Chapter 41: The Infatuated Bajie

The Infatuated Bajie

"Master, look quickly, there is a village ahead; we can have a good rest for the night." Sha Wujing said happily as he looked at the village in front. After all, they hadn't encountered a village for over ten days, so how could he not be happy to finally find one.

"Very well, let us enter the village and prepare to find a household to stay the night." Tang Seng said with a smile as he looked at the village ahead.

After the three master and disciples arrived in front of a huge mansion and looked at the large plaque above that read Gao Fu, they knocked gently and asked, "Is anyone there? We would like to stay the night."

After waiting a while, a person who looked like a steward opened the door and asked, "I wonder what business you gentlemen have?"

"Greetings, elder. I am the Dharma Master Xuanzang from the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands, and I am preparing to go to the Western Heaven to obtain the true scriptures. Since we have not encountered a village for over ten days, we have finally found one with great difficulty and would like to stay at your mansion for the night." Tang Seng said, feigning profundity.

"Please wait a moment, I will go and report this." The old man walked into the inner courtyard to ask for instructions.

"Please come in, masters, my master invites you." After a while, the old man walked out and said.

"Thank you, let us go in." Tang Seng led the others into Gao Fu.

"Greetings, masters. I am the wealthy Master Gao of Gao Laozhuang. I wonder what your names are?" A stout man said as he looked at Tang Seng and the others.

"My name is Tang Xuanzang, and I have come from the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands. These two are my disciples; this is my eldest disciple Sun Wukong, and my second disciple Sha Wujing. Both are here to protect me on my journey to the Western Heaven to obtain the scriptures." Tang Seng introduced them politely.

"The master truly has perseverance; to be able to persist even when the Western Heaven is so far away is truly admirable." Master Gao complimented.

"Not at all, not at all, you are too kind, benefactor." Tang Seng hurriedly feigned modesty.

"Masters, please rest for a while. I still have some matters to attend to, so I will not accompany you. I hope you will excuse me."

"It is fine, Master Gao, please attend to your business." Tang Seng said hurriedly.

"Then I shall take my leave. Please make yourselves at home here while I go handle my affairs." After saying this, Master Gao walked toward another courtyard.

Sun Wukong asked Sha Wujing curiously, "Old Sha, what do you guess this big-bellied wealthy man went off to do?"

Old Sha said profoundly, "Based on my many years of experience, this wealthy man must have gone to handle some unspeakable business; otherwise, he would not have been so hurried or so cautious."

"Do not talk nonsense. That wealthy man looks like a good person at first glance. Sha Wujing, I see that you have not shed your evil habits. How can you attain the Right Fruit like this? You must think more about good things." Tang Seng interjected.

Sha Wujing curled his lips behind Tang Seng's back and said respectfully, "Master is right. It was this disciple who was reckless; I will certainly change in the future."

Sun Wukong felt a surge of anger whenever he saw Tang Seng's pretentious act. Damn it, if it weren't for the Grandmaster's repeated warnings to endure, I would beat you until your form and spirit are destroyed, just to see if you would still act so pretentious.

"Master, I am going out for a stroll. You all stay here." Sun Wukong said and walked out.

"Eldest Senior Brother, wait for me. I will go with you." Sha Wujing said hurriedly.

The two walked outside the house, and Sun Wukong said to Shaseng, "Junior Brother, how about we go see what that wealthy man is doing? Seeing how mysterious he is, there must be something big going on."

"Alright, I would like to see what kind of unspeakable business that wealthy man is handling." Shaseng said gossiping.

The two snuck into the courtyard the wealthy man had entered. They lay on the roof and watched what was happening inside the courtyard.

"Speak, are you going to marry my daughter or not?" The wealthy man shouted loudly.

"Master Gao, I have no feelings for Miss Gao, so please stop forcing me." A burly man said.

"Why do you have no feelings for me? Is it because I am not beautiful enough?" A beautiful young lady said sadly.

"But I am a demon, and you are a human; we cannot be together." The burly man continued to persuade her.

"I do not care what you are. I like your heart. Whether you are a demon, a human, or an immortal, I like you." Miss Gao confessed loudly.

"Sigh, since ancient times, deep affection has only led to lingering regrets; this regret is endless. Miss Gao, I am sorry, I already have someone I like." The burly man said infatuatedly.

"Who is it? Is she better looking than me? How come I do not know?" Miss Gao asked suspiciously.

"She is the most beautiful woman in the world, named Change, who lives in the Yue Gong. If it were not for that old man, the Jade Emperor, refusing our marriage, we would have been together long ago." The big man said with regret.

"I do not care about your Change or short goose. If you do not agree to marry my daughter today, I will send you to Diyu today." Master Gao said gloomily.

"Come then, burn me to death. Even if I die, I will not betray my beautiful Change." Bajie said righteously.

"Do not touch my big brother." Seeing this, Sha Wujing flew down immediately.

"Big brother, are you alright? How did you end up in such a miserable state, actually being captured by mortals?" Shaseng said sympathetically.

"Sigh, I had no guard against them. Who knew they would treat me like this? By the way, Second Brother, were you not locked in the Liusha River by that woman Wangmu? How did you get out?" Bajie asked Shaseng in confusion.

"The Guanyin Pusa enlightened me and asked me to protect the monk Xuanzang on his journey to the Western Heaven. Once I attain the Right Fruit, I will be free." Shaseng said.

"So that means Dharma Master Xuanzang has arrived? That is great, I can finally walk out of Gao Laozhuang too." Bajie said happily.

"You were also enlightened by Guanyin?" Shaseng said happily.

"Of course, our brothers can fight side by side again." Bajie said happily.

"Enough, you two stop reminiscing and look around." Sun Wukong said, looking at the large group of servants surrounding them.

They saw that every servant was holding a weapon, preparing to gang up on the three of them.

Shaseng and Bajie looked at the surrounding servants and laughed wildly. Back then, one was a Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy and the other a Curtain-Lifting General; they had commanded millions of water troops in the Heavenly Court and were so majestic. With the two of them working together, they had no rivals in the water forces. Now, some mortals were actually attacking them with weapons; how could they not laugh?