Black Journey to the West: The Imposter Star Lord

Chapter 1: Rebirth

"Wow!"

The baby's cries rang out, and soon after, someone shouted, "It's born! The lady has given birth!"

Cao Xing's consciousness was in a state of chaos, but he clearly remembered the bone-chilling coldness when the icy river water poured into his body.

Recalling the feeling of gradually suffocating while unconscious, Cao Xing couldn't help but unconsciously open his mouth and gasp for breath.

But as soon as it opened its mouth, it instinctively let out a "waa ...

Cao Xing opened his eyes in a daze and realized that he was being held in the arms of a woman dressed in ancient costume.

I……

Reborn?

Cao Xing realized at that moment that he had turned into a baby.

Am I reincarnated? So fast? But how come I still remember who I am? Did Meng Po (the goddess of forgetfulness) take leave?

Who cares? Wouldn't it be better to have the memories? I finally managed to get ashore in my past life, but I didn't have a single day to myself.

I must enjoy life to the fullest and live for myself.

and many more!

What dynasty have I been reincarnated into? Why are we all dressed in such retro styles? And why is this place a cave?

Cao Xing opened his eyes wide, trying hard to see his surroundings clearly. He was naked and being held by a little girl.

Before he could see clearly, the girl pushed Cao Xing forward.

"Madam, look, it's carrying a handle, it's a young master."

Only then did Cao Xing notice a woman sitting upright on the bed, with a ribbon tied in her hair and sweat on her forehead.

Is this my own mother?

The woman glanced at Cao Xing sideways, then turned her head away, a look of impatience on her face, and waved her hand as if she had already seen him.

No? Is this really a perfunctory response?

The woman's dismissive attitude made Cao Xing feel uneasy. Had he been too happy too soon?

"lady!!"

Before Cao Xing could figure out the reason, a burly man walked in from outside the cave with a smile.

Without pausing, he walked straight up to Cao Xing and grinned at him.

That laugh almost made Cao Xing jump.

Where did this "emo" (or "punk" fashion) come from?

The man had a blue face and fangs, yellow beard and red hair, and eyes like copper bells. Not only was he ugly, but he also dyed himself so gaudy.

Just as Cao Xing was wondering what was going on, the man impatiently picked Cao Xing up from the maid's arms, lifted him high above his head, and grinned loudly:

"Finally, we have a decent-looking child. You've worked so hard, Madam."

What does it mean to have a child who looks like a normal person?

Cao Xing was shocked by the man's words, thinking, "Could it be that the child I had before took after you?"

On the bed, the woman's attitude was as casual as turning the pages of a book. She glanced at the man with a smile and, seeing that he was in a good mood, tentatively said, "Husband, please give our child a name quickly, so that someone can inform my father and mother that they have a grandson."

Hearing his mother call this man "husband," Cao Xing's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.

Oh well, so what if he's ugly? He's still my father, and a son doesn't mind if his father is ugly. You can't choose your birth, but at least this father seems to treat me much better than my mother.

Cao Xing simply closed his eyes and chose to accept this reality, hoping only that he would inherit more of his mother's genes when he grew up.

The man was in a good mood. He glanced at the woman casually and said, "That's easy. I'll just send someone to Baoxiang Kingdom later to give the old king a heads-up."

"Wait... Baoxiang Kingdom??"

Cao Xing, who had been lying in the man's arms, kicked his legs and suddenly opened his eyes, thinking, "Wait!! Why does this place sound so familiar... Baoxiang Kingdom, the princess, and this dilapidated cave..."

I took another look at the man and woman in front of me.

"Is this Journey to the West??"

"Oh no, how did I end up in this wretched place with Baihua Xiu and the Yellow Robe Monster?"

When Cao Xing was in college, his thesis was on Journey to the West. He practically wore out the book while working on it.

In Chapter 28 of Journey to the West, the demons of Flower Fruit Mountain gather in righteousness, and Sanzang encounters a demon in the Black Pine Forest.

The story tells of how, after Sun Wukong defeated the White Bone Demon three times, he was angered by Tang Sanzang and returned to Flower Fruit Mountain. Tang Sanzang then went to the Yellow Robe Monster's cave to pray and burn incense. Fortunately, it was Baihua Xiu who pleaded for him, and the Yellow Robe Monster released Tang Sanzang.

As a result, Tang Sanzang, that fool, went to Baoxiang Kingdom and was fooled by the ministers there, so he sent Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, those two simpletons, to rescue people. In the end, they didn't rescue the people, and Sha Wujing even got caught in the crossfire.

Tang Sanzang was also transformed into a tiger by the Yellow Robe Monster. Finally, Pigsy remembered to ask Sun Wukong to come back after being reminded by the White Dragon.

Instantly, Cao Xing's mood plummeted.

I won't go into too much detail about the story of the Yellow Robe Monster and Baihua Xiu; let's just talk about the ending.

In this final battle, the Yellow Robe Monster, summoned by the other constellations, transformed into Kui Mulang and ascended to the heavens. His colleagues exchanged knowing smiles and disappeared amidst laughter.

Obviously, there won't be any punishment at all; at most, it'll just be a matter of drinking three cups as a self-punishment.

Her own mother, Baihua Xiu, returned to a mortal life, remaining a princess of Baoxiang Kingdom, living a life of luxury.

What about a princess of a nation, the son of a celestial being?

His own fate and that of another unfortunate brother were among the most tragic in the entire story; they were literally thrown to their deaths by those two bastards, Pigsy and Sandy.

Oh no, I mistook the monkey for the Great Sage, and the Great Sage mistook me for a monster.

With that damned stable boy here, I'm doomed!

Thinking about his fate, Cao Xing couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Why did you suddenly start crying?"

Seeing the baby wailing in his arms, the Yellow-Robed Monster tried to shake it a few times.

But this had no effect whatsoever; instead, it made Cao Xing feel even worse, and he instinctively began to struggle.

Cao Xing was crying his heart out when he suddenly noticed that the smile on the Yellow Robe Monster's face was gradually turning impatient.

A chill suddenly swept over him, giving Cao Xing a bad feeling. He was not a confused child after all; his young body contained the mind of an adult, and he quickly broke free from his sadness.

This is the Yellow Robe Monster, a ruthless monster that eats people without blinking an eye.

He's happy because I'm his son, and he doesn't care if he slaps himself to death when he's unhappy!

Cao Xing's idea was by no means unfounded; rather, it was a conclusion he reached after carefully reading Journey to the West.

In the original text, Pigsy and Sandy threw themselves and their brother to their deaths in front of the Yellow Robe Monster. The Yellow Robe Monster's first reaction was not to kill Pigsy and Sandy, but to realize that his home had been robbed, and he hurriedly returned home.

This shows that in the eyes of the Yellow Robe Monster, his two sons were nothing more than dispensable embellishments in his life.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing immediately controlled himself and suppressed his emotions, letting out a "giggle" laugh at the Yellow Robe Monster.

She saw the baby in her arms giggling and laughing at her.

The impatience that had been building up in the yellow-robed monster vanished instantly. He thought he had simply coaxed the baby into laughing, and he sat down beside Cao Xing, smugly amused by the situation.

Cao Xing also cooperated with the Yellow Robe Monster, putting on a beaming smile and trying his best to make the king happy.

"Hahaha, good, good, good, as expected of the good son born to the madam, he's truly exceptional. Hahaha."

The Yellow-Robed Monster was in a great mood, while Baihua Xiu, who was standing to the side, leaned against the headboard and said with a forced smile, "Of course he is the King's good son, but I wonder how he compares to those lowly children."

The man in the yellow robe was taken aback upon hearing this, then turned around and said ingratiatingly, "How can those children born to those lowly maids be compared to Madam?"

"So I have siblings? That's strange, how many? Wasn't there only two in the original story?"

As Cao Xing listened in the Yellow Robe Monster's arms, wondering why it didn't match up with the original story, he saw the Yellow Robe Monster stand up, pick up Cao Xing, and walk out.

Hey!! No, can you wrap me in a coat?

What if I catch a cold?

The yellow-robed monster strode out of the cave and shouted to the few lesser demons outside, "Come on, start the pot to boil water and bring some wine."

Is this a welcome dinner for me?

Shouldn't we wait until my baby is a month old to have a full-month celebration?

Cao Xing didn't think much of it. He had already been reborn in the Journey to the West world, so why would he care about such details?

He was held in the arms of the yellow-robed monster, his eyes darting around as he surveyed the environment inside the cave.

The cave was not completely dark inside.

High up in the cave, every few feet a lamp hangs. The lamp is made from a whole skull and is filled with a viscous, dark yellow liquid, and the wick is a few strands of withered hair soaked in it.

The eerie green flames flickered erratically, stretching the jagged shadows of the cave walls into countless twisting, struggling ghostly claws.

The road beneath our feet was relatively flat, but it looked as if it had been trodden and polished countless times, so smooth that it gleamed with a greasy sheen.

At the command of the Yellow-Robed Monster, a cacophony of ghostly wails erupted inside the cave. Cao Xing couldn't understand what the monsters were yelling about; he only saw a large iron pot standing inside the cave, with firewood piled up underneath.

The fire was ignited.

The little demons circled the pot, throwing in a bunch of herbs at once. After stirring it a few times, the pot soon turned into a pool of dark green soup, bubbling away.

Cao Xing watched from afar, smelling the nauseating odor in the air, and couldn't help but feel nauseous.

These monsters are so careless with their food... at least add some salt!

"Father!"

Just as the Yellow Robe Monster sat down on a stone bench covered with animal skin, a childish shout made Cao Xing turn around curiously, wanting to see what his brothers and sisters looked like. However, what he saw when he turned around was a face that was half wolf and half human.

The girl looked to be no more than eleven or twelve years old. Her right side was normal, but her left side was a beast-like face covered in thick fur. She walked up to the yellow-robed monster in a muffled voice, holding a pottery pot in her hands, and carefully approached it.

The yellow-robed monster glanced at the girl and simply gave a faint "hmm".

The girl kept her head down, looking cautious and careful, as if afraid of displeasing her father, but out of the corner of her eye, she curiously glanced at Cao Xing in the yellow-robed monster's arms.

Upon looking up, she saw that Cao Xing was looking at her. Their eyes met, and the girl's green eyes suddenly narrowed. She stumbled and almost dropped the pottery pot in her hand.

Her clumsy appearance immediately caused the yellow-robed monster's expression to turn cold, and he glanced at the girl.

The girl shrank back as the yellow-robed monster glared at her, trembling violently and spilling the wine from the earthenware pot.

Even Cao Xing frowned inwardly at this.

"Oh no, this child is going to anger the monster!"

Although he had just been born, Cao Xing had already keenly observed the Yellow Robe Monster's habits, which were definitely those of a chauvinistic man.

This kind of person would be happy if others were afraid of him.

But if it were his child, making such a frightening and pathetic gesture would only infuriate him.

Sure enough, when Cao Xing turned around, he saw the look of disappointment on the face of the Yellow Robe Monster, and Tong Lingda's eyes were already blazing with anger.

Just as the Yellow Robe Monster was about to unleash his power, Cao Xing thought for a moment and then reached out and gently tugged at the monster's beard twice.

After all, they were his own brothers and sisters. Moreover, Cao Xing also wanted to test the Yellow Robe Monster here to see if his son's status was truly extraordinary.

As the yellow-robed monster winced in pain, he looked down and saw Cao Xing grinning at him, stretching out his small, pink hands as if to give him a hug.

Seeing this, the yellow-robed monster grinned, his mood instantly improving: "Hahaha, good, you've got some guts! You'll definitely be a dragon among men in the future!!"

Amidst laughter, he stood up, lifted Cao Xing with both hands, and held him high above his head. Looking at the chubby little face in front of him, his smile faded as he looked at the boy: "What a pity, I can't wait."

Cao Xing was stunned, but before he could think about what the yellow-robed monster meant, the monster waved his hand and threw Cao Xing into the pot.