Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 764 - 763: Door-to-Door Search

"The ginseng fruit that falls to the ground turns into nutrients and returns to the tree; that’s why the fruit you dropped earlier is gone. Why don’t you go and ask Master Zhenyuan for another one? The master is generous. As long as he takes a liking to you, he won’t be stingy at all," said the Local Deity before diving back into the earth.

The Six-Eared Macaque had figured out what was happening. He looked around, then down at his clothes, thinking that using his clothes should be fine. So, he took off his clothes and spread them on the ground, then climbed up the tree with his magic artifact and plucked a ginseng fruit, letting it fall onto his clothes.

When he came down, the Six-Eared Macaque quickly went over to where he had dropped the ginseng fruit, and sure enough, there it was resting on his clothes, completely intact. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Six-Eared Macaque joyfully picked up the ginseng fruit, brought it to his mouth, and took a bite. He smacked his lips; indeed, the juice was plentiful and the taste sweet. Especially now, after just one bite, he felt his blood surging through his body.

The Six-Eared Macaque finished the ginseng fruit in just a few bites, then put his clothes back on, thinking that with such strength-boosting properties, he couldn’t understand what his master was thinking. Such a fine thing had been given to him, and he wasn’t eating it; if you don’t eat it, you’ll just regret it later.

After eating the ginseng fruit, the Six-Eared Macaque left the place smacking his lips, and returned to his room.

Later, Qingfeng and Mingyue walked toward the big tree. "Such delicious fruit, and that silly monk doesn’t eat it; truly foolish. It’s just fruit, not real children. Isn’t it funny? One has it in hand and says he won’t eat, while another wants to eat but can’t. Hahaha," they said.

"Let’s be serious for a moment. We should check the Ginseng Fruit Tree first to see if any are missing," Qingfeng said, still clear-headed, prompting Mingyue to start counting the fruits.

"One, two, three, four..." Qingfeng and Mingyue counted the fruits together, "Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, is that all? That’s not right!"

Qingfeng and Mingyue exchanged glances and began counting the fruits again. They both counted twice together, then separately, a total of four times, but the count was still twenty-eight.

"Brother, this isn’t right. There were originally thirty fruits on the tree. How is it that there are only twenty-eight left now?" Mingyue was very puzzled about what could have happened. The tree had obviously been alright before, with thirty ginseng fruits, which had taken tens of thousands of years to grow. How could they just disappear?

"Let’s report this situation to our master," Qingfeng suggested.

Chen Nuo was having tea with Master Zhenyuan in the hall, discussing the practice of Daoism. Although Chen Nuo was not particularly interested in these matters, he was able to respond fluently.

Master Zhenyuan found Chen Nuo’s statements on the points he raised to be impressive, seeing him as a kindred spirit met in his later years, deserving of such fortune indeed.

Even though he didn’t practice Daoism, his understanding and unique insights into Daoist matters were truly rare.

"Mr. Chen, what do you think? If someone were to expand their influence, making all preparations in advance and even not hesitating to damage some things to achieve their end, what would such Merit Points obtained in this way be considered—merit or..."

Master Zhenyuan was about to ask Chen Nuo a question when Qingfeng and Mingyue suddenly burst in.

"Master, master, something terrible has happened!" Mingyue cried out.

Master Zhenyuan glanced at Chen Nuo beside him, embarrassed that his disciples could be so thoughtlessly rash in front of such a person. He coughed and scolded, "What’s this rash behavior? It’s indecent!"

Qingfeng pulled at Mingyue to stand properly and then spoke, "It’s like this..."

"Master, two monks have stolen our Ginseng Fruits!" Mingyue couldn’t hold back at all and then exclaimed loudly.

"What do you mean, stolen the Ginseng Fruits? The Ginseng Fruits are not..." Master Zhenyuan still wanted to maintain his image in front of Chen Nuo, so he hadn’t listened clearly to what Qingfeng and Mingyue had told him earlier.

"Tell me again carefully, the Ginseng Fruits were stolen by those two monks?"

"Exactly, Master. We should first go and ask those two monks to clarify the situation," Qingfeng suggested.

Master Zhenyuan nodded. Since Mingyue had already brought it up, he had to see what the real situation was.

It was strange, as when arrangements were made earlier, it was only said that Tang Monk and his disciples were to stay at the monastery. Nothing else was mentioned to him.

He thought that simply providing them lodging for a night or two would suffice, but if they were causing trouble over this, then he would be utterly opposed to it. He intended to drive the Master and disciples out as soon as possible.

Chen Nuo was waiting for this moment. So he stood up, pretending to offer assistance, and said, "Then perhaps I should also go and see what exactly has happened."

Master Zhenyuan didn’t want his guests to witness such affairs, but Qingfeng and Mingyue had already come in and seen it, so there was no option but to let him follow along.

With determination, Qingfeng and Mingyue strode towards the location, arriving at Xuanzang’s room door, and knocked vigorously, "Open up, is anyone there? Open the door."

Xuanzang was unaware of what had happened but sensing urgency from the knocks and calls outside, he quickly went to open the door.

Upon opening the door and seeing the furious Mingyue, he was taken aback, not knowing what had occurred. He asked, "Little Immortal Boy, what is the matter, and why such haste?"

"You monk, now pretending to be good. Earlier when we offered you the fruit, you didn’t eat it, and I thought you were genuinely abstaining. But now, you and your disciple have colluded to steal our fruit. What, is the fruit that we gave you not as delicious as the fruit you steal for yourself?"

Mingyue had already convicted Xuanzang and his disciple of stealing the Ginseng Fruit, so as soon as he opened the door, without further inquiry, he began reprimanding him.

Xuanzang, accused by Mingyue, was utterly baffled, having no idea what had transpired. He bowed respectfully and asked gently.

"Amitabha, little Immortal Boy, what do you mean by stealing? From the time I entered this room, I have been chanting scriptures and invoking Buddha’s blessings, never once leaving the room. I don’t know what little Immortal Boy means by ’stealing’."

Mingyue was astonished as he looked at the monk. "You monk, our Master is right here. If you ate it, admit you ate it. You are still a monk, aren’t you? To not even admit to this, what kind of monk are you!"

With this accusation, Xuanzang was even more clueless about how to respond. He had, indeed, been reciting sutras and chanting inside the room the entire time, heeding nothing from outside, truly unaware of what had actually happened.

Even though the other was anxious, he remained calm, still with a gentle demeanor, "Little Immortal Boy, please do not worry. The fruits, perhaps, were eaten by birds or beasts, who knows."