Wukong clamped one hand around "Bajie's" shoulder like an iron vise, carrying the Golden Cudgel in the other as he raced through the mountain forest, half dragging, half hauling him along.
Dead leaves flew beneath his feet, and wind howled past his ears.
"Bajie" was pinned fast by that immense strength. Several times he twisted at the waist to break free, but he was like an ant trying to shake a tree-not an inch did he move.
Though he feigned composure, the flashes of terror in his eyes betrayed him.
This monkey was far too strong.
"Great Sage, wait!"
"Bajie" lowered his voice, a veiled threat creeping into his tone:
"If you insist on forcing the issue, we may both end up wounded. Why not stop and talk this through?"
His breathing quickened slightly as he added, "Just give me that little fox, and I'll return Zhu Bajie to you. Otherwise, he may never come back!"
Wukong kept moving without so much as turning his head.
A brief, cold laugh echoed through the forest.
"Bimawen!"
Seeing that gentle words were useless, "Bajie" grew anxious and shouted:
"I don't want trouble with you, so don't spit on the courtesy I'm offering!"
The monkey neither stopped nor grew angry at those words.
His golden eyes slid sideways, and a smile crept onto his lips:
"Oh? My son, so you really did come down from Heaven! Then this should be easy!"
"Return my junior brother first, and I'll help you all escape your predicament. How's that?"
The words "escape your predicament" fell into his ears like sparks into dry tinder.
The veins on "Bajie's" forehead bulged.
A beastlike roar tore from his throat. He gave a violent shudder, and with a sharp crack, he wrenched his own shoulder out of its socket and