Volume 1: Unsayable Chapter 68: The Appearance of Tian Peng

Seeing Nezha flee far away, the Bull Demon King stopped chasing him and said to Wang Yu above, “Brother Wang Yu, was my feigned defeat convincing?”
Wang Yu descended from the clouds above and praised, “How could it not be convincing? Even I almost fell for your trick.” He then took out the Demon-Slaying Sword he had just acquired and examined it, saying, “This sword is truly extraordinary. Wukong’s plan has succeeded!”
The Bull Demon King also took a look and asked, “I wonder what Wukong needs this Demon-Slaying Sword for?”
Wang Yu replied, “We’ll find out once we go back.” The two of them returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain side by side.
What they didn’t know was that Wukong still harbored resentment over the battle between the immortals and the Bull Demon King in Journey to the West. Despite the Bull Demon King’s extraordinary powers, he still lost to the immortals and met a tragic end. In that battle, Li Jing used the Demon-Viewing Mirror to target the Bull Demon King directly, while Nezha used the Demon-Slaying Sword to cut off his head, leaving the Bull Demon King with no chance of recovery.
Wukong deliberately had the Bull Demon King lure the enemy here so that he could obtain this Demon-Slaying Sword at all costs. Otherwise, he would remain worried. Without this sword, with the Bull Demon King’s abilities, there would be no one to counter him in the heavenly realm, and he could dominate all the immortals with his iron-like strength.
As for Nezha, having lost his favorite weapon, he fled in disarray. After meeting Li Jing, he told him the truth. Li Jing flew into a rage, “As the vanguard, you lose a battle before even fighting properly. What use are you?”
Nezha lowered his head and remained silent, still trying to recall what had taken his magical weapon.
The King of Wide Eyes stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, please calm down. The Third Prince fought against two enemies, and the demon was extremely cunning. He shouldn’t be blamed. This defeat can actually rid our heavenly troops of arrogance. We must not underestimate this demon.”
Li Jing’s scolding of Nezha was merely for show, so he agreed with the King of Wide Eyes, saying, “Indeed. Order all the marshals and generals to act cautiously and never act rashly!”
If Wukong had heard these words, he would have been overjoyed. He first sent the Golden-Winged Roc to create chaos in the sky, then used the Nine Spirit Saints to intimidate the heavenly troops, and had the Bull Demon King dampen their momentum while Wang Yu seized their magical weapons. His goal was simply to make Li Jing lose his arrogance. Once that happened, Li Jing would be constrained and cautious during the battle, allowing Wukong’s next plan to succeed.
The Golden-Winged Roc’s attack proved effective, and it returned early to warn that there were as many as 100,000 heavenly troops, who would arrive in just a moment. Flower-Fruit Mountain prepared for battle. Suddenly, the entire mountain became eerily quiet; even the birds, insects, and ants stopped moving or singing. The sound of the waves in the distance added to the solemn atmosphere.

Before long, the Nine Spirit Primordial Sage descended from the sky. His nine massive mouths remained wide open, with fresh blood still flowing from the corners. Only the middle mouth was closed as he said in a muffled voice, “Indeed, the taste of heavenly soldiers is extraordinary—lacking all trace of mundanity.”

Wukong suppressed his frustration and said, “Go wash yourselves by the stream immediately. Don’t let that bloodstain contaminate my peach trees.” Upon seeing the blood, the demons’ eyes gleamed with desire. Although there were no strict rules on eating humans on Flower-Fruit Mountain, the Four Marshals knew Wukong’s habits and had instructed the seventy-two demon kings to eat human flesh in secret, far away from the king’s sight. With constant military drills and formations lately, the demons hadn’t eaten meat for some time. Now, seeing the Nine Spirit Primordial Sage feasting heartily and praising the taste of the heavenly soldiers, they became even more bloodthirsty, wishing those soldiers were right before them so they could devour them immediately.

After a while, the Bull Demon King and Wang Yu returned hand in hand. Wang Yu held a magnificent sword that shone brightly under the sunlight, emitting an eerie glow.

Wukong went to greet them, and Wang Yu handed over the Demon-Slaying Sword, saying, “It’s truly a fine sword!” As soon as Wukong took it, he sensed that the sword had no master. If Nezha had made it his life treasure, his magic power would hardly be able to control it. Surprised, he said, “This is an excellent sword—yet it’s not a life treasure.”

Wang Yu replied, “That kid’s life treasure is the Heavenly Silk. The Divine Slaying Circle isn’t ready yet, so I can’t take it.”

Wukong hesitated for a moment before returning the sword to Wang Yu, saying, “Though you have the Divine Slaying Circle, it’s not a convenient weapon. Keep this sword instead.” Wang Yu was stunned. He thought Wukong wanted the sword for some important purpose, but instead, Wukong returned it. He didn’t understand Wukong’s intentions. Wukong asked, “Can’t you use a sword?”

Wang Yu laughed heartily and took the sword, saying, “How could I not? Since Wukong is so generous, I’ll keep it.” Though the Bull Demon King was very envious, he didn’t like using light weapons and felt that his iron staff was the best weapon.

The Golden Winged Roc came over and said, “This sword is a sword of might, designed to defeat evil forces. It’s also very useful against us demons.” Hearing this, Wang Yu became even more delighted, saying, “Once it’s in my hands, it’ll never be returned to its original owner.”

The Bull Demon King said, “The heavenly soldiers have suffered several setbacks. They probably won’t dare act rashly now. They must be moving forward carefully, step by step.”

Wukong said, “Hehe, the better if they’re suspicious. Only then can we overcome the stronger with weakness.”

In a short while, clouds gathered around them, with countless heavenly soldiers watching intently, like hungry wolves eyeing a piece of fat meat. Wukong faintly saw silver threads shining in the sky. Frowning, he thought this was strange—unknown what kind of magic weapon it was.

The Bull Demon King murmured, “What a grand effort—even the Heavenly Net has been deployed.”
Wukong heard clearly, “What? This is the Heavenly Net?” Wukong remembered that during the second siege of Flower-Fruit Mountain, the Heavenly Court had set up eighteen such nets, but he didn’t know their purpose.
The Bull Demon King said, “That’s right. The Heavenly Net is made of rare materials. I don’t even know how it was created. It’s useless to us at our level—we can move through it freely, but destroying it is extremely difficult.”
Wukong said, “Since it’s useless to us, it must be useful against the lesser demons.”
The Bull Demon King replied, “Exactly. With this net in place, their only option is to be utterly wiped out. They can’t fly in the sky or hide underground. My boys need to be careful.”
Wukong immediately sent messages to the four great marshals, instructing them to quickly inform all the demon kings to refrain from using their flying or underground abilities, lest they fall victim to the Heavenly soldiers’ tactics. He secretly smiled to himself—perfect! All my preparations weren’t in vain. This Heavenly Net saves me a lot of trouble.
Originally, Wukong had ordered Feng Tong to set up defenses east of Flower-Fruit Mountain and Wu Zhiqi to guard the water routes west of it, aiming to force the Heavenly soldiers to fight on land. His plan involved the Golden Winged Roc, the Bull Demon King, Feng Tong, Wang Yu, and the Nine Spirit Saints attacking from different directions in the sky, leaving the Heavenly soldiers overwhelmed. After all, there weren’t many top experts among them, and since the chaos he caused wasn’t too severe, he assumed the Three Pure Ones and other high-ranking deities wouldn’t get involved.
But Wukong didn’t expect the Heavenly Court to take this so seriously, sending a hundred thousand soldiers to suppress them. They even deployed the Heavenly Net to capture all the demons at once—truly ruthless. Well, if they won’t let me fly or move underground, it suits my plans just fine.
Li Jing directed the Heavenly soldiers to set up the Heavenly Net from the clouds. Seeing that the demons on the ground were arranged in an orderly formation without any signs of panic, he gathered all the marshals and star officials and shouted, “The demon forces are arrogant. Who will take the lead?”
One man stepped forward among the Heavenly soldiers. He wore dark gray soft armor, a golden helmet with his hair tied back. He was handsome, dignified, graceful, and had a face as fair as jade—truly the most handsome man in the Heavenly Court. For some reason, however, his face showed a worried expression, which not only didn’t diminish his beauty but added to its charm.
Upon seeing him, Li Jing was overjoyed and said, “It’s perfect—Marshal Tian Peng should take the lead to turn the tide for us.” Marshal Tian Peng wasn’t originally on the list of those sent to suppress the demons this time, but Nezha, who had traveled to the Eastern Sea, knew that Flower-Fruit Mountain was a seaside immortal mountain, so battles by water were likely. Thus, he invited Marshal Tian Peng to lead two hundred thousand Heavenly River soldiers into battle.

Marshal Tianpeng bowed to Li Jing and descended without a single soldier. Upon arriving at Flower-Fruit Mountain, Marshal Tianpeng shouted, “I am here by the orders of the Jade Emperor to subdue you all. Surrender quickly to spare your lives!”
Seeing a heavenly general descend to fight, Wukong asked, “Which brother will fight this person?”
The Bull Demon King, being the most warlike, picked up his iron staff and was ready to engage. Suddenly, Wukong saw the heavenly general draw his weapon, and his heart trembled. The weapon had a long handle and a wide head, shining brightly, with nine-toothed jade protrusions and golden rings and leaves as decorations. Apart from the Nine-Toothed Rake, what other weapon in “Journey to the West” had such a design?
Wukong immediately said, “Brother, wait! Let me take on this fight!” Without waiting for the Bull Demon King to recover, he rushed straight into the clouds to confront the enemy.