Chapter 1071: Chapter 1071: A Procession of Gift-Givers

“White Dragon Horse, hooves facing west, carrying Sanzang Monk of Tang and the three disciples, setting off on the grand road to fetch scriptures from the Western Heaven, traveling tens of thousands of miles…”

Jiang Liu sat on the back of the White Dragon Horse, seemingly in a good mood, singing a song familiar from his previous life.

Who would have thought, having watched various adaptations of Journey to the West so many times, that one day, he could traverse into the world of Journey to the West and even become Tang Monk?

“Hey, Master, this song is quite interesting. Is it specially composed, inspired by us?” As Jiang Liu sang, Sun Wukong and the others naturally listened. After Jiang Liu finished, Sun Wukong scratched his head in amusement and asked Jiang Liu.

“Hmm, just inspired,” Jiang Liu replied with a slight smile upon hearing Sun Wukong’s words.

“Holy Monk, I didn’t expect that besides your profound knowledge of Buddhist law and top-notch cooking skills, you also have such high achievements in music!” exclaimed the White Mouse Demon beside him, eyes glowing with adoration as they stared at Jiang Liu.

“This is nothing. Besides cooking and music, I’m also quite good at poetry,” Jiang Liu replied earnestly, not at all humble in response to the White Mouse Demon’s compliments.

“Indeed, indeed, I, Old Pig, can attest to that. Back at Thistle Ridge, the people at Wood Immortal Hermitage were asking Master for guidance on poetry!” Zhu Bajie, playing the role of Jiang Liu’s number one fan, hurriedly nodded in agreement.

“The Holy Monk is truly amazing! He knows everything…” The White Mouse Demon, originally full of admiration for Jiang Liu, now looked at him like a fan entranced by their idol.

Yes, when one likes or admires someone, that person’s flaws become significantly dimmed, while their strengths are greatly magnified. In the eyes of the White Mouse Demon, this was naturally how Jiang Liu was viewed.

“Who’s there, sneaking around!” The Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team chatted as they traveled onward, leading a simple yet enjoyable life. Suddenly, Sun Wukong shouted abruptly.

Following Sun Wukong’s words, a wisp of smoke appeared from a nearby bush, and then two young men emerged from it.

With a smiling demeanor, they approached, respectfully saluting Jiang Liu and the others: “Greetings, Holy Monk, greetings, Great Sage…”

“Hmph, a couple of Toad Demons, what are you up to?” Sun Wukong’s Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze flashed, discerning the identities of the two men, and he asked coldly, without any politeness.

“Great Sage, we two brothers have been cultivating here for many years and have not harmed anyone. Upon hearing about the Holy Monk’s journey to the West for scriptures, we were intrigued, so we prepared a humble gift to present to the Holy Monk!” one of the men hastily explained upon hearing Sun Wukong’s stern words.

As he spoke, he produced a beautifully crafted treasure box, opened the lid, and respectfully presented it to Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu glanced at the contents of the treasure box and saw two shining pills inside, seemingly of exceptional quality.

As Jiang Liu’s gaze fell on the two pills, their respective attribute information naturally appeared before him as well.

“Ginseng Pill (Consumable): Upon consumption, you can gain 10 million experience points.”

Seeing the attribute information of the two pills, Jiang Liu’s eyebrows slightly raised.

The appearance of these two pills reminded Jiang Liu of the time when they were about to reach Guanyin Zen Temple and encountered the Wolf Demon, Master Lingxu.

Back then, Master Lingxu was very enthusiastic, even offering an experience-increasing pill for Jiang Liu to taste. What was the name of that pill again? It seemed to be called Spirit Elixir?

Jiang Liu remembered that the pill could only be consumed by those below level 60, increasing experience by 500,000, and each subsequent pill consumed would have diminishing effects.

At the time, with his low cultivation level, 500,000 experience points were considered quite high.

In terms of attributes, this Ginseng Pill’s value was naturally higher than that of Master Lingxu’s pill, and the increase of 10 million experience points was certainly impressive.

Although, for the current Jiang Liu, a mere 10 million experience points was just a drop in the bucket for leveling up, as the saying goes, even a small mosquito is still meat.

Fully aware of the pills’ attributes, Jiang Liu’s gaze turned to the two demon creatures before him. He checked their character stats and saw they were over level 60 Demon Immortals.

He immediately asked, “For no apparent reason, why are you offering me pills?”

“No reason, we brothers have long admired the compassionate name of Holy Monk Xuanzang, and upon meeting you, naturally wanted to form a virtuous connection with you!” the two Toad Demons quickly responded, shaking their heads upon hearing Jiang Liu’s inquiry.

Their words made Jiang Liu even more curious. Thinking for a moment, Jiang Liu still felt there might be a request hidden, so he asked, “May I ask if you two have encountered any troubles? If so, feel free to tell us?”

Jiang Liu’s words clearly showed he was willing to help them solve their troubles. Upon hearing this, the two Demon Immortals looked pleased.

However, they still shook their heads urgently, saying, “No, we truly just wish to form a virtuous connection with the Holy Monk. Meeting the esteemed Holy Monk today is already a blessing of a lifetime, and we dare not disturb you. With that, we take our leave.”

After leaving those parting words, the two Toad Demons quickly turned around and left, without any intention of playing hard-to-get, disappearing from sight promptly.

Watching the two Toad Demons leave, Jiang Liu and his group all wore astonished expressions on their faces.

In all honesty, on the Journey to the West so far, which has been nearly seven years, they’ve encountered all sorts of demons and ghosts, yet they’ve never seen demons like these. They just rushed forward, said some nice things, then left two pills and turned to run away?

“Really, none of them have anything they want to ask me for?” Watching the two Toad Demons disappear from sight, Jiang Liu was secretly surprised and muttered softly to himself.

After thinking about it, completely unable to figure it out, Jiang Liu ceased overthinking it.

In any case, since there was no harm intended and two pills were given, it couldn’t be a bad thing, right?

Of course, Jiang Liu casually stored these two pills into his package space and didn’t rush to consume them.

20 million experience points are not few, but not many either, so there’s no hurry to consume these mysteriously obtained gifts. It’s best to store them in the package space and take a look first.

After shaking his head silently, Jiang Liu and his group continued forward.

Next, Jiang Liu noticed that the appearance of the two Toad Demons seemed to herald some kind of signal.

Because, from then on, every day, Jiang Liu would encounter one or two people who came to deliver gifts.

Some were Demon Immortals, some were Deities, there were even Arhats from the Buddhist Sect and Ghost Immortals, encountered every day.

Moreover, the frequency of these gift-bearers only increased, to the point where Jiang Liu sometimes encountered two or three groups in a single day.

All these people showed up with the intention of delivering gifts, some bringing pills, some bringing Dharma Treasures, others bringing cultivation manuals, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and various strange items…

Though it’s said that one shouldn’t hit a smiling face, and there’s no reason to suspect those bringing gifts, after just over half a month, Jiang Liu only found it tiresome!

On one hand, with Jiang Liu’s current cultivation level, the gifts brought by these demons and ghosts were hardly impressive anymore.

For instance, pills that add 10 million experience points? Maybe decent for a Heavenly Immortal, but for himself, his next dungeon run would give tens of millions of experience points.

The increasing number of these demons and ghosts, though coming with the intention to gift, only served to irritate Jiang Liu, affecting his regular cultivation during dungeon runs.

Comparing the gains received and the losses caused by the interference, Jiang Liu felt it was completely not worth it.

But what next, what to do about it?

Since they came to deliver gifts, and as the saying goes, one shouldn’t hit a smiling face, he couldn’t just start attacking these people, right?

“Master, recently so many people have been coming to give gifts! Your face must be famous!” Sun Wukong, walking at the front of the group, turned slightly to glance at Jiang Liu and expressed his admiration, his eyes filled with envy.

For Sun Wukong, whether the gifts were valuable wasn’t the main point, but the emphasis placed on his master’s reputation by so many was what truly mattered to him.

After all, Sun Wukong just enjoys hearing nice things about himself and loves when others give him face.

“Hmm, the Holy Monk is indeed a remarkable man…” Beside him, the White Mouse Demon heard this and gazed at Jiang Liu with shining eyes, nodding in agreement.

With so many people hastily coming to present gifts to Jiang Liu, in the White Mouse Demon’s view, didn’t that further prove their own insight?

“Master, I, Old Pig, used to know you were liked by fairies and female demons, but I never thought you’re now popular with both genders…” Zhu Bajie, ever the sycophant, certainly wouldn’t lag behind in praising Jiang Liu and added his voice.

Only, Jiang Liu’s expression turned somewhat dark at Zhu Bajie’s compliment.

What nonsense is this about being popular with both genders? Is this really a compliment?

“Master, you don’t look so good!” At this moment, Sha Wujing suddenly spoke up, addressing Jiang Liu.

Logically, with people clamoring to deliver gifts, boosting reputation, and disciples praising him, the master should be very happy, right?

Why does it seem like the opposite here?

“Ah, Wukong, next time if anyone comes with gifts, just chase them all away…”