A Fateful Fall into Pansi Cave (27)

Heavenly King Li, having been whipped, was in unbearable pain and tumbled down from the clouds.

The other Spider Demon demons worked together to weave a large net, trapping Heavenly King Li underneath. His hands and feet were entangled, and he was unable to move.

The demons then returned victorious.

The Many-Eyed Monster ordered his disciples to hang up Tang Sanzang, Wukong, Bajie, Sha Wujing, Heavenly King Li, Nezha, preparing to punish them.

The Daoist asked, "Master, which one should we fight first?"

The Many-Eyed Monster glanced at the group, then pointed at Heavenly King Li and said, "Strike the leader first! Give him twenty lashes!"

Upon hearing this, the Daoist took a whip and struck Heavenly King Li.

Heavenly King Li, "It hurts! It hurts!"

The Daoist laughed and said, "You have no backbone! I haven't even hit you yet, why are you in pain?"

Heavenly King Li, "How could I be afraid of such a mere mortal weapon as yours? It's just that I was whipped earlier, and my whole body is in unbearable pain!"

Upon hearing this, the Many-Eyed Monster said, "This man has some backbone! A prisoner, daring to say he's not afraid? Go get Wolf-Tooth Club and beat him up!"

Upon hearing this, the Daoist retrieved his Wolf-Tooth Club.

The gleaming iron teeth reflected a cold light, scraping away skin, flesh, and injuring tendons and bones.

The Daoist swung his stick and struck Heavenly King Li hard.

Heavenly King Li immediately screamed in agony.

Seeing his father being punished, Nezha was filled with grief and cried out, "Father, I am incompetent, causing you to suffer! Demon, if you want to hit me, hit me, but don't hurt my father!"

Upon hearing this, the Many-Eyed Monster praised, "Although this little child is young, he already knows filial piety; considering his filial heart, I will lock him up in jail and not beat him anymore!"

Upon hearing this, the young Daoist priest beside him untied Nezha and took him back to the prison.

The Daoist Daoist continued to beat Heavenly King Li.

Seeing this, Bajie imitated Nezha and said, "Demon, it was I, Old Pig, who invited the Heavenly King to descend to the Lower Realm to Subduing Demons the demon. If you want to hit me, Old Pig, don't hit the Heavenly King!"

Upon hearing this, the Many-Eyed Monster looked at Bajie and laughed, "You stupid pig, do you think I'm easy to fool? You want to protect him? I'll beat him up anyway, and add twenty more!"

Upon hearing this, the Daoist continued to strike with his Wolf-Tooth Club, striking forty times before stopping, until Heavenly King Li was too weak to cry out in pain.

The Daoist got tired and rested. Then another Daoist came up and asked, "Master, who should we fight next?"

The Many-Eyed Monster pointed at Sha Wujing and said, "This man is seriously injured; let's attack him first."

The Daoist said, "Master, since this person is seriously injured, shouldn't we strike him later?"

The Many-Eyed Monster, "You don't understand. The earlier you fight, the faster your injuries heal, and the easier it will be to fight again later."

Upon hearing this, the Daoist took out his Wolf-Tooth Club and began to beat Sha Wujing.

Tang Sanzang couldn't help but exclaim, "Wujing! Wujing!"

Sha Wujing said, "Master! It's alright! It's alright! How does this compare to what I experienced at the Flowing Sand River?"

As they were talking, the Wolf-Tooth Club struck the wound, Sha Wujing couldn't help but scream in pain.

At this moment, Dark Cloud gathered in the Heaven, and faint rumbles of thunder could be heard.

The Daoist said, "Master, it's going to rain!"

The Many-Eyed Monster was a centipede spirit, somewhat afraid of thunder, so he said, "Quickly take these people back to the prison, and we'll beat them again tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, the Daoist escorted the group back to prison.

Wukong noticed a hint of fear on the face of the Many-Eyed Monster, who seemed lost in thought.

The group was quickly imprisoned, with two young Daoist guarding the cell door closely.

Seeing this, Bajie knew better than to take out the Jewel to heal Heavenly King Li and Sha Wujing's injuries.

Heavenly King Li collapsed to the ground, tossing and turning, unable to lie down. His legs ached, his hands ached, his back ached, and his chest ached as he lay face down.

Upon seeing this, Tang Sanzang hurriedly went to help Heavenly King Li up, saying, "Heavenly King, don't lie on the ground. If you soil your wound, it will be even harder to heal."

Heavenly King Li, "Holy Monk, it's not my wound that hurts, it's the whip that makes my whole body ache unbearably."

Wukong said, "Heavenly King, even Old Sun, find it very difficult to bear the whipping. There's no cure, so I can only endure it overnight. It will be fine by tomorrow morning."

Upon hearing this, Heavenly King Li had no choice but to suppress his anger.

As night fell, the two Daoist Daoist had been guarding the place left, and two more Daoist came to replace them.

Wukong said, "Why don't you Daoist Daoist sleep? Why are you keeping watch at night?"

The Daoist Daoist on guard said, "My master said you monks are cunning and treacherous. If we don't keep watch over you day and night, I'm afraid you'll escape!"

Wukong said, "No! No! You all go and rest, we will never run away!"

Among the two Daoist, the younger Daoist, who was somewhat drowsy, asked his senior brother after hearing Wukong's words, "Senior brother, this monk says he won't run away, should we go back and rest?"

The senior disciple said, "We can't trust him. Master said that this hairy-faced monk is cunning and treacherous! If he dares to make a move, we'll ring the bell and call Master over."

Seeing this, Wukong, whose first plan failed, came up with another. He put his hands behind his back, plucked a small tuft of hair from his tail, transformed it into a pile of gold ingots, and scattered them on the ground.

Upon seeing this, the young Daoist rubbed his eyes and said, "Senior brother, am I seeing things? How come gold is growing on the ground?"

Upon hearing this, the senior brother looked down at the ground and indeed saw many gold ingots. He immediately exclaimed with delight:

"I'm not seeing things, it's real gold! This must be the gold from that Heavenly King, he's a high-ranking official, he probably couldn't bear the pain and rolled around on the ground, causing it to fall off. Let's quickly pick it up and split it in half!"

The young Daoist happily agreed.

The two men then placed the bell on the table, opened the cell door, and went inside to collect the gold.

Wukong covered his mouth and chuckled to himself. Taking advantage of the moment when the two turned their backs, he gently tapped them from behind, knocking them unconscious.

Wukong quickly called out to Heavenly King Li and the Human Way, "Hurry! Hurry!"

Bajie said, "Brother! We haven't picked up the gold yet!"

Wukong said, "Fool, those are monkey hairs in disguise! Let's go!"

So Bajie carried Sha Wujing on his back, Nezha carried Heavenly King Li. The group left the Prison Cell and escaped outside. Afraid of disturbing the Demon, they dared not take the horses or luggage, and escaped on their own.

Tang Sanzang said, "Wukong, the Passbook and the White Horse are still with the Demon. What should we do?"

Sha Wujing said, "The Brocade Kasaya and the Nine-Ringed Monk's Staff are also in the Demon's hands!"

Wukong said, "Master, don't worry. You all stay outside and take care of yourselves. I will go to Heaven with Heavenly King Li to request troops. After we have wiped out the Demon, we will bring out the luggage and the White Horse."

Heavenly King Li, "Great Sage, do you know how to defeat that Demon?"

Wukong said, "Today I noticed that the Demon seems to be afraid of lightning. If we can summon the Heavenly Lords Divine General of the Thunder Department, we will surely be able to destroy the Demon!"

Heavenly King Li exclaimed happily, "Excellent! Excellent!"

He had barely said "good" twice when Heavenly King Li started feeling pain again.

Wukong then instructed Bajie to protect Tang Sanzang, and he rode his Somersault Cloud, taking Heavenly King Li with him, preparing to ascend to heaven.

Nezha said, "Wait a minute, Father King is injured. Let me take him."

Heavenly King Li, "Nezha, you stay here to protect the Holy Monk!"

Nezha then accepted the order and stayed behind.

Wukong, accompanied by Heavenly King Li, arrived in the Heavenly Realm in a short while. After passing through the South Heaven Gate, they headed straight for the Lingxiao Hall.

Heavenly King Li, "Great Sage, quickly put me down."

Wukong asked, "What brings you here, Heavenly King?"

Heavenly King Li, "I just remembered something important I need to do at home."

Wukong asked, "Isn't the Heavenly King coming with me to report to His Majesty?"

Heavenly King Li said, "Please wait a moment, Great Sage. I will return and report to Great Sage after I have settled my family affairs."

Upon hearing this, Wukong had no choice but to wait outside Lingxiao Hall.

Despite the pain, Heavenly King Li staggered back to the Cloud Tower Palace.