The chaos in Chechi Kingdom's palace square gradually subsided. Tiger Power had been executed, while Deer Power and Sheep Power were captured by Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, bound with Immortal-Binding Ropes, and dragged before the steps. The king trembled, the officials fell silent as cicadas in winter, and Tang Sanzang closed his eyes and chanted scriptures, soothing the "frightened" mortals. Everything seemed to have returned to the predetermined script: the contest of magic had failed, the Daoist demons had been punished, and the king had converted.
Yet the three Li Wuyang had concealed in the void keenly sensed an unusual undercurrent. Although the Heavenly Dao will had withdrawn, an even more covert, icy ripple—carrying the intent to silence witnesses and clean up loose ends—quietly locked onto Deer Power and Sheep Power! Clearly, seeing its scheme fail, the mastermind behind the scenes—The Finality Council or one of its agents—intended to abandon its pawns and erase every possible clue!
"Silence them? Did you ask me first?" Primordial Father snorted. A thread of nearly imperceptible Primordial Violet Qi slipped soundlessly into the void. Like the most intricate lock, it instantly restrained the self-destruction restrictions buried in the deepest parts of Deer Power and Sheep Power's souls, while disrupting the unseen order to kill them.
Almost at the same time, Li Wuyang stirred his thoughts. The edge of the Blade of Fate Severing spread invisibly, silently cutting several extremely secret karmic threads and channels of information connecting the two immortals to the mastermind, creating a brief illusion of lost contact.
Below the platform, Sun Wukong's Fiery Golden Eyes flickered slightly, as if he too had sensed that malicious intent directed at the prisoners. Scratching his ears and cheeks, he suddenly said to Tang Sanzang, "Master, these two Daoist demons aided tyranny and deserved