His figure flashed, and he arrived on the other side of Phoenix Head Mountain.
"Huh? Isn't that Qiao Ling'er? What's he doing here?"
On closer inspection, it was indeed Qiao Ling'er from Qiao Family Village, the one the female bandit had abducted.
Shi Yongheng stepped forward to examine him. He seemed to be truly dead.
Suddenly, he turned Qiao Ling'er over and pulled aside his clothes.
A Buddhist swastika seal was visible on his back.
"Who are you?"
"That's right. What are you after?"
As he pondered, two figures appeared and eyed him warily.
Startled out of his thoughts, he looked at them and said delightedly, "Void, Zhu Bajie?"
"You're... Tianxing Bodhisattva? What brings you here?"
Shi Yongheng explained the situation at Spirit Mountain, bringing realization to Sun Wukong.
"So those fellows at Spirit Mountain are all demons in disguise.
The real bodhisattvas and buddhas had their Three Flowers shorn from their crowns by Wu Tian and were imprisoned in the Netherworld."
"Exactly. The demon reincarnation that fellow at Spirit Mountain told you to find is precisely the opposite!"
After examining him and confirming his condition, Sun Wukong said, "This is the turtle-breathing technique. He still has one last thread of life left."
As he spoke, he immediately took out a life-saving golden core pill and fed it to Qiao Ling'er.
Before long, Qiao Ling'er revived. He recovered so quickly that he soon opened his eyes.
"What is this?"
"Sir, who are they?"
After the introductions, Qiao Ling'er said, "I see. Thank you, all three of you, for saving my life."
"How did you end up here?" Sun Wukong asked.
"I don't know. Wasn't I in the prison cave just now?"
Now everyone understood. This matter was far from simple, but that was all right. Knowing about it was enough.