Chapter 43 "Don't go to fetch any Western scriptures, it just so happens that..."
The little demon compared them back and forth and said, "Your Majesty, this thing is not human and cannot speak. It has no shame."
Upon hearing this, Bao'e nodded repeatedly with her head down.
The demon chuckled coldly: "Tell her to raise her head."
The little demon went straight to Bao'e and shouted, "My king tells you to raise your head!"
Bao'e lowered her neck, tilted her head, and buried her head even lower.
The little demon used a fork to poke her.
She panicked and said, "I was born with this disease and I can't lift my head."
The little demon reported: "Your Majesty, this fellow is sickly and weak; he can't lift his head."
The demon, enraged, laughed coldly: "Fine, fine, fine!"
"That's good." Bao'e nodded, turned to leave, "Your Majesty, I'm leaving now, don't stay, don't stay."
The demon said, "Seize her!"
Just as the group of lesser demons were about to step forward, Bao'e suddenly patted the arm of the messenger demon: "Your king wants people to arrest you, why aren't you running away?"
The little demon was terrified and hurriedly tried to escape.
He ran while shouting, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Why are they arresting me!"
The lesser demons were thrown into chaos, rushing to capture him.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Bao'e tried to slip away, covering her head and rolling into the haystack.
But the demon swung his sword horizontally and struck the back of her collar.
"Don't run, grab this one!" he gritted his teeth. "My favorite food is that sickly, mute body that isn't human!"
The demons swarmed forward, intending to capture Bao'e.
Enraged, Bao'e jumped up and down, immediately pulled out her head, and suddenly raised her rake.
She shouted, "You bunch of scoundrels, stop your rudeness! Take this!"
She raised her rake and struck, scaring away the group of lesser demons.
The demon wielded a Seven Star Sword to parry the rake, and laughed, "You really deserve a beating. A beating will cure your inability to lift your head and heal your mute mouth."
Bao'e roused herself and said cheerfully, "My son, stop saying such useless things, quickly stick your head out and let me make a few bloody holes in you!"
She fought fiercely, and the battle was evenly matched with the demon, but a group of lesser demons rushed at her.
It is often said that the few cannot defeat the many, and Bao'e was no match for them. Before long, she was subdued by the group of little demons.
They made a move to lift her up, but the demon sheathed his sword and shouted, "Don't lift her up! Don't damage her flesh, or she won't be fit to eat."
Bao'e was so flustered that she trembled and her eyes welled up with tears.
“Master,” she cried out as the demon grabbed her and held her upright, looking up at the sky, “Why are you eating vegetarian food in this desolate wilderness? You’ve ruined me and turned me into someone else’s meat on the stove or soup in the pot.”
"What's all the noise about?" The demon gripped her arm tightly and shoved her into his arms. "If I don't set up a stove or a pot, I'll eat you alive."
This frightened Bao'e so much that her eyes welled up with tears, and she stopped moving, saying only, "Then let's eat it cooked, it will hurt a bit if we eat it raw."
The demon chuckled and said, "If you don't speak, I won't eat you, okay?"
Bao'e said, "Brother, I'm not one to talk, so there's no point in eating it. Just let it go."
The demon ignored her, tore a piece of cloth over her head, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and went straight back to his cave.
He had just returned to the demon cave when he bumped into his own brother, who looked exactly like him, with no difference whatsoever.
The great demon asked, "Have you captured them yet?"
“We captured one, but he’s of little use,” the demon said. “He’s Tang Sanzang’s third disciple, named Sha Wujing.”
“He’s a useless monk,” the Great Demon said. “Silver Moon, what’s the point of bringing this useless monk back? Let him go.”
Yinyue said, "Brother, even if it's useless, you can still pickle it with salt and eat it carefully year after year."
"That makes sense, take it."
Yinyue then walked inside.
"Wait a minute." This great demon, named Jin Ling, was somewhat more composed. He asked, "Have you ever seen Bao'e?"
Yinyue smiled and said, "We've only captured this Sha Wujing; we've never seen anyone else."
Jin Ling, sitting on a tiger-skin chair, laughed and said, "Brother, don't lie to me, this is no joke."
"Why would I lie to you?" The two demons withdrew their gaze and looked away from him. "Brother, don't rush me. I'll take this Sha Wujing to wash him clean first, and then capture Tang Sanzang and Zhu Bao'e."
He took Bao'e to the back, and only when no one was around did he untie her.
Bao'e was carried on his shoulder, and she was jostled around until she was dizzy and disoriented.
After finally untying it, she looked dizzy and said, "Good brother, even if you thought I was a ball, let alone Sha Wujing, you wouldn't be able to jiggle me like this."
"Whoever mistakes you for Sha Wujing, that's who will capture you." The second demon grabbed her and asked, "Zhu Bao'e, do you recognize me?"
Bao'e regained her composure and looked at him carefully.
His bright eyes shone like stars, and his single canine tooth was as white as silver. His handsome appearance was indescribable. With his red lips and white teeth, he made her heart flutter slightly.
“He has a handsome face.” She nodded repeatedly. “He looks familiar, very familiar.”
Unexpectedly, this only provoked the two demons to sneer: "Lies! We'll really have to cut out your heart and sharpen it with a knife before you'll be honest."
“Brother, I’m not lying,” Bao’e said. “I was just a little dizzy from the madness, and I saw stars in front of my eyes, so I couldn’t see clearly.”
The silver moon laughed and said, "I don't believe you. Zhu Bao'e, you just wait here. I'll bring your master here and eat him, and then I'll tell you everything in detail."
He then summoned several dozen lesser demons to patrol the mountain again.
Not long after, Bao'e suddenly heard a commotion at the cave entrance.
She looked around, then hid behind a large vat and peeked out.
But then a demon barged in, and the lesser demons hurriedly followed behind him, seemingly wanting to dissuade him, but not daring to.
The demon stopped, scanned the area, and suddenly called out, "Zhu Bao'e?"
No one answered.
A little demon boldly stepped forward, forcing a smile: "Your Majesty, there really is no demon here named 'Zhu Bao'e'."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Bao'e crawled out from behind the large vat and stood there blankly.
"Brother, why are you back again? Did you eat that monk?" She couldn't help but shed tears. "Master, you poor monk, I told you long ago that without that monkey, who else could you rely on? Now that you're in the underworld, don't cry and whine, or you'll only invite the soul-reaping messengers to beat you."
Bao'e wiped away her tears with her clothes, thinking to herself that this shrew had such a short memory. She had asked her once before, and now she was asking her again. She really needed to get her head checked.
She stared at his face and nodded: "He looks familiar, he looks familiar."
The demon leaped onto the stone table, half-squatting and half-kneeling in front of her, leaning down to look at her: "Then what should I be called?"
“I remember,” Bao’e said, “but I just cried and I’m a little confused, so I can’t think straight.”
"Still the same old rascal," the demon asked. "Do you still remember the name 'Golden Feather'?"
“It sounds familiar, it sounds familiar.” Bao’e just nodded without thinking about it in detail.
“Bao’e,” the golden feather supported the back of her neck, leaned down to her ear, breathed softly on her, and then lightly brushed her earlobe with the tip of its nose, “you need to think about it carefully.”
The sound pierced Bao'e's ear canal, making her ears go weak and her muscles go numb.
She couldn't help but shudder, her eyes slightly opening as she exclaimed, "Oh dear, it's you, brother! Why aren't you watching the golden furnace in the heavens? What are you doing in this mortal realm?"
It turned out that she really did recognize the golden feather.
He was none other than the Golden Feather Immortal Lord who looked after the Golden Furnace beside Laozi. At that time, she was in heaven and had some private dealings with him.
"Of course I'm here to find you." Jin Ling pinched her ear and said with a smile, "Bao'e, Bao'e, you've come at the perfect time. Forget about going to fetch the scriptures from the West, it's just right here in the Lotus Cave to arrange a marriage between us, how about it?"
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