As it turned out, no one would be moving their asses after all when a still-indignant Hakruyuu remained stubbornly perched on the tree branch high above their heads, adamantly refusing to come down despite Hakkai's coaxing and Sanzo's cursing or death threats. There was absolutely no way he was going through that outrageous experience of almost crashing headlong into ravine and rivers, coupled with that wild wrenching of the wheel. He nursed his sore nose in resent, squeaking away at them down below. Who did they think they were? Stuntmen?
After perhaps his 22nd failed attempt, Hakkai threw up his hands in despair. Who would have thought that even dragons were capable at sulking this badly? Sanzo, standing a little way off with a lighted cigarette clamped between his teeth, observed Hakkai turning away with his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Stupid, idiotic, senseless bird." He scoffed to no one in particular, only to be rewarded with a very offended "KYUU!!" from up among the branches of the tree. Hakkai gave him a rather strained smile.
"I'm afraid, Sanzo, that your words have just earned us an extra hour's wait."
'Chh."
Goku lounged about miserably, rubbing his stomach to suppress the hunger pangs which assaulted him every so often. He eyed the bags of supplies longingly, and would have polished off the entire pile an hour ago if Sanzo hadn't stopped him with an "Eat that, and you'll eat this as well" while brandishing his gun very menacingly in front of his face. But that was an hour ago, wasn't it? And Sanzo couldn't possibly be that mean, could he? "I'm so so so HUNGRY, Sanzoooo……..I'm about to die of …." Goku's whine was suddenly cut off as a familiar smell wafted to his nostrils. If there was one thing that Goku can be counted on, it was identifying that particular smell. And there was absolutely no mistake about it. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the others had already gotten a whiff of it as well, judging from the fact that cigarettes were stubbed out and heads were turned. Any minute now….
"SANZO PARTY!!! Surrender the sutra or prepare to die!!!"
"Kiss my ass"
"……."
A thought suddenly struck Goku and he turned to the others excitedly. "Hey, guys! We can give them the sutra, can't we? After all, it's a mmmbphmmmphh…." As fast as lightning, Gojyo was by his side with an unyielding hand clasped over Goku's mouth. Sanzo stared at them with unconcealed suspicion. There was something going on with those three, something very fishy indeed. And he'll be darned if he doesn't get to the bottom of things very soon.
"Just ignore the little twerp, won't ya?" Gojyo put in cheerfully. "He was gonna hand the sutra over to those brainless invertebrates just because it isn't good to eat. Just goes to show you can't trust a monkey with important stuff like that, huh?"
The bunch of youkai who had been standing by with growing impatience shook with resentment at being referred to as 'brainless invertebrates". It was bad enough that they were being ignored like that, but to be insulted like they weren't even there about does it. "We'll show you who the real brainless invertebrates are!!" And with that, they swarmed forward, snarling and wielding wicked-looking weapons.
"Oh my, you guys are still here?" Hakkai replied in mild surprise, while nonchantly summoning one of his chi-balls. The youkai came headlong at him in big crowds, but just a light blast of chi and only a few bewildered ones were left wondering what had happened to their other comrades. He snuck a glance to see how the others were faring, and was reassured by the sight of Gojyo hacking away with his shakaju, muttering something about not understanding why anyone could be so eager to die, and Goku taking the youkai down by the dozens without even working up a sweat. Sanzo also seemed to be handling them well, firing shot after shot with deadly accuracy.
Having disposed of the front row of youkai without wasting a single bullet, Sanzo growled with annoyance at the sight of the never-ending torrent of youkai rushing forward to take the place of the departed. Easy as they were to defeat, these youkais were such a pain in the ass. They turn up at the most unwanted times and come up with the cheesiest lines, a frequent example being 'Hand over the sutra or Die'. And this freaking pissed Sanzo till no end. But he silently marveled at the increasing number of youkais sent to assassinate them, it was as if they bred like rabbits. His gun clicking on an empty chamber all of a sudden, Sanzo dived into a secret compartment of his robes for spare amno only to frown when his fingers closed around empty air. He couldn't possibly be out, could he? Further grouping, however, failed to produce any, and it was with annoyance that Sanzo thrust the now useless gun into another dark corner of his robes. Chh. What a bother. With no gun handy, he only had two choices; to rely on his usually-reliable kicks and punches, or to utilize the tightly-rolled up sutra sitting comfortably in one of his inside pockets. And judging from the amount of youkais that were fast closing in upon him, he could safely surmised that kicks and punches weren't going to hold them off for long.
He fished the scroll out grudgingly, his mouth automatically chanting away even as he did so. Hakkai, the ever-concerned one always keeping an eye on Sanzo, was the first to stare in dismay with the youkai surrounding him forgotten. His wide-eyed, alarm-filled expression was enough to make Gojyo and Goku twirled around, and they in turn goggled in horror at the sight of Sanzo relying on a supposedly Do-It-Yourself sutra to eliminate youkai. Oh, SHIT. In a trice, all three of them were on the move. Goku leapt nimbly over the heads of his bunch of snarling youkai, his nyoibu extending as he agilely dodged their wild clutches at him. Worry lent him wings and it was with a racing heart that he valiantly forced a way through the crowds of youkai. Sanzo was in danger! His only tool for fending off the youkai now rendered useless, Goku shuddered at the thought of what they might do to Sanzo if he was to fall into their arms. Of course, the little nagging voice at the back of his head reminding him of the fatal consequences if Sanzo was to discover the forged sutra contributed to his speed as well.
With one powerful blast, Hakkai managed to subdue sufficient youkais to create an exit wide enough for him to squeeze through. Hurtling past youkais before they have a chance to recover from their confusion, he was about to follow Goku's lead when a casual glance in Gojyo's direction stopped him short. "Watch out, Gojyo!" A nasty-looking blade sank into the ground as the youkai who had been stealthily creeping up behind Gojyo blew out of existence with a fiendish yell. Gojyo shot him a grateful look but no sooner had he done that when Hakkai was forced to conjure up another chi-ball for the youkai who had taken advantage of his momentary distraction to surge forward once again. Anxiety gave way to desperation as chi-ball after chi-ball was released with hardly any impact upon the youkai. Was there no end to these tiresome creatures?? He managed to sneak a hurried glance at his surroundings and noticed with distress that Gojyo was having enough difficulties of his own to lend a helping hand. Goku was still pushing his way though to Sanzo, but the many obstacles in the form of youkai, which appeared frequently in his path and had to be personally removed, drastically slowed him down. His apprehension heightened as the observed the first signs of Sanzo's mutterings coming to an end. Goku wasn't going to make it in time!