Practicing Medicine in Zhu Zi Kingdom (Twenty-Two)

Meanwhile, Sai Taisui, carrying the Magpie-Tail Golden Furnace, arrived outside the cave.

Seeing Sai Taisui emerge alone, Wukong asked, "Demon, where is the Consort Jinsheng?"

Sai Taisui said, "Sun Wukong, you disregard monastic virtues, come to my door to bully me, and demand my lady. How can I forgive you!"

Enraged that Sai Taisui had falsely accused him, Wukong drew his staff and struck him.

Sai Taisui's leg was broken, so he couldn't avoid it. He simply said "Look at the treasure" and took out the Magpie-Tail Golden Furnace.

Wukong only heard the word "treasure" but didn't see what kind of treasure it was. He then Somersault Cloud to the back of the gods and looked carefully.

Sai Taisui picked up a Lotus Flower Golden Furnace, held the handle in one hand, aimed it at the gods, and chanted three times, "I take refuge! I take refuge! I take refuge!" Buddhist smoke rose from the censer, locking the gods in, none of them able to escape, just like water dripping from the eaves into a blue vat, Pearl gently falling into a white jade cup, they were successively drawn into the censer.

Wukong was terrified and tried to escape by Somersault Cloud, but he was bound by the incense smoke. He could move his hands and feet, but he didn't want to; he wanted to escape, but he couldn't. He could only watch helplessly as he fell into the furnace and disappeared from the world.

Sai Taisui was overjoyed and exclaimed, "What a treasure! What a treasure! It truly lives up to its reputation as the treasure of the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva!" He then returned to his cave in triumph, opened the furnace lid, and dumped all the gods onto the ground. He bound them one by one, and imprisoned them all along with the envoy from the Zhu Zi Kingdom and Bingling Gong. Those who were not enough to be imprisoned were tied to pillars in the Skinning Pavilion.

Sai Taisui then celebrated with the demons and invited the Consort Jinsheng, saying, "Goddess, we don't need to part now!"

Consort Jinsheng's heart sank, and she forced a smile, asking, "What's wrong?"

Sai Taisui said, "I've captured Sun Wukong and the others with my Golden Furnace! That King of Zhu Zi Kingdom, so ignorant, dared to issue an edict to attack me. Tomorrow I'll capture him with my Golden Furnace too, imprison him here, and I'll be the King, and you, my lady, the queen. We'll be Immortal couple, wouldn't that be wonderful!" Upon hearing this, the Consort Jinsheng felt immense sorrow, worrying for the King of Zhu Zi Kingdom and fearing the Demon would see through her act. She could only force a smile, feigning joy, and step forward to coax Sai Taisui, saying:

"Your Great King! Since Your Great King has this intention, I am willing to offer myself to you. In the future, I will pray to the gods to break the spell so that I can be with Your Great King, stay with you forever, and never be separated!"

Upon hearing this, Sai Taisui was so captivated by the fragrance of orchids that his bones seemed to melt. He felt no pain in his broken leg and drank a full cup of wine. Soon, he became so drunk that he was too weak to stand. Consort Jinsheng then took the opportunity to let him sleep on her fragrant bed.

Sai Taisui was in a daze, but overjoyed. Although he couldn't get close to her yet, he could sleep on the goddess's fragrant bed and smell the fragrance. Even his dreams were wonderful. So he fell asleep in the Consort Jinsheng's room.

The Consort Jinsheng then ordered the spirits serving beside her to help Sai Taisui undress.

The Golden Furnace, Buddhist Lamp, Demon-Subduing Pestle, Purple-Gold Bell were all taken down.

After everyone had been comforted, Consort Jinsheng scolded, "What are you all still doing here? Quickly turn off the lights and leave. How dare you disturb my and the Great King's rest?"

Seeing that Sai Taisui was completely obedient to Consort Jinsheng and that they were going to be husband and wife forever, the spirits and servants dared not disobey the empress's orders, so they hurriedly went downstairs.

Only the Consort Jinsheng remained by his side, coaxing Sai Taisui to sleep. Around midnight, as Sai Taisui was having a sweet dream, the Consort Jinsheng quietly took the treasure, left the cave, and went to the Prison.

The Little Demon guarding the palace saw Consort Jinsheng and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

The Consort Jinsheng said, "The Great King was afraid that Sun Wukong had escaped, so he got up in the middle of the night and sent me to check. Where is Sun Wukong being held now?" The Little Demons, without suspicion, replied, "Sun Wukong is being held in the back. Your Majesty, please come with me!"

Consort Jinsheng followed the Little Demon.

On the way, she saw that the prisons were full of all kinds of Immortal and immortals. The Consort Jinsheng was terrified and thought to herself that if she made the slightest mistake this time, she would surely die without a burial place.

As they walked, the Consort Jinsheng saw a little girl tightly bound by Rope, her delicate flesh bulging out. She couldn't help but ask, "Why is such a little girl so tightly bound?"

The Little Demons cried out in fear, "Your Majesty, you don't know, this child is very fierce and powerful!"

Although Consort Jinsheng felt somewhat reluctant upon hearing this, she dared not say anything more.

Continuing forward to the innermost part, they found Wukong bound in Prison Cave, still unconscious.

Consort Jinsheng said, "You may all step back. The Great King has some questions for me to ask him alone."

Hearing this, the Little Demons said worriedly, "Your Majesty, this Monkey is extremely powerful. If we leave, he might hurt you, and then we won't be able to explain it to the Great King!"

Consort Jinsheng took out the Purple-Gold Bell and said, "You don't need to worry, the Great King gave me his treasure for self-defense."

Upon seeing the Purple-Gold Bell, the Little Demons realized it was Sai Taisui's personal treasure, so they were relieved and withdrew.

Seeing the Little Demon retreat, the Consort Jinsheng hurriedly called out to Wukong, "Elder Sun! Elder Sun from the Eastern Land! Sun Wukong! Monk!"

He called out several times, but Sun Wukong did not wake up.

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Consort Jinsheng didn't care about anything else. She spat several times, hitting Wukong's face, which startled Wukong awake. Consort Jinsheng wept, saying, "Elder Sun, you've caused me so much suffering! You taught me to steal treasures for you twice, but I failed and was captured and brought here. Now that Demon is threatening to harm my Emperor and seize his throne!"

Upon hearing this, Wukong said with shame, "It's all my Old Sun! Who knew that the Demon had so many treasures? At first, I thought there was only one bell, but then there was a picture, a Demon-Subduing Pestle, a lamp, and a furnace. I beg you, Goddess, to rescue me so I can find a way to subdue him."

The Consort Jinsheng asked, "How can I save you?"

Wukong said, "Please, Your Majesty, pluck a single hair from my body."

The Consort Jinsheng did as she was told.

Wukong blew on a hair, and it transformed into a small knife.

Consort Jinsheng cut the Rope with a knife.

Wukong then escaped, used Sleepy Bug to put the other Little Demon to sleep, rescued the gods, and, together with the Consort Jinsheng, fled the Demon Cave under the cover of night. Once outside, Wukong instructed the messenger to take the Consort Jinsheng back to the Zhu Zi Kingdom, while he and the other gods stayed behind to exterminate the Demon.

Before leaving, Consort Jinsheng handed over all of Sai Taisui's treasures to Wukong, saying, "Elder Sun, these are the treasures I lured from that Demon. I entrust them all to you now, hoping you can vanquish the Demon and protect the peace of my Zhu Zi Kingdom State Altars."

Wukong was delighted to see this and agreed.

Consort Jinsheng remembered something else and said to Wukong, "Elder Sun, that Demon has lived with me for over ten years, and I have never seen him possess any treasures other than those three bells. These treasures probably don't belong to him. I've heard that he has a powerful backer who lives in the Mist-and-Cloud Cave on Qiyun Mountain and often Youlai Youqu fetch him. Elder, please be careful."

Upon hearing this, Wukong recited the six characters "Qiyun Mountain Mist-and-Cloud Cave" and memorized them. He then asked, "What is 'Youlai Youqu '?" Consort Jinsheng replied, "Youlai Youqu is not a thing, but a trusted Little Demon of that Demon, short in stature, with a scruffy face and no beard." Wukong listened and carefully memorized the information. He then asked Heavenly King Li to arrange for Heavenly Horse to personally escort Consort Jinsheng and her messenger away.

Having served as the Bimawen, Wukong possessed some Laws, which enabled him to teach the Heavenly Horse to be docile and to ride Mortal.

Consort Jinsheng thanked him and left with the messenger.

After more than a decade away from my homeland, I have finally returned today.