Chapter 60 "Master, something terrible has happened!"...
The child was hanging from a dead tree, tears welling in his eyes, crying out "Help!" He looked so pitiful.
Bao'e nodded and praised, "Good child, good child! You truly have the heart of a child. Even in this sweltering heat, you still have the leisure to swing."
After saying that, she walked away without looking to the side.
"Wumiao," Sanzang called to her, "wasn't that a person hanging from that tree? Why did you walk past it without offering any help?"
“Master, don’t wrong him!” Bao’e said, “He’s playing on the swing, why does he need anyone to help him? You are an old monk on a pilgrimage, don’t disturb the child’s enjoyment.”
The child cried out again, "Help! Master, please help!"
The elder scolded her, "This wretch is truly lazy and uncouth. She's clearly shouting 'Help!' but she's just swinging on a swing!"
Bao'e said, "He was swinging so high that he panicked and had to shout 'Help!' You've been reciting scriptures since you were little, so you don't know how to play on a swing."
The pilgrim laughed and said, "Master, your luck is too low. Although Wu Miao is a charlatan, this child cannot be saved; he is a demon in disguise."
Sanzang said, "How could a perfectly normal child be a demon in disguise?"
Although Bao'e did not recognize the demon, she knew the elder's background.
She asked him, "Master, how many times have you run into good people?"
The monk was filled with shame, but said, "Amitabha, even if it were just once, it would still be in accordance with my good intentions. How could I not help him when he was in trouble?"
The pilgrim said, “Master, please restrain your compassion a little. It’s abnormally hot here. It’s not too late to show compassion after we leave this place.”
The child in the tree cried out again, "Help! Master, help!"
The elder couldn't bear to do it.
He said to the pilgrim, "Wukong, save him. He looks like a human, not a demon."
Seeing that he was determined to save him, the traveler wanted to persuade him again, but was afraid that he would recite the "Tightening Spell," so he simply lowered his head and did not reply.
Tripitaka then stepped forward and asked the child, "Who are you? Why are you hanging from this tree? Don't be afraid, tell me, and I will save you."
The child cried and sobbed, “Master, there’s a village to the west, and I live in that village. Because my family had some property, we attracted the attention of villains. My father refused to lend us money and was killed. My mother was also kidnapped. It was only after my mother pleaded with them that the bandits released me, but they left me hanging here, my life in their hands. Master, please save me! Don’t let me turn into a dried-up human body.”
Upon hearing this, Sanzang almost shed tears.
He said, "Wukong, release him quickly."
The Monkey King shouted, "You wicked demon, how dare you pretend to be an innocent person and deceive my master! I ask you, your father is dead and your mother is gone, so where am I going to entrust you after I saved you?"
The child cried again: "Elder, I only ask for a way to live, not a place to go. Although my parents are gone, we still have some land. If you can save me, I will repay you with all my heart. I would be willing to sell myself and my life."
He looked at Sanzang and cried out, "Master, it hurts so much! My skin has been sunburned off, and the ropes are so tight, it's burning hot!"
Then Sanzang remembered his origins.
His biological father had died at the hands of bandits, and his biological mother had also been taken by bandits.
Remembering the past, he couldn't bear it any longer and hurriedly said, "Wukong, let him go. This little kid is so pitiful! We mustn't let him die from the sun again."
The traveler grew increasingly agitated, so anxious that he was on the verge of exploding with impatience, wishing he could beat the demon to death with his stick.
Bao'e suddenly stepped forward, muttering incoherently, "Brother, don't be hasty, let him go. Even if he's a demon, he won't eat your monkey flesh, what are you afraid of!"
That fool didn't care about right or wrong, he released the child.
The child, with tears in his eyes, kowtowed to the elder.
The elder, being a kind-hearted man, told him to mount his horse.
The child wiped away his tears: "Master, my legs are sunburned, and it hurts when I sit on the horse. We're from the countryside, so we can't ride horses."
Elder: "Wujing, you carry him on your back, and Wumiao will carry the luggage."
The child shook his head: "This elder looks rather fierce, I dare not teach him to carry a load."
Sanzang said, "Wukong, carry him."
The child shook his head again: "This elder doesn't seem to be a good person, so I don't dare ask him to carry me."
Just as Sanzang was about to speak, Bao'e suddenly said, "Master, please dismount."
He asked, "Why do you want me to dismount?"
Bao'e said, "He doesn't want to ride a horse, nor does he want his junior brother or senior brother to carry him; he only wants you to carry him. If you dismount and carry him, I'll help you sit on this horse, so it won't forget that it's a horse."
Sanzang said, "Wumiao, stop talking nonsense!"
The child said, "Good sister, you have a kind face, so please carry me."
Bao'e suddenly stopped talking, her eyes half-closed, standing there blankly.
"Wumiao," Sanzang called to her.
Bao'e asked, "Master, what do you want me to do?"
"You carry him on your back."
Bao'e pointed at him and laughed: "Hahaha! Master, don't be ashamed, don't be ashamed! You want to save him, but you make me do your work. You're just using other people's money to do good deeds."
This made Sanzang blush with embarrassment.
The child, however, was nimble and jumped onto Bao'e's back.
Helpless, she could only support him with both hands and said, "It's alright to carry you, but don't forget to pawn some of your land to pay me."
"No problem, no problem!" The child hugged her neck, nestled obediently on her back, and giggled, "Sister, you have such a kind heart, you've done everything right."
Sanzang rode ahead on his horse, while the fool followed behind. He honestly said, "It's because you're so weak. Otherwise, I would really tie you up with a rope and drag you behind the white dragon horse."
The traveler sneered from the side: "That's fine, at least we won't let that wicked monster cause any more trouble!"
"What are you saying, little elder?" The child, burying his face behind Bao'e, choked back tears. "I'm an innocent and pitiful person. I didn't do anything wrong. I was a little lightheaded because I was in the sun for a few days. Fortunately, my good sister carried me, and I recovered in no time."
Just then, Bao'e suddenly felt the person on her back getting heavier.
It was originally small and delicate, weighing just over three pounds.
In the blink of an eye, he felt incredibly heavy, pressing down on her back.
Bao'e became dazed and stood frozen in place.
Seeing that she didn't move an inch, the child thought to himself: She's quite capable; even a thousand pounds of weight can't bring her down.
It turns out he really was a demon. He had heard that eating Tang Sanzang's flesh could grant longevity, so he transformed into a child and tricked them.
Wukong asked, "Why aren't you leaving?"
Upon hearing this, Sanzang also turned around to look.
The fool exclaimed, "Master, something terrible has happened!"
The elder panicked and asked, "What makes you say that?"
Bao'e said blankly, "I'm a little hungry. The little boy, who weighs about a pound, feels like he weighs a thousand pounds."
Upon hearing this, the monster, with tears still on his face, almost burst out laughing.
Fearing she might go mad, Sanzang quickly said, "Wumiao, let him go for now. There's still some dry food in the bundle; eat it before carrying it."
Bao'e then slammed the monster to the ground.
The traveler had been preparing to fight the monster, and upon seeing it, he immediately drew his iron cudgel.
The monster, however, was prepared and used a corpse-dissolving technique, causing its primordial spirit to leap into the air.
He thought to himself that if this dragged on for too long, he might not be able to eat Tang Sanzang's flesh, so he created a gust of wind and swept Tang Sanzang away.
The wind was fierce, and the three disciples covered their faces to avoid it. When the wind stopped, the white dragon horse kept neighing, and Sanzang on the horse had disappeared.
Seeing this, the traveler sighed and said, "My dear sister, my dear brother, let's disperse."
Bao'e nodded: "That's right, it's too hot today. Let's divide our luggage early so we can go our separate ways."
Sha Wujing panicked and said, "Eldest brother, it's one thing for senior sister to mention breaking up the group on ordinary days, but why are you thinking of doing the same thing today?!"
The pilgrim said, “Wujing, I, Old Sun, also wish to obtain the scriptures, but my master has repeatedly refused to listen to my advice. Just now, that child was clearly a demon, but the old monk did not believe me and insisted on saving him. Now that the monster has taken him away, I, Old Sun, am also somewhat disheartened.”
Sha Wujing advised, "Eldest brother, don't say discouraging things. Neither my sister nor I recognized that child as a demon, let alone Master, who has only mortal eyes?"
“Brother, you’re right. Since we’ve been ordered to go west, we can’t afford to be lazy.” The Monkey King looked at Bao’e, “My dear sister, we must work together to rescue our master.”
This fool was also unreliable; upon hearing this, he nodded again: "I just don't know which demon captured him."
“No problem, no problem!” the Monkey King said. “Wujing, you guard the luggage. Wumiao, you take good care of the White Dragon Horse. I’ll go and find out some information first.”
After saying this, he rode away on a cloud.
Bao'e was feeling very hot and said to Sha Wujing, "Junior brother, it's getting hot."
Sha Wujing asked, "Shall we go fetch water?"
“You still have to guard the horses, so you can’t go far,” Bao’e whispered to him. “Wujing, that white dragon horse always pretends not to hear me. Tell it to keep wagging its tail so it can create some breeze and cool you down. If it doesn’t listen, just say that your senior sister is going to die from the heat and that it will have to carry a corpse.”
Sha Wujing sighed and said, "Senior sister, there is also a leaf used for holding water, which can be used to fan the air, and it is better than that horse tail."
Bao'e was overjoyed: "Good, good!"
He took the leaf out of his bundle and fanned her with it.
The two of them rode on a cloud and headed in one direction. On the way, Bao'e asked him, "Brother, what kind of family is that demon?"
“Speaking of which, he is related to me,” the Monkey King laughed. “Five hundred years ago, when I, the Monkey King, wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, I made six brothers, one of whom was the Bull Demon King, whom I called the eldest brother. That demon was his son, named Bull Saint Infant. I’m afraid the child was ignorant and mistook his master for an ordinary person, and mistakenly took him away.”
As they were talking, they arrived at a mountain.
Unlike the Flaming Mountains, this place is scenic and very shady.
Bao'e let out a long sigh, and then felt that the mountain scenery looked familiar.
Before she could figure it out, she suddenly bumped into several monsters.
"Wumiao, stop talking and see what those monsters are planning." The traveler pulled her aside and listened to the monsters' words in secret.
After listening carefully, he figured it out: it was the Holy Infant King who sent some of his men to invite the Bull Demon King back so that he could eat Tang Sanzang's flesh.
He pondered, "With the Bull Demon King gone, that demon probably won't give in easily. He tricked me first, so I'll make him kowtow to me a few times."
Bao'e asked, "You monkey, have you gone mad? Why is he kowtowing to you for no reason?"
The Monkey King laughed and said, "My men are going to invite the Bull Demon King. I happen to remember what he looks like, so I'll just transform into him and scare him a little."
“Okay, okay!” Bao’e sat down on the spot. “Brother, I’ll wait for you here.”
“My dear sister, don’t be lazy. Transform into a bee and come with me.”
“Senior brother, such a small object is hard to transform,” Bao’e asked him. “You said that the Bull Demon King is a demon transformed from a bull. How about I transform an iron plow and put it on you? Is that alright?”
"Fool, stop shouting! He's a monster, not a plowing ox. What's the point of him dragging an iron plow?" The traveler paused for a moment. "Fine, fine, you can become him, and I'll turn into a bee and sting behind your ear."
"But I don't know what he looks like."
“No problem, no problem!” the pilgrim laughed. “I will first transform into his appearance. You observe carefully, remember it well, and then transform according to my appearance.”
Bao'e also became interested and nodded repeatedly: "Good, good!"
After saying this, the pilgrim made a hand gesture and transformed into the Bull Demon King.
His eyes were like bright mirrors, his eyebrows like red rainbows, and his face was handsome; he was a tall and brave man.
Bao'e watched intently and suddenly said, "Brother, I have never transformed into a man, nor do I know the nature of this demon king. I'm afraid someone will find out."
"Don't be afraid," the traveler chuckled. "If you don't know what to say, just pretend you're deaf and dumb."
Bao'e nodded, made a hand seal, and transformed into the appearance of the Bull Demon King.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
