Chapter 329: Unwilling (Requesting Monthly Tickets! Requesting Follows!)

Flame Mountain, Meteor Brick Pit.

A river of crimson-gold magma flowed slowly through the low valley.

Not far away, a withered white ox, as large as a mountain and covered in wounds, was imprisoned within a mountain range.

Faintly visible, countless intricate talismanic array patterns glowed in the air, interacting with the surrounding peaks, continuously draining the ox’s spiritual power and essence through underground spirit veins, keeping him in a state of extreme weakness.

Boom—

A flame meteor streaked from the horizon and crashed heavily into the Meteor Brick Pit.

When the fire and dust cleared, Hong Haier emerged, his body blazing red, face like a demon, one hand gripping the Fire-Tipped Spear, the other clutching a bloodied white-clad woman, dragging her against her struggles all the way to the cliff edge before the white ox.

He lifted his head, gazing up at the massive white ox, then raised the Fire-Tipped Spear, its tip aimed at the woman’s throat.

“Old fool, if you still have any shred of marital feeling, I advise you to hand over that item—or I’ll kill this woman first, then send you down to join her.”

Hearing Hong Haier’s voice, the white ox seemed to stir awake, struggling to open one sliver of an eye.

Yet when he saw the white-clad beauty weeping, begging him not to care for her, the giant white ox let out a deep sigh, his voice weary:

“If you wish to kill me, just strike. Why play such a tedious trick—and worse, mock your own mother? If she saw this, how heartbroken she would be.”

“Hmph!”

At these words, Hong Haier’s fierce expression froze, then he clenched his teeth and, before the white-clad woman’s terrified gaze, drove the Fire-Tipped Spear straight through her throat.

At the same moment, a flash of red light shimmered—the once-elegant white-clad woman twisted and warped, transforming into a fox maiden whose eyes gradually lost their luster.

“How did you know?”

Hong Haier fell silent for a moment, then spoke again: “My transformation art I learned from Guanyin of the Southern Sea—I’m certain even Sun Wukong’s fiery golden eyes couldn’t see through it.

This fox knew every habit of my mother’s, mimicked her mannerisms perfectly—where was the flaw? How did you spot it at a glance?”

“It’s simple.”

Niutouwang spoke in a low voice: “Though you treat me thus, you would never harm Tieshan—I’ve always believed that, even if you’re not our…”

“Enough!!”

Hong Haier suddenly roared, his spiritual power boiling over into visible flames erupting around him.

“You… you know my origins, how those heavenly bastards humiliated me—yet why do you still serve them like a dog? Are you really that afraid of them?!”

“Alas… you don’t understand…”

Looking at this child, not of his blood but raised by his own hands since infancy, Niutouwang let out a long sigh.

Afraid?

Of course he was afraid.

Once, Niutouwang had been bold and proud, believing his strength granted him freedom across the Three Realms—even joining forces with that monkey to rebel against heaven, seeking to overthrow the gods and buddhas.

But the outcome was clear: they failed. The monkey was first locked in the Eight Trigram Furnace, then after escaping, crushed beneath the Five Fingers Mountain for over five hundred years.

As for him, though he appeared unharmed, even married to the beautiful Princess Tieshan through Laojun’s matchmaking, he earned the reputation of a coward who betrayed his brother, mocked by countless demons.

Yet having witnessed the might of heaven and the gods, Niutouwang could only swallow his anger, dare not explain, and henceforth lived quietly on Flame Mountain, content as a local demon king.

Later, Hong Haier was born. Niutouwang was overjoyed, believing the storm had passed—that his family of three could live peacefully forever.

But as Hong Haier grew, Niutouwang finally noticed the boy’s bloodline was flawed. When Princess Tieshan could no longer hide it, she revealed the truth.

Hong Haier was originally the son of the Yecha King. At his death, his essence was preserved by Laojun, then placed in the Mother-Child River, forcing Princess Tieshan, a Rakshasa princess, to drink it and bear the child as a future lever to control Ling Shan.

And Niutouwang? He was Laojun’s carefully chosen “replacement husband.”

First, his strength was sufficient to protect Hong Haier’s growth; second, it tested Niutouwang’s loyalty—whether he truly wished to submit, to be a lapdog of heaven and Laojun.

Unquestionably, Niutouwang refused such humiliation. He left Flame Mountain immediately, separating from Princess Tieshan, each living in solitude—a silent protest against Laojun.

Then…

“Take a master, correct your destiny—only this path remains for us. Don’t you understand, elder brother?”

Over five hundred years later, the sworn brothers who once fought side by side now faced each other in battle.

In that battle, Niutouwang’s concubine, Jade-Faced Fox, died horribly; he himself was surrounded by heavenly elites, his head severed six times by the Great God of the Three Altars, and finally, refusing to submit, he was imprisoned at Ling Shan for years.

Only centuries later, when ordered to hunt down that monkey, was he finally released back to Flame Mountain.

From that moment on, Niutouwang finally understood his insignificance—before the lofty gods and buddhas, he could only bow his head, grovel, to survive and protect his family’s lives.

Thinking of this, he looked again at Hong Haier, his gaze carrying a hint of pleading.

“Child, give up. Even if you obtain that item, you cannot succeed in revenge—you’ll only throw away your life…”

“Where there is scripture, there is fire; where there is no fire, there is no scripture. To know your enemy and not avenge him—what cultivation is that?”

Feeling Niutouwang’s gaze, Hong Haier closed his eyes and turned away.

“Very well. Since you won’t hand over that item, I’ll find the destined one myself. Let’s see what kind of power this pawn, so carefully arranged by heaven’s gods and buddhas, truly possesses.”

Saying this, Hong Haier ignored the sigh behind him, transformed into a burst of flame, and soared into the sky toward the Fire-Scorched Second Pass deep in the Ash Forest.

…

“Welcome, Great King!”

Moments later, Hong Haier arrived. Two massive heads—one spewing flame, the other howling wind—shouted in unison.

They were named Ji Ru Huo and Kuai Ru Feng, once two ruffians who committed murder and were sentenced to beheading—luckily, one knew the technique of decapitation survival.

After their heads were cut off, they flew into the sky and vanished, becoming demons thereafter. Later, Hong Haier encountered them, found them amusing, and took them into his service.

“Do as we agreed—don’t mess this up.”

Hong Haier gave an order, then spun once on the spot, transforming into a small yellow fox, and used magic to bind himself to a withered, crooked tree.

“Destined one… heh. Let’s see if you can avoid the trap that nearly caught that monkey.”

(End of Chapter)