Chapter 9 Spying

Bao'e panicked for a moment and revealed her true form, hoping that they would soon realize that she was not that bald monk Sanzang and let her go as soon as possible.

She was both afraid and angry, but the buzzing bee was amused.

The traveler whispered behind her ear, laughing until he was completely satisfied, before saying to her in a low voice, "Wumiao, don't panic."

Bao'e wouldn't listen to reason. She ran around frantically, but she couldn't escape the rope the thief threw out. She was firmly tied up and dragged to the middle of the courtyard.

Just as she was struggling, she suddenly heard a thief ask in surprise, "Huh? Why is it a female bodhisattva?"

Bao'e was overjoyed and was about to shout that there was a mistake when she heard the leader scold her: "You are confused! The master did not tell us whether Tang Sanzang was a man or a woman. He may very well be a woman."

She couldn't help but say, "He's just confused, but you're blind!"

The leader shouted, "Tie them up tighter!"

But the rope didn't actually tie her mouth, and she still kept muttering and cursing.

The traveler called out to her, "Wu Miao, Wu Miao!"

“Where is Wu Miao now? Only a pitiful, wronged ghost remains.” Bao’e was pulled forward, her eyes brimming with tears. “Master, as you head west, why don’t you first post a portrait along the way so that these thieves can identify you and capture you more accurately? Every place you go, a disciple has to die in your place. How many substitute ghosts will you have to suffer along the way?”

"Stop making a fuss, don't cry! You'll only dampen their spirits for nothing," Wukong comforted her, then added, "I heard them address him as 'Sir,' so I suspect someone secretly instigated them to commit this crime. Wumiao, I'll trouble you to go and investigate his lair, while I, Old Sun, will go back to Master's place and keep a close watch. Once we've made sure he's safe, we siblings can work together from the inside and outside to find the mastermind behind it all. That will be a great achievement for you, how about it?"

Upon hearing the word "great merit," Wu Miao immediately stopped crying.

"Senior brother, to be honest, I'm not afraid of any ghosts. I'll fight them one by one, and two by two if they come." She whispered to him, "But you have to be quick. I'll get the first credit, but I won't let you get nothing."

"Of course, of course!" The traveler gave the instructions, then spread his wings and flew back.

Bao'e was dragged by a group of thieves, around the courtyard, through the long corridor, and through left and right turns, until she arrived at a spacious room.

She looked around and saw that the room was empty and no one was on the beam. She thought to herself that the thief was so small that he was hard to see with the naked eye.

Just then, the leader of the bandits suddenly grabbed her and dragged her straight towards the wall.

Bao'e was alarmed: What is this thief planning? Does he intend to kill her first and make her a ghost before he meets the thief's leader?

"You damned monsters, loosen this rope! You think I'm some kind of easy-to-bully substitute ghost? You're not human!" She struggled, sweat pouring down her face, getting closer and closer to the wall.

With the candlelight shining, she saw a magnificent mural on the wall.

The painting depicts layers of pavilions and solemn Buddhist statues.

Oh!

She was horrified: This is because the ink is insufficient; they need to use her blood to paint the plum blossoms in the temple!

We stepped into the mural.

Bao'e stopped speaking, staring blankly into her mind. So it was a Taoist sect?

She was pulled in.

The murals depict a different scene altogether.

The main hall of the Buddhist temple was filled with the smoke of incense.

An old monk sat in the high hall, preaching the Dharma to the other monks.

He didn't even look up when strangers came.

She thought to herself: No wonder there are no monks in the temple, they were hiding in these murals.

The robber dragged Bao'e past a group of monks. She heard the old monk mutter, "There are three paths to spiritual practice for ordinary people: first, greed; second, anger; third, ignorance. Cultivating greed is cultivating one's physical appearance..."

Perhaps it was the stench of incense, or perhaps it was the old monk's incessant chatter that made her dizzy and unsteady on her feet.

She murmured, "Never mind, never mind, he wasn't a real monk after all. That thieving devil was afraid I wouldn't die peacefully, so he used that old bald donkey to chant sutras to lull me to sleep."

Before long, they arrived at the desolate courtyard behind the Buddhist hall.

The leader of the thieves was no longer as fierce as before; instead, he was trembling with fear.

He shoved her inside, trembling, and announced, "Sir, the holy monk has been captured!" before rushing off.

There was a pot in the courtyard with a blazing fire underneath, and the water was boiling hot.

A young man in white stood beside her, his back to her.

He turned around slowly, and when he saw her, he was both surprised and annoyed: "What? It's you?!"

"Young Master Nie?" Bao'e saw him and had long forgotten what Wukong had told her. She happily went to greet him. "No wonder I didn't see you bringing me vegetarian food. You were boiling water here. I guess I was lucky to find you after wandering around for a while."

It turns out that Nie Guiyu was the "bandit leader".

Upon hearing that the pilgrims were about to arrive, he was determined to capture Sanzang. He had previously used a "self-inflicted injury" ruse to dispel the suspicions of Sanzang and his disciples.

Unexpectedly, he only ran into Bao'e, and ended up suffering in vain.

When one plan failed, he devised another, taking advantage of the absence of Sanzang's two disciples to deceive him.

Unexpectedly, Sun Wukong returned in time, leaving him no choice but to leave again.

He had just arranged for his group of little devils to carry out a nighttime operation, but instead of catching the holy monk, they ran into Bao'e!

His face turned pale and then white, then pale and then pale again, and he kept thinking to himself: Damn it, damn it!

But she said, “Miss Bao’e, you’ve misunderstood. What does it matter to me if this water boils any more? I’m just like you; I was brought here by that Ghost King and trapped here, plotting to eat me.”

He glanced up at the narrow gate to the backyard, where two vicious thieves burst in, adding firewood and boiling water. They then said menacingly that they were going to sharpen their knives and would gouge out the hearts and livers of the two men later.

The fool was honest, and although he believed him somewhat, after the thieves left, he still asked him earnestly, "My lord, why did they tie me up but not you?"

"Because I did not fight with that Ghost King and was only a mortal, I could not escape. That's why he loosened his restraints and allowed me to walk around the area for a while."

"This monster is quite understanding." Bao'e looked around. "What is his background, and where is he hiding? Quickly call him out, and let me have a good fight with him!"

Nie Guiyu: "How are you going to fight him while you're tied up like this?"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm very capable. Even if things don't go well, when my senior brother arrives, he'll smash this demon's lair to pieces with one blow. No matter what kind of monster it is, he'll smash its brains out and kill it all!"

"Your senior brother is here too?"

She nodded: "It's nearby."

Nie Guiyu thought to himself that one person could not fight against four hands, and since he had not captured the monk, he was of no use to him. So he lied to her: "If it were any other time, I would have agreed to your request and waited patiently for your senior brother to rescue me. It would only take a short while. But the yin energy in this demon cave is quite heavy, which makes me very uncomfortable. If I stay here, I am afraid that I will needlessly deplete my yang energy and lose my life."

Bao'e was so eager for him that she didn't listen to these words. She turned into a big stone, rolled out of the rope, and was freed.

She reverted to human form, grabbed him, and hurriedly pulled him outside: "Quick, quick! We shouldn't delay, we need to get out of this demon's lair as soon as possible to avoid running into disaster!"

Nie Guiyu asked, "Miss Bao'e, you're walking so fast, have you been to this deserted temple before and are familiar with this place?"

Bao'e shook her head: "No, no."

“Then the head has returned.” Nie Guiyu’s expression grew cold.

He mocked her in his heart: This Zhu Bao'e is clever in appearance, but she is a simple-minded and foolish vixen. I don't know why that young man from the Gao family cherishes her so much, and travels through mountains and rivers to ask for a marriage.

It turns out that this ghost had seen her once a year ago.

At that time, she and Gao Cuilan passed by this deserted temple and made a wish nearby, praying for a marriage.

This deserted temple had been deserted for a long time, so he secretly observed it, intending to find out the details of the two men.

Young Master Gao was sincere. Even though there were no monks in the temple, he still spent a lot of money to repair the temple and restore the Buddha statues.

The incense offerings over those few days must have greatly enhanced his spiritual power.

The demon, however, was distracted, only concerned with how many vegetarian meals she would eat each day and when the peach trees at the foot of the mountain would bear fruit.

They had no shame whatsoever. Whether it was broad daylight or pitch black, they would pester that young master Gao for pleasure, uttering shameless and lewd words.

He was originally unaware of this matter, and unable to bear the sight of their chests pressed together and the sounds of their panting and lewdness, he hid himself.

When he reappeared, the incense in the temple had stopped burning, and the temple was deserted.

The two men have disappeared.

A note from the author:

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