SWDnovel Chapter 5: The Source of Chaos
Chapter 5: The Source of Chaos
"younger brother!"
Inside the cave, Bixia looked around anxiously, but she couldn't see Cao Xing anywhere.
While she was just going to find some dried meat for him, Cao Xing disappeared in the blink of an eye, which made Bixia very anxious. She searched everywhere along the cave passage.
Just as Bixia was getting so anxious that sweat started to bead on her forehead.
A scream suddenly came from the First Lady's cave in the distance.
Immediately afterward, a little monster ran out of the lady's cave, shouting, "Something terrible has happened! Someone come quick!"
The jarring noise immediately drew the attention of many lesser demons. The bolder ones peeked out and peered into the cave, but they could only steal a quick glance and couldn't see anything.
But monsters have an extremely keen sense of smell, and they could smell the strong stench of blood in the lady's cave from afar. However, since the king hadn't come, no one dared to make a sound.
Bixia cautiously peeked out, a bad feeling immediately creeping into her heart. Although she didn't know what had happened, her heart was pounding in her throat.
Just then, Bixia turned her gaze and suddenly saw Cao Xing in the corner. He was squatting in the corner with his head down, poking the ground with a twig in his hand.
Bixia walked over and pulled Cao Xing up, carefully looking him over from head to toe before hugging him tightly in her arms: "Brother!!"
Cao Xing maintained a blank expression, but he could sense that the older sister's concern for him was genuine.
But Cao Xing dared not show the slightest emotion.
The foolish child, the idiot, is my talisman that allows me to survive. Without this talisman, I wouldn't even know how I died.
Soon, the Yellow-Robed Monster grabbed the yellow robe behind him with both hands and strode over, entering Baihuaxiu's cave.
Soon, the roar of the yellow-robed monster came from inside.
"Ah! Madam!!"
Upon hearing that angry roar, the little demon, who had originally wanted to watch the spectacle, ran as far away as possible.
"Let's go!" Bixia didn't know what was happening, but her heart was beating faster and faster, making her want to get Cao Xing away from here as soon as possible.
"Bixia!!"
Before she could pull Cao Xing away, the roar of the Yellow Robe Monster came from inside the cave, and Bixia's legs went weak with fright.
"Bixia, get in here!"
The roar of the Yellow Robe Monster echoed through the cave once more. This time, Bixia dared not hesitate for a moment. She glanced back at Cao Xing, gently released his hand, and walked into the cave with her head down.
Looking at Bixia's retreating figure, Cao Xing hesitated for a few seconds.
It's obviously safer not to go in.
The Yellow-Robed Monster must have gone into a mental frenzy by now. If I go in with him, I might get caught up in it.
But what will happen if I don't go in?
Cao Xing squatted down, picked up the twig from the ground, and continued poking at the ground.
Soon, he heard Bixia's screams and the Yellow-Robed Monster's roars coming from the cave: "You wretch, you wretch, who gave you permission to take the bone-removing powder? Tell me, tell me!"
"It wasn't me, it wasn't me, Father, stop hitting me...it hurts." Bixia's screams in the cave grew increasingly shrill.
Cao Xing kept his head down, expressionless, and continued to slowly poke the ground with the stick in his hand.
Before long, the Yellow-Robed Monster seemed to have vented his anger, and kicked Bixia out of the cave: "Go, call those bitches over here, now."
Bixia clutched her lower abdomen and struggled to get up from the ground, her face covered in blood.
She didn't dare to delay, so she got up and limped out.
Before long, several women with their heads down walked quickly toward them.
These women were all concubines of the Yellow Robe Monster, and they all retained some characteristics of the monster. Some were of average appearance, while others were quite beautiful. But to be honest, they were far inferior to Baihua Xiu. No wonder Baihua Xiu was the Yellow Robe Monster's favorite.
At this moment, Cao Xing noticed that the woman whom Bixia called Third Sister was also among them. The woman walked to the entrance of the cave, glanced at Cao Xing with contempt, and then raised her head and followed him into the cave.
After they all went inside, Cao Xing poked the ground with the wooden stick in his hand, and then followed behind them without making a sound.
Once inside the cave, the concubines all seemed to sense something unusual, especially when they saw the Yellow Robe Monster's hideous face. They were all startled, as they had never seen the Yellow Robe Monster with such an ugly expression.
No matter how charming and coquettish they usually are, they are now standing obediently in a row, not daring to misbehave.
The man in the yellow robe strode up to them, his hands clutching his cloak behind his back, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at the faces of these wretches before him like a vulture.
Stared at with such murderous eyes, the concubines dared not even breathe and all lowered their heads.
The yellow-robed monster walked from left to right, then from right to left, suddenly stopped, turned around abruptly, and grabbed the hair of the fourth woman on his left: "Tell me!!! Did you do it?!"
The woman had green hair and some willow bark still on her skin, making her look like a willow tree spirit. She was being held in the hands of the yellow-robed monster and immediately began to tremble.
"No, no, Your Majesty, I didn't do it."
The yellow-robed monster's expression became even more ferocious, his fingers digging deep into the green-haired willow tree spirit's hair, as if he wanted to tear her scalp off.
The willow tree spirit tilted its head back in agony, its face contorted with pain and fear.
"You know nothing?" The yellow-robed monster's face was practically pressed against the willow tree spirit's. "If you know nothing, why did you immediately claim it wasn't you?"
The willow tree spirit was clearly so frightened that his mind went blank, and he had no idea how to answer.
With her mouth agape, she couldn't utter a single word. Seeing this, the yellow-robed monster slapped her away.
The willow tree spirit that had been whipped away landed right next to Baihuaxiu's bed curtains. She covered her face and got up. When she looked up, she saw Baihuaxiu lying on the bed.
"ah!!"
Even though she was a fairy, she was immediately startled by the scene on the bed.
On the bed, Baihua Xiu's body was covered in blood and gore, like a skinned bullfrog, and even her face was unbearable to look at.
They involuntarily took a few steps back, and only then did the others cautiously look up. When they saw Baihua Xiu on the bed, everyone was filled with horror.
Cao Xing didn't look at Bai Huaxiu on the bed. Instead, he stood up quietly, lowered his head, and quickly jumped over San Niang from behind. At this moment, everyone's attention was on the bed, and no one noticed Cao Xing's little action.
They just had to wait for Cao Xing to come out from behind and glance in the direction of the Yellow Robe Monster.
A quick glance revealed that the Yellow-Robed Monster was standing in the shadows on the side of the cave, his eyes fixed intently on the expressions on the faces of the concubines before him.
Cao Xing swallowed hard, carefully maintaining his blank expression, his heart pounding faster than ever.
This guy!!
He knew that the willow demon was definitely not the real culprit, but he deliberately left her in front of Baihuaxiu's bed so that he could take in the expressions on each woman's face in that instant.
However, it seems that this is precisely why he didn't notice his own little actions just now.
But the Yellow-Robed Monster was destined to be disappointed.
He didn't see the expression he wanted on these women's faces.
This caused a hint of hesitation to appear in the eyes of the Yellow Robe Monster. He glanced at Bixia, who was trembling beside him, and the look of suspicion on his face deepened.
The Yellow-Robed Monster suddenly stood up. He walked up to the concubines, his eyes darting around before his gaze suddenly locked onto Hong Ling.
He took two steps in one, suddenly rushing towards Hongling. Before Hongling could even speak, he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her in front of him: "It's you!"
"No, it wasn't me, Your Majesty! I...I...I don't know anything."
Hongling's expression changed drastically, and she immediately shook her head frantically in denial.
But the Yellow-Robed Monster didn't care about any of that. He grabbed Hongling's clothes with his big hand and ripped them off forcefully.
"Rip!!"
Her clothes were roughly torn open, revealing her snow-white skin. The yellow-robed monster stared at Hong Ling's lower abdomen with red eyes.
Cao Xing squatted to the side, watching the yellow-robed monster's movements intently.
The yellow-robed monster's large, rough hands were carefully groping Hong Ling's lower abdomen, as if he were looking for something through her belly.
Hongling and the other concubines looked on blankly, wondering what the yellow-robed monster was doing.
He's looking for the inner elixir!
Watching the yellow-robed monster's actions, Cao Xing immediately thought of the inner core.
The Yellow-Robed Monster probably wouldn't dare say that he lost his inner core, which must have had a significant impact on him.
In the original work, the inner core had a tremendous impact on the Yellow Robe Monster. Although it wasn't written out in detail, a comparison can be made.
When Tang Sanzang was captured for the first time, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing came to his rescue. The two fought the Yellow Robe Monster for thirty rounds without a clear winner.
But this wasn't just because the two of them were strong; it was because they had thirty-nine deities, including the Five Directions Protectors, the Four Duty Officers, the Six Ding and Six Jia, and the Eighteen Garan, secretly assisting them.
This is equivalent to each god giving the two a buff.
Let alone Pigsy and Sandy, even the turtle demons around the Hydra could probably stand up straight.
Even with so many god-level support characters, these two simpletons couldn't gain any advantage against the Yellow Robe Monster, which shows just how strong the Yellow Robe Monster was.
This contrasts sharply with the second time Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing came to visit, one was captured and the other ran away in fear.
However, despite his formidable fighting prowess, he was repeatedly defeated by Sun Wukong's fists and feet after Sun Wukong stole his inner core.
The contrast is so stark that it's hard not to suspect that the Yellow Robe Monster's combat power was greatly reduced after losing his inner core.
Now it seems that Cao Xing thinks this is very likely, otherwise why would the Yellow Robe Monster not explain what he lost, but instead keep it a mystery?
At this moment, the Yellow-Robed Monster checked Hong Ling's body repeatedly, but after failing to find the inner core, he released Hong Ling in disappointment.
Unable to find the inner core, the Yellow-Robed Monster once again focused his gaze on Bixia, and ordered Hongling and the others to leave.
"Get out, all of you, get out!"
Upon hearing the roar of the yellow-robed monster, everyone except Bixia, who was huddled to the side, breathed a sigh of relief and retreated without the slightest hesitation.
"Ding! Clang!"
Just then, a crisp sound came from Hongling's feet, and a medicine bottle rolled to the ground.
It rolled right under the feet of the Yellow Robe Monster.