Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything-Chapter 324: The Rebellious Child

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Jiang Liu, with Red Boy on his back, took one step after another, moving forward.

If it were said in modern terms, would one step yield 100 Experience Points? System, hold it right there. If this task were to go on forever, I’d walk you into bankruptcy!

320 steps... 321 steps... 322 steps...

With Red Boy on his back, Jiang Liu’s pace was steady as he walked on, while silently counting his steps in his mind.

"1999 steps... 2000 steps... 2001 steps..."

"I feel that the numbness in my legs has improved a lot!" However, just as Jiang Liu hit a little over 2000 steps, Red Boy suddenly stirred, struggling to get down from Jiang Liu’s back.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

At this moment, Red Boy’s heart was filled with complex emotions.

For so many years, he had been living alone in Withered Pine Stream. His father ran off with a fox demon, and his mother stayed on her own. What used to be a happy family of three was now scattered in different directions. Red Boy could no longer remember how long it had been since he last gathered with his parents.

As Jiang Liu carried him on the road today, it inadvertently brought back memories of his father carrying him when he was a child.

Over the years, whenever Red Boy discovered someone had come to Withered Pine Stream, he would use this trick to deceive them.

The humans he usually encountered were up to no good, so they all became Red Boy’s snacks.

But today, Jiang Liu seemed to be sincerely willing to help him, and it made Red Boy somewhat recall the fatherly love deep in his memories. Thus, his heart softened, and he no longer thought of harming Jiang Liu but instead wanted to get down from his back.

However, sensing Red Boy’s movement behind him, Jiang Liu reflexively acted, holding him firmly to prevent him from falling off, and said, "Wait, don’t move, you might fall!"

"It’s okay now; my hands and feet have recovered. I can walk on my own!" Red Boy, intending to let Jiang Liu and his companions go, spoke out.

"No way!"

But hearing Red Boy’s words, Jiang Liu firmly refused, saying, "Since I promised to carry you, how can I let you walk on your own? What would my word be worth then? Let me tell you, I may lack other virtues, but I take promises very seriously. I do what I say!"

There was no choice. The task required him to carry Red Boy for at least 3000 steps, and now that he had already walked more than 2000, how could he give up?

"You... you don’t have some unspeakable reason for wanting to keep carrying me, do you!?"

Red Boy wanted to walk on his own, yet the monk actually refused? This made Red Boy somewhat skeptical of Jiang Liu.

"Amitabha, you were the one who asked to be carried, and you also decided the direction. Do you think I could have any unspeakable reasons!?" With that, Jiang Liu muttered a Buddhist chant under his breath and retorted after hearing Red Boy’s words.

"This..." Jiang Liu’s response left Red Boy momentarily at a loss for words, unable to speak, but he had to admit that Jiang Liu’s words made some sense.

After thinking it over carefully, although his intuition told him that the other party seemed to have some secrets, when Red Boy thought about it rationally, he couldn’t think of any reason either.

"Right, I haven’t asked yet. What’s your name?" Not wanting to dwell on this issue any longer, Jiang Liu pondered for a moment before suddenly changing the topic with a question.

"I’m called Red Boy; that’s what everyone calls me!" Upon hearing Jiang Liu’s words, as expected, Red Boy’s attention was diverted as he answered.

As soon as he spoke, Red Boy curiously asked Jiang Liu, "By the way, master, what do they call you?"

"This humble monk’s Dharma name is Xuanzang!" Jiang Liu replied.

"You’re Master Xuanzang!?" Hearing Jiang Liu declare his identity, Red Boy exclaimed in surprise.

"Eh? You know me?" Red Boy’s reaction made Jiang Liu somewhat astonished as he asked.

"Yes, my mother mentioned you before," Red Boy replied with a nod.

"Your mother!?" The mention of his mother made Jiang Liu look a bit peculiar.

Red Boy’s mother was none other than Princess Iron-Fan. Why would she mention him out of the blue?

The affair between him and Gaoyang was sworn on the Heavenly Dao, becoming known to many in the Three Realms, so many fairies, even demonesses, seemed to take a liking to this theme, considering him the most devoted man in the Three Realms. They worshiped him as if he were a star, just like Second Sister Luan did at the time.

But no matter what, Princess Iron-Fan was a married woman, and her son was already so big. Could it be that she harbored similar feelings for him?

This thought was somewhat strange to him.

Fortunately, Red Boy’s subsequent words alleviated much of the weird feeling in Jiang Liu’s heart.

"Back then, when I was at my mother’s cave, I heard my father and mother arguing. It seems that my dad had a fox—ah, found another woman, so my mom said that if my dad were even one-tenth as faithful as you, Master Xuanzang, it would be more than enough..." Red Boy started to speak, narrating the past events with striking resemblance to Jiang Liu.

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"So that’s how it is!" Upon hearing Red Boy’s words, Jiang Liu’s heart suddenly understood.

Thinking about the original story, Demon King Ox indeed had a roving eye, and it wouldn’t be strange for Princess Iron-Fan to say those words.

"Alas..." However, after his words had fallen, Red Boy let out a soft sigh.

"What’s the matter? Why do you sigh for no reason?" Jiang Liu asked in surprise upon hearing Red Boy’s sigh.

"It’s a pity that since the day I met my father, I’ve never seen him again. I don’t know where he has gone, and even my mother doesn’t know..." After a long sigh, Red Boy said in a low voice.

While speaking, Red Boy paused briefly, then continued, "I always remember when I was a child, my father would carry me on his back and take me out to have fun. Unfortunately, these past few hundred years, I’ve hardly had the chance to see him even once, leaving me alone to pass my days in Withered Pine Stream Fire Cloud Cave..."

"Alas..." Hearing Red Boy’s words, Jiang Liu also let out a soft sigh.

From the original story, one could see that Red Boy was exceptionally talented, a true prodigy. Otherwise, Guanyin wouldn’t have noticed him, put a hoop on him, and taken him back to be the Good Wealth Child.

Moreover, from the original story, one had to admit that Red Boy indeed had a somewhat wayward personality, a complete rebel.

Despite knowing that Sun Wukong and his own father were sworn brothers, Red Boy showed no regard for face at all.

However, Red Boy’s words today allowed Jiang Liu to see a different side of him.

His situation seemed to be quite different from the Red Boy Jiang Liu originally remembered.

Indeed, if you think about it carefully, originally, Red Boy lived with his parents, and the family of three could be said to be pretty happy, right?

But what about now? The family of three lives in three different places; even Red Boy doesn’t know where his father is.

Is it not within reason for a child coming from such a family environment to develop a rebellious nature?

"Mage, why do you sigh?" Lying on Jiang Liu’s back, Red Boy naturally also heard Jiang Liu’s sigh and asked in bewilderment.

"I’m sighing for you!" replied Jiang Liu upon hearing this.

"For me?" Red Boy was stunned, somewhat surprised, not understanding why Jiang Liu would sigh for him.

"You must really miss your parents, don’t you?" Jiang Liu said, thinking of how Red Boy had just lain on his back and seemed to have secretly shed a few tears.

Red Boy: "..."

Facing Jiang Liu’s words, Red Boy didn’t know how to reply for a moment.

Could he say he didn’t miss them? Such an obvious lie, Red Boy couldn’t bring himself to say it.

But to say he did miss them? After all, he was now the master of the Withered Pine Stream Fire Cloud Cave, and such words felt somewhat embarrassing to admit!

"Hey, you evil demon, caught yourself out, didn’t you!?" Just then, Sun Wukong, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. Baring his teeth and glaring fiercely, he stared at Red Boy and said.

"You said your home was up ahead, right? Turns out, you and your parents live separately! So I want to ask you, could an ordinary human child survive alone in these mountains? You are an evil demon!"

"That’s right, you bear child, trying to deceive us. Now you’ve finally shown your true colors, haven’t you? Master, be careful, this bear child is a demon; don’t let him harm you!" This time, Zhu Bajie rather unusually joined forces with Sun Wukong, pointing the finger at Red Boy as well.

"Master, Elder Brother and Second Brother are right!"

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Following his two brothers’ remarks, Sha Wujing, who was next to them, naturally couldn’t stay out of it either. He joined in and stated his position.

Tip: Task "Childlike Innocence" completed, gain Experience Points 300000!

Right at that moment, the system notification appeared. Unbeknownst to him, Jiang Liu had carried Red Boy all this way, walking about another 1000 steps, and finally completed the task.

Whoosh!

With the task completed, Jiang Liu also stopped walking. At the same time, Red Boy, who had been lying on Jiang Liu’s back, suddenly flipped over and jumped down.

Raising his hand, a Red Tassel Spear appeared in his grasp, pointed straight at Sun Wukong and the others. His youthful voice, though, was filled with boundless bravado, "That’s right, I am of the Demon Kind, so what!? Do you want to make a move? I’m not afraid of you guys!"

"Red Boy, calm down!"

But just as the standoff was about to escalate, Jiang Liu took a deep breath and then showed a kindly smile on his face, gently consoling.

Alas, my life is so hard, a task worth 1.8 million Experience Points. If I fail, I’ll lose 1.8 million Experience Points, nearly half a month’s cultivation of Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound wasted! I can only do my best to calm this rebel child deprived of fatherly and motherly love.

(PS: I am so upet. This evening, after I finished writing a 3000-word chapter and was about to upload it, the draft got lost. I was seriously upset to the point of crying... then, after calming down for over an hour, what else could I do? Rewrite it. This chapter, I’m writing for the second time and, indeed, it feels quite different from the first time. Truly, even if you rewrite the same chapter, it turns out different...)