Chapter 49 "Difficult to bear and raise children, but easy to feed..."

Bao'e was shocked, thinking to herself, how could this wicked demon know about her past life?

She brushed him aside: "Brother, you've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Wu Miao now, and I have nothing to do with Tian Peng."

The monster gritted his teeth: "Don't try to fool me, Tianpeng. You may not recognize me, but I recognize you!"

Just then, the little demon who had been fetching water returned, and hurriedly called out, "Your Majesty, the true immortal of the Abortion Spring has been beaten, and no one is allowed to enter the temple, let alone fetch water from the spring."

The monster then decided to go there himself.

However, he was in unbearable pain in his abdomen, and his chest was also swollen and uncomfortable.

He couldn't take it anymore, so he lay down in the chair, closed his eyes, and gasped for breath.

"Shut up, shut up!" the monster shouted angrily.

Bao'e nodded: "It is indeed a pig's snout, but it has been transformed into a human form. Brother, I should accompany you, but I still have to go on the journey to the West, so please let me go."

She struggled to pull her hands away, trying to shake him off.

The monster wouldn't let go and ordered all the lesser demons to fetch water from the Abortion Spring.

He then exhaled a burst of smoke, enveloping Sanzang and the flower pavilion, before grabbing Bao'e and heading straight for the back room.

Bao'e panicked and said, "I'm not a midwife, why are you pulling me?"

The monster said, "Speak again, and I will eat you and that monk together."

"Don't eat me, I'm useless."

He chuckled coldly, "Tianpeng, I never expected you to have such a moment."

It turns out that this strange name is Xie Zhuo. He has also listened to sutras at Leiyin Temple and has also infiltrated the Heavenly Court Dharma Assembly.

At that time, he was in the Milky Way and saw Bao'e from afar.

Back then, she was in charge of the Milky Way, commanding 80,000 sailors; she was so carefree and spirited.

Now, however, he has been banished to the mortal realm and has fallen into this desolate mountain.

He thought of the past, and couldn't quite describe the feeling; he only felt a burning anger simmering in his heart.

The monster then said, "Tianpeng, I've heard of you before, but now you're just a lowly helper to a monk."

Bao'e said, "Stop your nonsense, you scoundrel. I'm not doing this to help that monk, but for my own spiritual practice."

“Cultivation, cultivation,” Xie Zhuo laughed. “In the past, when I was commanding troops in the Milky Way, I was quite adept at swimming. But now, by the Mother-Child River, I don’t know the power of the water. If it weren’t for the help of others, I would be pregnant. What kind of cultivation is that?”

The simpleton immediately understood: "Oh dear, brother, it was you who pushed me, causing my master to think he had encountered a ghost in broad daylight, and he was almost scared out of his wits."

Just as Xie Zhuo was about to speak, he suddenly experienced excruciating abdominal pain and broke out in a cold sweat.

He was panting heavily when he suddenly grabbed Bao'e's hand and pressed it against his chest.

He said, "Now that you know it's me, stop trying to hide it. Let me ask you, how did you treat your master back then?"

When Bao'e saw his flushed face and unfocused eyes, and heard him moaning and panting, she couldn't help but feel a surge of lust and an irresistible itch in her heart.

She managed to remember that Tang Sanzang was still in that flower pavilion, and with great reluctance, she prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, Xie Zhuo refused to let go, saying, "If the Heavenly Court banishes you, why go to fetch the Western Scriptures again? This place is not as wealthy as other places, but it is peaceful and carefree, with endless comforts. Why suffer such hardships?"

Just then, he grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest, which really startled Bao'e so much that she couldn't help but say, "Brother, with your wanton nature, you're not good at having children."

The monster chuckled coldly and pulled her close: "You're not good at bearing children, but you're good at feeding a gluttonous shrew like you!"

Bao'e vaguely smelled the fragrance, but dared not look any further. Her eyes darted around, and she stared intently at the doorway, muttering incessantly, "Master, what should we do? What should we do? We've run into a crazy demon who thinks I'm a baby with incomplete teeth and wants to coax me into drinking milk."

The monster heard this and laughed, "That's better than your arduous journey, where you only drank cold mountain stream water."

Bao'e said, "It's cold, but it'll wake me up."

This person said, "It's better than begging from door to door, bowing your head and begging for water from a hundred families."

The answer was: "How can you know the hardships of a hundred families if you don't drink water from a hundred homes?"

This monster takes off his clothes, flaunting boundless springtime charm.

Bao'e buried her head, suppressing her wildly beating, hungry heart.

After some tugging and pulling, Hao Bao'e finally couldn't resist his coaxing and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

The group of lesser demons had just returned. There were many of them this time. The true immortal had been seriously injured in his previous battle with the traveler and was no match for the group of lesser demons.

The leader stepped forward and offered a bowl of abortion water.

Xie Zhuo released Bao'e, drank the entire beverage, and endured the pain to deliver the baby.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from the stone door outside.

It turned out that the traveler had barged in.

The monster remained calm, straightened his clothes, went out, and took out a trident to duel with the traveler.

Bao'e quickly got up.

But before she could even leave, the monster returned and asked her, "Where are you going?"

Bao'e couldn't help but think to herself: "You scoundrel, you're usually so arrogant, how come you've suffered two defeats in a row today?"

She said, "Brother, I'm a little tired. Let's walk around a bit."

Xie Zhuo, his face pale, pressed Bao'e closer into his arms.

He used a magical ability to conjure a scorpion's tail, with a hook on it, which swayed in mid-air.

Bao'e was also confused and infatuated. First, she pressed her chest against his and intertwined her thighs, and then she lay down on the table.

The monster embraced her from behind, becoming aroused, and brought out a bright mirror, only allowing her to look into it.

The two of them were so excited that, after a short while, the traveler came to challenge them again.

Xie Zhuo took out a three-pronged fork to fight, and Bao'e hurriedly straightened her clothes and went to find Sanzang.

But the monster never closed the smoke-filled canopy, so she couldn't get into the flower pavilion and could only wait outside.

The traveler also fought a hard battle.

Xie Zhuo was a scorpion demon. During the earlier fight, he stung the traveler's scalp with his stinger, causing him unbearable pain, which led to his defeat and retreat.

Now he raised his scorpion tail, preventing the Great Sage from getting close.

Just then, an old woman carrying a green bamboo basket came from the South Mountain.

She said, "You wicked beast, you have committed a grave crime, yet you still refuse to submit?"

The traveler glanced to the side and saw that the old woman was covered by auspicious clouds and enveloped in fragrant mist; she was none other than the Bodhisattva in disguise.

He quickly put his palms together in reverence to the Bodhisattva.

When the Bodhisattva saw that he recognized her, she simply transformed into her true form and rode on auspicious clouds to the sky.

Xie Zhuo, however, refused to submit to her, and instead held up his trident and laughed, "Bodhisattva? No matter which Bodhisattva it is, they can't do anything to me."

“That wicked beast, you used to listen to the sutras at Leiyin Temple, not only did you stab the Buddha, but you also tried to escape to this place to make things difficult for the sutra seekers,” the Bodhisattva said. “If you insist on not submitting, you will have no choice but to go to the Bright Palace in the East Heavenly Gate and invite the Pleiades Star Lord. At that time, there will be no way out.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhuo's expression changed slightly, but he turned his head and glanced at Bao'e from afar.

After a long while, he finally lowered his hand and stopped holding up the trident.

When the Bodhisattva saw it, he uttered "Amitabha Buddha," and thousands of flower petals fell from the sky, enveloping the monster.

He then transformed back into his original form, which was indeed a scorpion demon the size of a pipa, and was taken into the fish basket by Guanyin.

The Bodhisattva transformed into a golden light and disappeared. Bao'e saw this and said to the traveler, "Brother, this magic is truly wondrous."

"What's so special about it?"

The fool said, "Those countless petals only fell on the scorpion demon, but the Bodhisattva didn't get a single one on her."

The pilgrim laughed and said, “You fool, do you know that the scriptures say that when the celestial maidens scattered flowers, ‘the bodhisattvas all fell. But the great disciples were not affected.’ The flowers did not touch the bodhisattvas, and no matter what magic the disciples used, they could not brush the flowers off their bodies. This is because the bodhisattvas have cut off all ‘discriminating thoughts,’ and their minds are free from distractions and delusions, so their bodies are not touched by the flowers. That scorpion demon, however, harbored a mortal heart and was thus covered by the flowers and leaves.”

Bao'e listened, seemingly understanding but not quite, staring blankly at the auspicious clouds in the sky that had not yet completely dispersed.

The traveler laughed at her: "To understand the profound, you must practice some subtle methods of holding your breath."

"How so?"

"When the Bodhisattva bestows flowers upon you, do not suffocate within those flowers."

Bao'e knew he was laughing at her, and she jumped up and down in anger, saying, "You monkey, don't talk nonsense. I am going to retrieve the scriptures with a sincere heart."

“Devotion, devotion, what a devotion.” The traveler sneered, “Could the bite mark on the scorpion demon’s neck be one he made himself?”

Bao'e suddenly fell silent, and said blankly, "Really? What a monster, its neck is really long."

The Monkey King was so angry that he wanted to beat her with his stick, but he barely managed to restrain himself, grabbed her, and called over Sandy to help rescue the Tripitaka.

Meanwhile, the four travelers continued their westward journey. Halfway there, they encountered a band of robbers who wanted to steal their travel expenses.

The pilgrim was hot-tempered and killed a group of bandits with his golden cudgel. Although he solved the problem, he also angered the monk Sanzang, who not only recited the Tightening-Headband Mantra to him but also wanted to banish him.

Wukong had long harbored resentment towards him, and because of his chanting of incantations, he was exhausted by the tight headband, causing his eyes to bulge, his head to spin, and his pain to be unbearable. This time, he didn't say much, but rode on a cloud and left.

Bao'e complained, "This monk has gone mad again, driving away his senior brother, and now he's waiting to crawl into the belly of a demon."

Sanzang sighed deeply, but refused to take back what he had said.

He walked fifty li west along the path, then suddenly reined in his horse and said, “My disciples, which one of you will go and beg for some food for me?”

Bao'e chuckled inwardly: "She's quite good at ordering people around."

Sha Wujing said, "Senior sister, stop talking. If you upset Master, it will be difficult to find a doctor. I'll go beg for alms and water. You and Master rest here."

After saying that, he left.

Bao'e, clutching her rake, found a grassy spot to lie down. Hearing the monk sighing incessantly, she grew annoyed and got up, saying, "Master, Sha Wujing has been gone for so long. I'm afraid he's gotten into trouble. I'll go and see him too."

Sanzang said, "You may leave."

Bao'e then left as well.

Sanzang was left alone in the same place, suffering from hunger and thirst.

A moment later, he suddenly heard a sound. He looked up and saw the Monkey King kneeling beside him, holding a porcelain cup in his hands. The Monkey King said, "Master, I have found some water. Please quench your thirst first. After you drink this water, I will go beg for alms."

Sanzang, still angry, said unhappily, "Go away, I won't drink your water."

The traveler suddenly looked up at him, his golden eyes gleaming with a cold light.

"Master," he said, "I only ask you, will you drink this water or not?"