Half an hour later, Wang Hu stood on the peak of a small mountain, looking toward the Five Elements Mountain opposite.
"Monkey Brother, I'm leaving. I'm going to the Western Ox Continent to find the Bull Demon King. Don't worry. I will complete everything you entrusted to me, and I will also help you break free from the control of Buddhism."
Wang Hu bowed toward the Five Elements Mountain and let out a tiger roar as a farewell, then turned and rushed into the deep forest far below.
Sun Wukong also heard the tiger roar and immediately understood his intention, and laughed loudly. "Haha! To have brothers like you in this life, old Monkey has not lived in vain."
Along with the echoing laughter, Wang Hu officially stepped onto his own journey to the west.
His cultivation was still too weak, so he could only travel on all fours. He had read Journey to the West and clearly knew how dangerous the road ahead was. With this weak Foundation Establishment cultivation, encountering a great demon king could mean being swallowed instantly.
But this was the path he had to take, because Sun Wukong was his idol. Moreover, the monkey had helped him in his most desperate time, for three whole years. All the flat peaches had entered Wang Hu's stomach. Although he never said it, he always carried that kindness on his back.
The little green snake tilted its head and looked at Wang Hu, its gaze gradually changing.
Time slowly passed, and half a month went by in the blink of an eye. Wang Hu traveled by day and found places to hide at night. He cultivated together with Xiaoqing, traveling while increasing his strength, extremely cautious, because he knew that along this journey to the west road, the barren mountains and wild forests must hide countless demons. And those who dared to trouble Tang Sanzang were at least at the peak of the Spirit Transformation realm, or even high-ranking demon kings. Any one of them could be a lethal threat.
"Xiaoqing, go catch a rabbit. I'm exhausted." Another day of travel ended as dusk approached, and Wang Hu sat down heavily under a large pine tree.
The little green snake hissed twice, rolling its body, clearly very unwilling.
"Xiaoqing, I've been dragging you around all day. I'm about to cough blood from exhaustion, and you still refuse to go find food. Do you even have a conscience?" Wang Hu shouted.
"Hiss, hiss." The little green snake swayed its body, glanced at him, and finally obediently went hunting.
Heh, this little girl is still under my control. Wang Hu laughed slightly. After half a month together he already understood her personality very well. She yielded to soft words, never to hard ones.
Just as Wang Hu was about to rest, a burst of eerie laughter suddenly came from the distant forest.
"Big brother, look at that. There's a tiger. We're rich this time."
Wang Hu was slightly startled and raised his huge tiger head toward the deep forest. A group of more than ten men walked out from the trees holding long sabers, slowly approaching him. These people were dressed strangely, and with just one glance Wang Hu knew they were bandits or mountain thieves. In short, they were not good people.
Thinking of this, he could not help but feel annoyed. Shouldn't bandits rob travelers? Why come rob a tiger? And isn't it usually tigers that eat people?
"Big brother, come look. This tiger looks stupid. Haha. Too funny."
The group of bandits laughed loudly and respectfully invited a one-eyed man forward.
"Hey, this tiger is not bad. Definitely can be sold for a good price." The one-eyed man looked at Wang Hu, his eye flashing as he assessed him from head to toe, and nodded. "Qi Refining level three. No wonder it dares to act like the lord of beasts."
Wang Hu yawned lazily, squinting his eyes, somewhat sleepy. These people he could kill with a single slap. He truly had no interest in fighting.
"Look at it. It's scared. And it still dared to provoke our boss. Truly ignorant of death."
"Boss, kill it! Kill it!" the bandits shouted, waving their blades.
Wang Hu became even more annoyed. He only yawned. Could these people even talk properly?
The one-eyed man formed seals with both hands, muttering, "Die, beast!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a small red flying sword shot out toward Wang Hu's head.
Ding! A metallic clank sounded. The sword bounced back. Wang Hu's tiger head remained completely unharmed. Not even a hair was lost.
Wang Hu shook his head, raised a claw to touch his forehead, and looked at the one-eyed man blankly.
"Tiger — this is impossible!" the one-eyed man exclaimed, his single eye almost popping out. "Die!" he roared, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the flying sword.
The sword trembled violently, its speed doubling as it turned into a blood light shooting toward Wang Hu.
Wang Hu was startled. Do you really have to go this far? he thought to himself. He had no deep hatred with them. At most they could sit down and drink tea. Why must they fight and kill? But he still tilted his head, looking innocent.
Ding, ding, ding. Several consecutive metallic sounds rang out, but the sword still could not harm him at all.
A few minutes later the one-eyed man's face turned pale as he looked at the unharmed Wang Hu, his eye full of fear. He had used all his strength in the assassination, yet he could not even cut a single tiger hair.
"Tiger grandfather, spare my life! I have elderly parents and young children. Please spare me. I won't dare again."
The one-eyed man threw away his sword and, thud, knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly. The surrounding bandits also immediately threw down their weapons and knelt, and all of them prostrated themselves, cries of begging for mercy echoing through the forest.
Wang Hu looked at them kneeling on the ground and felt a surge of pride. By logic, the Eighty-Nine Mystic Art was indeed extraordinary. With just a slight circulation of it, his defense was unbreakable.
At that moment a streak of green light flashed from afar and vanished. Before Wang Hu could even speak, the one-eyed man suddenly trembled and collapsed lifelessly.
The surrounding bandits, seeing their leader dead in an instant, were terrified beyond measure and immediately scattered in panic. The little green snake moved extremely fast through the forest, like lightning, and in the blink of an eye seven or eight bandits fell. Only a few escaped into the distance. The little green snake turned into a green streak of light and immediately chased after the last two.
Wang Hu's raised claw froze in midair. This snake was too violent, killing anyone it saw. He would definitely have to guide it properly in the future. As a new-generation demon, how could it kill so casually?
Looking at the corpses all over the ground, Wang Hu's eyes flickered. He walked to the one-eyed man's body and picked up the small flying sword he had used earlier. Although it was only a low-grade artifact with poor quality, it still had some spiritual energy in it, so Wang Hu chuckled and kept it.
He looked around and collected all the scattered weapons into his tiger-tooth storage space. Even if he could only sell them for a few coins, small gains were still gains.
Afterward he searched the bandits' bodies, but found nothing valuable. He sighed in disappointment. These bandits were too poor. Not even a bit of silver.
Then he immediately ran on all fours in the direction where the little green snake had gone.