Chapter 165: The Water God Takes a Concubine and Fights the Water Ape

But the Bull Demon King asked if he wanted to go into the water to drive the Ape King out. The Immortal pondered for a long time, shook his head and declined, saying that he would go to the surrounding villages first to ask the Ape King about his habits.

Jiang Yuan was just turning around and heading out of the Huai River. Before he had walked far, a man suddenly walked out from the woods and stopped him.

Jiang Yuan took a closer look and saw that the man was tall, with prominent muscles and bones, a dull complexion, and a faint divine light in his body. He was definitely not from the Yama World.

The Bull Demon King stepped forward with a mixed iron rod and said, “Who are you? How dare you disturb the Immortal!”

The man knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said, “I am Lei Cao.”

The Bull Demon King asked, “If you are Thunder Lord, why are you blocking my way?”

Lei Cao said, “The Immortal is in front of me, please listen to me, I didn’t mean to block your way. It was because I had no other choice that I had the audacity to block your way.”

Jiang Yuan dismounted the white deer, helped Lei Cao up, and said, “Tell me what’s going on.”

Lei Cao bowed and said, “Master, I am the Thunder Cao in heaven. I was harmed by a villain and was demoted to the lower world. I returned three years later. But when I reached the Huai River, I was captured by the Great Sage of the Ape River, who ordered me to wait outside the Huai River. If he stirs up trouble, I must help the storm. Otherwise, I will be killed. I have no intention of helping the evil, but I am afraid of being harmed by him, so I dare not run away. I saw a divine light coming from afar, so I asked the land god and learned that the Master was coming. So I stopped the Master on the road, hoping that the Master would have great mercy and save me!”

Jiang Yuan said, “To be honest, I came here to subdue the Great Sage of the Water Ape, but I don’t know what abilities the Great Sage of the Water Ape has, so I want to get information about him. Since you know the Great Sage of the Water Ape, you can tell me all about his abilities.”

Lei Cao said, “Master, the Water Ape Great Sage is highly skilled in martial arts and has great magical powers. Of course, he is also very good at stirring up trouble. He can easily overwhelm us with the water of a river. It is impossible to defeat him in the water. Moreover, he is well versed in the theory of mutual generation and mutual restraint. He knows that earth restrains water. Many surrounding lands have been captured by him and imprisoned in the Huaihe River. As long as he gives an order, the lands will come to help, and he can move mountains and earth. There is no need to worry about it. If Master wants to subdue the Water Ape Great Sage, he should know his ability.”

Jiang Yuan remembered this saying and said with a smile: “This Water Ape Great Sage has some Taoist spirit. I often hear that he stirs up trouble and does evil things. I wonder what other evil things he has done besides capturing thunder and land gods like you?”

Upon hearing this, Lei Cao replied, “Replying to the Immortal, the Water Ape Great Sage has committed countless evil deeds, big and small, and the chief evil is lust.”

Jiang Yuan asked again: “How do you say that?”

Lei Cao said: “Master, the Great Sage of the Ape will take a concubine every hundred days. He will take one concubine from the surrounding people, one from each village. If they are unwilling, the Great Sage of the Ape will send a flood to submerge the village.”

Hearing this, the Bull Demon King was surprised and asked, “How many people does this fellow need in his mansion if he pays for his services once every 100 days?”

Lei Cao bowed and said, “I don’t know, but there are thousands of ways that the Water Ape Great Sage has some good relations with his wives and concubines and has never abused them.”

Jiang Yuan asked: “Besides this, what other sins are there?”

Lei Cao shook his head and said, “I have never heard of any more sins.”

Jiang Yuan said, “In that case, we should subdue the Great Water Ape Sage. Lei Cao, do you have a way to get the Great Water Ape Sage out?”

Lei Cao replied, “Master, the Great Water Ape Saint is using his magical powers in my body. If I move away, he will know. As long as I walk out, the Great Water Ape Saint will come out.”

Jiang Yuan said, “In that case, you should go out later and lure the Water Ape Sage out, and I will subdue him myself.”

Lei Cao accepted the order and nodded.

Jiang Yuan then turned around and said to Zuo Liang, “You sit on the white deer and let it take you out. We are going to subdue the demon. If you stay by, you might get hurt.”

Zuo Liang did not dare to get on the white deer’s back and wanted to refuse, but the Bull Demon King grabbed Zuo Liang and put him on the deer’s back.

The white deer was very smart and leaped out in a few seconds.

When Jiang Yuan saw Zuo Liang going away, he ordered Lei Cao to go outside and lure out the Water Ape Great Sage.

Lei Cao took the order and went out on a cloud. Less than three quarters of an hour after he left, he saw turbulent waves in the Huai River and a black shadow jumped out of the water.

“Little God, escape there.”

The dark shadow was about to chase after him with the wind.

Seeing the situation, Bull Demon King swung up the iron stick and stepped on the clouds to block the way. The black shadow blocked it and fell to the ground.

Jiang Yuan took a closer look and saw that the black shadow was none other than a demon. Its body was like a monkey, its head and body were neither green nor white, its hair was mottled like steel needles and sharp swords, and it wielded an iron spear in its hand. Its voice was as loud as thunder, and its feet were running like a raging wind.

The ape monster stared at the Bull Demon King, looked him up and down, and said, “Aren’t you the Bull Demon King of Hezhou in the West Niu Continent? I defeated you in the past. I heard that you are called the Great Sage Ping Tian. Why are you stopping me today? Have you achieved success in your cultivation and come to seek revenge on me?”

The Bull Demon King said, “What hatred are you talking about? What great sage is Ping Tian? I am now a disciple of Zhenren Zhenren and I am the guardian deity of Zhenren Zhenren. I heard that you have done evil, so I came to subdue you.”

The Great Water Ape Sage shouted, “I saw you trying to subdue others and become my mount. Now you dare to say you want to subdue me? I’ll see what kind of magical power you have. I’ll beat you!”

Say it.

The Water Ape Great Sage swung his spear and chopped. He was indeed a man of impatient temper.

The Bull Demon King blocked the spear tip with his iron rod and shouted, “Now I will teach you the power of your Lord Bull.”

The two men fought fiercely by the Huai River. It was a brutal fight that frightened anyone who saw it. The Bull King used an iron rod, the guardian displayed his magical powers, and the Water Ape used an iron spear. They fought fiercely and strongly, and the sticks and spears collided in a test of strength. One was the guardian deity of the Immortal’s sect, who had rectified the Taiyi cultivation method. The other was a vicious monster in the Huai River, stirring up trouble and doing evil. They came and went to compete for victory or defeat. In terms of strength, there was no winner or loser, but in terms of martial arts, the Bull King was far inferior.

The battle between the Bull Demon King and the Water Ape King lasted for fifty or sixty rounds. The Bull King was slightly at a disadvantage, but he was never defeated.

The Great Ape Sage held the Bull King at bay with his spear and said with a smile, “Bull Demon King, you have never improved your abilities.”

The Bull Demon King shouted, “Even though I am not as capable as you, I have also returned to the right path to cultivate, and I am not like you who looks like a demon.”

The Water Ape Great Sage said arrogantly: “So what if I am a demon? Who can do anything to me?”

The Bull Demon King said: “The Immortal’s Dharma Chariot is right in front of us, how dare you be so arrogant!”

The Water Ape Great Sage said, “Point out the real person to me, and watch me use my spear skills to poke a few holes in that real person.”

The Bull Demon King was very angry and was about to fight again.

Suddenly there was a sound.

“Niu’er, please step back and let me see what kind of magic power he has.”

The Bull Demon King retreated upon hearing the sound.

The Great Sage Water Ape looked towards the shore and saw a Taoist standing there. He had a seven-star crown on his head and a handsome face. He was dressed in a sun and moon purple robe, carrying a seven-star sword on his back, holding a jade-handled whisk in his hand, a tripod one foot high hanging from his waist, and square cloud shoes on his feet. He was indeed an immortal with the Tao. When his divine light shone on him, the world became dark.

When the Water Ape Great Sage saw this, he was a little scared before he could even fight. He held up his iron spear and said, “Are you the real person? Do you dare to tell me your name?”

Jiang Yuan waved his whisk lightly and said, “I am Guangxin from the Three Stars Cave on the Slanting Moon in Fangcun Mountain of Lingtai, Hezhou, Xiniu.”

The Water Ape Great Sage panicked and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Jiang Yuan said: “How I came here, you should know it yourself.”

The Water Ape Sage said no more, turned around and rode the wind to leave.

How could Jiang Yuan let him escape? He gently spread out his robe sleeves to the wind, rushed forward, grabbed the Water Ape Great Sage, and put him into his sleeves. No matter how the Water Ape Great Sage beat him, he had no power to resist.

When the Bull Demon King saw Jiang Yuan subdue the demon with a flick of his sleeves, he could only marvel at the master’s magical powers.

Jiang Yuan subdued the Great Sage of the Ape, and took him out of his sleeve like a puppet, put him on the ground, and put away the iron spear. Jiang Yuan asked, “Great Sage of the Ape, you have committed many evil deeds and have committed the crime of deceiving the heaven. Now that I have subdued you, are you convinced?”

The Great Sage of the Ape felt timid in his heart, but he was not merciful in his words, and he shouted, “You, the real man, are using some evil tricks. Although I have done evil, I have never killed innocent people. I don’t accept it!”

Jiang Yuan said: “You often stir up storms and flood villages. Isn’t this evil?”

The Great Ape Sage shouted, “Even if I don’t accept it, if you don’t use this evil power to subdue me, then I will accept it. Then you will say that I have done evil, and I will admit it.”

Jiang Yuan asked, “What if you accept it?”

The Great Water Ape said: “If you can convince me, I will guard the Huai River sincerely from now on, never do evil again, protect the water veins, and keep the weather good. I will forgive my sins.”

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, “Are you really convinced and willing to forgive your sins?”

The Water Ape Great Sage said, “If you can convince me, I will forgive my sins and never cause trouble in the Huai River again. If there is a flood in any place, I will rush there as soon as possible to provide relief and never do evil again.”

Jiang Yuan said: “In this case, I will not use the magical power of ‘The Universe in My Sleeve’ to fight with you.”

The Great Water Ape Sage was secretly delighted when he heard this, and said, “I thought this Immortal had great magical powers and was a wise man, but I didn’t expect him to be as stupid as a pig. He has magical powers but he doesn’t use them. I will fight him like this. Even if I lose again, I will just say that I am not convinced. What can this Immortal say? He is really stupid, really stupid.”

He then said, “If that is the case, you must not resort to such tactics, and return my fine iron spear to me, and let us fight again.”

Jiang Yuan followed his advice and returned the fine iron spear to the Water Ape Great Sage.

The Water Ape King raised his spear and was ready to fight again, but the spear was so powerful, accompanied by a black wind, that it seemed to have some magical power.

The Bull Demon King was about to swing his stick to fight the enemy, but the Taoist priest stopped him.

The Immortal pointed at the Great Sage of the Water Ape and said “fixed”, using his power to freeze the body. However, the Great Sage of the Water Ape had his eyes wide open, his mouth unable to open, and he stood straight with his feet fixed. How could the Immortal’s magical power be broken?

When the Immortal saw that the Water Ape Great Sage was able to hold his body still, he opened his mouth and spewed out a breath of Samadhi Fire, which hit the Water Ape Great Sage’s body. The Water Ape Great Sage was so frightened that his eyes widened, and his hold was broken. He was hit by the Samadhi Fire and floundered on the ground begging for mercy.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan put away his true anger and asked, “Great Sage of the Water Ape, are you convinced now?”

The Water Ape Great Sage shouted, “I never accepted it. It was because I was in a hurry before I came out of the water. I was hungry and could not escape your spell. If I had eaten and drunk enough, how could I have accepted your spell? I do not accept it!”

Jiang Yuan said: “If that’s the case, just go back to the water and eat and drink your fill. I’ll wait for you here tomorrow.”

The Great Ape Sage asked, “Are you really going to teach me how to go back?”

Jiang Yuan said: “It’s true.”

Upon hearing this, the Water Ape Great Sage was overjoyed and jumped into the water, disappearing.

The Bull Demon King came forward and asked, “Master, why don’t you let him go? It would be better to capture him. Master must have seen that the Huai River is difficult to pacify, so he sent the Water Ape Great Sage to guard the water veins and keep the river safe. But if you can subdue him, you can also let him guard it.”

Jiang Yuan saw the Bull Demon King and said, “You, a bull, can actually see this. You have really made progress.”

The Bull Demon King said, “I have followed you for some years, how could I not have made progress?”

Jiang Yuan pointed to the Huai River and said, “This water is hard to stop. I want to make it eliminate the disasters and troubles here, so that it will not cause trouble again. However, if we force it, it will definitely do it again one day. The thing it does then will be unprecedented. So we should make it convinced and guard the water vein with all its heart.”

The Bull Demon King then bowed and said, “Master, I have never thought of so many things.”

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, “You have made great progress.”

The two of them walked out while talking.

……

The story takes place in the Huaihe River water palace.

The Water Ape Great Sage returned to his palace and ordered the Prime Minister Turtle to bring him tea. He drank three or four bowls of tea in a row and then ordered someone to bring him some delicacies.

After the Ape Sage had eaten and drunk his fill, Prime Minister Turtle asked, “My lord, what’s wrong with you?”

The Water Ape Great Sage had just regained some spirit and said, “There was a real person outside the palace who came and tried to subdue me. I fought with him, but he was so powerful that I could not make it back here.”

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Turtle was horrified and said, “If that’s the case, how did you get back? Could it be that the Immortal is coming to kill us?”

Say it.

Prime Minister Turtle was about to escape.

The Water Ape Great Sage said, “That Immortal has never been killed.”

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Turtle felt relieved and asked about the matter.

The Great Water Ape Sage recounted the past events and said with a smile, “Tell me, is this Immortal stupid? He can obviously subdue me, but he asked me if I was convinced. If I was not convinced, what could he do to me?”

Prime Minister Turtle said: “Your Majesty, does that Immortal really have such ability?”

The Water Ape Great Sage’s eyes rolled and he said, “He has some skills, but he can’t stand up to me. I didn’t take advantage of my full stomach, so he defeated me. Once I am full, he will definitely not be able to defeat me.”

Prime Minister Turtle pondered for a long time and said, “My king, did the immortal say why he surrendered to you?”

The Great Water Ape said, “I have an agreement with him. If I accept his orders, I will guard the water veins and keep the area safe. Wherever there is a disaster, I will be the first to go.”

Prime Minister Turtle said, “Your Majesty, if it really doesn’t work, then surrender. I have heard that there is a Bodhisattva who seems to be interested in surrendering you.”

The Aquatic Monkey Great Sage asked, “Is that the Bodhisattva?”

Prime Minister Turtle said: “It is the Bodhisattva Wang, the national teacher of Sizhou. It is said that Bodhisattva Wang has great magical powers. If the king fights with him, his life may be in danger.”

The Water Ape Great Sage said, “Don’t worry. The National Master Bodhisattva Wang can’t do anything to me, and this Immortal can’t do anything to me either. I have my own abilities to protect the Water Palace without worry. Go and arrange for the next batch of beauties to enter my palace.”

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Turtle had no choice but to agree, feeling a little uneasy.

……

At dawn the next day, the Water Ape Great Sage was still sleeping soundly when the shrimp soldiers came to report.

“My king, my king! Something bad has happened. Someone is challenging us from outside the river. I want you to go out and fight.”

The shrimp soldiers reported urgently.

The Water Ape Great Sage was just awakened, knowing that the Immortal had come again. He did not dare to be careless, and gathered the sailors in the river, took the fine iron spears, and was about to go out of the river. He secretly instructed the sailors that if he was defeated, they must rescue him and return home together.

After all the sailors agreed, the Water Ape Great Sage felt at ease and went out to the river.

(End of this chapter)