Hao Yun shouted loudly to remind Chen Xuanzang, who was desperately swimming towards the baby basket, and at this moment he had already grabbed the baby basket in his hand.
Reminded, Chen Xuanzang turned his head and saw a gaping maw biting down at him.
Thump!
Water splashed everywhere, the baby basket was thrown ashore, and Chen Xuanzang and the tiger-skinned mudfish disappeared without a trace.
Holy crap! Did they get eaten? Chen Xuanzang is the main character! Who would go on the pilgrimage without him? Did the protagonist's halo not activate?
While his mind was wandering, Hao Yun didn't stop moving. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he swam directly to the shore.
"Ahhh!"
The tiger-skinned loach leaped out of the water and flung Chen Xuanzang, who was clinging to its back with sharp spikes, into the air.
Due to its weight, the tiger-skinned loach was the first to fall into the water. After entering the water, it raised its head and opened its big mouth, waiting for Chen Xuanzang to fall into its mouth.
Just as Chen Xuanzang was about to be devoured by the fish, a dark shadow flashed by and slapped the tiger-skinned mudfish, which was opening its mouth to eat meat, flying away.
The dark figure was the ancient fish that had been blown up by the Taoist priest earlier. The one who released the fish was the father of the baby that Chen Xuanzang had just saved.
This can be considered a cycle of cause and effect. If Chen Xuanzang hadn't saved his child, he might not have stood up to save Chen Xuanzang.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hao Yun took out the Thunderclap Bomb from his system backpack. The Thunderclap Bomb was about the size of a fist. Hao Yun lit it with a lighter and threw it at the tiger-skinned mudfish.
As for whether Chen Xuanzang would be hit by the explosion, Hao Yun didn't even think about it. Anyway, with the protagonist's halo protecting him, he would definitely be fine.
The bomb hit the water and exploded with a thud. After a muffled thud, the tiger-skinned loach floated to the surface, belly up.
"That's it?"
Hao Yun, who was about to throw the second Thunderclap Bomb, hurriedly extinguished the lit fuse. This thing was quite useful; he would keep one for later.
With the help of the fishermen, Chen Xuanzang was pulled ashore, and the tiger-skinned loach was also caught and pulled up by the fishermen with a fishing net.
"Kill it!"
"Yes, kill him!!"
Filled with righteous indignation, the fishermen grabbed their harpoons and wooden sticks and prepared to charge forward.
After leaving the water, the tiger-skinned loach suddenly changed, gradually transforming into a human, a naked man.
This scene terrified the fishermen even more, and some even suggested burning the monster to death.
"Quiet down, everyone! Let me handle this. I'm a professional exorcist!"
Chen Xuanzang rushed out from the crowd, still carrying his bundle in one hand.
Hao Yun, who was watching the commotion, almost burst out laughing. "You really think you're a professional exorcist? What makes you think that? You think you're some kind of nursery rhyme? Even that money-grubbing Taoist priest is better than you."
Upon hearing the mention of the Taoist priest, Hao Yun turned and slipped into the crowd, running up to the second floor where he found the Taoist priest who was trying to sneak away.
"Hey, don't go!"
Hao Yun, wielding two swords, blocked the Taoist's path.
"What...what do you want to do!"
Seeing Hao Yun looking like a robber, the Taoist priest shouted in a fierce but cowardly manner.
"Shouting so loudly, aren't you afraid of being caught and burned alive by the fishermen?"
After hearing Hao Yun's words, the Taoist priest hurriedly looked downstairs and saw that everyone was attracted by the professional exorcist Chen Xuanzang, which relieved him.
"What exactly do you want? I can give you all the money you want."
"Keep the money for yourself. Are there any more bombs like this?"
Hao Yun didn't care about the meager sum of money the Taoist priest had; he only wanted the bomb.
"There are a few more, you can have them all."
The Taoist priest pulled out bombs from his satchel and stuffed them all into Hao Yun's hands, eventually even giving Hao Yun the entire satchel.
Having gotten what he wanted, Hao Yun was too lazy to bother with him anymore, so he just waved his hand.
"Get lost."
Chapter 18 Heading to Gao Village
Upon seeing Hao Yun make way, the Taoist priest fled the fishing village without a word, never wanting to return.
Hao Yun played with the bomb he got from the Taoist priest. It was similar to the one the system gave him; both were about the size of a fist, with an outer iron shell and filled with gunpowder.
After putting the items into his system inventory, Hao Yun looked down and saw that Chen Xuanzang, who was singing to Sha Wujing, was being brutally beaten by Sha Wujing.
Just as Chen Xuanzang was about to be killed, Hao Yun turned around and was about to jump down when a woman dressed as a knight-errant suddenly appeared.
Miss Duan! When did she arrive? I didn't see her.
Hao Yun frowned. Could this Miss Duan also be a calamity arranged by the Buddha?
"Ada da da da da!"
The violent female warrior, Miss Duan, pinned Sha Wujing to the ground and beat him mercilessly before stuffing him into her demon-capturing bag and turning him into a doll.
Wow! Miss Duan is something else! Hao Yun looked at the demon-capturing pouch on Miss Duan's waist with envy. With this, she could basically handle any demon except for the most powerful ones.
[Option 2 complete. Rewards are being distributed. Please check your account.]
Hao Yun, who was watching the commotion from the second floor, suddenly felt lighter and had an urge to go for a swim.
Upon opening the system interface, Hao Yun found the "White Dragon in the Waves" item.
[Current World: Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (Stay Time: 29 days)]
Backpack: 10 cubic meters
[Skills: Wing Chun - Top Level, Eight-Cut Broadsword - Max Level, (Passive) Steel Bones - Beginner]
【Attributes: Strength (15), Constitution (12), Agility (10), Reaction Speed (11)】
[Talent: Triple Enlightenment *** Little White Dragon]
It turns out this is a talent skill. After finding the introduction of the Little White Dragon in the Waves, Hao Yun suddenly realized why he had an urge to go into the water.
White Dragon in the Waves: Innate skill, after entering the water, it moves like a dragon, can breathe underwater, and increases underwater movement speed.
While Hao Yun was researching skills, Chen Xuanzang and Miss Duan had their first conversation downstairs.
"You're an exorcist too?"
Miss Duan spoke in a flippant tone, clearly not taking Chen Xuanzang seriously. He couldn't even handle a small fish demon, which was a disgrace to exorcists.
"That's right."
Chen Xuanzang remained steadfast and was not influenced by Miss Duan in the slightest.
"Just based on this book of three hundred children's songs?"
Miss Duan was a little confused. Was this person an idiot? He dared to be an exorcist with a tattered children's song book. Had his brain been squeezed by a door?
“My master said it’s okay. Whether you believe it or not, I believe it.”
Despite his firm tone, Chen Xuanzang was actually starting to doubt his master's words, since every exorcism attempt had ended in failure.
"Actually, I also really like these kids' toys."
Miss Duan took off the Wuding Flying Ring, showed it to Chen Xuanzang, and then turned around to collect money from the fishermen.
Seeing Chen Xuanzang looking distraught and about to leave, Hao Yun hurriedly followed him, hoping that Chen Xuanzang would take him into the city.
After entering the city, Hao Yun would decide whether to follow Chen Xuanzang. After all, they would be facing Zhu Ganglie next, who was not an easy opponent. Hao Yun was not confident that he could escape from him.
"Brother Chen, wait for me."
Chen Xuanzang, who was feeling dejected, smiled when he saw Hao Yun catching up.
"Hello, may I ask what brings you here? Thank you for your help earlier."
"It's nothing. Are you heading back to the city? If so, we're going the same way."
The two traveled together. Hao Yun observed Chen Xuanzang the whole way. He was a very ordinary person, without any demeanor of a high monk, and even a bit silly.
After entering the city, the two parted ways. Hao Yun found an inn to stay in and then prepared to go out to see if there was anything good to eat.
Not long after leaving the inn, Hao Yun happened to see Chen Xuanzang, so he stopped and sat down at a tea stall on the street to watch him quietly.
Chen Xuanzang, with a pained expression, told his fat master that he wanted to learn powerful exorcism techniques.
The fat master rambled on and on, completely fooling Chen Xuanzang. Then Chen Xuanzang took the three hundred children's songs and went out of the city again.
After finishing his tea, Hao Yun hesitated for a moment before following after them.
Let's take a gamble. If we follow Chen Xuanzang, we're sure to trigger the system options. If things go wrong, we can just abandon him and run away.
As they left the city together, Hao Yun hurriedly called out to him.
"Brother Chen, where are you going?"
Chen Xuanzang stopped and, seeing that it was Hao Yun, smiled and replied.
“Benefactor Hao, my master just said that there is a monster in Gao Village, a hundred miles away, killing passersby, so I’m going to subdue it.”
Sure enough, he went to find Zhu Ganglie. Hao Yun's eyes lit up, and he came up with a plan.
“I’ll go with you too. It’ll be good to have two people to look after each other. I’m not an exorcist, but I do know some martial arts.”
“The Gao Village we are going to this time is very dangerous. Benefactor Hao, you should stop here. This humble monk can go alone.”
Upon hearing that Chen Xuanzang didn't want to take him along, Hao Yun smiled and hugged Chen Xuanzang.
"Don't worry, I won't hold you back. If things don't go well, I'll back down on my own."
For some reason, Chen Xuanzang felt that this sentence was strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong with it.
The two endured wind and rain, sleeping outdoors, and it took them three days to finally arrive at Gao Lao Zhuang.
After three days of travel, Hao Yun had gained some understanding of the local customs and culture of this world. Monsters roamed everywhere, and ordinary people were treated worse than dogs.
If it weren't for the existence of many exorcists, everyone except those living in big cities would probably have been eaten by monsters.
"Let's rest for a bit and eat something to fill our stomachs. We're about to reach that monster's territory. If we fight there, it'll be terrible if we're too hungry to fight."