A few months after The Monkey King - Sun Wukong was imprisoned under Buddha's mountain, The Heaven again fell into another crisis. Therefore, Jade Emperor summoned all of the gods for an emergency meeting immediately.
Since the uproar of Sun Wukong in Heaven, not only has the Jade Palace been damaged a lot, but demons recently dare to have despised the honor of gods. Worried about the peace of the god-fairy world, the Jade Emperor sent Golden Boy to ask Yuanshi Tianzun for a hexagram. But when the boy came to the Heaven of Jade Purity, Yuanshi Tianzun was still in retreat, and he had to wait for three months to receive an answer.
"Within three years, in the Red Stone village, a water demon will be born, and it's getting stronger by absorbing the water which has 'fairy qi' from heaven. She's going to wipe out the whole Xuan country, and plenty of innocent living beings will be killed by her. Then she will steal the treasures of heaven, causing chaos in hell. And finally…" - Golden Boy hesitated for a moment.
"Finally what? Hurry up!" - The Jade Emperor felt highly anxious.
Stealing the treasures? Havocing in hell? He sees no difference between Sun Wukong and this new monster.
"Finally, it will raise water up to the gate of Heaven and re-establishment all the rules of the three realms."
Not only the Jade Emperor, but all the gods who presented at the hall were pale. Even with the power of Four Seas Dragon-kings joining together, they still can not raise water up to the sky. And this one, it's just an unborn demon.
How can?
This dark prospect absolutely can not be ignored.
"Everyone, do you have any idea?" - Jade Emperor lowered his voice and asked, trying to regain the composure of the Highness King.
However, the tension on his face was evidence that could not be concealed; the great hall suddenly became noisy and whispered. Somebody just panicked, some others seriously trying to find a way.
For a while, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King - Li Jing stepped out into the middle of the hall, clasping his fist, and said:
"Your Majesty, this disaster might sound dangerous, but it is not an inevitable disaster. Has Yuanshi Tianzun already said very clearly that the demon may not be born yet? And if it was, it is still a little demon. Moreover, the term is just only three years."
"What do you mean, General Li?"
"Your Majesty, I would like to volunteer to lead ten thousand heaven's army. And with my son - Ne Zha, we are going to barrack in Red Stone village for three years to destroy all monsters within a hundred miles, one by one. We promise that we will exterminate them all, one by one, even an egg."
The Jade Emperor thought that Li Jing's solution was acceptable, but ...
"What makes General Li ensure that you will eradicate all monsters in Red Stone village?" - God of Vermilion Bird spoke up.
Precisely that is what everyone thought, all nodded in agreement, Li Jing's way is still flawed.
So, Vermilion Bird, do you have any other countermeasures? - Jade Emperor asked.
"Your Majesty, the way to stop this disaster was straightforward, yet no need to waste troops and damage generals at all." - Vermilion Bird confidently replied.
"What's it?"
"Yuanshi Tianzun said that the demon can only have power by absorbing 'fairy qi' in water, and the only water that has 'fairy qi' is the water from the sky. So we should stop giving water to Red Stone village for three years. No water, no monster. Easy as pie!"
"You can not do it!" - Li Jing shouted, - "Three years without rain that means you're going to kill all sentient beings in Red Stone village?"
Li Jing strongly objected for sure. In the past, before a spirit bead was reincarnated as Ne Zha's birth, Chentang Pass also suffered one drought concerning three years. The people lamented year-round starvation. Just thinking about it, he unconsciously clenched his fist.
"Anyway, prevention is better than cure. We sacrifice only some people's lives, but we can save the world. Or else, let Jade Emperor tell King of Hell a word, wouldn't it be better for them, who died in those three years but still have glory and riches in their next life?"
Many gods began to feel that Vermilion Bird's words made sense. In their eyes, life is constantly reincarnating; the so-called long lifetime for man is only sixty days for the gods. It doesn't matter if you make a little sacrifice for the sake of the big picture.
But is it not that "everyone is a child of God"? Because a minor demon has not yet formed to exchange the lives of hundreds of living beings. Where is morality?
Li Jing firmly objected.
"Please, I hope that Your Majesty will give me fifty thousand heavenly soldiers. I promise not to leave even a little devil qi in Red Stone village."
Unfortunately for Li Jing, they all felt that Vermilion Bird's opinion was more reasonable. Even the Jade Emperor found it can not be disagreeable. But it is true that if they leave their children all die like that, bothering that anger will rise to heaven, the outcomes will be very unpredictable.
"Anyone else has any other ideas?"
All were silent.
"One day in heaven is equal to one year on earth. We need to decide quickly. Fine then, those who agree with Vermilion Bird's will step to the right, and those who agree with Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's will step to the left."
An overwhelming number all stepped to the right, leaving only Li Jing and Ne Zha on the left. In addition, only the God of Black Tortoise sided with Li Jing.
"If I have to go to finish all the demons in Red Stone village, my Seven Mansions and I will go with you." - Black Tortoise said.
Of course, the final result cannot be changed.
"Okay, then order Lord of Thunder, Mother of Lightning, Count of Wind, Master of Rain to stop raining in Red Stone village for three years from now."
"Yes, Emperor" - the thunder and lightning, rain and wind answered in unison.
Jade Emperor paused to thought for a moment and then continued:
"Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing, I order you to bring ten thousand heaven's soldiers down to the human world. You have to defeat all demons in Red Stone village, no, in around a hundred miles around Red Stone village. In three years, you must not let any one of them drop. Okay?"
Li Jing was still and did not give any answer.
"Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, can you hear what I say?"
"I can."
"So, do you listen or not?"
"I... listen!"
"Oh wait!" - Vermilion Bird spoke up again - "Water with fairy qi is not only water from the rain..."
And then, Vermilion Bird glanced at Black Tortoise.
God of Black Tortoise was one of the Four Gods who ruled the four directions of the sky. The Four Gods include:
God of Azure Dragon in the East; his power is from Wood element;
God of White Tiger God supervises the West; his power is from Gold element;
God of Vermilion Bird lives in the South; his power is from Fire element;
And God of Black Tortoise stays in the North; his power is from Water element.
Since the birth of the world, water and fire have always been incompatible. Accordingly, Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise often quarrel with each other as a regular thing.
However, this time, Black Tortoise sided with Li Jing, not because of his hatred but more self-benefit.
The back story began when Black Tortoise came to the human world, entangled in a forbidden love affair, he fell in love with a mortal woman. The result of that prohibited love is a baby girl who currently lives in Red Stone village, alone, by herself.
Because of a difficult birth, her mother went to the underworld, leaving only one child in the living world.
Black Tortoise couldn't bring his daughter to heaven. Still, he was even more uneasy about letting her live alone in the human world. Thus he sent Bi Shui Yu - The Wall Mansion, one of the Black Tortoise's Seven Mansions, to stay and take care of his illegal child in secret.
Now that child might be fifteen or sixteen years old. Still, a secret cannot reveal anyone. Even the child herself. She had never known that she was the God of Black Tortoise's child.
In that year, holding a newborn baby in his arms, Black Tortoise decided to take her late mother's surname for her name, only one word Yu.
Exactly today, Little Yu just turned sixteen years old.