CHAPTER 9 NIUJIE
"Five hundred years ago Yanluo Wang, the god of havoc, after battling with the gods of Magiana, lost the war and was cast out from earth and likewise banished to hell. He, however, escapes to take revenge once again causing war in the kingdom of Magiana, this time around he was left with a scar and bruises.
He was cast into the water of Magiana to die for his sins.
Not only that, but he was lucky enough to be saved by Mazu the goddess of love.
Yanluo Wang fell in love with the generous Mazu and shared a romantic moment with her, taking her as his wife.
Mazu brought Yanluo Wang into Magiana to seek the superiors blessings.
Mazu and her lover were never accepted. So, Yanluo Wang was locked up and Mazu was banished away for loving a demon. She had a child which she was named Guan Yin.
Now everyone believed that the god of havoc still lives. Reason because, before the fall of Magiana the prison of the captive broke opened.
Yanluo Wang was the main reason why the west had so much terror. After escaping from prison, he went further to the west region to rule over them.
He still searches for his wife and daughter until date.
It's definitely true what the ancient words say, "A demon will always be a demon.
But what I don't understand is why Yanluo Wang's daughter Guan Yin hides under the shadow and pretends to be someone else, "Fenhua" master Jingguo told the story to Fenhua. She laid on the floor and didn't look concerned about the story.
Master Jingguo left after Fenhua's lack of interest. She did have guts like her father.
Dingbang walked in secretly after his father had walked out. He had rice balls rapped in leaves and a bamboo of water.
He laid it in front of Fenhua, pleading with her to take something.
"I knew you weren't to be trusted" Fenhua began the dialogue.
"I'm sorry" Ding apologized, he had a sorrowful look on and didn't say much to Fenhua, understanding what she was going through.
He left the meal, where Fenhua could reach for it and walked away sad. He paused for a while after taking few walks and whispered to Fenhua. "Please don't turn into a demon".
***
There Niujie laid in front of us. We flew closer to it. Indeed, the journey of the west wasn't smooth but thank our stars we had flying tigers to get us or it of trouble else we wouldn't have made it this far. All thanks go to master Jingguo for lending us his tigers and students.
The only regret I have was letting Ai die without helping.
We landed on a rocky hill. That was the entrance of Niujie, a gate stood right in front of us. It had giant pythons guarding it.
Chang and I looked at one another for a time, revealing our shock to one another.
My pa told me that pythons always stood for evil. So, what are they doing guiding the gate?
As we contemplated whether to carry on in. An old lady walked up to us from the gate. We didn't actually see her come from inside. Besides, a python was missing, so?
She asked what we were looking for? And I replied to a fortune-teller named Bengt I also handed master Jingguo's letter to the woman. She then took us inside the gate and instructed we follow her closely.
***
"Father please I beg you to reconsider your thought towards, Fenhua" Ding pleaded with his father.
"Why should I?" Master Jingguo questioned.
"I… I… Love her! Father" he spoke at last.
Master Jingguo was dumbfounded of what to say. His words were not forthcoming. "How can you say you love a demon?" He managed to say.
"I don't know, but I have this strong feeling whenever I'm around her".
"Well, I didn't really say I was going to kill her. She's making my request and that is why she is passing through that stress".
"What if she doesn't help out despite everything?".
"That's enough question for now, have you chose a suitable location for relocating?".
"Not yet father, I'm still looking into it".
"You should be fast about it, the dark monsters may find us sooner than expected".
"Yes father, I'll look into that and see we have a place to relocate to this night".
***
We followed the woman lead at our front closely as she had said.
Niujie was really looking weird, the houses were on rocks, drafted like a snake structure.
I really don't feel right about the place. However, it was too late to turn back.
The tigers weren't aloud to accompany us. They were taking elsewhere to rest, so they said.
We have been undeniably walking for a while, yet we haven't reached our destination. We climbed rocks upon rocks and entered countless caves, each having a password to unlock it.
I made saw I paid close attention to the passwords, even though there weren't clearly understandable.
Most of them were drawing of symbols.
After all long walk, we ended up in a smoky forest. We all fell asleep after we got engorged in the smoke.
***
I could barely see a thing, for I was just recovering from a coma. The last thing I remember was that I fainted after getting engulfed by a foggy smoke and I guess I fell into a comma after that because I remember nothing else. My crew and I were tied to a tree, each of us to his own.
How come I never realized we were in the wrong description? Or was it my delusions?
I struggled to get out of my rope and so did the others. Soon enough, I realized my pouch wasn't on me.
"Damn!" I yelled out loud, attracting some creatures out of the woods.
They licked their tongues as they crawled to us. With their faces, it was certain that we were food to them. By the way, where is foodie and her lover?
"Stop!!" An old woman made the ugly creatures halt from hurting us. She was the same woman who led us here.
"Is this a joke!" Chang stamped at her out of annoyance. "Get us out of here!" He added.
"Shut up." The woman stamped back. Her nails were as long and sharp like a hedgehog spine. Her hair swept the ground as she walked. Horns pointed out from her head like that of a cattle's.
She snapped her finger and the woods became a cottage, a bloody cottage.
We were still tied to pillars in the old cottage.
There was a large pot cooking something with a disgusting aroma.
The old woman gave a wicked smile at us as she displayed a knife in her hand.