Chapter Three: The Rise of the Demon

The next day.

There was still some time before the jailers would come to deliver food. All the monsters held their breath, waiting silently. Six Ugly coughed lightly, and at once, the monsters stirred, stripping off their hemp garments and placing them on the ground, dousing them with urine.

Then, through the iron bars, these soaked clothes were all thrown outside the cell.

Only Mo Yun was different. For some reason, he produced an enormous ox horn, long and thick, and threw it out as well. Instantly, the cell was filled with a pungent stench, garments scattered everywhere.

The whole cell reeked unbearably, chaos and filth covering the ground.

As the items landed, Hu Si flicked her hand, sending several white threads like spider silk to adhere to the clothes and ox horn. With a gentle shake, the objects flew straight to Six Ugly, landing securely in his hands.

Six Ugly retrieved the hemp garments from outside, ignoring the foul smell, and twisted them tightly into braids, securing them firmly. Then, he threaded them through two iron bars and drew them back into the cell.

He also brought in the long ox horn, winding two strands of hemp rope around it. Any modern person would recognize this as the simplest mechanical lever: by turning the long end of the horn, the rope on the short end would wind and tighten, pulling the two iron bars together and widening the gap beside them.

Once everything was ready, Six Ugly proceeded as planned. Before the eyes of the monsters, the iron bars began to bend and draw closer, the gap beside them gradually widening. Soon, it had nearly doubled.

For most monsters, squeezing through the gap would still be difficult, likely scraping against the iron bars and triggering the talisman seals. Yet Six Ugly was exceptionally thin and small. Carefully, he wedged the ox horn into a groove between the floor stones, released his grip, held his breath, and slowly slipped through the gap.

A suppressed gasp burst from the cells, but silence quickly returned, all eyes fixed on Six Ugly, tense and anxious, awaiting his next move.

Six Ugly finally moved. He loosened the ox horn, and the tightly wound hemp ropes sprang apart. He drew them from the cell and brought them to Hu Si’s cell.

With a swoosh, a humanoid figure dropped down, hanging upside down before Six Ugly.

Hu Si’s human form was tall and thin, evenly proportioned, with a face neither handsome nor ugly, indistinguishable from any ordinary person in the marketplace. Yet her features were filled with fierce, unsettling malice, so much so that even without knowing her true nature, any who saw her would instinctively recoil.

Six Ugly immediately recognized this as Hu Si’s true human form.

Monsters have two true forms: one, their monster form—their original appearance as a beast. For example, Six Ugly was a monkey, Qing Mei a white fox, Ban Nu a rat, and so on. The other is their human true form: Six Ugly was a small, thin, man with mismatched eyes and buck teeth; Hu Si a sinister middle-aged woman; Gui Che a brawny, heavyset man—each with their own human guise.

Maintaining the human true form requires the least demonic power, while changing into other shapes consumes far more. Thus, even Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, in their daily lives, usually maintained their human true forms without frequent transformation.

Hu Si dangled herself by spider silk from her feet, the two monsters' eyes briefly met, and Six Ugly smiled, showing the bundled hemp cloth in his hand, threading it through the iron bars to bind.

Hu Si smiled back and began to help, repeating the previous actions. The iron bars bent, Hu Si tried to squeeze through, but shook her head with a bitter smile, indicating it was impossible.

By now, the iron bars were nearly pressed together, creaking at their limits, yet the gap was still insufficient. If pulled any harder, the bars would surely break with a loud sound, alerting the jailers. Six Ugly was greatly troubled and could only release his grip, letting the bars slowly return to their original position.

Six Ugly checked the other cells, finding the same situation everywhere. Mo Yun, being an ox demon, was even larger, and the other monsters, whether fat or thin, were all unable to squeeze out.

It was rare that Six Ugly’s frail, small stature had become advantageous.

Seeing they could not escape, the monsters grew anxious. Six Ugly roughly inspected each cell and discovered that, aside from himself, all the others were too large to fit. He had to abandon the original plan and adjust it, discussing it with Mo Yun and Hu Si.

The cell door finally began to creak. The jailers dragged a heavy wooden bucket inside, and Six Ugly swiftly leaped up, climbing into a dark corner of the ceiling, hiding himself completely in the shadows.

The jailers began ladling wheat porridge along the corridor. The monsters watched coldly as the guards trudged up, scooped food, and shoved it into their mouths. The jailers cursed constantly, distributing food to several cells. The older jailer suddenly stopped.

Something was wrong—he’d noticed!

Suddenly, Six Ugly realized that the monsters had a chance to escape. Though hungry, they no longer devoured the coarse, monotonous food as eagerly as before. If the jailers had been there long enough, how could they not notice the difference?

This thought flashed by, and sure enough, almost simultaneously, the older jailer spun around and rushed desperately to the end of the cell block, overturning the bucket and spilling wheat porridge everywhere.

The younger jailer hesitated, bewildered, then followed to flee.

A silver light swept through the air, moonlit and bright—a snowy flash pierced the darkness of the cell. The older jailer stumbled forward, collapsed, writhing in pain, and soon a pool of blood spread beneath him, motionless!

A stark white bone spike was lodged in the back of his head.

The younger jailer opened his mouth to scream, but a shadow dropped from above, moving with ghostly speed. A thunderous fist smashed into his face, caving it in, shattering his teeth and jaw. Before he could feel pain or fear, his world spun upside down.

In an instant, darkness swallowed him whole.

The monsters saw the two jailers suddenly alarmed, turning to flee—Six Ugly flicked a bone spike, killing one, then swept in and tore off the younger jailer’s head with his bare hands!

Before monsters, ordinary humans were as chickens and dogs—utterly powerless.

Six Ugly killed the jailers, reaching out to catch the flying head. Before he could grab it, shouts echoed from outside—the jailers had been alerted: “What’s happening?”

With a thud, the head landed in his hand. Six Ugly instantly changed his voice, replying, “Nothing much, just Old Bald tripped and spilled the bucket.” His tone, words, and pronunciation matched the dead jailer perfectly, without a trace of abnormality.

Thus, the person outside could not detect anything wrong. The corridor was deep and dark, the outside bright, vision obscured. He laughed and cursed, asking no further. The monsters finally relaxed, exhaling deeply, their faces loosening.

At the same time, Six Ugly’s appearance began to change. His body grew taller, his skin melted like wax, new features emerging. In a few breaths, he had transformed into the younger jailer.

Yet he still held a head identical to his own, making him look quite sinister.

Once his transformation was complete, Six Ugly casually tossed the head aside and searched the bodies. Before he could start, Mo Yun whispered, “Don’t bother searching, the keys aren’t on these two.”

“Oh?” Six Ugly stopped, stood up, and asked, “Outside?”

“Exactly. Jailers never carry keys inside. They’re always hung outside on the wall, to prevent us from seizing them,” Mo Yun, having experienced this before, explained briefly and asked, “What next?”

His eyes gleamed, saliva dripping, and his malice began to seep out. “If we force our way out, you can bend the bars as before and we’ll all rush out—who could stop us?”

“Too risky, better not,” Six Ugly considered, not refusing outright but avoiding Mo Yun’s suggestion. He addressed the monsters: “I will trick the guards, retrieve the keys, and release you all. When I order, you must shout and make noise to distract them.”

The monsters didn’t know what Six Ugly intended, but trusted his wisdom, nodding in agreement. Mo Yun and Hu Si pinned all their hopes of escape on him, not daring to object.

Soon, Six Ugly tidied up the older jailer’s corpse, pulled out the bone spike and planted it in his chest, smeared blood across his front, then began dragging him toward the gate.

At his signal, the monsters erupted in clamorous uproar, the cell filled with noise. Outside, there was movement; several guards rushed to the gate, brandishing weapons and shouting, “Old Bald, Stick, where are you? Why all the commotion inside?”

“Trouble! Old Bald fell and was stabbed by the bone spike, he’s unconscious!”

Hearing the shouts, Six Ugly hurriedly dragged Old Bald over, one hand under his armpit, the other supporting him, shouting and stumbling, Old Bald limp, his head drooping, his limbs flailing, his clothes soaked in blood, the bone spike protruding from his chest, a gruesome sight.

“Hurry, open the door! If you delay, he won’t survive!”

The jailers were stunned, but Six Ugly’s urgent cries flustered them. They dropped their weapons and quickly opened the door to help. Six Ugly pushed the corpse into their hands, squeezed out, grabbed a weapon, and, taking advantage of the chaos, snatched the gong and drum from the wall, storing them in the gourd realm. Then, with a swift slash, he cut the throat of the nearest man.

The others realized too late. Barehanded, they were no match for Six Ugly. In moments, all four jailers were slain, their bodies strewn across the floor. Though there was some commotion, it could not travel down the long corridor.

At last, Six Ugly breathed a sigh of relief.

To cover their tracks, Six Ugly replaced the gong and drum, found the keys on the wall, and returned to the cells, unlocking them one by one. The monsters erupted in excitement, wanting to shout and cheer, but Mo Yun and Hu Si sternly silenced them, though their joy could not be hidden.

In less than a moment, except for the crazed monster, all the others were released. With Six Ugly, Hu Si, Mo Yun, there were fifteen in total, most fourth or fifth-tier minor demons. Thanks to Mo Yun’s earlier experience, none dared act rashly, but clustered around Six Ugly, awaiting his orders, not one daring to disobey.