Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 646 - 645: A Dispute Starts

Sha Wujing furrowed his brows, making a shushing gesture with his hand before speaking, "Please, speak more softly. Shopkeeper Chen said we can’t let others know I’m a Water Demon. Can you lower your voice?"

Tian Peng restrained his own voice and asked again, "What’s going on? How come you’re at Chaos Residence, and dressed like this?"

"Of course, it was I who brought him here," Chen Nuo replied after finishing the last order.

"Why, Shopkeeper?" Tian Peng said, "When I first wanted you to take me on as a clerk, it took so much effort. How come you let him be a clerk so easily? And he’s a demon too?"

Chen Nuo had found nothing odd about the previous words, but at this last part, he nearly laughed out loud, "What, are you discriminating against demons now? Those three clerks before you, as I recall, each of them was a demon, weren’t they?"

Tian Peng knew he had misspoken. He paused before explaining, "Shopkeeper, that’s not what I meant. I mean, do you know his background? His arrival is just too coincidental. What if he was sent by ’up there’? You just let him into Chaos Residence so easily?"

Chen Nuo laughed again, not taking Tian Peng’s words seriously at all.

He wasn’t really doubting Sha Wujing; he simply felt it was unfair that he had to go through tests to become a clerk at Chaos Residence, while this person got the position so casually. He felt a sense of imbalance.

"Are you legitimately suspicious of him, or do you just feel unbalanced?" Chen Nuo asked directly.

Tian Peng hesitated, stubbornly insisting, "No, I definitely have my suspicions, it’s always been like that. Shopkeeper, you are just too kind-hearted, and this one isn’t just any demon, he eats people, that certainly can’t be okay."

"If I don’t care, why do you?" Chen Nuo countered, "Or are you afraid he’ll eat you?"

"No, of course not. If I hadn’t been distracted this morning, he might not have been able to beat me," Tian Peng argued.

"There you have it. What does it matter if he eats people? Besides, apart from you, a mortal, there’s no one else coming to Chaos Residence for meals," Chen Nuo shrugged.

"Not so, Shopkeeper!" Tian Peng started to explain but then he suddenly remembered He Xi, and he immediately felt he had found his footing, "No, there’s not just me who eats at Chaos Residence. Isn’t there Xi too? Compared to me, Xi seems to be an outright mortal."

"Xi isn’t at Chaos Residence right now," Chen Nuo said, "Besides, he eats people because he’s hungry and without mana. He needs to eat humans to replenish it, but things are different now. Here at Chaos Residence, there’s no shortage of food and things to replenish mana."

Shopkeeper made a good point. Tian Peng puckered his lips, but still felt quite uncomfortable looking at him.

"But you can’t just randomly eat people here at Chaos Residence, or else the Heavenly Court might come down on us. I’ll be the first to deal with you!"

Sha Wujing was unfazed by Tian Peng’s hostility and nodded, "Don’t worry. As long as I can have enough to eat and a place to live here, I won’t eat people."

"I imagine you wouldn’t dare eat people indiscriminately." Tian Peng snorted and then suddenly remembered something, "Shopkeeper, you said Xi isn’t at Chaos Residence anymore, where did she go? You didn’t send her back to the mortal realm, did you?"

"No, she became very interested in embroidery. Last time, Chang’e came and took her to Guanghan Palace," he answered.

At the mention of Chang’e, Tian Peng’s anger towards Sha Wujing vanished instantly. He pursed his lips, "Chang’e, how is she doing?"

"What do you mean ’how’?" Chen Nuo asked, "Are you worried about her?"

"I’m not," Tian Peng quickly denied, then paused and sighed. Anyway, he had already decided to give up, though giving up wasn’t something that could be done in an instant.

"If it’s not concern, whether I speak or not doesn’t seem to matter much, does it?" Chen Nuo switched off the formation in front of the stove, then leisurely took a seat on the kitchen chair.

"I..." Tian Peng didn’t know what to say, at least he hadn’t completely let go, he did want to care for her.

"If you won’t speak, then I won’t answer either," Chen Nuo said, "Since whether or not I do, you don’t care, so I’ll say nothing."

"Shopkeeper," Tian Peng looked at Chen Nuo helplessly, his voice tinged with a sense of grievance; to think that, at a time like this, she would still tease him about this.

Chen Nuo indulged in teasing a couple of sentences to satisfy his own humor, then seriously replied, "She’s in Guanghan Palace, her own residence, not staying somewhere else. You would do better to worry more about yourself than her."

Tian Peng thought the same, but he couldn’t help worrying. Hearing Chen Nuo’s words, Tian Peng’s concern eased a bit, and he gave a wry smile, "As long as she’s fine, I was just asking casually."

Chen Nuo saw through it but decided not to call it out. A tease or two was enough; there was no need to dwell on the issue further. Too little was jest, too much was rubbing salt in the wound.

"By the way, Shopkeeper, since Xi likes embroidery, she should go to the needlework lady, right? Why would she go to Guanghan Palace? Chang’e may understand a bit of embroidery, but when it comes to professionalism, isn’t the needlework lady the expert?" Tian Peng asked.

The corner of Chen Nuo’s mouth twitched, then he turned his head expressionlessly towards Tian Peng, "Why do you think I didn’t send Xi to the needlework lady and went directly to Chang’e instead?"

Looking at the calm in Chen Nuo’s eyes, Tian Peng seemed to understand something and obediently shut his mouth, remaining silent.

Indeed, it was because of him that many an Immortal Official who had originally wanted to ingratiate themselves with Chaos Residence gave up on currying favor after he was demoted.

Fortunately, Chen Nuo himself never cared for others’ fawning over Chaos Residence.

Or rather, the clientele of Chaos Residence were never the sort that swayed like the grass atop the walls; even if it lost many orders at the beginning, after a few days, the orders for Chaos Residence returned to normal.

Whether it was the power of the cuisine that was too compelling or the willpower of those Immortal Officials that was too weak, was unknown.

Either way, these matters had little effect on Chen Nuo; it merely meant cooking more or less—the difference didn’t concern him in the slightest.

Sha Wujing, who had been listening by the side, suddenly spoke up, "Shopkeeper Chen, has Chaos Residence made an enemy of the Heavenly Court?"

"Not exactly an enemy," Chen Nuo replied, "It’s just that some issues have caused our relationship with the Heavenly Court to change from what it was before. However, it hasn’t had much impact on Chaos Residence, you still need to work hard as usual."

Sha Wujing nodded, not asking anything further.

Chen Nuo was reminded of the content of the book. He wondered what would happen if someday people from Buddhism showed up again, and if Sha Wujing would choose to go with them if they were willing.

He asked, "What do you think about the Heavenly Court? If they would accept you back, would you choose to leave with them?"

Sha Wujing was unclear what Chen Nuo meant by his question, but without a second thought, he shook his head, "I wouldn’t leave with the Heavenly Court’s people."

"You have to consider the situation at that time; don’t think about Chaos Residence," Chen Nuo said.

Sha Wujing shook his head again, still without a moment’s consideration.