Tears fell on Hidden Mist Mountain (XVIII)

Meanwhile, Wukong went to Heaven to invite the gods.

When Ao Tu saw this from underground, he knew that Wukong would most likely go to the Flower Realm to fetch him, so he patted the Little Fox beside him and said:

"Xiao Jiu, wake up, come with me to the Heavenly Realm."

Xiao Jiu opened her eyes sleepily, still groggy. She was exhausted from last night and had been woken up so early by Ao Tu, leaving her feeling dizzy. She struggled to get up and put on her clothes, but couldn't stand steadily. She leaned against Ao Tu's chest, rubbing her eyes, and said:

"Your Great King, where are you going so early?"

Ao Tu said, "I'll take you to Heaven."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jiu asked worriedly, "If they go to Heaven, will they ever come back? I heard that one day in Heaven is equivalent to Xiao Jiu year on earth. Will I ever see my sisters and grandmother again? I haven't even said goodbye to them yet!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu smacked her little bottom and said:

"They are fox spirits, not mortal relatives, so why can't we see each other again?"

Xiao Jiu thought it made sense, and became happy, quickly getting dressed.

Ao Tu picked her up and carried her to the Flower Realm in a short while.

Jiangzhu was overjoyed to see Ao Tu return, but upon seeing Xiao Jiu in Ao Tu's arms, she asked with some confusion:

"My Benefactor, is this the Queen sister from the Lower Realm you mentioned before?"

Ao Tu said, "No, this is Xiao Jiu."

As he spoke, Ao Tu recounted Xiao Jiu's past to Jiangzhu.

Apricot Immortal also rushed over upon hearing the commotion.

The three introduced themselves to each other.

Xiao Jiu was a little reserved. The two fairies in the Heavenly Realm Great King were so beautiful; no wonder he didn't fancy her other sisters.

Apricot Immortal has a more enthusiastic personality and pulls Xiao Jiu aside to talk.

Although Jiangzhu didn't say much, she took the initiative to help Xiao Jiu choose a place to stay, which was located directly opposite the Ao Tu Palace Hall. This made Xiao Jiu remember this kind-hearted older sister.

Just then, Xiao Zhenying heard the commotion and ran out of the Elixir Chamber. Seeing Ao Tu, she called out "Master!" and then, seeing Xiao Jiu, exclaimed happily, "Master has taken on another disciple! I'm going to be a senior sister!"

Ao Tu said, "She is not a disciple I have taken in."

Xiao Zhenying asked doubtfully, "What is that?"

Ao Tu said, "Come here, let me test your studies."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhenying made a face and said, "Master, you just got back and you're already testing my lessons? Why don't you take a break?"

Ao Tu said, "Judging from your appearance, I can tell you haven't been practicing properly! Hurry up and come here!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhenying had no choice but to go.

On the other side, although Wukong went ahead of Ao Tu, he arrived later and secretly went to the Heavenly Realm. He went to the Cloud Tower Palace to find Nezha, explained the reason, and asked Nezha to the Lower Realm.

Nezha readily agreed.

Wukong then took out the gifts and asked Nezha to choose one.

Nezha looked at the fruits and only took two, one for himself and one for his sister.

Wukong put away the remaining gifts and went to ask others for help.

Nezha said, "Don't ask others. As the ancients said, 'The strength of an army lies not in its quantity, but in its quality; the strength of a general lies not in his bravery, but in his strategy.' Asking one Immortal for this matter will be more effective than asking a hundred Immortal."

Wukong asked, "Whom should we invite?"

Nezha said, "The Western Heaven Savior Celestial Worthy, the Lord of the Flower Realm, the Perfected Lord Taixi!"

Wukong exclaimed happily, "That's right! He's just like Old Sun! Let's go invite him!"

The two then went to the Flower Realm to invite Ao Tu.

Ao Tu had been waiting for Wukong in the Flower Realm. When he saw Wukong requesting an audience, he invited him in.

Wukong explained the reason and then presented the gift.

Ao Tu agreed to help but refused to accept any gifts.

Wukong insisted on giving a gift, saying that he had often invited them over in the past but had never given them a present, and he would make up for it today.

Ao Tu couldn't refuse, so he took a few fruits, ate one himself, Wukong ate one with him, Nezha ate one, and Xiao Zhenying ate one.

Then he took out three more fruits and gave them to Jiangzhu to divide. Jiangzhu took one, Apricot Immortal took one, and the Little Fox took one.

The group shared seven fruits. Nezha originally took two, and Wukong was about to put the last one away when a Li Fire suddenly emerged from Ao Tu's arms and snatched it away.

Upon seeing this, Ao Tu flicked the little red bird with his finger and scolded her for being impolite.

The little red bird was not yet born, so it naturally did not understand etiquette and followed its instincts in everything. Seeing that the fruit was sweet, it ate it. Now that it had been scolded by Ao Tu, it quickly admitted its mistake.

When Ao Tu saw that she had already taken the fruit, he had no choice but to scold her and make her eat it.

Wukong laughed and said, "It's alright. Once we invite your True Lord here, everything will be fine. We won't need to invite anyone else. It's alright if we finish eating all the fruit."

Ao Tu said, "No, we need to invite one more person."

Wukong asked, "Whom should we invite?"

Ao Tu said, "Erlang Shen."

Wukong said, "Now that we've lost the fruit, we still have ten catties of Blood Essence. Let's go and invite him over!"

Nezha said, "I have two more fruits here. My little sister and I have already eaten them, so I'll return these two to you and ask my Second Brother for them."

Wukong said, "These were for the True Lord, not for you. Don't confuse them. Even if you don't eat them, take them home to honor your parents. There's no reason for me to take them back."

Nezha said, "They don't like to eat this fruit. The last time we brought it, Father King didn't like it."

Wukong said, "Last time I think it was bitter fruit I brought!"

Nezha said, "I took a bite beforehand to taste it before giving it to my Father King."

Upon hearing this, Wukong thought to himself, "Why does Heavenly King Li still complain that the fruit isn't tasty? He must be getting old and doesn't like sweets anymore." So he took back the two fruits from Nezha.

The Little White Chi on Ao Tu's wrist saw that the little red bird had received fruit while it had nothing. It was envious but dared not say so directly for fear of being impolite. So it gently rubbed its tail against Ao Tu's wrist.

Ao Tu knew what she was thinking, but there were only two fruits left, so he couldn't take any more. Instead, he took a pound of Blood Essence and fed it to the Little White Chi.

The little red bird was born from the Essence of Li Fire, possessing a pure bloodline from birth and requiring no Blood Essence to refine it. The Little White Chi, on the other hand, was an Postcelestial spirit with a mixed bloodline, making Blood Essence more beneficial to her than fruit.

Afterwards, Ao Tu, Nezha, and Wukong left the Flower Realm and went to the Erlang Shen’s Manor Temple at Guanjiangkou to see Erlang Shen.

Wukong explained the reason and took out the gift.

Erlang agreed to help, taking two fruits, one for himself and one for his sister, and a pound of Blood Essence to feed to Howling Celestial Dog.

Wukong still had eight catties of Blood Essence left, which he kept himself according to the Buddhist Sect tradition.

Erlang then summoned the Six Brothers of Meishan, who led 1,200 Grass-Headed Gods, along with Wukong, Ao Tu, and Nezha, riding auspicious Auspicious Clouds and riding a Gale, and soon arrived at Hidden Mist Mountain Western Ox Continent.

Erlang instructed his men to prepare for troop deployment.

Ao Tu said, "Do not move your troops yet; let me go down and persuade them to surrender."

Wukong asked, "Do you perhaps know that Virtuous Daoist? Otherwise, how could you persuade him to surrender?"

Ao Tu said, "Indeed! I, along with the Virtuous Daoist, the Monk Buzheng, and several other fellow Daoists, are all practitioners of Daoism together."

Wukong said, "No wonder that Daoist Supernatural Ability was so powerful; he was your fellow disciple. Your sect is strange too; how come you have both monks and Daoist?"

Ao Tu said, "In our sect, the three schools cooperate, practicing Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. I practice Alchemy, Youde practices the Tao of Taiqing, and there are others who practice Yuqing, Shangqing, Buddhism, Buddhism and Daoism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Speaking of which, Great Sage, I wonder where you acquired your skills. Don't you have any fellow disciples?"

Upon hearing this, Wukong was reminded of the past and momentarily lost in thought. When he came to his senses and saw everyone looking at him, he quickly waved his hand and said:

"Why are you bringing up Old Sun? Go and persuade him to surrender! Go and persuade him to surrender!"

Ao Tu then descended on Auspicious Clouds and came to the cave to persuade Ao Tu to surrender.