Chapter 414: There's Still Me
She didn't want to hurt Zhu Bajie's fragile feelings, so she simply said, "Bajie, I'm feeling a little thirsty. Could you go get me a cup of water?"
Zhu Bajie grinned and replied, "Alright! Since Miss is thirsty, I'll go fetch some water right away. That's what I should do!"
With that, he trotted off eagerly.
Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang felt extremely anxious. This Zhu Bajie really had a pig's brain—how could he not see that this woman was a demon?
"You're a demon, aren't you?"
"Oh? How did you know?"
"Of course, I could tell. Just one look, and it's obvious. How could there be someone in the middle of nowhere like this? You're a demon! Tell me, what kind of demon are you?"
"I'm so beautiful—can't you tell?"
Tang Sanzang's heart pounded. "I feel so excited right now because you're mine. Let me tell you—I am a fox spirit."
Hearing that she was a fox spirit, Sha Wujing tensed up. He immediately stepped in front of Tang Sanzang, shielding him. "Master, don't worry! Even if we've encountered a demon, you don't have to be afraid—because I'm here!"
"You're here?"
Tang Sanzang still felt uneasy. He knew Sha Wujing wasn't strong enough to be a match for this female demon. He had always been aware of Sha Wujing's abilities, so he sighed and said to the fox spirit, "Fox spirit, I absolutely won't go with you! Don't even think about it!"
"That's not up to you. Since I'm already here, I'm taking you with me. Come on, let's go!"
The fox spirit waved her hand, and a mist rose up, instantly sweeping Tang Sanzang away.
Sha Wujing tried to chase after her, but she was too fast—he couldn't catch up.
Still, he had to try. As he ran, he shouted, "You fox spirit! Let go of my master, or I won't go easy on you!"
The fox spirit chuckled. "Oh? How interesting. You say you won't go easy on me? I'd love to see what you can do."
Sha Wujing gritted his teeth. No matter how hard he ran, the fox spirit's speed was far beyond his reach.
The fox spirit found him amusing. He was big and burly, yet his strength was limited—he couldn't do anything to her.
"You should just go back. Don't embarrass yourself. If you really want to save your master, bring Sun Wukong. If he shows up, I might be a little scared. But since he's not here, I have nothing to worry about!"
After a while, Sha Wujing completely lost sight of the fox spirit. Left with no choice, he turned back with a sigh.
When he returned, Zhu Bajie asked, "Where's Master?"
Sha Wujing snapped, "You're asking me? That female demon tricked you into fetching water, and now Master's been taken away!"
"What? Master was captured?"
"Yes! He's already been taken! What do you think we should do now?"
"Splash!"
Zhu Bajie furiously dumped the water on the ground. Clenching his teeth, he fumed, "That was a female demon? How did I not realize it?"
Sha Wujing scoffed, "If you could realize it, that'd be strange."
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you blaming me?"
Zhu Bajie was upset. No matter what, he was still Sha Wujing's senior brother. Why was he being blamed like this? That was just disrespectful!
Sha Wujing realized he might have been too harsh. Still, was blaming him really such a big deal?
"Alright, Second Brother, I don't want to argue with you. Right now, we need to figure out what to do."
"I don't know what to do. You know I have a pig's brain. Let's just wait for Big Brother to come back."
After a while, Sun Wukong returned. When he heard what had happened, he clenched his teeth, visibly frustrated.
"I was only gone for a little while, and this happened? You guys are really useless! I leave for a moment, and Master gets captured?"
Zhu Bajie replied, "Yes, Master's been taken. But blaming us won't help. What matters now is finding him and rescuing him!"
Sha Wujing chimed in, "Second Brother is right. What's important is figuring out how to get Master back."
Sun Wukong sighed. He didn't even know what kind of demon had taken Master, so he needed more information first.
He asked, "What do you know about this female demon?"
"I do," Sha Wujing answered. "She's a fox spirit. She's quite beautiful. When she took Master, I saw her fly off in that direction."
He pointed east.
Sun Wukong asked, "That way?"
"Yes, that's the direction. Should we go after her?"
"We don't have a choice. Let's follow her trail and see if we can find any clues."
With no other leads, Sun Wukong decided they would take it one step at a time—tracking the fox spirit was their only option.