Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 27, Crossing the Shifting Sands (Part 3)
Meanwhile, Tiger Vanguard tossed the scroll that Ao Tu had transformed into to Pigsy. Pigsy, upon reading it, was terrified. Forgetting the battle, he dragged his rake and rushed back, saying:

"Master, something terrible has happened! Eldest Brother has gone back to Flower Fruit Mountain!"

Upon arriving before Tang Sanzang, Bajie hurriedly presented the book and silk scroll.

Tang Sanzang was first astonished upon seeing this, and then became angry.

Holding his staff, he paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself, referring to the monkey as "long" and the monkey as "short," resenting that Sun Wukong had returned home without telling him.

Bajie, standing to the side, nudged the fire and said:

“Master, my senior brother must have found being a monk with you too hard, so he went home and we don’t know when he’ll be back! Maybe from now on there will only be monks with the surname Pig, and no more Sun Wukong.”

Tang Sanzang said, "Didn't the letter he left say he would return in a month or so?"

Bajie said, "Master, don't you understand? This is just a delaying tactic by my senior brother!"

Tang Sanzang asked, "What?"

Bajie said, “Think about it, when he was a monk with you, he ate the wind and slept on the water, and he would eat when there was a meal and endure when there was none. Now that he has returned to Flower Fruit Mountain, he can enjoy flowers and fruits all year round, and vegetables to cook on the eight festivals. When he is free, he can drink with the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, and when he is happy, he can call on all the monkeys, big and small, to roam the mountain. He can’t enjoy such a life of immortals, so why would he still do the hard work of going on the journey to the West with you?”

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang became even more enraged and said resentfully:

"If he dares not to come back, I'll chant that curse, and he'll die!"

Seeing that Tang Sanzang was truly angry, Pigsy dared not say another word.

Sha Wujing advised from the side, "Holy Monk, do not be angry. As the saying goes, 'Though one may cast aside worldly affairs, one's heart is still bound to one's hometown and relatives.' Elder Sun has been away from his hometown for a long time, and it is only natural for him to return home to visit."

Tang Sanzang felt a little better after that.

Pigsy asked, "Master, now that my fellow disciples have all gone home, should we continue on our journey?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Without that monkey, would we still be on our journey to the West? Pigsy, you are also a descendant of Marshal Tianpeng, with the ability to subdue dragons and tigers. Get rid of that evil tiger and poisonous dragon so that the fishermen can ferry us across the river."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy drooped his ears, looking rather unwilling.

Tang Sanzang asked, "What, you don't want to go?"

Pigsy said, “Master, it’s not that I don’t want to go. It’s just that I, Old Pig, have been away from home for many days now and miss it very much. I wonder if Master could give me a leave of absence so that I, Old Pig, can also go back to Gao Village to visit my family.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang angrily retorted, "You blockhead, how long have you been away from home and you're already homesick? I'll write you a letter of dismissal, telling you to go back and never come back!"

Upon hearing this, Pigsy immediately knelt down and said:

“Master, I, Old Pig, have said some nonsense. It was not my intention. I was just hungry and became lazy, which is why I said such things. I have received the precepts of the Bodhisattva and have received your mercy. I am willing to serve you on your journey to the Western Paradise and I vow to never back down.”

Tang Sanzang said, "Since that's the case, get up. After you've eaten, we'll go and subdue the demon."

Pigsy then got up.

We won't go into detail about Sha Wujing preparing the vegetarian meal.

At that time, Sun Wukong was still trapped in the Red Sand Formation and was completely unaware of the outside world.

This was exactly Ao Tu's plan.

Ao Tu actually had a real chance to trap all three of Tang Sanzang and his disciples in the formation.

For example, if Ao Tu had placed the array diagram inside beforehand when Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered Sha Wujing's house, and then activated the array as soon as they entered, none of the three of them could have escaped.

However, Ao Tu deliberately didn't do that. If he captured all three of Tang Sanzang's disciples, it might seem glorious, but the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Dharma Protectors who were secretly protecting them, would definitely go to Mount Ling for help and call upon the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. How long could he hold them off?
Now, with only Sun Wukong trapped and Tang Sanzang and Zhu Bajie unharmed, those secretly protecting them wouldn't make a move. He could stall for time here with Zhu Bajie, maximizing his reward. Meanwhile, Zhu Bajie ate his vegetarian meal, picked up his rake, bid farewell to his master, and went off to subdue the demon again.

Pigsy, carrying his rake, walked to the edge of the forest and was about to go in when he suddenly stopped.

Looking into the deep forest, Pigsy thought with worry:
There are countless ferocious tigers in this forest. If there is only one, it will be fine. But if there are other tiger brothers, tiger cubs, tiger offspring, seven or eight generations of tigers coming up together, without his senior brother's help, he may not be able to handle them and may be carried away by the ferocious tigers instead.

Then he thought of how the evil tiger had called himself the King of Nanshan. If he were only one person, how could he dare to call himself a king? There must be many lesser demons, which is why he was called the King of Nanshan.

Bajie became increasingly hesitant to go in, circled the forest a few times, and then turned back as the sun set.

Tang Sanzang asked, "Bajie, have you subdued that vicious tiger?"

Bajie said, “Master, that evil tiger knows how powerful I am. When it saw me coming, it shrank into its den and dared not come out. I shouted and cursed for a long time, but it still wouldn’t come out. Seeing that it was getting late, I came back to report to Master and said that we would go to fight again tomorrow.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang had no choice but to tell Bajie to go again the next day.

The next day, when Pigsy returned from subduing the demon, Tang Sanzang asked, "Did you subdue the evil tiger this time?"

Bajie stammered, "That evil tiger went out to visit relatives and is not at home."

On the third day, Tang Sanzang urged Bajie to go out and subdue the demon again.

Pigsy lay in bed, refusing to go out, and lied that he had been fighting demons for days and had developed a headache.

Tang Sanzang noticed that Pigsy was afraid to fight and angrily said:
"If you don't exert yourself, go back to Gao Village and I will subdue the demon myself!"

Pigsy hurriedly said, "Master, don't be angry, I'll go."

Bajie picked up his rake, went out the door, and entered the forest. He soon encountered Tiger Vanguard and immediately engaged in battle.

One was a vicious tiger that had been around for years, and the other was a pig spirit transformed from Tianpeng.

After ten rounds of fighting, Tiger Vanguard's strength waned, and he could no longer hold his own. Pigsy pressed his advantage and pursued the attack.

Tiger Vanguard suddenly took out the long spear on his back, shone it down, and a burst of golden light shot out.

Pigsy was caught off guard and was hit, losing three inches of his mane. He was so frightened that he fled in panic.

Before long, Pigsy escaped back, exhausted and drooling, foaming at the mouth. He strode over angrily and called out, "Master!"

When Tang Sanzang saw this, he exclaimed in surprise, "Bajie, you went to subdue the demon, how did you end up in such a sorry state?"

Bajie said, “Master, it’s so hard! I went into the forest and fought with that evil tiger. We fought for three hundred rounds, but the monster was no match for me and fled in the wind.”

The disciple went to give chase, but suddenly hundreds of lesser demons leaped out of the forest and surrounded me. Some pulled my legs, others twisted my feet. The demon then took out some unknown treasure and struck me on the head. Luckily, I, Old Pig, dodged quickly, or I would have been beaten to death. Only then did I return to pay my respects to my master.

Tang Sanzang was quite frightened upon hearing this and said:

"So many demons! Amitabha, what are we going to do!"

Pigsy said, "Master, don't panic. Your disciple will follow you and swear to protect you on your journey to the West. Although there are many demons in the forest, I, Old Pig, am quite brave. After I rest for a few days and regain my strength, I will go and fight them to the death and surely rid you of that demon!"

Tang Sanzang was overjoyed to hear this, but he was worried about Bajie's safety.

Bajie said: "As long as we can get rid of that demon, I don't mind risking my life."

But in fact, Pigsy had already figured out the monster's abilities and that he was no match for him. However, there was a treasure that was quite powerful and had just caught him off guard. Now that Pigsy was on guard, it was almost certain that he could take down the monster.

(End of this chapter)