Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 677 - 676: Dreaming Again

"Things like this are actually pretty normal. On the way here from Chang’an with my master, we’ve already experienced a lot of weird incidents. Not just ghosts, but real-life run-ins with demons too; this really isn’t much. Besides, they are still quite far from us, Great General, there’s no need to be afraid," said the Six-Eared Macaque.

Xuanzang did not realize that the Six-Eared Macaque was trying to scare Chen Nuo, but his words were indeed too blunt.

He glanced at the Six-Eared Macaque and gave a gentle cough, "Amitabha, Wukong, don’t say anymore. Let’s first find a place to rest. We can see them here because it’s the wilderness. Once we find a villager’s home to stay in, these undead won’t follow us."

Relieved by Xuanzang’s words, Chen Nuo said gratefully, "That’s really great. The master sure knows what to do. You may not believe it since I’m a big guy, but I’m actually quite scared of these things. Let’s quickly find a villager’s house to spend the night."

After hearing his master’s teaching, the Six-Eared Macaque stopped talking. He turned his head and looked into the distance with a smile.

Finding a villager’s house to stay in? Forget about it. There might be a dilapidated temple, but it’s up to you whether you have the guts to stay there.

In fact, the Six-Eared Macaque didn’t dislike the Great General that much, but his presence would disrupt their journey, so they had to drive the Great General away.

Too bad he’s a ministerial seeing eye; people have already rejected him, yet he just won’t leave. In that case, they’ll have to resort to other methods to send him away.

Chen Nuo, frightened, didn’t dare to walk ahead. He halted his horse for a few steps and followed behind, "I’m a bit scared, Master; you should lead the way, I’ll follow slowly behind."

Seeing Chen Nuo’s frightened expression, Xuanzang indulged him and let Wukong with the white horse lead the way.

Once they were ahead, Chen Nuo’s frightened expression remained only on his face.

How boring, I had originally planned to observe you for another couple of days, thought Chen Nuo.

Xuanzang and the Six-Eared Macaque led the way, with Chen Nuo following behind. After half an hour, they reached a nearby village.

By the time they arrived there, it was already almost dark.

Xuanzang took the lead, knocking on doors one by one, but no one inside would open up. He knocked on five or six households in a row, with no response.

"It’s really strange. There’s clearly an oil lamp lit inside, so why won’t they open the door?" found Xuanzang it peculiar,

But maybe the villagers simply don’t wish to open their doors at night. Even if there are people inside and they have oil lamps lit, they can’t just break in. They could only try another house.

Chen Nuo remained quiet behind them, finding the residual spiritual power on the doors somewhat amusing.

It’s quite a hassle, spending so much effort just to get rid of one person.

But this Six-Eared Macaque obviously has not mastered his craft, using such a simple spell full of holes, only good for fooling a common man without spiritual power.

After walking from one end of the village to the other with still no response from any household, Chen Nuo grew increasingly nervous. He tugged at Xuanzang’s sleeve.

"Master, what’s going on here? We’ve knocked on so many doors. Even if people don’t want to open them, they should at least answer back, shouldn’t they? How can there be not a single reply?"

Xuanzang didn’t know what was happening either. He turned his head and asked the Six-Eared Macaque, "Wukong, what is going on here? Why isn’t there a single answering household? Could it be the work of demons?"

Six-Eared Macaque shook his head, "Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be any. I don’t feel the presence of any demons; it’s probably just a coincidence that they haven’t heard anything."

Xuanzang trusted the Six-Eared Macaque implicitly, and upon hearing his words, he let out a sigh of relief, "So it isn’t the doing of demons; that’s reassuring."

Chen Nuo also breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me to death. I thought there was a demon. It’s good that there isn’t."

The Six-Eared Macaque admitted it wasn’t the act of a demon, simply because he didn’t want to frighten Xuanzang.

If they could scare this mortal back with the mention of demons, it would be good, but if the mortal wasn’t scared and Xuanzang ended up frightened, that wouldn’t be good. So the Six-Eared Macaque did not choose to lie.

"Since that’s the case, why don’t we just find a haystack to sleep on?" Chen Nuo suggested, "We’re all men, and besides, the weather isn’t very cold now, so let’s just find a place to sleep."

Having knocked on so many doors without any response, they could only do this for now.

Xuanzang looked at the Six-Eared Macaque and said, "Wukong, I think the Great General makes sense. We are all men; there’s no need to insist on staying in a villager’s home. How about we follow the Great General’s suggestion and just find a place to sleep for the night? What do you think?"

"I definitely have no objections; I’ll follow Master’s lead. Wherever you say we sleep, we sleep," said the Six-Eared Macaque.

With no objections, they found a haystack, laid out something haphazardly, and then slept there for the night.

Thanks to the haystack, they wouldn’t have to sleep on the cold ground, and at night it could provide some protection against the cold.

After setting up Xuanzang’s spot, the Six-Eared Macaque casually found a place to lie down, and Chen Nuo also found a spot to lie down and sleep.

He closed his eyes and waited for a while, but still, as before, the Six-Eared Macaque began to test whether he was truly asleep and then directly invaded his consciousness.

This time was different from the previous day; yesterday, at least there was the calm before the storm, but now he didn’t even have a moment to catch his breath before being taken directly to the place where he had shouted that there was someone in the woods.

This time Xuanzang did not comfort him, but rather said, "Great General, I don’t think there’s anything to fear. Why don’t we just go over there and then rest a bit further ahead?"

Perhaps it was his own acting during the day that had been too convincing, making the Six-Eared Macaque think he was truly afraid of such things, and thus he did not try to control him forcefully, giving Chen Nuo the room to perform.

Chen Nuo shook his head, "Let’s not, Master. I find this place really terrifying. How about we find a place nearby to rest, and then we can set off again tomorrow?"

"Great General, you were the one who wanted to accompany the poor monk here, so why are you now holding us back?" Xuanzang said somewhat sharply.

His expression was stern, and his attitude towards Chen Nuo had turned sour, "If because of the Great General’s fear we delay our scripture-seeking journey, then whose responsibility should that be? If the Great General is scared, it would be better to return early. The military camp is full of yang energy; there’s no need to fear the road’s demons and specters."

"No, that’s not what I mean. Please don’t be angry, Master," Chen Nuo hastily said, "I’m not afraid. Since Master says we should go now, let’s go. I won’t hold you back."

Chen Nuo followed Xuanzang’s steps and walked into the woods.

The sky was just slightly dark at this time, but the woods were intensely dark, the kind where one couldn’t see their own hands, and there were faint crow calls in the woods and many bats circling overhead.