nyslfriends Chapter 8 Journey to the West: 3 Demons
Chapter 8 Journey to the West: 3 Demons
The tent fell silent.
The four demon generals gripped their weapons tightly. Zhang Guifang narrowed her eyes, her fingers lightly tapping the shaft of her spear.
Wen Zhong remained silent for a moment, then stood up and said:
"please."
Yun Zhongzi and Taiyi Zhenren stepped into the central command tent.
The generals in the tent turned their gazes toward the two men, their eyes flashing with cold light.
Wen Zhong sat upright in his command seat, his divine eyes half-open and half-closed, his face expressionless. Upon seeing the two men enter the tent, he nodded slightly.
"Please have a seat, my two senior uncles."
His tone was neither warm nor cold, neither impolite nor overly enthusiastic.
Yun Zhongzi smiled nonchalantly, cupped his hands, and took a seat.
Master Taiyi, however, was somewhat restless. He could naturally sense the tense atmosphere in the tent. He forced a smile onto his round face and cupped his hands in greeting to Wen Zhong:
"Nephew, my junior brother Yun Zhongzi and I have come on the orders of our master to help you quell the demon scourge. Among the rebels in the North Sea, there are many demons, and we..."
"Thank you for your help, my two senior uncles."
Wen Zhong interrupted him calmly, his tone remaining indifferent:
"You two have come from afar, please rest for a while, and we can discuss this again tomorrow."
"Our master's orders are urgent, so we'll set off immediately."
As Yun Zhongzi spoke, he turned and left; Taiyi Zhenren also quickly got up.
Yun Zhongzi had anticipated this attitude from the other party.
The fact that the Chan Sect was secretly aiding the rebels in the North Sea had already spread throughout the Shang army through the words of the Golden Spirit Mother. Wen Zhong was reluctant to directly turn against them because of the decree of the sage and the fact that they were "suspected" to have the "assistance" of a Golden Immortal from the Chan Sect.
Before Wen Zhong could reply, Yun Zhongzi and Taiyi Zhenren rode the clouds into the sky, crossed the battlefield, and headed straight for the rebel camp.
Although Wen Zhong did not give them a friendly look, he still sent someone to deliver detailed intelligence about the rebels.
Under Yuan Futong's command, the main force of the demon race consisted of the Lion Camel King, the Flood Dragon Demon King, and the Nine-Headed Insect. There were also remnants of the seventy-two warlords' forces, as well as a large number of human and demon soldiers who had taken forbidden drugs.
Inside the central command tent of the rebel army camp.
Yuan Futong sat in the commander's seat, his brow furrowed in worry.
On the long table in front of him lay several military reports that had just been delivered by scouts, each one containing bad news.
He rubbed his temples and let out a long sigh.
"The immortal master has left without saying goodbye; what are we to do?"
He was talking to himself.
Just yesterday, Chang'er Dingguangxian of the Jie Sect and Ksitigarbha of the Western Sect fled quickly after the Golden Spirit Mother appeared. They were even threatened by Chang'er Dingguangxian not to reveal that the two had come here, otherwise he would surely be annihilated and have no chance of reincarnation.
Then, news came that two immortal masters from the Chan Sect had been taken away by the Golden Spirit Mother of the Jie Sect.
Overnight, the three immortal masters vanished without a trace.
But the deadly thing is the banned drugs.
The secret medicine left behind by Chang'er Dingguangxian did indeed greatly increase the combat power of his soldiers. But the cost also became apparent.
Those soldiers who took the drug felt no pain during the battle, but afterwards they collapsed to the ground, their meridians aching and their bodies throbbing with pain. Those with lower cultivation levels even fainted. Worse still, once the drug's effects wore off, their cultivation levels plummeted, their foundations were damaged, and they could never make any further progress in their lives.
Although he still has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, less than 30% are truly capable of fighting.
Yuan Futong became increasingly worried, picked up the wine cup on the table, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.
At that very moment—
A commotion suddenly arose outside the tent.
"Heavens! There are immortals in the heavens!"
The wine bottle in Yuan Futong's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter," splashing wine all over the floor.
His face lit up with joy, thinking that the immortals of the Chan Sect had come to his aid again. He suddenly stood up and stumbled out of the tent.
Looking up, I saw two people standing in the air.
A figure stood on auspicious clouds, his golden and white Taoist robe fluttering in the wind. Eight pillars of divine fire, each as thick as a person could be embraced, surrounded him. The pillars were inscribed with dense runes, and as the firelight swirled, it turned half the sky crimson.
A person rode a pink flying boar, his moon-white Taoist robe bulging from his belly. In his palm, he held a Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Cover, with nine fire dragons coiled around it, their mouths slightly open, faintly emitting flames.
It was Yun Zhongzi and Taiyi Zhenren.
Yuan Futong's face turned deathly pale instantly. He wasn't an idiot; the two of them clearly looked like they were there to fight.
"Loose the arrows! Loose the arrows now!"
He screamed.
In the rebel ranks, archers hastily drew their bows, and arrows rained down into the air.
Yun Zhongzi didn't even lift his eyelids, and the Heavenly Divine Fire Pillar trembled slightly.
The eight pillars of fire hummed simultaneously, and the flame runes on their surfaces suddenly lit up. A crimson wave of fire surged outwards from the pillars, spreading in all directions.
Thousands of arrows turned to ashes in the flames.
Taiyi Zhenren patted the head of his flying boar, clearly not wanting to cause bloodshed, and sighed:
"Junior brother, shall we do it?"
Yun Zhongzi said calmly:
"Please go first, senior brother."
Taiyi Zhenren nodded and tossed the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover in his palm downwards.
"go."
The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover flew out of his hand and expanded in the wind. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a huge cover with a diameter of a hundred feet, which descended from the sky and covered the right flank of the rebel camp with a bang.
Nine fire dragons roared out from the protective canopy, their cries shaking the heavens.
Wherever the fire dragon passed, swathes of demon soldiers turned to ashes. The human soldiers who had taken the forbidden drug were scorched by the flames, their black aura instantly burned away, and they collapsed to the ground screaming in agony. Ironically, this misfortune turned into a blessing in disguise, as it eliminated the subsequent harm of the drug to their bodies.
Taiyi Zhenren controlled the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, specifically targeting the areas with the densest demonic energy. The nine fire dragons crisscrossed the rebel army's ranks, killing demons but harming no humans.
Yun Zhongzi glanced at it and his heart stirred slightly. As expected, Taiyi Zhenren was still doing thankless tasks as always.
Yun Zhongzi withdrew his gaze, raised his hand to form a hand seal, and the eight pillars of heaven-reaching divine fire trembled simultaneously.
The flame runes on the pillars lit up one by one, each rune bursting with dazzling light. The eight pillars of fire hummed and dispersed, forming a Bagua (Eight Trigrams) arrangement, surrounding the left flank of the rebel camp in the center.
Yun Zhongzi pressed his fingertip down.
"fall."
Eight pillars of fire sank simultaneously.
boom--
Flames shot into the sky.
The rebel left flank was instantly engulfed in flames. The demon soldiers screamed as they transformed into their original forms within the inferno. Lion demons, tiger demons, wolf demons, snake demons, and all sorts of ferocious beasts struggled and writhed in the flames before finally turning to ashes.
Those human soldiers who had taken the forbidden drug were burned clean of their black aura by the flames, and they collapsed to the ground, though their vital energy was greatly damaged, their lives were saved.
Ultimately, being of the same race, Yun Zhongzi followed suit and helped the rebels eliminate the threat; however, he himself was unclear about how much of this was an act for Taiyi Zhenren's benefit.
Yuan Futong stood in front of the central command tent, watching as both flanks were simultaneously engulfed in flames, his face drained of all color.
He knew it was over, utterly over; with these demon soldiers dead, what could he use to resist Wen Zhong?
"Retreat! Retreat now!"
He roared as he mounted his horse and galloped away with his guards.
Just then, three streams of demonic energy shot into the sky from behind the rebel camp.
A dark blue streak, accompanied by billowing demonic winds. A watery blue streak, with the phantom of a dragon coiled around it. A dark red streak, with eight snake heads hissing and contracting amidst the demonic aura.
It was none other than the Lion Camel King, the Flood Dragon Demon King, and the Nine-Headed Insect.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the three demons simultaneously activated their escape techniques and fled desperately in three different directions into the distance.
Yun Zhongzi had been waiting for this moment.
In the original story, these three demon kings never appeared during the Investiture of the Gods. However, Yun Zhongzi, who had read Journey to the West in his previous life, remembered clearly that the Lion Camel King and the Flood Dragon King were Sun Wukong's sworn brothers; and the Nine-Headed Insect was the son-in-law of the Dragon King of the Jade Pool on the journey to the West.
It turns out that the Western religion had already begun laying out its plans for Journey to the West at the very beginning of the Investiture of the Gods.
These three demons must not be controlled by the Western Religion.
"Don't you dare run away, you monster!"
Yun Zhongzi shouted loudly, his voice shaking the surrounding area.
The auspicious cloud beneath his feet suddenly accelerated, transforming into a golden-white streak of light. He deliberately let the three demons escape from Taiyi Zhenren's sight first, then chased after them swiftly.
Taiyi Zhenren was controlling the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover to burn the demon soldiers when he suddenly heard Yun Zhongzi's loud shout. He looked up and saw that the golden-white escape light had already chased after them for dozens of miles.
He paused, scratched his head, and shouted:
"Junior brother? Junior brother, where are you going?"
Yun Zhongzi's figure had disappeared into the horizon.
Taiyi Zhenren looked down at the demon soldiers still burning within the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, then looked up at the direction where Yun Zhongzi had disappeared. Finally, he sighed and patted the head of the flying pig beneath him.
"Sigh, another bloody incident. Junior brother ran away quickly. Never mind, let's clean this place up first."
The flying pig grunted in response.