Chapter 111

"Give me a response, are you guys actually the Calabash Brothers or not?"

"If you are, just make a sound? Can't speak, just shake a bit?"

"Speak up! If you don't respond, don't blame me for taking direct action?"

"Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad monk. Back when Sun Wukong immobilized the Seven Fairies in the Peach Garden, I thought there was something fishy—couldn't possibly just eat peaches, right? If we go by that logic, I'm your grandmaster."

"Call me grandmaster and let's hear it?"

No matter what Tang Luo said, these calabashes showed no response at all.

They didn't resemble the calabash brothers from the original story who would call out "grandpa," "grandpa."

"Did I guess wrong, or do they only respond to grandpa?" Tang Luo couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Soon, he snapped back to reality—he wasn't walking the wise man's path, so why overthink it? Just try it and see.

He reached out, grabbed a calabash, and pulled downward.

A sound similar to metal snapping broke out, and Tang Luo plucked this calabash off.

"Indeed, not an ordinary calabash." The texture of this calabash didn't resemble a gourd at all—it felt more like some unknown metal. Tang Luo tapped it twice, and the sound was exactly like striking metal.

"Dog, come try." Tang Luo placed the calabash on the ground without letting go.

The howling celestial dog, still wandering around, ran over and swiped a paw at it.

Instantly, several faint white marks appeared on the calabash.

"Meow!" The celestial dog instantly became unhappy—just a measly calabash, and it couldn't even break it?

Without a word, it swiped again with its paw. This time, unlike the casual test before, it went in earnest.

A harsh scraping sound rang out, as if a toothpick were piercing an eardrum.

The celestial dog's ears twitched twice—clearly, the sound was unpleasant for it too.

What made it even more uncomfortable was the calabash before it, now bearing several more claw marks, deeper and more obvious than before.

One swipe's power—pathetic as a novice!

Trash! The celestial dog opened its mouth and lunged to bite the calabash. The stupid cat's paws truly weren't enough—ultimately, it still had to rely on biting.

Only biting is the true way!

One bite—sharp canine teeth pierced into the calabash. The celestial dog suddenly jerked back, stared at the calabash, lowered its body, and let out a low growl.

Unlike the low growl when facing that strange tiger—like "come forth and receive death"—this one was different.

This low growl carried threat and gravity, as if something inside the calabash made the celestial dog feel extremely dangerous.

"Interesting, let me see what you really are." Tang Luo picked up the calabash and gripped it.

The sturdy calabash instantly shattered into pieces, and a large amount of blood water surged out from the gaps in Tang Luo's clenched fist, as if his hand held the source of some blood water.

This blood water flowed over Tang Luo's palm without leaving a trace.

When it fell to the ground, it also vanished quickly.

After a while, the blood water had completely drained.

Tang Luo reopened his palm—besides the calabash fragments, there was an irregular shard emitting a faint glow. Looking at it, it resembled a fate fragment almost exactly!

Tang Luo held it in his hand, just like when he grasped other fate fragments, and similarly felt the signal urging fusion.

"It's actually a fate fragment." Tang Luo felt somewhat surprised, then glanced at the celestial dog.

When the fate fragment appeared, the celestial dog also returned to normal, though its eyes still held doubt.

"I killed the unborn calabash brothers and got a fate fragment?" Tang Luo suddenly had a bold idea.

He guessed this task should have two options: one, help these calabash brothers be born smoothly, then everyone jointly fight the Snake Spirit; two, just like now, directly convert the calabash brothers' power into his own use—by holding fused fate fragments.

Of course, there's also a third option: directly find the Snake Spirit and defeat it without any external aid.

Tang Luo tossed the fate fragment into his mouth and swallowed it—sure enough, a surge of power welled up.

However, it was very little—much less than other fate fragments.

So far, Tang Luo had consumed a total of four fate fragments.

Among them, the Nero fate fragment provided the most "power," followed by Yao Jingwu, then Shi Xuan's fate fragment from Thirteen, and the least was this calabash brother's fate fragment.

Arriving under the calabash rack, Tang Luo reached out and plucked another calabash.

The same sound of metal rope snapping—just like when a cable-stayed bridge collapses and the stay cables break.

Now happening on the calabash, it fully demonstrates this calabash's sturdiness.

As a monk, eating vegetarian is perfectly natural—Tang Luo felt no psychological burden, plucking one by one, he took down all five calabashes.

But he didn't eat them right away—he set them aside to observe first, as ingredients also need observation.

Some ingredients suit being stored for a while; others are better eaten soon.

After plucking the calabashes, Tang Luo happily led the celestial dog away.

"How come?" Looking at the celestial dog turning back every three steps, Tang Luo asked, "Do you like this place?"

The celestial dog shook its head, meowed twice, and kept pace with Tang Luo.

After Tang Luo left, the sky gradually darkened.

A cold wind blew past—on the calabash rack, the originally lush, dripping vines suddenly began to wither, visibly drying out and rapidly turning gray-brown.

The leaves yellowed, curled, and fell.

The vines themselves turned directly into ignitable "dry firewood."

At the same time, a calabash sprouted from nothing, rapidly growing out—different from the green calabash Tang Luo had plucked.

This calabash was purple, swaying in the cold wind.

After the sky had completely darkened, several figures appeared near the small hut.

None other than Qin Menglan and her six companions.

Tang Luo and her were indeed not undertaking the same task, but they had entered the same task world—only their positions differed.

Tang Luo and their mission is a camp mission, but it is not the kind with strong opposition or directly opposite purpose.

One is to suppress the snake spirit, the other is to rescue the grandfather, which actually allows for cooperation.

The two missions are not considered conflicting.

Unless the grandfather and the snake spirit are the same "person," then the mission would be conflicting.

"Little house, there's actually a little house in such a place—maybe it really is the Calabash Brothers." As they approached the hut, painter Gu Feng spoke with a smile.

After King Kong left, everyone explored the surroundings while pondering whether this mission might be the world they were familiar with.

After thinking it over, they realized the story of the Calabash Brothers is a typical tale of rescuing the grandfather.

Moreover, with all seven of them being Divine Demon Walkers, it inevitably sparked associations.

"It's the calabash!"

Someone sharp-eyed spotted the purple calabash on the calabash rack and exclaimed.

The group immediately quickened their pace and soon arrived at the small courtyard, gathering around to look at the purple calabash.

"Purple—must be the Seventh Brother, the one who uses the treasure calabash?" As for the Calabash Brothers, everyone was still quite familiar.

At least they could name each of the seven brothers and their distinct abilities.

"Just one, and all these vines are already withered." Galen said, "Shouldn't the Calabash Brothers be seven?"

"I remember, the Seventh Brother wasn't kidnapped by the snake spirit and turned into her son—so why is only this one left here?"

The crowd murmured in discussion—indeed, it was again that kind of misleading task, wearing a familiar name but being vague and confusing, even deceptive.

As everyone was speculating, the purple calabash suddenly began to shake, accompanied by many withered yellow leaves falling to the ground.

"Wow, it fell!" Galen exclaimed in surprise, leaning in to look.

Then he tilted his head somewhat strangely and noticed everyone was staring at him with a strange gaze.

Among the six people, only he curiously stepped forward to look, while the others retreated several steps cautiously, preparing for battle.

Seeing everyone so careful, Galen also abruptly stepped back: "This calabash won't have any problems, will it?"

Why didn't anyone warn him—how cruel.

"I don't know, better safe than sorry." Gu Feng's reminder came too late.

This Galen, bearer of the destiny, is not the kind of experienced, deep-plotting Divine Demon Walker—he exudes a youthful innocence.

What good fortune, that such a simpleton can become a destiny bearer—could it be the legendary "fool's luck"?

But the Divine Demon Game does not believe in "tears."

If one lacks intelligence, then strength must compensate—this Galen, his strength should not be weak.

"Or should I just chop him?" Galen said, eager to try.

"Alright." Someone immediately agreed, and then everyone "whoosh" stepped back again, each taking position beside the fence.

"..."

Galen widened his eyes, his heart deeply wounded—what does it mean to be brutally beaten by society? This is it.

"You guys—" you can't bully honest people like this!

"Alright, you step back too." Qin Menglan said, producing a small stone in her hand, intending to throw it at the calabash. Though she had no throwing skill, her enhanced physique made tossing a stone to test the purple calabash sufficient.

"Oh, oh." Galen nodded repeatedly—there are still good people in the world.

Qin Menglan threw the stone; it struck the calabash, producing a clear sound.

Unlike the metallic sound when Tang Luo tapped the calabash, this one emitted a wooden tone, like stone hitting wood.

"It's not empty." Someone said.

"Ouch!"

A clear child's voice came from inside the calabash.

"It spoke!" Galen startled.

"What are you doing? You hit me and it hurts!" The purple calabash shook, dissatisfied, questioning, "Who are you? Are you with that big bad guy?"

"We are the reinforcements your grandfather summoned to help you defeat the big bad snake spirit!" Galen said.

"Big bad snake spirit?" The voice from the purple calabash sounded doubtful.

"Exactly." Galen stepped closer, "Don't worry, we're not with the big bad snake spirit—we're here to help you defeat it, good people."

He had been a child leader since young, knowing how to get along with kids.

During festivals, a bunch of rascals from relatives' homes were all kept in line by him.

A mere calabash child? Nothing to worry about.

Galen shot a glance at the crowd—just watch me handle this.

"But the big bad guy isn't the snake spirit." The purple calabash hesitated.

"Then what? A scorpion spirit? Doesn't matter—we'll beat it together." Galen said boldly.

"No." The purple calabash said, "It's a person with white hair and white clothes."

"White clothes and white hair?" Galen wondered, "What white-clothed, white-haired demon is in the Calabash Brothers? This isn't Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio."

The Calabash Brothers is for children—if white-clothed, white-haired demons appear, it would easily scare kids and cause childhood trauma.

Qin Menglan suddenly had a bad feeling, her teeth beginning to ache faintly.

White clothes and white hair—how could this feel like such a strong omen of parental doom?