Teaching Disciples in Jade Flower Prefecture (VIII)

Meanwhile, the Eldest Prince and Second Prince each went up the mountain.

Only the Third Prince remained, looking at Sha Wujing.

Sha Wujing said, "Disciple, I have no treasures. Let's go up the mountain, set a snare, and make a trap to capture one or two Demon to take back and report."

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince sighed:

"My Big Brother attacks the mountain from the front, Second Brother sets fire to Back Mountain; both will surely reap great rewards. I only set a snare and a trap; how many Demon can I catch? How can I compare to my Big Brother and Second Brother? Now that I have no chance of the Throne, I might as well return to the city to serve my Father King, guard the city, and prepare a victory banquet. When my Big Brother Second Brother return victorious, they can bestow some treasures and land upon me, and I can live the life of a wealthy man! If my master returns from his Journey to the West, he can come to my Manor, and I will take care of him."

Upon hearing this, Sha Wujing was moved and said, "That makes sense." He then abandoned his plan to go up the mountain and asked Wukong to help him retrieve the Precious Staff. He and the Third Prince would return to guard the city and protect their master.

Wukong readily agreed.

The Eldest Prince exclaimed joyfully, "Now that my Third Younger Brother is no longer vying with me, I am certain I can capture the Demon and win the Throne. Please, Master, help me!"

Wukong laughed and said, "Of course! Of course! Old Sun, will take care of everything. You just need to focus on attacking the mountain, disciple!"

The Eldest Prince immediately led his troops up the mountain, where they encountered a patrolling Little Demon. Without distinguishing between good and bad, the Troops rushed forward, hooked the demon with iron hooks, and captured it in a net.

This startled the lions in the mountains.

The Yellow Lion Spirit said, "The news must have leaked out, and the owner of that treasure has brought his men to our door!"

The Nao Lion said, "What should we do then? Let's listen to the Immortal and return the treasure to them!"

The Yellow Lion Spirit said, "That's fine, it'll save us from getting into trouble with the authorities."

So they instructed the Little Demon to carry out the treasure. The Tuanshiang was strong enough to carry the Golden Cudgel, Yellow Lion Spirit and the Nao Lion Spirit each took Rake and Precious Staff. They went to the cliff outside and looked down. The Prince was leading his men to attack the mountain!

The Yellow Lion Spirit said, "Listen up, you men below! Cease your fighting!"

The Eldest Prince said, "Hey! What kind of Demon are you? Did you sneak into the city at night and steal my treasures?"

The Yellow Lion Spirit said, "I am the Yellow Lion Great King of Tiger's Mouth Tiger's Mouth Cave Leopard Head Mountain, and I am a neighbor of your Jade Flower Prefecture. Last night, I saw the treasures in your city shining brightly, and there were three weapons placed by the furnace, unattended. I thought they were ownerless, so I took them home. Now I am willing to return them, and I hope that we can cease hostilities and reconcile our two families!"

The Eldest Prince said, "Give me back my weapons!"

The Yellow Lion Spirit said, "Prince, you are now wielding a spear and carrying a net, which is not a proper gift for returning the treasure. You should release the Little Demon in my cave and return down the mountain, and I will personally offer the treasure to you!"

The chief aide to the Eldest Prince asked, "Your Highness, shall we release them?"

The Eldest Prince said, "No! How can we believe the words of Demon? Besides, Father King said that whoever can eliminate the Demon will inherit the Throne. If we step down now, wouldn't we be handing the Throne over to my second brother for nothing?"

So he gave the order, "Don't listen to the Demon' cunning words, follow me to attack the mountain!"

The soldiers continued their assault on the mountain.

The Yellow Lion Spirit retorted angrily, "You dare to be so rude, Prince! Let me teach you that I am not someone to be trifled with!"

They put Wukong and the others' weapons back into the cave, took a Four Brightness Spade, the Nao Lion Spirit took an Iron Caltrops, and the Tuanshiang took a Steel Spear. Each of them led their Little Demon and charged down the mountain.

The Eldest Prince was unable to withstand the attack in one move and cried out, "Master, save me!"

Wukong smiled in the Heaven, threw down the Alms Bowl, and chanted the Six-Character True Words. The alms Alms Bowl emitted Golden Light, displaying the Sixty-Four Verses of the Spirit Mountain King Buddha's Protective Spell. The Buddha-Light's light was magnificent, enveloping the Eldest Prince and his entourage, making them impervious to swords and spears.

The Yellow Lion Spirit, the Nao Lion Spirit, and the Tuanshiang Spirit led a Little Demons in a fight that lasted half an hour, but the Golden Light light remained unmoved. They couldn't help but want to retreat and fled back into the cave.

Upon seeing this, Wukong chanted an incantation, and the Alms Bowl emitted a seven-colored glazed light, which shone upon the three lion demons. The three lion demons were unable to move their limbs and were absorbed into the Alms Bowl by the glazed light.

The Eldest Prince was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Good master! Good treasure! With three great demons captured in one fell swoop, my Throne is secure!"

Wukong laughed and said, "Don't rush to celebrate! Quickly, let's fight our way up the mountain and retrieve Old Sun weapons!"

The Eldest Prince readily agreed and led his men to attack the mountain. When the Little Demon saw that their Great King had been captured, they lost all will to fight and fled back to their caves.

Upon seeing this, the Snow Lion, Suanni, and Fuli asked, "What happened? Why did you all run back?"

The Little Demon cried out, "Amazing! Amazing! There's a monk in the Heaven who uses a Alms Bowl that emits seven-colored light. Anyone caught in it can't move. The three Yellow Lion Great King have all been captured. My Great King, let's hurry and escape through the back door!"

Upon hearing this, the Snow Lion, Suanni, and Fuli were filled with fear and hurriedly said, "Quickly, let's go to Bamboo Joint Mountain and ask our Grandfather to intervene!"

The Little Demons hurriedly packed their Belongings, intending to escape through the back door.

Just then, the Second Prince led his men up from the Back Mountain, blocking the back gate. Each of them carried a crossbow, and arrows rained down. The Little Demon couldn't break out and had to return to report.

"My Great King, the back door has been blocked too!"

Upon hearing this, the Snow Lion grabbed a halberd, the Suanni grabbed a club, Fuli grabbed a battle axe, shouting, "My minions, follow us and charge out!"

The Little Demons obeyed and followed behind.

Snow Lion, Suanni, and Fuli rushed out the back door, each grabbing their weapons to block the rain of arrows. Just as they were about to charge out, a Jewel Light appeared before their eyes. Before they could react, Snow Lion was hit on the head by a bead and fell to the ground.

The Suanni looked around and was suddenly struck, falling to the ground.

Fuli hurriedly walked back, but was also knocked down.

The Second Prince then ordered his men to tie up the three demons with Hemp Rope, blocked the back door, and had dry firewood piled up inside and set a fire. In an instant, thick black smoke billowed, burning and suffocating countless Little Demon.

The Second Prince exclaimed joyfully, "With such merit, I'm sure I'll inherit the Throne when we return!"

Bajie was also pleased.

Upon seeing the smoke and dust, the Eldest Prince led his men to the scene and joined the Second Prince. The two counted the number of people and competed to see who had captured the most powerful demons, each of them having captured three major demons and many Little Demon.

Although the Eldest Prince captured more Little Demon, the Second Prince also burned down the Demon Cave, and the number of those who died from the fire and smoke inhalation has not yet been counted.

In this respect, they are evenly matched, with neither being superior to the other.

The two immediately began fighting for the Throne, scouring the mountains and fields for any minor Demon that managed to escape.

The Eldest Prince cast his net and caught a falcon spirit.

The Second Prince was about to dig into the ground to capture the two pangolin spirits.

The Eldest Prince parted the water and captured the three Snake Spirit.

The Second Prince was about to crawl into the hole and capture the four Yellow Weasel spirits.

Neither of them was willing to give in, and they searched the entire mountain, from the mountainside to the summit.

With nowhere to hide, the little Demon had no choice but to seek refuge with the Bai Ze spirit.

The Eldest Prince and Second Prince caught up and, upon seeing Bai Ze, exclaimed joyfully, "There's still one lion left! Now the battle can be decided!"

So they all asked Wukong Bajie to help capture Bai Ze.

Bai Ze could foresee good fortune and misfortune, and sensing impending trouble, he hurriedly fled to the thatched hut.

The Taoist Taiqian, "Who is disturbing us from down the mountain?"

Bai Ze said, "It was two monks who led Troops. They captured Brother Huang Shi and the others first, and then they came to capture me!"

Taoist Baoshan, "You haven't provoked them, so why are they coming to capture you?"

Bai Ze said, "I truly do not know!"

At this moment, the shouts of battle grew closer.

Taoist Taiqian retorted angrily, "How dare you! Don't you know that among the Three Teachings, Daoism is the most revered? Your previous veneration of Buddhism over Daoism was already presumptuous, and now you've come to disturb us—this is utterly disrespectful!"

So he gave Bai Ze two treasures, a Jade Ruyi and a Five Virtues Seal, and instructed Bai Ze to go and repel the monk.