Tang Sanzang, realizing he had been a bit hasty, knew it was somewhat suspicious to suggest drinking strong liquor on a first date with a woman—it indeed resembled trying to get her drunk for his own purposes. So he offered a remedy, "No more liquor, let''s drink tea instead!"

    Bai Huaxiu, of course, had no idea she was merely looking for a chat with a bald man—this guy had already escalated to dating and having children.

    She was merely surprised that Tang Sanzang, a monk, would actually suggest drinking alcohol...

    Although monks are allowed to drink mild, vegetarian alcohol, a true master doesn''t even drink that.

    But upon further reflection, apart from his strength and attire, there seemed to be little else about this fellow that related to a monk, so she let it go.

    The two ascended to a high floor and took their seats in the very center. With a view overlooking the main central street straight to the city gates at the front and a small lake with weeping willows touching the water at the back, it was indeed an excellent spot.

    At this moment, Zhu Ganglie and Sha Wujing also came up. They were about to sit down when Tang Sanzang raised his eyebrows, and they immediately went to sit in the next room.

    However, Zhu Ganglie recognized Bai Huaxiu and secretly communicated with Tang Sanzang, "Master, this woman is the Yellow Robe Monster''s woman. I saw her in the cave before!"

    Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang''s eyebrows shot up, and his desire to have children vanished in an instant. Yet, his mind raced with even more ideas.

    Bai Huaxiu said, "Master, truth be told, I..."

    "Waiter, add a plate of peanuts!"

    Tang Sanzang shouted, interrupting Bai Huaxiu''s words.

    Bai Huaxiu was left speechless. Once Tang Sanzang finished, she continued, "I wanted to..."

    "Waiter, add another plate of pork head meat!" Tang Sanzang called out.

    Bai Huaxiu was interrupted once again...

    By the time Bai Huaxiu wanted to speak again, dishes had already started to arrive one after the other.

    Tang Sanzang gestured, "Come, come, meeting is destiny. Let''s eat and talk."

    After saying this, he began to eat ravenously, using both hands like he was in a sweeping frenzy...

    Watching Tang Sanzang gobble his food, Bai Huaxiu opened her mouth but couldn''t speak a word. Had it not been for Wujing and Zhu Ganglie by Tang Sanzang''s side, she would have doubted she was with the right person. Still, she comforted herself, "It''s okay, capable people are all... all different in their own ways."

    Let''s go, let''s go, we''ve eaten our fill, it''s time to continue our journey westward."

    Zhu Ganglie, Sha Wujing, and the White Dragon Horse smacked their lips, actually finding some sense in his words.

    At that moment, Zhu Ganglie said, "Master, journeying westward isn''t something we do empty-handed. I just remembered, passing through each country, we need to sign a travel permit. This way, it can be proved that you walked there, not flew... um, jumped over."

    Tang Sanzang was startled, "Travel permit? Have any of you seen one? Can we make a fake one?"

    Zhu Ganglie stretched out his hand and said, "Master, don''t look at us, we haven''t seen one either."

    Tang Sanzang stroked his chin and said, "You haven''t, I haven''t, we want to forge one, but don''t even know what the real one looks like, this... that''s tricky."

    Just then, a horse-face leaned over, "Take a look at a real one, then you''ll know what it looks like, right?"

    The three men and one horse looked at each other, and finally said in unison, "Right!"

    On the road to the west, in a brand-new grand canyon, a monk was scaling the rocks like a climber.

    This person was none other than Tang Sanzang!

    Tang Sanzang finally found a larger foothold, put down his load, took off his upper garment, and looking at his increasingly strong muscles, couldn''t help but roar, "When I left Chang''an, I couldn''t even restrain a chicken. How long has it been since then? Climbing mountains, swimming, tree-climbing, rock climbing... I''m practically becoming a special forces scout, right? Is this really on a quest for scriptures, or is it survival in the wild? Are these even tasks for humans to do?"

    While shouting, one of the jialan reminded, "Golden Cicada, there''s someone up ahead!"

    Tang Sanzang was startled, looked up, and saw a huge figure standing atop the cliff. He was tall and broad, with a fat face and large ears, holding a rake...

    "Marshal Tianpeng?!" one jialan recognized Zhu Ganglie.

    Zhu Ganglie cracked a grin and said, "My jialan friends from Ling Mountain, long time no see!"

    "Marshal Tianpeng, are you planning to turn away from evil and return to the right path, to escape suffering and return to the right way?" asked a jialan.

    Zhu Ganglie looked up at the sky and said, "Ah, it''s a long story."

    After speaking, Zhu Ganglie glanced at Tang Sanzang, drenched in sweat with his upper garment off, revealing strong muscles, and his forehead suddenly became coated in cold sweat, almost crying out, "Master, what are you doing here?"

    But upon closer inspection, although this monk and Tang Sanzang both had thick eyebrows and large eyes, the other''s expression wasn''t dull or stupid, and, most importantly, wasn''t asking for a beating. This clearly wasn''t that scoundrel Tang Sanzang, but the true Tang Sanzang, also known as the Golden Cicada.