Chapter 1: Tang Sanzang Is Coming

The news that Tang Sanzang was coming spread like a stream poured into a vat of hot oil, igniting the entire Demon Realm's fervor.

Even Bai Gu Lady, famed for her aloofness, unearthed her long-forgotten Linglong Feathered Robe and scrubbed her already spotless cave dwelling once more.

The three demon kings of Long Qi Dong on Jing Xiang Shan had originally felt not the slightest interest in this bald monk said to grant Eternal Life to those who ate his flesh.

It wasn't that they didn't wish to live as long as heaven and earth—they simply had not the slightest skill in Demon Cultivation and were unworthy to compete with the great demons of the realm.

Yet irony struck: the night before reports of Tang Seng's route flooded every cave like raindrops, all three demon kings dreamed the same dream.

In the dream, a withered old man in red robes and a red beard grinned with a gaping mouth still holding four or five large teeth, lewdly informing them.

The great demon saint Sun Wukong, who once wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Court, would soon become Tang Seng's disciple and escort him with his Iron Staff weighing one hundred and eight thousand jin as they passed Jing Xiang Shan.

The second among the three demon kings was a wild boar who had cultivated into a demon.

According to insiders, this boar demon had once, in his youth, joined the Ten Great Demon Saints in a massive rebellion against the Heavenly Court, but later, as the Ten Great Saints turned on each other, the current "Demon Administration"

seized control of the Demon Realm's authority and discourse.

But precisely because of this past, when the three dreamed of the red-robed old man, the second one—oh no, the entire boar—was utterly shattered.

Recalling the scene of Sun Wukong battling the Hundred Thousand Heavenly Soldiers, the boar's heart trembled uncontrollably; he longed to gather his belongings, drag Jiao Lao Da and Tu Lao San along, abandon the cave he'd spent over a hundred years building, and flee southward.

The boss and the third brother found the second master's panic utterly incomprehensible.

Though they knew the monkey's power, they were still demons themselves, and reasoned that as long as they didn't provoke him, no trouble would come.

So on this night of pitch darkness and howling wind—the perfect night for murder and arson—

the Second Master, for the first time ever, brought out his treasured Shao Dao Zi liquor and drunkenly forced it upon his sworn brothers until he successfully abandoned them and fled alone.

When the little demons finally dragged Jiao Lao Da up from his bed, it was noon of the third day; holding the latest issue of the Demon Realm Express News, he felt a pounding headache.

Before Jiao Lao Da could suppress his fear, Tu Lao San's frantic cries came from outside: "Big Brother, disaster!

Hu Xian Feng is dead!

Even Huang Feng Da Wang has been captured by the Buddhist Sect!"

"Calm down!

I've got eyes, and my eyes are damn big!"

Seeing Jiao Lao Da irritated, Tu Lao San dared not speak further, only licked his dry three-lobed lips and stood silently to one side.

After a long while, Jiao Lao Da slowly tossed the Demon Realm Express News aside and looked up at Tu Lao San: "Third Brother, go fetch your Second Brother for a meeting."

"Fetch the Second Brother?"

Tu Lao San licked his lips again and anxiously revealed the news that the boar had gotten drunk and fled overnight.

Hearing this, Jiao Lao Da flew into a rage so fierce his seven orifices smoked.

He cursed the boar as a worthless creature while ordering his little demons to seal the cave entrance and emphatically enforce the Three Prohibitions: "No going out, no patrolling the mountains, no causing trouble."

The little demons naturally obeyed the Big Brother's command.

Though they didn't understand why Tang Seng's arrival mattered to Long Qi Dong, the fact that the Second King—who always lived by "Heaven is first, he is second"—had fled overnight filled them with inexplicable dread.

In the following days, rumors swarmed the cave, and one tale was accepted as truth by all the demons.

According to the scorpion demon who first spread it, their immensely strong Second Master had once, in his youth, competed for affection and jealousy with the demon saint Sun Wukong.

And with his simple, innocent face, he had successfully won over "Jade-Faced Fox," the very maiden Sun Wukong had pursued for years, adding her to his harem—though this little fox, lacking any loyalty, later abandoned him for the legendary demon Bull Demon King.

Because the scorpion demon had long served the Second Master, every demon in the cave seemed to believe this story.

Even Tu Lao San, famed for his cunning, wept bitter tears one night while missing his brother.

Jiao Lao Da's mind was in turmoil over these wild rumors.

He had known the boar for over three hundred years and thought he understood him well, but he knew little of the black boar's past; now, hearing the tale of rivalry and romance told so vividly, he found himself half-convinced.

Yet soon, Jiao Lao Da noticed a silver lining to these rumors:

The atmosphere of fear that had filled the cave had gradually faded, replaced instead by the little demons' endless gossip about Jade-Faced Fox's beauty.

Some claimed she was breathtakingly beautiful—even surpassing Chang'e by three-tenths.

Others said her beauty was not just skin-deep; she inherited the Charm Art of her fox clan, and no normal male creature could resist her.

So extraordinary was the tale that several young, curious demons pooled their life savings to buy a precious Ling Stone and sent it to the Demon Realm Express News, hoping to see the face of the woman who had haunted Sun Wukong's dreams.

As Long Qi Dong drowned in gossip, one little demon's reaction caught Tu Lao San's attention.

His name was Jin Qianbao, a golden leopard from Jing Xiang Shan who had only recently taken human form after a century of cultivation—a Second Generation Yao of Long Qi Dong.

Logically, a little demon like Jin Qianbao would either fantasize about eating Tang Seng, gaining Eternal Life, becoming a rising star of the Demon Realm, and living a wish-fulfillment fantasy…

Or he'd join the others, fixating on the Second Master's scandal and Jade-Faced Fox's beauty, even dreaming at night of forcing some imagined, self-declared ravishing beauty into his mind and writing endless romantic tales.

But this little leopard did none of that!

While the little demons trembled in fear, Jin Qianbao studied maps.

While the others had moved past fear and fixated on gossip, Jin Qianbao studied maps.

Even when the cave had run out of food and they needed to hunt or capture humans to eat, Jin Qianbao still studied maps.

While the Little Demons lived in anxious dread, Jin Qianbao was studying maps; while the others had overcome their fear and turned to gossip, Jin Qianbao was studying maps; while the Mountain Cave had run out of food and they had to go out to hunt game or capture humans to eat, Jin Qianbao was still studying maps.