Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 700 - 699: Tang Xuanzang Takes Shelter, Chen Nuo Pranks a Robber
Looking at the pelt of the tiger, Chen Nuo thought for a moment but still refrained from making a move.
Although killing a tiger in this world would hardly be considered a significant matter, donning the tiger’s fur would also not bestow any enhancement to one’s mana.
In the original tale, Sun Wukong wore these clothes simply because he had none, but since they were not needed now, it was better to spare the creature’s life.
The tiger had no idea what had just transpired, continuing its unsuccessful hunt then moving to a new location, unaware that it had silently escaped death.
Xuanzang came upon a farmhouse and knocked on the door, which was answered by an elder with his grandchild.
With a smile on his face, Xuanzang said, "This humble monk has journeyed from Chang’an, preparing to embark towards the Western Heaven for Scriptures. Passing by here as night falls, may I inquire if it’s possible to lodge for the evening?"
The elder, observing Xuanzang’s countenance, could tell from his dignified appearance that he was a good person, and considering that he was a monk, who are typically charitable, thought that offering this monk shelter for the night would be an act of kindness. Thus, he opened the door, "Master, please come in."
"Thank you, elder," Xuanzang nodded in gratitude to the old man, then led his horse inside.
In the elder’s yard where chickens and ducks were kept, Xuanzang tethered his horse in a suitable spot, and then followed the elder into the house.
The elder told his grandson to amuse himself, and then took a bowl, filled it with water and handed it to Xuanzang, "Master, come, have some water."
"Thank you," Xuanzang accepted and took a sip of water.
The elder, pondering over Xuanzang’s attire and the precious staff in his hands, which didn’t seem fitting for an ordinary monk, and learning that he came from Chang’an, curiously asked, "Master, you journey from Chang’an to the Western Heaven to seek Scriptures all by yourself?"
"Oh, originally I had a disciple, but along the way, I realized he wasn’t wholly devoted to good, so I sent him back to his native land."
Mentioning his disciple left Xuanzang a bit sorrowful, but after all, the disciple was at fault. If he couldn’t correct his ways, then Xuanzang and he truly weren’t meant to travel together.
"No offense, Master, but if you only realized halfway that he wasn’t entirely devoted to good, wasn’t that realization a bit late?" said the elder. "When you were accepting him as a disciple, should you not have been more discerning?"
The elder’s words brought Xuanzang to a pause, and he realized that from meeting the disciple to accepting him, it had indeed been only a day’s time.
The elder was not incorrect in stating that one should indeed be more discerning when taking on a disciple.
"Your words are enlightening," Xuanzang shared with the elder, "I always believed that anyone with a heart for good is a fellow traveler on my path. But now I realize that such a belief may have been somewhat naive."
"Having a heart for good can’t just be determined by their words, and indeed, that is my oversight for accepting him as a disciple without due consideration. It is my fault."
"I merely meant to offer a reminder," said the elder, humbly, taken aback by Xuanzang’s strong reaction.
"Thank you, elder," Xuanzang gave a deep bow with his hands clasped in front of the elder.
The elder’s words indeed held truth; as an ascetic who shunned falsehood, he had not contemplated lying in his actions.
However, others were different. Even though he had not intended to take many disciples, as the elder pointed out, one should not accept disciples merely on hearing their virtuous words without being more prudent.
"Master, your dinner has been prepared. Please come and eat," the elder said, summoning his grandson to set the table and leading Xuanzang to dinner.
Xuanzang gave another deep bow in thanks to the elder and then sat down at the dinner table to eat.
After finishing a meal, the old man tidied up his son and daughter-in-law’s room again, because both of them had gone to the city to do business, leaving only him and his grandson at home.
Xuanzang expressed his gratitude to the old man once more; he prepared food for the white horse before going to sleep and then retired to the place the old man had readied for him earlier.
Chen Nuo waited nearby for a while, originally thinking this was also one of the eighty-one tribulations, and believed that, regardless, the higher-ups should have foreseen this situation and dealt with it in advance.
Yet, as the bandits had already surrounded the place in ambush, the folks from Buddhism remained utterly still without any action.
Chen Nuo realized that encountering the bandits here wasn’t a premeditated ordeal; this time it was indeed a coincidence.
Since that was the case, Chen Nuo extended his hands and applied the Invisibility Technique to the entire house.
The bandits had all set their ambush, having seen a person dressed very lavishly enter this house, and they were eager to thoroughly loot it.
But in the blink of an eye, the place suddenly turned into wasteland, as if there had never been a house there at all.
"What’s going on here?" The bandit leader rubbed his eyes carefully, noting that there indeed had been a large house here just a moment ago, but how could it have vanished so suddenly?
"Boss, we, we didn’t bump into something, did we?"
One of the underlings spoke up, somewhat afraid, as all present had witnessed what had happened here; just a moment ago there was a big house, which in the blink of an eye had disappeared, which was indeed very strange.
"What nonsense are you talking?" The gang leader, chilled to the spine by his underling’s words, tried to remain composed.
As the boss, whether scared or not, he at least needed to pretend.
So he slapped the underling on the head, "We all have knives on us, what is there to be scared of?"
The underling, clutching his head, couldn’t help but retort, "Big brother, the knives we carry can stab people, but they can’t stab ghosts."
The bandit leader shivered again and then kicked the underling, "I told you not to talk like that. Maybe we were just seeing things; there was never anything here to begin with!"
"Yes, yes, you’re right boss; there was never anything here originally," another underling who knew how to play along hastened to agree.
"Since there was never anything here originally, let’s go back," the bandit leader said, glancing over the area, planning to return the next day for a closer look.
Chen Nuo watched the bandits walk away and smiled; since they intended to return tomorrow, he would simply make it so they could not, once and for all.
After the group of bandits returned, they all had the same dream that night.
In the dream, they found the village and had already succeeded in entering, but before they had a chance to act, they were killed by a monster that resembled a hairy monkey.
The monster was terrifying, looking neither fully human nor like a monkey.
Not only was its appearance frightening, but its strength was immense; it could kick someone to death with one blow, and with a somersault, it could reach the rooftop directly.
After waking from the dream, the bandits were beside themselves with fear, and upon awakening, they looked at each other and simultaneously said, "I had a dream last night."
