I am a boss in the world of nine uncles

"To you, there is no difference between humans and cattle and sheep, but to me, there is, because I am also a human being!"

Zhen Yuanzi's gaze was cold and clear. After responding, he didn't wait for the four demons to argue or try to gain any further insight. He simply wiped away the spiritual consciousness of the four demons with a wave of his sleeve.

In an instant, all four demons transformed back into their ginseng fruit forms, devoid of any life.

"Clear distinction between rewards and punishments, decisive in action—what a wise ruler!" Sun Wukong couldn't help but praise upon seeing this.

Zhen Yuanzi flicked his sleeves, tucking all four ginseng fruits into his cuffs, and sighed, "I just don't want this situation to happen a second time..."

Qin Yao said, "With Qingfeng's example as a warning, the young Daoist will be more mindful and such a thing will certainly not happen again."

"I hope so." Zhen Yuanzi let out a long breath and forced a smile. "Mingyue, quickly prepare a vegetarian meal. Today I want to properly entertain Master Xuanzang."

"Daojun, there's no need."

Qin Yao raised his hand and said, "We have lingered here for far too long. It was somewhat understandable that we were waiting for your return. Now that this matter is over, if we linger any longer for food and drink, I'm afraid both the Buddhist Realm and the Heavenly Realm will have objections."

Zhen Yuanzi paused slightly, then nodded and said, "If that's the case, then this humble Taoist will not insist on keeping you."

Qin Yao smiled and summoned the five great magic treasures of Wuzhuang Temple with a flick of his hand, which floated in the air: "And these five magic treasures, return them to their rightful owners."

Zhen Yuanzi's gaze swept over the Seven Star Sword, the Banana Leaf Fan, the Golden Rope, the Purple-Gold Red Gourd, and the Jade Purification Bottle in turn. With a wave of his hand, he took off the Golden Rope and said gently:

"Whether it was the punishment of Qingfeng or the punishment of those four ginseng fruit spirits, it was a punishment. There should be a reward as well as a punishment, so that the reward and punishment can be clearly distinguished."

To put it more bluntly, I asked you all to help me retrieve the ginseng fruit essence, and you all actually did it. Since that's the case, I can't leave without showing my appreciation...

Please, Holy Monk, choose one of these five treasures at will as my token of gratitude.

Qin Yao waved his hand and said, "If we're talking about a token of appreciation, the four ginseng fruits we received when we first arrived at Wuzhuang Temple already count as a token."

"The meaning is different."

Zhen Yuanzi insisted, "Those four ginseng fruits were a token of hospitality. Now, please choose a magic treasure as a way of repaying this favor."

"Yes, Master, it's all clear now. Even the Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi has made it so clear. If you keep refusing, it won't look good."

Pigsy's eyes scanned the four treasures, and he said with a big smile, "If there's nothing you like here, you can let me pick one I like. The opportunity is presented to me, so I shouldn't waste it."

"Fat pig, you talk too much." Sun Wukong slapped Pigsy's big belly with a warning.

However, Zhen Yuanzi nodded in deep agreement and looked at Qin Yao with a smile: "Xuanzang, I think what your second disciple said makes a lot of sense. Don't refuse anymore, hurry up and choose one."

Qin Yao chuckled, then took a deep look at Zhu Bao, raised his hand and grasped the jade bottle: "Then let's take this one, its appearance suits my taste quite well."

For him, the Purple-Gold Red Gourd was too restrictive; it was useless if it didn't respond. The Seven-Star Sword could only summon the local land and mountain gods, and it was useless once he left this world.

After removing these two magical treasures, only the Banana Leaf Fan and the Jade Purification Bottle remain. One is mainly for attack, but it doesn't have much destructive power; the other is mainly for nurturing spiritual energy, but it has no offensive capabilities.

Between these two characteristics, he still prefers the second one.

After all, it's not as straightforward as simply swatting the enemy away rather than killing them outright.
The jade bottle, on the other hand, was something he could actually use; the very fact that it could cultivate nectar would greatly benefit his divine kingdom.

Not long.

After accepting the jade bottle, Qin Yao and his disciples formally bid farewell to Zhen Yuanzi and rode westward on horseback.

Two months passed in a flash. Bored, Sun Wukong swept the roadside weeds with his golden cudgel, muttering to himself:
"Strange, very strange. Several dozen days have passed, and we haven't seen a single monster yet?"

Pigsy, rubbing his belly, said, "Isn't it good that there are no monsters? If we can reach the Great Thunder Temple smoothly from here on out, I'll be laughing in my dreams."

"Without monsters, just traveling would be very boring and tedious," Sun Wukong said.

"You're acting like you're crazy," Pigsy muttered to himself. "If we really encounter a monster you can't handle, it'll be another round of trouble and distress."

"What did you say?" Sun Wukong suddenly grabbed his right ear and asked, squinting his eyes.

"There's a pavilion ahead! Great, finally we can rest our feet!" Pigsy suddenly broke free from the other's grasp and pointed ahead.

Sun Wukong said irritably, "Look at you, so pathetic!"

Amidst laughter and conversation, the master and his disciples slowly arrived at the pavilion. Looking up, they saw a golden statue of a human-shaped monkey standing inside, gazing into the distance with an imposing presence. Upon closer inspection, their facial expression even hinted at a sense of concern for the country and its people.

"The Monkey King Pavilion... It seems there really aren't any powerful demon kings here anymore; even a monkey can be a general."

Looking up at the golden plaque hanging above the pavilion, Pigsy spoke from the bottom of his heart.

Sun Wukong kicked him in the butt and said in a low voice, "What's wrong with being a monkey? I'm still the Great Sage Equal to Heaven! If I hear you slandering the monkey again, I'll twist your ear off."

'Rude.'

Pigsy silently complained in his heart, but then his eyes were immediately drawn to the offerings in front of the statue in the pavilion. He said with delight, "There's food! Now we can have a good meal."

"Second Brother, these are offerings," Sha Wujing kindly reminded him.

Pigsy said, "Don't I know? But if we don't eat them, all these things will go bad, wouldn't that be a waste?"

"Master, what are you looking at?"

At this moment, Sun Wukong suddenly realized that his master was a little too quiet. He turned to look at him and saw that his master was staring intently at a couplet on the stone pillar of the pavilion...

When asked, Qin Yao, feigning absentmindedness, pointed to the couplet and asked, "Do you know what this couplet means?"

His three disciples followed his finger and looked in the direction he was pointing. Pigsy recited, word by word, "From now on, his fame will be known for generations to come, and his virtue will be praised by all people to this day."

“That sounds like a compliment,” Sha Wujing said.

Qin Yao nodded slightly and said, "That's extremely high praise. It means that the divine monkey enshrined in the pavilion must have done something to save the country and its people. No matter how hungry or how much we crave it, we can't take its offerings."

"well said."

No sooner had the words been spoken than a voice as clear as a lark's quail suddenly came from one side of the Monkey King Pavilion.

The master and his disciples all turned their heads and saw a winged woman with long, flowing hair, a beautiful face, and wearing a green dress striding towards them. Her wings were far more eye-catching than her appearance.

"What kind of monster are you, and what do you want?" Sun Wukong suddenly raised his golden cudgel and shouted.

"You're the monster! I'm Little Lark, a bird fairy!" The winged woman glared and retorted angrily.

Sun Wukong carefully sensed it and discovered that the other party really had no demonic aura, obviously like himself, and cultivated righteous immortal techniques.

"Little Lark, what is your relationship with this Monkey General?" Pigsy suddenly asked.

The little lark glanced at the golden statue of the Monkey King and said, "I admire him very much." "Admire?" Sun Wukong laughed, "So it's alright then?"

"What does this have to do with you?" the little lark retorted.

Sun Wukong: "..."

Qin Yao's heart stirred slightly, and he deliberately said, "Little Lark, can you tell us the story of this Monkey General?"

He understood a crucial principle: when the strength of an opponent is equal or slightly inferior, attitude and morality become paramount.

In the original story, in the chapter "Little Thunder Temple," or rather, in the conflict with the Monkey King, to be fair, Sun Wukong seems more like the villain. His attitude and behavior can be said to have gradually driven the Monkey King into the demonic path, ultimately leading to his utter destruction.

Without the Buddha of the East as an opponent, this situation would only be unfair to the monkey god.

But now that there is the Buddha of the East as an opponent, if Sun Wukong continues to look down on the Long-Armed Ape and keeps humiliating him, it will inevitably give the Buddha of the East an excuse to make trouble.

If that's the case, then we must take precautions in advance. At the very least, our attitude must be impeccable, and our actions must be beyond reproach!

“Okay!” The little lark suddenly perked up and said with a smile, “A long, long time ago…”

"Wait a minute," Sun Wukong suddenly interrupted, "Please make this quick, thank you."

Little Lark: "..."

Qin Yao glanced at Sun Wukong with amusement, then said to Little Lark, "It's better to keep it simple. Just explain the origin of the name 'Monkey General' and his current situation."

Little Lark reconsidered his words and said, "Originally, there were many demons in this country who caused trouble everywhere and harmed the people. At the most dangerous time, the Long-Armed Ape suddenly appeared and drove away all the demons. When the emperor found out, he bestowed upon him the title of Divine Monkey General."

Pigsy laughed and said, "If we can be made a general and build a pavilion just by defeating a few demons, then we've defeated so many demons along the way, wouldn't we be able to become emperors and build a palace?"

Qin Yao said sternly, "Bajie, don't you know what karmic retribution for speech is yet?"

Pigsy paused for a moment with a smile, then said honestly, "Master, I was wrong."

Seeing this, Sun Wukong, who was about to agree, suddenly shut his mouth to avoid being criticized by his master.

Little Lark gave Qin Yao a deep look and said, "Besides that, General Monkey also has a touching story."

"What story?" Sha Wujing asked.

The little lark said, "It is said that after the general passed away, he was reborn due to the wishes of the people."

One year, when he saw a plague breaking out, he had a spirit bird remove the gold pieces from his golden body, and even the sapphires that served as his eyes, and give them to the refugees. This helped the refugees get through the crisis.

Unfortunately, one winter, the spirit bird froze to death in the hands of the Monkey King, and the statue of the general wept for it…

The Buddhist realm in the West, the Buddhist temple in the East.

Wearing a golden crown, with a full head of golden hair and draped in a red robe, the long-armed ape listened to the little lark's story through the incense, and a touch of sadness suddenly appeared on its face.

He knew back then that the spirit bird had fallen in love with him; otherwise, it wouldn't have stayed by his side even in the dead of winter.

Unfortunately, he hadn't yet reconstructed his physical body back then, so he couldn't protect the other person and could only watch helplessly as they froze to death in his hands...

"Bird Fairy, I will definitely find you."

After a long while, the gibbon suddenly stood up and said in a deep voice.

world.

Monkey God Pavilion.

Sun Wukong said, "Master, we've finished listening to the story and we've rested enough. Let's get ready to set off."

"On the road?" the little lark asked curiously. "Where are you going?"

Pigsy said, "Of course we must go to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek scriptures."

The little lark's heart stirred slightly, and she said with a smile, "Can I come along?"

“No,” Sun Wukong said decisively. “Go back to where you came from. Don’t follow me. We don’t have the energy to take care of you.”

The little lark said, "Who said I need your help? I just wanted to find something to do."

Qin Yao said, "You can go to the Western Paradise on your own, but you can't come with us. Our journey is fraught with difficulties, and it would be inconvenient to take you with us."

At this point, he suddenly took out three talismans from his sleeve and handed them to the other person: "Furthermore, since we have met, it is fate. I have discovered that you are about to face a calamity, so I am giving you these three talismans. If you encounter danger, activating these three talismans may protect you."

Little Lark took the talisman in a daze and couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you a monk? How come you know Taoist divination and fortune telling?"

Qin Yao said with a smile, "That's not important. You should hurry up and go. We should get going too..."

Seeing that none of them wanted her to stay, Little Lark had no choice but to leave with the talisman.

After watching her figure disappear, the master and his disciples immediately set off on their journey, continuing their westward travels.

However, to everyone's surprise, just as they arrived at a city-state and were about to enter, the little lark's voice suddenly rang out from behind them:

"Holy monk, save me!!"

Qin Yao paused slightly, and together with his disciples turned to look. They saw Little Lark with a divine talisman affixed to its body and an arrow stuck in its left wing, rushing towards them at top speed.

Behind him followed three hunters carrying guns and bows, all of whom moved with incredible speed, unlike ordinary people.

In the blink of an eye, Little Lark rushed to Qin Yao and said urgently, "Holy Monk, your wisdom is unparalleled. I was destined for disaster. If it weren't for the three divine talismans you gave me, I'm afraid I would have been captured by them."

“I advise you to hand over that birdman.” At this moment, three hunters followed closely in front of the master and his apprentices, and the man in the middle said coldly.

Qin Yao asked, "May I ask how she offended you?"

"offend?"

The young man on the far left laughed loudly and said, "Can't you tell we're hunters? What need do hunters have for hatred to fuel their hunt?"

Qin Yao said, "Can't you tell she's a demon immortal? Apart from these wings, she's almost indistinguishable from a human. What makes you think she's prey?"

"Brother, why are you wasting your breath on this pedantic monk?"

The short man on the far right suddenly said, "Let's go straight for it, teach them a lesson first, then take that bastard away..." (End of Chapter)