Chapter 338: Chapter 338

The Holy Palace Lady looked up for a glance and said, "These two palace maids, such a lack of manners. When I was in Zhu Zi Country, sharing glory with the King, even the Grand Tutor and Prime Minister would bow low in my presence, not daring to look up. And yet, these two insignificant maids have the audacity to be so rude."

At this moment, a maid stepped forward and said, "Please forgive them, Your Grace. These two have just been brought into the cave; they must have been scared and thus lost their manners."

The Lady of the Golden Holy Palace rolled her eyes and asked the two maids, "Are you two newly arrived from Zhu Zi Country?"

"Exactly so!" Sand Monk replied.

Her face brightened with pleasure, and she hurriedly said, "Since you’ve just come from Zhu Zi Country, you must have news of His Majesty the King."

Zhu Bajie quickly responded, "Of course, we know. His Majesty even sent us with a message for you, but with so many ears around, I fear this is not the place to speak."

It was then that the Holy Palace Lady had her realization and turned to order the other maids, "All of you leave us!"

The maids did not dare to disobey the command and obediently filed out.

Zhu Bajie gave Sand Monk a look, prompting him to close the door promptly and discreetly set up a barrier to prevent eavesdropping from outside.

Afterward, Sand Monk wiped his hand over his face, reverting to his original appearance, startling the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace into exclaiming with alarm.

Zhu Bajie swiftly reassured her, "Fear not, Your Grace! We have been sent by His Majesty the King to rescue you and escort you back to the palace."

The Lady of Golden Holy Palace settled slightly and asked with a furrowed brow, "Are you saying you were dispatched by His Majesty the King to rescue me?"

"Precisely so!" Zhu Bajie nodded and said, "A few days ago, His Majesty issued an Imperial Proclamation seeking a Divine Doctor. By chance, we were passing through Zhu Zi Country, so we took up the Proclamation and were received as honored guests by His Majesty. He told us everything from beginning to end, entreating us to subdue demons and eliminate evil, and welcome back the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace."

Golden Holy Palace mused for a moment and then asked, "If you truly come from Zhu Zi Country, how is His Majesty faring now?"

Sand Monk took up the response, "Ever since Your Grace was taken by that demon, His Majesty has been ill with grief, bedridden for three years, and recently his condition has grown even more severe."

"Ah!" Upon hearing this, the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace cried out in shock and began to weep, covering her face.

Zhu Bajie cleared his throat and quickly comforted her, "Your Grace, do not worry. My senior brother has already cured His Majesty’s illness; you may rest assured."

Sand Monk also explained with a smile, "Although His Majesty’s health has improved, as the saying goes, ’The person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it.’ His Majesty’s illness originated due to Your Grace, so we plan to subdue the demon and then escort Your Grace back to the palace."

"Is that really true?" The Lady of the Golden Holy Palace immediately showed delight, but then her brow furrowed with concern as she said, "But that Sai Taisui has immense Divine Skills, how can he be subdued?"

Zhu Bajie smiled and said, "Leave the task of subduing demons and eliminating evil to us. However, we will need Your Grace’s cooperation."

"How can I cooperate?" the Golden Holy Palace asked in haste.

"Does this demon possess any treasures?" Zhu Bajie inquired.

The Lady of the Golden Holy Palace furrowed her brow and said, "I have heard that the demon has a treasure, three Golden Bells. If he shakes the first bell, a three-hundred-foot flame will burst forth to burn people; the second, a three-hundred-foot smokescreen will envelop them; and the third, a three-hundred-foot sandstorm will blind them. The smoke and fire are bearable, but the sand is most toxic—if it enters one’s nostrils, it can be fatal."

"So that’s how it is." Zhu Bajie grew worried upon hearing that the demon possessed such a powerful treasure.

Zhu Bajie’s eyes darted. Without their master, it seemed unlikely that they would easily defeat this demon.

After exchanging a glance with Sand Monk, Zhu Bajie put on a serious face and said, "Your Grace! It is not difficult to subdue this demon. However, he holds a very powerful treasure in his hands. To eliminate this demon, we need to harness Your Grace’s strength."

"Me!" exclaimed the Lady of Golden Holy Palace in surprise. "I am but a weak woman; if I had the ability to subdue demons and quell devils, I wouldn’t have been captured and imprisoned for three years."

Zhu Bajie smiled and said, "Naturally, we do not need Your Grace to lift a finger in subduing the demon. You only need to help us with a small matter."

"What sort of help? As long as it is within my power, I will not refuse," the Golden Holy Palace said hastily.

Wanting to not miss this chance to leave, the Golden Holy Palace was naturally willing to comply.

"Second Senior Brother, what do you plan to do?" Sand Monk asked curiously at this point.

Zhu Bajie looked at Sand Monk, signaling him to be at ease, before explaining with a smile, "It’s actually quite simple. If Your Grace still thinks of the King of Zhu Zi Country and wishes to reunite with him, you may wish to set aside your worries and sorrows for the moment. Pretend to be happy, show some wifely affection towards the demon to delude him into handing you the Golden Bells for safekeeping. Once I have stolen the Golden Bells and subdued the demon, we can escort Your Grace back to Zhu Zi Country to be with the King. What do you think, Your Grace?"

Golden Holy Palace thought for a moment, her brow furrowed, but eventually nodded and said, "I shall follow the gentleman’s advice. However, the demon treasures those Golden Bells greatly, always carrying them at his waist and never leaving them aside. I fear I may not be able to trick him out of the treasure, potentially complicating matters."

Zhu Bajie nodded slightly and said, "That will depend on Your Grace’s abilities. But if you truly can’t trick the treasure away, there’s no need to worry—we’ll simply find another way."

The Golden Holy Palace had no choice but to agree. Then Zhu Bajie had Sand Monk lift the prohibition and open the door.

At that moment, the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace, looking again at the two who had reverted to the guise of maids, gave her command: "Someone come!"

The fox and deer maid servants promptly walked in and bowed to listen to orders.

Lady of the Golden Holy Palace instructed, "Send someone to the front hall, please invite the Great King to come and speak."

"Yes!" A maid quickly took the order, turned, and left the Inner Palace. Arriving at Flaying Pavilion, she saw Sai Taisui sitting in the pavilion, a jar of wine on the table, yet to be opened.

Sai Taisui patted the wine jar with a look of reluctance in his eyes.

At that moment the maid approached and said, "I report to the Great King, the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace summons you."

"What?" Sai Taisui immediately showed a pleased expression and laughed, "The Holy Palace Lady usually only scolds me, why today does she invite me over?"

The maid hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Great King, today you sent two palace maids who were newly taken from Zhu Zi Country. The Lady of the Golden Holy Palace drove us out of the palace, kept those two palace maids inside for a long talk. When the palace gate was opened, the Holy Palace Lady instructed this maid to invite the Great King. As for the reason, this maid does not know."

"I see!" Sai Taisui nodded his head, his big eyes swirling around in contemplation, a cold smirk emerged at the corner of his mouth, then said, "Let’s go! Take me to the Inner Palace to see the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace."

Sai Taisui turned and walked out of Flaying Pavilion. He had barely taken a few steps when he suddenly remembered something and quickly turned to a little demon outside the pavilion, instructing, "Take that jar of wine to Front Back Pioneer, tell him he did a splendid job this time, and this wine is rewarded from the Great King."

"At your command!" The little demon promptly responded and quickly left with the wine jar.

Meanwhile, in the Inner Palace where the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace resided, Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk, transformed into two palace maids, stood respectfully behind the Golden Holy Palace.

At this time, Sun Wukong had also transformed into a fly and had flown here to see how his two junior brothers were faring.

And indeed, he found Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk had located the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace.

"Brother Monkey, how did you get here!"

Zhu Bajie immediately recognized Sun Wukong.

"Now that we have found the Golden Holy Palace, let’s take her and leave!"

Sun Wukong landed on Zhu Bajie’s shoulder and slowly began to speak.

"Don’t rush, Brother Monkey. You have no idea, this monster has a very powerful treasure. If we just fight , I’m afraid we’ll be at a disadvantage!"

"I will first deceive the Golden Holy Palace into giving the treasure to us, then dealing with Sai Taisui will be a piece of cake."

"So that’s the case. You dullard are quite clever. Sai Taisui is coming over now; Old Sun will leave first. If you succeed in deceiving the treasure, notify Old Sun."

Sun Wukong said this and, with a flutter of his wings, quietly flew away from the Inner Palace.

Not long after Sun Wukong had left,

Boisterous laughter from Sai Taisui resounded outside, and the Golden Holy Palace quickly stood up to welcome him.

At the sight of the Golden Holy Palace coming out to greet him with joy beaming on her face, Sai Taisui too felt elated.

However, just as the Golden Holy Palace Lady reached out to help Sai Taisui inside, he was frightened into a pale complexion and quickly sidestepped, waving his hands and saying, "I dare not, I dare not! I am honored by the Holy Palace Lady’s affection, but I fear pain in my hand, I dare not come near."

As it turned out, after the Holy Palace Lady was captured by Sai Taisui, True Man Ziyang just happened to pass this way. Fearing that the monster would defile the Golden Holy Palace and violate the human order, he offered a set of Five-colored Cloud Robes to Sai Taisui.

Sai Taisui, being an honest man, actually dressed the Golden Holy Palace in it.

Unexpectedly, the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace, once wearing the robe, was covered with poisonous spines. Every time Sai Taisui touched her, his hand was pricked with pain.

Thus, although Sai Taisui’s lecherous desires did not die for three years, he never succeeded and was pricked by the poisonous spines countless times, becoming terrified, leaving a psychological trauma.

At this moment, the Golden Holy Palace Lady had already ordered the maids to prepare wine and dishes, hurriedly asked Sai Taisui to be seated, "Great King, please sit. I have something to say to you."

Overwhelmed by favor, Sai Taisui sat down and laughed, "Whatever the Holy Palace Lady wishes to say, please speak freely."

At this time, Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk, transformed into two palace maids, promptly poured wine for the man and the demon.

The Lady of the Golden Holy Palace lifted her cup and said, "I have been cherished by the Great King for three years. Although we have not shared a bed or exchanged vows, we are connected by a bond from a past life, forming this spousal relationship. I toast the Great King first to express gratitude for your deep affection."

With that, she drained her cup.

"Good, good, good!" Overwhelmed by the favor, Sai Taisui quickly emptied his cup, cheerfully saying, "To be graced with the Holy Palace Lady’s affection is indeed a fortune for me!"

The Golden Holy Palace Lady feigned a smile and said, "Great King, I am deeply grateful for your profound love and would also like to draw close and fulfill the reality of being husband and wife. But alas, I cannot take off the clothing I wear; it is beyond help. I implore the Great King’s forgiveness!"

"Here, I apologize to the Great King. Allow me to toast you once more."

Saying this, she once again lifted her cup and drained it completely.