The ridge was like a long serpent, winding its way toward a large mountain in the distance.

    The sky was overcast with dark clouds, and a fine misty rain shrouded the distant scenery like a veil of smoke.

    Strangely, vines dangled from the heavens, covered in thorny poisonous barbs that hung down and obscured the sunlight!

    The thief of Tang Sanzang''s hat was not a person, but rather the hat had gotten caught on one of those poisonous thorns.

    Zhu Ganglie''s cheek had been cut by a poisonous thorn...

    Sha Wujing''s bundle was also full of poisonous thorns, but he wasn''t hurt because he had buckled a large frame over his head...

    The most miserable was the White Dragon Horse, its legs injured by the thorns on the ground and covered with a dense mass of poisonous spines...

    The Six-Eared Macaque and Sun Wukong were unharmed, but their expressions weren''t too pleasant either.

    Before Tang Sanzang could speak, Zhu Ganglie cursed, "Where did all these thorny vines come from? Watch your Grandpa Pig burn them all with a fire!"

    Sun Wukong said, "Master, it seems that these thousands of miles of mountain ridges are all covered with these thorns. If we walk through this, I''m afraid Xiao Bai will turn into a hedgehog..."

    Sha Wujing laughed, "Master, don''t worry. No matter how powerful these thorns are, they are just plants, and fire can solve the problem."

    Zhu Ganglie said, "Stop talking nonsense. If the weather were dry, indeed, a fire could burn them without leaving grass in a thousand miles. But now, with this dense fog and humid air, not to mention starting a fire, even if you light ten fires, it would be useless."

    It was at this moment that the Six-Eared Macaque shouted, "Master, this is Thorny Forest!"

    Everyone looked over to see the Six-Eared Macaque pulling out a stone tablet from the thorns, inscribed with three big characters: Thorny Forest!

    There were also two lines of fourteen smaller characters:

    Thorny vines spread for three thousand miles, seldom walked since ancient times.

    "Master, it seems this path is not easy," Zhu Ganglie said, drooling over the tablet.

    Hardly had the words left his mouth when suddenly a boom resounded!

    A wave of Fist Power pushed forward!

    Turning back, everyone saw Tang Sanzang slowly retracting his fist, looking at the straight path ahead, "The word ''difficult'' does not exist in this monk''s dictionary!"

    Having said that, Tang Sanzang slapped the horse''s rear and said, "Let''s go!"

    However, Tang Sanzang hadn''t put too much force into his punch, so it only cleared a distance of over a thousand meters.

    But Tang Sanzang had indeed created a path for everyone.

    Then, Sun Wukong directly smashed the vines hanging from the sky with his Jingu Bang, clearing the way.

    Anxious, the Six-Eared Macaque said, "Master has been taken away, of course I''m worried. If he comes back and chides us for not being attentive enough, what if he punches each of us? Wouldn''t we be ascending to heaven before our time?"

    Sun Wukong laughed, "Brother, you''re new here, there are things you don''t understand. Think about it, with Master''s power, what demon could capture him?

    Master wasn''t captured. He''s gone to take a bath."

    Zhu Ganglie added, "We''ve been on the road, with no water sources in sight. Master has wanted to bathe for a long time. Now that the bathing servant has arrived, don''t ruin Master''s good time."

    Next to them, Sha Wujing said, "Still, there are some protocols we must follow."

    The Six-Eared Macaque looked suspiciously at Sha Wujing.

    With a serious face, Sha Wujing told the group, "Big Brother, Second Brother, Fourth Brother, Master has been taken by a demon!"

    The Six-Eared Macaque: "@#￥...&"

    ...

    Elsewhere, Tang Sanzang was being taken by the ghost guard to the front of a misty stone house.

    The ghost guard, unlike the other demons, was not rough but gently set Tang Sanzang down.

    Then, the old man grabbed Tang Sanzang''s hand, eyes shining as he looked at him and said, "Holy monk..."

    Looking into the old man''s eyes, Tang Sanzang felt a chill, getting goosebumps all over his body, and slapped the man''s hand away!

    "Get away from me, you freak!"

    Smack!

    A slap flew across the old man''s face, sending him flying.

    Cradling his face against the wall, the old man exclaimed, "Holy monk, why did you hit me?"

    Tang Sanzang furiously wiped his hands while shouting, "Why? You pervert! Let me tell you, I don''t like men!"

    The old man was dumbfounded... then he gave a wry smile and said, "Holy monk, you misunderstand me. I''m not that kind of person."

    Tang Sanzang eyed the old man suspiciously.

    The old man continued, "I am the god of the Eighteenth Ridge of the Thorny Forest, and since the weather is nice today, with a clear moon and sparse stars, I thought to invite you to discuss poetry and philosophies, just to pass the time and emotions."

    Tang Sanzang chuckled sarcastically, "Then explain that look in your eyes, why does it resemble that of a lecherous old man?"

    The old man was speechless for a moment. He was merely trying his best to appear as gentle as possible, so as not to frighten the other party.

    ```