It is said that after Ao Tu left the Western Sea, he rode the clouds and mist all the way, and before long arrived at the Blackwater River.
The lord of this Blackwater River was his ninth younger brother, Xiao Tuolong.
His father, the Jing River Dragon King, had nine sons. The first eight, Ao Tu included, had all been assigned positions under the arrangements of their uncle, Ao Run, the Dragon King of the Western Sea. Only Xiao Tuolong was still young and unwilling to lay down their father’s blood feud, and so he had been sent to the Blackwater River.
Ao Tu entered the river and came to the Water Mansion.
When Xiao Tuolong heard that Ao Tu had arrived, he came out to greet him with obvious reluctance.
This was because Xiao Tuolong believed that Ao Tu and his other seven elder brothers were far too weak, willing to abandon their father’s vengeance and become dogs for those immortals. Thus, he had little fondness for any of them.
But after learning from Ao Tu that he had rebelled against Lingshan, Xiao Tuolong was immediately overjoyed. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to prepare a feast, and even specially instructed them to go ashore and capture a few monks to cook and eat.
Ao Tu waved his hand and said,
“I still have matters to attend to, so there is no need for a feast. In the future, there will naturally be a time for us brothers to gather. I came today to ask Ninth Brother to help settle these two young tigers.”
Ao Tu handed the two little tigers over to Xiao Tuolong.
Xiao Tuolong agreed.
Ao Tu patted him on the shoulder, then turned and left.
Next stop, Flowing Sands River!
Riding the clouds and mist all the way, he arrived at the Flowing Sands River, but the system mission had yet to update.
The progress at Yellow Wind Ridge was still increasing. It had already reached forty-one days; presumably, Tang Seng and his disciples had still not left the range of Yellow Wind Ridge.
Ao Tu stopped his cloud and looked down.
It was indeed a great river.
To the east it joined the sandy wastes, to the west it reached the many barbarian lands; to the south it led to Wuge, to the north it connected with the Tatars. Its course spanned eight hundred li, while from source to end it stretched ten million li. The current rolled like the earth turning over, and the waves surged like mountains lifting their backs. Vast and boundless, dim and immeasurable, from ten li away one could hear the flood roar ten thousand zhang high.
Ao Tu watched for a long while, but did not see Sha Seng come out, so he said to Tiger Vanguard, “Go down and probe the situation.”
Tiger Vanguard received the order, leapt down from the cloud, and plunged into the water.
Though tigers were creatures of the mountains, they were also skilled in the water.
After falling into the river, Tiger Vanguard searched downward. He saw that there were hardly any fish or shrimp in the river, only some sunken remains. As he went farther in, a demon suddenly burrowed out from the riverbed, holding a precious staff, his appearance exceedingly ugly.
Neither blue nor black, his face was the color of ill fortune; neither long nor short, his bare feet and sinewy body were red. His eyes flashed like twin lamps beneath a stove; the corners of his mouth gaped like a butcher’s fire basin. His tusks jutted like sword blades, his red hair hung in wild disarray. One shout from him was like thunder roaring; his two feet rushed forward like rolling wind.
Tiger Vanguard cried in alarm, “What kind of demon are you, to actually occupy this place!”
Sha Seng said, “You’re the demon! I am the Curtain-Lifting General, descended to the mortal realm and banished here. You tiger demon have some substance to you. Today I’ll take you and make meat paste to eat!”
Tiger Vanguard said, “How bold! Spouting such wild words—take my blade!”
Tiger Vanguard swung his blade and hacked toward Sha Seng.
Sha Seng raised his precious staff to meet him.
The two fought back and forth for seven or eight exchanges. Tiger Vanguard was no match for him; struck on the shoulder by the staff, he turned and fled.
Outside, Ao Tu was staring below. Before long, he saw Tiger Vanguard burst out of the water with a splash.
Sha Seng followed close behind in pursuit.
Seeing this, Ao Tu took out his precious fan and raised his hand to fan it once.
Flames immediately arose and fell upon Sha Seng. Sha Seng let out a miserable scream and fled back into the water.
Yet the fire did not scatter upon entering the water. It continued burning on Sha Seng’s body, scorching his flesh and burning away his red hair.
Sha Seng’s screams came from the riverbed. Before long, his entire body wreathed in flame, he burst out of the water and knelt, begging for mercy.
“Ah! High Immortal, spare my life! I beg the High Immortal to withdraw the divine fire!”
Only then did Ao Tu withdraw the flames, and Sha Seng was saved.
Ao Tu lowered his cloud and said, “You demon, how audacious, daring to commit violence here. Do you know who I am?”
Sha Seng said, “May I ask the High Immortal’s honored name?”
Ao Tu pointed at Tiger Vanguard and said,
“He and I are the Dragon and Tiger Generals under Venerable Ananda of Lingshan in the Western Heaven. By the Venerable One’s command, we have come here to seek a Buddhist disciple named Sha Wujing. You demon, confess truthfully at once—where is Sha Wujing? Have you eaten him?”
When Sha Seng heard this, he wanted to cry but had no tears.
“Two honored deities, this disciple is precisely Sha Wujing, who received Bodhisattva Guanyin’s exhortation and is waiting here for the scripture pilgrim!”
Ao Tu was greatly shocked and hurriedly stepped forward. “You are Sha Wujing? Why do you have such a demonic appearance?”
Sha Seng said, “I was originally the Curtain-Lifting General who attended the imperial carriage beneath the Lingxiao Hall. It was only because, at the Peach Banquet, I accidentally shattered a crystal cup that the Jade Emperor had me beaten eight hundred times and banished to the lower realm, where I became like this.”
Ao Tu helped Sha Seng up and said,
“It was this Venerable One who misunderstood you. Seeing your fierce appearance, I thought you were a demon in the water. I did not expect to injure you by mistake. How are your wounds?”
Sha Seng looked at the burns on his body, his expression bitter.
Ao Tu took out two bottles of spirit pills and stuffed them into Sha Seng’s arms. “I still have some spirit pills here, as a small token of apology.”
Sha Seng immediately felt much better in his heart.
Ao Tu said, “Sha Wujing, hear the decree.”
Sha Seng had no doubts at all about the identities of the two, and hurriedly said,
“This disciple hears the decree!”
Ao Tu said, “Now there is Tripitaka Dharma Master of the Great Tang in the Eastern Land, who will travel ten thousand li to the Western Heaven to obtain the scriptures. Along the way, he must experience nine times nine, eighty-one tribulations before attaining the true fruition. Now there is a deficiency in the number of tribulations; therefore, Buddhist disciple Sha Wujing is specially ordered to add one tribulation and obstruct the scripture pilgrim.”
Sha Seng was greatly shocked and said,
“Two honored deities, did the Bodhisattva not tell me to become the scripture pilgrim’s disciple?”
Ao Tu smiled and said, “Do not worry, it will not delay anything. Use a false name and assumed identity. After adding this tribulation, you can then become his disciple and follow the scripture pilgrim to the Western Heaven to obtain the scriptures.”
Sha Seng set his mind at ease and said, “Everything shall be according to the Venerable One’s instructions.”
Ao Tu smiled and said, “Good. First, go and alter the stone stele of the Flowing Sands River.”
Sha Seng asked, “How should I alter it?”
Ao Tu said, “Change Flowing Sands River to Blackwater River, and carve these words: Rolling black ink over all the land, surging gray waves for a thousand li. Up close no human shadow can be seen; afar, no form is easy to find.”
Hearing this, Sha Seng used his precious staff to erase the words on the stone stele, then carved the words Ao Tu had spoken.
Ao Tu also had Sha Seng change his name, taking on a false name: Sha Tuolong.
He had Sha Seng remove the nine skulls of scripture pilgrims from his neck, then transform into the appearance of a fisherman and fish by the riverside, quietly awaiting the scripture pilgrim.
Sha Seng obeyed every command.
Thus, nearly a month passed in succession.
Finally, with a ding, Tang Seng and his disciples walked out of the eight-hundred-li Yellow Wind Ridge, and the system began to settle the rewards.
【Ding. Calculating rewards. Total interception time: sixty-four days.】
【Ding. Reward obtained: Three-Thousand-Year Immortal Peach.】
【Ding. Reward obtained: Divine Weapon · Black-Gold Iron-Rod Spear.】
【Ding. Reward obtained: Spell · Golden Light for Traversing the Earth.】
【Ding. Reward obtained: Ten Absolute Formations · Red Sand Formation.】
【Ding. The extra thirty-four days will automatically be transferred to the next side mission. Next side mission: Flowing Sands, Difficult to Cross.】
Four rewards were issued.
The Three-Thousand-Year Immortal Peach was much smaller than the Nine-Thousand-Year Immortal Peach Ao Tu had eaten before, and there were no longer purple markings on it, but it was still a rare immortal fruit.
The Divine Weapon · Black-Gold Iron-Rod Spear was a silver-white long spear that could grow large or small. Its spearhead was gold, and could release golden light to kill enemies. Its power depended on the user’s magical power.
The spell Golden Light for Traversing the Earth was directly comprehended and mastered. With this spell, even if he were trapped in prison in the future, he could escape at any time.
As for the final Ten Absolute Formations · Red Sand Formation, it directly provided a formation diagram. One only needed to activate one’s magical power and release the formation diagram, and all arrangements within the formation would be fully set in place. With another command of “collect,” everything could be taken back into the diagram. It was extremely convenient.
And as the four rewards finished being issued, the system’s prompt sounded once more.
【Ding. Entering mission area.】
【Current Side Mission: Flowing Sands, Difficult to Cross.】
【Mission Requirement: Obstruct the scripture pilgrim within the Flowing Sands River region. Rewards will be calculated according to the length of obstruction.】
【Mission Rewards: Three days / Three-Revolution Soul-Restoring Pill; seven days / Six-Thousand-Year Immortal Peach; half a month / Acquired Spiritual Treasure · Headache Chime; one month / Acquired Spiritual Treasure · Dragon-Binding Rope; one season / Divine Ability · Five-Colored Divine Light; half a year / Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood; one year / Innate Spiritual Treasure · Soul-Scattering Gourd; three years / Innate Spiritual Treasure · River Diagram and Luo Writing; twelve years / Chaos Bell; sixty years……】
【Current Progress: Thirty-four days】