Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

Great Buddha Temple, within the great hall.

Daoji, dressed in a monk's robe, bowed his head before the statue of Tathagata, confessing and chanting scriptures.

Because he had lied, claiming that his brother, Master Xuanzang, had been devoured by a demon, recently, Master Longhai had been mired in self-blame, all of which Daoji clearly saw and which made him feel guilty.

"Amitabha, two months have passed, and there has still been no word regarding my brother and Princess Gaoyang. I truly wonder how they are faring."

While confessing before the statue of Tathagata, Daoji's thoughts inevitably drifted to Jiang Liu and Gaoyang.

As a monk with twelve Scar of Precepts, deeply connected with Buddha, in Daoji's view, he should have had a promising future, revered by millions of monks.

Yet, for the sake of romantic attachment, he was living in anonymity.

Even though Daoji had agreed out of emotional attachment, each time he thought about it, he felt pity for Jiang Liu.

"Dragon Subduing, do you realize your sin...," just as Daoji was kneeling before the statue, absorbed in his thoughts, suddenly, a majestic voice resonated, overwhelming his spirit.

Looking up, Daoji was startled to find that the originally serene-faced statue of Tathagata had, unknowingly, opened its eyes, gazing intently at him.

"The Buddha has manifested, O Tathagata, your disciple realizes his sin...," seeing the statue stare intently at him, Daoji was shocked and prostrated himself on the ground, no longer considering why he was addressed as Dragon Subduing.

"Dragon Subduing, Xuanzang's escape relates to a major plan of our Buddhist Sect. Yet you secretly helped him escape, do you realize your sin?" the eyes of the Tathagata statue seemed to bear an immense gravity, pressing on Daoji.

"O Tathagata, I, I realize my sin!" Daoji said, bowing his head as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, his expression filled with terror.

"Master Xuanzang's destiny has already been determined, beyond the power of mortals to contend. Because of your moment of sentimentality, he is now facing great peril. Go now, hasten to his rescue..."

With the fall of the voice of the Tathagata statue, a piece of information suddenly appeared in Daoji's mind—a signal on where to find Jiang Liu, who was in danger.

Feeling as if he were in a half-dream state, as if he had just napped, when Daoji came to his senses and looked up at the Tathagata statue, it was solemn and unchanged, everything just now seeming like a dream.

However, Daoji dared not consider everything that had happened as merely a dream, his mind still vividly recalling that Master Xuanzang was in dire need of rescue.

"Master, Master Longhai, quick, we must hurry to save him...", without even waiting to bow to the Tathagata statue, realizing the seriousness of the situation, Daoji loudly shouted, running out of the great hall.

...

Jiang Liu and Gaoyang, walking off into the distance, had encountered bandits attacking a small mountain village. They had intervened, a decision neither regretted, knowing that not intervening would not have stopped the bandits either.

However, in the midst of action, Jiang Liu's hat had been knocked off, unexpectedly exposing his identity under the watchful eyes of all.

Though the bandits were slaughtered to silence them, how could they possibly strike down the villagers? Hence, Jiang Liu and Gaoyang had no choice but to leave.

Even though Jiang Liu had been thinking about living in seclusion, with his identity now exposed, both the Great Buddha Temple and the Great Tang Imperial Court would surely have heard this news, and the forces seeking him would be tremendous...

"Jiang Liu, it's okay," Gaoyang, understanding what was on his mind, silently took his hand.

"Even if my father captures and takes us back, it's okay. We had discussed this before. I will wait for you in the Imperial Palace. Being captured is just as we had planned before. Surely Father wouldn't kill us. But to have spent these two months together with you is already a fortune gained."

"Yes, I know," Jiang Liu replied, squeezing Gaoyang's small hand and nodding.

As she said, it wasn't entirely a bad situation, merely a return to the status quo.

Ouch...ouch...

Having fled for the entire day, as dusk fell, Jiang Liu and Gaoyang reached the outskirts of a town, just as a series of painful groans arose, drawing their attention.

Jiang Liu and Princess Gaoyang followed the voice, only to see a woman sitting on the ground, clutching her foot.

"You two, I am from Yong'an Town, and I twisted my ankle on my way back home. Could you help me back to my house? My family will surely reward you generously!" the woman hastily called out for help as Princess Gaoyang and Jiang Liu approached.

"Madam, it's no trouble at all...", hearing the plea, the chivalrous nature of Princess Gaoyang meant she couldn't refuse and began to walk towards her.

However, Jiang Liu grabbed hold of Princess Gaoyang's hand and watched the woman warily. This scene seemed eerily familiar.

Right, back then at the back mountain of Jinshan Temple, wasn't it a woman among the bandits who had used the same tactic to deceive him?

As the old saying goes, "Once bitten, twice shy." Although it might not be a deception this time, it was always better to be cautious.

"Hah, thinking of tricking me? Go to hell!" Not caring whether it was a trap or not, Jiang Liu raised his hand, pretending to have seen through the plan, and shouted.

While he spoke, the Demon Subduing Staff appeared in his hand, and he fiercely smashed it towards the woman.

"Jiang Liu!", suddenly, Princess Gaoyang's face changed with a shocked cry as Jiang Liu lashed out without any provocation.

Smack.

Pretending to attack, Jiang Liu watched the elderly woman's terrified expression, suspecting he might have guessed wrong and was about to pull back when, in a blur, his Demon Subduing Staff was caught by the woman's hand.

"To think you are Master Xuanzang? I believed I had concealed my flaws well, how did you see through me?" the woman asked earnestly, holding the Demon Subduing Staff in her hand.

"You old hag, why all these convoluted tricks? Master Xuanzang is just at the Meridian Unblocking Realm; you could have simply captured him directly without any scheming," another male voice chimed in at the same time as a skinny man stepped forward.

"Who are you people!?", with the Demon Subduing Staff caught and feeling as heavy as a mountain, Jiang Liu was astounded by their strength and stared at the man and woman before him.

"They are the Greedy Wolf King and the Guibei King, they have been colluding together for a long time..."

However, before they could reply, another voice rang out.

Looking in the direction of the voice, unknown to them, a white phosphorus snake had crawled onto Princess Gaoyang, and as the words were spoken, the snake transformed into a woman with purple nails tightening around Princess Gaoyang's neck.

"Able to transform into a human form! A Demon King!?", seeing the transformation of the White Scaled Snake into a woman and hearing her explain the identity of the man and woman, Jiang Liu's expression darkened.

Demons, as their cultivation deepened, each revealed different characteristics.

A common Demon often displayed itself in immense size; lesser Demons began to develop early spiritual wisdom, speaking human languages; Demon Soldiers could mimic human actions, walking upright.

Higher up, Demon Generals could command strange Demon Arts, such as controlling wind, fire, thunder, and so on.

And Demon Marshals, they had already begun the initial transformation into human form, beast-headed and human-bodied, like Demon Marshal Shuangxue.

Finally, a Demon King had completely transformed into human form!

At this moment, were these three of the Great Demon Kings? Read new chapters at empire

How powerful are Demon Kings? The dispute between the Blood Tiger King and the King of Flood Dragon over Foutu Mountain was evidence enough.

Yet, here were three Demon Kings appearing? Were they here to eradicate him, a Buddhist Disciple with the Scar of Precepts?

Wait, that doesn't seem right. If it was just to eliminate him, a significant threat to Buddhism, why did it seem like the White Snake, another Demon King, was competing to kill him?

Could it be that by killing him, they could still claim a reward?!