The Search

"My reaction time was a bit slow, so the three of them turned into the wind and escaped."

Upon hearing this, Sha Wujing quickly said to Sun Wukong:

"Brother Monkey, what should we do next?"

After hearing what Sha Wujing said, Sun Wukong quickly patted Sha Wujing the shoulder and said:

"There's no time to hesitate now. You and Zhu Bajie go back to the temple to guard the horses and luggage. I'll go after the wind now."

Sun Wukong immediately rode his Somersault Cloud to mid-air, where he smelled a fishy odor and then chased after the source of the smell.

As dawn broke, he suddenly saw a great battle unfold before him. The terrain was extremely treacherous, with towering cliffs that obscured the sky. Sun Wukong stood on the cliff, searching for a path.

Suddenly, he saw four people herding three sheep down from the west. Sun Wukong, with his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, looked closely and realized that it was the Four Duty Officers, who were vaguely appearing in human form.

Seeing this, Sun Wukong raised his Ruyi Jingu Bang and came to their side, shouting, "Where do you all think you're going? You're all hiding like cowards!"

Upon seeing Sun Wukong, the Four Duty Officers quickly chased away all three sheep, then revealed their true forms and bowed on the main road, saying:

"Great Sage, please don't be angry."

However, Sun Wukong was far from calm, and angrily said:

"You're always nowhere to be found when I need you. Are you taking advantage of my good temper? You're no longer secretly protecting my master. Where do you think you're going now?"

After speaking, the Four Duty Officers felt extremely embarrassed. Seeing Sun Wukong's angry face, Sun Wukong began to explain. The Four Duty Officers said:

"How dare you say such a thing? Your master was playing around at Auspicious Cloud Temple in Jinping Prefecture, and his joy turned to sorrow. He's been captured by that monster, and he even has a group of immortals protecting him."

"We learned that you searched there all night, and we were afraid you wouldn't know where this place was, so we came to report to you."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong said to the Four Duty Officers, "Since you were delivering a message to me, why did you conceal your identity? And what are you doing here herding these three sheep and making such a racket?"

The Four Duty Officers bowed to Sun Wukong and said, "The reason we are herding these three sheep is because it can be called 'Three Sheep Bring Prosperity' to rescue your master."

Hearing this Sun Wukong was so angry he laughed. Sun Wukong then said, "This mountain is where that demon lives."

As Sun Wukong finished speaking, the Four Duty Officers nodded and then said:

"That's exactly right. This place is called Azure Dragon Mountain, and inside there's a cave called Mysterious Radiance Cave. There are three monsters in the cave: the eldest is called the Great King Cold-Avoidance, the second is called the Great King Heat-Avoidance, and the youngest is called the Great King Dust-Avoidance."

"Those three demons have been here for thousands of years. They loved eating oil since they were young. When they became demons, they came here and disguised themselves as Buddha statues, tricking the common people into setting up golden lamps, and the lamp oil turned into sesame oil."

Just as the Four Duty Officers finished speaking, the Land God immediately came to Sun Wukong's side and began to speak to Sun Wukong. The Land God said:

"They come here to collect oil every year around this time. Today, when they saw your master, they tricked him into going into the cave."

"They'll probably eat your master alive with sesame oil then, you'd better hurry and save him."

After hearing what the Four Duty Officers said, Sun Wukong them all away, and then ran to the cliff to find the cave entrance.

After a short while, they came to a cliff, below which stood a stone gate, half-open and half-closed, with six large characters written on it, "Azure Dragon Mountain, Mysterious Radiance Cave." Sun Wukong dared not rush in, but stood outside and shouted loudly:

"You monsters, return my master to me right now!"

Just as Sun Wukong was about to shout again, he suddenly heard a loud noise from inside, and a bull-headed demon ran out and asked stupidly:

"Who are you? Why do you dare to shout like that here?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong loudly proclaimed:

"I was originally the eldest disciple of the holy Tang Xuanzang, who went on a pilgrimage to the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands. Now, I am passing through this place, and my master has been captured by your king. Return him immediately, or I will surely wipe you all out."

Upon hearing this, the lesser demons rushed into the cave, shouting, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! We've caused a great disaster!"

The three old demons were leading Tang Xuanzang deep into the cave. Without any regard for right or wrong, they ordered their men to strip Tang Xuanzang of his clothes and wash them in the water, already planning how they would eat him later.

Suddenly hearing a scream from one of his men, the boss was immediately startled and asked what had happened. The little demon replied instantly:

"There's a hairy-faced, Duke of Thunder- mouthed monk yelling and shouting in front of the gate. He says you've captured his master and you need to bring him out right now, or he'll turn this cave abode upside down."

Upon hearing this, the old demon was terrified, thinking to himself, "Good heavens, I just captured this monk and haven't even asked him about his background yet!"

After thinking for a moment, he immediately said to his men, "Men, put his clothes on and bring him here. I want to ask him where he came from and where he is going."

This startled Tang Xuanzang so much that he knelt on the ground and said tremblingly:

"I traveled from the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands to the Great Thunderclap Monastery in Kingdom of Tianzhu to worship Buddha and obtain scriptures. Now that I have arrived here, while watching the lanterns tonight, I saw Your Majesty manifest a Buddha image. Being a mere mortal, I bowed to the Buddha upon seeing him, and thus offended you."

After hearing what Tang Xuanzang said, Tang Xuanzang demon said to him, "How many of you have come this time? What are your names? Tell me the truth now, or I will not let you go."

After speaking, Tang Xuanzang slowly said, "My name is Tang Xuanzang, and I have three disciples. The eldest is named Sun Wukong, also known as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."

When the demon heard Tang Xuanzang's words, she was immediately surprised and muttered softly, "Is this Great Sage Equal to Heaven the one who caused Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Xuanzang nodded, and the demons gasped in shock. Tang Xuanzang then continued:

"The second disciple was named Zhu Bajie, the reincarnation of Marshal Tianpeng. The third disciple was named Sha Wujing, who was formerly the Curtain-Raising General."

Upon hearing this, the three Demon Kings were all terrified and spoke up:

"What should we do now? We can't eat him at all, you know? Quickly lock Tang Xuanzang in the back, and we'll eat him together when his three disciples arrive."