Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

It is said, the highest form of warfare is to outwit the enemy. After Long Eyebrow Immortal descended from the Immortal Realm to the Mortal World, although he came for the White-Furred Rat Demon, it is said that the White-Furred Rat Demon's cultivation level is not high, only just entering the Taiyi Realm.

However, Long Eyebrow Immortal had no intention of resorting to violence in his heart.

Instead, he pondered how he could use strategy, especially an open strategy, to obtain the flesh and blood of the White Mouse Demon.

The highest form of warfare is to outwit the enemy, and among them, an open strategy is naturally more convincing than a covert one!

On the journey to the west for scriptures, after some exploration, Long Eyebrow Immortal quickly discovered a marvelous place.

About a few hundred miles from the Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team, there is a small village where something very peculiar occurs.

That is, the villagers in this village each have excellent physical fitness and rarely fall ill.

However, once people reach around forty years of age, they begin to exhibit signs of madness, causing the entire village to be referred to by outsiders as Madman Village.

Others may not see it, but Long Eyebrow Immortal can see it because the location of Madman Village is in a treasured land, surrounded by mountains on three sides, forming a natural formation that absorbs celestial energy.

Then it undergoes special and mysterious changes, allowing the people who live here to naturally be healthy and fit.

However, once people reach about forty years old, their physical functions decline, and too much celestial energy gathers, which is not beneficial to people and can even be harmful.

After all, the weak cannot withstand reinforcement!

If these people understood the art of Qi Cultivation, it would be no problem, and this place would certainly become an excellent place for cultivation.

But unfortunately, the residents of Madman Village do not understand the art of Qi Cultivation, and too much celestial energy gathering cannot be guided and absorbed.

Over time, it causes people to become deranged and insane.

After discovering the situation of Madman Village, Long Eyebrow Immortal stayed here and used his own immortal law to help several mentally lost people resolve the celestial energy within their bodies, thereby restoring their sanity.

In no time, Long Eyebrow Immortal's reputation skyrocketed in Madman Village.

…

Jiang Liu and his companions continued westward, enhancing the strength of the Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team with daily adventures.

For Jiang Liu, such days were quite satisfactory.

Of course, if the White Mouse Demon could attract a few more Daluo Golden Immortals, or some Buddhas from the Buddhist Sect to descend to court death, it would be even more perfect.

However, regarding such a situation, Jiang Liu was not in a hurry; such things couldn't be rushed.

Moreover, this was a long-term matter, so he simply needed to wait patiently.

After walking for some time, Jiang Liu and his companions passed by a piece of farmland.

"Master, look, how strange…"

While passing by this piece of farmland, Sun Wukong suddenly pointed at the farmland and spoke to Jiang Liu.

Following Sun Wukong's direction, Jiang Liu and the others indeed found it very strange.

Logically, it was already the first lunar month, and although the Spring Festival had passed, it was still cold. However, this farmland was completely planted with rice.

Even more astonishing was that the rice was already mature, with golden spikes that were very plump.

Jiang Liu roughly estimated that the yield per mu was probably over a thousand pounds.

Although, for Jiang Liu, it was not surprising for hybrid rice in his past life to have a yield of over a thousand pounds per mu, in this ancient setting, a yield of three to four hundred pounds per mu was considered a good harvest.

To have mature rice in the first month and a yield of over a thousand pounds per mu?

This truly left people dumbfounded.

After walking a bit further, they saw many people, wielding sickles, harvesting rice in the field.

However, seeing these people in cotton-padded clothes cutting rice was indeed a spectacle...

"Wukong, look, this farmland seems a bit unusual…" After pondering the situation in the farmland for a moment, Jiang Liu suddenly spoke.

"Master, with such cold temperatures, having mature rice is naturally very unusual!" Sun Wukong replied, seemingly stating the obvious.

He felt his master's words were completely redundant.

"Monkey Brother, what are you saying? Since the master says it's unusual, naturally he has his own considerations!" Following Sun Wukong's words, Zhu Bajie quickly spoke up.

No matter what the master says, it is always right; this has always been an unwavering rule in Zhu Bajie's heart.

"Indeed…"

Jiang Liu nodded slightly in response to Zhu Bajie's words and said, "Wukong, look, it seems that those harvesting rice in the field are all young people!"

Upon hearing Jiang Liu's reminder, Sun Wukong and the others looked closely.

Indeed, whether male or female, all those busy in the fields were young people; not a single middle-aged person over forty or fifty was to be seen.

Logically, middle-aged individuals would certainly be skilled laborers in these fields, possibly more effective than young people in their twenties or thirties.

If it were just one or two families like this, one might overlook it, but glancing around, dozens are busy in the fields without a single middle-aged person present.

Something is certainly not right here.

"Master, where do you come from?"

Jiang Liu and his companions continued walking, when a man in his early thirties wearing a cotton jacket was seen sitting by the field, a sickle resting next to him. As he noticed Jiang Liu's group approaching, he actively inquired.

"Amitabha, this humble monk hails from the Great Tang in Eastern Land, heading to the Western Heaven to worship Buddha and seek scriptures, just passing through this place!" Jiang Liu responded with humility and courtesy upon hearing this.

"This place? Haha, Master, you truly jest..." Hearing Jiang Liu's words, the young man seemed to hear something amusing, shaking his head with self-mockery.

"Benefactor, I see here, during the first lunar month, rice is mature and it appears to be a bountiful harvest. Wouldn't such a strange place count as a treasure land?" Jiang Liu, finding it odd, countered.

"Master, would you like some tea?" This man, seemingly eager to converse, picked up a large teapot from beside the field and asked Jiang Liu.

"I humbly accept!" Jiang Liu responded with his palms together.

The young man poured a cup of tea from the large pot for Jiang Liu and offered it to him.

Jiang Liu, not showing any disdain, accepted the cup with both hands and took a sip.

Hmm, given the current temperature, the tea in the pot had long cooled.

"Master, you may not know, people rarely visit our village throughout the year. So, seeing you all, I couldn't help but strike up a conversation; I hope you don't find me too talkative!" After Jiang Liu had the tea, the man spoke.

"Why?" Jiang Liu asked, becoming more curious.

From what he could see, this village seemed quite prosperous with such harvests.

However, why was it that ordinarily few people came? And now, as though something unusual had arrived with his master's group?

"Master, you may not be aware, though our village is indeed a treasure land for crops—fields, vegetable patches, and fruit trees flourish year-round, yielding high outputs, thus every household can be considered wealthy..." the man explained.

"Hmm, isn't that a good thing?" Jiang Liu nodded slightly in response.

"If it were solely this, then indeed it would be good; unfortunately, our land might be a treasure for crops but seems to be cursed for people..." the man sighed slightly and continued.

"How so?" Jiang Liu asked, looking at the robust man before him, seeming healthy, wondering more.

"Because everyone in our village, male or female, generally by the early age of thirty-five or thirty-six, or at latest by forty, starts to lose their minds, becoming erratic, every single person."

"Thus, despite our wealth, few come here, and our village has become locally known as Madman Village..."

"I see!" Upon hearing the man's explanation, Jiang Liu's heart suddenly understood.

Looking again at the fields busy with young people, it became clear why.

"Outsiders used to come, but many got hurt; gradually fewer and fewer came..." the man nodded and added another sentence.

Clearly, he was reminding Jiang Liu that if they entered the village, they should be cautious.

"Thank you for the warning, young brother!" Jiang Liu thanked the man upon hearing his words.

With just a few simple chats, Jiang Liu understood the village's situation was indeed odd, though he still didn't know the reason behind it.

But for Jiang Liu, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Since the village has problems, it might mean there's a task to be done?

If the task is simple, dealing with it casually can be achieved; a small reward is still a reward.

Of course, if the task is difficult, all the better, indicating rich rewards. Once completed, not only could he gain rewards from the system task.

Perhaps he could also have the villagers build a temple for him and gain incense offerings and destiny?

After learning these things, Jiang Liu naturally wanted to investigate further.

However, he couldn't directly ask others for help upon first meeting.

Jiang Liu pondered silently for a moment before looking up at the sky.

Due to being the first lunar month, it's already close to dark around the first quarter.

"Amitabha, Benefactor, it's getting late; we've just arrived here, might we lodge here for a night?"

(PS: Today, the editor at QQ Reading suggested that in a few days there will be full channel recommendations, and advised me to change the cover as the current one is too rough. Hmm, I will probably switch to a nicer cover soon. By then, don't lose track of this book, haha...)