates staring at him peculiarly, which caught him off guard.
"Great King, I think what the monk just said seems reasonable! Don''t you actually want to eat his Evesting Flesh?" the pale-faced female demon asked the handsome man.
Clearly, even though they had gagged Jiang Liu''s mouth, the words he had just spoken seemed sensible, and the demon creatures had taken them to heart.
Feeling the strange nces of his own subordinates, the fine-looking man was momentarily resourceful, and with a sh of inspiration, spoke, "Haven''t you thought about it? If his disciples are so powerful that we can defeat them, then there''s no problem in eating the Longevity Flesh; but if we can''t, then keeping this monk as a talisman can protect us!"
There was no denying that this exnation made sense.
Therefore, the demon kind nodded in agreement, showing their understanding and not saying anything further.
Gagged and bound to the pir, Jiang Liu disyed no hint of fear and quietly waited.
Through the task he''d triggered himself, and the fact that the demon creature dared not eat him, Jiang Liu could almost be certain that this demon creature must havee from among the Immortals and Buddhas.
And all this, must be a trapid out by Guanyin, one that added to the eighty-one trials.
This trap was not in the original work, so why had it been added now?
It seemed on this journey, the trials that should have urred had all been safely passed by him, none counting as true trials. Therefore, the count of eighty-one trials was iplete, causing Bodhisattva to grow anxious and naturally, she needed to arrange more trials, leading to the appearance of trials not present in the original work. This seemed to make sense within reason, didn''t it?
Regardless of Jiang Liu''s thoughts, time ticked away second by second. Although Jiang Liu''s flesh, the Flesh of Longevity, was an irresistible temptation for the demons, since the Great King had forbidden them to eat it, the demon creatures dared not do anything to Jiang Liu.
Soon, the night grew deeper.
"Master, Master, how are you feeling?" In his dazed state, Jiang Liu vaguely seemed to hear Sun Wukong calling out, and slowly he opened his eyes.
He saw a tiny fly hovering in front of him. To be able to transform into a fly ande over in the dead of winter was quite a feat.
Jiang Liu saw it clearly; this fly even had the head of a monkey. Who else could it be but Sun Wukong?
Clearly, Sun Wukong meant not to startle the demons and had transformed into a fly to speak with Jiang Liu.
"Master, why aren''t you speaking? Are you alright?!" Hovering in front of Jiang Liu and seeing him silent, Sun Wukong became worried and continued to ask.
"Mmmmph!"
Sun Wukong''s question made Jiang Liu roll his eyes at him in annoyance. He opened his mouth but could not speak because it was gagged with a cloth, unable to express anything but muffled, indecipherable noises.
"Oh, sorry, I wasn''t aware..." Realizing that Jiang Liu couldn''t speak, Sun Wukong finally noticed the piece of cloth in Jiang Liu''s mouth.
Although he was just a fly, Sun Wukong''s legs clung to the cloth and he managed to directly yank it down.
"Master, how are you? Are you alright?" After pulling the cloth from Jiang Liu''s mouth, Sun Wukong continued to ask.
"I''m fine, I''m fine, the demon creature doesn''t dare to eat me!" Having had his mouth stuffed with a cloth for so long, Jiang Liu felt as if his jaw were stiff. After moving his jaw, he finally spoke.
"Oh? It doesn''t dare to eat you? You mean to say—?" Hearing Jiang Liu''s response, Sun Wukong asked in surprise. Experience tales at empire
"This demon creature, it must havee from the heavens!" Jiang Liu affirmed.
"No wonder!"
Understanding dawned on Sun Wukong''s face as he nodded and said, "When you were taken away by that ck Lotus earlier, no wonder my Jingu Bang couldn''t smash it. So this demon had originated from the Immortals and Buddhas, possessing such rare treasures!"
Sun Wukong felt aggrieved too. As a Taiyi True Immortal with a distinguished reputation among the Immortals and Buddhas, it was surely a blow to his pride that a mere Heavenly Immortal could abduct his master right under his nose.
But he had to admit, sometimes the treasures from the Immortals and Buddhas were truly formidable, possessing powerful Dharma Treasures that could ovee stronger foes or even defeat those of a higher Cultivation Level.
However, as the conversation reached this point, Sun Wukong paused slightly, then asked, "So, Master, what shall we do next?"
"What shall we do next, you ask?"
Hearing Sun Wukong''s question, Jiang Liu''s lips curved slightly, a strange smile on his face as he whispered, "Wukong, do you remember our goal? What if today we collect some interest?"
"Oh? Master, do you mean, kill this demon from the Immortals and Buddhas?" Sun Wukong''s eyes sparkled as he asked.
"Exactly!" Jiang Liu nodded.
"Hehehe, I, Old Sun, like it!" Upon receiving Jiang Liu''s affirmative reply, Sun Wukong joyously executed several flips in mid-air in his fly form.
Yet, as soon as he did, Sun Wukong became troubled again. "But, that demon wields a ck Lotus, which seems to be a treasure and not easy to deal with!"
"That only matters if he has the chance to use it!" replied Jiang Liu with a grin.
Weren''t his Silencing Zen and Sheep Transformation Technique skills prepared for moments like this?