“Why has this journey been so quiet? Not even a single mountain spirit or seductive demon in sight?”
Nezha walked along, kicking small stones by the roadside.
It was hard to judge—such an exquisitely beautiful face, yet with such a fiery temper, always saying things like, “I’m going to kill someone.”
As for Yang Jian, he had swapped his black robes for a set of elegant, flowing white ones.
But with all this switching between black and white, it felt as though he worked in the underworld.
He spoke little, often wearing a cold, expressionless face, neither joyful nor sorrowful.
In comparison, Little White Dragon was quite talkative. His most frequent line was, “Something’s off, very off.”
Lately, he had developed an inexplicable hostility toward Nezha.
As for Sun Wukong, he was doing just fine.
Laughing and joking, he would occasionally disappear for half a day to beg for alms.
Li Miaoci’s daily routine consisted of observing them and reminiscing about the many fanfiction stories she had once read.
When they were in a good mood, she would ask them some wildly imaginative questions.
After traveling over mountains and through forests for many days, they finally arrived at a town.
Having spent so much time surrounded by mountains and dense woods, Li Miaoci felt momentarily dazed when she suddenly saw so many people in the bustling mortal market.
Sun Wukong walked ahead, with Tang Sanzang leading the horse close behind.
Nezha wandered through the streets, stopping and starting. He didn’t particularly like revealing his true form in front of others. Privately, he admired deities who were mighty and imposing, unlike his own overly delicate and refined appearance.
But fortunately, he didn’t care much about such things—after all, few could match him in combat.
Yang Jian walked at the very back, accompanied by Xiaotian Quan, who kept looking around curiously.
Li Miaoci watched the lively crowd on the street, the children playing in small groups. Some of the kids, finding the Monk’s appearance strange, would steal curious yet fearful glances at him.
The Monk deliberately bared his teeth to scare them.
With startled cries, they scattered in all directions.
The group settled into an inn on the edge of town. The inn was old and worn, with few guests.
Originally, Tang Sanzang felt that as monks, they should seek convenience from others while traveling and that staying at an inn would bring many inconveniences, and so on.
Nezha frowned. “So, we’re just broke, right?”
“How can those who cultivate the Way care about such worldly possessions? Amitabha.”
Little White Dragon reached into his robe and pulled out a handful of pearls, each one perfectly round and gleaming with iridescent light.
A single pearl would have been enough to cover their lodging for a year or more.
The group settled in without further trouble.
After a simple vegetarian dinner, Tang Sanzang returned to his room for evening prayers.
Nezha glanced at the food in front of him, clenched his fist with no interest, and said, “If we really can’t find any demons to kill the old monk, why don’t the three of us just escort him and slaughter our way through? Otherwise, with all this stopping and starting, when will we ever find liberation?”
“How can someone on the path of cultivation be so violent?” Li Miaoci muttered weakly.
Nezha shot her a glance, casually materializing his Fire-Tipped Spear and planting it on the ground, a clear threat.
“I just heard the innkeeper say there’s a river outside town where the townsfolk have released many river lanterns. I’m going to check out the excitement. Farewell.”
Li Miaoci fled the inn as if escaping.
Yang Jian closed his folding fan and followed her out the door.
Deities rarely ate, didn’t always need to sleep, and now, with nowhere to cultivate, they could only wander around to pass the time.
“What’s so fun about watching lanterns? Old Sun isn’t going.”
Sun Wukong drank only a cup of bitter tea before returning to his room to meditate in a seated position with the old monk.
Outside the town, by the river, lush greenery abounded, with willow branches swaying gently.
Along the riverbank, lotus flowers bloomed in abundance, and beyond them floated river lanterns.
Looking further into the distance, the starry sky was reflected upon the water’s surface.
Li Miaoci was deeply moved by the sight before her. Indeed, the world could not do without humans.
Those desolate mountains and wild forests were terrifyingly dark and eerily green.
How could they compare to the joy and liveliness of the mortal realm?
Her eyes sparkled with bright light, and a smile tugged irresistibly at the corners of her lips.
“Is it beautiful?”
Yang Jian followed her gaze for a long while but couldn’t quite see what she found so captivating.
As a deity, he had witnessed countless changes over time—the shifting of seas into mulberry fields, the turning of constellations across the sky.
To him, the scenery before his eyes was no different from mountains, rivers, clouds, mist, or stars.
Li Miaoci turned and saw Yang Jian dressed in white robes with subtle patterns. She smiled and said, “It is beautiful.”
“Don’t you think so?”
Yang Jian smiled faintly. “No, I don’t.”
“Then did you have things like this in the heavens or at Guankou River Mouth before?” she asked again.
Yang Jian shook his head. “No.”
There were no mortals there, so naturally, no one would release river lanterns to make wishes to the deities.
Besides, in the vast world with countless people, deities had no time to attend to every single wish.
“You’ve never even seen it before, yet you think it’s not beautiful.”
Li Miaoci felt his judgment was too biased.
“In the heavens, there are countless stars and galaxies. If you like, after we reach Spiritual Mountain, I’ll take you all to see them.”
“Great!” Li Miaoci nodded eagerly.
As soon as she agreed, she excitedly ran toward the old man selling river lanterns under the tree to buy one.
She had no silver, so she handed over the pearl Little White Dragon had given her.
The old man, seeing such a large pearl, dared not accept it. He said the river lantern wasn’t worth much and offered to give her one for free.
Li Miaoci hesitated and put the river lantern down. Since the old man wouldn’t take her pearl, she felt too embarrassed to take advantage of his kindness.
She turned and looked pleadingly at Yang Jian.
Yang Jian smiled helplessly. With a touch of his fingertips, ten copper coins appeared in his palm.
He walked over and handed the coins to the old man.
The old man accepted them with a mix of reverence and trepidation.
In his long life, he had met many people, but a man with such an extraordinary presence was a first for him.
“Take it,” Yang Jian said to Li Miaoci.
Li Miaoci beamed with joy and picked up the river lantern she had just set down.
Then, excitedly, she took up a brush and solemnly wrote down her wish: “Return home soon and become rich overnight.”
Yang Jian watched as she walked lightly to the spot where she had been admiring the lanterns earlier and gently pushed the lotus-shaped river lantern into the river.
Her lantern drifted along with the current, floating further and further away.
Gradually, it became the one that floated the farthest among all the lanterns.
As night deepened, the people along the riverbank dispersed one by one.
The surroundings grew quiet, so silent that not even the chirping of insects could be heard.
“Being a demon is truly wonderful,” Li Miaoci sighed.
“You aren’t a demon; you’re human,” Yang Jian corrected.
“But at first, I would still feel tired and sleepy. Now, even without sleeping or eating, I feel full of energy.”
Li Miaoci was thrilled. If she could retain this ability after returning home, wouldn’t she be able to work two jobs a day?
One during the day and another at night.
Previously, her monthly salary was three thousand; now it could be six thousand!
Yang Jian let out an almost imperceptible sigh. It seemed he had forgotten to tell her that deities also needed to sleep and even ate occasionally.
However, what deities consumed was Nectar and Jade Liquid, Divine Fruit, and floral brews.
As for sleep, they could slumber for a century or two when they had nothing else to do.
Yet her current excitement was likely a sign of her energy being completely spent.
Sure enough, one moment she was still bouncing around, and the next, she collapsed onto the grass and fell into a deep sleep.
Yang Jian waved his hand, settling her beneath a tree, then kindly draped a cloak over her.
In the vast night, he too sat down, leaning against the tree.
Watching the lotus flowers bloom and the lotus leaves sway gently.
He suddenly felt that Li Miaoci was right—the scenery in the mortal realm did hold a certain charm.