Chapter 348: 347: The plot begins, actors get in position!
“Eldest brother, do you know if there is anything interesting in the other four cities?!”
Zhang Xinyi cheerfully questioned.
Du Gang got her point but didn’t answer directly, “Surely there is, we have so many things to eat here, the other four shouldn’t be disappointing either…”
The reason he didn’t stay in the City of Heaven was that he was looking for a place!
A wall where Monk Xuanzang and his master had a chat in the city, in the Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons!
That place must be a story convergence point. Once he found it, he would be able to locate Friar Sand, Pigsy, and Sun Wukong.
Of course, even if he couldn’t find it, it wasn’t a big deal; he wouldn’t lose anything and would consider the storyline different. But if he did find it, then he would have a head start, gathering plenty of intelligence for greater benefit.
So, the group of four kept wandering between the other four cities non-stop.
Eventually, Du Gang settled in Potian City.
He found that wall where Monk Xuanzang and his master had their conversation in Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.
It was a wall around a grain shop in the market that had been graffitied by children.
Du Gang stood in front of the wall, staring at it for quite a while. He let out a smile under the confused look from the other three.
Because there was still no picture of Friar Sand, Pigsy, and Sun Wukong on this wall.
Which means, the plot had not yet started!
“Qisha Elder Brother, where are we going next?”
Upon seeing Du Gang’s smile, Kou Yingwu asked in good time.
Du Gang answered with a smile, “Let’s find an inn nearby…”
With that, he led the other three toward an inn not far from the wall. He picked out some rooms on the second floor near the window to stay in.
No sooner had Zhang Xinyi entered her room than a voice entered her ears.
“Come to my room!”
It was Du Gang’s voice!
Her ears turned crimson instantly; her face was burning.
Has he finally made up his mind to make a move on me?
Zhang Xinyi felt both uneasy and torn; should I go or not?!
“Hurry up!”
Before she had long to hesitate, Du Gang’s urging voice came again.
This guy is really impatient!
She let out a deep breath before finally walking toward Du Gang’s room.
“Creak!”
The moment she pushed open the door, she froze.
Inside the room, both Kou Yingwu and Tao Xuanzhu were sitting at the table, looking directly at her.
Zhang Xinyi realized she might’ve misunderstood something…
“Ahem!”
She lightly coughed, quickly unflushing her ears as she moved swiftly into the guest room. After closing the door, she walked to sit beside the other two.
At this moment, Du Gang was standing by the window, looking outside.
“I have found the demon that will enable us to complete task three in the most efficient way!”
Du Gang informed them through mental transmission. Although his Divine Thought detected nothing amiss, to be on the safe side, he still chose to communicate through that method.
The other three, having memorized Du Gang’s teaching, likewise used mental transmission as soon as they figured out Du Gang’s way of communicating.
“Really?!”
“Where is it?”
Du Gang simply smiled and remained silent. After a while, once the others began to grow anxious, he said nonchalantly, “Every world has a Son of Destiny, and I have figured out who that is in this world…”
He didn’t tell them about the film series from many years ago that linked all these elements together, as it would sound too unbelievable for them.
But Du Gang knew it was true, Heavenly Court was indeed constructing a world based on his memory. Therefore, he didn’t need to tell them the truth; all he had to do was lead them to victory!
“Fantastic!”
Kou Yingwu responded straightaway, expressing his satisfaction and completely forgetting to ask Du Gang how he had made this discovery.
Tao Xuanzhu, however, was shocked, staring at Du Gang in disbelief.
Having come this far, she had been trying at all times to think like Du Gang, feeling she had Clear Enlightenment.
Who knew that at this very moment, she would realize his thoughts were profound, beyond ordinary human comprehension.
As for whether Du Gang was bluffing, she thought it unlikely given their shared experiences in several worlds; Du Gang didn’t seem like that kind of person.
As for Zhang Xinyi, her thoughts were unlike the others. Her heart was filled with only admiration and affection.
Du Gang took in all three reactions, especially Zhang Xinyi’s, and a hint of confusion crossed his face.
Does this woman love me?
He was somewhat uncertain, so he naturally didn’t point it out. Pretending not to notice, he continued, “Next, all we need to do is wait for the Son of Destiny to appear, and then…”
Suddenly, he thought of something.
In the TV series, Xuanzang’s master was the Buddha from Heaven, who descended to earth to guide Xuanzang.
But now, with Heaven missing, who was Xuanzang’s master?
Would such a person appear?
He was uncertain. The specifics would have to wait until the time came.
And so, the four stayed in Potian City.
After waiting for about two days, the person Du Gang was waiting for finally appeared.
Indeed, it was just like in the TV series, not only Xuanzang, even his master was the same.
“You look at that wall, can you see the cultivation level of that chubby monk?”
After discovering the two, Du Gang quickly sent a message to the others.
Everyone’s rooms were by the window, just like his, and they could see the graffiti on the nearby wall.
Soon, the others responded with their own mental transmissions.
“It seems like a commoner…”
“It doesn’t seem like he has any cultivation!”
“Could it be, that the chubby monk is the Son of Destiny?!”
Through the answers from the others, Du Gang felt a bit puzzled.
He also couldn’t see any cultivation level from the chubby monk, who appeared like an ordinary person.
But how could an ordinary person teach Xuanzang the Tathagata Sun Sutra?
The issue relating to the greatest combat power in the world was too significant for Du Gang to ignore.
After some consideration, he let out a deep breath and decided to activate one of his trump cards.
Eye of Unluckiness!
He silently chanted in his heart, and the next moment, his right eye turned blood red.
“Whoosh!”
A blood-red light flickered, and Du Gang saw the fat monk’s cultivation level.
True God Level pinnacle!
No, it’s Pseudo-True God Level pinnacle!
Du Gang had already noticed this issue. The people of this world have high cultivation but have cultivated for a very short time.
As far as he knew, even the True Gods who are on par with the Demon King Level have only cultivated for a few decades in this world!
This was completely inconsistent with metaphysics!
However, after fighting with the Demon King, he roughly understood that the True Gods here were not real True Gods, the people here, despite having the same cultivation level as them, were slightly weaker.
Not only that, even their divine abilities and means of attack were slightly inferior.
Even in his opinion, there is no strict class division here.
In their world, in the Primordial Continent, the gap between a True God and a God Spirit Level was like a chasm, difficult to cross easily and hard to reverse.
But it’s different here. He found that the people here had almost no bottlenecks in their cultivation, meaning there is no strict division between God Spirit Level and True God Level.
If he had to give a rank, Du Gang would be more inclined to give these natives a Demon King Level, a level comparable to True God!
Just as Du Gang looked at the fat monk, the monk seemed to sense something and looked in Du Gang’s direction.
Unfortunately, he looked too late. He did not see the red light in Du Gang’s eyes, only a person dressed in the attire of the Five Elements Sect.
Someone from the Five Elements Sect?
How are these guys here, I didn’t tell anyone…
Maitreya Buddha was somewhat puzzled, could it be a coincidence?
This is not impossible. After all, many people have come to the five cities of the Heavenly Court recently. It’s understandable if a few members of the Five Elements Sect happened to stay here.
Over there, Du Gang seemed to be looking around casually and did not linger. He turned his head and sat back in the room.
However, he was on full alert, with his hearing and perception extended to the maximum.
“Xuanzang, you’ve graduated, and you can go slay demons now!”
“Really? Master, but, I only know how to recite three hundred nursery rhymes?!”
Maitreya Buddha said with a grin, “Why do people become demons? It’s because their hearts are possessed by demons. We have to get rid of their demonic nature and awaken their good nature. The three hundred children’s songs can awaken the truth, goodness, and beauty in people’s hearts. Go, Xuanzang, you can do it!”
Upon hearing this, Xuanzang’s confidence surged. He pursed his lips and nodded seriously.
After that, she took some instrument and the three hundred children’s songs, and headed towards the outskirts of the city.
Seeing this, Du Gang had an idea and quickly told the others, “Watch the room, Tian Lang and I are going out for a walk!”
Through their code, the three quickly understood, this was work, and quickly agreed.
As Du Gang was leaving the room, he quietly said to Zhang Xinyi, “Hold onto me!”
Zhang Xinyi was taken aback for a moment but quickly reacted and affectionately wrapped her arms around him.
Their cover hadn’t been blown yet. The four newcomers from the Five Elements Sect, Tian Lang and Qisha were indeed lovers, and Xuan Jing and Beidou were brother and sister.
So, they left in an intimate manner, heading towards the outskirts of the city.
“Bro… Brother, where are we going?”
Zhang Xinyi didn’t think too much about it. Instead, she devoted herself to acting out her role. She knew that Du Gang was a person who took work very seriously, and he didn’t want to discuss personal matters at work.
Du Gang on the other hand, put up a flirty act, “Little sister, let your big brother take you to play by the lake…”
And so, they left Potian City, flirting with each other the entire time.
Behind them, Maitreya Buddha followed all the way, seeing them leave the city gate, he shook his head, “It seems I was overthinking. These guys really just happened to stay there…”
After shaking his head, Maitreya Buddha made his way quickly towards East Street within the city.
East Street, a place where only affluent families could reside.
He quickly arrived at a mansion named Duan Mansion and stopped.
Instead of going in, he took out a small whistle and blew it.
“Koo koo koo!!!”
A sound like bird calls echoed out. After a while, a distinguished woman in the attire of a well-bred lady stepped out.
Looking at Maitreya Buddha, she rolled her eyes and said with exasperation, “What is it this time, you rascal…”
“Hey, hey, hey, hold your horses on the scolding!”
Maitreya Buddha, with a smile on his face, said: “I’ve got a good job for you—one that is exclusive and hasn’t entered the Demon Suppression Office’s bounty system—a small demon. Are you in or not?!”
“Really not listed in the Demon Suppression Office?” Miss Duan asked with suspicion.
Maitreya Buddha chuckled, “Of course, we, in this line of work, have reputations to preserve. Would I lie to you?”
Mrs. Duan fumed, “Out of the three assignments you introduced to me previously, two had issues—I haven’t even settled the score with you yet…”
“Hey, at least one of them was real!”
Maitreya Buddha appeared unbothered as he continued grinning, “You know how it is—our line of work comes with risks, after all, we are snatching business from the Demon Suppression Office…”
Miss Duan nodded in agreement, mumbling to herself, “True, the bounties initially taken by the Demon Suppression Office have been snapped up by you guys, so it is normal to have risks…”
She nodded, “Okay, I’ll take this assignment. Wait for me at the usual place. I’ll change and be out…”
Maitreya Buddha chuckled and left.
Miss Duan was the perfect person he was looking for—a young lady who was a demon hunter by family tradition. She was stronger than a small demon but not quite a big demon.
But these weren’t the main reasons. The most important reason was that she was not the traditional well-mannered lady. She saw through the hypocrisy of the gentlemen and cared more about sincerity. She was a beautiful woman who would let go of all pretense for love.
Not only that, she had secretly formed a demon hunting team outside of her home…
She was indeed what Maitreya Buddha was looking for!
After leaving the city, Du Gang and Zhang Xinyi followed Xuanzang from afar. However, they did not appear to be following someone. Instead, they looked as if they were just casually strolling.
In fact, they often took detours, making it completely non-obvious that they were trailing someone.
“Brother, do you think this flower looks nice?”
Zhang Xinyi, with a smile, put a chrysanthemum on her head.
Du Gang cooperated with a smile, his eyes full of adoration, and ruffled her hair, “With you wearing it, it becomes beautiful…”
He was still uncertain of Maitreya Buddha’s purpose, but he knew the guy’s power was on par with a True God. It was likely that he had some sort of method to spy on and protect Xuanzang.
Thus, they continued their act!
The two leisurely walked, taking the less traveled paths. Finally, they reached a lake and sat on a large piece of bluestone.
Tian Lang lay snug up against Qisha, listening to his heartbeat, wishing she could stay here forever.
Du Gang, on the other hand, was secretly using his supernatural power, intently watching the lake. After a short while, the reflection on the water showed a village built by the water far in the distance.
Zhang Xinyi saw this too, but she did not mind. It was her first time being this close to Du Gang, and she wanted to spend more time with him without thinking about anything else.
Du Gang didn’t mind her, holding her tenderly while keeping an inconspicuous eye on the surface of the water.
In the reflection, a little girl sat in a boat by a wooden dock, singing a childish rhyme.
“A turtle crawls, crawls, crawls, two fish swim, swim, swim, three big lobsters swim, swim, swim.”