Chapter 378: Chapter 378

"Since the young lady claims it has nothing to do with her, why dodge then? Could it be you’re still worried that I, Old Pig, cannot see through deception?"

Zhu Bajie frowned as he looked at the female demon dodging away.

Usually, it was Sun Wukong who decided the fate of demons. This time, even though the white deer was already dead, there was still a fox spirit he naturally couldn’t let go of.

Moreover, he had determined that such a fox spirit could not have much skill; thus, he plucked up the courage to enter and hoped to capture this monster personally, earning the recognition of his master.

Indeed, upon seeing the female demon, the monster did not appear to be very powerful, but she was not easy to capture quickly.

So, he devised a plan, thinking he could take down the monster with ease, yet surprising him, the female demon continued to dodge.

"Naturally, I believe you, but seeing the weapon in your hand, I can’t help but feel scared," the female demon sighed, "If you could drop your weapon, then we could have a proper talk!"

Zhu Bajie glanced at the Nine-toothed Rake in his hand.

Then, he tossed aside the Nine-toothed Rake, laughed and said, ", will it be fine? Come on then!"

Having thrown the Nine-toothed Rake away, Zhu Bajie reached out to grab the arm of the female demon.

Sure enough, this time, the female demon did not run away but was caught by Zhu Bajie.

Zhu Bajie was delighted. But as he reached out, he suddenly smelled a stench that made his head spin and his eyes blur, and he fell backward, rolling his eyes.

The female demon followed up with a kick to Zhu Bajie’s belly, causing him to grimace in pain. She sneered, "You fool, thinking you can take advantage of me?"

Upon reflection, the female demon realized how formidable these monks were, having tracked her here, and knew this place was no longer safe. If their allies arrived, she feared for her life. The immediate priority was self-preservation. With these thoughts, the female demon hastily turned to leave the Fragrant Pavilion, not bothering to pack her things, and hurried toward the cave entrance.

The female demon, in panic, escaped from Qinghua Cave. Just as she left the cave, a white light flashed by and a white rope quickly flew towards her, wrapping the female demon tightly. She screamed in terror and struggled, but to no avail.

Just then, an androgynous-looking monk with a thunderous voice leapt out, cheerfully shouting at the female demon, "You audacious spirit, I, Old Sun, have been waiting here for a long time. Let’s see where you’ll run to now."

Seeing the Jingu Bang in Sun Wukong’s hand, the female demon was scared out of her wits and dared not resist, pleading, "Spare my life, Immortal! Please spare my life!"

Sun Wukong paid no mind, pushed the female demon to the ground, and using the demon-binding rope, tied up both her hands and feet, rendering her completely immobilized.

At that moment, Zhu Bajie, carrying his rake and huffing angrily, stormed out from inside. Seeing that the female demon had been tied up by Sun Wukong, he was furious and yelled, "You dare trick your Grandpa Pig! I, Old Pig, will turn you into minced meat."

With that, he raised his nine-foot rake to strike, terrifying the female demon so much that she turned pale and remained frozen, even forgetting to beg for mercy.

Sun Wukong quickly grabbed Zhu Bajie’s hand and said with a smile, "Let’s spare her life; we’ll take her back for the King to deal with."

"Humph!" Zhu Bajie snorted and said, "Brother Monkey, this female demon is so pretty. I’m afraid once the King sees her, he might reconsider his past fondness and want to let her go!"

"Brother Monkey! This demoness is nothing but a calamity! In my view, we should kill her with one rake and eliminate future trouble."

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "We’ll see about that later. Let’s check to see if the King is still as foolish. If he is, it won’t be too late to kill the demon then!"

Hearing Sun Wukong’s words, the female demon breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she had at least avoided immediate death.

Seeing the female demon’s relief, Zhu Bajie looked dissatisfied, glared at her, and snarled, "Don’t be happy too soon. Once we get to the Royal Palace, you’re certain to die."

Just then, Sun Wukong suddenly shouted, "Old Land Deity! Hurry up and show yourself to Old Sun."

No sooner had the words fallen than a white smoke arose from the ground, as the Land Deity of Liulin Slope emerged.

Following closely behind the Old Land Deity, a pile of dry grass, firewood, and other materials appeared.

The Land Deity quickly bowed and said, "Great Saint, the Minor Deity has prepared everything you asked for already."

It turned out that while Sun Wukong waited outside, he had summoned the local Land Deity to prepare dry grass, firewood, and the like.

Sun Wukong looked at the pile and nodded with satisfaction, "Very good, very good! Bajie, pile all these dry grass and firewood into the demon cave and set it ablaze. That will also serve to rid Bhikkhu Country of evil, preventing more demons from arising here."

"Alright!" Zhu Bajie agreed and began pushing the pile of dry grass and firewood into Qinghua Cave with his rake.

Then, Sun Wukong spat out a flame, and instantly the fire soared into the sky, turning the entire Qinghua Cave into a sea of flames, even catching the large poplar tree at the entrance on fire.

He chuckled and then instructed the Old Land Deity, "Land Deity, stay here and keep watch. Just burn the demon cave; we don’t want the fire to run out of control and burn down the whole forest."

"As you command!" The Old Land Deity quickly responded.

Then Sun Wukong grabbed the female demon, who was tied up like a zongzi, and shouted to Zhu Bajie, "Bajie, let’s head back to City of Bhikkhu."

With that, he leaped onto the clouds and flew towards the City of Bhikkhu, with Zhu Bajie closely behind, also flying back to the city.

The journey of seventy li passed in the blink of an eye. From a distance, Sun Wukong saw that Xuanzang had already led the foolish ruler along with a host of civil and military officials, and Sand Monk up to the Wumen City Tower.

After all, this matter jeopardized the entire Bhikkhu Country, and naturally, they had to give the citizens of Bhikkhu Country an explanation.

And a public execution was naturally the best way to do so.

In the open space outside the Wumen, a large crowd of citizens had already gathered to watch.

Upon learning that the Beautiful Queen was to be executed today, nearly all the citizens had come.

Looking around, the area was densely packed with heads, a rough estimate being at least tens of thousands of people, the space outside the Wumen now filled to the brim with them.

The nearby streets too were crowded with people, incredibly congested, as it seemed nearly all the citizens of the city had gathered.

Outside the Wumen, the Imperial Guards had already cleared a space, and a wooden platform had been temporarily erected. A group of Imperial Guard soldiers stood around the platform, on high alert.

On that platform, two executioners with bodies covered in flabby flesh held ghost-faced great sabers and stood there, expressionless.

Sun Wukong, holding the Female Demon, landed on the city gate tower and said with satisfaction, "Master, I’ve captured this demon and delivered her back. She is now at the King’s disposal."

Zhu Bajie snorted and said, "Your Majesty, now you should understand that both your National Abbot and Beautiful Queen were demons who bewitched you, leading you to commit such atrocious and heaven-offending acts."

Upon hearing Zhu Bajie’s words, the King turned to look at the Beautiful Queen. After what had transpired, he understood that if it hadn’t been for Sun Wukong and the others, Bhikkhu Country might indeed have been doomed.

That’s why this execution ground had been prepared, to give an explanation to the citizens.

As soon as the Female Demon saw the King, she immediately began to shout loudly, "Your Majesty, save me! Spare me, your servant’s life!"

The foolish ruler looked up at the Beautiful Queen, and although his heart couldn’t bear it and he hesitated, he eventually didn’t dare to say much!

Now it had been confirmed that the National Abbot was a demon, and the Beautiful Queen was most likely a demon too. Although the King was lustful, he was not foolish.

If he continued to be beguiled, not only would the country be lost, but also his own life would be at risk.

At that moment, Zhu Bajie said with a laugh, "Your Majesty, upon seeing your Beautiful Queen again, aren’t you going to play with her?"

Upon hearing this, the King’s face turned even redder with shame, and he bowed his head without speaking.

Sun Wukong suddenly shouted loudly, then sternly asked, "Foolish Ruler, do you now understand?"

When the foolish ruler heard this, he trembled all over in fear and quickly said, "I have realized my mistake, but I was under the delusion of this demon that led me to commit such absurd actions."

Sun Wukong sneered and said, "Since Your Majesty acknowledges his guilt, why not join your Beautiful Queen on the execution ground?"

"Ah!" Terrified, the foolish ruler slipped right off his chair and collapsed to the ground, hastily waving his hands begging for mercy, "The Immortal must be joking. Although I am guilty, surely my crime isn’t worthy of death, is it?"

"Not worthy of death?" Sun Wukong sneered. "By that logic, should those eleven hundred children be the ones who truly deserve to die? The loyal and good people you slaughtered, do they deserve death the most? And my master—just a Monk passing by—you even wanted to cut out his heart and liver to prolong your life, does he deserve to die?"

"Someone like you, foolish and incompetent, less than pigs and dogs, what right do you have to live in this world?"

"Bajie, take this foolish ruler down and escort him to the execution ground to be beheaded."

"No... you can’t kill me, I am the King of Bhikkhu Country, I have realized my error, and I have established this execution ground, to give an explanation to the many citizens!"

"Protect me! Imperial Guards, where are you? Come and protect me," the King cried out in desperation.

"Thinking of giving them an explanation now is a bit too late! There are some things, if you have done them, you must pay the price!" Sun Wukong said to the King slowly.

The King was unkind, and although he was deluded by the demon, it didn’t change the fact that he had killed so many people.

"Clang!" The royal guards at the side hastily drew their swords and rushed in front of the King, protecting him behind them.

Sun Wukong glanced at the royal guards, a sneer of disdain on his lips, and asked, "Are you sure you want to save this foolish ruler?"

Those guards, looking at Sun Wukong, revealed fear in their eyes.

They were well aware of the monkey’s strength; after all, he had killed the demon with just a few swings of his staff, and they had seen it very clearly.

Although these guards were carefully selected, they were still merely mortals. How could they match the monkey, and how could they not be afraid?