Stumbling into Pansi Cave (Sixteen)

Meanwhile, Bajie followed the Dragonfly Demon to the mountain dwelling.

Before entering, there is a memorial archway with the words "Zhu Residence" inscribed on it.

Bajie asked, "Is the owner of this place surnamed Zhu?"

The Dragonfly Demon replied, "Yes, all seven masters share the surname Zhu."

Bajie was secretly pleased to hear this. The people here were surnamed Zhu, so if he married into the family, it would be easier for them to name their children.

As they walked further in and passed through a door, a Bee spirit greeted them and asked, "Why are you bringing people up so late? Where did you come from?"

The Dragonfly Demon said, "This is a monk who came from the east. He said he was there to clear the way. I saw that he had some strength, so I brought him along."

The Bee spirit said, "Why did you bring a monk here? Don't you know monks can't marry? Get rid of him quickly."

Seeing that the other party was about to drive him away, Bajie quickly said, "Although I, Old Pig, am a monk, I am still a strong man. Why don't I meet your master first?"

The Bee spirit laughed, "Oh ho, a flower monk after all. Very well, since you put it that way, I'll go and inform my mother."

When Bajie heard the Bee spirit utter the word "mother," he Dao Fruit to himself, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. This family is taking in a son-in-law who already has children—who knows how many? And if he's not their biological child, wouldn't raising him be like doing all the work for someone else?"

Thinking this, Bajie felt a pang of regret and exclaimed:

"I, Old Pig, am not some frivolous monk. I am a disciple of a legitimate Reverend Monk from the Great Tang Eastern Land. I am here to clear the way on my master's orders!"

The Bee spirit heard this and went inside to report.

Just then, Wukong arrived and, hearing this, also wanted to investigate the matter. So he transformed into a Pig Louse and landed on Bajie's ear.

The Bee Diligence to report, and upon seeing the Eldest Sister Spider Demon, said:

"Mother, a disciple of a high-ranking Great Tang Reverend Monk has arrived. He has large ears, a long mouth, and fierce fangs. He looks like an Old Pig from the mountains that has become a spirit, and he is quite powerful. He says he wants to see you."

Upon hearing this, the Eldest Sister Spider Demon asked, "Are you here to marry into the family?"

The Bee spirit said, "He has this intention, but dares not admit it. He says he's here to clear the way on his master's orders."

Hearing this, the second Second Sister couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh, "This monk is really interesting, is he here to clear the way for our house?"

The eldest sister said, "He's a guest, please invite him in."

Having received the order, the Bee spirit returned and said to Bajie, "Eastern Land monk, Mother invites you in."

Upon hearing this, Bajie thought he couldn't lose face, so he straightened his clothes, spat into his palm, wiped the dust off his face, picked up his Rake, and strode in with his head held high, following the Bee spirit inside.

The two passed through the second and third gates. Bajie saw that each gate was guarded by monsters, and there were countless houses and Palace Hall with lanterns hanging high and candlesticks placed, making the night as bright as day.

Although it was late, it was not yet night, and one could still see the road ahead if one walked carefully. Yet, the people had already lit candles, which showed that they were quite wealthy.

After passing through three gates and turning past the screen wall, they saw a grand palace with endless pavilions and palaces behind it. Bajie secretly clicked his tongue in amazement, thinking that even the Palace of the small countries they had passed along the way were not as magnificent as this. If all these palaces and buildings were filled, wouldn't they house tens of thousands of people?

With such a family background, it wouldn't really matter if they raised several sons who weren't their own.

Wukong, who was perched on Bajie's ear, was equally startled when he saw these pavilions.

The Bee spirit led Bajie into the hall and said, "Please."

Bajie looked at the main hall and couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He patted his clothes with both hands and went inside.

Upon entering the main hall, I saw four women sitting there.

On the left is the Second Sister, with a charming demeanor; on the right is the Third Sister, with an innate air of nobility; sitting to the side is the Fourth Sister, with a cool and beautiful appearance; in the middle is the eldest sister, with a stunningly beautiful appearance and a heroic and decisive temperament, surpassing the other three.

When Bajie saw this, his eyes widened and his heart fluttered. He was delighted with his Second Sister, his Third Sister, his Fourth Sister, and most of all, his eldest sister. He couldn't help but glance at one with his left eye and then another with his right, truly overwhelmed by the sights.

The Second Sister laughed and said, "Eldest sister, look, this is a simple-minded monk."

Third Sister laughed and said, "Second Sister, he's looking at you!"

Upon hearing this, Bajie realized he had made a fool of himself, so he quickly looked away and pretended to be well-behaved.

The eldest sister said, "Elder, please have a seat."

Upon hearing this, Bajie bowed in thanks and then sat down properly to the side.

The eldest sister ordered her maid to serve tea.

Bajie pretended to be refined as he held the cup and drank.

The eldest sister asked, "May I ask where the elder is from?"

Seeing the women's beauty, Bajie was already tempted by worldly desires. When the eldest sister asked him about his background, he was naturally unguarded and honestly revealed his secrets:

"I am originally from Fuling Mountain in the Wusizang Kingdom. I followed the Reverend Monk from the Great Tang Eastern Land on his Journey to the West. I am his second disciple, and my Dharma Name Wuneng and Bajie."

The eldest sister smiled faintly upon hearing this, which only drew Bajie's attention.

The elder sister spoke up, "So you're a disciple of Reverend Monk from the Great Tang. Someone, give this elder some coins and send him down the mountain."

Upon hearing this, the Bee spirit took out a small string of coins, about two or three hundred coins, and said to Bajie, "Elder, I've come to see you down the mountain."

Seeing this, Bajie became a little anxious. He knew which was more important, this small string of coins or the inexhaustible wealth and beauty before him, so he quickly said:

"Sister, didn't you say you were going to find a son-in-law? Why are you kicking me out? Have I done something rude or offended you sisters?"

The Second Sister and Third Sister sisters burst out laughing, but the Fourth Sister held it in. The Second Sister said, "Eldest sister, this monk is calling you 'elder sister'!"

The eldest sister remained calm and didn't tease him like her younger sisters did. She said to Bajie:

"It is true that we want to find a husband to marry into our family. We sisters have occupied this Pansi Ridge and have quite a bit of Family Wealth, but we are all Taoist and not skilled in martial arts. We are afraid that someone will covet our property, so we want to find a strong man to marry into our family. We don't care about his age or appearance, as long as he is strong enough to protect our property."

Upon hearing this, Bajie was overjoyed and asked, "I heard you have seven older sisters. I wonder which one you married into the family?"

The eldest sister laughed and said, "Elder, you must have heard about our journey here. We seven sisters are all Demon, and we don't care about worldly etiquette. If someone with ability comes along, we will all acknowledge him as our cave master."

Upon hearing this, Bajie was overjoyed, thinking that such a good thing was possible, and almost couldn't resist agreeing on the spot. However, seeing the Bee spirit beside him, he remembered something and asked, "I still don't know how many children each of you sisters is pregnant with?"

Upon hearing this, the Third Sister angrily retorted, "What a disrespectful monk! How dare you be so rude!"

The Second Sister said, "We seven sisters are all virgins, how could we be pregnant? How dare you, a monk, insult us!"

The eldest sister said, "We sisters have no children. Why do you say that, Elder?"

Seeing that the others were angry, Bajie quickly explained, "I had no intention of insulting you! I just saw someone call you 'Mother,' and I wondered if they were your children?"

The eldest sister laughed and said, "Elder, you've misunderstood. Those were spirits we sisters captured, and they worshipped us as their mothers, so we can command them."

Upon hearing this, Bajie finally understood and was overjoyed. He bowed and apologized to the others.

The eldest sister laughed and said it was no problem, and then brought up the matter of teaching someone to send Bajie down the mountain.

In fact, she didn't really want to send Bajie down the mountain; it was a strategy of feigning indifference taught to her by Ao Tu.

If you rush into taking a son-in-law as your son-in-law, it's not a good thing if people don't accept it.

By forcing people to leave, the opportunity actually seems more precious.

Seeing this, Wukong, who was hiding in Bajie's ear, wondered if he was being paranoid.

Wukong initially thought that the female Demon ' plan to recruit Bajie as Demon was a scheme, but to his surprise, after hearing that Bajie was Tang Sanzang's disciple, these female demons not only didn't care, but also repeatedly tried to drive Bajie down the mountain. Could it be that these female Demon really wanted to recruit a son-in-law?

Wukong wasn't sure, so he decided to take another look.

Bajie was unwilling to leave.

Bajie knew that this was a rare opportunity, one that was hard to come by even with a lantern. The women in this family not only had inexhaustible wealth, but they were all beautiful, virgins, and did not mind his appearance. If he missed this chance, he would never find another like it.

Bajie hurriedly said, "Sister, don't chase me away! You don't know, I, Old Pig, am the reincarnation of Marshal Tianpeng, commanding Eighty Thousand Naval Soldiers of the Heavenly River. I possess great divine power and can protect our home. If you let me in, I guarantee our home will be peaceful and prosperous, and no one will dare to offend us."

Upon hearing this, the eldest sister thought to herself, "This Zhu Bajie, just as the Great King predicted, has been right all along," and laughed, saying:

"Elder, weren't you sent by your master to clear the way? Why are you now considering marrying into his family? Besides, you're a monk; how can we accept you as a son-in-law? I think you should go back."

Seeing that they were still trying to send him away, Bajie quickly said, "Sisters, whether you stay at home or become a monk, it's all up to me. As long as you sisters don't mind, I'm willing to stay and return to secular life."

The Spider Demon laughed upon hearing this. The eldest, suppressing her laughter, asked, "Elder, if you stay and return to secular life, what will happen to your master?"

Bajie said, "Sister, don't worry. I have an elder brother and a younger brother who can take care of Master for me. They are waiting outside. It's just that it's getting late in the mountains and there's nowhere to stay. If you're willing to invite me in, you can invite them in, treat them to a vegetarian feast tomorrow morning, and then send them off on their Journey Westward. That will settle things."

Upon hearing this, Wukong cursed the idiot under his breath and angrily bit Bajie hard.

Bajie cried out in pain, touched his ear, pulled out a louse, and quickly flicked it away. Ashamed, he said, "I'm so sorry to have made you laugh, sisters. We wandering monks don't have a proper place to stay, and our clothes are hard to wash. It's really embarrassing to have this bug."

The eldest sister laughed and said, "It's alright. We have ten thousand houses here for everyone to live in. If the elder can stay and marry into the family, there's no need to worry about this anymore."

Upon hearing this, Bajie thought to himself, "Even if I lived in one house a day for ten years, I still wouldn't be able to finish living in all these houses!" Naturally, he was more than willing.

The eldest sister then changed the subject, saying, "Actually, everything else is fine, but I wonder how much power the elder has, and whether he can protect the family business? As the saying goes, seeing is believing, could the elder demonstrate?"

Upon hearing this, Bajie patted his chest, stood up, and said:

"I, Old Pig, possess Thirty-Six Transformations, can fly on clouds, ride the mist, and have superb martial arts skills. Please, sister, give me a challenge so I can demonstrate."

The elder sister said, "We are Taoist, we don't know martial arts or magic, and we can't tell good from bad. Since you are the Marshal Tianpeng and have great divine power, you must have weapons and Magic Treasure treasures to protect you. Show them to us. If they are truly good treasures, then we'll know that what you say is true, and we'll invite you to stay."

Upon hearing this, Bajie became alert when he saw that the eldest sister was asking him for the treasure. He picked up his Rake and gripped it tightly in his hand, no longer caring about the beautiful women. He thought to himself that these female Demon were probably plotting to trick him out of his treasure.

Seeing the fool's appearance, Wukong on the ground couldn't help but laugh, thinking to himself that this fool did have some quick wit, not being fooled by beauty into handing over the treasure directly.

Seeing that Bajie wasn't moving, the Second Sister urged, "Elder, quickly bring out the treasure!"

Upon hearing this, Bajie remained unmoved. He thought to himself that although he could see their possessions, he couldn't touch them. The treasures were his own, and he hadn't gained any benefit from them yet. How could he give up his treasures first? He immediately felt a little hesitant and shook his head, saying, "I, Old Pig, have no treasures! No treasures!"

Third Sister said, "Aren't you Marshal Tianpeng descended to earth? How come you don't have any treasures? Are you trying to trick us?"

Bajie said, "I left in a hurry when I came down and didn't bring any treasures."

The Second Sister said, "You monk, you're so stingy! You're making excuses even when I tell you to take a treasure!"

The eldest sister intervened, saying, "Second sister, don't be rude! It's only natural for the elder to be wary of us when we first meet; that's just how a man of the Gu family should act. Let's take out our treasures and show them to the elder to dispel any doubts he may have."

Upon hearing this, the Second Sister scoffed, "Monk, let me show you! We have plenty of treasures, who cares about yours?"

After saying this, the Second Sister took out a treasure, which shone brightly.

Upon hearing that there was a treasure, Wukong immediately jumped up from the ground to go and see. He saw that it was a Mani Pearl, emitting rays of light, and it was even larger than the one on Tang Sanzang 'Brocade Kasaya.

The Third Sister also took out a treasure, a double-edged longsword, emanating a murderous aura. Even Wukong, seeing it from afar, felt his eyes being faintly cut by the murderous aura of the sword's edge.

Fourth Sister also took out a treasure, a long whip, which resembled both a horse whip and a bull whip. It was equally imbued with a murderous aura, but it was more subtle than a long sword, and its precious aura was more restrained.

Wukong thought to himself that these female Demon were not highly skilled, but they possessed quite a few treasures, all of which seemed quite extraordinary. He wondered what the effects of each of these treasures were.

When Bajie saw that the other party had brought out Duobao, each one extraordinary, he felt much more at ease. Since the other party already had so many treasures, he figured they probably weren't trying to trick him out of them.

The eldest sister then said, "These three treasures are family heirlooms passed down through generations of us sisters. However, we are not skilled in martial arts and do not know how to use them. If we marry into these families, we can give them to our husbands as a supplement."

Upon hearing this, Bajie was overjoyed. If he married into this family, besides enjoying an inexhaustible fortune, he would also receive three treasures for free. Where else could he find such a good deal?

At that moment, Bajie no longer had any doubts, and holding his Rake, he said:

"Sister, this Rake mine is actually a treasure, but its brilliance is hidden, so you can't see Jewel Light!"

As he spoke, Bajie planted his Rake on the ground, and instantly Rosy Radiance Auspicious Qi and radiant glow filled the room.

Seeing this, the eldest sister went down to get the Rake, but struggled a bit, and couldn't help but exclaim, "This Rake is truly a treasure!"

Bajie laughed, "This Rake mine is the Jade Emperor's most prized possession, bestowed upon me personally. It weighs a full 5,048 catties and is truly Immortal Household."

The eldest sister nodded in admiration, "Truly extraordinary! Unfortunately, we sisters are merely mortal demons from the Lower Realm, unable to recognize Immortal Household treasures. Elder, could you perhaps entrust this treasure to us for safekeeping for a few days? Firstly, it can serve as a betrothal token; secondly, we can examine it closely for a few days, discern its true nature, and then finalize the marriage agreement before returning the treasure."

Upon hearing this, Bajie hesitated for a moment and said, "This..."

The eldest sister noticed that Bajie was reluctant to part with the treasure and said:

"Elder, please rest assured. Please have your Teacher stay here for the next few days. Once we sisters have determined the value of this treasure, if it is indeed a valuable item, we will invite you to stay and marry us. We will then hand over the Rake along with our three treasures to you. If things don't go as planned, we will return the Rake and even give you gold and silver travel expenses. We will make sure you don't suffer any loss."

Upon hearing this, Bajie thought to himself that since he lived here, they couldn't run away, and whether it succeeded or not, he wouldn't lose out.

If they marry into the family and stay, they'll enjoy endless wealth and get three treasures for free; if they don't, they'll still have gold and silver—isn't that a good thing?

Bajie readily agreed, but somewhat hesitantly said to his elder sister, "Sister, I'll leave the treasure behind, but please don't tell my master about this."

The eldest sister asked, "Why didn't you tell your master?"

Bajie said, "If it works out, then we can tell him; if it doesn't, we can pretend it never happened and I can still go on the Journey to the West with him. Otherwise, he might blame me for still having lustful thoughts, causing a rift between master and disciple."

The Second Sister laughed and said, "This monk looks clumsy, but he's actually quite shrewd."

The eldest sister said, "Elder, don't worry, I won't tell him."

Upon hearing Bajie left his Rake behind and happily returned home.

Seeing this, Wukong also went back.

At that time, Tang Sanzang was anxiously waiting on the Mountain Ridge, constantly getting up to look around. Seeing that Wukong Bajie had not yet returned, he couldn't help but say to Sha Wujing:

"Wujing, Wukong has been gone for so long, why hasn't he returned yet? Could something have happened to him?"

Sha Wujing comforted him, "Master, don't worry, Elder Brother will be alright."

Just then, Wukong rushed back and excitedly told Tang Sanzang, "Master! Master! There's good news! There's good news!"

Tang Sanzang felt relieved upon seeing Wukong return and asked:

"Wukong, what good news is there? Why didn't Bajie come back with you?"

Wukong laughed and said, "Master, Bajie has married into another family, and they're currently discussing holding a wedding banquet!"

Tang Sanzang exclaimed in surprise, "Ah! Wukong, is what you're saying true?"

Sha Wujing also asked in surprise, "Elder Brother, Second Senior Brother really married into the family?"

Wukong laughed, "Isn't that right? That fool even gave away his prized rake as a betrothal gift."

Tang Sanzang listened with some disbelief and said:

"How could Bajie do this? Back in Thorn Ridge, although he was somewhat attached to worldly affairs, he didn't stay to get married; how could he stay and marry Yaoguai now?"

Wukong laughed and said, "Master, you don't know what that fool is thinking!"

Tang Sanzang asked, "What is he thinking?"

Wukong said, "Back in Thorn Ridge, when neither I nor Junior Brother Sha were there, he didn't dare abandon our master and become an ungrateful person. Now that I and Junior Brother Sha are protecting our master, he's already thinking about marrying into another family!"

Tang Sanzang listened with a mixture of disbelief and skepticism.

Just then, Bajie ran back, shouting from afar, "Master, good news! Good news!"