Journey to the West: Starting by becoming an apprentice of Emperor Donghua

He was just a lowly rat spirit; when had he ever seen such a spectacle?

Upon seeing these two revered deities, it was so frightened that it urinated, and its body rubbed itself, revealing its true form—a gray-furred rat.

The rat plunged downwards and disappeared into the ground with a whoosh.

The two of them hadn't originally intended to deal with the rat demon, and upon seeing this, they both burst into laughter.

"Junior Uncle, this rat demon has been in power for so long, harming countless loyal and virtuous officials. If you don't take his head today, you'll have no way to explain yourself!"

Nezha also said:

"If you can't catch him, let me!"

Ji Sheng laughed heartily:

"Rest assured, you two, he will absolutely not be allowed to go south to find his uncle!"

Even without the two of them saying anything, Ji Sheng would definitely not let the other party off the hook.

Although the emperor still possessed the aura of a dragon, making him impossible to kill, this rat demon was someone everyone could kill; killing it would naturally add to one's merit.

If we don't kill him and let him escape, then we've committed a sin.

And the other party possesses a treasure. That fire gourd can store his own small flames, so it is definitely not an ordinary object.

Ji Sheng's left eye flashed with golden light, and he immediately activated the Void-Breaking Spirit Eye to scan the imperial city.

Inside the imperial palace behind the city, the gray-haired rat was seen scurrying underground.

Ji Sheng flicked his sleeves again, and three fire crows flew out at the same time.

"Gah!"

With a strange cry, the fire crows, under Ji Sheng's command, all flew towards the direction of the palace.

The three fire crows emanated heat waves, scorching even the trees in their wake, causing them to spontaneously combust without fire.

Although the rat spirit was underground, it could sense that fire crows were chasing it from the sky.

It tried to hide and dodge, but ultimately couldn't escape. It was caught by the fire crow's claw and carried into the air.

"Immortal, spare me! Immortal, spare me!"

The fire crow's claws were incredibly sharp, scorching the rat spirit's fur until it sizzled and emitted a pungent, burnt smell.

The gray-haired rat spirit had lost all its previous arrogance. Enduring the pain, it repeatedly clasped its hands in front of its chest in pleading.

Ji Shengdao:

"Spare my life? Tell me, what sins have you committed?"

The rat spirit said:

"I...I was blind and shouldn't have offended the immortal!"

Ji Sheng kept sneering:

"You've angered me? Hmph, you've joined forces with this tyrant, causing immense suffering and misery to the people of this nation, and all you know is how to anger me?"

The rat spirit kept bowing:

"It's all my fault. I repeatedly slandered this tyrant to please him. It's all my fault, all my fault!"

The rat demon was still trying to argue, but Ji Sheng chuckled coldly and asked:

"Where did you get that gourd from?"

The rat spirit thought Ji Sheng wanted to steal his gourd, so it quickly offered it up, saying:

"Imperial Immortal, this item was presented to me by a Taoist priest. If you wish to receive it, I will give it to you!"

Ji Sheng ordered Huo Ya to grab the gourd, examine it carefully, and only after confirming that there was no trickery inside did he bring it back to his side.

Several lines of small characters appeared on the gourd:

[Fire Gourd (Purple Upper): This is a gourd used by the Fire Virtue Star Lord in Heaven to store fire-elemental spiritual objects. The gourd is engraved with magical patterns and can contain fire beasts, fire pearls, and various kinds of flames.]

Is it something belonging to the Heavenly Fire Virtue Star Lord?

Ji Sheng was taken aback. So, the big pit on the mountain behind Wangli Village was made by this gourd.

But if the item is lost, doesn't the Fire God know?

After a moment's thought, Ji Sheng had a guess in his mind.

This gourd is only of the upper purple grade, but in the eyes of ordinary monsters, it would certainly be an extraordinary treasure.

However, in the hands of someone like the Fire God, it probably wouldn't amount to much.

It's estimated that the Fire God has quite a few of these gourds, so it's normal that they were left lying around and accidentally fell to the mortal realm.

Do you know the whereabouts of this Taoist priest? Where is he now?

The rat spirit said:

"That Taoist priest only came to offer treasures and asked for several hundred catties of gold, and then left the capital. I don't know where he is now."

Ji Sheng frowned. This rat spirit didn't seem to be lying, nor did it have any reason to.

Is this Taoist priest only after exchanging gold? I'm afraid it's not that simple.

The person who could obtain this treasure was no ordinary Taoist; they couldn't possibly be unaware of its value, and their strength was definitely above that of the rat demon.

It's even quite possible that this Taoist priest discovered and opened the gourd.

Why go to such lengths to give this item to the rat spirit?

Ji Sheng was momentarily distracted, and the rat spirit, seeing an opportunity, suddenly shuddered and shrank in size, escaping the fire crow's claws.

It will transform into a gust of foul wind and ride away on the air currents.

Ji Sheng anticipated that he wouldn't behave, and his Void-Breaking Spirit Eye immediately discerned his location.

With a flick of his sleeve, the flames transformed into a vertical wall, blocking the stench of the wind.

With a cry of pain, the rat demon crashed headfirst into the wall of fire, instantly bursting into flames and becoming a ball of fire.

One fire crow grabbed the rat demon's head, while the other two grabbed its two thighs, tearing the ball of fire apart.

The sword flashed past its waist, and the enormous rat demon was split in two.

Fire Crow threw the rat's carcass in front of the Guanglu Temple, and Ji Sheng shouted from mid-air:

"You tyrant, why aren't you coming to see?"

The tyrannical emperor and his ministers walked out of the Imperial Household Department trembling with fear. When they saw the rat spirit broken in two before them, they were all terrified and knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly to Ji Sheng.

"Please spare us, Immortal!"

Ji Sheng shouted from mid-air:

"You tyrant! What do you have to say?!"

The emperor kowtowed repeatedly, as if pounding garlic:

"It was all my fault for being blind and not recognizing a worthy person, for offending a deity. It was all this Imperial Advisor... this rat spirit's instigation. I was truly deceived by this villain. Please, deity, forgive me!"

Ji Sheng sneered repeatedly:

"Do you know how to repent?"

The emperor hurriedly said:

"They know how to repent! They know how to repent!"

Ji Shengdao:

"From this day forward, if you dare to act perversely again, I will make you lie dead in the street like this rat demon!"

Just as the emperor breathed a sigh of relief, a sword light suddenly struck, slicing across his head.

The emperor was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, defecating and urinating indiscriminately.

Ji Sheng chuckled and rode away on a cloud.

It took the emperor a while to recover. He touched his head and found only a bald spot.

"Am I...am I still alive?"

An old eunuch nearby helped him up:

"It's still there, it's still there!"

Ji Sheng flew back to Lü Dongbin and Nezha's side, only to hear a deafening roar of shouts from below:

"The Imperial Advisor is dead! The Imperial Advisor is dead! Heaven has eyes! The gods have appeared!"

Within the capital, the people bowed and kowtowed repeatedly to the group. Seeing this, Ji Sheng felt a surge of emotion.

"Although they are commoners of the capital, it seems they have suffered under the tyrannical emperor and the incompetent ruler for a long time."

Upon hearing this, Lü Dongbin said:

"The true dragon has not yet risen to power. Although this dog emperor is muddleheaded and foolish, he cannot be killed recklessly before the true dragon rises to power."

Ji Sheng sighed; of course he knew this principle.

If the emperor dies, the world will only become more chaotic, and it will inevitably fall apart.

Only when the true dragon rises and unifies the world with thunderous force can the people suffer less.

At this moment, flames soared into the sky from the palace. It turned out that Ji Sheng had set fire to the palace while chasing the rat spirit with fire crows.

Although this emperor is despicable, how innocent are the palace maids and eunuchs? Ji Sheng said to Lü Dongbin:

"Chunyangzi, I would like to trouble you to send down some rain to extinguish this fire!"

Nezha, standing to the side, said:

"Don't worry, while you were fighting that rat demon, we summoned the local earth god, city god, and other officials. We ordered them to take all the innocent people out of the city and back to their homes."

Ji Sheng was grateful and nodded.

Thinking of the fire gourd from earlier, Ji Sheng took it out and handed it to the two of them to examine.

These two men were indeed knowledgeable and immediately pointed out the origin of the item.

"How did the Fire God's things end up in that rat demon's hands?"

Hearing Nezha's question, Ji Sheng explained to the two of them. The two seemed to understand and nodded.

"You two must be acquainted with that Fire Virtue Star Lord. I wonder if you could return to the Heavenly Court and inquire about him for me?"

Upon hearing Ji Sheng's words, the two exchanged a glance. Lü Dongbin smiled and said:

"Why not take what belongs to the Fire God? There's no point in asking questions."