Su Fu thought to herself—not only could they not snatch it by force.
The matter of the Banana Leaf Fan in Journey to the West wasn’t just about the Iron Fan Princess.
There was an even more terrifying figure behind it: the Bull Demon King.
He was a match for the Great Sage himself—if that big boss showed up, they’d stand no chance.
If he showed, that would be certain death.
But thinking further, Su Fu mused: ‘the Bull Demon King should currently be at Ji Lei Mountain’s Mo Yun Cave, living with his concubine, the Fox Demoness, Jade-Faced Princess, right?’
Jade-Faced Princess, daughter of the Fox King of Ten Thousand Years.
After her father’s death, she was left with a fortune, but all alone, so she sought the Bull Demon King as her husband.
Not only that, she also pays tribute to the Iron Fan Princess.
What a tangled mess.
Even though the Bull Demon King wasn’t in Baijiao Cave of Mount Cuiyun, he still considered himself the Iron Fan Princess’s husband.
Not to mention, they had a son together—Red Boy.
If they really dared harm the Iron Fan Princess, the Bull Demon King would appear in an instant and unleash a furious rampage.
“So,” Su Fu rubbed her chin, lost in thought, “we’ll have to trick—cough, use our wits.”
The Great Sage’s use of the Transformation Technique was the right idea.
They had to make the Iron Fan Princess hand over the Banana Leaf Fan willingly.
Only then would they avoid triggering the Bull Demon King, the real boss.
The group fell into gloom and asked, “So what do we do?”
Su Fu smiled faintly, “Relax. I have a way. The first priority is to sneak into Baijiao Cave.”
She instructed, “You all stay here and don’t act rashly. I’ll share the bird’s sight with you, so keep watch.”
The others nodded repeatedly, “Don’t worry, we can handle this much.”
Then they watched as Su Fu’s form swiftly shrank, and in a flash, she became a tiny, inconspicuous flying insect, wings fluttering lightly as she flew towards Baijiao Cave.
Theresa worried and asked, “She’s going so deep into the tiger’s den—will Su Fu be all right?”
Could this trick… really work?
The three exchanged glances.
At this point, all they could do was put their faith in the boss.
The transformed Su Fu soon reached the entrance to Baijiao Cave.
The cave was quite large, with the entrance framed by lush banana leaves, forming a natural curtain.
On either side of the curtain were two massive green stones, the name of the cave carved onto them.
Mist shrouded the mountains, and white clouds occasionally drifted by the peaks, lending an ethereal, immortal air.
At this moment, the commoners had clearly finished presenting their tribute.
They came out one by one, cheerful, having received some kind of promise.
Taking advantage of their departure, Su Fu quickly slipped into the cave.
Inside was a world of its own.
After the long corridor was a spacious main hall, the floor paved with green stone and the walls inlaid with glittering night-pearls.
In the center of the hall was a huge jade table, piled high with all manner of fruits and pastries, their fragrance wafting through the air.
Continuing down the main path, the end was likely a private chamber, with two maids standing guard at the door.
Su Fu carefully slipped in through the crack of the door and finally saw the Iron Fan Princess herself.
She sat in a chair, her face round as a full moon, brows like distant hills, and eyes shining with lively spirit.
One maid refilled her tea, while two others opened the villagers’ tribute boxes to the side.
“Princess, these are the tributes from the villagers.”
The Iron Fan Princess swept her gaze coldly over the boxes—mountain delicacies, medicinal herbs, and spiritual grasses…
“These again?” She frowned slightly, “Take them away.”
The maids hurried to carry the boxes away, and the hall quieted considerably.
“Wine,” the Iron Fan Princess suddenly said, her voice forlorn.
A maid quickly fetched a pot of warm wine.
The princess took it and poured a full cup.
The liquor rippled in the jade cup; she downed it in one go, then poured another and another, drinking cup after cup.
After several drinks, her gaze grew misty and her expression softened.
“Red Boy hasn’t come to see me in so long,” she murmured softly, “Mother misses you so much…”
The candle flames flickered in the cave as the Iron Fan Princess raised her head for another drink.
“Bull Demon King, you heartless man…” Her voice held both resentment and longing.
“Living happily with that fox demoness in Mo Yun Cave, did you ever think of me alone in this empty room?”
“If not for his abilities back then…”
“Enough, enough!”
She sighed, “It’s all just heartless things!”
The maids kept their heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.
Iron Fan Princess was lost in her sorrow, while Su Fu took the chance to diligently get to work.
However, after circling around once, she still didn’t see even a shadow of the Banana Leaf Fan—it was clear the fan remained in Iron Fan Princess’s possession.
Given that, she fixed her gaze on Iron Fan Princess’s wine cup—
Of course, Su Fu wouldn’t just sneak in with the wine and make a scene in Iron Fan Princess’s stomach.
With Iron Fan Princess’s fiery temperament, she’d likely never give in; at best, Su Fu would get a fake fan and probably even expose herself.
Just then, a wine pot was emptied, and Iron Fan Princess called out in a daze, “Where’s the wine? Hm?”
“Bring more wine!”
A maid quickly replied, “Please wait a moment, Princess, this servant will fetch it right away.”
The maid hurried off, and Su Fu seized the opportunity to follow her out of the room.
She needed to confirm something with Iron Fan Princess: in this strange memory, had Red Boy already been subdued by Guanyin?
***
Everyone exchanged baffled looks, not understanding what was happening.
Fox Hart asked in confusion, “Didn’t she already make the Flying Device? Why not just use it to cross Flame Mountain?”
Ji Yao frowned, “Exactly, she could clear the stage right away. Why go through all this trouble to borrow the fan from Iron Fan Princess?”
Kofman considered a possibility, speaking in disbelief, “Could it be… she wants to completely destroy this map?”
That was the only explanation.
The Flying Device could only get them across Flame Mountain and complete the current task.
But… the Banana Leaf Fan might be able to extinguish the fire of Flame Mountain entirely, causing the core of the map to collapse.
That way, it wouldn’t be long before the whole map followed suit.
This was another way to blow up the stage, besides brute force—target the core.
Destroy the core rule of the anomaly.
Once the embodiment of a rule was destroyed, the rule itself couldn’t persist, naturally collapsing and dissolving.
This was a common method for blowing up higher-level maps.
“I’ve heard that this Test Taker likes to blow up Exam Halls,” Lina muttered, “She even wants to blow up the Ling Mountain map? Is she planning to…”
“If the map collapses, her score maxes out,” Zhou Yu said, looking complicated, “She wants to get a perfect score.”
Everyone gasped—Su Fu’s thinking was truly bold.
“But isn’t that ridiculously difficult?!” Fox Hart shook his head, not optimistic at all.
Was it that nobody ever tried for a perfect score?
Actually, there had been many Test Takers before them in this Flame Mountain—not just their group.
Others had tried.
Some were also good at reconnaissance like Su Fu and had learned about Iron Fan Princess.
“But the key is… the Banana Leaf Fan just can’t be borrowed.”
Murray spoke in a deep voice, “Iron Fan Princess is not only brash but also extremely stubborn. If she’s not willing, no one can get that treasure from her.”
“This Su Fu…” His expression was complicated, “She’s that confident she’ll succeed?”
The point was, as the locals said, even if the Iron Fan Princess extinguished the flames after being offered tribute, the fire would reignite every year anyway.
“That’s not really destroying Flame Mountain, right?” Ji Yao analyzed.
She added gently, “So, if Su Fu hopes to use the Banana Leaf Fan to destroy the map completely, that might not be realistic.”
Fox Hart said, “She can’t even get the fan right now. Let alone destroy anything.”
Everyone nodded—none of them thought she could do it.
At that moment, Kofman made a noise of surprise, “She actually turned into that maid?”
“What’s she up to?”
Su Fu, disguised as the maid, returned to Iron Fan Princess’s side and poured her more wine with her eyes lowered, showing utter obedience.
By now, Iron Fan Princess was completely drunk, unable to distinguish anything unusual.
Her gaze was blurry, and a faint glimmer of tears shone in her eyes.
Su Fu whispered, “Princess, are you missing Red Boy again?”
At these words, tears immediately welled up in Iron Fan Princess’s eyes, her emotions overflowing.
“My son…” She murmured, her voice choked, “He’s so small, always running around the cave in his little red bellyband, clinging to me and asking for snacks all day…”
“He loved eating peaches most, that tiny hand could always grab the biggest one, grinning with his two little tiger teeth showing…”
“Now, who knows how he’s doing… Does anyone love and care for him? Is there anyone, like me, to pat him gently when he can’t sleep…”
Su Fu listened and understood: in Iron Fan Princess’s memory, Red Boy really was under Guanyin’s care.
With that confirmed, she raised her brow—she could proceed with her plan.
Murray and the others saw this as well.
Kofman was stunned, “I can’t believe she actually got information about Red Boy! From what Iron Fan Princess said, Red Boy might be the breakthrough.”
“But even if you know, so what?” Fox Hart shook his head, “Red Boy is under Guanyin, even Iron Fan Princess can’t see him. What could she possibly do? Could she bring Red Boy back?”
He laughed, “If Su Fu can really pull that off, with Iron Fan Princess missing her son so much, she might actually lend her the Banana Leaf Fan.”
“But there’s no way she could!”
Guanyin had to be far stronger than Iron Fan Princess.
Forget about bringing Red Boy back—she’d be lucky just to get an audience.
Just then, a maid rushed in, panic-stricken, face ashen.
“Princess! Bad news!” Her voice trembled, “Something’s happened at Flame Mountain!”
Iron Fan Princess was startled, her drunkenness instantly gone.
“What? What happened?”
“We don’t know who it was, but someone broke a key node in the Flame Mountain range, and now the flames are out of control—spreading over twice the usual area!”
Iron Fan Princess’s expression changed dramatically; she leapt to her feet.
The maid reported in terror, “The flames can’t be contained now, and the area affected has doubled!”
Murray and the others’ hearts all sank.
“This is bad,” Fox Hart spread his hands and said, “Who would’ve thought Iron Fan Princess had people monitoring Flame Mountain at all times? If she finds out Su Fu’s group did it, there’ll be no chance of borrowing the Banana Leaf Fan—”
“She’ll definitely punish them.”
“This is a disaster of epic proportions.” Zhou Yu frowned, “Flame Mountain is the source of Iron Fan Princess’s offerings. If her income is threatened, things won’t end well.”
Sure enough, Iron Fan Princess shouted, “Get ready! I’m going down the mountain to see for myself! Who dares touch my Flame Mountain?! I’ll see which little thieves have such nerve!”
“I want to deal with these fools personally!”
The maids all trembled, not daring to lift their heads.
Su Fu thought, ‘Iron Fan Princess really does treat Flame Mountain as her own, inside and out.’
Seeing Iron Fan Princess about to leave, Su Fu suddenly stepped forward and quietly said, “Princess, you mustn’t!”