Vanquishing Demons at Lion Camel Ridge (XVII)

Meanwhile, Ao Tu asked Tang Sanzang to perform a ritual to Vengeful Souls in the Lion Camel Cave.

As soon as Wukong entered the Lion Camel Cave, he knew he had been tricked again.

With so many Vengeful Souls, how could they possibly be saved in a short time?

Wukong said, "Dragon Brother, Old Sun, have fallen for your trick again. With so many Vengeful Souls, even if the four of us, master and disciples, chanted scriptures day and night, it would still take one or two years to exorcise them all."

Ao Tu said, "Monkey, what you're saying doesn't make sense. If I were the one who ate these Vengeful Souls, then it wouldn't be wrong for you to blame me; but ask them, who let their corpses and flesh rot here?"

Wukong said, "No need to ask, Old Sun misspoke. But there is one more request."

Ao Tu laughed and said, "You Monkey, why are you being so polite? What is it?"

Wukong laughed, "It's not that I'm being polite, but we've had many encounters and battles along the way, haven't we? Look, there are still many living people hanging outside the second gate. I know you're a kind-hearted Demon Dragon, so just give the order to release them all. Otherwise, my master is trying to help the old souls pass on while new ones are being added. Even if he tries to help them pass on for another thousand years, he still won't reach the Western Heaven!"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "You don't need to tell me that; I will order their release myself. However, the Demon here are used to eating people. Even if I give the order, I'm afraid they might disobey and hide a few living people to eat. You, Great Sage Equal to Heaven Supernatural Ability Equal to Heaven, are all-powerful. Why don't you go and do some Merit for me?"

Wukong said, "You certainly know how to order people around. I'll go on the errand."

In this way, Ao Tu summoned the Green Lion, the White Elephant, Golden-Winged Great Peng, and ordered them to release the blood food imprisoned in the cave.

Even though the Three Demons were unwilling, they dared not disobey Ao Tu's orders, so they ordered the release of the people.

The Little Demon in the cave wailed in despair upon hearing this.

Those who were timid obediently released the person.

Those who were bold and wicked indeed secretly hid people and ate them.

Wukong plucked a handful of hairs from his body, blew on them in his palm, and they transformed into countless small monkeys of all sizes. These clever and observant monkeys found all the living people hiding in the cave.

Upon seeing this, most of the Little Demon abandoned their desire to eat people.

Only a few truly vicious individuals, unable to resist the urge to eat, would kill the living people, turn them into the dead, and hide them for later consumption.

After Wukong discovered this, he reported the matter to the authorities.

After hearing this, Ao Tu summoned the Three Demons and said:

"Several Demon disobeyed my orders. I told them to release the living people and not to eat them anymore, but they killed them and kept the dead to eat. I wanted to kill them to establish my authority, but I am new to this place, and if I give the order directly, I am afraid that the demons will be terrified and think that I enjoy killing people. That's why I called you here to do it for me."

The Three Demons were all somewhat unwilling upon hearing this.

Golden-Winged Great Peng said, "Third Great King, those Demon are all elders in the cave. If we kill them indiscriminately just because they ate a few people, I'm afraid it will discourage the other demons!"

White Elephant said, "Yes! The Third Great King forbade eating living people, but they ate dead ones. So it's not exactly a violation of the Third Great King's orders. Why not just give them a small punishment and let them go?"

The Green Lion said, "Those Demon have been loyal to us for many years. If we kill them indiscriminately, wouldn't all the Little Demon below be scared and run away?"

Ao Tu said, "Of course I know that."

The Three Demons were delighted.

Ao Tu said, "That's why I sent you to fight and kill for me."

The Three Demons froze upon hearing this, cursing inwardly.

Ao Tu said, "In my early years, I listened to the sutras and practiced Buddhist Dharma under the Tathagata Monk, so I am kind-hearted and do not easily kill. You do this for me to prevent me from committing too many sins. If you do not do it, I will kill you, which will still deter the demons and only result in three sins, so I will not commit too many sins."

Upon hearing this, the Three Demons, fearing for their lives, had no choice but to agree and devour all the disobedient Demon.

The demons in the Lion Camel Cave then dared not cause any more trouble.

After this incident, thousands of men, women, and children were released. These were all blood sacrifices captured from all directions by the demons of Lion Camel Ridge, Future to eat them, and were now being released back to their original places.

Wukong found it too tiring to do it alone, so he asked Bajie and Sha Wujing to help deliver the people.

All three of them subsequently gained considerable Merit.

Ao Tu didn't do anything, or even inquire much, but the bulk of the Merit automatically fell on him.

Ao Tu got used to it. Perhaps it was because people were different; some people did good deeds but didn't receive any Merit, while others did nothing but Merit came to them on its own.

Ao Tu then began setting up the Twelve Divine Fiends Formation of the Twelve Capitals.

He wanted the demons to feed the formation with their flesh and blood, but he feared that the demons might have some complaints. Therefore, he had the Three Demons do evil deeds to establish his authority and control, and then he would show them kindness to win their hearts.

Most of the Little Demon were not very Wisdom, so they couldn't see through the scheme and quickly became grateful to Ao Tu.

Ao Tu then studied the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation diagram day and night, combining it with his own bloodline and cultivation path, and comprehended a great virtue technique called "The Art of Gratitude".

Practicing this Cultivation Technique not only greatly enhances one's blood, qi, and martial arts skills, but also allows one to willingly offer up one's own blood, qi, bones, and flesh to nourish the great formation, leaving only a physical shell.

After Ao Tu comprehended the Cultivation Technique, he was overjoyed and immediately ordered that the Cultivation Technique be taught to all the demons free of charge.

The demons were all deeply grateful.

Ao Tu held a grand banquet to celebrate this event.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples were also invited to join the celebration, and a vegetarian banquet was specially prepared for them.

The demons at the banquet celebrated with endless praise.

Wukong had done Merit deed before, and was quite happy at the moment. He drank a few more cups and became tipsy, joking and playing around with Ao Tu.

Ao Tu also smiled and spoke to him.

For some reason, Wukong, while drunk, caught a glimpse and his Golden Eyes saw a deep, unfathomable Malice in Ao Tu's eyes. In the shadows, it seemed as if the people of a great continent had vanished and were wailing. The sheer intensity of the evil startled Wukong sobered up instantly.

Ao Tu laughed and asked, "What's wrong?"

Wukong looked again, but could no longer see that Malice. He wondered if he had drunk too much. He shook his head and said, "Nothing, I just drank too much."

Ao Tu nodded, not thinking much of it, and unaware of the changes within himself.

In the days that followed, Ao Tu focused on perfecting the Cultivation Technique, and at the same time, he had Golden-Winged Great Peng spread the Cultivation Technique to Lion Camel City, so that countless Demon in Lion Camel City could also practice this art.

If there are any who are unwilling to cultivate, then naturally they will be devoured by the Golden-Winged Great Peng.

Ao Tu found Golden-Winged Great Peng increasingly useful. Whenever there was any trouble, he would have Golden-Winged Great Peng take care of it, and it would swallow everything in one gulp, making all the trouble disappear without him having to worry about solving it.

Tathagata Monk kept the Golden-Winged Great Peng on his shoulder; it really worked.

And so time passed, and a year went by in the blink of an eye.

The Vengeful Souls in the cave were being released from their suffering faster than expected. A year had passed, and seven or eight out of ten had already been released. In another three or four months, they would be released completely.

On the one hand, the number of Vengeful Souls is incomplete. Some souls, over time, failed to remain and simply Dispersed Soul and Scattered Spirit on their own.

On the other hand, Tang Sanzang's Buddhist Dharma was becoming increasingly Diligence. Tang Sanzang had now attained some spiritual cultivation, and a faint halo of Merit was faintly visible behind him, indicating that he was no longer an ordinary mortal.

This is understandable; the hardships along the way were truly difficult for a Mortal like him.

Ao Tu sometimes marveled at his resilience.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have given up long ago.