Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

"Senior Brother, do you really want to keep her by your side?" In the Demon-Suppressing Hall, the Little Witch was scouting ahead while Jiang Liu and Daoji followed behind, whispering.

It was hard to understand, why on earth did his Senior Brother decide to keep such a powerful witch by his side?

"Junior Brother, haven't you heard that all beings are equal? This witch may have high cultivation level, but there's still the possibility that she could turn over a new leaf. If she can be converted, wouldn't that be a meritorious deed? The Buddha once cut flesh to feed eagles; what I am doing is merely emulating the Buddha," Jiang Liu responded softly to Daoji's words.

Prevarication—that was all Jiang Liu's answer was.

But without hauling out this big banner of the Buddha, should he tell Daoji that he wanted to keep the Little Witch by his side to help him level up by fighting monsters?

"Senior Brother, you are truly great! Your words and actions are enlightening; I have learned much," however, Jiang Liu's evasive words seemed to fill Daoji with admiration.

Daoji harbored no suspicions about Jiang Liu's evasive words. After all, apart from this explanation, he could see no other reason that could plausibly account for Jiang Liu keeping the Little Witch by his side.

The Little Witch walked alone ahead, cautious in her demeanor, devoid of the cheerfulness she had when alone. She always felt as if there were a monstrous flood or predator lurking behind her.

Being forced to walk with the bald-headed human, she felt as if she had been kidnapped. Should she try to escape?

With a thought, the Little Witch stealthily looked back.

Daoji's head with nine distinct incense scars was clearly visible, and Jiang Liu, who had removed his Vidyaraja Crown, also had twelve conspicuous incense scars.

Seeing this, the Little Witch shuddered and quickly averted her gaze, frightened by the sight.

After walking for a while, they soon encountered a huge Wolf Demon in the Demon-Suppressing Hall, blocking the way forward for Jiang Liu and the others.

Apparently considering the Little Witch, who looked no older than four or five, an easy target, the Wolf Demon fixed its gaze on her. As it crouched on all fours it spoke in human tongue, "What a cute little one, you must taste delicious."

A jet-black flame flashed by, and as soon as the Wolf Demon finished speaking, it instantly turned into a charred corpse, utterly annihilated.

"Hmph, cute? You're cute, your whole family is cute!" Pulling back her raised hand, the Little Witch still seething, spoke resentfully to the scorched corpse of the Wolf Demon.

"Huh?" After the Little Witch dealt a one-hit-kill to the Wolf Demon, Jiang Liu was stunned to find that he had not gained any experience points.

This made him tense up. Looking at the team status, indeed, in his field of view, there were only Daoji's teammate icons and not the Little Witch's.

"What's happening? Can't the Little Witch be in my team?" This discovery made Jiang Liu's countenance fall.

If they couldn't be in a team, then what was the point in keeping her by his side?

"Could it be? Is it because she holds no fondness for me in her heart, that we can't form a team?" Jiang Liu pondered to himself.

Over the days, fighting monsters and leveling up, Jiang Liu had teamed up with Gaoyang, Senior Brother Xuankong, and Daoji. Thinking about it, he had some sort of relationship with these three, which allowed them to form a team, right?

Otherwise, like the incident with the Old Man Sword who rescued Gaoyang and took him away, even though they fought the Three-Eyed Crow together, Jiang Liu was only kill-stealed and received little experience.

And the Little Witch, having even less of a relationship with him, couldn't form a team for that reason?

Moreover, whether it was Gaoyang, Senior Brother Xuankong, or Daoji, their levels were quite similar to his, whereas the Little Witch, with her Demon General level cultivation, would be at least level 30 by that standard. So, was it because her level was too high that they couldn't form a team?

If he thought it through, the cultivation level of the old man who killed the Three-Eyed Crow must also have been far beyond his own, so this possibility existed as well.

Whether it was due to the gap in strength or an issue of character favorability that prevented them from teaming up, Jiang Liu wasn't sure. However, not being able to team up with the Little Witch was certainly not good news for him.

But, having already decided to keep the Little Witch by his side, even if they couldn't team up right now, Jiang Liu had no intention of sending her away. He felt he should at least figure out why he and the Little Witch couldn't form a team.

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Having clarified the reason, in the future, he would be able to more accurately select targets capable of forming a team to hunt monsters.

Along the way, they encountered several monsters, some were slain by Jiang Liu himself, and others were instantly killed by the Little Witch.

However, for those killed by the Little Witch, he gained no experience points, which clearly indicated that there was indeed no possibility for the two to form a team.

"As for the inability to form a team, I should properly verify my own conjecture...," Jiang Liu murmured to himself after killing several monsters in succession.

"Alright, everyone sit down and take a rest," just as they had killed a bovine demon, Jiang Liu took out a knife, cut off a large chunk of beef, and began to prepare the seasoning.

Hearing Jiang Liu's words, the Little Witch naturally had no objections. She stopped, sat down at a distance from Jiang Liu and Daoji, not daring to come close but also not daring to run away.

"Senior Brother, what... what are you doing?" asked Daoji, eyes wide in disbelief, as he watched Jiang Liu take out the seasonings and start to prepare the beef.

"As you can see, I'm preparing food. Your food is finished, isn't it? And I don't have much left, what else should we eat if not this?" Jiang Liu said naturally, seeing the exaggerated expression on Daoji's face.

"But we are disciples of the Buddhist Sect, and you, Senior Brother, are an exemplar to monks everywhere. How can we eat meat!?" Daoji said, shaking his head with a resolute expression, unwilling to break his religious precepts.

"Junior Brother, let me ask you, what do you think is more important in cultivating Buddhism, the cultivation of practice or the cultivation of the heart?" Jiang Liu asked Daoji as he ignited a flame and put the meat over it.

Daoji fell into a brief silence before answering, "The cultivation of the heart."

"That's right. The so-called rules and precepts are but external forms. As long as the Buddha in one's heart doesn't change, what does it matter if we eat meat?" Jiang Liu said, pausing slightly before continuing, "I'll give you a phrase, 'Though wine and meat pass through the gut, Buddha stays in the heart'."

Looking at Daoji, Jiang Liu shook his head inwardly.

When he first heard the Dharma name Daoji, Jiang Liu could not help but ridicule in his heart as it was the same as that of Ji Gong. But since the era in which the living Buddha Ji Gong lived was not the Tang Dynasty, Jiang Liu dismissed it as simply a coincidence of names.

However, after the Incense Offering Ceremony and receiving nine incense scars, Jiang Liu grew more skeptical. Could it be that this Daoji was really the reincarnation of the Dragon Subduing Arhat?

Yet, seeing his reluctance to drink alcohol or eat meat, where was the image of Ji Gong as Jiang Liu remembered him?

"Though wine and meat pass through the gut, Buddha stays in the heart?" Daoji muttered the Zen phrase to himself, head bowed.

Within that short phrase of just ten characters, there seemed to be an exceedingly profound Buddhist wisdom.

If someone else had said these words, Daoji naturally would have ignored them, but these were spoken by Jiang Liu. As a monk bestowed with twelve incense scars, Daoji certainly could not disregard his words.

After pondering for a moment, Daoji stood up, straightened his monk's robe, and respectfully bowed to Jiang Liu, "Amitabha, thank you for your teaching, Senior Brother. It has enlightened me."

"I had previously heard that Senior Brother debated with Li Chunfeng at Jinshan Temple and left behind the Formless Gatha that won the praise of thousands. Today, with this Zen phrase, I sincerely admire your understanding of the Buddhist Law," he added.

"Hmm, it's good that you understand," Jiang Liu said, flipping the meat in his hands and nodding slightly with an inscrutable air, though in his heart, he knew that his words were merely a justifiable reason to eat meat.

"Hey, do you want some beef?" After roasting it for a while and seeing that the beef was already sixty to seventy percent cooked, Jiang Liu asked the Little Witch, who was sitting several yards away.

"No!" She shook her head with a determined look, and said she dared not eat his food.

Yet, as her nose twitched subtly, the Little Witch secretly swallowed her saliva.

Delicious!

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