Chapter 19: The Past Life Grievances Between Bajie and Elder Brother

"Wukong, who are those people?" Master Tripitaka emerged from the house with Gohan's support, leaning on his tin staff, and asked with lingering fear.

"Disciple does not know either," Hu Rong replied honestly. "But I'm certain they're not monsters... That's how they managed to fool my Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze, brazenly putting on a show right under my nose!"

"Amitabha," Tripitaka recited a Buddhist blessing, then continued, "Fortunately, their mischief was merely playful, not intended to trouble us."

Hu Rong merely gave a soft chuckle, glanced at the sky with worry flickering in his eyes, and said, "Master, it's getting late. After your meal, please rest well! Youde, see to our master's safety! I'll go release Gao Cuilan, then deal with the pig demon!"

With that, Hu Rong had Old Man Gao lead the way into the inner chambers, knocked open the bronze lock on the door, and instructed Old Man Gao to take Gao Cuilan far away. Then, with a shake, he transformed into Gao Cuilan herself and sat alone in the room, waiting for the pig demon Zhu Ganglie to walk into the trap.

Before long, a gust of wind arose, stirring the entire Gao Manor with flying stones and swirling sand. When the gale subsided, a pig demon appeared in mid-air, black-faced and bristly, with a long snout and big ears.

He wore a robe of indeterminate blue or green over his lower half, a deep black tunic over his torso, a floral cloth headscarf tied at his waist, and he waddled along with his great belly, shouldering a rake as he headed toward the inner chambers.

"Wife, wife? Why are the lights out?" Zhu Ganglie pushed open the door and, seeing the room enveloped in darkness, asked instinctively.

"With a face as ugly as yours, I fear I'd get a sty just from looking at you," Hu Rong replied coldly from the bed.

Zhu Ganglie, curious, groped his way to the bedside. "Wife, why do you speak to me in this tone? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Staring at a pig as singular as you every day would give even the Great Sage Equal to Heaven kidney pain," Hu Rong teased with a sly smile, alluding to the second brother Pigsy, ordained by Buddha himself, now the pig demon Zhu Ganglie.

"The Great Sage? You mean that Sun Wukong who wreaked havoc in Heaven?" Zhu Ganglie was startled, rolled off the bed with a yelp, looked around suspiciously, and asked, "What, that damned monkey is here at Gao Manor too?"

"No, he's not."

"Not? Then why bring him up for no reason!" Zhu Ganglie patted the dust from his backside, exhaled heavily, and muttered, "Gave me quite a scare!"

"What’s this? So mighty a demon, and you still fear that damned monkey Sun Wukong?" Hu Rong sneered.

"Bah! I'm not afraid—just annoyed by him!" Zhu Ganglie slumped into a chair, shaking his head with a sigh. "That wretched Stable Master... If not for him, would I have ended up like this?"

"Oh? So you, great demon, have some unspeakable past? Don’t tell me you’re just boasting to fool a naive girl like me?" Hu Rong feigned innocence, trying to draw out more.

Zhu Ganglie bristled, slapping the table. "Who’s fooling you? I was once Marshal Tianpeng, one of the Four Saints under the Emperor of the North Star! Commander of a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers along the Milky Way!"

Hu Rong responded with a drawn-out "Oh," then asked, "Then how did you come to look so hideous?"

"All that cursed Stable Master's fault! He abandoned his immortal post to rebel as a demon king, even sworn brotherhood with infamous demon lords. How could Heaven tolerate such insolence?"

Zhu Ganglie spat viciously, continuing, "So the Jade Emperor marshaled a hundred thousand soldiers to seize that damned monkey at Flower-Fruit Mountain! Who could’ve guessed we'd be shamed by him, lose troops, and nearly see Heaven itself torn asunder!"

"In the end, the Jade Emperor had no choice but to send his nephew, Second Lord Erlang, and later called for the Buddha of the West, who finally subdued that monkey and crushed him beneath Five Elements Mountain!"

"And all this—how does it involve you?" Hu Rong asked curiously.

"How not?" Zhu Ganglie glared, anger rising. "If the Jade Emperor hadn’t summoned the Buddha, there’d have been no need for a grand feast to honor the Western sages! Without that feast, I’d never have gotten drunk and blundered... Bah, what's the use of dredging up such ill fortune? Wife, it's late—let’s rest!"

With that, Zhu Ganglie wrapped an arm around Hu Rong’s waist, puckering up and leaning in for a kiss, clearly intending something amorous.

But this time, Hu Rong’s patience snapped. Revealing his true form, he slapped Zhu Ganglie with a wide palm and thundered, "You fool, look more closely—who am I?!"

"Ah! It's you, you damned monkey!" Seeing Hu Rong’s true face, Zhu Ganglie broke out in a cold sweat. Though he’d been mouthing off about the Stable Master, when confronted by Hu Rong himself, his courage failed before the fight even began.

The reason was simple: those in Heaven knew its affairs well. Five hundred years ago, the Monkey King’s ferocity was unmatched—he scattered a hundred thousand heavenly troops single-handedly, stormed the Southern Gate of Heaven, and defeated the Four Heavenly Kings and numerous immortals. Only at the Hall of Miraculous Glory was he halted by the Spirit Marshal, and when reinforcements from the Thirty-Six Thunder Departments arrived, he withdrew, later met his nemesis, the Buddha of the West...

As for Zhu Ganglie, though he was Marshal Tianpeng reincarnated, being born into a pig’s body had sapped four-tenths of his power. With only sixty percent of his strength remaining, he was no match for Hu Rong. Recognizing Hu Rong’s true identity, he hastily summoned his magic, transformed into a black wind, and swept for the window.

"Fool! The scripture-seeker from Tang is here—why flee to the Cloud Ridge Cave in Fuling Mountain?" Hu Rong, seeing Zhu Ganglie attempt escape, had no real intent to pursue, so invoked the name of the scripture-seeker.

The black wind paused mid-air, then shouted, "Don’t try to scare me, you damned monkey!" and sped off toward his lair at Fuling Mountain.

"You blockhead!" Hu Rong raised his right hand, conjuring a green brick, but then dismissed it—after all, Zhu Ganglie was to be the second disciple in their scripture-seeking company; it would hardly do to harm him.

Watching the black wind recede into the distance, Hu Rong shook his head, soared into the sky, and mounted a rainbow cloud. In just moments, he alighted atop Fuling Mountain, swifter than Zhu Ganglie’s black wind by several times.

"Hey! You—damned monkey, will you never give up?" Zhu Ganglie, only just arriving on his black wind, was startled to see Hu Rong already waiting, his heart pounding as he hurried down toward Cloud Ridge Cave.

"Trying to run? Taste my staff!" Hu Rong summoned the Golden Hooped Rod, which grew immense in an instant. He swung it down at the cave, just as he had at Gohan’s Black Wind Cave. With a thunderous crash, sand and stones flew, dust billowed, and the once-fine cave was reduced to a heap of rubble.

"Curse you, damned monkey! This is too much! I'll fight you to the death!" Zhu Ganglie, seeing his lair destroyed, flew into a rage, grabbed his nine-toothed rake, and charged at Hu Rong.

"You dolt, getting bold, are you?" Hu Rong withdrew his staff, watching coldly as Zhu Ganglie lunged. But just as he was about to strike, a thunderous boom erupted beneath his feet, and a wild-haired woman leapt out, cursing:

"Hey! Which brainless bandit dares wreck my lair? Do you really think Sister Egg of Fuling Mountain is someone to be trifled with?"