Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

Chapter 8 Demon Soldier

Jiang Liu, sitting atop a green rock, wore a tattered gray-white monk's robe, a roasted pheasant skewered on the wooden stick in his hand, with a pretty young girl sitting beside him.

It was both a violation of the meat prohibition and the lust prohibition. If seen by other monks, he might be regarded as a debauched monk and expelled from the monastery.

The licking flames scorched the pheasant, slowly infusing the seasoning smeared on it into the meat, mingling with the original flavor of the meat and emanating a peculiar aroma into the air.

The girl beside him, Gaoyang, slightly twitched her nose and quietly swallowed her saliva.

"Hehehe, such delicious meat…" Just then, suddenly, a slightly ominous and hoarse voice rang out.

Jiang Liu turned towards the voice and saw a sturdy grey wolf, the size of a young calf, emerging from the grass beside him.

Examining the grey wolf, it was strong and hearty, but it bore numerous scars, and a claw mark over its left eye had blinded it, revealing it as a one-eyed wolf demon.

"Was that this wolf who just spoke?" Jiang Liu startled at the sight of the emerging wolf.

Although he knew demons existed in this fantastical world and had heard of the Incense Offering Ceremony and demons, he had never witnessed them firsthand. The snow rabbit that attacked Jinshan Temple a few days ago was nothing more than unusually large.

And now this one-eyed wolf could actually speak human language?

Jiang Liu was taken aback, first by the appearance of the wolf and second because the wolf could actually speak.

"Hmph, just a mere demon, daring to appear so boldly? Are you not afraid of being vanquished?" Compared to Jiang Liu's shock, the girl, Gaoyang, showed no trace of panic, instead chiding sharply.

"Hehehe, though the chicken is fragrant, human flesh is far sweeter and more delicious. Devouring you two, not only would my injuries fully heal, but my cultivation level would surely advance further…"

The grey wolf's gaze swept over the pheasant roasting on the Flame Mountain, but his greedy eyes finally rested on Jiang Liu and Gaoyang.

"Daring to consume human flesh? You must be executed!" Gaoyang exclaimed furiously, abruptly standing up, and with a raise of her jade hand, two flashes of cold light appeared, shooting directly towards the grey wolf—both were flying daggers.

However, the grey wolf leaped deftly, its agile form easily dodging the flying daggers and, at the same time, pounced towards Gaoyang like a fierce tiger.

Gaoyang reacted swiftly as well, her whip lashing out from her waist, snapping like a flood dragon as it fiercely struck towards the grey wolf.

The fight between the young girl and the grey wolf was intensely back and forth.

Although unable to intervene, Jiang Liu could tell that both the grey wolf's and Gaoyang's strength were somewhat stronger than the previously seen snow rabbit and Senior Brother Xuankong.

"How do I intervene?" With the team status below, the scene before Jiang Liu had completely changed, watching the battle between the grey wolf and Gaoyang, he felt a sense of urgency within.

At first glance, the fight between the grey wolf and Gaoyang seemed evenly matched—one claps a paw, the other snaps a whip. However, Jiang Liu could clearly see that although the grey wolf appeared to be struggling, its health bar was decreasing very slowly.

On the other hand, Gaoyang's health bar had dropped by about a third after a short while.

Feeling urgent, Jiang Liu naturally wanted to lend a hand.

Although demons were terrifying, there was no reason for a woman to fight while he, a grown man, hid behind her.

However, despite wanting to help, Jiang Liu found absolutely no opportunity to intervene.

In such an intense battle, a mere level 1 like himself was no different from an ordinary person; charging in would probably only burden Gaoyang further.

From what was visible, this wolf already bore injuries, so its battle with Gaoyang was closely matched.

Even as time passed, the signs of defeat seemed to appear.

However, Jiang Liu could see that the wolf originally had about 70 to 80 percent of its health, and now it still had over 60 percent. As the battle continued, the decrease in health was not significant.

In contrast, Gaoyang seemed quite miserable, with many parts of her body scratched by wolf claws, blood drenching her body, especially the health bar above her head that only Jiang Liu could see, which was now only about half full...

This situation made Jiang Liu somewhat surprised; on the surface, it looked as if Gaoyang was on the brink of victory, yet according to the health bar, Gaoyang was completely suppressed. What was going on?

Amid his surprise, Jiang Liu's mind suddenly recalled a text he had learned in middle school.

"The Wolf," written by Pu Songling, was a text excerpted in the middle school Mandarin textbook, which narrated the story of a butcher encountering two wolves on his way home after selling meat, a tale filled with strategies and wits.

This text had vividly revealed the cunning nature of wolves.

"Gaoyang, be careful, this wolf is feigning weakness!", a thought flashed through Jiang Liu's mind, and he shouted at Gaoyang.

The injured Gaoyang, holding a whip, resembling a blood-soaked female general, slightly changed her expression upon hearing Jiang Liu's shout.

The Grey Wolf nearby also had a glint in its eyes; its formerly flagging spirit suddenly rejuvenated, and it even stood on its hind legs.

Its paws viciously tore at Gaoyang.

"Can stand upright? Are you a Demon Soldier?", Gaoyang exclaimed as she saw the Grey Wolf stand up.

With a ripping sound, blood splattered, and the girl's shoulder was deeply lacerated by the wolf's claws, hurling her next to Jiang Liu.

With blood-stained paws, the Grey Wolf remained standing, stepping towards Gaoyang and Jiang Liu like a human.

As it walked, it extended its tongue to lick the blood off its paws, its eyes gleaming with an even greater greedy fervor.

"Indeed, this wolf is full of tricks; it was just pretending to be weak!", Jiang Liu's suspicion was confirmed upon witnessing this scene, his heart sinking.

"Demon, is this what a true demon looks like? Able to stand and walk like a human, and even speak", Jiang Liu truly realized what a demon looked like, watching the Wolf Demon.

With a whoosh, a black shadow suddenly smashed towards the Wolf Demon.

The Wolf Demon accurately caught the black shadow with its paw; it was the roast chicken Jiang Liu had just prepared.

A look of disdain flashed in the eyes of the Wolf Demon. It initially intended to discard the roast chicken, but its nose twitched slightly, and it promptly licked it with its tongue.

After tasting it, the Wolf Demon's eyes brightened: "Hmm, this little monk makes tasty roast chicken. I could eat this girl to recover from injuries, and as for this little monk? No rush to kill him, let him cook roast chicken for me every day, and once I tire of it, then eat him...".

Having used the roast chicken to momentarily distract the Wolf Demon, Jiang Liu helped Gaoyang up and turned to run into the distance.

"Jiang Liu, it's useless, the Wolf Demon is very fast, we can't escape...", supported by Jiang Liu, Gaoyang, pale from blood loss, spoke in a weak voice, shaking her head.

"I know we can't escape, but we can't just sit and wait for death, can we?", Jiang Liu said urgently while supporting Gaoyang.

Watching Jiang Liu and Gaoyang's fleeing figures stagger into the distance, the Wolf Demon was not in a hurry to pursue; after rapidly consuming the roast chicken bones and all, it then crouched down and, moving like a flash of lightning, chased after them.

Naturally, its speed was much faster than that of Gaoyang and Jiang Liu...