Beneath a large cloth, there was set up a vermilion lacquered incense table, upon which rested a pair of gold incense urns, with a box of incense placed beside the urns.

    Zhu Ganglie frowned and said, "Hey, acolyte, why doesn''t your Five Villages Taoist temple offer sacrifices to the Three Pure Ones, the Four Emperors, and all the other celestial chiefs? Why are only the characters ''heaven and earth'' displayed?

    After speaking, Zhu Ganglie whispered to Tang Sanzang, "Master, this doesn''t look like a legitimate Taoist temple at all; it must be transformed by a demon.

    Sun Wukong immediately twisted his ear and pulled him aside, "Fool, don''t talk nonsense!"

    Zhu Ganglie said tearfully, "If I don''t say it now, I might not have another chance. Brother Monkey, when you eat me later, could you light some incense for me first?

    Sun Wukong was speechless and said, "Don''t worry, if worst comes to worst, I will somersault back and catch a demon to take your place.

    Zhu Ganglie, moved to almost tears, said, "Thank you, Brother Monkey, you really are my own elder brother!"

    ...

    On the other side, Qingfeng replied, "Gentlemen, I don''t know. Our master''s status is too high; if we were to offer incense to the Three Pure Ones and the Four Emperors, that would be presenting them with a tribute, and they would have to return the favor. As for the others, they can''t accept our offerings of incense.

    "Our master was invited by the Primordial Heavenly Venerate to go to Miluo Palace to lecture on the essence of the mixed yuan because of his status. Otherwise, if he were here, you would understand immediately and we wouldn''t need to explain so much."

    Sun Wukong, unable to listen any further, rolled his eyes and said, "That''s enough; I see what''s going on here. You, acolyte, can brag even more than old Wukong here. You might as well rename your Taoist temple to ''Bragging Temple''!

    "It''s just because my elder brother, the Ox-Demon King, isn''t here, otherwise you might have blown him away with your boasts.

    "How prestigious is the Primordial Heavenly Venerate of the Miluo Palace? Why would he need your ox hooves to lecture? Don''t spin these baseless stories, just speak properly...."

    Upon hearing this, the two acolytes were instantly infuriated, and they rolled up their sleeves, ready to start cursing.

    Just then, the bald monk suddenly sniffed the air and asked, "What is that smell? It''s so fragrant?"

    The two acolytes exchanged glances, each seeing the intent in the other''s eyes.

    Simultaneously, both used a Secret Technique to transmit their voices...

    Qingfeng quickly shouted, "Elder, you are originally a guest. Our master instructed us to treat you well before he left; how can we let you eat wild fruits? Please have a vegetarian meal instead?"

    Mingyue nodded repeatedly, "Exactly, exactly. Please wait a moment; the vegetarian meal will be ready soon."

    Gurgle gurgle...

    Zhu Ganglie''s stomach growled again.

    Tang Sanzang said, "My disciples are hungry. How about you start preparing the vegetarian meal, and we''ll go pick some wild fruits to fill our stomachs. Call us when the meal is ready."

    Upon hearing this, Qingfeng and Mingyue felt bitterly helpless; they had dug their own graves with their lies, and now they were stepping on the stones they''d moved, unspeakably miserable.

    Sun Wukong glanced at the bald monk, then at the visibly panicked young boys, and instantly understood that this was not merely about eating wild fruits. Astutely, he chimed in, "Exactly, exactly... You go prepare the meal, and once the vegetarian meal is ready, we''ll go eat. This way, nothing is delayed..."

    Tang Sanzang nodded and said, "We have had plenty of meat and fish along the way, but we haven''t tried these fragrant wild fruits. We''ve come from far away—not for good food, but for novelty. Disciples, let''s go!"

    Having said that, Tang Sanzang led his disciples towards the backyard.

    Seeing that they could no longer be stopped by words, Qingfeng and Mingyue, in their extreme anxiety, rolled up their sleeves, contemplating whether to resort to violence, when Zhu Ganglie glanced at them and said, "Allow me to introduce myself, I was originally the Naval Commander of Heaven, Marshal Tianpeng. See this rake? It was personally forged by the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord..."

    Upon hearing this, the two boys were momentarily stunned. Marshal Tianpeng? Although that title wasn''t that significant, he was still a divine military figure... They seemed out of their league.

    Zhu Ganglie then slapped Sha Wujing on the back and said, "This is my junior brother Wujing. He was originally the Curtain Lifting General in charge of guarding the safety of the Jade Emperor."

    Qingfeng and Mingyue were momentarily speechless. They might have dealt with a Marshal Tianpeng with some of the tricks up their sleeves.

    But now there was a Curtain Lifting General as well. This was troublesome.

    Zhu Ganglie grinned and pointed at Sun Wukong, "That''s our eldest senior brother. Five hundred years ago, he alone, with a staff, ascended to the Heavenly Palace, fought the gods of the Thunder Ministry and various other celestial buddhas single-handedly in a great upheaval, uncontrollable by anyone. In the end, it was the Buddha himself who had to intervene to calm him down."

    The two boys shuddered and cursed inwardly, "Is this monk who came from the east actually a bandit? How can we fight this?"

    The two hurriedly rolled their sleeves back down, exchanged glances, and saw the tears in each other''s eyes. If only they had known, they would not have lied and simply given them the two fruits from the start.