Chapter 39: The White Bone Demon Tricks Tang Sanzang Three Times

"Wukong!" Tang Sanzang collapsed to the ground, trembling for a long time before finally crawling up, pointing at Sun Wukong in outrage. "You beast, how could you take a life for no reason!"

Sun Wukong looked directly at Tang Sanzang and replied, "Master, my Fiery Eyes of Truth never deceive. If I say she's a demon, then she is a demon. If you don't believe me, you can ask Lady Guanyin yourself!"

"Monkey Brother, now you're just spinning tales!" Pigsy, who usually feared Sun Wukong, seized the rare chance to see Tang Sanzang scold him and gloated, "Master, this lady was clearly a farmer's daughter, kind-hearted and generous, giving us food. How could Monkey Brother insist she's a demon?"

Tang Sanzang, hearing this, began to doubt. He glanced at the spilled rice and soup on the ground, his belief swaying. He turned to Sun Wukong, saying, "Wukong, I've lost all faith in you!"

"Master, Pigsy is nothing but a quarrelsome brute—don't listen to his nonsense!" Sun Wukong, now resolved to leave, cared nothing for brotherhood, and pointed at Pigsy, cursing him.

Tang Sanzang was startled—he had never seen Sun Wukong so angry, and his heart softened. He sighed, "But you killed this lady, and that's simply wrong!"

"Master, demons in this world are ever-changing—some ugly, some fair—so you can't judge good or evil by appearances alone!"

"Master, Eldest Brother speaks true," Sand Monk chimed in.

"Master, though Great Sage acted rashly, every word he says is right!" Bear Rice added.

Tang Sanzang sighed. Deep down, he still trusted Sun Wukong, but his pride would not allow it. Hearing his disciples persuade him, he relented, nodding. "Very well, I'll let you off this time. But do not harm others again!"

"Thank you, Master!" Sun Wukong helped Tang Sanzang onto his horse, offering him the peaches he had picked, then gave Pigsy's ample backside a kick, saying coldly, "Let's go, you ungrateful cur!"

"Hmph..." Pigsy, embarrassed and angry, feigned composure, forced a few laughs, shouldered his rake, and followed westward.

Meanwhile, Bai Jingjing, having left the girl's corpse behind, alighted on a high mountain. Seeing Tang Sanzang forgive Sun Wukong for his violence, she inwardly cursed the bald monk's shamelessness: "If I were truly a farmer's daughter, beaten to death by that monkey, you'd only mutter a few words and walk away, just because the killer is your prized disciple!"

With that thought, Bai Jingjing headed west, borrowing the corpse of a farmer's wife on the hillside, transforming herself into an elderly woman of eighty, leaning on a bent bamboo staff, weeping with every step.

Pigsy's large ears caught the sound of crying long before anyone else. He looked up and was horrified. "Master, something's wrong—the old mother has come looking!"

Tang Sanzang, still oblivious, asked instinctively, "Looking for whom?"

Pigsy whispered, "The girl Eldest Brother just killed—that must be her mother! She's come searching for her!"

Sun Wukong cast Pigsy a contemptuous glance and mocked him, "Pigsy, do you have the eyes of a dog? That girl was sixteen, this old woman is eighty—how could she bear a child after sixty?"

"Hmph, she's dead now, so you can say whatever you like!" Pigsy snorted, tugging White Dragon Horse's reins and moving aside.

"Stop your howling—I know you're the White Bone Demon!" Sun Wukong sneered, leaping ahead to confront Bai Jingjing in her guise as the old woman:

Her temples were frosted with snow, her steps slow and faltering, her body weak and thin, her face as withered as a dried leaf. High cheekbones, lips turned downward, age etched across her face.

"Have you seen my daughter, Elder?" Bai Jingjing had barely spoken when Sun Wukong raised his golden staff and struck at her head. She swiftly shed her spirit, left the woman's corpse behind, and the lifeless body lay by the mountain road.

"Ah!" Tang Sanzang tumbled from his horse, staring at the corpse, pointing at Sun Wukong, furious to the point of incoherence. "You, you, you..."

"Master, she's still the same White Bone Demon!" Sun Wukong was tired of explaining. Since he was leaving anyway, why bother with pretense?

"Another demon?!" Pigsy squatted by the old woman's corpse, clicking his tongue. "So all you kill are demons, yet all we see are good people—how does that make sense?"

"Because if you utter one more word, I'll slaughter you and stew you with soybeans!" Sun Wukong, unwilling to deal with Pigsy's ingratitude, cursed him directly.

Tang Sanzang frowned. "Wukong, though Pigsy's words are off, your actions do raise suspicions. Why claim this old woman is a demon?"

Sun Wukong pointed to his eyes and smiled. "Because of my Fiery Eyes of Truth!"

"That excuse again? So, if anyone offends you in the future, you'll strike them dead and call them demons?" Pigsy muttered.

Sun Wukong ignored him, addressing Tang Sanzang, "Master, I'll wager with you: after we cross this mountain, we'll encounter an old man searching for his kin, mourning and crying. Do you believe me?"

Pigsy scoffed, "Isn't that obvious? If someone's daughter and wife die one after another, wouldn't they come searching? Do you think people spring from stones?"

Sun Wukong, hearing this, extended his golden staff and pointed it at Pigsy's head. "Pigsy, I misjudged you—thought you were a sensible brother. Yet the moment you finish eating the ginseng fruit, you turn around and betray me!"

Pigsy simmered in silence—he had no real intention to oppose Sun Wukong, so he said nothing more.

Tang Sanzang was soft-hearted. Seeing both sides make sense, he hesitated, finally sighing, "Alright, I'll pardon you once more. But do not harm others again!"

Sun Wukong hadn't expected to retain such standing with Tang Sanzang, so he replied, "Your disciple understands—I'll never dare do such a thing again!"

Yet inwardly, he found it amusing. In Journey to the West, it's clearly written—after the White Bone Demon escapes the second time, she finally appears as an old man searching for wife and daughter, to trick Tang Sanzang. Should I ignore this?

With that thought, Sun Wukong led Tang Sanzang and the others westward. No sooner had they crossed the hill than they saw, below the slope, an old man standing before a grass hut, leaning on a dragon-headed cane, muttering Buddhist prayers and gazing east.

"Well, damn it..." Sun Wukong cursed inwardly, one hand on his forehead, the other waving, telling his companions two words: "Demon."

Tang Sanzang, seeing the old man reciting scripture, had wanted to praise him, but upon hearing Sun Wukong, his head began to ache and he fell silent.

"Here we go again—third time today!" Pigsy puckered his lips, fearing another outburst from Sun Wukong, so he only grumbled quietly.

In fact, after Sun Wukong killed the second old woman, Pigsy had begun to sense something was amiss: ever since they left Five Villages Monastery, they'd journeyed through desolate hills, seeing no sign of people. How could both young and old be heading east? To where?

Moreover, Sun Wukong's initial argument held weight. Pigsy had noticed the girl's demeanor was hardly innocent, more like a seasoned lover than a naïve farm girl.

And finally, today's events seemed too conveniently timed—one after another, like a chain trap: just like when he arrived at the Moon Palace, the patrol spirit showed up, then the Ox Palace collapsed without warning...

Then, without investigation, he was banished, cast into a pig's womb—losing his powers and his looks. Wasn't that forcing him to become a monster?

Pigsy knew well the feeling of being falsely accused and helpless, which led to his habit of arguing—no matter if Sun Wukong scolded him, he didn't mind. After all, among the pilgrimage team, Monkey Brother truly treated him well.