Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

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"What is this?"

The old rat demon exclaimed in surprise as the golden hoop left by Sun Wukong began to shine, revealing a faintly visible Great Dao Talisman. It was this same hoop that had injured the demon before.

"A treasure bestowed by the Ancestral Buddha! Demon, your scheme will not succeed!"

Jiang Liu'er sneered. Sun Wukong, who was invisible nearby, overheard this and couldn't help but laugh. Jiang Liu'er was indeed clever enough to shift the blame onto Tathagata Buddha!

This was perfect, the rat demon should have no more doubts.

Sure enough, upon hearing this the rat demon's face changed. After a careful examination, there was no way to discern whether the runes appearing on the golden hoop contained the power of the Buddhist Sect. However, the Tathagata Buddha, as a Heavenly Dao Saint of the Saint Realm, naturally embodied the Heavenly Dao in every action; it was not unusual that the power wasn't obvious. The rat demon quickly believed it.

"Crown Prince Tang, I have been truly sincere with you. Why do you treat me this way? It's heartbreaking!"

The old rat demon put on a pitiful face, ready to weep. Coupled with its stunning beauty, it presented a picture of poignancy that was rather pitiable. Had one not known its true nature, they might have been deceived by its appearance.

But Jiang Liu'er was not the same naive, prattling monk from his past life. Moreover, with his cultivation, how could he not recognize the Monster Qi after the rat demon revealed it? Not to mention that he had already been captured and brought to the Bottomless Pit of Trap-emptiness Mountain. He simply closed his eyes and utterly ignored the rat demon's words.

"Crown Prince Tang, do you really have no compassion for a beauty in distress?"

The old rat demon continued to tempt, but Jiang Liu'er paid no attention. After several attempts, the rat demon lost patience. A ferocious look flashed across its face and a curved knife appeared in its hand, which it violently slashed at the golden hoop.

"I refuse to believe that this lousy hoop can keep me out!"

Ding-ding-dang-dang!

The sound of metal clashing echoed continuously. The rat demon exerted all its strength to attack the golden hoop, the curved knife repeatedly striking it, but failing to cause even the slightest movement. Seeing that the rat demon could do nothing to the hoop, Jiang Liu'er, who initially felt a bit anxious, fully relaxed. A sneer of mockery formed on his lips as he watched the rat demon struggle.

"That is a barrier laid by the Great Saint himself, and you think you can break through it? That is simply overestimating yourself!"

Jiang Liu'er's mocking expression was fully caught by the rat demon, which turned green with rage, "Fine, I want to see how long your precious treasure can hold! You just wait!"

With a belly full of anger, the rat demon left but naturally didn't forget to instruct her handmaidens to keep a close watch on Jiang Liu'er. After she left, Jiang Liu'er let out a long breath and started calling for Sun Wukong, "Great Saint! Great Saint?"

"What are you hollering for? I'm right here!"

Sun Wukong appeared and glared at Jiang Liu'er.

"Great Saint, since you are here, it would be a great favor to just rescue me directly!"

Jiang Liu'er pleaded, "This place has a vile aura, and I really feel uncomfortable!"

"Oh! You can sense the presence of evil now? Not bad, not bad, you've made some decent progress!"

Sun Wukong looked at Jiang Liu'er with some surprise. Jiang Liu'er practiced the Immeasurable Merit Determination and, having condensed an Immeasurable Merit Golden Body, was particularly sensitive to different kinds of energies, especially evil forces. This also proved that Jiang Liu'er's cultivation strength was far from weak. It appeared that on the Scripture Seeking journey, like Yuan Hong, Jiang Liu'er had not been wasting time and was diligently cultivating.

"Stop teasing me, Great Saint, please rescue me quickly!"

Jiang Liu'er continued to beseech with a wry smile.

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"No good! I can't rescue you!"

Sun Wukong shook his head, "This is your tribulation, Jiang Liu'er. It's already my limit to keep you from harm by that demon rat. If I directly intervene to save you, you certainly won't complete this tribulation. Then you'd have to endure another one to make up for it, suffering all over again! Just be patient and wait. I believe Yuan Hong and the others should find you soon enough, and then they can rescue you."

"Can they do it?"

Jiang Liu'er sounded uncertain.

"Can they do it? Remove that 'can' when you're speaking to me! Yes, they'll do it! They must do it!"

Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow and glared, "That rat demon isn't even at the Da Luo Golden Immortal Realm, and while the creatures of the Evil Race might be a bit stronger, they're not that much of a threat. They're certainly no match for Yuan Hong, rest assured!"

With Sun Wukong saying so, Jiang Liu'er finally felt reassured, took a couple of deep breaths to adjust his mindset, and relaxed a bit.

Sun Wukong turned invisible again and lay down on a nearby couch. After all, Jiang Liu'er couldn't leave the circle, so why waste time, right?

A day passed by quickly, and by the evening of the second day, Yuan Hong finally arrived at the Bottomless Pit on Trap-emptiness Mountain where Jiang Liu'er was trapped.

"Master!"

Seeing Jiang Liu'er safe and sound, Yuan Hong was overjoyed, but his expression suddenly shifted, a sharp look flashed in his eyes, he glanced sideways and shouted, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Not bad at all! You could sense my presence! Yuan Hong, you've really improved!"

Sun Wukong laughed, revealing himself in front of Yuan Hong. He had only released a tiny bit of his qi, usually something negligible, but Yuan Hong had detected it. It looked like Yuan Hong had made quite the progress these days!

Hmm, Da Luo Golden Immortal!

That chap, Yuan Hong, had broken through to the Da Luo Golden Immortal level!

Truly impressive!

Admiration shone in Sun Wukong's eyes as he looked at Yuan Hong, who, in turn, widened his eyes in surprise, "Great Saint? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

He then immediately understood. It was because Sun Wukong was there that Jiang Liu'er had been safe until now!

That meant the Golden Hoop Barrier surrounding Jiang Liu'er must have been set by Sun Wukong as well.

"If I weren't here, Jiang Liu'er might have already been harmed by that rat demon!"

Sun Wukong shrugged and said, "Alright, Yuan Hong, you weren't too late. I'll leave that rat demon for you to deal with! But don't be too harsh, for that monster is Nezha the Third Prince's sworn sister. I intend to bring her back to Flower-Fruit Mountain for Nezha to handle."

"Yes, Great Saint!"

Yuan Hong nodded, and as he turned to leave, he paused and looked back at Sun Wukong, asking, "Great Saint, what about the other demon?"

"Another demon? Are you referring to that creature from the Evil Race? That's not for you to worry about. I'll take care of him myself!"

A cold light flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes, and in a flicker, he was gone.