Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 69, Encountering a Demon in the Black Pine Forest (Part Thirteen)
Meanwhile, Wukong somersaulted up Wudang Mountain and arrived at Taihe Palace.

Zhenwu Emperor is talking to Nezha.

When Nezha saw Wukong, he couldn't help but laugh:

"Your Majesty, see, I was right, the monkey really did come."

Wukong descended from the sky and said:

"Third Prince, what are you saying about me, Old Sun, now?"

Nezha said, "I told the Emperor that you would be back soon, and you see, I was right."

Wukong sighed, "Don't even mention it! We've encountered another demon this time, it's really formidable."

The True Martial Emperor said, "What kind of demon is it? With the Great Sage's martial arts, surely you can handle it?"

Wukong said, "Your Majesty, you have lived here for so long, yet you are unaware of the power of Xiniu Hezhou!"

Zhenwu Emperor asked, "How is it there?"

Wukong said, "It's truly a place where every step is fraught with difficulty and disasters are encountered at every turn! Back when the Bodhisattva led me into the Buddhist order, he said he would protect the pilgrims on their journey to the West. I, Old Sun, thought, how difficult could it be to go to the West?"
I never imagined that this journey to the West would be fraught with demons at every turn. There are those who use schemes, those who employ psychological tactics, those who rely on brute force, those who wield magical weapons, those who possess supernatural powers, and those who utilize formations… It's truly difficult! Difficult! Difficult!
Now we've encountered a Yellow-Robed Monster who can use some kind of formation—he's really powerful; he's captured Pigsy and Sandy. Old Sun had no other choice but to come here.”

Zhenwu Emperor said, "Great Sage, do not be anxious. I will summon the Turtle and Snake Generals to help you defeat the enemy."

Wukong said, “There’s no need to trouble the Emperor. That demon is only good at array formations, but his actual skills are mediocre. I think that if the Third Prince comes with me, I will lure the demon out to set up the array formation; the Third Prince can hide in the shadows and throw the Qiankun Ring at the demon when he sets up the array formation, and that will be enough.”

Upon hearing this, Nezha glanced at Wukong and couldn't help but say:

"I knew they'd call me again. They might as well have asked me to come along on the pilgrimage."

Wukong said, “Great! That’s good! I’ll talk to the Bodhisattva and recommend you, Third Prince, to go on the journey to the West.”

Nezha straightened his hair and said, "Forget it, I don't want to be a monk."

Wukong winked and said, "Let's go, let's go. Please come with me."

The two then bid farewell to the Emperor and rode away on the clouds.

Before long, they arrived at Baoxiang Kingdom.

Wukong said, "Third Prince, you stay here and I will go down and fight that demon."

Nezha said, "Alright, go ahead!"

Wukong went down to challenge him, while Nezha disappeared into the air.

Wukong shouted, "Monster, come out and face your death!"

Inside the Golden Hall, Kui Mulang was apologizing to Ao Tu.

It was only because he had been careless and let Sun Wukong go.

At this moment, upon hearing Sun Wukong challenging him to a duel outside, Kui Mulang immediately exclaimed with delight:
"Senior, that monkey is here again. This time, I will capture him alive and present him to your command!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu said, "That monkey has returned, so he must have something to rely on. He must have brought helpers to subdue you. You must not be careless."

Kui Mulang said, "Don't worry, senior!"

Kui Mulang straightened his armor, walked out of the palace gate, and called out:

"Bima Wen, I let you escape last time, why are you coming here to die again?"

Wukong said, "My son, this time is different!"

Kui Mulang said, "Enough nonsense, watch the formation!"

Kui Mulang released a formation diagram, and starlight fell, instantly enveloping Wukong.

Nezha watched from afar and saw that thirty-six rays of starlight suddenly descended from the sky, sealing off the entire area and trapping Wukong inside.

Wukong remained completely still, bathed in the light of the thirty-six stars. Nezha exclaimed in surprise, "What kind of formation is this? It can actually draw upon the power of the celestial bodies?"

Unable to discern the origin of the formation, Nezha revealed himself, picked up the Universe Ring, and hurled it at Kui Mulang.

The Qiankun Ring burst forth from the sky, instantly striking Kui Mulang's forehead, but passing right through his body. Kui Mulang's body transformed into a ray of starlight and vanished on the spot.

Nezha's expression changed, and he hurriedly withdrew his Universe Ring to leave, but then he saw a large amount of starlight shining down and instantly pulling him into the formation.

Wukong said, "Third Prince, why are you here too?"

Nezha glared at him angrily and said, "Monkey, what kind of things have you messed with?"

Wukong said, "Can you blame me entirely for this? Let's think about how to get out of here first."

Nezha looked around and saw thirty-six stars orbiting around them, with beams of starlight shooting towards the two of them.

As Wukong carried the starlight, he said:

"This formation is really strange. There is no way to escape from it, whether you look up, down, left, or right. You can't dodge the starlight or block it. You can only take it head-on."

Nezha said, "I saw it outside just now. This formation is cast with the power of the stars in the heavens. It has the power of thirty-six constellations. All of this is an illusion. As long as there are stars above your head, you cannot escape this formation."

Wukong asked, "What should we do then?"

Nezha said, "Let's wait a little longer. Once that demon lowers his guard, I'll take advantage of his unpreparedness and use the Hun Tian Ling to cover a star in the due south direction. At that time, the formation will have a gap. Before he can fill the gap, quickly use your somersault cloud to take me out."

Wukong said: "Okay!"

The two then endured the attack within the formation for a period of time.

This formation should be controlled by all thirty-six star generals together to unleash its full power. At this moment, Kui Mulang is controlling the formation alone, which is quite exhausting.

Nezha, estimating that the time was about right, pulled out his Universe Ring and covered a constellation in the due south direction. Sure enough, a gap appeared in the great formation.

Upon seeing this, Kui Mulang quickly moved the stars to repair the defects.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Wukong grabbed Nezha and somersaulted away.

Kui Mulang shouted, "Bima Wen, if you have the guts, come back and fight me!"

Wukong, naturally, was not swayed by his provocation and fled with Nezha.

Nezha said on the way, "This demon has manipulated the stars in the sky to form an array. It is no ordinary demon. We should go and report to His Majesty the Jade Emperor and ask him to investigate the stars in the sky to see if any star deities have descended to the mortal realm."

Wukong said, "That's right."

The two ascended to the South Heavenly Gate, where Ma, Zhao, Wen, and Guan all bowed and said, "Great Sage, Third Prince, we are sorry for not welcoming you sooner!"

After Wukong explained the reason, he went to the Lingxiao Palace to request an audience with the Jade Emperor.

The Four Celestial Masters relayed the message, and then an imperial decree was issued to summon the emperor.

When the Jade Emperor saw Wukong, he laughed and said, "Wukong, what brings you here again?"

Wukong bowed deeply and said:
"Your Majesty, I, Old Sun, am protecting Tang Sanzang on his journey to the Western Paradise to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. The road to the Western Paradise is truly difficult. Now, upon reaching the territory of Baoxiang Kingdom in Xiniu Hezhou, we have encountered a demon who is skilled in using formations and has captured both of my junior brothers."

Even with the help of the Third Prince, we couldn't break the demon's great formation. Fortunately, the Third Prince recognized that the demon was manipulating the celestial stars to form the formation. Therefore, he suspected it was an ominous star descending to earth. I implore Your Majesty, the Jade Emperor, to issue an edict to investigate. If it truly is a star descending to earth, I also request Your Majesty to send troops to subdue the demon.”

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor issued a decree:

"As Wukong has suggested, investigate all the stars in the heavens and the gods and kings of each constellation to see if any of them are thinking of descending to the mortal realm. Then report back to the emperor to implement the plan."

The official went to investigate, and Wukong saw Laozi in the hall and went up to him, saying, "Old official, it's been a while since I've seen you."

Laozi said, "Monkey, what do you want with me? No one from my palace has come down to the mortal realm."

(End of this chapter)