Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

The Devil-Subduing Heavenly Venerable said, "I already know all the vows you made before Manjusri and Samantabhadra."

As soon as he said this, he saw the willow leaf pendant hanging on Wen Jiao's ear tremble slightly.

When he accepted her as his disciple, besides her aspirations for the Dao and her sense of justice, he valued her identity as the future Buddha Mother. However, over the years, seeing her practicing hard in the mountains without fear of wolves, insects, tigers and leopards, making friends with princes and nobles in Chang'an, becoming famous in the snowy regions by slaying demons and monsters, and making trouble in Tianzhu by helping the poor and needy, it is not surprising that she has reached her current state step by step.

It's like planting a tree with the original intention of building a bridge to the other side, but it actually grows into a towering ladder.

After that, she vowed to clarify the six realms, and then she vowed to follow the path of justice. Such ambition made the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable feel a little respect and love for him. Apart from the teachings and weapons at the beginning, this disciple had almost never relied on him for anything. After all, he was a master, so why not give her some protection?

"Your parents really have no affinity with Taoism. I have given them many pointers, but they are always blinded by their own shortcomings and turn a blind eye. This is God's will, and you should let it go in the future." The Devil-Subduing Heavenly Venerable said, "But Yuan Tiangang is different. Although he has no affinity with immortality, he has great magical powers and has great merits..."

Having said this, a teeth-grinding hissing sound was heard from the strange "meat pie" below. Yuan Tiangang's formation flag was waving, and the copper coins on the tangled red lines in the formation vibrated and rang. Three hundred and sixty peach wood stakes appeared in the air, and according to the number of Zhoutian and the law of heaven and earth, they fiercely pierced through the monster's body and nailed it to the spot.

“…As long as he is given a chance, he will be able to catch it steadily.” The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord continued.

Wen Jiao looked at the thin figure of the purple-clothed man who was commanding the troops below. Amid the smelly black blood rain, a layer of pure light surrounded him. Although he was in a filthy environment, he was not stained by dust. She couldn't help but smile with relief and pride: "Disciple knows that his vision is good."

By the time Yuan Tiangang led the sorcerers to suppress the ghost king cave, it was already dark and the sky was full of stars. He dragged his tired body back to the tent, and there was a bathtub at the door. The warm water was emitting comfortable white steam, and the fragrance filled every inch of the tent, dispelling some of the stench on his body. Yuan Tiangang was immediately refreshed.

He could smell it. It was the scent of Wen Jiao's clothes. It was said that the goddess of India in her fairy palace brought many flower seeds from Shanjian City and planted them in Xingjun Palace. It was amazing that the flower seeds changed the soil and water, and they blossomed more charmingly and fragrantly. The fairies in the palace loved to pick a few flowers, either inserting them in their hair or wearing them on their bodies. There were also a few fairy maidens who were particularly clever and skillful. They combined the best of the Eastern and Western incense making techniques and made many incense recipes, incense pills, and incense dew, and packaged them for Wen Jiao to use. This one was exactly what Wen Jiao loved most recently. The smell was fragrant and charming, like the laughter swaying on the red lips of a woman.

This must have been prepared by Wen Jiao for him. The scene of subduing the ghost king today was a bit filthy. Although he was wearing the dust-repelling beads to protect him from being stained, it was inevitable that he would be marinated by the stench. He was busy suppressing it at the time and didn't feel it. Now that he relaxed, he was suffocated by his own stench. If he didn't take a quick bath, change clothes, and burn incense, he would have to be marinated to death.

Yuan Tiangang felt a little warm in his heart and he quickly took a shower and changed his clothes. He felt like he was reborn. Just as he was about to perform a spell to dry his half-wet hair, he felt a gust of warm wind blowing past and his black hair was completely dry.

"Every Ghost King Cave in a town has this kind of scene. It's hard for you, your nose, to have endured it until now." Wen Jiao felt distressed when she saw how exhausted he was.

Yuan Tiangang let out a sigh of relief: "Clean and unclean are all relative."

Wen Jiao didn't expect him to use what she said to him many years ago to reply to her, so she couldn't help but smile and said, "You have the best memory."

"How could I forget..." Yuan Tiangang said. His thoughts wandered back to the past when she poured the bright pink and white petals into the water with her white hands. That was the first time in his life that he heard the sound of his heart beating.

Wen Jiao's voice brought him back to reality: "You have such a good memory, but you forgot the bet you made with others?"

Yuan Tiangang was startled.

The air was filled with fragrance, but Wen Jiao sat down beside him, and stretched out her white hands, revealing a delicate black tortoise shell in her palm: "She didn't forget, and asked me to bring this to you, saying that although the game wasn't finished, judging by the difference in chess skills, he couldn't beat you even if he played till the end of time, so I'll give you this prize."

Yuan Tiangang took it and hesitated for a moment: "Is that Taoist... the Devil-Subduing Heavenly Lord?"

"When did you recognize him?" Wen Jiao was not surprised that he could see through the whereabouts of the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord, but she was just curious about when he could see it.

“Just now. The spiritual energy of this black tortoise shell is restrained, and the immortal energy inside is strong, and it contains the killing intent. Looking at the three realms, I am afraid that only the tortoise general under the seat of the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable can shed such a spiritual shell.” Yuan Tiangang said.

He had been feeling dizzy these days, and when he saw the black tortoise shell, his mind and eyes were full of it, and he didn't even take a closer look at the face of the owner of the tortoise shell. It was not until he heard Wen Jiao's intimate words just now, and then saw that the quality of the tortoise shell was even better than he expected, that he naturally guessed the other party's identity after a little thought.

"The turtle general was previously the Six-Sky Demon King. The shell he shed is a rare defensive magical treasure in the Three Realms. Once it is refined and used for one's own benefit, one can withstand even the divine thunder, the Yin fire, and the soul-shattering wind." Wen Jiao said.

The hand that was playing with the black tortoise shell paused, and Yuan Tiangang slowly turned his head to look at her, but she did not look back, but looked away into the unknown distance.

Yuan Tiangang slowly frowned: "You are worried about something... the Three Disasters?"

As expected, he has been so busy lately that he couldn't even find time to tell fortunes for her. Wen Jiao wanted to laugh, but she felt so heavy that she couldn't: "I have made a vow in front of the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra to realize a selfless path."

If we want to be fair, we must not be partial, such as helping people who have no chance of becoming immortals to survive the three disasters.

Yuan Tiangang immediately figured out the key point: "My father-in-law and mother-in-law..."

"I've explained it to them." Wen Jiao sighed, "They don't blame me."

Yuan Tiangang breathed a sigh of relief: "The two elders are really reasonable."

Wen Jiao said, "I was afraid that my parents would blame me for not considering their safety when I made the vow, but I didn't expect them to be so open-minded. It's a pity that although Master felt sorry for me and wanted to help you on my behalf, they really didn't know the true immortals, so they had to give up. Fortunately, you still have a glimmer of good fortune, so he gave you this black tortoise shell."

"I have my own way to avoid the three disasters..." Yuan Tiangang paused, then stroked the black tortoise shell, "Now I have a rare treasure like your master. With this treasure, my magic power will increase tenfold."

Wen Jiao smiled and said, "Look how happy you are. My parents are worried that you will blame me."

"Why should I blame you? After understanding the truth of my heart, I will definitely pursue it without giving up. I will do the same if I am in your shoes." Yuan Tiangang said as a matter of course, "Confucius said it well, 'In the morning, I hear the truth, and in the evening...'"

What Wen Jiao hated to hear the most was the word "death". She grabbed a fairy peach and stuffed it into his mouth: "Eat the fruit."

Yuan Tiangang's eyebrows jumped, and he hurriedly took the peach out of his mouth: "The peach skin is not peeled...it has hair."

Wen Jiao glanced at him.

Yuan Tiangang shut his mouth, peeled the peach skin stubbornly, cut the flesh into small pieces with a jade knife, and then started eating.