Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 640 - 639: Lure the Enemy Strategy

Chen Nuo was amazed, somehow the logic seemed to hold up.

Seeing Chen Nuo not speaking, Tian Peng turned to look at him, still quite pleased with himself, "Shopkeeper, don’t you think my reasoning is sound?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Come here, you." Chen Nuo did not directly answer Tian Peng’s question but instead beckoned Tian Peng over.

Tian Peng didn’t understand, he always felt that if he went over, Chen Nuo might give him a good thrashing, but the shopkeeper wasn’t that kind of person, so Tian Peng approached, "What is it, Shopkeeper?"

As Chen Nuo raised his hand, Tian Peng saw it and reflexively hugged his own head.

Could it be that he had accidentally said something wrong just now, and the shopkeeper, unusually angry, was about to take it out on him?

Given the shopkeeper’s full body of Mana, one slap would either kill him or leave him half-crippled.

Seeing his expression, Chen Nuo knew what he was thinking, he transmitted his Mana to Tian Peng’s body, and then withdrew his hand.

Tian Peng waited a while and did not receive the expected beating. He slowly released his hands, "Shopkeeper, you weren’t really going to hit me?"

"Why would I hit you?" Chen Nuo asked.

"Haha, it’s nothing." Tian Peng quickly corrected himself, afraid that if he was slow to speak, he might actually get beaten.

"Look again." Chen Nuo pointed at the contents of the container.

Tian Peng obediently looked into the container and still saw nothing, "Shopkeeper, what are you asking me to look at? I still can’t see anything."

"That’s right, you can’t see it because there’s nothing as mysterious as you think, there’s simply nothing there," Chen Nuo said.

"Ah?" Now Tian Peng was completely baffled. If there was truly nothing, then why did the river glint so brightly? Could it be because of the geography here?

No matter how much Tian Peng thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

"What is this river called?" Chen Nuo asked.

"The Flowing Sand River." Tian Peng answered, "What does the name have to do with it?"

"The reason the river sparkles from the outside is because there’s a lot of fine sand in the river. The sand reflects the light from the sun and the moon, making the river look so bright," Chen Nuo explained to Tian Peng.

Tian Peng nodded with a semblance of understanding; that had not been the reason.

"Since there’s nothing strange about it, why have so many mortals died in it, and why hasn’t the river demon appeared even after we’ve waited here for so long?"

Chen Nuo looked at the calm surface of the river, certain that the problem must lie with the water itself.

Seeing Chen Nuo staring at the river surface motionlessly, Tian Peng turned his head toward Chen Nuo, "Shopkeeper, so how do we lure out this river demon?"

"We definitely need a lure," Chen Nuo said, looking at Tian Peng without speaking further.

Tian Peng felt chills all over, goosebumps on his back as Chen Nuo kept looking at him, "Shopkeeper, why do you keep staring at me like that, you don’t plan to make me go down there, do you?"

"Would you rather I went down?" Chen Nuo countered.

Naturally, that wouldn’t do, but Tian Peng really was somewhat afraid. What if the shopkeeper didn’t save him in time, and he ended up in the belly of the river demon?

But then again, Chen Nuo was both his boss and someone he greatly respected, so it seemed this risk could only be taken by him. With this in mind, Tian Peng began to undress.

Chen Nuo glanced at him, "Why are you taking off your clothes?"

"I can’t let Shopkeeper take the risk, so the role of bait must be mine. Don’t worry, Shopkeeper, I do have a Dharma-protected body, so it’s no problem," Tian Peng said as he undressed.

Chen Nuo stopped him, "Stop undressing."

Tian Peng felt touched, thinking that Shopkeeper still cared for him, knowing that he was now a mortal and it would be tough for him to fight a river demon with such deep Taoist practice, but no matter what the Shopkeeper said, he, as a junior, must still do what he had to do.

"As bait, there’s no need to undress, and besides, in the dead of winter, if you enter the water naked, that would surely raise suspicions," Chen Nuo looked in disgust at Tian Peng’s flabby body, finding it quite an eyesore. He waved his hand, "Put your clothes back on quickly!"

Tian Peng, realizing he was not being stopped from his task, paused in undressing and then, pulling his clothes back on, redressed, then rolled up his sleeves, ready to enter the water, only to be stopped again by Chen Nuo.

"Shopkeeper, I’ve already dressed properly now, so I can go into the water," Tian Peng said.

"Who said you were to go into the water?" Chen Nuo asked.

Tian Peng froze, "Didn’t you just say that we needed a bait to lure out the demon?"

"Yes, I did say that."

"Then I definitely can’t allow you to go in the water, naturally it should be me," Tian Peng finished, patting his chest with an air of certainty, "Don’t worry, Shopkeeper, I know how to protect myself."

"Actually, there’s no need to enter the water," Chen Nuo said, "Besides, I never told you to go in."

"Ah?" Tian Peng’s imminent leap was halted, and he quickly backed away two steps, that was close, he thought, thankfully he didn’t impulsively jump in, or it would have been for nothing.

While his heart beat rapidly, he asked, "Then Shopkeeper, who will be the bait, and since it’s a demon and not a mortal, will a spell work?"

"That will certainly work." Chen Nuo said as he twisted his hand and produced a strand of hair.

Tian Peng took a close look and could only see an ordinary strand of hair, puzzled.

"Shopkeeper, can you get any less reliable? Even putting aside everything else, you can’t just pluck a single hair to be the bait, I can’t even stand to look at it, let alone a demon. Will the demon be fooled?"

Calling him unreliable? Chen Nuo turned to Tian Peng, "It seems you’re quite confident in yourself, so in that case, you might as well jump in yourself."

"No, no, no, Shopkeeper, it’s all because I didn’t think before I spoke, please don’t stoop to my level," Tian Peng hastily said.

"What is this hair for, then? Can it really turn into a person after using it? That’s just amazing, I’ve lived for hundreds of years and have never seen such a thing. Please, Shopkeeper, I’m begging you, let me see this marvel," he rambled on, attempting to steer the conversation away from his previous statement.

Chen Nuo gave him a look, not taking issue with him on this matter.

This short and thin hair was none other than one from the already balding Sun Wukong. Chen Nuo channeled Spiritual Energy into the hair, and with a flick of his hand, the strand floated gently to the ground.

Tian Peng watched intently as the hair slowly drifted to the ground, yet still noticed nothing abnormal.

Just when that hair touched the ground, there was a loud bang, a puff of smoke suddenly burst forth from where the hair landed, and then a person identical to Tian Peng appeared.

Tian Peng watched agape, "Shopkeeper, what’s this all about? This hair, this hair actually turned into my likeness; that’s truly amazing, isn’t it?"

"Nothing to be surprised about," Chen Nuo said indifferently, and then waved towards Flowing Sand River.

The person looking exactly like Tian Peng immediately ran towards the riverbank.