Journey to the West: Break the entire Western Heaven!

Zhu Ganglie laughed and said, "Fellows, you say that Golden Cicada is a monk without the strength to truss a chicken, yet in the eyes of this old pig, the fellow looks quite robust!"

Hearing this, the protective spirits all gave bitter smiles, while Tang Sanzang felt like crying but had no tears...

Tang Sanzang asked, "Zhu Ganglie, you... since you followed that fake monk, why have you come back to find me?"

Zhu Ganglie stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then suddenly looked up at the sky and exclaimed, "Look, a demon!"

Everyone instinctively looked up, only to experience a whirlwind of flying sand and rocks as a fierce wind picked up!

By the time they realized something was amiss and looked down, Zhu Ganglie had vanished.

The group hastily turned to Tang Sanzang, who was unharmed. They exchanged glances and murmured, "That Zhu Ganglie left and then returned, stirred up a wind, and without doing much else, has left again. What is he actually up to?"

"Where are my belongings? My belongings are gone!"

At that moment, Tang Sanzang's cry of alarm was heard.

All eighteen protective spirits looked over, only to see that the luggage hanging from the pole beside Tang Sanzang was missing!

The group realized all at once that Zhu Ganglie had come to steal things.

The party bristled with anger...

"To think that Marshal Tianpeng, that Zhu Ganglie, would not only accept a thief as his father but also come back to steal from us, is utterly despicable!" one of the protective spirits rolled up his sleeves and cursed righteously.

"Exactly, exactly! What can be endured and what cannot be endured, this can't be overlooked!"

Moved by their words, Tang Sanzang said, "For you all to have such thoughts, that's wonderful. I beg of you to act quickly and retrieve my belongings. Otherwise, as I journey Westward, without food, without drink, without a mount, without a change of clothes, not to mention the travel documents, the begging bowl, the staff, and the kasaya, how will I be able to face the Buddha? Please, you protective spirits, take swift action and ensure the return of my possessions!"

Just a moment ago, the eighteen protective spirits, filled with righteous indignation, suddenly became engulfed in a coughing fit, and then pointed to the sky, saying, "Ah, it seems a demon just passed by."

"That wasn't a demon, it was a bird."

"That bird seemed sick, its eyes were quite red."

"Really? I didn't get a clear look."

...

Watching these pretenders acting foolish and stunned, Tang Sanzang couldn't help but beat his chest and stamp his feet in frustration, yet he was helpless to do anything.

The protective spirits were also inwardly troubled. Dealing with Zhu Ganglie was already challenging enough, not to mention that there was the even fiercer Sun Wukong and another, Sha Wujing, whose depth was unclear. Of course, the most important issue was that the bald thief was too fierce. Without Buddha stepping in, whoever went would be delivering themselves up...

"Golden Cicada, don't be angry anymore. You should also be aware of the reality. That fake you is too powerful for us to handle. Nonetheless, since this problem has arisen, it definitely needs to be resolved. We're heading to Mount Meru to call for reinforcements. I refuse to believe that, among so many bodhisattvas and buddhas of ours at Mount Meru, there isn't one who can subdue that fake monk," a protective spirit declared.

Tang Sanzang nodded and said, "This plan is good... then I'll stop worrying about this for now and find something to eat."

Having said that, Tang Sanzang started digging with all his might, using his hard-earned wilderness survival skills, and finally unearthed a sweet potato.

Just then, a tall figure appeared before him.

Tang Sanzang instinctively protected the sweet potato and cried out, "You... don't go too far! This is my only sweet potato, you can't possibly want to steal this too, can you?"

Zhu Ganglie scratched his head and said, "Err... misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding. Earlier I thought I sensed a demonic aura in your luggage, so I took it upon myself to check. Turns out... it was all a misunderstanding, here you go, I'm returning it to you."

Having said that, Zhu Ganglie returned the formalities to Tang Sanzang and then walked away without looking back.

Tang Sanzang sat there, staring at the roasted sweet potato in his hand with a blank face, "What... what just happened?"

All eighteen Jialan were also at a loss, but one thing was certain, they no longer needed to return to Mount Wutai for reinforcements.

...

Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his companions had already made an identical fake using the genuine pass document they had acquired.

And the one who was able to create such an item was the multi-talented Sha Wujing. Aside from being a tad inadequate in a fight, he seemed to have a hand in the other three hundred and sixty trades.

For this, Tang Sanzang praised him profusely…

With the pass document, the group didn't wait any longer and took the fake one straight to the imperial palace.

Upon announcing outside the palace that they were monks from the Great Tang, traveling to the Western Heaven for scriptures, no one dared to treat them lightly, and they were immediately reported.

Soon, Tang Sanzang was invited into the grand hall.

However, this time Zhu Ganglie and Sha Wujing didn't go in because the guards felt that these two were too ferocious to enter the hall, lest they frighten the King and his ministers.

In response, Zhu Ganglie looked at the monk who had already walked in, shook his head, and muttered, "Heh... they must have misunderstood the word 'ferocious'."

Sha Wujing cut to the heart of the matter, "Small country, limited experience."

At this very moment, inside the Silver Peace Palace of the imperial palace,Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The Yellow-robed Monster sat at the top seat, surrounded by two gorgeous women, drinking and enjoying the spectacle of eighteen palace maidens and talented girls singing and dancing. He was quite happy and muttered, "Judging by the time, if that bald thief didn't deliberately delay, he should have passed Baoxiang Country by now. Once he's gone... Humph..."

Thinking thus, he took a couple more drinks.

In fact, ever since the Yellow-robed Monster followed Bai Huaxiu and came to Baoxiang Country, recognizing her as kin, the King and his ministers have been accompanying him in heavy drinking, managing to lure out his addiction to alcohol.

When everyone else had been carried away after drinking to the point of lying down, he alone remained, never setting down his cup and continuing to drink until now.

Just then, amid the dance of the palace maidens, a full moon rose up—it was a scene from the Chang'e Moon Worship Dance.

But when the Yellow-robed Monster glimpsed the full moon, he mistook it for the shiny bald head of someone, and, startled, he jumped up with a "whoa," flinging his arms out and sending the two women in his arms flying against the wall with a bang, where they hit their heads, bled, and died on the spot!

At this scene, the palace maidens screamed in fright.

The Yellow-robed Monster, amidst the screaming, came back to his senses and saw that the bald head was just a prop from the dance. Furious, he became enraged!

Drunk and furious, he forgot the agreement he had made with Bai Huaxiu not to cause trouble in the palace, showed his true form, and, in a burst of rage, opened his tremendously large hands and grabbed a woman playing the pipa, biting into her head with a crunch!

Such a scene terrified the other palace maidens who scampered out even though nothing had threatened them, throwing everything into chaos!

The Yellow-robed Monster laughed loudly, pulled out a flagpole and waved it, enveloping the Silver Peace Palace within it. No matter how desperately the palace maidens hit it trying to escape, they couldn't get out, and not a sound could be heard...

They trembled with fear, huddled under the eaves, not daring to move.

The Yellow-robed Monster didn't care about them and just sat there, pouring and drinking his own wine, grabbing a victim to nibble on after each drink, truly bloody and brutal.

At that moment, he suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I almost ruined my own important affairs. I had agreed that today I would present myself before His Majesty, today I must announce to the world my and my wife's identities, I can't miss that."