Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

"If I lose, I must stay and play Mahjong with Lady White Bones for three years?"

Spending three years like that would of course be the best, but unfortunately, over at Wuzhuang Temple, Guanyin could only tolerate so much time, playing Mahjong with Lady White Bones for three years? That's impossible.

Therefore, Jiang Liu secretly shook his head, discarding this tempting idea.

Moreover, he had already promised the old woman at the foot of the mountain to bring her husband and granddaughter back, just for the sake of delaying for a few years, would he disregard such a promise?

To improve his own strength and drag out time as much as possible indeed was Jiang Liu's principle, yet there needed to be a necessary bottom line.

At the very least, promises he made had to be fulfilled.

"Little Master, which two of you will sit at the table!?" Lady White Bones hurriedly arranged for a square table to be brought over and eagerly asked Jiang Liu.

"Uh, are we not going to finish our meal!?" Glancing at the banquet, it had barely started, right? As soon as she mentioned playing Mahjong, Lady White Bones couldn't wait and seemed eager to start right away, which darkened Jiang Liu's expression.

"Oh, right, we should eat first then!" Hearing Jiang Liu's words, Lady White Bones nodded in agreement.

Realizing she was indeed too anxious, she sat back down and the atmosphere at the banquet seemed very cordial with toasts all around.

Naturally, Lady White Bones took the opportunity during the banquet to thoroughly explain the rules of playing Mahjong to a maid by her side.

The banquet lasted a full Chinese Hour before it finally concluded.

After everyone had their fill of food and drink, Lady White Bones asked the little demons to tidy up quickly, then she and a maid sat on opposite sides of the square table.

Jiang Liu, of course, took Zhu Bajie to the table with him. When it came to playing Mahjong, Zhu Bajie's luck in gambling was like a human-shaped plugin; he had been playing for several months now and had never lost. The only difference was whether he won a lot or just a little.

"Hmph, you dead pig, today I'm going to avenge my previous humiliation!" Looking at Zhu Bajie sitting across from her, Lady White Bones couldn't wait to get her revenge and spoke out.

"Oh, thank you!" In response to Lady White Bones' words, Zhu Bajie stretched out his hand and picked at his pig nose.

"Thank me? Thank me for what!?" Zhu Bajie's reply left Lady White Bones slightly stunned.

"Hehehe, you'll know when the time comes!" However, Zhu Bajie just chuckled and didn't seem keen on explaining further.

"You pigheaded oaf, pick your nose! Otherwise, the cards you touch will make me feel sick!"

...

The shuffling of Mahjong tiles created a tense atmosphere over the square table.

In Jiang Liu's view, this was probably the biggest gamble since he'd devised the rules for Mahjong: the stake wasn't silver coins or other riches, but two human lives!

Dong dong dong~dong dong dong~~~dong dong dong~dong dong dong…

As everyone finished setting up the Mahjong tiles and held their cards in hand, perhaps due to the gravitas of the atmosphere, a piece of music suddenly started playing.

If there were modern people standing here, they would definitely recognize the familiar tune as the background music from "God of Gamblers" whenever the God of Gamblers made an entrance.

Such music, combined with the tense and serious atmosphere, was perfect.

"Little Master, what are you humming?" Lady White Bones, who had drawn a card, was puzzled by the melody Jiang Liu was humming and gave him a curious glance.

"Cough cough, I was just thinking the mood was a bit too heavy, so I was humming a tune to lighten it up!" Jiang Liu laughed off Lady White Bones' question.

"This tune seems interesting!" Lady White Bones pondered and nodded in agreement.

In the meantime, Lady White Bones casually discarded a "Wan" tile.

"Chi!" As Lady White Bones' tile hit the table, Zhu Bajie, sitting next to her, called out.
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Seeing Zhu Bajie take out two and three "Wan" to form a sequence with her discarded "Wan", Lady White Bones' brows furrowed slightly, but she said nothing.

After one rotation, Lady White Bones drew another "Wan" tile into her hand.

This made her frown deeply. What's most annoying in Mahjong? That's when you keep drawing the very tiles you've just discarded!

"One Wan!" Grudgingly, Lady White Bones slapped the tile on the table.

"Hehehe, another 'chi'!" Watching Lady White Bones lose another tile, Zhu Bajie chuckled again, astonishingly pushing out two and three "Wan".

"You pigheaded brute, you already have a pair of two and three "Wan", and you're still eating my tiles!?" Watching Zhu Bajie's move, Lady White Bones gaped at him, astonished.

"Hehehe, that's why I should thank you!" Zhu Bajie grinned in response to Lady White Bones' shocked expression.

"That pig's face, the more I look at it, the more I can't stand it!" Seeing Zhu Bajie's smile, Lady White Bones felt as if there was a stifled anger in her chest.

Sitting upwind of Zhu Bajie, Lady White Bones initially felt that her opportunity for revenge had arrived, and she resolved to keep a close watch on this pig-headed brute. However, as the game commenced, she sensed that something was amiss.

"White Bone Benefactor, it's your turn to draw!" While Lady White Bones was lost in thought, Jiang Liu reminded her after the round had come full circle.

"Oh, right!" Coming back to her senses, Lady White Bones nodded and then reached out to draw a tile.

Looking at the tile in her hand, Lady White Bones was so furious she almost flipped the table—it was another "One of Bams."

"What in the world is going on here? Can we even play like this!?" In frustration, Lady White Bones slammed the Mahjong tile onto the stone table with a smack.

Then, glaring with wide eyes, she locked her gaze on Zhu Bajie and said, "The third One of Bams now, let's see you eat this one if you dare!"

"Oh, since you're so sincerely asking, I'll benevolently grant your wish..."

Zhu Bajie nodded, then pushed forward two tiles from his hand, revealing—what else but the Two and Three of Bams?

"You... you have three of each, the Two and Three of Bams, and you still eat my tile!?" Lady White Bones' world seemed to spin, as she felt her entire worldview crumbling.

"Isn't it fine? I find them quite tasty, you see, and now I've eaten them up! It's just that I didn't expect you to focus on playing the One of Bams. Actually, aside from that, I can also eat the Four of Bams, can't I?" Zhu Bajie, elated, said with a grin.

Lady White Bones: "..."

Suddenly, Lady White Bones felt perhaps her determination for revenge today was a bit childish.

The way this game started made Lady White Bones remember the dominance she experienced during the overnight Mahjong game the night before.

Observing Lady White Bones' demeanor, the corner of Jiang Liu's mouth lifted slightly into a smirk.

It was just an all-night Mahjong session yesterday, and she only saw Zhu Bajie as a symbol of good fortune, but little did she know, Zhu Bajie was practically a human cheat code, akin to the reincarnation of the God of Gamblers.

She had specifically suggested deciding the outcome with Mahjong, which was equivalent to giving her the old man and girl for free, wasn't it?

"She's destined to lose; it's just a matter of waiting to see her reaction afterward!" On the surface, Jiang Liu remained expressionless, but inside, he was calculating.

In Lady White Bones' view, Sha Wujing seemed to be the strongest among them; however, after a test of skill, Lady White Bones found her own abilities surpassed Sha Wujing's.

So it seemed that if she lost the game, Lady White Bones, furious and embarrassed, might go back on her word, possibly leading to a conflict.

Not only would he be able to complete the task, but he could also kill Lady White Bones to gain Experience Points and loot Equipment?

But what if she accepted her loss gracefully after losing? Then Jiang Liu would have found it morally difficult to act against her.

Generally, unless Demon Kind showed outright malice toward him, Jiang Liu rarely took the initiative to strike at them.

Though Lady White Bones was naturally vicious, having eaten who knows how many humans—unquestionably a sin against mankind—what she had said earlier was not entirely without reason.

Humans eating animals seems a natural right, so when animals cultivate into Demons and turn around to consume humans, isn't that just the cycle of nature?

Moreover, wasn't Zhu Bajie, when he first appeared, intent on devouring him? Without delving into specifics, Jiang Liu believed that during the days Zhu Bajie had spent as a Pig Demon, he had eaten no small number of humans.

Similarly, Sha Wujing, even before being enlightened by Guanyin, had consumed many humans; it was even said that he ate the previous nine incarnations of the Scripture Seeker.

In the original story, Sha Wujing admits to having eaten nine Scripture Seekers and even crafted a strand of their skulls, which he wore around his neck.

Of course, what was more significant was that, from Lady White Bones' comments, she appeared to hold much dissatisfaction with the Immortals and Buddhas, scornfully regarding their self-proclaimed adherence to the Heavenly Dao as nothing more than an excuse for their own selfish gains.

In Jiang Liu's view, wasn't she someone he could recruit?

In the future, he was destined to oppose the Immortals and Buddhas, and at that time, he would surely need the support of those Demons who shared his discontent with the divine.

Regardless of Jiang Liu's inner thoughts, the game of Mahjong continued.

For Jiang Liu, who had grown accustomed to Zhu Bajie's cheat-code-like existence, the game was bearable, but Lady White Bones was dumbfounded.

No matter which tile she played, it seemed that cursed pig could always eat it.

This feeling filled Lady White Bones with an overwhelming sense of malice from the world.

All in all, this game of Mahjong was a miserable experience.

In the depths of her being, it felt as though an invisible force was manipulating everything, dooming her to a pitiful loss.

This sensation made Lady White Bones feel incredibly stifled.