The Great King of Inspiration nodded and said, "Of course! The monk's disciples are quite skilled, especially that Sun Wukong. He's rumored to be the Great Sage Equalling Heaven who once wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, so it would be very difficult for me to win in a direct confrontation. Therefore, this time..."

"Outwit them?" the lesser demon asked.

The Great King of Inspiration shot him a glare and pointed at his own head, "Outwit them? Do you have the brains or do I have the brains to outwit them?"

The lesser demon was at a loss for words and said, "Uh... then what do we do?"

The Great King of Inspiration said, "When the time comes, I'll gather our forces and we'll go all out against them. You guys distract that monkey, and I'll sneak off and kidnap Tang Sanzang. Once we have him, we run. Once inside this water mansion, I'll immediately seal off the Heavenly River. At that time... We won't worry about the consequences and will first feast on a piece of Tang Sanzang's flesh! If the monkey manages to break in, we'll just hand the man back to them. It's just missing a few bites of meat, he shouldn't hold it against us to the death, right?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" the lesser demon exclaimed.

The Great King of Inspiration waved his hand, "Enough with the praise. It's also about time... to go snatch some boys and girls."

The lesser demon looked dumbfounded and said, "Your Majesty, if we're going to eat Tang Sanzang's flesh to gain immortality, why do we need to snatch boys and girls?"

The Great King of Inspiration said huffily, "That damn Tang Sanzang was supposed to arrive last year, according to the schedule. Yet, here we are a year later and he's still not here. Who knows when he'll actually arrive? What if it's delayed by another year or two? So, we don't even have a clue about the Tang Sanzang's flesh, let alone if we can eat it. It's more reliable to eat the boys and girls."

Upon considering this, the lesser demon quickly led the others out to capture the boys and girls.

Meanwhile, by the banks of the Heavenly River, there was a village that was located against a mountain and connected by a road, situated along the shore by the creek.

Every household here had its doors tightly shut, windows closed, and even the two fishing boats of the fishermen on the river were without any lights.

Not even the birds on the willow tree made a sound...

The mist of the Heavenly River water rose in thin strands in the evening, carried by the wind into the village.

The village seemed shrouded in mist, but it lacked any divine aura, instead, there was an added chill to the air.

The most eerie sight was that nearly every household had white mourning banners fluttering at their doors, which looked extremely sinister in the wind.

From one of the homes, low cries could be heard, along with the intermittent sighs of the inhabitants.

Inside, an old man was dejectedly puffing on a dry pipe, his face illuminated by the cold moonlight, creases and all.

On the other side, a woman was holding a three or four-year-old girl in her arms, tears streaming down her face nonstop.

The little girl, with her hair in two little pigtails, had rosy cheeks. She titled her head and reached out her tiny hand to wipe the tear stains on her mother's face, "Mommy, don't cry, okay? Don't cry, I'll give you candy."

The toddler offered the candy to the woman, who upon seeing this, cried even harder.

"Enough, stop crying!" the old man yelled as he threw down his pipe, commanding the room.

Clutching the little girl tightly, the woman said, "Dad, I don't want to cry, but... I can't bear to part with my little treasure!"

Tears also welled up in the old man's eyes as he let out a sigh, "Who could bear it? But it's our family's turn. The Great King of Inspiration himself ordered this... it's fate..."

Amid their conversation, footsteps could be heard outside, as well as the sound of suona played for the dead and the beating of drums.

Then the door opened, and a man walked in with a face full of despair, "Dad, Wife, it's time to take little treasure over."

"I won't let anyone touch my child!" the woman screamed, holding her child tightly.

The child also cried out, "Mommy, don't cry. Have some candy, it's really tasty..."

Seeing this, tears began to flow down the man's cheeks as well, and he said helplessly, "I don't wish for this either, but it's the custom. Everyone else has sent their children before; it's our turn now. We can't break the tradition... Let's go..."

The woman screamed, holding on to the girl, "I don't care, I don't care! I'm not sending her away!"

Just at that moment, several men walked in, "Not sending her away? If you don't, even more people will die!"

"Sister-in-law from the Chen family, is your baby the only precious one? Who among us here hasn't sent a child away before?

We know it's hard for you to part with her, but who can bear to be separated from their children? Last year, we sent our child away, do you think I wanted to? But for the sake of the village, what else can we do?"

With these words, the woman looked at the few men before her, choking up, unable to say anything more.

No one is a bad person here, it's just unfortunate to be born in this place where, many times, you don't have a choice.

In the end, a group of people snatched the little girl away.

"Uncle, where are we going?"

"Uncle is going to take you to play at the Temple of the Great King of Inspiration, okay?"

"No good, Mommy is crying, baby needs to comfort her, baby doesn't want her to cry."

"Alright, alright... She'll stop crying in a little while. Big brother Xiao Tian is also going, you can play together."

"But I still want Mommy..."

"If you don't go, Mommy will cry even more. If you go, Mommy will stop crying."

"Really? Then I'll go."

...

As the sound of the little girl's voice faded away, accompanied by the distant sound of suona, the elderly man, other men, and women in the house couldn't hold back any longer, bursting into tears, crying inconsolably with overwhelming grief.

Eventually, unable to restrain themselves, several people chased after the child, even if they couldn't stop what was happening, they wanted to accompany their child on her final journey.

At the same time, their family wasn't the only one with the same idea; another household felt similarly.

Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his companions leisurely arrived at the banks of the sky-reaching river and, standing before a stone monument, they slowly read aloud:

"The sky-reaching river, spanning eight hundred li, seldom walked by anyone since ancient times."

"Master, shall we jump over it again?" Sun Wukong asked.

Tang Sanzang glanced at the turbulent river and said, "Wukong, this river water is still clear, unlike the Flowing Sands River or the Black Water River that were so disgusting. I think we shouldn't rush to cross it... "

"Master, what do you mean?" Sun Wukong asked.

Tang Sanzang replied, "I'm sick of eating tiger meat, lamb, deer meat every day, let's indulge in some river delicacies to satisfy our cravings before we leave."

"I agree! Too much meat, especially the fatty kind, is sickening and not good for the body. River delicacies are great, shrimp for bright eyes, fish for a sharp mind. Master, if you're free, just eat fish; your intelligence could literally soar! And if you eat enough shrimp, your eyes would shine so bright, no young maiden could resist..." Zhu Ganglie hastened to recommend river delicacies, emphasizing the disadvantages of constantly consuming meat.

Sha Wujing said, "Master, Brother Zhu is right. However, I, old Sha, have a secret recipe that guarantees richness without the greasiness."

Zhu Ganglie looked at Sha Wujing with a dark expression and said, "Old Sandie, have you always wished for my death so you could be the second brother?"

Sha Wujing replied, "Second Brother, why would you say that? I'm just speaking the plain truth."

"Pah!" Zhu Ganglie spat right in his face.

"Who's making all this racket by the sky-reaching river in the middle of the night, looking for death?!"