Searching for the Demon

"You don't need to worry about this. I have my own way of finding my master."

"Then don't be in such a hurry. Come here, have something to eat and some soup before you leave."

After speaking, the monks brought up the food, but Zhu Bajie ate it all up. He wiped his mouth and said, "Monks, we're going to find our master. We'll come back to you later."

Then Sun Wukong said to Zhu Bajie, "You still want to eat here? Go quickly and check inside the hall to see if the woman is still there."

The monks then said to Sun Wukong, "That woman is long gone. She slept here last night and left the next day."

Sun Wukong bid farewell to the monks and led Zhu Bajie and Monk Sha, leading the horse and carrying the load, eastward for a short while. Zhu Bajie then sensed something was wrong and said to Sun Wukong, "Brother Monkey, why are we heading east now?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong said to Zhu Bajie:

"You would never know this. The woman who was tied up in the jungle the day before yesterday was a demon. Luckily, I Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils and I saw through her."

"Yet you treat her like a good person. She was the one who ate the monks that day, and she was also the one who kidnapped the master. Now we have to start searching again from the old path."

The two exclaimed, "This monster is quite clever; it's shrewd despite its rough exterior. Let's hurry up and go!"

The three hurriedly ran into the jungle and searched there. They saw all sorts of wild beasts, but there was no sign of the monster. They also had no idea where Tang Xuanzang was.

Sun Wukong searched around and became very anxious, so he took out his Ruyi Jingu Bang), transformed into his original form from when he wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, with Three Heads and Six Arms, and started wildly striking through the forest with the Jingu Bang.

Seeing this, Zhu Bajie said to Sha Wujing, "Hey, my brother is angry now. He can't find Master, so he's throwing a tantrum here."

After fighting his way through the area, Sun Wukong encountered two old men, one a mountain god and the other a local earth god. The mountain god knelt down and said to Sun Wukong, "Great Sage Sun, the mountain god and the local earth god have come to see you."

"This is incredibly lucky! We fought our way through without seeing any demons, but instead, some appeared. If the immortals had fought their way through, they probably would have even brought out the Tai Sui (a powerful deity)."

After speaking, Zhu Bajie looked at the mountain god and the earth god, anticipating Sun Wukong's next reaction. Seeing this, Sun Wukong said:

"Mountain God and Earth God, you are so unreasonable now, colluding with bandits here. After getting money, the bandits will buy cattle and sheep to offer as sacrifices to you."

"Now they've allied with the demons to kidnap my master. Where is he hiding now? Tell us the truth immediately."

Upon hearing this, the two gods panicked and hurriedly said, "Great Sage, you don't know this at all. You've completely wronged us. The demon isn't here. I only learned about some things because I heard the wind at night."

"Since you all know, then hurry up and tell us everything."

Sun Wukong raised his Ruyi Jingu Bang) and looked at the mountain god and the earth god.

Just then, the local earth god knelt down and told Sun Wukong the truth. The earth god said:

"Great Sage, you don't know this, but after that demon captured your master, she's now in the south, and we're very far from there."

"There's a mountain with a cave on top, called the Bottomless Cave. It's there that the monster kidnapped your master."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong was greatly surprised and immediately withdrew his magical form, revealing his true form. He said to Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, "Master has been captured by that monster and taken very, very far away."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Bajie immediately conjured a fierce wind, followed by Sha Wujing summoning yellow sand, and the White Dragon Horse, born of a dragon prince, dragged its luggage and rose into the clouds.

Sun Wukong summoned his Somersault Cloud and traveled south. After a short while, they saw a large mountain in front of them, and the three of them stopped. The mountain was bottomless, and Zhu Bajie was terrified. He said to Sun Wukong:

"Brother Monkey, this mountain is so treacherous, there must be monsters here."

"Don't say anything more. There were monsters here to begin with. Let's search for them."

After speaking, he continued his search.

After carefully looking around, Sun Wukong slowly said to Zhu Bajie:

"Sha Wujing, let's wait here for a while. Let Zhu Bajie go down the mountain and inquire where there's a cave entrance. Then the three of us can go together to rescue Master."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Bajie immediately objected, muttering under Zhu Bajie breath, "This is really bad luck; they're making me take the blame again."

However, Sun Wukong sneered at Zhu Bajie and said, "You said last night that you would take the blame for this, but are you going back on your word now?"

After saying that, Zhu Bajie could only say, "Don't say anything more, I'll go."

So Zhu Bajie put down his Nine-Toothed Rake, shook off the dust, and jumped down from the mountain empty-handed to find a way.

After a short while, Zhu Bajie found a small path and followed it. Suddenly, he saw two female demons drawing water from a well. Zhu Bajie quickly went over and shouted, "Demons!"

The demon was furious upon hearing this. The two looked at each other and said, "This monk is too rude! We don't know him, and we've never paid him any attention before. How can he call us demons?"

After speaking, the monster became angry and raised a Zhuzi, striking Zhu Bajie on the head. Zhu Bajie, unarmed, could only endure the blows, then ran up the mountain, clutching his head, and shouted:

"Brother Monkey, let's go back. That monster is very fierce."

Why would you say that? What exactly happened? Don't rush to tell me the details now.

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong looked at Zhu Bajie of bumps and asked him with a puzzled expression.

Zhu Bajie scratched his head and laughed as he said to Sun Wukong, "Just now I saw two female demons drawing water by the well. I only cried out once, and then I got hit so many times with this stick. I'm so pitiful!"

After speaking, Sun Wukong looked at Zhu Bajie with a puzzled expression.

What did you call her?

As soon as Sun Wukong finished speaking, Zhu Bajie immediately interjected, "Actually, I recognized those two as monsters at a glance, and I just called them monsters. Then, out of nowhere, they started hitting me."

"If that's how it is, then hitting you would be too lenient. In my opinion, if you called me that, I'd beat you to death."

Sun Wukong sneered upon hearing this, looking at Zhu Bajie then helplessly said to Sun Wukong.