Chapter 52. Nezha rolls the embroidered ball over her head. ...
Bao'e used her rake to deflect his sword and cursed, "Little prince, you are too arrogant! If you want to know, why don't you be reborn as a pig? Wait until I tear out two awning-like ears and slap you all the way to Mount Ling!"
Nezha laughed and said, "Good, good! You don't know that you and that monkey trespassed into the Heavenly Court. I was ordered to capture the demon, and I came here to take you!"
The fool was truly exhausted and had no time for idle chatter. He sat down with his two bundles in his arms and said, "Take them. I won't fight back. I'm tired, I won't argue with you."
She was about to close her eyes as she spoke.
"What's wrong with you dozing off?" The prince patted her with his demon-slaying pestle. "Tianpeng, don't sleep. Come with me to the Milky Way for some fun. Those sailors miss you every day."
Bao'e hugged her bundle and covered her ears, saying, "I'm not going, I'm not going."
"How about we go to the Moon Palace for a contest? I used to long to see the Moon Immortal Lord every day, but now it's a rare opportunity to return to the Heavenly Court."
Bao'e buried her face in her bundle, wishing she could shrink into a ball: "I won't go, I won't go! I don't know him well, I won't see him, I won't see him!"
"You fool, you are truly lazy!" the prince sneered. "Could it be that you were slacking off in the mortal realm, neglecting your martial arts skills? Now that we have finally met, you dare not compete."
Bao'e remained motionless.
The prince called her: "Tianpeng!"
Bao'e remained motionless.
Nezha then rolled the embroidered ball over her head.
Bao'e finally raised her head and stared at him blankly: "Oh dear, little prince, you haven't left yet? You could at least have called me so I could chat with you and keep you company. It's so boring standing here all alone."
The prince was so angry that he became furious but also wanted to laugh.
Just as he was about to pull her up, the two pilgrims started fighting again. It turned out that the Jade Emperor had asked Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, to retrieve the Demon-Revealing Mirror, but they still couldn't tell the two men apart.
The two travelers fought their way out of the Heavenly Gate, not forgetting to drag the drowsy Bao'e along.
Good Bao'e, now she's acting as a watchman, watching the two of them tugging and pulling at each other, constantly yelling and cursing.
The prince watched the three of them go, and only after they fell onto the western road did he turn around, only to see two other people in the distance.
A young man stood before me, his eyebrows like wisps of smoke, his skin like jade. His silver hair was like snow, his slender eyes like splashed ink. He walked slowly and gracefully, the sound of his golden pendants jingling, his demeanor elegant and refined, radiant as the moonlight.
The other person looked even younger, but also had an extraordinary appearance, with indescribable sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, white teeth, and red lips.
The prince said, "The two immortals are not in Guanghan, so why have they come all the way to the Heavenly Palace?"
It turns out that these two immortal lords are none other than the Moon Palace Immortal Lord Guanghan and the Moon Laurel Immortal Lord.
The Moon Goddess was indifferent, her expression devoid of emotion.
He said, "I heard that Sun Wukong trespassed into the Heavenly Palace, so I came to see him."
Nezha said, "That is true. Somehow, that monkey created an identical clone, and we couldn't tell the real one from the fake one. So we came to the Heavenly Court to ask the gods for help in distinguishing the real one. My father used the Demon-Revealing Mirror to help him distinguish the real one from the fake one, but he couldn't tell the difference."
The Moon Laurel Immortal was a lively person with a pair of starry eyes that darted back and forth, as if searching for someone.
"Has the Crown Prince seen Bao'e?" He looked around. "I heard she also went to the Heavenly Gate with that monkey. Good Bao'e, she's too bold. Isn't she afraid of being demoted again? Well, there's nowhere to demote her now. Poor Bao'e, there's no good food in the mortal world. She'll probably starve to the point of becoming as thin as a sheet of paper."
He kept rambling on and on, but the Moon Goddess glanced at him and said, "Don't make a fuss, don't disturb the peace of the Heavenly Court."
The Moon Laurel Fairy stopped speaking, but her eyes continued to dart around.
Nezha said, "Immortal Lord, you arrived a step too late. Tianpeng and the two wanderers have already descended to the mortal realm. Since no one in Heaven can identify them, they probably won't return."
The Moon Goddess looked around and saw that all the celestial beings had indeed dispersed.
His expression remained unchanged, but the Moon Laurel Immortal sighed and muttered, "That fool, he runs fast indeed."
"Since there is no trouble in Heaven, we should not linger any longer," said the Moon Lord. "Moon Laurel, let's go."
Yuegui frowned and drooped her head, but still agreed, and left with him.
Meanwhile, Bao'e followed the two monks down to the mortal realm and went straight to find Tang Sanzang.
Two or three days have passed since she went to Flower Fruit Mountain to retrieve her luggage. Sanzang, who was recuperating at a mountain family's house, was also extremely anxious and had no appetite.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside. Sanzang said, "Wujing, go and see what's going on outside."
Sha Wujing obeyed the order and went out, but a moment later he ran back in a panic: "Oh no! Oh no! Master, we've run into trouble!"
Sanzang said, "Wujing, don't rush, tell me slowly."
"Master, Senior Sister is back."
"Wumiao has returned, but what trouble has he caused? Could it be that this wretched beast has been tempted by worldly desires again?" The elder said, about to go out to find out.
Sha Wujing added, "It wasn't her. She just brought back two of her senior brothers, and they started fighting in mid-air!"
The poor elder, easily frightened, turned pale upon hearing this, hurriedly turned around, and frantically searched for a place to hide, fearing that the monkey would become vicious again and beat him with the stick.
Just as he was crawling under the table, the door was suddenly kicked open, and Sun Wukong rushed in, calling out, "Master!"
Sanzang dared not turn around, and put his palms together, saying, "Amitabha, I am not your master, you should leave."
But then Sun Wukong came in and called him "Master!" just like before.
"I'm not your master either, get out of here, get out of here!"
"Master!" Bao'e dragged her rake through the door. "It's so hard, so hard, so hard! Master, please get rid of that fake one! These two bees turned into monkeys are making a racket on both sides of me, they're driving me crazy!"
After she finished speaking, she saw Sanzang crawling under the table.
She stared at him blankly and asked, "Master, why are you pretending to be a dog? Don't go into that hole, come out, come out."
Good Bao'e stepped forward, grabbed the back of Sanzang's collar, and yanked him out.
Sanzang stumbled, but regained his balance and said in a panic, "Amitabha, Wumiao, I told you to get the luggage, how could you bring back two monkeys!"
Bao'e then told him about the true and false pilgrims.
Upon hearing this, Sanzang carefully examined the two monkeys, but could not distinguish which one was real and which one was fake.
The two travelers glared at each other angrily. The one on the left said, "Master, he is a demon in disguise. I am the real one!"
As they were talking, they started fighting again.
Fearing that the two of them would fight too fiercely and destroy the farmhouse, Sanzang thought to himself that only a real monkey would wear a real golden headband, so he quickly recited the Tightening-Headband Mantra.
Unexpectedly, both travelers clutched their heads, complaining bitterly.
Sanzang had no choice but to stop, but the two monks were about to fight again.
Just a short while later, Bao'e had already drunk several bowls of water and eaten half a pot of rice from this family. She roused herself, raised her rake, and chopped it in the middle, separating the two of them.
She said, "Brother, stop fighting, so we can tell the real from the fake."
The traveler asked, "How are they divided?"
The Great Sage asked, "How can we compare?"
Bao'e said, "Although my senior brother is a bit hot-tempered, he is kind-hearted and patient with this old monk. Earlier, Master instructed the fake senior brother to beat him, and he suffered some injuries. You should first find a doctor and buy some ointment. Whoever is quick and agile is the real one, and whoever is unwilling is the fake one!"
Upon hearing this, the two travelers indeed rode away on the clouds to find the ointment.
Bao'e thought to herself: Those two mischievous monkeys are finally gone. It's rare to have a moment of peace and quiet.
Sha Wujing asked, "Senior Sister, is this method really effective?"
Bao'e smiled and said, "Don't worry, don't worry, I can tell the difference between the real and the fake."
But before she could sit down, the two of them rushed back, each carrying a box of ointment.
Helpless, she could only ask, "What kind of ointment did you two brothers buy back?"
The answer on the left was: "A miracle cure, it can be used for any injury."
The one on the right replied, "This miraculous medicine will surely heal Master's injuries."
“Good, good! You’re all good senior brothers! There’s just one thing…” Bao’e asked again, “Where should we apply it?”
The Great Sage on the left said, "Of course, I'll apply it to my body."
The traveler on the right said, "Of course, I'll apply it to my back."
Good Bao'e grabbed the traveler on the right and shouted, "Hahaha! It's fake, it's fake!"
The traveler's expression changed slightly, but he smiled and said, "My dear sister, don't talk nonsense. How do you know I'm a fake?"
Bao'e said, "If you've never hit your master, how would you know that this medicine should be applied to his back, but not to his head or legs?"
Sanzang regained his composure and returned to his divine state, clasping his hands together and saying, "Excellent, excellent! That day, the demon struck this humble monk on the back."
Bao'e chuckled, "I told you so!"
"Wumiao, I must remember this great deed you did." The real Great Sage drew his iron cudgel and struck the fake pilgrim.
The traveler withdrew his hand and fought with him.
Bao'e held up her rake, and Sha Wujing held his staff, acting as helpers.
The four fought until they were halfway up the mountain, but the two wanderers still looked the same. The fight was so dazzling that it was impossible to tell the difference between the real and the fake after only a few dozen rounds.
Sha Wujing frowned: "Senior Sister, which one should we hit?"
"I don't know." Bao'e didn't dare to make a random call and sighed repeatedly, "Oh, oh, what should I do? What should I do? I can only tell the truth from the falsehood, but I can't tell which is better."
Helpless, she advised again: "Brother, stop fighting. We're both on the journey to the West, why don't we help each other out?"
The group laughed and said, "Wu Miao, I, Old Sun, will not travel with those deceitful and harmful demons."
Another traveler laughed, "I, Old Sun, don't need any help."
“In that case, let’s stop,” the fool said. “It’s getting dark, so don’t rush. We can fight again tomorrow. It’s not good to fight at night, and we might hurt innocent people.”
The two monks also felt that this made sense, and reluctantly withdrew their sticks.
Bao'e was exhausted from her journey, so after a quick bath, she went to sleep.
In her hazy dream, she vaguely smelled a fragrance and unconsciously opened her eyes.
She opened her eyes groggily and met a pair of golden eyes.
Bao'e recognized him as the pilgrim, so she got up and stared at the sesame seed cake in his hand, saying, "Brother, why are you making sesame seed cakes at night instead of sleeping?"
The traveler laughed and said, "My dear sister, eat this on the way. It's filled with fragrant syrup."
"It smells delicious, making my stomach rumble and my mouth water." Bao'e asked him, "Why are you eating on the road?"
“Go on your journey to the West,” the pilgrim coaxed her. “Your master and Wujing are waiting outside. Don’t be lazy, get up quickly or you’ll miss the appointed time.”
Bao'e looked out the window and indeed saw Sanzang riding a white horse, followed by Sha Wujing carrying luggage, all looking at her.
While she was looking outside, the traveler stuffed the sesame seed cake into her arms, picked up her clothes and helped her put them on, then pulled her off the bed.
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Author's Note: *Guys, I'll try updating twice a week. If I can keep it up, I'll update more chapters. Update times are: 6 PM and 10 PM. If I can't finish writing, I'll postpone it to 11 PM.
*In the original Journey to the West, Chang'e is not a specific person, but a group of goddesses named Heng'e. The goddess in charge of the Guanghan Palace is Taiyin Xingjun. Since it's not appropriate to gender-swap Taiyin Xingjun here, we'll use the general interpretation of Chang'e and gender-swap Guanghan Xianjun. The other one, Yuegui Xianjun, is the osmanthus tree (the one that appeared in Chapter 8, the one that made osmanthus honey pies for Bao'e).
Looking for an artist to draw the character design for Ujiro-kun [with upright ears and a rabbit head].
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