Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 47, Reward Settlement

Meanwhile, Ao Tu Zongyun descended upon White Tiger Ridge.

They landed in that cave of white bones.

Upon seeing this, the White Bone Demon hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty."

Ao Tu said, "Tang Sanzang and his disciples are coming. Come with me."

So Tiger Vanguard on the left, White Bone Demon on the right, followed Ao Tu back to the wooden house.

As usual, Qiao'er tidied up the wooden house carefully, looked out onto the main road, and seeing that no one was around, prepared to go back.

Suddenly, a figure walked over from a distance.

He was the one she thought about day and night.

Just as Qiao'er was about to rush over, she was stunned to see the beautiful woman following behind the Dragon God.

Her beauty was unparalleled, her face like jade, her features like frost, possessing a natural allure; her starry eyes held dew, her cherry lips were touched with rouge, exuding a myriad of charms. Her black hair was styled into a high bun, adorned with a white jade hairpin; her icy skin was lightly wrapped in a snow-white robe, with nine silver tassels floating around it.

Looking back on myself, a farm girl, though possessing some delicate features, inevitably suffers from sun and wind exposure, her cheeks faintly flushed. Her slender fingers bear the slight marks of calluses, unlike the tender hands of a woman confined to her chambers.

Clad in coarse linen, though possessing a natural charm, she lacks the adornment of fine clothes, only adorned with dust and mud. Her braided hair hangs down, without a single accessory, bound only by a straw rope; how can it compare to the brilliance of gold and jade worn by others?

After waiting anxiously for several days, I finally met my beloved, but I felt ashamed of my appearance and shed a few tears before covering my face and leaving.

Ao Tu returned to the wooden house. Not long after, Qiao'er knocked on the door, carrying a basket of food in her hand, which consisted of coarse flour buns and wild vegetable dumplings.

The White Bone Demon opened the door and asked, "Who are you?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao'er felt even more inferior.

Ao Tu said, "This is Miss Qiao'er, please invite her in."

The White Bone Demon then invited Qiao'er in.

When Qiao'er entered, she saw Ao Tu. He was handsome and well-matched with the beautiful woman from before. She lowered her head and said:
"Sir, I saw you had returned and was afraid you hadn't eaten, so I brought you some food."

Ao Tu said, "Thank you. You cleaned this room too, right? Thank you for your help."

He was gone for more than a month, and when he returned, his room was spotless, which meant that someone cleaned it regularly.

Qiao'er lowered her head and said, "It's no trouble at all. Then, I'll be going."

In the end, she didn't dare to ask about the marriage proposal.

If she asks and the adults say it was just a joke, how should she face them?
If we don't ask, we can still have a bit of luck and delay waking up from our dreams by two days.

Ao Tu nodded and said, "Go ahead. Oh, and get ready, I'll be going to propose marriage in a couple of days. This is my younger sister, Jingjing, you two should get to know each other."

Qiao'er stood there stunned, the joy she had been longing for suddenly arriving.

She blankly greeted Jingjing for a moment, then walked out of the wooden house and returned home. Although it was only a few steps, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

A few days later, Tang Sanzang and his disciples walked out of the Longevity Mountain area, and the system voice sounded.

[Rewards are being calculated; a total of 32 days of interception.]

[Received reward spell: Earth Escape.]

[Received a Six-Turn Golden Elixir as a reward.]

[You have received the Taiyi Purple Gold Pill as a reward.]

[Received the Buddhist Dharma - Six-Syllable Mantra.]

[The extra two days will automatically be carried over to the next side quest; the next side quest is: Three Battles with the White Bone Demon.]

In this mission at Wuzhuang Temple, Ao Tu's interception time was not very long, only about twenty days. Combined with the six days of progress from the last mission, he barely managed to get the thirty-day reward.

Unfortunately, it's difficult for Ao Tu to make significant changes to Zhenyuan Daxian's Daoist temple.

Fortunately, he reaped a rich harvest. In addition to the rewards given by the system, he also obtained three ginseng fruits. He ate one, and there were two left, along with a section of the ginseng fruit tree branch, which he nurtured in his five-colored divine light.

The next three battles against the White Bone Demon can then be properly orchestrated. He had already laid the groundwork back at Wuzhuang Temple.

[Enter the mission area]

[Current Side Quest: The Three Battles with the White Bone Demon]

[Task Requirements: Block the pilgrims in the White Tiger Ridge area. Rewards will be calculated based on the time taken to block them.]

[Task Rewards: 3 days/Triple-level Golden Core, 7 days/Six-level Golden Core, Half a month/Demon Court Small Heavenly Cycle Formation, One month/Witch Weapon Peach Wood Staff, One season/Divine Power Rainbow Transformation Technique, Half a year/Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood, One year/Innate Spiritual Treasure Soul-Scattering Gourd, Three years/Innate Spiritual Treasure River Map and Luo Book, Twelve years/Chaos Bell, Sixty years...]

Current progress: Two days

Ao Tu looked at the rewards that the system had refreshed.

There's not much to say about the three-day and seven-day rewards.

The reward for half a month is a formation, which he has never heard of before. However, judging from the fact that the reward is at the half-month progress stage, it shouldn't be particularly strong.

The reward for one month is a magical weapon, a peach wood staff. Regardless of its power, its element is wood, which can perfectly complement Ao Tu's Five-Colored Divine Light, greatly increasing its power.

Currently, among the Five Colored Divine Lights, the Metal element has the Three-Rank Golden Lotus, the Water element has the Three-Light Divine Water, the Earth element has the Ginseng Fruit Branch, and the Fire element has the Five-Fire Divine Flame Fan. Only the Wood element is currently missing.

The reward for the season: the Rainbow Transformation Technique.

This technique is a supernatural power of the same level as the Five-Colored Divine Light, also known as the Golden Crow Transformation into a Rainbow Technique. The Golden Crow is the essence of the great sun, and its light is divided into seven colors, which scatter into rosy clouds and gather into a rainbow, hence the name Rainbow Transformation Technique.

When unleashed, the body merges with light, covering thousands of miles in an instant, leaving no trace; it is the number one escape technique in the Three Realms.

As for the reward for half a year, it's the essence of the Ancestral Dragon.

If Ao Tu can obtain it and refine it, he can reproduce some of the ancient dragon clan's power and show the monkey brothers the oppressive feeling from the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity.

Ao Tu went down the mountain and bought some betrothal gifts, but not many.

One zhang of cotton cloth, one zhang of red cloth, one dou each of five kinds of grains, two jars of rice wine, two strips of cured meat, and two taels of silver wrapped in red cloth—that's all there is to it.

For an ordinary family, this is already a very good dowry.

He gave it to Qiao'er's parents and explained his purpose.

The two elders were naturally willing and inquired in detail about Ao Tu's family situation.

Ao Tu replied that his family was originally an official family, but his father was framed and killed in a court struggle, and his mother died of grief.

There were nine brothers in the family, who scattered in different places to seek refuge.

He came here with his younger sister, wanting to live a secluded life in the mountains, get married, have children, work the fields at sunrise and rest at sunset, and live a peaceful life like an ordinary person.

The two elders were overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately arranged the marriage.

Because of the demonic disturbances that had occurred there before, there were hardly any people living in White Tiger Ridge, so there were no relatives or neighbors to invite.

A few days later, on an auspicious day, they cut red paper to paste on the windows, lit two red candles, and the two families gathered together to prepare a delicious meal, which they enjoyed immensely. Qiao'er dressed in red, and Ao Tu carried her back to the wooden house, thus completing the ceremony.

Tiger Vanguard built another wooden house next door, giving up the new house.

at night.

Ao Tu lifted the veil.

Qiao'er's face was flushed, and she was too shy and nervous to look at him.

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Alright, I won't tarnish your reputation. You can stay here for a while. There's no one else in these mountains, so it won't ruin your name. Once I've finished my business, I'll give you a thousand taels of gold and silver and send your family to live in the city."

Upon hearing Ao Tu's words, Qiao'er showed no joy whatsoever; instead, her face turned pale.

Yes, the adults said it was just acting...

After Ao Tu finished speaking, he prepared to leave.

Qiao'er suddenly grabbed his arm.

(End of this chapter)