47: Chapter 48 You idiot! Damn it!

It is said that the Monkey King, having pulled a switcheroo, hid the real purple-gold red gourd in his robes. He stood beside King Silver Horn, holding the fake gourd, watching the second demon and King Gold Horn exchange cups and lose themselves in their triumph. He sneered inwardly, yet his face remained respectful, showing not a hint of a flaw.

King Silver Horn, his face flushed red from drink, hugged the fake gourd and patted his chest as he said to King Gold Horn, "Brother, rest assured. Once that Monkey King is loaded into my purple-gold red gourd, within an hour or so, he will turn into a puddle of pus and blood, unable to stir up any trouble again! Tang Seng and his disciples are all within our control. Once we completely eliminate this unruly monkey, we will cook Tang Seng and enjoy the meat of immortality!"

King Gold Horn was overjoyed and raised his cup repeatedly. The lesser demons throughout the cave cheered and celebrated, and the entire Lotus Cave became rowdy, completely devoid of vigilance.

Seeing that the time was ripe, the Monkey King retreated a few steps without a sound. Taking advantage of the drunken commotion of the demons, he slipped out of the Immortal Cave unnoticed. With a shake of his body, he resumed his true form as the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven.

He tucked the real purple-gold red gourd firmly into his robes and, wielding his Golden Cudgel, stood before the cave entrance. He shouted sternly, his voice shaking the entire Pingding Mountain with a buzzing sound, "Listen here, you unruly demons inside! Quickly send out my Master and Junior Brother, or else I, Old Sun, will surely raze Lotus Cave to the ground and exterminate every single one of you demons!"

The gate-keeping demons were shocked by the sound and hurriedly looked up. They saw a monk with a hairy face and a thunder-god mouth standing outside the cave, holding a Golden Cudgel, looking majestic and imposing, with a fierce Aura.

The little demons were so terrified that their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and they scrambled into the cave, reporting to the two demons in a panic, "Great King! It's bad! It's very bad! Another Monkey King has arrived outside the cave, calling by name to save Tang Seng, and even threatening to raze our Lotus Cave to the ground!"

Upon hearing this, King Silver Horn slammed the table and stood up, saying with a look of disdain, "Brother, do not panic. It is certainly an accomplice of that unruly monkey, trying to disrupt our good work! My gourd can hold a thousand people; it has only loaded one Pilgrim, so why fear another one? Wait for me to go out and load him into the gourd as well, to eliminate any future trouble!"

With that, King Silver Horn hugged the fake purple-gold red gourd and marched out of Lotus Cave with vigor. He looked up at the Monkey King and shouted sternly, "Where did you come from, you unruly monkey, daring to act so presumptuously here! Do you know that your accomplice has already been loaded into my Magic Treasure and turned into pus and blood?"

The Monkey King laughed heartily, deliberately stroking his monkey fur, and replied loudly, "Unruly demon, stop spouting nonsense! I am Pilgrim Sun, the very own brother of that Pilgrim! Hearing that you demons captured my Senior Brother and trapped my Master, I have come specifically to subdue you! If you are sensible, obediently release my Master and Junior Brother and return the Magic Treasure, and I might spare your dog life; if you remain stubborn, today I will surely ensure you die without a burial place!"

Upon hearing this, King Silver Horn was somewhat surprised, but he remained confident. He shook the fake gourd in his arms and said triumphantly, "Good for you, Pilgrim Sun. Since you have rushed here to die, I will grant your wish! I will not fight you; I will just call your name—do you dare to answer? As long as you answer, you will be loaded into my Magic Treasure gourd and turned into pus and blood!"

The Monkey King laughed inwardly, but on the surface, he feigned great dread and said hesitantly, "If you call me, I will naturally dare to answer; but if I call your name, do you dare to answer?"

King Silver Horn sneered and said dismissively, "I call you because I possess a celestial treasure; what ability do you have? Stop talking nonsense. Either surrender obediently or take my sword!"

"I also have a Magic Treasure!" said the Monkey King, slowly taking out the real purple-gold red gourd from his robes. He waved it in front of King Silver Horn and then quickly hid it back in his robes, fearing it might be snatched, "Look, my gourd is exactly the same as yours!"

King Silver Horn stared intently, instantly turning pale with shock. His eyes locked onto the Monkey King's hand, his face filled with disbelief, "You, where did you get this gourd? Why is it indistinguishable from my purple-gold red gourd? Even if they were grown on the same celestial vine, there should be a difference in size—how can they be exactly the same!"

The Monkey King rolled his eyes, deliberately teasing him, and asked in a deep voice, "You tell me first, where did you get your gourd?"

King Silver Horn was momentarily stunned by the Monkey King's question. Filled with confusion, he answered truthfully without thinking, "My gourd was obtained when Chaos first separated, and heaven and earth were opened. The Taishang Laojun refined stones to patch the sky, and it was obtained from a celestial vine at the foot of Kunlun Mountain. It is a celestial treasure!"

Upon hearing this, the Monkey King immediately followed his lead and said loudly, "So that's it! My gourd was also grown on that Kunlun celestial vine! Back then, the celestial vine bore two gourds; you got a female one, and I got a male one! All Magic Treasure in this world are divided into male and female. When the female sees the male, it loses all its power!"

King Silver Horn was half-believing and half-doubting. Although he was unwilling to accept it, he couldn't help but waver, and his hands holding the fake gourd tightened slightly.

Seeing this, the Monkey King feigned generosity and said, "I will not deceive you. I will let you go first. Use your female gourd to load me and see if it works!"

King Silver Horn was overjoyed, taking the Monkey King at his word. He immediately leaped up, stood on the clouds, raised the fake gourd, aimed it at the Monkey King, and shouted sternly, "Pilgrim Sun!"

The Monkey King stood where he was, unhurriedly answering eight or nine times. Yet he remained firmly in place, completely unharmed, with no signs of being sucked into the gourd.

Seeing this, King Silver Horn was dumbfounded. He fell from the clouds to the ground, stomping his feet and beating his chest, wailing loudly, "Heavens! It is actually true! This female gourd has completely lost its effectiveness upon seeing the male gourd; it can no longer load anyone! The Magic Treasure I worked so hard to Cultivate has turned into scrap metal!"

The Monkey King laughed heartily. Holding the real purple-gold red gourd, he leaped into the air, turned the gourd bottom-up and mouth-down, aimed it at King Silver Horn, and shouted sternly, "King Silver Horn!"

At this moment, King Silver Horn was filled with despair and his mind was in Chaos. Hearing the Monkey King call his name, he subconsciously opened his mouth and answered.

With a "whoosh," a golden light burst forth from the gourd, and a powerful suction force swept over instantly. King Silver Horn had no time to resist; his body, out of control, was sucked straight into the purple-gold red gourd. The Monkey King was quick and sharp, immediately covering the gourd with its lid and firmly sticking a Talismanic Incantation that read, "By the order of the Taishang Laojun, obey immediately," so that no matter how King Silver Horn struggled and roared inside, he could never escape.

Having captured King Silver Horn, the Monkey King was overjoyed. He tied the gourd tightly to his waist, grasped his Golden Cudgel, and strode toward Lotus Cave again, preparing to rescue his Master and Junior Brother.

King Silver Horn inside the gourd, not having shed his mortal coil, began to melt gradually within a few moments, making various sounds. The Monkey King walked and shook the gourd, listening to the commotion inside, and couldn't help but laugh, "You unruly demon, you plotted in every way to capture me and harm my Master, but today you have met this fate. It is truly retribution!"

Before long, the Monkey King arrived at the entrance of Lotus Cave again. The gate-keeping demons were already so terrified that their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and they scrambled into the cave, crying and reporting to King Gold Horn, "Great King! It's bad! The Second Great King, the Second Great King has been loaded into the gourd by that Pilgrim Sun; I fear he is already dead! That Monkey King has come to the door!"

Inside the cave, King Gold Horn was sitting in the hall, waiting for King Silver Horn to return in triumph. Hearing this, he was struck as if by lightning. He shuddered and fell directly from his stone chair to the ground, wailing loudly, "My virtuous brother! You and I share a bond as deep as hands and feet; we descended to the mortal world together, intending to share glory and wealth. Who would have thought we would end up in such a state! That unruly monkey has harmed my brother; this vengeance cannot coexist under the same sky. I will surely tear him into ten thousand pieces to avenge you!"

Seeing this, the demons throughout the cave followed suit, weeping and wailing, and the cave was filled with sorrow and cries.

Pigsy, who was hung from the rafters, heard everything clearly and laughed heartily, mocking King Gold Horn, "Demon, stop your mourning here! My Senior Brother has great Divine Ability, and your brother was no match for him at all; he has now become pus and blood in the gourd! I advise you to obediently release our Master and us disciples, scrub the pots and stoves clean, and prepare the vegetarian meal; perhaps you might still be spared!"

Upon hearing this, King Gold Horn was even more enraged, trembling with anger. He pointed at Pigsy and shouted sternly, "You clumsy oaf, daring to be so stubborn when death is imminent! Someone, take this Pigsy down, peel his skin and pull his tendons, steam him to go with wine, and I will eat him first, then go to avenge myself on that unruly monkey!"

Hearing this, the little demons hurriedly stepped forward to untie the ropes binding Pigsy. Pigsy was instantly terrified, his face turning pale, and he begged for mercy repeatedly, "Demon, spare my life! I was only joking; you are a magnanimous person, please don't take it seriously!"

Sand Monk, standing on the side, couldn't help but complain, "Second Brother, you can barely protect yourself, yet you still talk too much and provoke him. See what happened now, you've brought trouble upon yourself!"

Ao Lie was tied to a stone pillar, keeping his head lowered and eyes closed the entire time. His Qi was restrained, hiding his Shadow Power flawlessly, and he remained patient and motionless throughout. He had long known that King Silver Horn had been captured and that the Monkey King had won, through the Shadow Power he had secretly emitted. He was certain that he only needed to wait for the right moment and would be able to escape without needing to act himself. At this moment, he said nothing, only secretly paying attention to the movements in the cave, protecting Tang Seng's safety at all times, never revealing even half of his cards as the Shadow Monarch, just waiting for the Monkey King to come and rescue them.

Inside the cave, King Gold Horn was overcome with grief and rage. While ordering the disposal of Pigsy, he counted the remaining Magic Treasure in the cave, preparing to exert all his strength to fight the Monkey King to the death. A fierce battle between good and evil was about to break out.