Time flew by, and the three had been away from that valley for a full seven days! In these seven days, they had not encountered a single Soul Beast, and even when night fell, no soul beasts ever appeared near them.
That day, Xi Zhao's attempt to steal a chicken only led to the loss of his rice, for although he woke Sun Wukong with the stench, he ended up in a worse state, getting a splash of pungent mushroom juice on the back of his hand. Despite trying all sorts of methods, the stench didn't fade in the slightest! Xi Zhao even resorted to cutting off his own arm but, after absorbing an Eight Patterns Soul Bead for recovery, the back of the restored hand still carried the stench.
