Chapter Fourteen Image (One)

  Xī Lì and Shěn Hū, Xià Qǐ, and Xiǎo Yún Zǐ were conducting market research for their future wealth plan on the Welcome Avenue of Longjiang City when Xī Lì's train of thought was interrupted by a low, melancholic voice.

  "Huh... the earth is round? It's Earth! Feng Jie! Fu Rong Jie! Isn't that a famous person from decades ago on Earth?" This old man was speaking in Earth's vocabulary, could it be that he was also an Earthling who had accidentally crossed over to this place just like himself? Thinking of this, Xī Lì hastily followed the sound and walked over. As he gradually got closer, Xī Lì only saw a person with a full beard, disheveled hair, lazily basking in the sun under a tall wall.

  This slovenly old man, from the eye slits that were scorched by the sun and couldn't be opened, saw Xieli walking over, and his eyes flashed with excitement. Then, in a weak and toneless voice, he shouted: "The sky is blue, the earth is round, we are destined to meet in the vastness of space! Feng Jie cries, Fu Rong sister makes trouble, brother only hopes that the destined person will come soon! The ultimate secret recipe is only given to the destined person!"

  "Old man, why is the earth round? Do you know Feng Jie and Fu Rong sisters?" Xī Lì walked up to the old man, bent down and asked in a low voice: "Are you Zhu Ge (Pig Brother)?"

  The old man with a sloppy appearance heard the sharp question, his eyes didn't even flicker, and he coldly snorted: "Where did this reckless little brat come from, asking so many boring questions."

  "Huh... old man, what are you saying? Hurry up and respond." Shen Yu anxiously said, following closely behind Xi Li.

  Xī lì saw this, squatted down and turned his head to glare at Shen Zhū with a fierce gaze. Then, patiently, he said: "Old man, these questions are very important to me, will you tell me?"

  "It's a gift for someone with fate!" The old man suddenly pushed the yellowed thread-bound book in his hand into Xili Huai, who was squatting in front of him. He then stood up with a creak and muttered to himself: "Oh dear, I'm off!"

  The old man finished speaking, and his body moved slightly, leaving only a faint shadow behind. He disappeared without a trace. When Xi Li and the others looked around again, they couldn't see any sign of the old man's shadow anywhere.

  "Ah...... damn it, a master!" Shen Zhan's face was shocked, his mouth wide open in an unbelievable expression.

  "My master is Zhu Bajie? Isn't that the most arrogant and shameless person on earth, who makes even the best of men feel inferior? I'd like to... Ah, damn it! The slovenly old man's behavior shocked not only Shen Ruo, but also Xili, who was squatting down, was completely 'thunderstruck' and sat down on the ground with a thud."

  Xia Qi and Xiao Yunzi often heard about this mysterious person when Old Wang was telling stories, but hearing and seeing are two different things. The first to come back to their senses, Xiao Yunzi stuttered and pulled at Xili who was sitting on the ground: "Big... big... brother, quickly... quickly look... look, what did that old immortal give you?"

  "Right, let's take a look?" Xia Qi also asked hastily.

  Xiao Yunzi pulled and pulled, causing Shen Lu to sway back and forth, letting out a low "uh" sound as he gradually regained consciousness. He hastily clutched the yellowed thread-bound book in his hands, while Shen Lu and Xia Qi rushed over, with Xiao Yunzi hurrying to join them.

  "Huh, why isn't the name of the martial arts manual on this yellowed book cover? It's not like what they showed on TV!" Xī Lì muttered to himself as he stared at the blank and yellowed book cover. He immediately flipped open the first page, and upon seeing the contents, let out a loud "Ah!" and jumped up, cursing: "Damn it, you son of a bitch! Are you playing me? Is this for real? You can't mess with people like this!"

  "Good heavens!" The sudden outburst of anger from Xi Li startled Shen Yu and Xia Gui, as well as Xiao Yunzi.

  "Boss, what's this written on top? I've never seen such characters before?" Xia Qi looked at the page that Xi Li had grasped in his hand and flipped open, questioning several unfamiliar characters.

  "If you recognize me, then go to hell." Xī lì gave Xia Qi a sharp glance.

  Xī lì xīn li zhè shí zhè gè yù mèn a, dì yī yè shàng de wén zì jìng shì dì qiú shàng de hàn zì, gèng wèi kě qì de shì zhè jǐ gè hàn zì jìng shì 'bié sǐ lóu, méi shì liàn liàn ba!' bā gè dà zì.

  At this time, Xī Lì was already thoroughly entangled and her hands were shaking as she turned to the second page. She saw that it only had four Chinese characters: "追星赶月" (Chasing Stars and Chasing the Moon). Without looking at the contents in detail, she flipped to the next page, all the way until the fourth page, which was the last page. The whole thing was full of content related to "追星赶月". She didn't even bother to look carefully and Xī Lì cursed loudly: "What the f*** is this? What's going on here?" Xī Lì's heart was filled with bitterness, frustration, and entanglement. It took her a lot of effort to calm down from the shock and anger. When she saw Shěn Yuè, Xià Jué, and Xiǎo Yún Zǐ looking confused, she said: "What are you looking at? Let's continue shopping."

  Although everyone had a lot of questions, after seeing Xi Li's twisted and dark red facial expression, no one dared to speak up.

  At this time, the old man who had just given a book to Xili was standing on the high sky of the Kunlun Continent. He suddenly transformed into a red-bearded, dark-faced, and simple-looking Sha Wujing. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhu Bajie, gazing down at the scene below where Xili was being driven mad.

  "Heh heh, Second Brother, the few sentences you taught me really worked, Second Brother is indeed smarter than me." Sha Wujing scratched his messy hair and said to Pigsy with a silly grin.

  "Haha, don't you know who I am? With this skill of escaping with my life, this little guy should be safe now!" Zhu Bajie said with a confident expression.

  "Second Master Brother, why do I feel that this little guy has the same temperament as you? How..." Sha Monk's words were cut off by Pigsy.

  "Brother can't help it either." Pigsy hastily interrupted when he heard Sha Monk starting to nag again.

  "Who's to blame? Who told you to sneak a peek at Chang'e washing up, and then asked me to cover for you with the wind? Never thought we'd get caught red-handed by Erlang Shen, and now we're banished to this lower realm as star guards. And to make matters worse, our magical powers are sealed! Alas, what's the point of all this?" Monk Sha sighed, shaking his head in dismay.

  "That Jade Emperor is afraid that we'll use our transformation magic to sneak down to the mortal world and have some fun, so he's taking it away from us. Luckily, I was clever and asked Master to teach us a new magic trick, one that lets each of us change into something else. Now my brother can be carefree for another hundred years... Hehe..." By this point, Pigsy's eyes were shining with sly light.

  "Isn't this good enough, but you're making a big deal out of it and bringing this little guy to my galaxy, sigh..." Sha Monk sighed foolishly.

  "Am I overthinking things? That monkey's transformation spell, which just so happens to be the catchphrase of this silly little kid from the Silver River Star System that I'm supposed to protect... I'm going crazy! On my first day on the job, I've already been transformed eighteen times by this little brat!" As he spoke, Pigsy seemed to have gotten suspicious again, thinking to himself: "Could it be that everything was deliberately arranged by that monkey? Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence?"

  Is everything in life really just a coincidence?

  "Oh, what a coincidence." Sha Monk said, looking down at the lower Dragon and Cloud Realm again.

  "You said I should become a little rascal, and when I'm hooking up with girls, this guy's verbal attacks would make me change back and forth, wouldn't it scare the girls away? How can brother hang out like that? So, brother had an idea and arranged him to your galaxy. Anyway, it's been tens of thousands of years since the heavenly demon came to disturb the mortal world, brother was idle and had nothing to do, so he transformed into his appearance to enjoy himself in the mortal world. This little guy has a dark identity with many beautiful girls!" Zhu Bajie bit his finger, looking very envious.

  "Alas, after all these years, Second Brother, you're still like this. By doing so, you're disrupting the normal order of the lower realm. Aren't you afraid that Yama will report to the Jade Emperor?" Sha Wujing reminded Zhu Bajie.

  "So, I came to communicate with you, he can't have any accidents on your side, with this self-defense skill, as long as he doesn't get himself killed, it's fine. When we finish our duties and return to Heaven, we can take him back then." Zhu Bajie felt his arrangement was perfect and couldn't help but ask: "Sha Shidi, am I not very clever?"

  "Hmm..." Sha Monk was speechless, he had once again fallen into the trap of his second brother.

  Originally, Pigsy's previous words to Xili were actually a lie. The real reason for his downfall was that he was punished for sneaking a peek at Chang'e taking a bath. If these two people's conversation were overheard by Xili, they would definitely be furious and completely lose their temper.

  On the Welcome Avenue, Xī Lì and his group continued their market survey with a lively atmosphere. Xiǎo Yúnzi and Xià Kuì were jumping around, looking at this and that, with an innocent look on their faces.

  "Boss, I want this one! Give me the money!" Xia Qi pointed at a small trinket on a nearby stall and asked Xi Li for money.

  Rhino followed Xia Qi's finger and looked at what she was pointing at, his eyes lit up immediately, and he asked in a hurry: "Do you girls like this kind of thing?"

  "What's wrong with this? Such a good thing and that girl doesn't like it!" Xia Qi urged Xili urgently: "Hurry up and take the money, quickly!"

  "Oh my, this young lady has a good eye for things! This is new stock from 'Xiang Wei Ju', smell the fragrance, it's long-lasting!" The middle-aged female vendor was eager to make a sale and quickly began promoting her goods to Xia Qi standing in front of her stall.

  "Second brother, what is this thing called?" Xi Li asked Shen Yu who was standing beside him, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

  Shen Zhen heard Xi Li's question and was very surprised, looking at him as if he were a monster, sizing him up from head to toe. He said: "I say, big brother, no wonder San Mei said you, how can you not even know what this is?"

  "What's with all the nonsense? Hurry up and say it!" The sharp voice was slightly off-key.