Mai Shiranui, summoned for the first time, was clearly ecstatic.
Especially when she found out that this world was actually Journey to the West—she got so excited she even tried to go find Sun Wukong for a photo together.
But Qin Ming forcibly stopped her.
After all, Mai Shiranui was now a vampire. A monster going to take a selfie with the Monkey King? That wasn't a photo op—that was walking straight into death!
That monkey didn't have the slightest concept of sparing beauty. After freezing the Seven Fairies, his first reaction was to gorge himself on peaches! And you expect him to go easy on a pretty face?
Disappointed that she couldn't go see Sun Wukong, Mai Shiranui moped a little… but not for long. She quickly found something new to occupy herself with—building a statue of herself.
That's right, a statue!
Back in the so-called Blood God Temple, she noticed there was only a statue of Qin Ming, and not a single one of her. That, she couldn't accept.
She immediately rallied the local worshippers and tried to get them to erect a divine statue for her too.
The townsfolk, seeing a female monster suddenly appear beside their Blood Ancestor, were surprisingly delighted and didn't resist at all.
Because in this chaotic world, monsters ran rampant. Ordinary humans without a powerful backer were nothing more than monster chow—they had no way to survive.
Now that their guardian deity had a new companion—an alluring female demon… no, no! A merciful celestial goddess! That was amazing news!
After all, the more gods, the greater their protection! With this, their town would be even safer! Maybe they could even expand their territory and grow more farmland!
So, even though Mai Shiranui had appeared abruptly and made rather unreasonable demands, the people eagerly set about preparing a statue for her—and while they were at it, they decided to make one for Kasamoto Eiri too, despite having never seen her before.
They even came up with titles for the two: Blood Sword Ancestor and Blood-Robed Ancestor!
From this day forward, Red Maple Town would have three guardian deities!
But before the statues could be completed, a deafening boom suddenly rang out.
The next second, with a fierce gust of wind, a large plaque flew straight into the hall.
It soared over the townspeople and slammed directly into the central statue, cleaving Qin Ming's lifelike effigy clean in half.
Qin Ming, who had been sitting off to the side munching on an apple, furrowed his brows deeply at the sharp crack as the plaque embedded itself in the wall behind the altar.
Mai Shiranui and Kasamoto Eiri, who had been overseeing the sculpture work and giving constant orders, instantly drew their weapons and stared ahead warily.
Before anyone could even process what was happening, several figures burst into the temple on a howling wind.
And the moment they arrived, the one in the lead roared:
"Hey, monster! Hand over my master!"
"That's right! If you don't, this old pig'll smash your crappy temple to pieces!"
The ones who had stormed in and destroyed the statue weren't strangers—they were none other than Sun Wukong and his companions.
Besides Sun Wukong, there were also Zhu Bajie, Bai Longma, and Sha Wujing. And surprisingly, another woman was with them.
It was Bai Longma's younger sister, the Dragon Princess: Xiao Longnü, who had just happened to come visit her brother!
The five of them stood tall and furious, exuding overwhelming rage.
Qin Ming, now on his feet, glanced at his shattered statue, then narrowed his eyes.
"It's you people?"
"Oh? From the sound of it, you know me, huh?" said Sun Wukong, eyes gleaming.
"Of course I know you. Aren't you that Bimawen who got thrown in jail five hundred years ago for stealing a few peaches and only recently got released? Been hearing about you for ages."
Originally, Sun Wukong had grinned smugly when he heard that Qin Ming recognized him.
But the moment Qin Ming followed up with that, his smile froze on his face.
Realizing what had just been said, his fur-covered face immediately twisted with rage.
"Hey! You dare mock your Grandpa Sun? You're asking for a beating! Eat my staff!"
As he spoke, Sun Wukong shot forward and swung his golden staff straight at Qin Ming's head—only for Qin Ming to raise his arm and forcibly block the strike.
The collision of his forearm with the golden staff sent a thunderous clang through the temple.
Qin Ming's face darkened, and he suddenly bared four long, gleaming fangs.
"Dead monkey! You barge in for no reason, destroy my temple, smash my statue—and I'm mocking you? I ought to beat the crap out of you!"
With a low growl, Qin Ming raised his hand, transforming it into a cannon and firing at Sun Wukong, blasting him back by force.
He hadn't gone out provoking anyone, yet they dared bring trouble right to his doorstep? There was no way he was going to just take that lying down.
The reason he hadn't wanted to fight Sun Wukong before wasn't because he feared him. Not in the slightest.
It was just that, in his eyes, Sun Wukong carried a certain unique aura.
Just like how he instinctively felt fondness when facing Guan Yu.
But fondness or not—if the other party was hellbent on picking a fight, he wasn't going to hold back.
He didn't mind turning Eighty-One Tribulations into Eighty-Two!
With a sharp flick of his cloak, Qin Ming spun into the air and instantly clashed with Sun Wukong, staff versus fist.
The clash of metal rang out endlessly as sparks flew with every strike. The two were evenly matched, neither gaining an upper hand.
Seeing this, Zhu Bajie and the others exchanged glances. The next second, they raised their weapons and charged at Mai Shiranui and Kasamoto Eiri with a furious roar.
The moment turned into an all-out brawl, throwing the already chaotic temple into utter bedlam.
In the middle of the fight, the side wall suddenly exploded as Qin Ming and Sun Wukong burst through it, still locked in fierce combat.
Qin Ming, now a whirlwind of blood mist, shot into the sky, while Sun Wukong followed closely behind on his somersault cloud.
Twisting his golden staff in a spinning arc, Sun Wukong smashed apart the downpour of blood projectiles.
As his staff extended, it transformed into a massive ten-meter-long weapon, sweeping straight at Qin Ming with tremendous force!
Qin Ming's body exploded on impact, only to reform into human shape a second later.
Seeing Sun Wukong charging at him head-on, he suddenly reached forward with one hand.
A wild gale howled as blood surged forth, forming a massive crimson claw that smashed down on Sun Wukong, swatting him from the sky like a fly!
The impact left a giant handprint embedded in the ground. But Sun Wukong, lying in the middle of it, flipped upright like a carp leaping from the water—virtually unscathed.
Looking up, he saw Qin Ming already descending from above, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him.
Sun Wukong's pupils shrank. He suddenly raised his hand into a seal, and his eyes flared with fire.
With a surge of energy through his body, he instantly transformed into a figure wreathed in flames—his entire being consumed by a raging inferno.
The terrifying heat doubled the surrounding temperature in an instant.
One of the Seventy-Two Transformations—Fire Transformation: Heavenly Flame!
Boom!
Flames erupted from his eyes, transforming into twin fire dragons that roared outward!
In just a few exchanges, Sun Wukong had already spotted Qin Ming's weakness—
Blood fears fire.
(End of Chapter)