Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 71, Encountering a Demon in the Black Pine Forest (Part 15)
Meanwhile, the six members of the Western White Tiger Seven Mansions had been gone for a long time, but there was still no sign of them.

The people outside were growing impatient. Jiao Mujiao said:

"Great Sage, waiting like this isn't a solution. Why don't we go down and take a look together?"

Wukong said: "That's fine."

The crowd descended from the clouds.

The Twenty-Eight Constellations had never seen Kui Mulang's formation before, and were unaware of its power. Completely unprepared, they walked ahead of him.

Having suffered from this formation before, Wukong and Nezha dared not be careless and cautiously followed behind.

As the group approached, they saw the seven constellations of the Western White Tiger—Kui Mulang, Lou Jingou, Wei Tuzhi, Mao Riji, Bi Yuewu, Zi Huohou, and Shen Shuiyuan—emerging from the main hall.

Jiao Mujiao said, "Kui Mulang, why don't you hurry up and come with us to Heaven to report back!"

Kui Mulang shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I can't comply."

Jiao Mujiao said, "If you disobey the imperial decree, don't blame us for not showing any camaraderie among colleagues!"

Kui Mulang said, "Then please let me experience the extraordinary abilities of my colleagues."

Jiao Mujiao said, "Then don't blame us for being ruthless! Lou Jingou, what are you waiting for? Why don't you capture him?"

Lou Jingou remained silent, simply standing quietly beside Kui Mulang. The other five people also stood on either side of Kui Mulang.

Seeing this, Wukong sensed something was wrong and silently took a few steps back. When Nezha saw Wukong retreat, he also retreated.

Jiao Mujiao frowned and said, "What are you doing? Are you planning a rebellion?"

Lou Jingou said, "Brother Jiao, we were forced into this situation!"

The ape said, "That's right, we had no choice!"

Jiao Mujiao looked at these people and couldn't see anything about them that suggested they were being forced. He had originally thought that recalling Kui Mulang would be a simple matter of a word, but he hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

Seeing this, the other constellations behind them all picked up their weapons and made hand seals, instantly turning the atmosphere tense.

Jiaomujiao said:

"If you, the Seven Mansions of the White Tiger in the West, continue to be so stubborn, we will truly have to take action!"

Kui Mulang laughed and said, "Then let's give it a try!"

Jiaomu Jiao said, "Let's do it!"

In an instant, all sorts of spells were unleashed.

Kui Mulang was not afraid at all. He displayed the array diagram, and the other six constellations cast spells together, causing starlight to fall from the sky.

Upon seeing this, Wukong knew something was wrong! He turned and somersaulted away. Nezha, riding on his Wind Fire Wheels, left almost at the same time as Wukong.

Twenty-one constellations, including Jiao Mu Jiao, were caught off guard and trapped in the formation.

Previously, when Kui Mulang was in charge of the formation alone, he was overwhelmed and the formation's power was limited. Now, with the seven constellations in charge of the formation together, each activating the formation and drawing upon the power of the stars, the formation's power has greatly increased, with countless beams of starlight flying wildly and striking down relentlessly.

Jiaomu Jiao was knocked over by dozens of starlight beams.

Kang Jinlong raised his dragon horns and flew upwards in a rush, but no matter how hard he flew, he could not get out of the formation. He was hit by a hundred or so starlight beams and fell into the void.

Dou Muxie brandished his weapon to block the starlight, but it was no match for him. He was struck dozens of times from all sides and was knocked into the void.

Seeing that the others had all fallen into the void and disappeared, Jingmu Han assumed that the void was the exit point of the formation, so he did the opposite and went down into the void below.

In this formation, there was no boundless space above, below, left, or right. Going down and going up were the same. Not long after, Jingmu Han followed in the footsteps of the others.

The other constellations soon followed suit and were defeated one after another.

Kui Mulang withdrew the formation diagram, and all the constellations on the field were already unconscious.

The seven constellations of the White Tiger in the west dragged these people back to the palace.

Wukong and Nezha watched this scene from a distance, feeling a bit scared, but thankfully they left quickly.

Unable to come up with a solution, the two went to Heaven again to report the matter to the Jade Emperor and request reinforcements.

The Jade Emperor was quite surprised and said, "The twenty-seven constellations still can't subdue Kui Mulang?"

Nezha said, "Your Majesty, it is because that Kui Mulang has some kind of formation that can activate the laws of the stars and form a formation with the seven constellations of the White Tiger in the west, which makes it difficult to subdue him."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor issued a decree to seal off the celestial sphere and dispatched Li Tianwang with 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals, along with the twenty-four guardian deities of the Thunder Department, the righteous gods of the Fire Department, and the Nine Luminaries, to descend to the mortal realm and subdue Kui Mulang and his followers. Li Tianwang mustered his troops and generals, and together with the gods, descended to the mortal realm with overwhelming heavenly might, surrounding the royal palace of Baoxiang Kingdom.

Because sealing off the stars in the sky and assembling the troops takes time.

By the time Li Tianwang and his companions descended to the mortal realm, another half month had passed.

The progress in the Ao Tu system has reached 151 days, and there are less than a month, 29 days, away from the half-year reward.

Outside the royal palace of Baoxiang Kingdom, the sky was covered with dense clouds, and lightning flashed and thunder roared.

Countless heavenly soldiers and generals stood in the air, surrounding the imperial palace.

Kui Mulang walked out together with the other twenty-seven constellations.

Seeing this, Li Tianwang shouted in a majestic voice:

"Kui Mulang, the Jade Emperor has decreed that the stars have been sealed off. Why don't you surrender now! Jiao Mujiao, what are you doing here? Are you also going to aid and abet the wicked?"

Jiao Mujiao said, "King Li, we were forced into this situation; we had no choice!"

The other constellations all said, "Yes, yes, we were all forced into it!"

Li Tianwang glared angrily and said, "Still dare to argue!"

Li Tianwang immediately ordered the Nine Luminaries to go down and challenge them, and the gods of the Thunder Department released divine thunder to assist them.

The Nine Luminaries descended from the clouds, and Kui Mulang released the array diagram. Instantly, starlight fell, drawing the Nine Luminaries into the array. Moments later, all Nine Luminaries were unconscious.

Li Tianwang was greatly surprised:

"If they've already sealed off the stars, why can they still draw starlight down to the mortal realm?"

The gods all looked puzzled and said, "We don't know! We don't know!"

Among the twenty-four guardian deities of the Thunder Department, several were highly skilled in formations. King Li asked:

"Qin Tianjun, can you tell what kind of formation that is?"

Qin Tianjun was holding a lightning-attracting hammer drill made of the Heavenly Court standard, and he would occasionally strike it twice to produce two loud claps of thunder to cheer him on.

When Li Tianwang asked him, he simply pretended to be deaf.

Li Tianwang asked twice, but he didn't respond at all.

Wukong chuckled to himself from behind.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Li Tianwang couldn't help but angrily say, "Stop knocking! The Nine Luminaries Star Lord has already been captured, what are you still knocking for!"

Qin Tianjun stopped what he was doing, and as if he had just seen Li Tianwang, he exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, it's Li Tianwang! When did you arrive?"

Li Tianwang asked, "Qin Tianjun, can you tell what kind of formation that was just now?"

Qin Tianjun said, "Formation? Heavenly King, I am not good at formations and cannot see it."

Li Tianwang roared, "Qin Wan, you!"

Qin Tianjun ignored him.

Li Tianwang angrily said, "Qin Tianjun, I order you to go down and challenge and capture Kui Mulang immediately!"

Qin Tianjun said, "Heavenly King, I am not usually good at fighting. Please send someone else to fight, and I will use lightning to help you."

Li Tianwang said, "I, the Heavenly King, want you to go and challenge me!"

Qin Tianjun said, "Heavenly King, I am not usually good at fighting. Please send someone else to fight, and I will use lightning to help you."

Li Tianwang said, "I only need you to go!"

Qin Tianjun said, "Heavenly King, I am not usually good at fighting. Please send someone else to fight, and I will use lightning to help you."

Li Tianwang was furious and approached, saying, "Qin Wan, how dare you bully me like this!"

Seeing this, Nezha quickly pulled Li Tianwang back, afraid that he would lose his composure.

Li Tianwang was startled, but when he saw that Nezha was only holding his right arm, he was relieved.

(End of this chapter)