Chapter 945
Building Relationships
"This knife..."
"Here you go. The spoils of war." Sun Wukong walked forward without looking back. "You killed the tiger demon, so it's only right that you take its blade."
Chu Yang looked down at the curved blade in his hand, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.
Strictly speaking, Tiger Vanguard wasn't killed by him; Sun Wukong killed him with a single blow of his staff. But those two wounds—the sword mark on his calf and the sword wound under his ribs—were indeed inflicted by him.
This is his first real battle in this world.
He didn't win, but he didn't fight in vain either.
Tang Sanzang walked over and looked at his injuries with concern.
"Benefactor Chu, your injuries..."
Chu Yang stood up and stretched his limbs. His right shoulder still hurt, the scratch on his face was throbbing, and his back was probably bruised.
But none of these injuries were fatal.
"Master, don't worry, a night's rest will do the trick. Let's leave here quickly; there's more than one monster on Yellow Wind Ridge. Tiger Vanguard is the vanguard officer, and there's also the Yellow Wind King behind him."
Tang Sanzang's expression changed: "Is there something even more powerful?"
Sun Wukong turned around from the front: "Master, don't be afraid. With me here, no king or prince is a match for us. Let's go, before it gets dark, and quickly cross this mountain."
The group quickened their pace and continued forward along the passage.
Chu Yang walked in the middle of the group, holding the newly acquired scimitar in his right hand and resting his left hand on the short sword at his waist.
He was injured and his spiritual energy was depleted, making his steps much heavier than usual.
But his eyes were brighter than before.
That kind of brightness wasn't excitement or pride, but something deeper.
It is the certainty that comes from a deeper understanding of oneself, of combat, and of the world after experiencing real, hard-fought battles.
The wind and sand still howled, and the loess-colored mountain walls still pressed down on the view from both sides.
But Chu Yang felt that the road seemed wider than the one he had come by.
Pigsy walked beside him, carrying a rake, his mouth never stopping.
"Brother Chu Yang, when you stabbed it with your sword, the tiger roared like a pig being slaughtered. Oh no, like a tiger being slaughtered. I, Old Pig, saw it all clearly from behind. Your footwork—you darted under its ribs in a flash—I didn't even see how you got there."
Chu Yang smiled wryly, "You didn't see it clearly because I didn't see it clearly myself. My mind went blank, and my body just moved on its own."
Pigsy clicked his tongue in amazement: "You're really something! I, Old Pig, just swing my rake around randomly when I fight, I've never thought about footwork or body techniques. Could you teach me sometime?"
Sun Wukong jumped back from the front and kicked Zhu Bajie in the butt.
"With your 300-pound frame, you want to practice footwork? You'd be doing something like shamanistic dancing."
Pigsy covered his buttocks and cried out in despair, his voice echoing through the valley for a long time.
Tang Sanzang, riding on his horse, shook his head helplessly, but the smile on his lips remained.
Looking at his noisy companions ahead, Chu Yang felt that the pain all over his body didn't seem so bad anymore.
After passing through the narrowest section of Huangfengling Pass, the terrain suddenly opened up.
The mountain walls on both sides receded to the left and right as if pried open by a pair of giant hands, revealing a wide valley. The valley was covered with gravel and withered grass, and in the center was a dry riverbed. The pebbles on the riverbed were smooth and rounded by the wind and sand, and had a dull grayish-white hue.
On the distant hillside, a few clumps of low shrubs grew sparsely, their leaves wilted and drooping, swaying listlessly in the dry, hot wind.
The fishy smell in the air had lessened somewhat, but the eerie, hair-raising aura had not dissipated. Instead, it clung to the skin like an invisible film, sticky and suffocating.
Chu Yang's right shoulder was still throbbing. Zhu Bajie helped him with a simple fixation using strips of cloth, hanging his arm in a sling across his chest. Although walking was a little inconvenient, at least it wouldn't aggravate the wound anymore.
"That valley ahead looks flat, but the demonic aura hasn't dissipated." Sun Wukong stood on a boulder about ten feet above the ground, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked around. "The Yellow Wind King's cave should be nearby, but I, Old Sun, haven't found its exact location yet."
Chu Yang looked up at the sky. The sun was already setting, around 3 PM. Dusk hadn't fallen yet, but the light was already dimming. The grayish-yellow clouds on the horizon were tinged with a dirty orange by the setting sun, like moldy orange peel.
“Brother Monkey, we need to hurry,” he said. “If we’re not out of this mountain before dark, spending the night in the monster’s territory isn’t a good idea.”
Sun Wukong nodded and jumped down from the boulder.
"Come on, I, Old Sun, will lead the way. You all follow closely, don't fall too far behind."
The group quickly crossed the valley and headed west along the dry riverbed.
The terrain on both sides of the riverbed gradually rises, forming two low earthen embankments. Above the embankments are layers of loess terraces, and between the terraces are gullies eroded by rainwater. Some of these gullies are so deep that the bottom cannot be seen, and they are dark and gaping, like wounds cracked open in the earth.
Pigsy led the white dragon horse beside Tang Sanzang. Although his mouth was busy, he held the rake in his hand steadily, ready to fight at any time.
"Master, this place is terrifying. I, Old Pig, have a feeling something is watching us from the shadows."
Tang Sanzang chanted a Buddhist prayer, his expression still tense, but much calmer than before. After the events involving the White Bone Demon and the Earth Demon, he was no longer as panicked about monsters as he had been initially.
"Wuneng, don't panic. With Wukong leading the way, everything will be alright."
Chu Yang walked in the middle of the group, keeping an eye on his surroundings as he traveled.
He knew that the Yellow Wind Monster's most powerful skill wasn't close combat, but rather his Samadhi Divine Wind. Once that wind blew, sand and stones flew, the sky darkened, and even Sun Wukong couldn't open his eyes.
In the original story, Tang Sanzang was abducted by the Yellow Wind Demon's henchmen using a gust of demonic wind. At the time, Sun Wukong was scouting ahead, while Zhu Bajie was guarding Tang Sanzang's side. When the demonic wind came, Zhu Bajie was no match for it, and Tang Sanzang, along with his horse, was swept into the Yellow Wind Cave.
The current situation is similar to the original story—Sun Wukong leads the way, while Zhu Bajie protects Tang Sanzang.
The only difference is that there is an additional Chu Yang.
But Chu Yang was currently exhausted of his spiritual energy, his right arm was injured, and his combat power was almost zero. Even if the demonic wind came, he couldn't stop it.
All he can do is issue early warnings.
The problem is that the Yellow Wind Monster's demonic wind came too suddenly. It wasn't an ordinary wind; it was a magical wind carrying demonic power, and from its activation to its sweeping engulfment, it probably took less than two breaths.
Unless Sun Wukong stays by Tang Sanzang's side every step of the way, it would be almost impossible to defend against a sneak attack of this level.
Sun Wukong is currently scouting ahead of the group at a distance of about thirty or forty feet.
This distance is sufficient—enough for a monster that has been lying in wait to slip through.
Chu Yang's mind raced as he weighed the pros and cons.
He could call Sun Wukong back to protect Tang Sanzang. But that would slow the group's advance considerably, and once the Yellow Wind Demon saw Sun Wukong beside Tang Sanzang, he wouldn't act rashly but would wait for a better opportunity—one that might come when they were more tired and relaxed.
Instead of passively waiting for monsters to come to us, why not...
Chu Yang made a decision.
He did not call Sun Wukong back.
Just then—
The ground beneath my feet trembled slightly without warning. The tremor was so subtle that it felt like something had turned over underground.
Then, the wind came.
They didn't come from one direction, but from all directions simultaneously.
Yellow dust, like a moving city wall, poured down from the terraces on both sides of the riverbed, covering the sky and blotting out the sun. In an instant, the light of day was swallowed up, and the whole world became a murky yellow vortex.
Chu Yang only had time to raise his left arm to shield his face before the sandstorm knocked him off his feet, and he was pushed back several steps.
Pigsy shouted, "Demon wind—"
He brandished his rake, trying to protect Tang Sanzang, but the force of the wind far exceeded his expectations. The wind carried pebbles and sand, stinging him like knives. He squinted and desperately reached towards Tang Sanzang, his fingertips just touching the corner of Tang Sanzang's robe when an even more violent vortex swept in from the side, throwing him to the ground and tumbling three times before stopping.
The white horse neighed loudly, its hooves kicking wildly on the gravel, its eyes blinded by the sand and wind, unable to discern any direction.
"Master!" Chu Yang rushed towards Tang Seng's direction, but the sandstorm was too strong, and his vision was completely blocked. He couldn't see anything.
A deep tiger's roar came from the depths of the sandstorm, followed by a short, startled cry from Tang Sanzang—
"save--"
The sound stopped abruptly.
It was swallowed up by the wind.
From ahead came Sun Wukong's furious roar: "What is that—"
The sound of the golden cudgel cutting through the sand exploded, followed by a dull thud—Sun Wukong had struck something with his cudgel, but the thing didn't seem to be hit in a vital spot; instead, it used the wind to retreat rapidly.
After about ten breaths, the sandstorm began to dissipate.
The yellow dust and mist peeled away layer by layer, revealing the ravaged riverbed below.
The wind had carved countless grooves into the ground, scattering gravel everywhere. Several already shaky, withered trees were uprooted and lay across the road.
Pigsy crawled out from under a pile of rubble, covered in dust and spitting out a mouthful of sand.
"Pah, pah, pah—Where's Master? Where is Master?"
Sun Wukong flew back from the front and landed on the riverbed, his face ashen.
"Master has been kidnapped."
His voice was as cold as ice, and his sharp eyes were fixed on the plateau to the north.
"A demon abducted my master while a demonic wind was blowing. That beast was incredibly fast; I, Old Sun, chased it for dozens of feet but couldn't catch it. The demonic wind blocked my view, and it got away."
Pigsy stamped his feet in panic: "What should we do? Master has been captured and imprisoned in the Yellow Wind Cave?"
Sun Wukong gritted his teeth, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.
"You can run away, but you can't hide. That monster's lair is in that mountain to the north; I, Old Sun, can smell it." He turned to Chu Yang, "Brother Chu Yang, how are your injuries? Can you walk?"
Chu Yang stood up from the ground and patted the sand off his body.
He had several new scrapes on his body, and the old wound on his right shoulder was aggravated by the impact, making him wince in pain. But more than that, he was thinking about something else.
“I’m fine, I can walk,” he said.
Then he did something that neither Sun Wukong nor Zhu Bajie expected.
He didn't say, "Let's hurry and save our master."
He sat down.
He sat down on a pebble by the riverbed.
Then he took out a water pouch from his storage bag, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip of water.
Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie were both stunned.
"Brother Chu Yang, what...what are you doing?" Pigsy's eyes widened. "Master has been captured by a monster! How can you still be sitting here drinking water?"
Chu Yang handed the water bag to Zhu Bajie.
"Bajie, have some water and rest."
Pigsy took the water bag with a blank look on his face, subconsciously took a sip, and then realized what was happening.
"No—Brother Chu Yang, what exactly do you mean? Master—"
“Master is not in danger for the time being,” Chu Yang said calmly.
Sun Wukong's brows furrowed into a tight knot.
How did you know?
Chu Yang said, "Brother Monkey, think about it—why did those monsters want to capture Master?"
Sun Wukong blurted out, "Eat Tang Sanzang's flesh!"
“Yes, they’ll eat Tang Sanzang’s flesh.” Chu Yang nodded. “After they capture Master, will they eat him immediately?”
Sun Wukong paused for a moment.
Chu Yang continued, "No. After capturing Tang Sanzang, the first thing the demons would do wouldn't be cook and eat him, but rather lock him up, then hold a banquet to celebrate and invite their demon friends from the surrounding area to join in. After all, Tang Sanzang's flesh is said to grant immortality, and which demon wouldn't want to enjoy such a great benefit all to themselves? But they're also afraid of offending other demons, so they usually hold a banquet to both show off and cultivate relationships."
"From the moment Tang Sanzang was captured to the moment he was actually cooked, at least half a day to a full day passed."
After hearing this analysis, Sun Wukong's anger subsided somewhat, replaced by a hint of confusion.
“You’re right. But now that we know Master isn’t in immediate danger, shouldn’t we take advantage of this time to rescue him? The longer we delay, the greater the chances of things going wrong.”
Chu Yang shook his head slightly.
"Brother Monkey, I have an idea. But you might think it's a bit absurd."
Sun Wukong frowned: "Speak."
Chu Yang pondered for a moment, organizing his thoughts.
"Brother Monkey, have you ever thought that since we set off on our journey to the West, every time we've encountered danger, we've managed to escape unscathed? The time with the White Bone Demon, the time at Guanyin Temple, the time with Tiger Vanguard—our luck is almost abnormal."
Sun Wukong said, "That's because I, Old Sun, am powerful."
"Brother Monkey is indeed powerful. But some things can't be solved simply by being powerful." Chu Yang's gaze deepened. "Brother Monkey, what kind of person do you think Guanyin Bodhisattva is?"
Sun Wukong was stunned for a moment.
Chu Yang said, "Guanyin Bodhisattva entrusted the task of obtaining the scriptures to our master, and also arranged for you, Bajie, and other Dharma protectors who will appear in the future to protect us along the way. She has put in so much effort and invested so many people, do you think she would just ignore it?" (End of this chapter)