A Lasting Shadow

Sun Wukong loosened the ropes, put away his Ruyi Jingu Bang), and hurriedly summoned his Somersault Cloud to flee in panic.

In an instant, Sun Wukong leaped onto a high mountain and pulled hard on the rope in his hand, causing the Azure Lion to feel a great pain in its heart.

With a sudden pain, the Azure Lion convulsed, but Sun Wukong pulled again, causing the Azure Lion even more intense pain. The lesser demons, seeing this from afar, shouted:

"Your Majesty, you should let Sun Wukong leave. It's not even Qingming Festival yet, and he's already flying a kite there."

Upon hearing this, the Azure Lion became very angry and tried to charge at Sun Wukong. However, Sun Wukong pushed off with all his might, and the Azure Lion spun in the air like a top before falling to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

In a panic, the elephant demon and the Kunpeng jumped down together, grabbed the rope, knelt at the bottom of the hillside, and shouted:

"Great Sage Sun, everyone says you're a magnanimous immortal, but who knew you were such a cowardly good-for-nothing? We originally just wanted to bring you out to have a match with you."

"But I never imagined you would tie a rope to my elder brother's heart."

But the Azure Lion knelt down and said, "Great Sage Sun, spare my life! If you spare my life, I'm willing to escort Tang Xuanzang to the mountain."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong laughed and said, "If you want your life, just take a knife and cut the rope around your heart. What are you wasting your breath talking to me for? It seems you don't want your life."

"You don't understand. I've only cut the outer rope, but the inner rope is still tied to my heart, making me feel nauseous. What should I do?"

The Azure Lion pointed to its throat, opened its mouth wide, and said to Sun Wukong.

After speaking, Sun Wukong thought for a long time before slowly saying, "If that's the case, why don't you just open your mouth and let me in to untie the rope before coming out?"

However, the Azure Lion's thoughts were completely different from Sun Wukong's. The Azure Lion thought to himself, "If Sun Wukong were to enter my stomach again now, he probably wouldn't come out. This is really going to be very difficult."

Just then, Sun Wukong's words interrupted the Azure Lion's wild thoughts. Sun Wukong said:

"Why are you still thinking so much? I have the ability to untie the ropes from the outside. Otherwise, just let me in obediently, and then you can obediently escort my master across the mountain, right?"

"Now that you've untied the rope, I can deliver it. I would never lie to you."

The Azure Lion spoke to Sun Wukong in a serious tone, eager to show Sun Wukong his loyalty.

But Sun Wukong didn't believe the Azure Lion at all. He just stared at the Azure Lion intently for a long time, and then put away his hair. Sure enough, the Azure Lion's heart stopped hurting. This was Sun Wukong's way of covering up his actions.

The three demons took to the air and thanked Sun Wukong, saying, "Great Sage Sun, you should go back now, take Tang Xuanzang with you, pack your luggage, and we'll come and escort you back in a sedan chair."

The demons threw their weapons into the cave, then immediately began cutting down trees in the mountain, and soon conjured up a luxurious sedan chair.

After Sun Wukong had taken the rope, he flew to the mountain and saw Tang Xuanzang lying on the ground, rolling around and weeping bitterly. Meanwhile, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing had already separated the bundle. Sun Wukong thought to himself:

"It must be that Zhu Bajie told Master that I was eaten by a demon, and Master is crying here because he can't bear to part with me. But Zhu Bajie is suggesting we go our separate ways. I don't know what he means. I'll go over and see for myself."

After thinking for a moment, Sun Wukong immediately went to Tang Xuanzang's side and shouted loudly to Tang Xuanzang:

"Master, please don't cry anymore, I'm back."

Upon hearing this, Sha Wujing immediately complained to Zhu Bajie:

"You stupid pig! Why don't you bury yourself in the ground? You're just trying to harm my senior brother! I'm not dead at all, yet you say I'm dead and still doing this kind of thing here. Now that my senior brother is here, let's see what you're going to do."

Hearing this, Zhu Bajie said somewhat aggrievedly, "I clearly saw you, Brother Monkey, being swallowed whole by the demon. It must be bad timing; that monkey's spirit has appeared."

The pig's words became increasingly outrageous, until Sun Wukong finally lost his temper. He quickly stepped forward and slapped Sun Wukong to the ground, shouting, "You idiot, look at me and see if I'm a ghost or not!"

Enduring the pain, Zhu Bajie said to Sun Wukong, "Brother Monkey, you were indeed eaten by that monster, but how did you come back to life? What happened?"

"What use are you anyway? He ate me, and I was inside him, moving all his internal organs to a different place."

"I took another rope, threaded it through his heart, and tore at it until he was in excruciating pain. They all called me 'Grandpa,' and only then did I spare their lives. They said they wanted to carry our master in a sedan chair across the mountain."

Upon hearing that there was a sedan chair to ride in, Tang Xuanzang immediately got up from the ground, took Sun Wukong's hand, and said to Sun Wukong:

"My disciple, you've worked so hard! If I had listened to what Zhu Bajie said, I would have no face to go to the Western Heaven now."

It would have been better if Tang Xuanzang hadn't said anything, because his words angered Sun Wukong, who then raised his fist and started hitting and scolding Zhu Bajie:

"That fool is incredibly lazy and won't admit it at all. But Master, don't worry about those monsters anymore; they'll send you there right now."

Sha Wujing felt ashamed upon hearing this, so he immediately packed his belongings and placed them on the White Dragon Horse, without lingering for a moment.

Meanwhile, after the three demons returned to their cave, the elephant demon said to the Azure Lion:

"Brother, all I know is that Sun Wukong is incredibly powerful. You shouldn't have eaten him. If we were to fight him again, he wouldn't stand a chance against the two of us."

"Besides, there are so many monsters in this cave. Each of them could drown him with a single spit, yet you swallowed him whole. Now he's using his little tricks to make you suffer."

The Azure Lion felt utterly helpless upon hearing this, and then the elephant demon continued:

"You endured the pain in your stomach and deliberately submitted to it. Actually, your life is more important. You just tricked it into coming out, but we can't let it go."

However, the Azure Lion asked the demon with a puzzled look, "Why don't you give it to him?"

"All I need is you and me, plus the thousand monsters in our cave, to set up a formation, and I'll have the ability to take out that monkey."