Chapter 3
Second Brother and I crept to the pool, bright-eyed and positively delighted.
The seven demonesses had snow-white bodies, their beautiful shoulders peeking out of the water.
Standing by the pool, Second Brother revealed his true, perverted nature. “Heh heh heh, ladies! Here I come!”
I joined in. “Heh heh heh, ladies! Here I come!”
The demonesses had probably never witnessed anything so horrifying in their lives. Their lovely faces drained of color. They scattered, shrieking, and actually started yelling, “Help!”
Second Brother’s laughter grew even more outrageous. “You can scream your throat raw! Nobody’s coming to save you!”
Scared out of their wits, the demonesses thrashed their arms in the water. Hilarious. I started writhing and slithering straight through it. Dodge! Dodge! Dodge! A writhing dodge!
Amid the chaos, I sneaked my way onto one unfortunate Spider Demon. Her trembling fingers touched my tail, and she let out an earth-shattering scream. “AAAAAAAAH!”
Sometimes it really was difficult to tell who the villains were.
The Spider Demons stopped caring how much they exposed. They scrambled ashore and put on their clothes.
And their flesh-colored underlayers.
Second Brother shook his head regretfully, then gave them the cold shoulder like a man who’d pulled up his trousers and decided the fun was over. “You demons dared capture my master and Little Sister! Have you got a death wish?”
He raised his rake and charged.
Classic. If he couldn’t have them, he’d destroy them.
As for me—
I swung back and forth from a tree. “Go, Second Brother!”
I was there for moral support.
When it came to disappointing people, Second Brother never disappointed.
He lost to the Spider Demons and ended up dangling in midair in their web.
The Spider Demons seized their chance and fled.
After rescuing Second Brother, I comforted him. “It’s perfectly normal for one pig to lose to seven spiders.”
Second Brother went quiet for a moment, then accepted this with equanimity. “Little Sister’s right!”
Eldest Brother wasn’t remotely surprised by our failure.
I felt a little insulted.
But there didn’t seem to be much I could say in our defense.
As we continued onward, we passed an extraordinarily beautiful mountain.
A waterfall hung from its summit, pouring down.
The Milky Way spilling from the sky.
We all stared, transfixed. Only Eldest Brother looked momentarily dazed.
Pointing at the waterfall, Second Brother called out, “Eldest Brother, how does it compare with your Water Curtain Cave?”
Eldest Brother kept walking, his golden-hooped staff across his shoulders. Without looking back, he said softly, “Not quite as good.”
The sunlight stretched his shadow long and slender.
A thought suddenly struck me. Did Eldest Brother get homesick, too?
I slid down from a tree onto his shoulder. “Eldest Brother, once we’ve fetched the scriptures, take me to see Flower-Fruit Mountain.”
His piercing gaze softened a little as he looked far ahead. The corners of his mouth lifted. “All right.”