In the world of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, Zhang Bairen, dressed in white, arrives at Jinsha Water Village with the healthy Kongxu Gongzi.

This is the location where Sha Wujing is in the story.

Near the Liusha River, at the Jinsha Water Village, there is a water demon that harms people. With these three conditions combined, it is easy to find this location.

Standing on the rooftop, Zhang Bairen calmly looked down.

The Empty Prince was very curious, so he asked, "Junior Brother, as far as I know, you should dislike exorcising demons and catching monsters."

Why did you suddenly have this idea and specifically seek out this remote water village?

"We didn't have enough strength before, so we avoided it."

Now, I have the strength to protect myself.

Therefore, we have decided to take the initiative! Zhang Bairen replied.

The Empty Void Prince was speechless and could only say, "Junior Brother, your strength is already at the level of ascension, what are you worried about demons and monsters for?"

Could it be that the monsters in this water fortress are capable of rivaling us?!

Zhang Bairen shook his head slightly and replied casually, "Not very strong, but very special."

Besides, how do you know I'm worried about demons and monsters, and not gods and Buddhas?

The Empty Young Master tensed up instantly and quickly whispered, "Junior Brother, watch your words!"

This is one of the downsides of this unique mythological and fantasy world.

Every word and action must be approached with utmost care.

Because immortals, gods, and Buddhas can easily know all sorts of things.

The Buddha possessed divine eyes and ears; the Heavenly Court had eyes that could see a thousand miles and ears that could hear the wind; and the ability to sense a person's heart upon calling their true name, and to know the cause and effect with a simple calculation...

It is through these various means that immortals, gods, and Buddhas are elevated above all living beings.

In more serious cases, even a single word or phrase could carry immense karmic consequences.

Zhang Bairen looked at the Empty Prince and set up an isolation barrier beside him.

"Senior brother, I'm not joking."

The reason I advised you before not to continue participating in exorcisms and demon-catching was because I was worried about your safety.

You are the world's number one exorcist, already within the sight of immortals and Buddhas.

Your existence is solely to highlight the unparalleled power of a certain peerless demon.

Then, the unparalleled demon serves as a foil to highlight the Buddha's invincibility.

You might not understand what I'm saying.

Because these are all Buddhist schemes.

Today, I brought you here to help you escape the chessboard.

"If the other party refuses, I will help you eliminate them to repay my senior brother's kindness in teaching and guiding me!" Zhang Bairen said earnestly.

The Empty Prince was dumbfounded, feeling that Zhang Bai had lost his mind.

"Junior brother, are you alright?!" Young Master Kongxu grabbed Zhang Bairen's arms and shook them anxiously.

"I'm fine, stop shaking me."

"Wait a moment, and you'll see that what I said is true." As soon as Zhang Bairen said this, the Empty Void Prince immediately stopped what he was doing and was unable to move.

A violent explosion suddenly rang out in the quicksand river below.

boom!

White smoke rose and water splashed. When the smoke cleared, a small boat appeared on the river, and on the boat stood a Taoist priest holding a peach wood sword.

"Look, everyone! It's here! The Taoist priest has killed the monster!" The villagers, who were waiting for the results, pointed excitedly at the river and shouted loudly.

Following the direction pointed out by the villagers, the people of the water village saw a giant fish, much larger than a small boat, floating out of the water.

Judging from his appearance, he has already died in the quicksand river.

Zhang Bairen released the Void Prince's mental immobilization and continued to watch the absurd scene that followed.

Soon, the villagers hoisted up the huge carcass of the ancient fish. The Taoist priest who returned from the river also said that it was the monster in the river, and he had now eliminated it.

Seeing the enormous Gu Shi fish, the villagers of Jinsha Water Village did not doubt his words, and the village chief brought over the gifts that the village had prepared long ago.

"Master, we really don't know how to thank you. This is the silver we prepared, and two thousand-year-old salted fish, which we would like to give you as a token of our gratitude."

The village chief of Jinsha Water Village handed a basket of silver coins and two thousand-year-old salted fish to the Taoist priest.

"Village chief, what are you saying? As a Taoist practitioner, my only aim is to help the world. I would never accept such a valuable item as a thousand-year-old salted fish." The Taoist priest spoke these righteous words while putting away the silver and handing the thousand-year-old salted fish back.

After accepting the silver, the Taoist priest said that the villagers could do whatever they wanted with the corpse of the ancient fish. The villagers, who already regarded the ancient fish as a monster, were also indignant and wished they could cut the ancient fish into a thousand pieces on the spot.

"You've got it wrong. This is just an ordinary Gushi fish, docile by nature and with a positive and optimistic personality. It's just a little bigger than usual. It's not the monster you're looking for."

Just then, a voice rang out, exposing the Taoist's lie.

"They're here!" Zhang Bairen muttered to himself.

The Empty Prince was quite surprised. This disheveled young man was the mysterious being his junior brother was waiting for!?

What connection could he possibly have with immortals, gods, or Buddhas?

A man of about twenty years old jogged into the water village. He was wearing some gaudy things on his body, which seemed to be some kind of magical artifact, and he had messy hair. He looked unkempt.

"Who are you?!" the village chief demanded.

"I am Chen Xuanzang, an unordained Mahayana Buddhist disciple!"

"Mahayana Buddhism? Are there still Mahayana Buddhist sects within our Great Tang territory?" Prince Kongxu's gaze turned to Chen Xuanzang.

“Of course not. Within the territory of the Tang Dynasty, all Buddhism is Hinayana,” Zhang Bairen replied.

"So that's how it is. He's your target?" The Empty Prince's tone became very complicated.

"Half, or rather, one-third."

This Chen Xuanzang is one of my targets, and the exorcist who will appear later is also one of my targets.

"But my ultimate goal is to become Chen Xuanzang's master!" Zhang Bairen replied.

If you want the Empty Prince to step out of the chessboard and see the true Mahavairocana Sutra, he'll probably have to go see Chen Xuanzang's master.

That fat monk might be one of the incarnations of Vairocana Buddha.

After all, Chen Xuanzang's previous incarnation was a direct disciple of Buddha.

Now that he has re-entered the Buddhist order, besides the Buddha, who else in the entire Buddhist community is qualified to be Chen Xuanzang's teacher?

As things continued to unfold, Chen Xuanzang explained that this was just an ancient fish.

The villagers said they knew it was an ancient fish, but the Taoist priest said it was because a demon possessed it that the fish grew so big.

Therefore, the ancient fish is a monster.

Xuanzang continued to explain that the ancient fish was simply the ancient fish, not a monster.

The real monster has not yet been found.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Taoist priest quickly came out to bewitch the villagers.

The villagers, who had been misled, were utterly foolish. They immediately attacked Chen Xuanzang and tried to hang him up and burn him alive.

This made the Empty Prince, who was watching the show, sigh.

"This is outrageously stupid!" The Empty Prince's tone seemed to be suppressing his anger.

Although he had seen this kind of thing many times before.

However, as his status rose higher and higher, he had not seen the true situation of the lower classes for a long time.

Moreover, this dramatic development greatly shocked the Empty Prince.

“That’s really stupid!” Zhang Bairen nodded in agreement.

Zhang Bairen did not deny the villagers' stupidity.

Therefore, Zhang Bairen will choose to act prudently in response to Sha Wujing's act of revenge.

Those who should be saved should be saved; those who shouldn't be saved should be given revenge for Sha Wujing.