Chapter 19: Killing, is Killing, Done in the Broad Daylight

    [Altar Cleanser]: "Several dozen people???"

    Zhu Bajie was stunned. He thought the "Multiverse Journey to the West" group had finally welcomed a normal member after the young master joined.

    But now it seemed this young master wasn't quite ordinary either.

    If he remembered correctly, the young master was only twelve this year...

    A mere twelve-year-old actually killed dozens of people in a single day.

    Even some demons don't possess such bloodlust!

    [Yellow Brow Ancestor]: "Hahaha! Well done, Golden Cicada! Just a few dozen, no need to panic. As the saying goes: Without killing, hatred never ceases. Only through great slaughter can this world be cleansed of enmity."

    [Yellow Brow Ancestor]: "If it brings clarity to the world, killing tens of thousands would be worth it, let alone dozens!"

    Sitting on his shrine, Yellow Brow laughed uproariously.

    Worshippers offering incense mistook his mirth for divine approval, eagerly buying more incense bundles in their excitement.

    Little did they know...

    Yellow Brow didn't spare them a single glance.

    [Great Sage Equal to Heaven Sun Wukong]: "There must be a reason. From what I've observed, boy, you don't seem like a natural killer. @Jiangliuer, tell Old Sun what happened."

    The monkey trapped under Five Elements Mountain grew increasingly bored.

    Through the Multiverse group, he'd learned his destined fate - a monk named Xuanzang would free him, then they'd journey west. This Jiangliuer was that future master...

    From another world, of course.

    Though unwilling to acknowledge any monk as master, the monkey needed freedom. He planned to let Xuanzang release him, then simply return to Flower-Fruit Mountain to rebuild his army.

    Let that Tang monk journey west alone!

    Rebel against whom?

    The Heavenly Court, naturally!

    The Multiverse group was his only distraction nowadays.

    Even his wine came from red packets snatched in the chat.

    [Muscular Tang Sanzang]: "Oh? Showing promise!"

    [Muscular Tang Sanzang]: "Did you hunt down your father's killers and exterminate their entire clan?"

    Tang Sanzang was molding Jiangliuer in his own image.

    He feared not bloodshed, but hesitation.

    Today's performance satisfied him.

    At twelve, Tang himself had slaughtered his father's enemies single-handedly. Dozens now? The boy might surpass his teacher.

    [Jiangliuer]: "This is what happened..."

    The boy recounted events truthfully in the group.

    He'd feared condemnation as a murderer, but the reactions surprised him - praise from some, indifference from others. Gradually he realized...

    These seniors weren't exactly paragons of virtue.

    No, that couldn't be!

    They'd been kind to him.

    [Altar Cleanser]: "So that's why! Young master, you scared me! Those bandits aren't dead yet. Just tell yourself their deaths weren't your fault - bad luck made them bleed out."

    [Altar Cleanser]: "Eases the conscience!"

    [Yellow Brow Ancestor]: "Heh. Golden Cicada, perhaps...this darkness already lurked within you. Today merely unleashed it."

    [Yellow Brow Ancestor]: "Don't resist the slaughterlust! Let it flow freely!"

    [Great Sage]: "Tch! Just bandits? Even if they bled out, they deserved it!"

    [Altar Cleanser]: "Eh? Monkey actually comforting someone!"

    [Altar Cleanser]: "Rare sight!"

    [Muscular Tang Sanzang]: "@Jiangliuer No guilt needed. Sometimes...killing saves lives. Your arrows spared more soldiers. Besides..."

    [Muscular Tang Sanzang]: "You and Emperor Li Shimin are sworn brothers. This was righteous slaughter - even Yama wouldn't fault your karma."

    The "comfort" was unorthodox, yet effective.

    Jiangliuer's guilt faded. Unlike rigid monks who'd condemn him, these seniors offered...unique perspectives.

    Pigsy shifted blame.

    Yellow Brow urged more killing.

    The Monkey King called it justified.

    Tang Sanzang declared it honorable.

    "Perhaps...I did right?" Jiangliuer murmured.

    Watching soldiers collect their dead, his resolve hardened: "I acted rightly. Had I not, more loyal troops would die. I protected my sworn brother's men - this was proper and just."

    Helping the living trumped mourning the dead. Prisoners crammed into one cart, freed vehicles now carried fallen soldiers.

    As for the moaning bandits...

    None cared anymore.

    Jiangliuer couldn't help them anyway. He knew cultivation, archery, scriptures...but not medicine.

    ......

    Meanwhile, Wolf's Lair Cave.

    "Jiangliuer?" Wolf Wuji's amber eyes glared at two snake demons. "That's the green serpent's name? And you fools believed his lies?"

    Snake Third trembled: "Chieftain, he claimed to serve Bear Captain! We didn't dare question!"

    "What else do you know?" Wolf growled.

    "N-nothing..."

    THUNK!

    A snake head rolled across the cave floor.

    "Useless!" Wolf wiped his blade.

    Snake Fourth tried fleeing...

    Too late.

    Another head joined its brother.

    "Chieftain," proposed Snake Captain, "They met Jiangliuer near Golden Mountain Temple. Our cave has ties with their abbot. Let me investigate."

    ......