After their travel documents were verified by the Great Tang guarding the border, Xu Xiao and his party were finally out of the Great Tang Dynasty's borders.
Once outside the borders of the Great Tang Dynasty, both the lazy monkey and the seemingly relaxed Xu Xiao became alert, and even the three horses beneath him became somewhat uneasy.
" Master Xuanzang, your good days are coming to an end. You must be extra careful, and if anything happens, you must follow our instructions."
"Otherwise, losing your life is a small matter; failing to obtain the true scriptures you seek could affect the salvation of all living beings," Xu Xiao said with a smile, trying to scare Xuanzang.
"This... Celestial Official, is it really that terrifying outside? With you two celestial officials protecting me, I should be fine." Xuanzang was both surprised and flustered, but he still tried to reassure himself.
"Hehe, that's hard to say. We've come from a truly peaceful place. From now on, the road ahead will be through truly desolate and treacherous places, with all sorts of monsters and demons appearing one after another. No matter what happens, Master Xuanzang should still listen to our brothers' arrangements first, otherwise, if something goes wrong, we're afraid we won't be able to rescue him in time."
Xuanzang remained silent for a moment, looking at the restless horse, before finally nodding. "This humble monk understands and will certainly follow the celestial official's arrangements."
Xu Xiao's half-serious, half-joking scare of Xuanzang was also a way of setting a rule for him: if he didn't obey, he would find some pain to teach him without harming his life.
Whether Xuanzang believes it or not is his own business. After all, he is now just a monk, not the Buddha's chief disciple Jin Chanzi, so it's normal that he can't see through it.
Looking back at the Great Tang from abroad, there exists a protective array in the sky and on the ground, invisible to the naked eye, composed of countless God principles, the incense offerings of believers, and the fortune of humanity.
It was precisely because of the protection of many Heavenly Court gods that there were at most minor ghosts and demons within the Great Tang territory, but no powerful wild monsters or spirits.
However, now that we've left the Great Tang, the truly arduous days are about to begin.
'I just wonder where those trials I missed before will begin now.'
Xu Xiao led the way, with the monkey bringing up the rear, together protecting Xuanzang on his journey.
Unlike the original Journey to the West, because Xu Xiao and his companion escorted Xuanzang directly from Chang'an City, there were no calamities such as encountering a tiger outside the city or falling into a pit and being killed. The journey was safe and sound.
Xu Xiao didn't know how the Western Sect had arranged the Eighty-One Tribulations, but he didn't care; he just needed to take Tang Xuanzang with him.
'Anyway, if you guys are slow in arranging things, I'll just take him straight to the Western Heaven. Don't blame me if we don't escape the calamities.'
They walked and walked, and soon passed Shuangcha Ridge. They did not encounter any tigers, nor did they meet the hunter Liu Boqin.
Although Xuanzang's journey had been more difficult these past two days, he hadn't experienced the hardships and dangers Xu Xiao had described, and he couldn't help but feel a little skeptical of Xu Xiao's words.
'This celestial official is probably just trying to bluff me. The journey has been difficult, but it's been relatively peaceful.'
'Perhaps they're afraid I'll disobey, so they're deliberately trying to trick me.'
Although Xuanzang wasn't particularly cunning, he still had social experience.
When he was in the temple, when families who needed to be saved from wandering ghosts or had been disturbed by spirits came to the temple for help, his fellow monks would deliberately exaggerate the situation to get more money from the offerings.
Although he himself had never done such a thing, he had seen quite a few, and the two things were actually quite similar.
He didn't argue with Xu Xiao, but continued to traverse mountains and valleys every day, and soon they arrived within the Two Realms Mountain area.
Originally, there should have been a Five Elements Mountain here, but since the monkey was right next to them, the group passed by without anything happening.
As evening fell, they found a family at the foot of the mountain to stay overnight; it was the old shepherd boy's family, who should have had some connection with monkeys.
The old man was kind-hearted, and upon hearing that Xuanzang was a monk on his way to the Journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, he treated him well until the next day.
Just as dawn was breaking, Xuanzang, Xuanzang had risen early, finished his morning prayers and packed his things, when the old shepherd boy came to call him for breakfast.
Breakfast at a farmhouse is simple: a pot of hot vegetable porridge and a few homemade pancakes—plain food.
However, because of the old shepherd boy's sincerity and kindness, not to mention Tang Xuanzang, Xu Xiao also ate some with the monkey.
After finishing their meal, Xuanzang had originally intended to call Xu Xiao and his group to prepare to set off, but Xu Xiao refused to leave and instead sat alone by the door, closing his eyes to rest.
"Don't leave yet. Since we've accepted their vegetarian meal, I should help them get rid of some trouble."
Xuanzang dared not say anything more and could only stop. The monkey, however, stepped forward with some curiosity and asked:
"Brother, what's wrong? Is there something amiss that I haven't noticed?"
Xu Xiao smiled. "Just wait and see. There's a gang of bandits here who love to bully the weak. I can foresee that this family will suffer a bloody disaster after we leave. We've eaten their vegetarian meal, so it's only right that we help them out of this predicament."
"Besides, this is also a test of the monk's courage and character, to see what his attitude is, so that we can make arrangements for him in the future."
The monkey nodded silently, then went to the yard to play with the old shepherd's grandson. To be honest, although he had never had any connection with this family, he just felt that they were agreeable.
He maintained a human form, not the monkey with a hairy face and a thunderous mouth, so children were happy to pester him to play.
Xuanzang explained Buddhist scriptures to the old shepherd boy and his family, while monkeys played with the children in the yard; it all looked peaceful.
Xu Xiao waited patiently, and before he knew it, it was afternoon.
A group of bandits ran out of the mountains and soon saw the old shepherd's house along the path.
The leaders discussed it and decided that even a small thing is still something, so they decided to head this way.
Xu Xiao, who was in the courtyard, opened his eyes, which had been dozing, and looked at the bandits coming towards him with his Divine Sense. A smile appeared on his lips. They've finally arrived.
Soon, a crude, local dialect voice rang out from outside the courtyard, "Damn it, finally some people! I've been searching for ages!"
Accompanied by their local dialect, a group of bandits quickly arrived outside the courtyard via a side path.
"Hey! There are two young people too. Judging by their clothes, they don't look like people from the mountains!"
The bandit leader also saw Xu Xiao and Wukong in the courtyard, and his eyes lit up after seeing their clothes.
One of them was dressed in short clothes, and the other in scholar's attire; they were clearly not from the mountains.
Xu Xiao, in particular, has the appearance and demeanor of a wealthy young master; his clothes even gleam with a shimmering sheen.
"I didn't expect to meet such distinguished guests as soon as I came down the mountain. It seems that God is very kind to us, hahaha."
A group of bandits burst through the fence, laughing loudly, each thinking they had found a fat sheep.
Inside the house, the old shepherd boy and his wife rushed out in a panic, with Xuanzang following closely behind.
However, seeing the thugs who suddenly barged into the yard, he was momentarily stunned.