Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 7, Exorcising the Demon at Gao Village (Part Two)
After Ao Tu arrived in the Gao Lao Zhuang area, the system's side quests were updated accordingly.

The rewards for other progress levels remain unchanged. Only the rewards for the progress achieved by Ao Tu at Guanyin Temple in three days, seven days, and half a month have changed.

Therefore, it seems that as long as Ao Tu does not achieve the subsequent progress, the rewards will remain unchanged.

The current progress of Ao Tu's obstruction is twelve days, which is the same as the progress made at Guanyin Temple.

In the Guanyin Temple area, Ao Tu blocked Tang Sanzang and his disciples for twenty-seven days. Because it was less than thirty days, he only received the reward for fifteen days. The extra twelve days were automatically transferred to this side quest.

At this time, Tang Sanzang and his disciples had not yet arrived in the Gao Village area, so the system progress was only at twelve days and did not continue to calculate.

Ao Tu has already devised a plan to stop Tang Sanzang and his disciples. This time, he is determined to get the reward for stopping them for a month.

He flew down from the clouds and used a transformation spell to turn himself into the likeness of Tang Sanzang. He then took two dragon scales, one turning into a brocade cassock and the other into a nine-ringed staff.

Ao Tu was dressed in a kasaya, holding a tin staff. His face was like the moon, and his eyes like bright stars. The tin staff jingled with nine rings, and the kasaya shone like a pearl, illuminating the universe. He was truly a Buddhist disciple descended to earth, a holy monk in the world.

Because Ao Tu once served as a bell-ringer in the Western Paradise, he was imbued with Buddhist energy and could recite scriptures. Therefore, his transformation into a monk was so convincing that it was difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake.

Chanting scriptures all the way, Ao Tu entered Gao Village, not entering any other houses, but heading straight for the home of Old Master Gao.

Upon arriving at the location, he knocked on the door, and after a short while, the door opened and a young man came out.

The young man, whose head was wrapped in cotton cloth and who was dressed in a blue robe, was a servant in the household of Grandfather Gao, named Gao Cai.

As soon as Gao Cai opened the door and saw Ao Tu's appearance, he couldn't help but show some respect and asked, "Elder, who are you?"

Ao Tu said, "This humble monk comes from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East. I am a monk who is on the way to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek scriptures by order of Emperor Taizong. I passed by your house and saw that it was filled with demonic energy. There must be a reason for this. Therefore, I came here to help your family get rid of the disaster."

Upon hearing this, Gao Cai was overjoyed and said:
"Yes, yes, the elder is right. He is indeed a holy monk from the Tang Dynasty. Holy monk, please wait a moment. I will go and report to my master!"

Gao Cai hurriedly went inside and reported to Grandpa Gao.

Upon hearing this, Gao Taigong quickly changed his clothes and came out with Gao Cai to greet them.

Grandpa Gao wore a dark blue hat, a clean brocade robe, felt boots, and a black sash around his waist.

Upon seeing Ao Tu's appearance, Gao Taigong thought to himself, "He is indeed the holy monk of the Tang Dynasty." He hurriedly greeted him as "Holy Monk" and bowed to Ao Tu.

Ao Tu returned the greeting.

Grandfather Gao invited Ao Tu to go inside and take a seat.

After they were seated, Old Man Gao asked, "I just heard that the holy monk came from the East?"

Ao Tu said, "That's right. This humble monk is on the orders of the Tang Emperor to go to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek scriptures."

Old Master Gao said, "Since the holy monk has come from afar, he must have magical powers. I beg the holy monk to have mercy and get rid of this monster in my family."

Ao Tu said, "This is not difficult. Tell me about the monster's origins, what methods it uses, what spells it employs, and what time it comes to cause trouble each day. I will then help you capture it." Gao Taigong said:

"That monster was originally my family's son-in-law. He worked for my family for three years and managed to accumulate quite a bit of wealth. If that's the case, then it's not so bad."

But he can change his appearance. At first, he's a fat, dark-skinned man, and later he turns into the shape of a pig. He can eat a lot, but luckily he only eats vegetarian food. If he were to eat meat, all my family's wealth would be gone in six months!

That was bad enough, but now he can also manipulate the wind, causing clouds and fog to appear every day, with sand and stones flying everywhere. He has imprisoned my daughter in the inner quarters, and father and daughter haven't seen each other for half a year. Only then did they realize he was a demon, and they begged the holy monk to exorcise him.

Ao Tu said, "He is also your son-in-law, and he has worked for your family for three whole years without ever harming you. How can you bear to get rid of him? Why don't I arrest him, make him break off the engagement, and release your daughter?"

Old Master Gao said, "Hey, Holy Monk Elder, who wants a monster as their son-in-law? Please, Holy Monk Elder, help me get rid of him to prevent future troubles!"

Ao Tu shook his head inwardly and said, "Very well, when will he arrive?"

Old Master Gao said, “We will come at night and leave at dawn. I will prepare a vegetarian feast for the Holy Monk first. If the Holy Monk needs any weapons or manpower, he should tell me so that I can prepare them in advance.”

Ao Tu said, "No need for weapons. You need to find ten young men and prepare lamps; I have a use for them."

Gao Taigong said, "Simple, simple, we will make all the necessary preparations for the holy monk."

Before long, a vegetarian feast was prepared, and Old Master Gao spent money to invite ten strong men from the village to bring torches and lanterns. Everything was ready.

As night fell, a gust of wind soon followed, carrying stones and sand.

Ao Tu waited in the room for a while until the wind gradually died down. He knew that Zhu Bajie had already gone into the back house, so he called everyone out.

He ordered the ten men to form two lines outside the house, and to light lamps that illuminated the entire house, making their features clearly visible.

Ao Tu said, "Whatever I say later, you all repeat it, shouting it three times in a row."

Everyone nodded.

Ao Tu said, "Wuneng, why don't you come out and pay your respects to your master?"

Upon hearing this, everyone shouted in unison, "Wuneng, why don't you come out and pay your respects to your master!"

Inside the house, just as Pigsy was about to climb into bed, he suddenly heard shouts outside and exclaimed in surprise, "Who is this? How does they know the Dharma name that Guanyin Bodhisattva gave me, Old Pig? Could it be the pilgrim who went to fetch the scriptures?"

So Pigsy immediately came out of the house to check.

Outside the courtyard, Ao Tu had everyone shout before standing still and waiting.

Before long, a monster appeared. Its appearance was indeed hideous, with a black face, short hair, a long mouth, and big ears. It wore a blue robe and a flowered handkerchief.

(End of this chapter)