I am a boss in the world of nine uncles

"True Lord, here."

After a while, the human world...

The Celestial Hound took deep breaths, smelling Sun Wukong's scent, and hurried to the front of a cave.

Wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, Erlang Shen, head held high and chest puffed out, nodded slightly. Instead of barging in, he called out loudly, "Where is Xuanzang?"

Inside the cave, Sun Wukong jumped down from a stone bench and muttered, "Why is that annoying fellow here?"

Qin Yao's thoughts raced, and he smiled as he spoke, "Perhaps they've come to help us?"

"How could that be? Master is joking."

Sun Wukong waved his hand and said, "Along the way, apart from our own spirit beasts or juniors causing us trouble, and Guanyin Bodhisattva, no unrelated person has ever offered to help us. Not to mention, Erlang Shen, who is known for his cold-bloodedness, has come."

"Master Xuanzang, are you trapped in this cave?" Erlang Shen urged from outside the cave.

"We'll find out his intentions by asking him." Qin Yao smiled slightly, got up, and went out.

Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, Little Lark, and the White Dragon Horse all followed behind him, while Tingdi remained quietly inside the cave, listening intently to the sounds outside...

"Did the Manifestation Saint True Lord come to see me?" Qin Yao asked directly upon meeting him.

Erlang Shen nodded: "As far as I know, you have been staying here for almost a month. Why don't you set off as soon as possible?"
Don't you realize that every day you delay, the people of the Tang Dynasty will sink deeper into ignorance and suffering?

"Three-eyed man, don't accuse me of anything without reason."

Sun Wukong stepped forward and solemnly said, "With a wise ruler in power, the Tang Dynasty is peaceful and prosperous. It's not as serious as you make it out to be, as if the country will perish if we are slow to return."

Erlang Shen said in a deep voice, "You are talking about the body, I am talking about the mind. They are completely different things. If you don't understand what I'm saying, don't interrupt."

Sun Wukong suddenly flew into a rage, pulled the Ruyi Jingu Bang from his ear, and roared, "Three-eyed, do you want to fight?"

"Wukong." Just as the battle was about to break out, Qin Yao suddenly raised his hand and pressed down on the golden cudgel, saying with a smile, "Erlang Shen is clearly here to help us, how can you hold a grudge against him?"

Erlangshen: "..."

Howling Celestial Dog: "..."

Sun Wukong's eyes darted around, then he chuckled and put away his golden cudgel: "I was indeed impulsive, Master. Please explain the situation to them."

Qin Yao nodded slightly, and said in a coordinated manner, "True Lord, the matter is like this..."

After a short while, Erlang Shen and Xiaotianquan listened to the whole story with rather complicated feelings, and remained silent for a moment.

However, Qin Yao wouldn't let go of these two laborers who had offered themselves up, and suddenly changed the subject:
"Originally, we, master and disciples, were isolated and helpless, and could only use clumsy methods to wait for them to come out. But now that the True Lord has arrived, hope has also arrived. Surely the True Lord won't abandon us?"

Erlang Shen chuckled dryly and replied, "Of course not. After all, helping you pass the test is also a meritorious deed."

He originally thought he was there to be a villain, but in order to accumulate merit and rescue his mother, he accepted the role.

Unexpectedly, as they talked, he found himself becoming the kind person eager to help...

Upon hearing this, Qin Yao's smile immediately brightened, and he said gently, "I have an idea, but I'll have to trouble True Lord to run an errand for me."

Since things had come to this point, Erlang Shen could only go along with it: "Please enlighten me, Holy Monk."

Qin Yao said, "Please ask the True Lord to take the Heavenly Dog to investigate the Black Bear Spirit's relationships in the Demon Realm and bring his close friends along; if this can be done, it will save a lot of time."

The Celestial Hound frowned, wanting to retort, but then remembered that his master did need merit, so he could only suppress his resentment.

Erlang Shen nodded and said, "Alright, please wait a moment, Holy Monk, I will go and inquire with the mountain gods and local deities..."

Not long.

After the man and dog had left the cave, the Celestial Hound immediately said with a face full of indignation, "Can't Sun Wukong do this kind of work? Why do we have to trouble the True Lord!"

Erlang Shen said, "Perhaps Xuanzang didn't want Sun Wukong to cut himself off from the demon realm... After all, one shouldn't harm one's family, let alone one's friends."

If Sun Wukong did that, his reputation would plummet. But I'm not a demon, and I'm already notorious in the demon realm; one more sin is nothing to me.

After a moment of silence, the Celestial Hound said with an inexplicable emotion, "So, it seems that Tang Xuanzang was quite good to Sun Wukong, at least he was putting himself in Sun Wukong's shoes and considering his needs."

Erlang Shen said, "That's why they say a master and disciple are like father and son."

The Celestial Dog was speechless.

After a long time.

A man and a dog led a Taoist priest in black back to the cave entrance, where they summoned the master and his disciples and began to recount the priest's origins.

It turns out that this Taoist was actually a wolf spirit. Unlike the black bear spirit who yearned for Buddhist teachings, he yearned for Taoist teachings, which is why he disguised himself as a Taoist and gave himself the Taoist name Lingxuzi. He became close friends with the black bear spirit...

"Are you really willing to open the cave door for us?" After Erlang Shen finished speaking, Sun Wukong suddenly stared intently at Ling Xuzi and asked.

“The Manifestation Saint True Lord promised me that I could leave the demon realm and become an official in heaven afterward, and I am naturally happy to serve him,” Ling Xuzi said humbly.

Erlang Shen nodded in satisfaction and said, "You helped me, so I will naturally not treat you unfairly."

"Boom."

Without any warning, a demon-slaying staff suddenly appeared behind Ling Xuzi, striking him heavily on the back of the head, knocking him back to his original form and rendering him unconscious.

"Who?"

Erlang Shen shouted loudly and immediately opened his divine eye on his forehead, but he could not find anyone else in the cave.

"It is I, True Lord, there is no need to worry." Qin Yao raised his hand and summoned back the demon-slaying staff that was floating in the air, and said gently.

"What does the Master mean by this?" Erlang Shen withdrew the light from his divine eyes and asked in a deep voice.

"How can we trust someone as fickle and unpredictable as him without thoroughly testing him?" Qin Yao pointed at the Azure Wolf Spirit and said earnestly.

Erlang Shen felt a little displeased, and his tone became stiff: "How do you test it?"

"Watch what I do..." Qin Yao smiled slightly, and then used the Illusionary Dream Technique on the Azure Wolf Spirit, weaving a dream for its soul.

Immediately, under his control, a mystical mirror suddenly appeared above the wolf spirit's head, but the scene reflected in the mirror was a dream sequence...

In a dream.

The wolf spirit slowly opened its eyes on Black Wind Mountain, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up. After confirming where it was, it exhaled a long breath and turned to walk down the mountain.

But just then, a voice suddenly rang in his ears: "Wolf Spirit, where are you going?"

Upon recognizing Erlang Shen's voice, the wolf spirit shivered and hurriedly said, "I wanted to ask you about what happened. How did I suddenly faint?"

"That's because a very important person has arrived, and we can't let you know who it is. Stop talking nonsense and go knock on the door."

The wolf spirit rolled its eyes, obediently turned around, and strode towards the Black Wind Cave.

A short while later, he suddenly stopped in front of the Black Wind Cave and asked loudly, "Brother Black Bear, are you in the cave?"

"Ling Xuzi? What brings you here?" The black bear spirit's voice immediately rang out from inside the cave.

Ling Xuzi suddenly pressed himself against the cave entrance and shouted, "Brother Black Bear, quickly help me in! Someone sent me to trick you into opening the door." Outside the dream, inside the cave.

Upon hearing this, Erlang Shen's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

The arrogant man never imagined that a mere wolf spirit would dare to play tricks on him.

Is this fairy courting death?
"Snapped."

At this point, Qin Yao suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers, freezing everything in the dream, and the Azure Wolf Spirit fell into an even deeper, dreamless slumber.

"Ha, thankfully it was just a dream. If it were reality, this brilliant plan would not only have failed, but it would have made all our waiting over these past few dozen days a complete waste," Sun Wukong said with a soft sarcasm.

"Woo~" The Celestial Hound suddenly revealed a fierce glint in its eyes, whimpering as it glared at Sun Wukong.

"What are you whining about? Isn't what I said the truth?" Sun Wukong said bluntly.

Erlang Shen silently exhaled a breath of turbid air and said, "It's true. I didn't expect that this wolf spirit would be so unafraid of death."

Qin Yao said, "If he's not afraid of death, he's even less afraid of other threats. It seems the only way is for us to impersonate him and trick him into opening the stone door."

"I'll go!" Sun Wukong said without hesitation.

"Do you know soul-searching magic?" Qin Yao asked.

"Soul search?" Sun Wukong asked in surprise.

Qin Yao nodded and said, "Don't forget, Jin Chi is still in the cave."

The black bear spirit is easy to fool, but this shrewd and experienced Zen master is not.

If you haven't grasped the shared memories between the Black Bear Spirit and the Gray Wolf Spirit, you'll likely still find it difficult to enter.

Sun Wukong scratched his head and said, "Then what should we do? Master, do you know the Soul Searching Technique?"

Qin Yao smiled and said, "Yes."

"How do you know such forbidden techniques?" Erlang Shen asked in astonishment.

In this world, soul-searching and possession techniques are forbidden arts, and he couldn't imagine how a high-ranking monk could come into contact with such magic!
Qin Yao lied calmly, saying, "Not long ago, I obtained a Myriad Demon Golden Pill, which contains many forbidden techniques."

Erlangshen: "..."

He really wanted to ask, "How could you, as a holy monk of Buddhism, refine such a demonic elixir?"

But after much hesitation, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to ask the question. After all, even the Buddhist community hadn't raised any objections, so what grounds did he have to question or even oppose it?

Half an hour later.

Having mastered the shared memories of the two demons, Qin Yao transformed into a wolf spirit and slowly flew down to Black Wind Mountain, arriving directly at the entrance of Black Wind Cave: "Is Brother Black Bear home?"

"Ling Xuzi?"

Inside the cave, the black bear spirit recognized his voice and asked in confusion, "Why are you here?"

Qin Yao said with a smile, "I had enough of staying in the mountains, so I went to visit the human world. On my way back, I passed by your place and thought I'd come over to talk to you and have a chat."

The black bear spirit suddenly realized what was happening and was about to open the door to welcome him in, but Jin Chi grabbed his clothes and pulled him back the moment he moved.

"Master, what's wrong?"

"Be careful, it might be a trap," Jin Chi said seriously.

The black bear spirit blinked, pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Ling Xuzi, do you remember when and where we last parted ways?"

Qin Yao searched his memories and replied, "It was probably six or seven years ago, in the bamboo forest of the white-robed scholar. Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Upon hearing such a definite answer, the Black Bear Spirit immediately said to Jin Chi, "That's right, he is Ling Xuzi."

Jin Chi instinctively felt uneasy and said, "He didn't come earlier or later, but just when we got back the brocade cassock, I feel it's too coincidental."

The black bear spirit said, "Master, are you too worried about the brocade cassock, to the point that you're overthinking things?"

Jin Chi waved his hand and said, "For safety's sake, you'd better not see him."

"How can that be? He came all the way to see me, and I won't even show my face. How will I ever see him again in the future?" the black bear spirit retorted.

Jin Chi said earnestly, "Disciple, the big picture is important. The brocade cassock is no longer just a cassock; it also contains your grandmaster's schemes. Even if we can't add to its glory, we can't hold it back, can we?"

Upon hearing him mention his grandmaster, the black bear spirit hesitated for a moment before saying, "Then how about this, I'll go out to see him and won't invite him in."

Jin Chi pondered for a moment and said, "Remember, you must not leave Black Wind Mountain, lest you fall into an ambush."

"I know, I know." The black bear spirit waved his hand and then strode towards the stone gate.

A moment later, Qin Yao watched as a crack appeared in the stone door, from which a plume of black smoke shot out, and then the stone door slammed shut.

"Brother, I'm sorry for my rudeness." Just as he silently withdrew his gaze, the black smoke suddenly transformed into the figure of a black bear spirit, and said with clasped hands.

Qin Yao waved his hand and asked in confusion, "Brother Black Bear, you seem a bit strange today?"

The black bear spirit raised an eyebrow: "What's strange about it?"

Qin Yao pointed to the stone door and said, "To float out through a crack? That's not like you. Could it be that you're hiding someone in this cave and you're afraid I'll see them?"

"Whom could I possibly hide?" the black bear spirit laughed loudly.

Qin Yao said, "It must be hidden. Do you dare let me in to take a look?"

The black bear spirit paused slightly with a smile, and said seriously, "There's nothing I wouldn't dare to do, just things I can't! Brother, this matter has some twists and turns; I'll tell you about it slowly later."

"In the future? If you really consider me a brother, say so now, so I won't have to worry about it when I get back," Qin Yao said decisively.

The black bear spirit hesitated for a long time before falling silent.

Qin Yao snorted coldly and turned to leave.

The black bear spirit panicked and hurriedly grabbed his wrist, saying, "I'll talk, I'll talk..."

Qin Yao's expression softened slightly, and he said, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Why did you have to do it this way?"

The black bear spirit shook his head helplessly, and then told the whole story about the brocade cassock.

"A brocade cassock bestowed by Guanyin?" Qin Yao's eyes suddenly lit up. "Such a treasure, hidden in a cave, isn't that like wearing fine clothes in the dark?"

The black bear spirit shrugged and said, "I think so too, but I'm worried about Sun Wukong, so I don't dare to take it out."

Qin Yao said, "Sun Wukong? They've long since gone, and they can't go back. What are you worried about?"

The black bear spirit said, "It's not that I'm worried, it's mainly my master who's worried."

Qin Yao paused slightly, then slowly said, "Brother Black Bear, I have an idea, you might want to consider it..." (End of Chapter)