Volume 1: Unsayable – Chapter 24: The Battle of the Constellations

Wukong paused for a moment before saying, “If this fellow has nothing better to do, how about we go together?”
Sure enough, the Ox-Headed Man agreed gladly, grinning widely and saying, “If there’s such a precious place, I really want to see it.”
Wukong asked, “I’m Sun Wukong. May I know your name, fellow Taoist?”
The Ox-Headed Man replied, “What name do I have? My master always calls me Honest Ox.”
The two fox demons introduced themselves—the man was named Hu Zhi, and the woman was named Hu Yu. Wukong said, “In that case, I’ll take these two on cloud back. Brother Ox, should you be able to keep up?”
Honest Ox narrowed his eyes and said, “Are you underestimating me? If you can keep up with me, I’ll regard you as a brother.”
Wukong laughed heartily and said, “Good. Then let’s have a competition.”
Just as the four of them were about to take off on the clouds, a voice shouted from the sky, “Stop, you demons!” Two colorful clouds drifted down from the sky, and ten people leaped down from them, all clad in bright armor with sharp swords and spears. At the front were two men with rather strange appearances—one wore black armor and held a black-jointed spear; even his sharp beak seemed painted black, and apart from the whites of his eyes, he looked as if he had rolled out of a pile of charcoal. The other was dressed in colorful clothes—green boots, white pants, a blue cloak, and red clothing; two plumes on his head swayed, each over half a meter long, and he had an exceptionally bright tail behind him, holding a colorful feather fan.
Wukong laughed and said, “Business has come.”
Honest Ox asked, “What kind of business?”
Wukong replied, “With such fine fur, if we open a clothing store, it’ll sell well.”
Honest Ox was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. Seeing Wukong’s fearless attitude, Hu Zhi and Hu Yu also felt much more at ease.
The general in black armor said, “You bold demons! We are Bi Yue Wu and Wei Tu Zhi from the Seven Constellations of the West. Having heard that you’re harboring those fox demons, we’ve come here to capture you by imperial order.”
Upon hearing the names of the Twenty-Eight Constellations, Wukong immediately became alert. Kuimi Wolf, Jingmu Xuan, Kangjin Dragon… In the original Journey to the West story, these all had fought against the Monkey King. Kuimi Wolf was highly skilled; even Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng combined couldn’t match him. Kangjin Dragon had an incredibly hard single horn that could even pry open Maitreya Buddha’s golden cymbals. Jingmu Xuan had played a crucial role in subduing the Rhinoceros Demon. Though the Twenty-Eight Constellations seemed to hold low positions in the heavenly court, each of them possessed real skills. In short, they gave Wukong the impression of being extremely strong.

Although he had never encountered Bi Yue Wu or Wei Tu Zhi before, judging from their sharp beaks, they were both birds. At this thought, Wukong shuddered. Throughout the entire Journey to the West, anything that resembled them was nothing to be underestimated. Not to mention the Peacock Great King who had swallowed Buddha—even his brother, the Golden-winged Roc, could not defeat him. That Rooster Star Official, with a needle forged from his eyes, had subdued the centipede demon that had caused Wukong so much trouble. While Wukong was still calculating, the foolish ox grew impatient: “You two bird-men, once you get to heaven, you forget who you are. All you talk about is demons. I’ll break your mouths and see if you still dare to talk nonsense!”

Bi Yue Wu sneered and said, “This demon ox, now in human form, has become arrogant. You should know that there must be rules, both in heaven and on earth!”

The foolish ox shouted, “What rules? My grandfather hates rules the most! Without fists, there are no rules!”

Bi Yue Wu frowned. He carefully examined the ox-headed man’s cultivation level but could not determine its depth. He asked, “Who are you? Dare you tell me your name?”

Both Bi Yue Wu and Wei Tu Zhi belonged to the Seven Western Constellations. It turned out that the twenty-eight constellations in heaven were in charge of the four directions, with seven people in each direction. This area was Western Ox Joy Continent, right at the boundary under Bi Yue Wu and Wei Tu Zhi’s jurisdiction. Further west lay the territory of Buddha.

The heavenly soldier leader earlier was actually a personal guard of one of Bi Yue Wu’s generals. After suffering a defeat, he returned to report. When the general heard that someone in the mortal world could withstand the “Mysterious Thunder Talisman” unharmed, realizing he couldn’t handle it himself, he reported to Bi Yue Wu. Bi Yue Wu was very cautious, so he took Wei Tu Zhi with him. Indeed, as Wukong had predicted, each of the twenty-eight constellations had extraordinary abilities. Bi Yue Wu wasn’t afraid; rather, having lived in heaven for a long time, he was cautious in his actions, fearing of offending anyone by accident. Since this incident happened at the boundary of their jurisdiction, it was better to make an announcement first.

Wei Tu Zhi didn’t think so. Although Bi Yue Wu had given him face, he felt annoyed that Bi Yue Wu always dragged him into matters. Now, seeing the ox-headed man speak insolently, he became even angrier. He raised his feather fan and swatted. That swat carried wind, fire, smoke, and thunder—truly formidable.

Seeing such power, Wukong pulled Hu Zhi and Hu Yu aside. But the foolish ox didn’t dodge. He pulled up his tattered Taoist robe and spun around, repelling the wind, fire, thunder, and smoke. It turned out that this seemingly worthless tattered robe was actually a powerful protective weapon.

Seeing a patch of his Taoist robe blackened, the honest ox felt great pain and said, “You damned bird, what have you done!” Although the Stomach Earth Pheasant’s first swing failed, it remained calm, raised its fan again, and swung silently, seemingly lacking strength. The old ox’s expression changed as he cursed, “Damn this gloomy wind!” But he dared not resist head-on. He opened his mouth and spat out a yellow light, sending the gloomy wind back. The Stomach Earth Pheasant’s face darkened as it swung its fan a third time. This swing carried the power of the previous two, and at the same time, a hundred fan ribs shot out toward the honest ox. Realizing it could not resist directly, the ox had to dodge. By just a fraction of a second too late, one of those fan ribs grazed its left rib. Made of some unknown material, it pierced through the flesh like a steel nail the moment it touched the skin.

The honest ox roared in anger, “What a vicious bird-man!” Reaching out with his left hand, he pulled the fan rib out forcefully, along with a large piece of flesh. It turned out there was a mechanism inside the fan rib, producing countless barbs. The pain made the honest ox scream loudly as he roared, “You have a fan, but I don’t?”

After saying that, he flipped his palm, and a palm-sized jade fan appeared in his hand. With a light swing at the Stomach Earth Pheasant, the pheasant flew away like a kite with its string cut, disappearing in an instant, leaving only two feathers that drifted down gently.

Wukong was shocked. Was this… the Banana Fan? Besides the Banana Fan, what other treasure could blow someone away like that? Could this honest ox actually be the Bull Demon King? Seeing the honest ox’s temperament and appearance, Wukong became even more convinced that it must be the Bull Demon King, who dared to call himself the “Great Sage Equal to Heaven”! But since the Bull Demon King was a demon, how was he wearing a Taoist robe here?

The book mentioned that Wukong traveled across the four seas and met six brothers: the Bull Demon King, the Dragon Demon King, the Roc Demon King… Unexpectedly, just half a month after setting out, he encountered the eldest, the Bull Demon King. It seemed fate truly could not be changed.

After blowing away the Stomach Earth Pheasant with the fan, the Bull Demon King raised the small fan and smirked at Bi Yuewu and the other nine, saying, “Guess where he went?”

Bi Yuewu, with his dark face showing no emotions, said, “What skill is there in relying on magical treasures?” Seeing the Bull Demon King’s rough appearance, he assumed he had no cunning plans, so he tried to provoke him. Yet he remained silent when the Stomach Earth Pheasant used underhanded tactics.

Sure enough, the Bull Demon King put away his fan and said, “With your physique, I could end you with just one punch.” Seeing that the Bull Demon King had fallen for his trick, Bi Yuewu indeed put away his black spear and lowered his body to charge forward.

The two clashed with fists and feet. Bi Yuewu’s fighting skills were quite poor; his moves were full of flaws, and his strength was worlds apart from that of the Bull Demon King. After just three rounds, the Bull Demon King knocked Bi Yuewu to the ground with a single punch, causing blood to trickle from the corner of Bi Yuewu’s mouth. Bi Yuewu got up, glared at the Bull Demon King in hatred, and left without saying a word, taking eight heavenly generals with him on clouds.

The Bull Demon King chuckled. By now, the wound on his side had already healed, seemingly without anyone noticing. Seeing the Bull Demon King defeat his opponent alone with such great powers, Wukong stepped forward to offer his congratulations. The Bull Demon King said, “This Bi Yuewu is quite a character; even his feigned defeat was well-executed.”

Wukong was surprised. It turned out this old ox had both simplicity and subtlety. He had also noticed earlier that Bi Yuewu had used less than 30% of his full strength, likely out of fear of not being able to escape and face consequences. If that were the case, Bi Yuewu’s scheming was indeed deep.

Wukong said, “I’ve always heard that the Heavenly Court is very powerful. I suppose they won’t give up easily. We’d better be cautious.”

The Bull Demon King laughed, “I’ve been itching to fight for days. The more chaos, the better for me.” Wukong thought to himself that this old ox was also an unruly fellow.