Journey to the West: Starting with the Hunting of the Three Demons of Twin Fork Ridge

Meanwhile, Sun Wukong escorted Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures. After leaving the Two Realms Mountain, they encountered many twists and turns along the way.

Not only were they lectured by Tang Sanzang, but they were also tricked into wearing the golden headband, which finally calmed them down, and the master and disciple continued their journey.

It was the dead of winter, with a biting north wind and the ground slippery and frozen.

The mountains are steep and the terrain is difficult to traverse.

Tang Sanzang, sitting upright on his horse, suddenly heard the sound of water and asked, "Wukong, where is that water coming from?"

Wukong said, "I remember this place is called Snake Coil Mountain and Eagle Sorrow Stream, so the sound of water in the stream must be the reason."

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang felt relieved and was about to spur his horse to the edge of the ravine to take a look.

"Holy monk, wait!" A voice came from mid-air.

Wukong looked up and saw a silver-armored divine general.

It was the silver-headed Jiedi that Li Fa had transformed into.

Although the traveler possessed fiery eyes, he could not recognize Li Fa's true form.

Firstly, Li Fa was originally human, so he had neither impure energy nor evil influences on him. Secondly, his method of transformation was truly superb; he imitated the appearance, voice, and even the aura of a deity.

Seeing this, Wukong said, "What brings you here, Jiedi? Haven't you already completed your task of guarding me, Old Sun?"

Li Fa then said, "So that's how it is. But Guanyin Bodhisattva has given another decree, ordering me, the Five Directions Protectors, the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Four Duty Officers, and the Eighteen Guardian Monks, to secretly protect the Holy Monk. It is my turn to be on duty at this time, so I have come to see you."

Wukong asked, "If you're protecting me secretly, why reveal yourself?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen or so figures appeared in mid-air. They were the on-duty clerks, Ding Jia, Garan, and Jin Tou Jie Di.

Upon seeing Li Fa, the Golden-Headed Jiedi asked, "Silver-Headed, why are you only arriving now?"

It turned out that the Golden-Headed Jiedi stayed by Tang Sanzang's side day and night and had not returned to Mount Ling, so he was unaware of the Silver-Headed Jiedi's death.

Furthermore, the other Jiedi have not yet taken their turn to serve, so for the past few months it has been the Golden Head Jiedi himself, along with Gongcao, Dingjia, Jialan, and others.

Li Fa said, "When I returned to Mount Ling, Buddha had other important matters to attend to, which caused a slight delay."

The Golden-Headed Jiedi said, "If that's the case, then you should be hidden in mid-air. Why have you appeared?"

Li Fa said, "On my way here, I heard that there is a demonic dragon in the ravine ahead. I was afraid that it would harm the pilgrims, so I showed myself to tell them."

Upon hearing this, the Golden-Headed Jiedi's expression changed.

All the gods knew that this little white dragon was a tribulation arranged by Guanyin Bodhisattva for the pilgrims on their journey to the West.

But unexpectedly, Silver Head said it directly, so this problem no longer applies.

Jin Tou Jie Di, wanting to cause trouble, quickly rebuked, "What nonsense are you spouting? What demonic dragon? How could we not know anything about it?"

He was anxious, wondering what had gotten into the Silver-Headed Jiedi today, that he had revealed the existence of the White Dragon so directly.

You must understand that the tribulations on the journey to the West are meant to help you achieve your goals; there is no reason to know about danger before you even encounter it.

Wouldn't this ruin Guanyin Bodhisattva's plans?

Sun Wukong watched from the side. He was a clever man and immediately noticed that Jin Tou Jie Di's expression was strange, while Li Fa's expression remained normal.

At the time, I believed Li Fa's words to a large extent.

Furthermore, having just been fitted with the golden headband, the monkey was even more resentful of Buddhism. He then said to the Golden-Headed Immortal, "You scoundrel, you're utterly unreasonable! The Silver-Headed Immortal kindly reminded us, and you actually rebuked him. If that demonic dragon is real, isn't he deliberately trying to put my master in danger? What are your true intentions?"

Sun Wukong's words completely silenced the Golden-Headed Jiedi, leaving him no room for rebuttal.

If we admit that there is a demonic dragon ahead, wouldn't that confirm that all the calamities on the journey to the West were man-made?

So he simply kept quiet.

At this moment, Li Fa spoke up: "Great Sage Sun, please don't be angry. It's likely that the Golden-Headed Jiedi didn't detect any demonic dragons ahead. As for whether they actually are, I've only heard about it and can't guarantee it."

Sun Wukong then suppressed his anger and said, "In your opinion, what should we do? We can't exactly send this old man into the water to investigate, can we? This old man is not used to naval warfare."

Li Fa said, "Great Sage, don't worry, leave this to me."

Wukong asked, "What plan do you have?"

Li Fa deliberately cast his gaze at the white horse, then rolled his eyes and said to Wukong, "Why don't we hide this white horse in the forest first, let the gods watch over it, and I'll transform into the white horse and carry the Holy Monk across the ravine. If there really is a demonic dragon, we can lure it out, and then the Great Sage can capture it. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Upon hearing Li Fa's plan, Sun Wukong's eyes darted around, and he grinned, "Hehe, you Jiedi are quite clever! This plan is excellent, saving me, old Sun, the trouble of getting myself into the water. But..."

But then he changed the subject, saying to the Golden-Headed Jiedi and the other gods, "You guardian gods, since you are protecting us in secret, you should now conceal yourselves and not disturb the demonic dragon. Only Silver-Headed Jiedi should remain here to perform transformations."

Golden-Headed Jiedi cursed the monkey's cunning in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He gave Li Fa a deep look, feeling that his colleague was acting strangely today. But given the current situation, Sun Wukong clearly trusted Yin Tou more, and if he tried to stop or question him, he would only appear guilty.

They had no choice but to suppress their doubts and wink at the gods: "If that's the case, we will do as the Great Sage says, conceal our forms, and be on guard in secret."

Having said that, he, along with the dozen or so officials, officers, and monks, all disappeared.

Tang Sanzang, on horseback, understood everything. Although he felt the plan was somewhat risky, seeing that Sun Wukong had agreed and that so many gods were protecting him, he could only clasp his hands and say, "Amitabha, thank you for your trouble, Your Excellency. But... Your Excellency, transforming into a white horse to carry this humble monk, will it be strenuous?"

Li Fa smiled slightly, cupped his hands and said, "Holy Monk, please be merciful. This is merely my duty, it's nothing."

After saying that, he walked to a secluded spot in the forest and used the technique of transformation to change his appearance.

A flash of silver light appeared, and a white horse indeed appeared on the spot, almost exactly the same as the ordinary horse that Tang Sanzang rode.

Sun Wukong stepped forward, circled the fake white horse twice, and reached out to touch its neck and mane. He found that it was indeed made of real leather and fur, and exclaimed in amazement, "What a transformation! What a transformation! It's almost as good as my seventy-two transformations. It's so exquisite that even I can't see any flaws."

Then he said to Tang Sanzang, "Master, you should ride this 'horse' across the ravine."

Having said that, he then released Tang Sanzang's ordinary horse, summoned a Dharma protector to guard it, and instructed him, "Keep a close eye on my master's gait. If anything goes wrong, you will be held responsible!"

The monk bowed and agreed.

Once everything was arranged, the white horse that Li Fa had transformed into steadily carried Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang was initially a little uneasy, but he felt that the horse beneath him was unusually stable, much more so than the ordinary horse he had been riding before, and his heart calmed down a bit.

Wukong, carrying his golden cudgel, led the way, his eyes darting around, taking in the sights.

The group slowly walked towards the ravine, and sure enough, they saw Eagle's Sorrow Ravine, a truly beautiful sight:

Cold waves ripple through the cascading streams, accompanying the mountain peaks; clear light reflects the shimmering sky.

Springs gurgle and echo from the deep ravines, while rosy clouds ripple and embrace the high heavens.

A thousand peaks of snow-capped waves scatter jade-like dust, a hundred-foot-high silver tide dyes the sky with white light.

A jade dragon's aura lurks in the secluded stream, while the vast ocean embarks on a distant expedition.