socalfunplaces Chapter 995 Heading to the Main Hall!
Chapter 995 Heading to the Main Hall!
"Damn it! That mortal dared to use illusion magic to lure us away and let others infiltrate Lion Camel Ridge!" A little demon's voice was full of anger and resentment. "We must quickly report to King Roc that Sun Wukong and that mortal brat have infiltrated Lion Camel Ridge to rescue Tang Sanzang. Tell Your Majesty to immediately send men to search everywhere and capture them!"
The passageways inside Lion Camel Ridge are rugged and winding, the air thick with a nauseating stench of blood and decay that lingers year-round. Thick, dark green moss grows on the stone walls on both sides, and every now and then, murky droplets of water drip from the sharp stalactites overhead, splashing into puddles filled with dark red grime at the feet with a dull "drip-drip" sound. Every dozen or so steps along the walls is a wall lamp made of human skulls, burning with eerie green phosphorescent light, illuminating the already gloomy passageways as if they were a ghostly hell.
Chu Yang pressed himself against the cold stone wall, his figure moving like a weightless shadow, swiftly traversing the shadows of the passage. He held his breath, suppressing his spiritual energy fluctuations to a minimum, and bypassed one drowsy patrolling demon after another, each carrying a spear.
"Brother Chu Yang, over here!" A hairy hand suddenly reached out from the shadows around a corner ahead and pulled Chu Yang over.
Chu Yang looked closely and saw that it was Sun Wukong, who had sneaked in earlier. Sun Wukong had also restrained his usual flamboyant demonic aura. His golden eyes, gleaming with a faint golden light in the darkness, were vigilantly scanning the depths of the passage.
"Brother Monkey, you're quick, didn't you get caught?" Chu Yang asked in a low voice, taking a breath.
"My concealment skills are something even Laozi's alchemy furnace couldn't forge. How could these blind demons possibly discover me?" Sun Wukong sneered, then his eyes turned cold and sharp. "However, the demonic energy inside Lion Camel Ridge is truly overwhelming. I just used my Fiery Eyes of Truth to investigate, and this cave is as deep as a bottomless pit, full of branching paths and hidden doors. Moreover, the further we go in, the stronger the demonic energy becomes."
"The Golden-Winged Roc must have already taken Master to the innermost central palace." Chu Yang followed Sun Wukong's gaze; the passage ahead resembled the gaping maw of a giant beast, its depths unfathomable. "The three demon kings are probably preparing to start a fire and boil water; we need to hurry."
"Let's go! If they lose even a single hair on Master's head, I, Old Sun, will smash every single stone in Lion Camel Ridge to pieces today!" Sun Wukong said through gritted teeth, pulling the golden cudgel from his ear and transforming it into a short stick in his hand. He then bent over and began to feel his way into the depths of the passage.
The two followed the passage for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before the space ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a huge underground cavern. Dozens of luminous pearls, emitting a pale white light, hung high from the cavern's ceiling, but their light couldn't penetrate the dense black miasma below. In the center of the cavern lay a dark river several meters wide, its water a strange dark red, bubbling and emitting a pungent sulfurous odor. Above the river, only a narrow bone bridge made of stark white bones connected them to the other side.
At the head of the Bone Bridge stood a group of fully armed demons. Leading them was a burly demon general with the enormous head of a black bear. He carried two large, wheel-shaped, ornate axes, their blades still stained with dark brown blood. The black bear demon general was gruffly reprimanding the dozen or so lesser demons behind him.
"Get your act together, all of you! The Great Roc King has just captured Tang Sanzang, who has cultivated for ten lifetimes. The three kings are in the central palace preparing to enjoy Tang Sanzang's flesh! The king has given the order that not even a fly is allowed to enter Lion Camel Ridge today! If anything goes wrong, I'll tear you all apart!" The Black Bear Demon General roared as he stomped his huge paws heavily on the ground, making his bone bridge tremble slightly.
"Don't worry, General, not even a ghost can get past!" a little demon flattered.
Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong, who was hiding in the shadows, instantly felt a surge of anger in his eyes. He gripped his golden cudgel tightly, and his knuckles made a cracking sound.
"Brother Monkey, don't be impulsive." Chu Yang grabbed Sun Wukong's shoulder and said in a low voice, "This bone bridge is a necessary passage. If we force our way through, it will cause a big commotion and attract all the powerful demons inside, which will be troublesome."
"What's there to be afraid of? I, Old Sun, will smash them all into mincemeat with one blow of my staff, before they even have time to utter a sound!" Although Sun Wukong said this, he still suppressed his anger and turned to look at Chu Yang, "Brother Chu Yang, what kind of wicked idea do you have?"
"We don't need to kill them all, we just need to shut them up." Chu Yang's lips curled into a cold smile, and a ball of ghostly blue flame quietly gathered at his fingertips. "Brother Monkey, I'll use 'Netherworld Ghost Fire' to block their vision and sound in a moment. You be quick, strike once and for all, and absolutely do not let them raise the alarm."
"Great idea! Watch my skills!" Sun Wukong understood immediately, crouching down slightly, like a cheetah about to pounce on its prey.
Chu Yang took a deep breath and pushed forward with both hands. A ball of eerie blue flame exploded instantly beneath the feet of the Black Bear Demon General and the others. This flame had no heat whatsoever, but instead carried a bone-chilling cold, instantly transforming into a dense blue icy mist that enveloped the dozen or so lesser demons along with the Black Bear Demon General.
"What?! It's so cold!" The black bear demon was shocked and wanted to swing his axe, but found that the surroundings were all blue and he could not see anything. Just as he was about to open his mouth to shout, a cold air rushed into his throat, freezing his voice in his throat.
In that instant, Sun Wukong moved. He plunged into the icy mist like a golden lightning bolt.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Dull, resounding blows echoed through the icy mist. Sun Wukong's attacks were incredibly swift and precise; his golden cudgel blurred into countless afterimages, each strike landing precisely on the back of the lesser demons' heads or the tops of their skulls. The demons didn't even have time to react before collapsing limply to the ground.
The Black Bear Demon General, being more powerful, instinctively raised his double axes to block the blow the moment he was struck. "Clang!" The golden cudgel slammed into the Xuanhua battle axe, causing the Black Bear Demon General's tiger's mouth to split open, blood gushing out, and his massive body to collapse to his knees with a thud.
"Who are you...?" The black bear demon general forced back the icy cold in his throat and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, his large, bell-like eyes filled with terror.
"Your grandpa Sun is here!" Sun Wukong sneered, giving him no chance to catch his breath. He swung his golden cudgel fiercely, smashing it directly into the Black Bear Demon General's temple. The Black Bear Demon General's eyes rolled back, and his massive body crashed to the ground, lifeless.
The icy fog gradually dissipated, revealing the corpses of monsters scattered all over the ground, without sounding any alarms.
Chu Yang strode forward, glanced at the corpse on the ground, and said, "Well done, Brother Monkey. Now we can cross the bridge."
Without the slightest hesitation, the two stepped onto the creaking bone bridge and quickly crossed the dark red underground river.
After crossing the bone bridge, the passage widened, with stone walls on both sides carved with various hideous demon reliefs. Further on, the temperature in the air suddenly rose sharply, and a suffocating wave of scorching heat rushed towards us.
Ahead lay a massive grotto, in the center of which was a fiery pool, several dozen feet in circumference. Boiling magma flowed within, its dark red color constantly churning and billowing, emitting acrid black smoke. Above the fiery pool, suspended by thick iron chains, was a colossal bronze cauldron large enough to hold dozens of people, beneath which roared a raging fire.
Hundreds of monsters gathered in the grotto; some were adding firewood to the fire pit, some were sharpening their knives, and others were washing the huge chopping board.
"Hurry up! Clean this cauldron thoroughly! Add plenty of water!" A commander with a crocodile head and heavy scales stood on a boulder, shouting in a hoarse voice, "The kings said that Tang Sanzang's flesh is most nourishing when stewed! Prepare all those thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum and ten-thousand-year-old ginseng; the Great Roc King will be bringing Tang Sanzang here to slaughter him soon!"
"My lord, this water comes from the Yin-Yang Spring. It will make anything tender and delicious. I guarantee the kings will be satisfied!" A monster with a boar's nose said ingratiatingly as he laboriously stirred the water in the bronze cauldron.
When Sun Wukong, who was hiding behind a boulder at the entrance of the cave, heard the words "begin the slaughter," all the monkey hair on his body stood on end, and his eyes instantly turned red, as if golden light was about to shoot out of their sockets.
"These damned beasts! How dare they cook my master like a dish!" Sun Wukong gritted his teeth, his voice squeezed out from deep in his throat, like the low growl of a wild beast.
Seeing this, Chu Yang knew that Sun Wukong was on the verge of exploding. With hundreds of monsters gathered here, it was impossible to deal with them silently.
"Brother Monkey, it seems we'll have to force our way in this time." Chu Yang's eyes turned cold. He spread his hands simultaneously, his left hand gathering a ball of blazing pure Yang true fire, while his right hand gripped a longsword formed from spiritual energy. "Since they want to make soup, then we'll smash this pot for them!"
"Just what I wanted!" Sun Wukong roared, unable to contain himself any longer. He kicked off the boulder with both legs and shot out like a cannonball.
"Who goes there?!" The crocodile leader turned around abruptly upon hearing the commotion, only to see a golden light hurtling towards him.
"Your grandpa Sun is here to smash the pot!" Sun Wukong roared, and his golden cudgel grew longer in the wind, instantly becoming as thick as a bowl, and smashed fiercely towards the huge bronze cauldron with earth-shattering power.
"Clang—Boom!"
A deafening roar echoed throughout the entire cave. The bronze cauldron, weighing tens of thousands of pounds, was smashed into pieces by the golden cudgel, and scalding water poured down like a waterfall, instantly drenching the monsters below who had no time to dodge.
"Ah—!" "It's burning me!" "Help!"
A series of heart-wrenching screams suddenly erupted from inside the cave. Hundreds of monsters were scalded and rolled on the ground, their fur peeling off to reveal their blood-red flesh.
The crocodile leader, having escaped by standing on higher ground, saw Sun Wukong's appearance clearly and was so frightened that he took three steps back, pointing at Sun Wukong and stammering, "Sun...Sun Wukong?! Didn't you escape? Why are you back?!"
"Escape? The word 'escape' doesn't exist in my dictionary!" Sun Wukong sneered, slamming his golden cudgel on the ground, causing the entire cave to tremble. "You impudent demon, speak quickly! Where is my master?!"
"Quick! Stop him! Go and report to the three kings!" Knowing he was no match, the crocodile leader retreated while desperately directing the monsters around him who hadn't been burned to rush forward.
Although the dozens of lesser demons were afraid, under the tyrannical power of the crocodile leader, they still gritted their teeth, raised their swords and spears, and swarmed towards Sun Wukong.
"You're courting death!" Sun Wukong's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he swung his golden cudgel, creating a gust of wind.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
The dozen or so lesser demons at the front were swept away like leaves by a whirlwind, crashing into the hard stone wall and turning into puddles of minced meat.
Just then, Chu Yang rushed in from the entrance. He didn't immediately join the melee, but instead stood on higher ground and pushed his hands forward forcefully.
"A wildfire spreads!"
Chu Yang roared, and the Pure Yang True Fire in his hand transformed into a fire dragon, roaring as it charged into the demon horde. This Pure Yang True Fire was no ordinary flame; it was specifically designed to suppress demonic energy. Wherever the fire dragon passed, the lesser demons didn't even have time to scream before being burned to ashes.
Seeing that things were not going well, the crocodile leader turned around and tried to run into the passage deep inside the cave.
"Trying to run?" Chu Yang snorted coldly, his footwork changed, and his figure disappeared from the spot in an instant, appearing in front of the crocodile leader in the next second.
The crocodile leader was terrified and hurriedly raised his three-pronged steel fork, thrusting it towards Chu Yang: "Mortal brat, get out of my way!"
Chu Yang neither dodged nor evaded, but swung his spiritual sword out with his right hand, a sharp sword aura severing the three steel forks in two. Before the crocodile leader could even cry out in alarm, Chu Yang's left hand had already gripped his throat, lifting his massive body up.
"I'll ask you one more time, where is Tang Sanzang?" Chu Yang's eyes were icy cold, devoid of any warmth, and the force in his hand gradually increased.
The crocodile leader's eyes rolled back as he was choked, his hands gripping Chu Yang's arm tightly, his legs kicking wildly in the air, as he struggled to squeeze out a voice from his throat: "In...in the center...in the main hall of the central palace...the three kings...are all there..."
"Snap!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Yang tightened his grip and snapped the crocodile leader's neck, then casually tossed his corpse into the nearby lava pool. The body fell into the lava, instantly emitting a puff of blue smoke before turning to ash.
By this time, Sun Wukong had already dealt with the remaining dozens of lesser demons. The entire cave was littered with corpses, the blood and boiling water mixing together to create an even more nauseating stench. "Go! To the main hall!" Sun Wukong sheathed his golden cudgel and, without looking back, rushed towards the passage through which the crocodile leader had tried to escape. (End of Chapter)