Journey to the West: Man in heaven, working nine to five

#1978 - Arriving at Hidden Mist Mountain

Tang Sanzang and his disciples agreed on a plan with Chu Hao, and indeed sped up their journey, which pleased Guanyin, who was observing in secret.

Hidden Mist Mountain was a rather majestic mountain, stretching for hundreds of miles, blocking the way to the Western Paradise.

The entire Hidden Mist Mountain was covered in lush forests, with rugged roads, and was often surrounded by clouds and mist. The terrain was extremely complex, and the mountain was full of man-eating jackals, wolves, and fierce beasts.

Legend has it that there were also demons living in the mountains, harming living beings, so the area around Hidden Mist Mountain was sparsely populated, and most travelers stopped in their tracks.

After three days of travel, Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrived at the foot of Hidden Mist Mountain. The sky was approaching noon, and Tang Sanzang felt a little hungry.

"Disciples, we have arrived at Hidden Mist Mountain, let's take a short rest."

Having arrived on schedule, the next step was to enter the mountain and suffer a calamity.

Before suffering the calamity, Tang Sanzang decided to have a full meal first, after all, not many demons who captured him would provide food, and not eating enough would only make him suffer more.

"Master, there is a courtyard ahead, presumably a family's home, let's go and take a look."

Sun Wukong leaped up to look out and saw a small courtyard and a few thatched huts in the distance, and said to Tang Sanzang.

"Probably another one of Buddha's informants."

Sha Monk pointed out the situation in one sentence.

Along the way, they had encountered many seemingly accidental ordinary people, who were actually secret sentries placed by the Western Paradise to monitor their group.

"Junior Brother Sha, even if they are informants, they can still provide us with a full meal."

Pigsy didn't care about these things, as long as there was food.

Tang Sanzang and his group arrived in front of the thatched courtyard. Tang Sanzang dismounted, tidied his robes and cassock, and then gently knocked on the door.

"Amitabha, benefactor, open the door, we are monks from the Tang Dynasty in the East, going to the Western Paradise to seek scriptures, please benefactor, show some kindness and give us some vegetarian food!"

Tang Sanzang was very skilled at this kind of talk. In one sentence, he pointed out that he had the backing of both the Tang Dynasty and the Western Paradise, and most people would give him some face when they heard it.

After a while, an old woman walked out of the courtyard. The old woman was leaning on a bamboo cane and groping her way to the door, clearly blind.

"Benefactor, this poor monk and his disciples are four in number, passing by here, hoping that the benefactor can give us a vegetarian meal."

Tang Sanzang bowed to the blind old woman and said.

"Alas, Elder, I'm really sorry, this old woman and my son live here, and it's difficult to survive. A few days ago, my son went up the mountain to chop firewood and never came back. Now my family has run out of food."

The blind old woman said to Tang Sanzang with a very embarrassed expression.

"Damn, here we go again, the Western Paradise's informants all like to play the victim card."

Pigsy muttered in dissatisfaction from behind. The Western Paradise's informants along the way were either desperately poor or had lost all their family members. It seemed that they were very happy to play these roles.

"Amitabha."

Although Tang Sanzang knew this, he couldn't say it clearly, so he recited a Buddhist chant as if scolding someone.

However, it was clear that he couldn't get a vegetarian meal, so he could only go up the mountain.

"Elder, if you go up the mountain, can you help me find my missing son? This old woman would be very grateful."

The blind old woman immediately asked, which was actually a task guide.

"Definitely, definitely!"

Tang Sanzang agreed in his mouth, but his face was gloomy.

This was clearly treating him like a monkey. An old blind woman, in this sparsely populated place, whose son had been missing for a few days, hadn't starved to death yet. Didn't the Western Paradise's informants consider the bugs?

Sun Wukong's figure flashed, and he quickly approached the place where the demon energy was, which was a place where the terrain in the mountain was complex.

He approached in a moment and hid temporarily, observing the location of the demon energy.

He saw that the place where the demon energy was located was in front of a cave, and above the cave was written "Fold Mountain Linked Cave."

At the entrance of the cave, there were about dozens of little demons holding weapons, practicing and playing, which seemed extremely noisy.

Sun Wukong wanted to beat up a few little demons to have some fun, but after thinking about it, he gave up on this idea.

"To think that I, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, have such a great reputation. Beating up a few little demons would be a bit degrading. I might as well give this credit to Pigsy."

Thinking of this, Sun Wukong turned around and went back.

At this time, Tang Sanzang, Pigsy, and Sha Monk had already entered the mountain. After another half an hour, Tang Sanzang was extremely hungry.

"Pigsy, look around and find some fruit to fill our stomachs."

Tang Sanzang said to Pigsy.

"Finding fruit is Monkey Brother's specialty. Master, let's wait for Monkey Brother to come back."

Although Pigsy was also a little hungry, he was unwilling to eat any fruit, because that thing was not filling at all.

Just at this moment, Sun Wukong came back, and as soon as he came back, he explained the situation to Pigsy.

"Are you sure there are only dozens of little demons?"

Pigsy asked Sun Wukong with some worry.

"Of course! I, Old Sun, saw it clearly."

Sun Wukong replied with great certainty.

"Okay, this credit is mine. I, Old Pig, will go and play with those few little demons."

Pigsy said, picking up his Nine-toothed Rake and preparing to leave.

"Wukong, Pigsy, Master is really hungry."

Tang Sanzang complained to Sun Wukong and Pigsy.

"Master, do you see that place where the smoke is thick? It must be a family in the mountains cooking. I'll let Pigsy go and beg for some vegetarian food to fill our stomachs!"

Sun Wukong only needed to say this to Tang Sanzang.

"Go and return quickly, Pigsy, don't be greedy."

Tang Sanzang immediately urged Pigsy.

Pigsy carried his rake and headed towards those little demons.

"Who said that I, Old Pig, am lazy? I'll show you a meritorious service today. If those little demons have prepared any wine and meat, I, Old Pig, will take it all."

Arriving nearby, Pigsy saw that there were indeed only dozens of little demons, and his playful nature arose. He shook his body and transformed into a fat monk.

"Greetings, benefactors!"

After transforming, Pigsy ran towards those little demons, shouting loudly.

"Huh, where did this monk come from?"

"He's fat and chubby, he should have a lot of oil."

"He's obviously a silly monk. I wonder if eating him will affect our intelligence."

When those little demons saw a fat monk actually delivering himself to their door, they were all very surprised and discussed among themselves.

"Greetings, benefactors, please give me some vegetarian food."

After approaching, Pigsy took out his Gold-threaded Begging Bowl and said like he was begging for alms.