Chapter 340: Chapter 340

Sun Wukong stood at the gate, frowning and dissatisfied.

Just at this moment, Sai Taisui charged out with his little demons.

Then Sai Taisui stabbed his Wind Blade Xuanhua Axe into the ground and shouted fiercely, "Who are you? How dare you attack my gate? Quickly state your name, for my axe does not behead the nameless."

Sun Wukong looked up slightly and said with a smile, "I am the external grandfather invited by Zhu Zi Country, here to retrieve the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace and take her back to her country! If you’re smart, hurry up and hand over the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace."

Sai Taisui responded with a sneer, "What an ignorant fool. Listen here, grandfather, I advise you not to meddle in others’ affairs and to run for your life now! I’m in a good mood, so I’ll spare your life for the moment."

Sun Wukong laughed heartily and said, "What a good fellow! Call me ’grandfather’ again, and grandfather will give you candy to eat."

Sai Taisui became enraged and yelled, "You fool who doesn’t know whether to live or die, how dare you take advantage of me! Don’t run! Take my axe!"

Enraged by Sun Wukong’s words, Sai Taisui no longer wasted words. Gripping the Xuanhua Axe, he furiously charged forward in attack.

Sun Wukong watched Sai Taisui charge at him, sensing that Sai Taisui recognized him.

But by this time, Sai Taisui had already swung his axe at him. Sun Wukong, without time for random thoughts, quickly raised his Jingu Bang to block the incoming axe.

Sai Taisui pressed down hard and demanded fiercely, "Who exactly are you? Quickly state your name. I might still spare your life, but if you hesitate, I’ll condemn you to a fate worse than death!"

Sun Wukong replied with a grin, "You monster does talk big. Listen up, I am none other than Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, who caused Havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago. If you’re wise, surrender promptly and hand over the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace; otherwise, don’t blame your old Sun for being ruthless with the staff!"

"Little Pilgrim!" sneered Sai Taisui. "You think you can rescue the Golden Sage Queen?"

Hearing Sai Taisui’s words, Sun Wukong didn’t want to say more. He raised his Jingu Bang and smashed it down on Sai Taisui’s head.

Sai Taisui hurriedly raised his axe to fight back. This monster’s skills were quite impressive, wielding his axe with wide, sweeping moves. In an instant, he was locked in combat with Sun Wukong, and after dozens of exchanges, neither gained the upper hand.

Seeing that Sun Wukong couldn’t get the better of him, Sai Taisui couldn’t help but laugh out loud and then bellowed, "You Pilgrim, do you think you can capture me?"

Sai Taisui became arrogant upon realizing Sun Wukong couldn’t defeat him.

"You really think I can’t take you down?"

Sun Wukong’s eyebrows twitched, and he swung down his golden staff fiercely.

Sai Taisui rushed to block it, and with a loud boom,

Sai Taisui’s hands couldn’t hold back the blow, and he was forced to retreat several steps.

Seeing Sai Taisui recoil, Sun Wukong swept out with his staff, striking Sai Taisui hard on the waist.

Sai Taisui screamed and was sent flying dozens of feet, falling to the ground and rolling away into the distance.

Seizing the opportunity, Sun Wukong quickly pursued, raised his Jingu Bang, and smashed it down at Sai Taisui once more.

In panic, Sai Taisui quickly raised his Xuanhua Axe to block over his head, ’clang!’ With one blow, Sun Wukong’s staff struck the axe, which in turn hit Sai Taisui’s face, leaving him swollen with a bruised nose, bleeding profusely.

Unable to bear it, Sai Taisui cried out in agony and, while reciting an incantation, suddenly turned into a black wind. Sun Wukong dispersed the black wind with his staff, but by then, Sai Taisui had already vanished.

Just then, there was a burst of laughter from behind Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong quickly turned around, only to find that Sai Taisui had somehow fled to the entrance of the cave and was looking at him with a cold sneer.

At this moment, Sai Taisui looked far from his usual imposing self, with a swollen face and a bloody nose, completely disheveled, yet the fool seemed utterly unaware of it.

"Haha." Sun Wukong laughed heartily and pointed at Sai Taisui, scolding, "Monster, now you know the might of your Grandpa Sun!"

"Sun Wukong, don’t be arrogant!" Finally convinced that the man before him was indeed Sun Wukong, Sai Taisui nevertheless was unafraid and loudly declared, "You impudent monkey indeed have some ability, but I do not fear you. Today, I will let you witness my divine skills."

The monster then took out a string of bells from his waist, the Purple Gold Bells.

Sun Wukong scoffed and said, "You ignorant rude monster, whatever skills you have, bring them on! If old Sun even frowns, he’s not a true man!"

"Hmph, ignorant of death." Sai Taisui snorted coldly, picked up the first bell, removed the cotton stuffed inside it and said to Sun Wukong with a sneering smile, "Sun Wukong! Watch how powerful my magical treasure is!"

With that, he gently shook the bell.

"Boom!" There was a loud explosion as the bell, like a flamethrower, instantly spewed out flames three hundred feet long. Caught off guard, Sun Wukong was engulfed by the fire in an instant.

"What’s going on!" Sun Wukong couldn’t help but curse under his breath, finally realizing that the Purple Gold Bell stolen by Zhu Bajie was a fake.

He naturally wouldn’t believe Zhu Bajie had deceived him.

It seems that not only the Golden Holy Palace was good at deception; Sai Taisui was also quite skilled in trickery, fooling both Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk.

But at this moment, Sun Wukong had no time to think about these issues. He somersaulted away using his Flying Nimbus, escaping from the spot engulfed in flames.

In an instant, Sun Wukong was gone, vanishing into the distance.

"Haha!" Sai Taisui laughed triumphantly. The little demons behind him, seeing their king victorious, also began to shout and cheer.

"Hmph!" Sai Taisui snorted disdainfully, looking pleased as he said, "No matter how powerful you, Pilgrim, may be, you’ll be turned to ashes by fire. Minions, back to the cave!"

After fleeing Qilin Mountain, Sun Wukong shook himself, and all the flames on his body were extinguished in an instant.

With Sun Wukong’s current level of strength, such flames naturally couldn’t harm him.

Sun Wukong was also unafraid of the smokescreen, but to think such a simple move could wield such power.

It was feared that what followed would be even more terrifying.

Of course, this battle was probably under the surveillance of the celestial Immortals and Buddhas. If he showed too great a strength, it was feared that the celestial Immortals and Buddhas would become wary of him, which wouldn’t benefit him in any way.

So, it was better to keep a low profile whenever possible.

"But how did this idiot find out they have already arrived?"

Clearly, whether it was him or Zhu Bajie and their group, they had also made preparations. Otherwise, Zhu Bajie wouldn’t have failed to deceive Sai Taisui out of his treasure.

"It seems the celestial Immortals and Buddhas have interfered again. Otherwise, handling this monster should have been a piece of cake!"

Sun Wukong said, frowning.

Sai Taisui had long been ready and was just waiting for them to walk into his trap.

"Regardless, let’s subdue Sai Taisui first," Sun Wukong thought, and with a somersault, he returned to Qilin Mountain, where Sai Taisui had already withdrawn his troops and retreated to his cave.

Then, Sun Wukong transformed into a flying insect, fluttered his wings, and once again flew into the demon cave.

Having turned into an insect, Sun Wukong entered the Inner Palace, where from a distance he could hear Sai Taisui’s voice, "My Lady, please let me explain. Last night, I received news that the vanguard I sent to Zhu Zi Country was slain by Sun Wukong!"

"Sun Wukong and the others disguised themselves as the vanguard and palace maids, attempting to harm me."

"So, I turned their ploy against them, but who knew that Sun Wukong would flee so fast. As for the two palace maids being impostors, I feared they would steal the Golden Bells, which is why I didn’t dare entrust the real treasure to your protection, My Lady. It wasn’t my intention to deceive you."

It turned out that the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace blamed Sai Taisui upon learning that the treasure he gave her was fake. The monster, smitten, confessed the truth to win over the beauty.

Upon hearing this conversation, Sun Wukong roughly understood the situation. It appeared that Sai Taisui had informants within Zhu Zi Country, which is how he obtained the news beforehand and deliberately set up the trap.

They, oblivious to the plot, had nearly suffered a setback due to carelessness.

Just now, when Sai Taisui called Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk fake palace maids, Sun Wukong wondered how they were faring now.

"Humph!" intoned the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace coldly. "Don’t try to deceive me. Clearly, you don’t trust me. If it’s as you just claimed, do you then have informants in Zhu Zi Country? I’ve been here for three years and haven’t heard of such a thing."

Sai Taisui hurriedly explained, "How would I dare deceive you, My Lady? To be frank, I hadn’t really placed any informants inside Zhu Zi Country, but a few days ago, someone from Buddhism visited!"

"He came to pay his respects and said he would stay in Zhu Zi Country for a few days. Last night, that person from Buddhism came again and told me about Sun Wukong slaying my vanguard, reminding me to stay vigilant."

"It was also that person from Buddhism who suggested that I use their strategy against them and seize the opportunity to capture Sun Wukong and others. It was never my intention to intentionally deceive My Lady!"

"So, it was someone from Buddhism who deliberately schemed against Old Sun! It seems now that the Journey to the West is fraught with traps on all sides, isn’t it?" Sun Wukong mused inwardly.

At this moment, Sun Wukong had arrived in the Inner Palace and was perched on a flower, stealthily observing Sai Taisui and the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace.

Suddenly, Sun Wukong noticed that the two Jade-Faced Fox maids standing behind Sai Taisui were none other than Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk in disguise.

Realizing how clever these two were allowed Sun Wukong to breathe a sigh of relief.

He had thought that Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk had already been captured by the monster.

"Brother Monkey, you’re here!"

Zhu Bajie communicated via telepathy.

"Sorry about just now, for passing you the fake bell!"

Zhu Bajie said somewhat sheepishly.

"No problem. How did you guys figure out that Sai Taisui had caught on to your disguises?"

Sun Wukong asked, somewhat curious.

"When the demon went to attack you, he didn’t take any treasures with him, so I guessed there was deceit involved. I asked Sand Monk to take care of those two Fox Maids so we could take their place," Zhu Bajie chuckled as he spoke. He had been cautious after sensing something was amiss and had quickly killed the Jade-Faced Foxes.

"Oh, it seems even you, the simpleton, must have been prepared for what was to come!"

Hearing his words, Sun Wukong replied with a chuckle.

"Now the monster thinks we’ve all left. All we need to do is trick the Lady of the Golden Holy Palace into bringing over the real treasure."

"I reckon the monster’s strength is average. Without his treasures in hand, he’s nothing to fear," Zhu Bajie said with a grin.

"This is called a retaliatory strike. The monster certainly won’t be prepared for this!"