Chapter 348: Chapter 348

"Watch me catch him!"

The female demon who clamped Zhu Bajie with her legs said as she reached out with both hands and grabbed fiercely downward, tightening her legs at the same time to prevent Zhu Bajie from escaping.

Just as the female demon’s hands were about to touch the fish, suddenly there was a sharp ’smack’, and the fish swung its tail and struck the female demon’s hands hard.

The female demon felt a burning pain on the back of her hand and gritted her teeth, about to grab at the fish again, when she suddenly screamed and shot out of the water, leaping more than a meter high. The various demons clearly saw a large catfish clamped between her legs.

Zhu Bajie knew escape was of the utmost urgency. Any gap he saw, he tried to squeeze into to hide. Unexpectedly, he burst forth from the water and quickly flailed his tail.

After escaping through the gap, he ’plonked’ back into the water.

The other monsters quickly scuttled over, squatting and groping blindly, but the cunning fish had long since disappeared to who knows where.

"That cunning monk is simply detestable!"

"This monk turning into a fish is really too sly and slippery for us to catch!"

"Not only that, that pig-headed monk is truly abominable. Not only did he slap me with his tail, but just now he almost squeezed into my sister!"

The female demon who had jumped out of the water also recalled the incident, flushing with shame.

"There’s no need to be angry, sister," another female demon spoke up to console her. "This guy must be a catfish demon, and he’s still in the pond. He won’t be able to escape. When we catch him later, we can stew him for soup."

"Right! If we don’t stew this damned catfish demon until he melts away, my rage will not be satisfied," said the other female monsters, squatting in the pond and feeling for the fish, all while grinding their teeth in anger.

One of the female demons suddenly said, "Sisters, if he is indeed a catfish demon, why does he have a pig’s head? I’m eighty percent certain he is a Pig Demon! Moreover, a wild boar, a lecherous pig! He transformed into a catfish just to mock us and take advantage of us."

"If he is a pig, so much the better. When we catch him, we’ll castrate that lecher first! Then we’ll cut him into eight large pieces and start by making a roast pig head."

"And then a boiled pig heart."

"Stir-fried pig liver."

"Deep-fried pig lungs!"

"And then some braised pig feet in sauce!"

"Lastly, a large pot of red-braised pork."

The female demons planned a full pig feast while they felt around for the fish.

Zhu Bajie was paying close attention to these demons in the water. Now, hearing these monsters planning to kill him and make a full pig feast, he was overcome with rage.

He squeezed out from a crevice in the rocks, wagging his head and tail as he swam toward one of the female demons, first bumping his head hard against the pert backside of a demon, startling her into exclaiming.

She quickly turned around as Zhu Bajie swung around, flicking her with his tail with a sharp ’smack’.

"Damned catfish, despicable Pig Demon! Don’t let me catch you, or I’ll make you pay!" The female demon burst out in fury, swearing loudly.

Hearing the commotion, the other female demons gathered around, squatting and rooting about in the water.

But Zhu Bajie, no slouch as Marshal Tianpeng and extraordinarily skilled in water, had also transformed into a catfish and was too slippery to grab. Even if the female demons caught him, Zhu Bajie could struggle free with ease.

The female demons expended every trick in their arsenal and still couldn’t capture Zhu Bajie; instead, he took full advantage of them.

"Sisters! This isn’t working. This damned catfish is too slippery and strong. We simply can’t hold her," one of the female demons said.

"Use poison! Poison this lecher to death!" the leading Spider Spirit suddenly suggested.

"Right! Poison him!" the other female demons agreed.

Soon, from the backsides of the seven female demons, there came jets of red smoke, instantly staining the crystal-clear spring water a deep crimson red.

"Crap! Why are these female demons starting to fart now!"

Zhu Bajie thought he had everything under control.

He saw this scene and thought it was the demons passing gas.

But soon, Zhu Bajie felt an intense burning pain throughout his body, dizziness, and nausea as he was about to vomit.

Zhu Bajie only then realized that the fart was poisonous, and hurriedly swam to the pool’s edge, revealing his true form as he scrambled onto the bank.

Zhu Bajie hastily donned his clothes, pulled out his nine-toothed rake from behind a large rock, and shouted angrily, "I’ll see to you shameless Demons, still thinking you can catch old Zhu to stew for soup!"

"Blind fools, old Zhu is the second disciple of the monk from the Great Tang of the Eastern Land on his way to the Western Heaven to seek scriptures, none other than Marshal Tianpeng Zhu Wuneng! Firstly, you captured my master, now you toy with old Zhu. Those who know better will extend their necks for a rake, watch me eradicate you rude monsters and annihilate your households."

When the Demons heard this, and saw Zhu Bajie’s fierce appearance, they were scared witless, promptly begging for mercy, "Spare us, lord, we were blind to your stature and mistakenly captured your master. Though we hung him in the cave, we dared not inflict pain, and have not harmed Elder Tang in the slightest. We beseech your kindness to spare our lives, willing to offer you travel expenses to send you and your master to the west."

Zhu Bajie knew just how sly these Demons were and was unwilling to trust them, snorting coldly, "Hmph! As the saying goes, once you’ve been tricked by a sugar seller, never trust those with sweet words. Don’t think you can deceive old Zhu, come on and kneel for a rake. If you save your life, consider yourself lucky. If you lose it, don’t blame old Zhu for being heartless."

With that, he raised his rake and leapt into the pool, chasing the Demons all around in a chaotic rake attack.

The female Demons, terrified, screamed incessantly, no longer caring for modesty, as preserving their lives was more important; one by one, they leaped out of the pool and scattered in all directions to hide.

Zhu Bajie now cared not a whit whether these female Demons were beautiful or not, refusing to let them off as he chased them with rake in hand, shouting loudly, "Where do you think you’re running to, monsters! Today you will witness the ferocity of old Zhu."

Seeing Zhu Bajie relentlessly pursuing them with nowhere to hide, the lead monster shouted, "Sisters! Do not panic, let’s cast a spell together and capture this fat-eared monk."

"Sisters! Quickly cast the spell!" cried the seven Spider Spirits as they saw the dire situation.

So, without caring to cover their nakedness, the Demons all started chanting Incantations; one could see thick, duck-egg sized white spider silks, slathered with sticky fluid and shining with a silver glow, oozing from their navels and flying towards Zhu Bajie.

Just as Zhu Bajie raised his rake, it was immediately entangled by the spider silk, swiftly wrapped up tight. Zhu Bajie was shocked and anxiously pulled at it, but the silk was incredibly tough and simply could not be torn or broken!

Zhu Bajie was now desperate and tried to turn and run.

But the Demons surely wouldn’t let Zhu Bajie off so easily; numerous strands of spider silk kept shooting out. Zhu Bajie had barely taken two steps when his feet were tripped by the silk, and he toppled to the ground.

Silk kept coming from all directions, quickly binding Zhu Bajie up like a rice dumpling.

Zhu Bajie struggled with all his might but to no avail, and couldn’t help but curse loudly, "You rude monsters, quickly release old Zhu, or my elder brother, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven Sun Wukong, who once caused Havoc in Heaven, will not let you off lightly. His staff weighs over ten thousand pounds, and if he gets angry, he’ll beat all of you to death."

The seven female Demons, hearing this, were very frightened as they were well aware of the Great Sage Equalling Heaven Sun Wukong’s reputation.

Yet even so, they dared not easily release Zhu Bajie, fearing he might escape. Instead, they wrapped several more layers around him, binding Zhu Bajie tight like a silkworm cocoon, unable to move an inch.

By then, Zhu Bajie’s mouth was stuffed full of spider silk, tied up soundly, unable even to shout.

He could only make muffled noises, but even so, it was clear that Zhu Bajie was ferocious to the extreme.

The Spider Spirits, seeing Zhu Bajie’s ferocity, naturally did not dare to approach and deal a death blow, and they also took into account the words Zhu Bajie had mentioned.

Usually, they would ensnare their enemies with spider silk and then bite them to death.

Now that Zhu Bajie was bound tight and immobile, one of the Demons seemed to recover her wits and, recalling Zhu Bajie’s insolent behavior, gritted her teeth, "I won’t spare this lecherous pig!"

"Sister! Where are you going?" the leader of the female monsters quickly stopped her.

"Sister, why are you stopping me? I am going to kill this pig-headed monk," the female Demon asked with a frown.

"That’s right; after the way he humiliated us, we should kill this monk!"

"Indeed, make a full pig feast of him, to avenge the regret of provoking us sisters!"

All four or five sisters shared this sentiment, intending to kill the monk first.

"No!" objected the leading Demon, "Killing Zhu Bajie is not a big deal, but his brother Sun Wukong is truly fearsome. We cannot afford to provoke him. If we kill his younger brother, that monkey surely won’t let us off easily. We better hurry back to the cave now."

"So what shall we do now?" the other Demons asked urgently.

"Let’s return to the cave first and then make plans," said the Demon, her eyebrows furrowed, momentarily uncertain, preparing to head back to the cave dwelling.

"And what about Zhu Bajie?" asked one of the female Demons.

"Let’s just leave him tied up here for now!" the leading female Demon said offhandedly: "Sisters, since this pig has found his way here, who’s to say that Monkey Sun won’t discover this place as well? It’s not safe to linger, let’s quickly return to our cave dwelling."

"Sister is right; if Sun Wukong comes now, we’d be risking our lives!"

With that, the seven female Demons quickly wrapped the silks around themselves as clothing to cover their shame and then hurried towards the cave entrance.