Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 706 - 705: Showing off Treasures

"Since that is so, please go and rest, Mage," said the Jinchi Elder.

Xuanzang rose to his feet, bowed deeply to the Jinchi Elder again, and then prepared to leave.

The Six-Eared Macaque, carrying a bundle behind him, followed Xuanzang, about to depart. The Jinchi Elder caught sight of the bundle and asked, "What is that? Could it be that the Mage is carrying some rare treasure, yet keeping it hidden from us?"

"Oh, no, it’s just a kasaya inside," Xuanzang replied. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"A kasaya, I see," nodded the Jinchi Elder, his heart already clear on the matter.

It appeared that this monk truly had no treasures at all and came from the Great Tang. He had thought that the monk’s arrival might treat them to a spectacle, to see what unusual items a monk from the Great Tang would carry; turns out, he had nothing at all—such a letdown indeed.

"What do you mean by that?" The Six-Eared Macaque hadn’t been paying much attention to their conversation, but now, suddenly hearing that tone laced with contempt, he felt displeased.

He had heard that tone more than enough, and now, hearing it from the mouth of a mere mortal, he certainly couldn’t stand for it.

"No particular meaning," claimed the Jinchi Elder, who in the depths of his heart already considered them destitute and was not inclined to be too courteous to them. If it wasn’t because he had already let them in, he might even have pretended that they had no lodgings to offer.

The Six-Eared Macaque rose and walked toward the Jinchi Elder, his expression sour, "I heard you just now. Clearly, your words carry a different implication. So what about the kasaya? Even if it’s just a kasaya, it is still a treasure, perhaps one you wouldn’t get a second glance at in several lifetimes."

"Ha ha!"

Upon seeing such a hairy macaque approaching him, the Jinchi Elder had been somewhat frightened at first, but hearing what was said, he found it extremely amusing and burst into laughter, along with the rest of the monks.

With their laughter, the Six-Eared Macaque felt even more humiliated. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing much," said the tall, skinny monk, laughing as he spoke.

"We thought that since you came from the Great Tang, you must be of some noble identity. But it turns out, outside your homeland, you carry nothing that could prove your identity, and what’s more, you regard a kasaya as a treasure—it’s simply laughable."

"What? A kasaya can’t be a treasure?" Six Ears demanded sharply.

The tall, skinny monk glanced at his elder, then said, "Let me tell you this, about this kasaya, our elder has a whole roomful of them, and each one is of the finest quality. Maybe, just maybe, the kasaya you hold in your hands might not even compare to the cheapest one our elder owns!"

After saying this, they all broke into another round of boisterous laughter.

Enraged by their laughter, the Six-Eared Macaque clutched the bundle in his hand, "Fine, I’ll let you see just what kind of treasure my master’s kasaya really is!"

Xuanzang, having no interest in arguing with them, attempted to intervene, but his efforts were a little too late. He had only just called out ’Wukong’ when Six Ears had already opened up the contents of the bundle.

The group of monks, initially intent on mocking them, were fixated on the bundle; but as soon as Six Ears opened it, a bright golden light from the kasaya dazzled their eyes instantly.

Especially the Jinchi Elder, who was the closest when the bundle was opened, covered his eyes and stumbled back two steps,

then, with a composed face, he moved closer, eyes eagerly fixed on the kasaya.

The kasaya was entirely red, and no one knew what fabric it was made of; it was both soft and silky, and the golden threads embroidered on it shone even brighter than ordinary gold threads.

"Is this, this really a kasaya? How can it be so dazzling?"

Jinchi Elder inspected the garment carefully, even wanting to take another look, but Six-Eared Macaque snatched it away in an instant, "Let me look again, I have never seen such a fine kasaya before."

"Old man, what did you tell me just now? You said a kasaya is nothing special, so what’s this now? Does this kasaya count as a treasure now?"

Six-Eared Macaque was very pleased with Jinchi Elder’s reaction, or rather, this was exactly the reaction he had wanted.

"Yes, yes, I was wrong earlier. We are from a small place and have never seen such a fine kasaya before. Please, young master, let me look at it a while longer, just a few more glances will suffice," he pleaded.

At that moment, Jinchi Elder did not have the appearance of an elder at all; he only wanted to take a good look at the kasaya.

Xuanzang truly felt uneasy; seeing the elder’s state, his heart was not only restless but also faintly felt that something undesirable might happen.

He quietly pulled Six-Eared Macaque aside, "Wukong, let’s put the kasaya away quickly. We’re leaving on our journey tomorrow, and we need to pack our belongings and rest soon."

Having seen the scene he wanted, Six-Eared Macaque thought there was some truth to what Xuanzang said. He told the monks, "We are preparing to rest now; old man, stop looking and let me put the kasaya away."

Now that Jinchi Elder had seen such a precious treasure, could he easily let it slip away?

After some thought, he said, "The thing is, we’ve never seen such a fine kasaya in our small place. Please, mage, lend us the kasaya just for one night, so I can thoroughly admire it, is that okay?"

Xuanzang was in a tough spot; this was not an ordinary kasaya, and he felt uneasy about leaving it in the hands of strangers.

"Just one night. You’ll be staying here anyway. Surely you don’t think we’d hide your kasaya away, do you?" Jinchi Elder implored pitifully.

"I have never seen such a fine kasaya before; it’s a thousand times better than all the kasayas in my room put together."

Xuanzang gave Six-Eared Macaque a reproachful look as if to say he shouldn’t have taken it out in the first place. Now look what had happened: they were stuck in an awkward situation, neither able to keep it nor give it away comfortably.

Six-Eared Macaque hadn’t thought that much into it. He had orders from Xuanzang to take back the kasaya, but as he reached out to do so, Jinchi Elder grabbed onto the other end of the garment.

He looked at Xuanzang with pleading eyes, "Great master, I beg you, just for one night. Let me take a good look, and I’ll return it to you first thing tomorrow morning."

Xuanzang, not very good at refusing others, reluctantly agreed to let him look at it for one night on condition that it be returned early the next day.

After agreeing, Xuanzang followed the guiding monk to find lodgings, only to be brought to a woodshed. Xuanzang was taken aback, "Monk, this is the woodshed."

The leading monk nodded, then said with a smile, "Please don’t mind our big place, but all our lodgings are full, so we have to impose."

The monk had not finished his words when another monk, who had come running from a distance, pulled him to one side.

The monk who arrived later apologized to Xuanzang with a smile, "Great master, I’m terribly sorry. Don’t listen to his nonsense, his words don’t count. In fact, we’ve already prepared a guest room for you. Please follow me."