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

The two then turned to look at the White Bone Lady.

The corpse demon lay motionless amidst the rubble, its body charred black, with wisps of smoke rising from its body.

Baili Bo said bitterly, "That vixen has wronged me greatly; today she's finally getting her comeuppance!"

Li Fa nodded, secretly pleased: The task of compiling the Merit Record should be completed by now, right?

He immediately calmed his mind and went to examine the merit record.

But when he looked at it, he was stunned.

On the catalog, the line "[Target for execution: Corpse Demon White Bone Lady]" remained unchanged!

It did not become the target of execution: the Corpse Demon Lady White Bone!

Li Fa was greatly surprised. He looked at it carefully again to make sure he hadn't misread it.

He suddenly looked up, staring at the charred corpse, his brows furrowed.

Something is wrong!

Something's 90% off!

His divine lightning bolt had indeed struck the White Bone Demon in the back of the heart, and there stood the dark corpse before him.

Could it be that this guy escaped again?

But I didn't notice anyone wandering off in a daze!

There's only one possibility: the one killed wasn't Lady White Bone.

Thinking of this, Li Fa quickly stepped forward, came to the body, and bent down to examine it closely.

Upon seeing this, he immediately gasped in shock.

Although the corpse was human-shaped, there was something bulging under its clothes, shaped like a tail!

Li Fa reached out and parted the charred clothes, and sure enough, there was a fox tail on the lower part of the corpse!

Baili Bo also came closer, and upon seeing it, exclaimed, "This...this isn't that witch! This is a fox spirit!"

Li Fa suddenly felt enlightened.

No wonder the merit record didn't show the task as completed!

It turns out that the White Bone Demon did not come out of the cave herself, but instead had this fox spirit transform into her appearance to come out and clean up the mess!

Where did the real White Bone Demon go?

Could they be hiding in a cave?

Li Fa looked up at the stone door of the cave, only to find it tightly closed and silent.

Baili Bo was both shocked and furious, exclaiming, "This vixen... is so cunning!"

Li Fa gave a bitter smile and said, "If she weren't so cunning, she wouldn't have survived until today."

He secretly sighed: This White Bone Demon truly deserves her reputation as a demon king on the Journey to the West. He had used his own scheme against her, but she had used a substitute to die in his place; this round was a draw.

Baili retorted, "Brother, what do we do now?"

Li Fa pondered for a moment and said, "She can run away, but she can't hide. Let's wait here and see when she comes out!"

Baili Bo nodded, but looked ashamed and said, "Brother, it was all my recklessness that ruined everything..."

Li Fa waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about that. We've both learned a lesson from this incident. We'll just be more careful in the future."

Baili Bo nodded repeatedly, his admiration for Li Fa growing ever stronger.

It turned out that the White Bone Demon, upon hearing the Black Fox Demon's report that Tang Sanzang and his disciples had arrived, immediately made two arrangements. She instructed the Black Fox Demon to deal with Li Fa and the other two, while she herself went out of the back door of her cave to find Tang Sanzang.

The black fox spirit also had no way to undo her transformation, so Li Fa still saw the appearance of Lady White Bone.

Meanwhile, the corpse demon was searching in the mountains when he indeed saw a group of monks. So he hid in the clouds and secretly observed them.

From the mountain valley came Tang Sanzang's voice: "Wukong, I'm hungry today. Where can you go to beg for some food?"

Wukong said with a forced smile, "Master is indeed clever. Here we are, halfway up the mountain, with no village in sight and no shop in sight. Even if we had money, there would be nowhere to buy food. Where are we supposed to find a place to eat?"

Tang Sanzang was displeased and scolded, "You monkey! Back in the Two Realms Mountain, you were imprisoned in a stone box by the Buddha, able to speak but unable to move. It was only because I saved your life, touched your head, and ordained you as my disciple that you were able to do so. Why are you so unwilling to work hard, always harboring a lazy heart!"

Wukong replied, "This disciple has been quite diligent; how could I be lazy?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Since you are so kind, why don't you beg for alms for me? How can I eat when I'm hungry? Besides, this place is shrouded in miasma; how can I possibly reach Thunderclap Monastery?"

Wukong said, "Master, please don't be offended and keep quiet. I know you are proud and arrogant, and if I offend you, I will recite that spell. Please dismount and sit still while I go find a place to beg for alms."

Wukong leaped onto a cloud, shaded his eyes with his hand, and opened them to watch.

The western road is pitifully desolate, with no manor houses or villages, a place where trees abound but human habitation is rare.

After looking for a while, I saw a tall mountain to the south, and on the sunny side of that mountain, there was a patch of bright red dots.

Wukong descended from the cloud and said, "Master, there's food."

The elder asked what it was, and Wukong replied, "There's no one here to beg for food. There's a patch of red peaches on the South Mountain; they must be ripe wild peaches. I'll go pick a few for you to eat."

Tang Sanzang exclaimed happily, "For a monk to have peaches to eat is a great honor! Go quickly!"

Wukong took the alms bowl, and with a burst of auspicious light, he swayed and churned, exuding a chilling aura. In a short while, he was on his way to Nanshan Mountain to pick peaches, but that's another story.

Seeing Sun Wukong leave, the White Bone Demon was overjoyed, thinking, "I originally intended to use a sleeping potion on that monk, but I used it when dealing with that Taoist priest. Do you expect me to capture him by force?"

Just as he was thinking of forcibly capturing Tang Sanzang, he noticed that Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing were also by his side, so he dared not act recklessly and thought to himself, "Fine, let me devise another plan."

So she transformed herself into a woman and headed straight for Tang Sanzang from west to east.

Upon seeing this, Tang Sanzang called out, "Bajie, Sha Wujing, Wukong just said this place is deserted, but look, a person is walking out from there!"

Pigsy said, "Master, you and Sandy sit here and wait for me to go and see what's going on."

The fool stepped forward and saw that it was a woman, very beautiful. He was also moved by worldly desires and couldn't help but babble, calling out, "Female Bodhisattva, where are you going?"

The woman quickly replied, "Greetings, Elder. I am from a local family. Because the area around here is complicated, people often get lost, so I came out to take a look."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy was overjoyed. He quickly turned and ran off like a madman to report to Tang Sanzang: "Master! What a stroke of luck! What a stroke of luck! Good people are always rewarded by Heaven! Master is hungry, so I sent my brother to beg for alms. That monkey has gone off somewhere to pick peaches and play."

Eating too many peaches has made me feel a bit nauseous and heavy. This trip of mine has not only found Master a vegetarian meal but also a place to stay. Isn't that much better than living here, exposed to the elements?

Tang Sanzang scoffed, "You idiot, spouting nonsense! We've traveled this far and haven't encountered a single good person. Where is there any good place to be found?"

Pigsy said, "Master, look up."

Upon seeing this, Tang Sanzang immediately jumped up, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and asked, "Female Bodhisattva, where do you live? What kind of family are you? How did you come to be in this mountain forest?"

When Tang Sanzang asked about her origins, the woman used sweet words to deceive him, saying, "Master, this mountain is called White Tiger Ridge, and my home is directly below to the west. My parents died early, leaving only my four daughters to depend on each other. My sisters and I have always been devout followers of Taoism and Buddhism, and therefore often do good deeds."

The terrain of White Tiger Ridge is treacherous, and wolves and jackals roam freely. Therefore, many who lose their way often fall prey to wild beasts. Thus, my sisters and I made a solemn vow to patrol the mountain daily, and if we see anyone lost, we will help them.”