Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 247 Seven Emotions and Six Desires
Moyun Cave in Jilei Mountain.

The Fox King sat high on his throne, his gaze fixed on Jade Face, with whom he had just had a quarrel, now flying away into the distance at the foot of the mountain. He then looked up at the starry sky and sighed softly.

Time is merciless.

Despite his unchanging appearance over the millennia, his life is now like a candle flickering in the wind, its flame extinguished at any moment.

Below the old fox king, a boar general wielding a long-handled giant axe and clad in armor stepped forward. He looked at the old fox king, concealing the sorrow in his eyes, knelt on one knee, and respectfully said:
"Your Majesty, I have already sent men to pursue the princess. Please rest assured!"

"Heh~ Hao Gang, I'll be relying on you for Jade Face from now on."

Hao Gang's heart skipped a beat, and he said decisively:

"Your subordinate will protect the princess with your life!"

He knew that his king's life was coming to an end, with at most thirty or forty years left to live. Now, he was entrusting his only daughter to him, his old friend and subordinate who had been with him for thousands of years.

The Fox King slowly rose from his throne, his once majestic body now bearing the marks of age.

Unfortunately, he injured his true spirit in a fight in his early years, and his essence has been gradually dissipating and cannot be repaired. As a result, he does not have many years left to live.

The Fox King walked slowly, his gaze fixed on the direction of Mount Ling, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Years ago, a man from Mount Ling came and said he could extend his life, but he would have to become a protector of Mount Ling and could not disobey in any way.

He was born at the very beginning of this era. He gained intelligence after eating the divine fruit, lived through the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and has cultivated all the way to the present day. He is revered by demons from all directions as the Ten Thousand Year Fox King.

That Lingshan actually wants him to be their watchdog? That's just wishful thinking!

He, the Fox King, wanted to live, but even if he couldn't become that high and mighty, unrestrained demon king, he would never sacrifice eternal freedom to live a life of ignominy and become someone else's watchdog!
However, this leaves only one path: reincarnation and rebirth.
His daughter is spoiled and arrogant. If she doesn't have her father's protection, he doesn't know what will happen to her in the future. He can only try his best to make arrangements.

It's a pity that I didn't realize back then at Golden Toad Mountain that the relationship between Daoist Guangyi and Ben was so profound. If he had fought alongside him on Golden Toad Mountain back then, would he now be able to shamelessly ask him to take care of his daughter?

But there are no "what ifs" in this world.

Inside the Pipa Cave on Poisonous Enemy Mountain.

The scorpion demon sat in front of an exquisite dressing mirror, admiring her face with satisfaction. Behind her, two pretty young maids dressed in pink were intently braiding her hair.

The two maids' eyes still seemed slightly red, indicating that they had just been crying not long ago.

The scorpion demon watched this scene through the mirror, speechless. She picked up two boxes of rouge from the dressing table and casually stuffed them in front of the two maids.

"You two, take this rouge and cover your eyes properly, so that when that Taoist priest comes again, he won't think I'm bullying you."

"We've already promised you you can come down the mountain to visit your families once a month from now on, is it really necessary to be so excited?"

The two maids quickly reached out to take it, bowing and thanking them.

"Thank you, Master. Thank you, Master."

"Please rest assured, Master. If that immortal comes, we two servants will definitely speak to him on our own initiative. Master has always been very kind to us servants."

"That's right, that's right~"

The scorpion demon nodded in satisfaction and said:
"At least you two have a conscience. You'll understand in the future~ What an incredible blessing it is that I've taken a liking to you and made you my maids~ I'm going to guide you in cultivating immortality, and you'll live for at least a thousand years~"

"It's best to sever ties with the mortal world as soon as possible. But you are all too young. You'll understand the difference between immortals and mortals later on."

As the scorpion demon spoke, she sighed softly.

"This Western Liang Kingdom is wonderful in every way, except it has absolutely no men."

At this moment, the maid on the left seemed to have thought of something and looked at her mistress, saying:
“Master, there are two men at Juxian Temple on Jieyang Mountain, which is due south.”

Upon hearing this, the scorpion demon rolled her eyes, picked up the gold hairpin from the table, handed it to the maid behind her, and then looked at her stunningly beautiful face in the mirror, saying:
"I may be lustful, but I'm not blind. Every man I've set my sights on is a big shot in the Three Realms."

"What kind of people are those? Greedy and lustful, my legs tremble when I see them. And they're so ugly, they're not even worthy of being called silver spears or wax heads~"

"With that appearance, he still calls himself the Ruyi True Immortal. Ha~ Compared to the Guangyi Daoist who came a couple of days ago, that Ruyi True Immortal is nothing. He can't even compare to one of the other's fingers."

These words elicited giggles from the two girls behind him, while the scorpion demon couldn't help but lick its lips.

For her, men are better won over by force; the ones she can't win are the ones that pique her interest even more.
Suddenly, the scorpion demon saw a figure appear in the mirror in front of her and was startled. She turned her head and saw Niu Yi looking at her calmly.

Niu Yi was speechless. This scorpion demon was indeed a lustful female bandit, and could not be judged by ordinary standards.

Being aware of her lustful nature is perhaps the only redeeming quality of this scorpion demon.

The scorpion demon waved away the two maids beside her, put on a fawning smile, and swayed her body as she went to greet them.

"Oh dear~ Immortal Master, why didn't you tell me you were coming? I could have greeted you!"

Niu Yi didn't even glance at the scorpion demon, and walked over to a table and chairs to sit down.

"Naturally, that matter has been resolved."

Seeing that this person didn't even look at her, the scorpion demon cursed herself inwardly for being so obsequious to a blind man!

But upon hearing that the matter had been resolved, his smile widened, and he slowly walked to face Niu Yi. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Niu Yi speak again:

"But, as I said before, why should I help you?"

He had originally planned to go to the underworld first before making any further plans, to see if the scorpion demon and his second senior brother had really had a past relationship.

Now that we know that nothing ever happened between these two people, things are naturally much simpler.

The scorpion demon met Niu Yi's gaze, her expression stiffened, and she forced a smile, saying:
"Immortal Master, didn't we agree on this before?"

As the scorpion demon spoke, her voice grew softer and softer. She suddenly remembered that the Taoist priest in front of her had only said that he was not sure about the matter and that if he was sure, he would come to find her. He had not made any promises at all!

Now he's confident he can help her, and he's trying to negotiate again?! "If you can help me with this matter, Immortal Master, I will be at your beck and call for the next five thousand years!"

Niu Yi shook his head slightly.

“This is of no use to me.”

Upon hearing this, the scorpion demon became enraged and said:

"What do you mean by that? Are you looking down on me?!"

"I've stung the Buddha! Three hundred Vajra protectors of Buddhism couldn't subdue me, and even Guanyin Bodhisattva might not be able to get close to me! Are you saying I'm useless?"

Niu Yi looked at the scorpion demon and said:
“Few in our Taoist sect are competitive. Even I, a humble Taoist, spend most of my years cultivating in the mountains. Although you are quite capable, you have the nature of a bandit. When you need something from someone, you think of kidnapping them first.”

"Putting aside your previous act of arbitrarily attacking me, even if I could overlook your previous offense, taking you in would likely bring me considerable trouble."

This scorpion demon was indeed quite skilled. Even when Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie fought it together later, they were still defeated by the scorpion using its poisonous tail hook and poisonous hidden weapons.

Even Guanyin Bodhisattva herself admitted that she did not want to get close to the scorpion's body and instructed Sun Wukong to seek out the Pleiades Star Lord, which clearly indicates that the scorpion must have other tricks up its sleeve.

In their previous fight, both of them held back and had no intention of killing each other; it was mostly a test. However, even if they fought with all their might, Niu Yi was confident that he could suppress the scorpion, though it would be a very troublesome situation.

Most importantly, this scorpion looks like a female bandit and is extremely lustful. If we were to take her back, it would probably just be a real problem.

He could help, and it wouldn't be too much trouble for him. The Ling Mountain side had already agreed, and it would even be quite beneficial for him to arrange the Journey to the West. But it all depended on whether the scorpion demon could sway him.

The scorpion spirit frowned. She understood Niu Yi's meaning. She had no right to negotiate such terms with Niu Yi, especially since he might be the only benefactor who could help her.

After a while, the scorpion demon fixed her gaze, opened her mouth, and a bead of interwoven pink and purple colors flew out of her mouth quickly, landing on the table and floating slowly.

The scorpion demon stood up and knelt down in front of Niu Yi, saying:
"Please forgive my previous actions, Immortal Master. If you can help me this time, I am willing to offer my demon core for you to control for ten thousand years as a token of my sincerity."

“Immortal Master, this demon core of mine is a combination of the Dao of Passion and Desire and the Dao of Poison. It is also a manifestation of the Dao that I have cultivated for tens of thousands of years. It can help people comprehend the Dao of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires and the Dao of Poison.”

Niu Yi looked at the demon core in front of him with slight surprise, because in addition to the strongest lust, other desires were also very obvious in the demon core in front of him.

It turns out that this scorpion was cultivating the seven emotions and six desires, but due to its own nature, it made far greater progress in the realm of lust than in the others.

"Are you really going to hand over this demon core to me? You're putting your life in my hands."

The scorpion demon looked up at Niu Yi, her eyes revealing seven parts determination and three parts helplessness.

“I trust the Immortal Master. He is a true cultivator who has attained enlightenment and would not deceive me. Moreover, that person said back then that the one who could help me was a benefactor, and he truly is a benefactor.”

"And if it weren't for this, how could the Immortal Master trust me?"

She had entrusted her life and fortune to Niu Yi, which was more effective than any oath or binding magic. If even this couldn't move the Taoist priest in front of her, then she would truly be out of options.

The scorpion spirit has been thinking about many things these past two days.

If she had been able to capture that Taoist priest back then, everything would have been much easier, and the initiative would have been in her hands—which has always been her style.

However, she had never fought this Taoist priest, and had offended him because of it. This man had her weakness firmly grasped, so she might as well be more decisive and take a gamble.

Don't be fooled by the people of Lingshan who keep saying 'Buddha is merciful.' If you really offend those bald monks, they'll definitely come after you with their Vajra Pestle, Mantra Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, and so on.

Serving this person for ten thousand years is far better than being purged by the bald monk of Mount Ling in the future and dying!

Actually, she didn't completely trust Niu Yi, but rather the person from back then. Even though that person was always glib, he never made a mistake or lied when it came to fortune telling.

Niu Yi looked at the demon core beside him, pondered for a moment, and then put it away.

Once the demon core was taken away, the scorpion demon could no longer sense anything, and a sense of emptiness and regret arose in her heart, wondering if she had been too impulsive.

But this fleeting regret was quickly suppressed by her.

On the other side, Niu Yi, having put away the demon core, flipped his hand, and a jade scroll appeared in his palm.

Niu Yi unfurled the scroll, concentrated his magical power, and wrote a few strokes on it, sending it flying to the scorpion demon. He said:
"Although I have accepted your demon core, you still need to 'sign a written agreement' and swear an oath before the Heavenly Dao."

Looking at the scroll filled with writing, the scorpion demon felt the immense aura emanating from it, as if it were directly confronting the heavens. She gritted her teeth, forced a drop of blood from her finger, and let the blood blend into the scroll.

Suddenly, the scroll turned into golden light and disappeared, but the scorpion demon sensed some kind of constraint in the dark.

"This servant greets the master."

Niu Yi smiled and nodded as he watched the scroll unfurl.

The day before yesterday, he sent a message to Taibai, explaining the matter and asking if there was a way to reliably restrain the scorpion demon. Taibai then went directly to the mortal realm and took him to meet the Jade Emperor, saying that the matter was related to the eastward transmission of Buddhism.

The Jade Emperor then casually tossed the scroll to them and told them to leave.

Venus stated frankly that, apart from those who can transcend the Great Dao, no one in the Three Realms is bound by this scroll; otherwise, no one can evade the oath written on it.

Even if the scorpion demon is now showing sincerity, how can one feel at ease with her past deeds? Only with these two preparations can Niu Yi be completely at ease.

"Now that we have reached an agreement, you can focus on your cultivation here. If anything happens, I will send you a message."

"Rest assured, I do not have the habit of ordering people around. Ten thousand years later, I will let you leave as agreed. If the matter concerning Buddhism is opened in the future, I will send you a message so that you can go up and earn some merit to resolve the karma from that year."

After Niu Yi finished speaking, he vanished in a flash. The scorpion demon, relieved by Niu Yi's promise, plopped down on the ground and sighed softly, thinking to herself that she had completely sold herself.

I just hope her gamble today is the right one.
Several years later, in the Southern Continent, everything had changed. Fang Cheng, who was teaching medical books in the clinic, suddenly saw the figure of Daojun slowly walking out of the statue above.

"Fang Cheng, we have a guest."

(End of this chapter)