Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 412 The Mountain God’s Doubt

"I’m the Mountain God, and I’m asking what’s going on here!" As they spoke, the two started arguing again.

Chen Nuo fiddled with his ear, "System, if I grab my things and run now, can they catch me?"

"They cannot," the System answered.

"That’s great, I’m just going to..."

"Host, you possess the divine skill of Teleportation, and although they cannot catch you now, they have realized you are either a demon or an immortal. Your features are quite distinctive, being caught is just a matter of time."

The action-ready body of Chen Nuo suddenly relaxed, "So, I can still be caught, why can’t you speak more clearly?"

"I am being factual," said the System.

"Come on, young man, you make the call. Do you want me to help you or let him help you take this thing back?" asked the Mountain God.

"No need for that, it looks like I’ll just have to come back another day..." Chen Nuo said as he started to walk away.

"Ah, don’t go! Look at you, you’re scaring the poor lad," Jin Zha complained to the Mountain God.

"This was originally my possession. If it weren’t for your interference, the young man would be making his pot right now."

The Mountain God glared at Jin Zha, "How about this, young man. You tell me what you want your pot to look like, and I’ll make it for you. Then I’ll deliver it back to you. Such a large piece of rock would take up a lot of your time to turn into a pot, right?"

Not really, since all he needed to do was lift a finger, Chen Nuo complained internally. In reality, he reached toward his chest and tapped the System again, "Help me come up with a few photos of stone pots."

"Ding, you have spent 0.3 Merit Points."

The mechanical voice rang out again, and Chen Nuo realized that this voice was not produced by the System itself, but was pre-set.

"Is this how you skive off work?"

There was silence on the other end for a moment, "Ah, let’s not discuss such trivial matters, Host. It’s all quite harmless, quite harmless."

"Harmless you say, then what do you usually do?" Chen Nuo asked.

"Read books. I’ve read ’Journey to the West,’ which starts with recruiting Sun Wukong, several times," the System said. "Ah Host, please don’t nitpick over such minor issues. It’s more important to answer the Mountain God."

"Did you find it?" Just as the System finished speaking, the Mountain God promptly asked.

"Oh, I found it," Chen Nuo handed the photo to the Mountain God, "It’s this kind."

"Like this!" The Mountain God sounded surprised.

Jin Zha also leaned in, "My goodness, young man, you’ve drawn this portrait so well. With skills like that, you could make money. Why bother fussing over a pot?"

"What?" Chen Nuo looked at the photo and indeed, it wasn’t processed.

"System, what’s going on here? Why didn’t you process it?" Chen Nuo tapped the System hastily.

"Ding! Photo processing requires one Merit Point. Would the Host like to proceed with the expense?" There was that mechanical voice again, signaling the System was shirking work.

Ever since the System’s voice changed, Chen Nuo could tell whether the System was slacking off or working based on its voice. Sure enough, the System was slacking off all the time.

"It seems I won’t be making this stone pot, and my cover’s been blown. I might as well head back," Chen Nuo said somberly.

"Sorry Host, my oversight there. How about I compensate you with the Merit Points?"

As soon as the matter of leaving was mentioned, the system immediately sprang to life.

"You take care of the current issue for me," Chen Nuo didn’t want to waste time on such matters.

"Do you not consider the consequences when you do things? Moreover, such a small amount of Merit Points, I wouldn’t even bother to pick them up if they were on the ground, and you want to compensate me with that? Can you even afford it?"

"Host, please forgive me, I won’t make such a mistake again," the system pleaded pitifully.

"This isn’t something you can just get away with by saying sorry once or twice."

Chen Nuo snorted and said gloomily, "The issue I need to solve now is, how to take this Maifan Stone back, you must be eager to complete your mission as well, right?"

"I indeed am, but such things can’t be rushed," the system said, "I am merely a distributor of magical items and the occasional mission issuer, I really don’t know how to handle this, and I have social anxiety too."

"Why aren’t you speaking?" Jin Zha noticed Chen Nuo wasn’t moving, and asked, "Ah, we didn’t really mean to pry. If you don’t want to talk about it, forget it."

Chen Nuo had been communicating with the system in his mind, appearing stationary and unresponsive in the real world.

Seeing that he finally got past this hurdle, Chen Nuo breathed a sigh of relief; he really couldn’t cope with these kinds of situations.

There was a reason he had not left Chaos Residence for so many years: first, the system restricted him from leaving, and second, he had social anxiety, especially on others’ turf.

"So, a stone pot like this is fine?" the Mountain God asked while looking at the stone in front of him, "How many do you want to make?"

"Hmm, how many can be made from this stone?" Chen Nuo looked at the stone, estimating that it could be made into two large pots and three small ones.

He then gestured to the Mountain God, "Just follow this size, make two this big, and three that big."

"Why make so many?" the Mountain God wondered, "You’re starting to sound like you’re opening a restaurant."

Chen Nuo looked at the Mountain God in surprise, "Did I never mention that I own a restaurant?"

Jin Zha and the Mountain God shook their heads together, "No."

"Oh, I do run a restaurant, and that’s why I need so many stone pots, thanks for your trouble," Chen Nuo expressed his gratitude.

It turned out he ran a restaurant. Jin Zha had thought this man had come looking for stones due to a lack of money, but it turns out it was for his restaurant’s needs.

However, what was the difference between pots made from this stone and ordinary metal pots, and why was it necessary to use this particular stone?

Before Jin Zha could voice his own questions, the Mountain God asked first, "Is there something special about pots made from this stone?"

"Of course there is, or else I wouldn’t come here looking for this stone," Chen Nuo replied.

"But I still don’t understand, pots made from this stone are heavy and laborious to handle, and with the stone being so thick, it’s not easy to cook the dishes thoroughly. Why insist on using this stone?" Jin Zha inquired. "You’re not just using this stone as a gimmick, are you?"

"Of course not," Chen Nuo, feeling somewhat dissatisfied with the doubt cast upon him, explained, "If it was just for a gimmick, I could use any stone, I wouldn’t specifically need this one."

"Makes sense," Jin Zha nodded, "There are plenty of stones out there, no need to go through so much trouble to find a special one in the deep mountains."

"So, what is so special about this stone that you insist on using it to make pots?" the Mountain God asked while using spells to cut the stone into pieces.

"First off, utensils made from this stone are indeed, as you said, heavy, and not easy to cook with. But the reason I am using this stone is exactly for these properties," Chen Nuo began to explain slowly. "The dishes I’m making require the patrons to cook for themselves. If the stone makes it too easy to cook, the food might burn before the patrons can eat it in time. That’s why I need this kind of stone that doesn’t easily cook foods for the utensils."