Reward Settlement

After leaving the West Sea, Ao Tu rode the clouds and mist, soon arriving at the Black Water River.

The lord of this river was his ninth brother, Little Alligator Dragon.

His father, the Jing River Dragon King, had nine sons. His uncle, Dragon King Ao Run of the West Sea, had arranged posts for the eldest eight, including him. Only Little Alligator Dragon was still young and unwilling to let go of their father's blood feud, so he had been sent to the Black Water River.

Ao Tu entered the river and arrived at the underwater residence.

Upon hearing that Ao Tu had come, Little Alligator Dragon reluctantly came out to welcome him.

Little Alligator Dragon considered Ao Tu and their seven other brothers far too spineless. They had willingly abandoned their father's blood feud to become dogs for those immortals, so he had little affection for any of them.

But when Ao Tu told him that he had rebelled against Spirit Mountain, Little Alligator Dragon was overjoyed. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to prepare a welcoming feast, even specifically telling them to catch a few monks on the shore and cook them.

Ao Tu waved his hand and said,

"I still have business to attend to, so don't trouble yourself with a feast. There will be time for us brothers to gather another day. I came today to ask you to help settle these two tiger cubs."

Ao Tu handed the two little tigers to Little Alligator Dragon.

Little Alligator Dragon agreed.

Ao Tu patted his shoulder, then turned and left.

Next stop: the Flowing Sand River!

He rode the clouds and mist all the way to the Flowing Sand River, but the system quest had yet to update.

His progress at Yellow Wind Ridge was still increasing and had reached forty-one days. Presumably, Tang Sanzang and his disciples had yet to leave Yellow Wind Ridge.

Ao Tu halted his cloud and looked down.

It truly was a mighty river.

To the east it joined the sandy wastes, and to the west it reached the foreign kingdoms; southward it extended to Wuge, and northward it connected to the Tatars. Eight hundred li across, it stretched for countless thousands of li upstream and down. Its waters surged like the earth turning over, its waves reared like mountains arching their backs. Vast and boundless, hazy and endless, its towering floods could be heard from ten li away.

Ao Tu watched for a long time without seeing Sha Wujing emerge, then told Tiger Vanguard, "Go down and see what's going on."

Tiger Vanguard obeyed, leaping off the cloud and plunging into the water.

Though tigers were creatures of the mountains, they were also skilled swimmers.

Once in the water, Tiger Vanguard searched downward. There were hardly any fish or shrimp in the river, only remains that had sunk to the bottom. As he ventured farther in, a hideous demon suddenly emerged from the riverbed, wielding a Precious Staff.

Neither green nor black was his ill-omened face; neither tall nor short was his sinewy, barefoot frame. His eyes flickered like two lamps beneath a stove, and his gaping mouth resembled a butcher's brazier. His fangs jutted like sword blades, his red hair tangled and wild. A single shout roared like thunder, and his racing feet swept along like rolling wind.

Startled, Tiger Vanguard said, "What kind of monster are you, lurking here?"

Sha Wujing said, "You're the monster! I am the Curtain-Rolling General, banished to the mortal realm and exiled here. You've got some meat on you, Tiger Monster. Today I'll turn you into meat paste!"

Tiger Vanguard said, "How dare you boast so wildly! Taste my blade!"

Tiger Vanguard swung his saber at Sha Wujing.

Sha Wujing raised his Precious Staff to meet him.

They exchanged seven or eight rounds of blows. Outmatched, Tiger Vanguard took a staff strike to the shoulder, then turned and fled.

Above the river, Ao Tu watched the water below. Before long, Tiger Vanguard shot out of the water.

Sha Wujing came pursuing right behind him.

Seeing this, Ao Tu took out his treasured fan and gave it a wave.

Flames sprang up at once and fell upon Sha Wujing. With a scream, Sha Wujing fled back into the water.

The fire did not die in the water. It continued burning on Sha Wujing, scorching his flesh and burning away his red hair.

Sha Wujing's screams rose from the riverbed. Before long, he burst out of the water engulfed in flames, fell to his knees, and begged,

"Ah! Spare my life, exalted immortal! Please withdraw your divine fire!"

Ao Tu withdrew the flames, finally saving Sha Wujing.

Ao Tu lowered his cloud and said, "You demon, how brazen of you to run rampant here! Do you know who I am?"

Sha Wujing said, "May I ask your name, exalted immortal?"

Ao Tu pointed at Tiger Vanguard and said,

"He and I are the Dragon and Tiger Generals under Venerable Ananda of Western Spirit Mountain. We have come on his orders to find a Buddhist disciple named Sha Wujing. Demon, tell us the truth at once! Where is Sha Wujing? Have you eaten him?"

Hearing this, Sha Wujing felt like weeping but had no tears.

"Honored gods, I am Sha Wujing! Guanyin Bodhisattva counseled me to wait here for the Pilgrim!"

Ao Tu looked shocked and hurried forward. "You're Sha Wujing? Why do you look like such a monster?"

Sha Wujing said, "I was once the Curtain-Rolling General, attending the imperial carriage in the Hall of Divine Firmament. But I accidentally broke a Glass Cup at the Peach Banquet. The Jade Emperor had me beaten eight hundred times and banished to the mortal realm, leaving me looking like this."

Ao Tu helped Sha Wujing up and said,

"I misunderstood you. Your fierce appearance made me think you were a monster from the river, and I wounded you by mistake. How are your injuries?"

Sha Wujing looked at the burns covering his body, his expression bitter.

Ao Tu took out two bottles of Spirit Pills and pressed them into Sha Wujing's arms. "I have some Spirit Pills here. Please accept them as a small apology."

Sha Wujing immediately felt much better about the matter.

Ao Tu said, "Sha Wujing, hear this decree."

Sha Wujing had no doubts whatsoever about their identities and hurriedly said,

"This disciple awaits the decree!"

Ao Tu said, "Master Sanzang of the Great Tang in the Eastern Land is now undertaking the Journey to the West, traveling countless miles to obtain the scriptures. Along the way, he must endure nine times nine, the Eighty-One Tribulations, before attaining fruition. As the number of tribulations is currently insufficient, the Buddhist disciple Sha Wujing is hereby ordered to add one tribulation by obstructing the Pilgrim."

Alarmed, Sha Wujing said,

"Honored gods, didn't the Bodhisattva tell me to become the Pilgrim's disciple?"

Ao Tu smiled. "Don't worry. This won't interfere with that. Use a false name, add this tribulation, then become his disciple and accompany the Pilgrim on the Journey to the West."

Sha Wujing said, "I shall follow the venerable one's instructions."

Ao Tu smiled. "Good. First, alter the stone marker for the Flowing Sand River."

Sha Wujing asked, "How should I alter it?"

Ao Tu said, "Change Flowing Sand River to Black Water River, and carve these words: rolling ink blankets the earth, surging gray stretches a thousand li. Up close, no human shadow can be seen; from afar, no shape can be found."

Sha Wujing used his Precious Staff to erase the words on the stone marker, then carved the words Ao Tu had given him.

Ao Tu also told Sha Wujing to change his name, adopting the alias Sha Tuolong.

He removed the nine Pilgrims' skulls from around Sha Wujing's neck and had him take on the appearance of a fisherman, fishing by the river while quietly awaiting the Pilgrim.

Sha Wujing obeyed every instruction.

And so nearly a month passed...

At last, with a ding, Tang Sanzang and his disciples left the eight-hundred-li Yellow Wind Ridge, and the system began calculating his rewards.

[Ding! Calculating rewards. Total time obstructed: sixty-four days.]

[Ding! Reward obtained: Three-Thousand-Year Peach of Immortality.]

[Ding! Reward obtained: divine weapon-Dark Gold Iron Staff Spear.]

[Ding! Reward obtained: spell-Earth-Traveling Golden

Light.]

[Ding! Reward obtained: Ten Ultimate Arrays-Red Sand Formation.]

[Ding! The thirty-four surplus days will automatically carry over to the next side quest. Next side quest: A Difficult Crossing at Flowing Sand.]

The four rewards were issued.

The Three-Thousand-Year Peach of Immortality was much smaller than the Nine-Thousand-Year Peach of Immortality Ao Tu had eaten. It lacked the purple markings, but was still a rare immortal fruit.

The divine weapon, the Dark Gold Iron Staff Spear, was a silvery-white spear that could grow or shrink. Its head was gold and could unleash golden light to slay enemies, with its power depending on the wielder's magical power.

Ao Tu instantly mastered the spell, Earth-Traveling Golden Light. With this spell, even if he became trapped behind prison walls, he could slip free and escape at any moment.

As for the final reward, the Ten Ultimate Arrays' Red Sand Formation, he received a formation diagram directly. He only needed to channel his magical power and deploy the diagram to put every arrangement within the formation into place. Then, with a single utterance of "Retract," everything could be drawn back into the diagram. It was extremely convenient.

Once the four rewards had been issued, the system's notification sounded again.

[Ding! Entering quest area.]

[Current side quest: A Difficult Crossing at Flowing Sand.]

[Quest requirement: Obstruct the Pilgrim within the Flowing Sand River area. Rewards will be calculated based on the duration of the obstruction.]

[Quest rewards: three days/Three-Turn Soul-Reviving Pill, seven days/Six-Thousand-Year Peach of Immortality, half a month/houtian spiritual treasure-Headache Chime, one month/houtian spiritual treasure-Dragon-Binding Rope, one season/supernatural ability-Five-Colored Divine Light, half a year/ancestral dragon essence blood, one year/congenital spiritual treasure-Soul-Scattering Gourd, three years/congenital spiritual treasure-Hetu Luoshu, twelve years/Chaos Bell, sixty years...]

[Current progress: thirty-four days.]