Three sworn brothers of Spirit Mountain, each flying his own way when interests were at stake

Chen Wei returned bearing a great victory.

The heavenly soldiers had all eaten their fill, and their gazes burned with enthusiasm as they looked at him.

No casualties, and full bellies to boot.

Who could fail to adore a general like that? They loved him to their very bones.

Inside the Flying Boat's cabin.

Chen Wei held a cup of freshly brewed Immortal Tea and leaned comfortably back in his chair, feeling especially secure.

Just then.

An urgent cry came from outside the door: "Report! My lord! They're fighting! All hell has broken loose on the Heaven-Reaching River!"

A Scout rushed into the cabin, too breathless even to speak evenly.

Chen Wei raised his brows slightly and set down his teacup. "Take your time. Who's fighting whom?"

"My lord, it's the Three Demons and the five Demon Sages!" The Scout swallowed. "They're fighting in the middle of the river, blades flying everywhere and magical treasures smashing into everything! Even the river's been stained red!"

The immortals in the cabin exchanged glances.

Pang Long's hand froze halfway through stroking his beard, while Ma Muzhi narrowed his eyes.

Everyone knew perfectly well what had happened, but this dog-eat-dog spectacle had erupted rather too quickly.

Chen Wei blinked and thought, Here comes my chance.

Serving in the Heavenly Court required more than knowing how to work. One also had to know how to write memorials.

Doing a good job mattered less than writing a good report. That was the iron law of the Bright Hall.

Chen Wei made his decision at once and sprang to his feet. "Lord Pang, take up your brush! Send a victory dispatch to headquarters immediately!"

Pang Long hurried to the desk and laid out a blank Jade Slip.

Chen Wei stood with his hands behind his back, first pacing two steps through the cabin before saying slowly, "Your subordinate Chen Wei respectfully reports to the True Lord: since taking command of this expedition, I have pondered strategies to defeat the enemy day and night. Observing that the Demonkind coalition of the Heaven-Reaching River was united in appearance but divided at heart, I devised a scheme to sow discord and lure the enemy."

"Tonight!"

"Through meticulous preparations by myself and my colleagues, we successfully stirred up old grudges between the Three Demons and the five Demon Sages! A major battle has now erupted within the Demonkind coalition, inflicting devastating casualties! Without losing a single soldier, our Vanguard army has seized the enemy's fortune in its entirety and largely achieved its planned objectives! This great victory is entirely due to the True Lord's patient planning and far-reaching vision. Your subordinate dares not claim the credit and hereby reports our triumph!"

Chen Wei finished in one breath, then lifted his tea to moisten his throat. "Write it just like that and deliver it urgently to the True Lord. Polish the wording a little more, and emphasize the fact that we didn't lose a single soldier."

"Understood!" Pang Long chuckled and began writing.

Once that battle report went out, everyone in the Folk Customs and Morals Inspection Bureau would have their service records gilded with gold.

In the corner.

Kang Anyu watched the whole scene, his gaze resting on Chen Wei as he silently studied him for a while.

In all fairness, he had seen plenty of immortals who led armies into battle, and plenty of silver-tongued civil officials too.

But someone like Chen Wei was truly a first.

Most importantly, not a single heavenly soldier had been lost, and the Demonkind really had been made to tear into one another.

Judged by results, it was flawless.

This fellow... really does have something to him, Kang Anyu marveled inwardly, quietly sending intelligence to Yang Jian with a voice-transmission talisman.

Meanwhile.

Vicious waves towered over the Heaven-Reaching River.

The demons and the Five Great Demon Sages faced one another across the water, both sides panting heavily.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng hovered in the air, his eyes bloodshot as he pointed at the Dragon Demon King and hurled abuse. "Why don't you ask around and find out what standing your Grandpa Peng has in the Three Realms! Would I sneak around behind you to raid a few of your shabby camps? Absurd! Absolutely absurd!"

The Dragon Demon King sneered and was just about to speak.

But then.

The hot-tempered Lion-Camel King beside him jumped straight out, pointed at the Great Peng's nose, and fired back on the spot. "Standing? You don't have shit for standing! Who doesn't know you tried to court Princess Peacock back then and got thrown out on your ear? Did getting rejected drive you mad and turn your brain to mush? Who are you pretending to be, Buddha Tathagata?"

"You're courting death!"

Those words struck squarely at the Golden-Winged Great Peng's sorest spot.

His humiliating history with Princess Peacock was an indelible disgrace in his life as a demon.

The Great Peng threw back his head and shrieked. With a beat of his wings, he was ready to charge at the Lion-Camel King and fight him to the death.

"Third Brother! Stop!" The Azure Lion Spirit stepped in front of the Great Peng, his face dark. By now, he had finally pieced things together.

Their supply camp had been gutted, and the other side claimed theirs had been gutted too.

The two sides had started fighting without a word the moment they met, and even now, they had not seen so much as a hair from the Heavenly Court.

Barring any surprises, they had all been played.

Who had played them went without saying.

"We can't keep fighting." The Azure Lion Spirit suppressed his anger and shouted toward the Dragon Demon King, "Someone's been using us as their weapons! If we keep fighting to the death, we'll be handing them our heads!"

The Dragon Demon King's expression shifted uncertainly. In truth, he could not keep fighting either.

First, they had come to launch a sneak attack, leaving them somewhat in the wrong. Second, the forces they had brought were weaker than those of the Three Demons to begin with.

That last clash had inflicted grievous losses.

If he kept grinding away like this, even victory would leave him a commander without an army.

Since the Azure Lion Spirit had offered him a step down, he might as well take it.

"Hmph! Since both sides have been tricked today, we'll call a halt for now!" The Dragon Demon King tossed out those words to save face, then swept his arm. "But I'll remember this debt! Withdraw!"

The forces of the Five Great Demon Sages retreated like the ebbing tide, vanishing into the night in the blink of an eye.

Only the Three Demons remained above the river.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng trembled with rage and struck with his palm, cleaving a thousand-foot-long trench through the water below.

When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

How mighty he had been back in the Lion Camel Kingdom! Later, even against Sun Wukong, who had wreaked havoc in Heaven, he had been able to fight that monkey to a draw across sky and earth!

Of course, that was the Great Peng's own assessment.

And now he had actually been outwitted by a civil official of the Heavenly Court, then cursed to his face by a mud loach?

"Eldest Brother! I can't swallow this insult!" The Great Peng's eyes blazed as he ground his teeth.

"All right, all right, Third Brother!" The Azure Lion Spirit sighed and stepped forward. "Out in the world, harmony brings wealth. The situation is unclear right now, with the Heavenly Court's army ahead and the five Demon Sages behind. Let's endure it for now. Take one step back, and the seas widen and the skies open."

The White Elephant Spirit listened nearby and blinked.

On the surface, the Azure Lion Spirit seemed to be urging peace, but his tone, his eyes, every single word was fanning the flames.

What did he mean, take one step back and the seas widen and the skies open?

Wasn't that just a roundabout reminder to the Great Peng: You're the Buddha's own uncle, yet someone's riding roughshod over you. Can you really stand it?

Sure enough.

The moment the Great Peng heard "endure," he sneered toward the Vanguard army. "Endure? Fine! I happen to be hungry! Once I've finished eating, I'll return to Spirit Mountain and enter seclusion at once. Let's see who dares storm the Great Thunderclap Monastery!"

With that, he gave his two elder brothers no chance to stop him. He beat his wings and hurtled toward the Heavenly Court's main camp.

He flew so fast that he covered a thousand miles in an instant.

"Oh no! Third Brother! Third Brother, you're being foolish!" At the sight, the Azure Lion Spirit stamped his feet repeatedly in agitation, grabbing wildly at the air with both hands, his face a picture of anguish. "Come back! That's the Heavenly Court's main camp! You mustn't go!"

He shouted himself hoarse.

Yet his feet seemed rooted to the spot. Never mind chasing after him-he made not the slightest move to use demonic arts to stop him.

The White Elephant Spirit silently watched his eldest brother's performance. He had seen through it.

The situation at the Heaven-Reaching River had become a stagnant pool. To break the deadlock, they needed a troublemaker with a sufficiently powerful background and formidable backing to poke the hornet's nest and test the Heavenly Court's limits.

Who was best suited?

Naturally, it was the Golden-Winged Great Peng, who had always thought so highly of himself and basked in the halo of being Buddha Tathagata's own maternal uncle.

Even if the Great Peng really ate Chen Wei, the Heavenly Court would have to take its demands for accountability to Western Heaven Spirit Mountain.

And if the Great Peng suffered a setback, he had been the one who insisted on going.

"Eldest Brother, Third Brother's flying too fast." The White Elephant Spirit came beside the Azure Lion Spirit and lowered his voice. "We can't catch him."

The Azure Lion Spirit resumed his solemn air and nodded. "Indeed. Third Brother's temper is too stubborn. Since he insists on going, what can we do? Ah!"

The two great demons exchanged a glance, each understanding the other without a word, then flew toward the Water Palace.

As the saying went: three sworn brothers of Spirit Mountain, each flying his own way when interests were at stake; send a fellow cultivator ahead to scout the road, while this humble cultivator stayed safely in the rear.