"From here, we travel eastwards into the Great Quicksand. The sand is flowing, gathering and dispersing with the wind. People leave no trace and many get lost. It is so vast and far away that no one knows where to go. So people who have come and gone in the past gather their remains to mark the way. There is little water or grass, but hot winds. When the wind blows, people and animals get lost and become sick. Sometimes you hear singing or wailing, and you lose sight of where you are. Many people die because of this. It is probably caused by ghosts."

…

Mr. Chen used poetic language to talk to Xuanzang about some foreign scenery and his experiences along the way.

After leaving Nalanda Temple, Chen Sheng captured the three strands of monster life that were parasitic on animals in various places along the way.

During this process, he was naturally impressed by the scenery along the way.

For example, the Great Quicksand mentioned just now, because this place was mentioned in the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions written by Xuanzang, Mr. Chen went there specially to check in.

Then, in a turbid water source near the quicksand, a catfish that was parasitized by the monster was found.

When he used his spiritual practice system to fight it, the aftermath directly created an artificial sandstorm. That scene left a deep impression on him.

The scenery he described in his conversation with Xuanzang was indeed what Chen Sheng had seen when he rushed all the way from Nalanda Monastery in the Western Regions.

However, Mr. Chen's description of these scenes is not in his own language.

These words were all descriptions from the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions written by Xuanzang himself later, and were directly stolen by Chen Sheng to tell stories to Xuanzang.

This feeling of showing off in front of the person himself by using his later works is indeed unique.

"So, you came from the Western Regions? You traveled thousands of miles and saw a lot of beautiful sights?"

Xuanzang said this with a gleam in his eyes.

Regarding the beautiful scenery in Chen Sheng's words, an idea began to sprout in his mind: Maybe he could go and see it with his own eyes? "Yes."

Mr. Chen nodded and looked at Xuanzang who was already getting a little excited.

Especially when Chen Sheng saw the light in Xuanzang's eyes becoming brighter and brighter, he couldn't help but smile.

It seemed that Xuanzang had unknowingly gained another reason for his journey to the Western Regions.

At this moment, history also began to change. The true origin of these words seemed to become blurred in history, and the reason why Xuanzang went to the Western Regions also became blurred.

"So, what you said about sealing the demons is also true?"

Xuanzang looked down at the wooden box in his hand, and couldn't help swallowing when he thought there were three demons inside.

At this moment, this wooden box was like a hot potato, and Xuanzang always felt that it might explode at any time.

Judging from the current details.

Judging from the vividness with which Chen Sheng described the scenery of the Western Regions.

The story told by Mr. Chen about suppressing demons and monsters also seems to be true.

Xuanzang, who had always firmly believed that Buddhism and Taoism were just a philosophy of life, suddenly felt that his worldview was beginning to collapse.

Perhaps some people think that Xuanzang, who is well versed in Buddhism, should have a higher acceptance of demons and monsters.

But most Buddhists actually pursue a philosophical concept and a spiritual realm, and never really want to become gods in strange stories and legends.

“It couldn’t be more true.”

As Mr. Chen said this, he took the wooden box back from Xuanzang's hand.

Then he knocked gently on the wooden box.

After a crisp sound, a hole on the top of the wooden box opened horizontally.

Three shadows that looked exactly like a monkey, a wild boar, and a catfish slowly emerged from the wooden box.

Xuanzang looked at the shadow so close at hand, and could not utter any words of doubt he wanted to express.

Such a real scene, right in front of his eyes, made his scalp tingle.

Xuanzang couldn't stop trying to retreat, but his legs seemed to be rooted to the ground and did not obey his will at all.

Looking at the three phantoms that were almost sticking to his face, Xuanzang felt as if he could smell the odor of these monster phantoms.

They opened their ferocious fangs as if they wanted to struggle and roar, but they stopped abruptly before they could make any sound.

Because Chen Sheng closed the mouth again the next moment, depriving them of the ability to transmit sound.

At this moment, the surroundings became quiet.

Mr. Chen waited in silence for Xuanzang's reply, while Xuanzang's mind was working frantically.

Mr. Chen had asked him before: Do you want to learn from him seriously?

Before, I came to learn sculpture, and now I come to learn the supernatural.

Now it is confirmed that this is not a trick.

So... should I agree? Should I follow this man and learn those extraordinary methods? Xuanzang subconsciously fell into a decision.

But soon, Xuanzang suddenly realized something: "Why me?"

Yeah, why him?!

The man in front of him could have just shown him the carvings on the wooden box, but now he was obviously deliberately showing him the special features.

He was just an ordinary monk who had just passed the Buddhist examination of the Dali Temple. Compared with the general public, he seemed to be nothing special.

"Because you're worth it."

Mr. Chen looked at Xuanzang with a smile on his face.

Xuanzang, who was only 13 years old, was obviously confused by this answer. Of course, even after several decades, Xuanzang would still be confused by this answer.

Only Mr. Chen understood.

The reason for choosing Xuanzang was not only because Master Jiexian, who sealed the lives of the monsters, needed a better disciple than him to inherit the sealing cause, so Xuanzang, who was good enough in the original history, was chosen.

Moreover, Chen Sheng felt that considering Xuanzang's excellence, it would be a shame not to include him in Yong Zhou.

………………………………

Three years later.

As the Wagang Army approached the city, even Luoyang began to suffer from the war.

According to the original history, Xuanzang, who had been a monk for three years, should have wandered around to avoid the war, and finally chose to settle in Sichuan, a relatively stable area at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

After Chen Sheng joined, history did not change much. Chen Sheng did not interfere with the direction of history, so as not to instantly clear his remaining space-time disturbance threshold.

He just quietly gave some supplies to the victims, but even so, it consumed a considerable amount of his time and space disturbance threshold.

Afterwards, just like the original historical process, Chen Sheng still brought Xuanzang and some related people to Sichuan.

Here, he took Xuanzang to travel through some famous mountains, rivers and streams in Sichuan and Shu.

He also taught Xuanzang some basics of the spiritual practice system.

Chen Sheng's understanding of this practice system, which is based on the evolution of the Buddhist Yogacara school of thought, is only superficial.

He was just relying on his high achievements in the spiritual practice system to learn the essence of part of the spiritual practice system from a high vantage point.

However, it must be said that Xuanzang's talent and determination, coupled with his own keenness in Buddhism, made him particularly proficient in this spiritual practice system derived from Buddhism.

Under Chen Sheng's guidance over the past three years, Xuanzang has steadily reached the realm of the third consciousness in the spiritual practice system.

In March 618 AD, Emperor Yang of Sui died.

In May, Yang You abdicated the throne to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor and established the Tang Dynasty, named the country "Tang", changed the era name to Wude, and made Chang'an the capital. The Sui Dynasty came to an end.

Due to the long-term war, the national economy was severely damaged, and the population dropped sharply from 8 million households in the early years of the Sui Dynasty to more than 2 million households.

However, although the world was not completely stable at this moment and the newly established Tang Dynasty had not yet completely ruled the world, it was better than the wars in the previous few years.

At this time, Chen Sheng took Xuanzang to travel around Sichuan.

In addition to helping refugees in Sichuan to the best of his ability, he also took Xuanzang to visit Buddhist temples in various places to study.

Through his in-depth study and understanding of various Buddhist classics, Xuanzang's speed in learning the spiritual practice system was also increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In addition, he took Xuanzang to the mountains to fight tigers and to the water to catch fish all day long, increasing Xuanzang's practical experience and courage, and striving to train Xuanzang into the humanoid Gundam of this era, ensuring that his future journey to the West would be as smooth as possible.

In this way, Xuanzang stayed in Sichuan for another two years. Under the guidance of Chen Sheng, he simultaneously strengthened his body and mind, and finally reached the fifth consciousness realm in the spiritual practice system.

While training his apprentice, Chen Sheng never forgot to search for the breath of life of the monsters.

Until this day, 620 AD.

Chen Sheng vaguely felt a trace of the monster's breath of vitality. Although it was only fleeting, Chen Sheng still located it.

It is not far from them, and is also located in the Sichuan area.

So Chen Sheng took Xuanzang to a village at the foot of a big mountain.

The people in the village were all in a panic and were very wary of the two sudden strangers, Chen Sheng and Xuan Zang.

"Donor, may I ask..."

"Bang!"

As soon as Xuanzang finished speaking, he was interrupted by the sound of a door closing.

This is the fifth time I have been turned away.

Xuanzang, who considered himself a handsome boy, was rejected more times in this small mountain village today than he had in the past 18 years.

In the past, he could make most people stop and listen to him just by relying on his handsome and fair face.

But today, this face seems to have failed in this village.

When the villagers saw his face, instead of inviting him in kindly, they quickly closed the door with a look of fear on their faces.

Seeing this, Xuanzang walked behind him helplessly and looked at Chen Sheng who was sitting on a stone chair in the corner.

"Master, the people here seem to be very afraid of me. Does my face look ferocious?"

Xuanzang touched his fair face and showed an expression of doubt about life.

"Maybe what they are afraid of is not you, but something deeper."

Mr. Chen said calmly.

While Xuanzang was asking around to see if there was anything unusual, he also tried to investigate some of the situations himself.

I have some rough understanding of what happened here.

"Something deeper..."

"So is there really a demon causing trouble here?"

Xuanzang was obviously excited. He raised his arms and pinched his muscles. It was obvious that he had been looking forward to encountering the demon for a long time.

During the five years of practicing with Chen Sheng, he punched big beasts and kicked bears, but he had never beaten the demon that his master mentioned.

Apart from the demon in the wooden box that his master asked him to recite scriptures every day to suppress, he had never seen any other demons.

According to Master, the large army of demons had long been wiped out by Master's Yong Zhou, and Yong Zhou himself had mostly gone to an extremely confidential place to do an extremely confidential important event.

Apart from the wisp of power left by the master here, there are not many other extraordinary powers in this world.

Therefore, he was actually looking forward to the demon that finally appeared.

"That's about right."

"According to some news I heard from afar, people in this village have recently encountered a woman in the mountains. She has a fair and beautiful face, and is very charming. She is so beautiful that she doesn't look like an ordinary person."

"Recently, there have been frequent thefts of pigs, cattle, sheep and chickens in the village, so this beautiful woman has become known as a mountain monster among the villagers."

"Everyone started to feel insecure, fearing that a monster would come one day."

"Plus, I did sense the presence of a monster nearby before, so there should really be a monster on the mountain here."

“I just don’t know what creature this monster’s vitality has possessed.”

Mr. Chen briefly explained the news he had just learned.

When Xuanzang heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then he was shocked: "So I am regarded as a monster because of my great appearance?"

"You are so shameless, boy."

Mr. Chen rolled his eyes helplessly when he heard this.

Then he began to think about why this demon did not hurt people, but only captured some cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens.

Logically speaking, every bit of the abyss monster's vitality that was destroyed should be as evil as the nature of the abyss.

What does it mean that the best intelligent creatures don't eat anything but cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens? Xuanzang turned a deaf ear to Chen Sheng's complaints and walked towards the nearby mountains with an angry look on his face. Seeing that Chen Sheng didn't catch up, he turned his head back.

"Master, let's go."

"We must not allow this demon to bring disaster to the people!"

Xuanzang's tone was firm.

He even took out the wooden box that Mr. Chen had given him to suppress and keep.

The three monsters in the wooden box have gradually been marked by Xuanzang after five years of chanting scriptures and suppressing them with the power of his spiritual practice system.

It can be said that Xuanzang can summon the three demons in the wooden box at any time to obey his orders and serve him for a few minutes.

Seeing this, Chen Sheng smiled and shook his head, then slowly stood up and walked towards Xuanzang.

No matter why this demon doesn't harm people, it's always a good idea to go and take a look first. If he can get rid of these fleeing monsters as soon as possible, he can go back.

(End of this chapter)