Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 80 Treasure Hunt in the Lotus Cave (Part 6)
Now, Ao Tu has healed King Silver Horn. King Silver Horn is grateful for Ao Tu's kindness, and together with King Golden Horn, they want to acknowledge Ao Tu as their elder brother.

Ao Tu naturally agreed.

The three men set up a memorial tablet for Heaven and Earth in the Lotus Cave, and also offered up statues of the Three Pure Ones, who witnessed their sworn brotherhood.

The three of them were overjoyed at the same time.

Silver Horn King shouted, "Men, quickly prepare a feast to celebrate our sworn brotherhood with our elder brother!"

The lesser demons cheered and set out a feast.

The clever and cunning insect came up, bowed to Ao Tu as the Great King, and asked for wine.

King Silver Horn drank several cups of wine, but he was not happy because he lacked good food to accompany the wine.

The clever insect said, "Second King, why don't we cut off Pigsy's ears to have with our wine?"

The meticulous ghost said, "If we don't have enough ears, let's cut off a pig's leg and stew it!"

King Golden Horn said, "Don't be so stingy, roast the whole thing and bring it up to eat!"

The clever and quick-witted insect replied, "Yes!"

The two little demons hurriedly went down.

Ao Tu laughed and said, "My two brothers, please drink first. I'll go down and take a look."

While King Golden Horn and King Silver Horn were drinking, Ao Tu went down to visit Pigsy.

But then they saw that behind them, the clever ghost and the nimble insect were directing seven or eight little demons to tie Pigsy to a large log and carry it over the fire to roast him.

Pigsy struggled and cursed from above:

"You plague-ridden demons, they're going to roast your old pig grandpa and eat him! Keeper of the Heavenly Horses, if you don't come soon, I, this old pig, will be roasted and eaten by these demons!"

The seven or eight lesser demons were already struggling to carry Pigsy, and with Pigsy struggling, it became even more difficult for them. It took them a great deal of effort to finally get Pigsy onto the fire.

The fire was burning, and Pigsy felt the heat, causing his body to sway uncontrollably. The supports holding the fire up on both sides lost their balance and broke with a crack, throwing Pigsy into the fire.

"Ouch!" Pigsy jumped up from the heat and rolled around on the ground. Several little demons rushed to press him down, but they couldn't hold him down.

Seeing this, Ao Tu made a hand seal and chanted an incantation, using a mountain-moving technique to move Pigsy up.

Upon seeing this, the lesser demons hurriedly cried out, "Great King!"

The exquisite ghost said, "Great King, what brings you here?"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "I've come to see how the snacks to go with the drinks are."

The meticulous ghost said, "Great King, this pig is too heavy to roast. But don't worry, I'll have my brothers bring sharp axes and cut it in half from top to bottom. We'll split it in half, one on the left and one on the right, set up two fires, and roast it separately. That will make it much easier!"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Excellent, that's a great idea! Go and get it done!"

The clever ghost was overjoyed by the praise and immediately went to make arrangements.

Bajie saw that it was Ao Tu and hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, please don't scare this old pig! For the sake of our old acquaintances, please let me go!"

Ao Tu said, "Since we're old acquaintances, what should you call me?"

Bajie looked around and pleaded ingratiatingly, "Master, please let me go!"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Why are you calling me Master? When did I take you as my disciple?"

Bajie said, "Back in Gao Village, you tricked me, Old Pig, into bowing before you at the altar and receiving the precepts. You even gave me the Dharma name Bajie. Even if we're not true master and disciple, we still have a bond of kinship!"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Good disciple, I'll release you if you do me a favor."

Pigsy said, "I'll do as much as I want!"

Ao Tu said, "If you promise to capture Tang Sanzang, I will release you."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy's expression changed, and he refused:

"That won't do."

Ao Tu said, "Why not?"

Bajie said:
"If it were anything else, I, Old Pig, could agree to anything you asked, but I cannot do it to capture Master. Although I, Old Pig, am a bit of a mess, I am not the kind of person who would betray his master and be heartless!"

Ao Tu laughed, "You're certainly loyal and righteous. Since you're loyal and righteous, don't plead for him. Men, lock him up. Eating just him isn't enough. Once we've captured Tang Sanzang and his disciples, we'll put all four of them in a big iron pot and stew them together!"

The little demons cheered upon hearing this and locked Pigsy in the dungeon.

The clever insect said, "Great King, we don't have an iron pot that big in our cave!"

Ao Tu said, "Go and get some pig iron."

The clever insects and little demons brought over a pile of pig iron.

Ao Tu blew a breath of fire, melting the pig iron, and then used his magic to make a giant iron pot that was ten feet tall.

The little demons happily circled the iron pot, saying:

"This iron pot is great! I'll use it to stew dishes from now on!"

Ao Tu returned to the front and continued drinking with King Golden Horn and King Silver Horn.

Silver Horn King asked Ao Tu, "Brother, if Sun Wukong comes again tomorrow, how do we deal with him?"

Ao Tu asked, "You fought that monkey twice. What did you think of his skills?"

Silver Horn King said, "My battle with him was a worthy opponent, a meeting of equals."

The Golden Horned King looked over.

King Silver Horn chuckled and said truthfully, "That monkey is quite formidable. He's skilled in martial arts and incredibly fast on the cloud. He leaves as soon as I use my treasure; I can't defeat him without it."

Ao Tu said, "That monkey has encountered many hardships and is now a bit slippery. If you go straight at it, it will indeed be difficult to catch. I wonder if you could withstand a dozen or so rounds of fighting with it?"

Silver Horn King said, "I can hold out for more than ten rounds." Ao Tu said, "Then tomorrow, before that monkey comes, we'll go find him and his master. You fight Sun Wukong for more than ten rounds, then lure him to my place, and I'll have my own way of capturing him."

King Silver Horn exclaimed with delight, "Good!" He personally poured a cup of wine and offered it to Ao Tu.

At that time, Tang Sanzang and his disciples were in the mountain valley outside.

Sha Wujing cut down some trees, and the three of them built a hut to live in.

Tang Sanzang was mending his clothes by the fire.

Wukong laughed from the side, "Master, you know this trick too?"

Tang Sanzang said, "When I was young and lived in a temple, I could sew some shoes and socks. Later, when I became a high monk, I became rusty. Before, when I was on White Tiger Ridge, I went up the mountain to chop firewood and gather herbs and tore my clothes. I asked the benefactor's wife to mend them for me."

The benefactor said to me, 'I've heard that a monk's robe is called a patchwork robe, made by sewing together scraps of cloth donated by families, stitch by stitch. Why can't you, a monk, sew your own clothes?'"

Upon hearing this, the teacher felt deeply ashamed and thus picked up the craft again.

Wukong covered his mouth and chuckled.

Tang Sanzang said, "Let's not talk about that. That monster was ferocious; it burned half of this trouser leg. Wukong, are you alright?"

Wukong said, "Master, thank you for your trouble. I am fine. The monster fanned the fire and hit half of my body. When I saw this, I quickly made a fire-avoiding spell and left. However, my clothes are not easy to burn. They will be ruined if they touch the fire."

Tang Sanzang said, "It's good that you're alright. If your clothes are torn, I'll mend them for you. I just don't know how Pigsy is doing now."

Wukong said, "Master, don't worry. I've severely injured that monster. It will take him a year or two to recover. He won't be able to eat Bajie. I'll go rescue Bajie tomorrow."

Tang Sanzang said, "That's good, that's good." He then carefully began sewing Wukong's clothes by the firelight.

Silent all night.

The next day, Wukong changed into the patched clothes, still the same outfit of a traveler, except that one of his trouser legs was patched and the color was slightly different.

On the other side, Ao Tu led King Golden Horn, King Silver Horn, and a group of lesser demons out of the cave.

Ao Tu flew in the air and spotted the location of Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

Ao Tu ordered King Golden Horn to lead his minions to ambush Sun Wukong after he was lured away, and then capture Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing.

Ao Tu then led the Silver Horn King to a mountain valley four hundred miles to the south, took out his peach wood staff, pointed it at the ground, and a peach orchard stretching for more than ten miles grew there.

The plump, pink peaches hung from the tree, their fragrance filling the air.

Ao Tu instructed Silver Horn King, "Don't linger in battle. Lure Sun Wukong over here, and I'll deal with him."

Silver Horn King agreed, picked up the Seven Star Sword, and went to find Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

The Silver Horned King rode a cloud and quickly flew to the location of Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

Upon seeing the demonic cloud, Wukong hurriedly exclaimed, "Oh no! Junior Brother Sha, protect Master!"

Sha Wujing quickly shielded Tang Sanzang behind him.

Wukong soared up on a cloud and saw that it was the Silver Horn King. He said:
"My son, you are a monster born in the year of the dog. You broke your bone yesterday, and you're all better today!"

The Silver Horned King said, "Sun Wukong, don't try to be clever with your words. Yesterday's fan didn't burn you to death, so who stole some tattered pants and sewed them on today?"

Sun Wukong roared, "You monster, you have no eyes! This was sewn for me by my master Tang Sanzang himself using cloth he obtained through alms. Wearing this is better than wearing celestial brocade! Don't run away, take this!"

Wukong swung his staff and struck.

Silver Horn King wields the Seven Star Sword to fight his enemy.

After fighting for more than ten rounds, the Silver Horn King spat out his treasure fan. Upon seeing this, Wukong turned and left.

Silver Horn King put away his precious fan and ran back.

Wukong came after him again.

King Silver Horn rode the clouds for four hundred miles and disappeared into the peach grove.

Wukong followed and entered the peach grove, but the Silver Horn King was nowhere to be seen.

Wukong had been chasing after them for a while and was also a little thirsty. When he saw that there were peach trees all around and the peaches smelled delicious, he couldn't help but want to eat some.

Wukong used his Fiery Eyes of Truth to examine the peaches and saw that they were real, so he picked one and ate it.

It is juicy, sweet and delicious.

After eating two peaches, Wukong saw a ripe, bright red peach on a tree not far away. He jumped over, sat on the tree, picked the peach, and ate it.

Just then, Wukong saw a golden rope hanging on a tree branch.

"what is this?"

Wukong, out of curiosity, picked up the rope to examine it.

As soon as Ao Tu recited the Tightening Rope Spell, the rope began to wrap around Wukong.

Wukong exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no!"

He turned to use his somersault cloud to leave, but it was too late. He was immediately entangled by the Golden Rope and could not move, falling to the ground.

Upon seeing this, King Silver Horn burst out laughing and said, "Good! We've finally caught this monkey! Brother, thank you so much for avenging me!"

Ao Tu stepped forward and said, "It's nothing, it's all thanks to the Golden Rope."

Silver Horn King said, "If it weren't for the peach grove that you transformed, elder brother, this Golden Rope would have been gone even if we had just moved it slightly, let alone taken it out. It's all thanks to your clever plan, elder brother!"

Wukong wriggled on the ground and said, "Ao Tu, you demon dragon, you've tricked me again!"

Ao Tu ignored him and carefully searched his body, finding the purple-gold gourd. Just as he obtained the gourd, a thought struck Ao Tu:

"Isn't this gourd a primordial object? Although it's not a living being, it was formed innately. If I borrow it to study and comprehend its laws, it will surely greatly benefit my path of cultivation!"

　Following advice from many friends, I've divided the chapters into two and changed the chapter titles. I'm wondering if this format is acceptable?
　　P.S.: The author is terrible at naming things; it took him more than ten minutes to come up with just these two names.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)