Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 637 - 636: The Demon of Flowing Sand River
But then he thought again, considering that this young man had become a general, he must possess exceptional courage and insight. If he were to be frightened by a mere story, then truly, he couldn’t accomplish anything at all.
The Great General’s disappointment dissipated, and he continued the patrol with Tian Peng.
Tian Peng followed behind the Great General, casting a deep glance toward the direction of the Flowing Sand River, which the Great General had pointed out earlier.
He was determined to visit this Flowing Sand River; perhaps this was why he had come all the way from Chang’an. It could be his opportunity—if he managed to defeat the demon within, he might achieve immortality.
Despite hastening their pace, it was dark by the time they returned. Fortunately, they did not have to travel long in the night before they reached the military camp.
The first thing Tian Peng did upon returning to the camp was to remove the heavy cloak from his shoulders.
The cloak was indeed too heavy, nearly like carrying a twenty-pound sandbag—it was exhausting, yet he could not discard it.
Having finally arrived at the camp, the first thing to do, of course, was to take off this sandbag—no, the cloak.
"How was it, are you exhausted?" Deputy General Chen took the cloak from Tian Peng’s hands and handed it to a soldier beside him, then asked, "Great General, did you really take General Zhu along the entire border? I thought at most you would cover half the distance, but you completed it all."
"What are you talking about? Since we came here, of course we had to complete the whole route. What would be the point of doing just half?" The Great General glared at Deputy General Chen and added, "Otherwise, we would still need to complete it next time. Since we’ve already started, we must finish."
In the end, it was all because of laziness.
Deputy General Chen, who had been with the Great General for a long time, knew what the Great General was thinking. Although he knew, he did not expose him.
"Alright, Great General, General Zhu, you must be starving after that long journey? The meal has been reheated for you. The Great General and General Zhu can go eat now."
Hearing about the meal, the Great General’s eyes suddenly lit up. He handed everything he was carrying to his guard and headed straight towards the mess area.
"General Zhu, what are you waiting for? Go eat. Otherwise, the Great General might finish all your food."
No sooner had Deputy General Chen finished speaking than the Great General’s voice came from a distance, "Damn it, Chen Gong, what do you take me for? Am I that despicable? I would at least leave him a bowl of soup!"
"The Great General has always been like this. You’ll get used to it after spending more time with him," said Deputy General Chen, not the least bit intimidated by the Great General, instead comforting Tian Peng.
"It’s okay, that, uh, I..." Tian Peng was about to say that he wasn’t hungry and wouldn’t have the meal.
But he stopped halfway through his sentence, feeling that what he was about to say wasn’t quite appropriate.
After all, they were soldiers who had ridden hundreds of miles on horseback.
Although it was the horses that did the walking, the rider still had to control them. Claiming not to be tired at all would be utterly impossible. He needed to eat.
"What’s wrong, General Zhu?" Seeing General Zhu stop talking halfway, Deputy General Chen was puzzled. He wondered what the unfinished sentence was supposed to be.
Tian Peng came to his senses. He had originally planned to return to Chaos Residence and discuss with Chen Nuo the demons of Flowing Sand River. Eating now would be a major delay, especially in the military camp, where eating was secondary to talking.
"General Zhu?" Seeing that Zhu Ganglie did not respond, Deputy General Chen asked again.
Tian Peng thought for a moment and came up with a response that was sufficiently diplomatic and beyond reproach.
"Oh, Deputy General Chen, I can’t take it anymore. I’ve never ridden a fast horse for such a long distance before. It seems I have much to practice in the future, but for today, let it be. I’m so tired that I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going to sleep now. We can talk about anything else tomorrow," Tian Peng answered, breathing heavily.
Just now he appeared completely normal, so how did he become so exhausted all of a sudden?
Deputy General Chen frowned as he looked towards Tian Peng, "Weren’t you just fine a moment ago? How can you be so tired all at once? You don’t even have the strength to eat."
Tian Peng sighed, then continued to breathe heavily, "Hey, it’s an old ailment of mine, a rather long response delay. Sometimes I don’t even realize I’m tired, not until much later does the exhaustion actually show."
"How can there be such a strange ailment?" Deputy General Chen’s expression clearly showed disbelief.
In fact, Tian Peng himself didn’t believe it either; unfortunately, there was no other way to explain it. If he were to talk about not being hungry, that would be even more absurd.
"Really, otherwise, why didn’t I feel tired at all after the competition that day? And what about the morning exercises, did you see me breathing harder?" Tian Peng countered.
Who would notice that? Deputy General Chen naturally had not paid attention to Tian Peng in this regard, but judging by his appearance, it didn’t seem like he was faking it.
However, skipping meals was not an option. After such a huge expenditure of energy, going without food for a long time would wear down his body.
"Since we’re at the military camp anyway, General Zhu, why not wait until after you’ve eaten before going to sleep?" Deputy General Chen suggested.
Tian Peng was specifically trying to avoid eating, so how could he possibly agree to have a meal?
He declined, "Ah no, I can’t. If I stay up even a moment longer, I’m going to end up sleeping on the ground. Deputy General Chen, I’d rather not eat and just go rest."
Without giving Deputy General Chen a chance to respond, Tian Peng left after finishing his sentence.
"Wait, General Zhu!" Deputy General Chen called out as he tried to stop Tian Peng, but to no avail; Tian Peng was off like the wind, swiftly leaving the scene.
Seeing him behave this way, Deputy General Chen overturned his own thought from the morning that Tian Peng didn’t seem like a seventeen-year-old.
Seventeen? More like seven. He insisted on doing whatever he decided, completely ignoring what others said.
Despite Tian Peng’s childishness, Deputy General Chen wouldn’t really let him go to bed without eating anything. Fortunately, the mess hall always had ginger soup ready, so Deputy General Chen got a bowl and brought it to Tian Peng.
After leaving, Tian Peng didn’t go to Chaos Residence; instead, he laid down on his bed to wait for Deputy General Chen to come.
As he had expected, Deputy General Chen wouldn’t let him leave so easily. He would want to check if Tian Peng was truly lying before feeling reassured enough to leave him alone.
As he lay motionless on the bed, sure enough, he could hear the calling from outside.
Upon hearing the voice, Tian Peng immediately lay on the bed, pretending to have already fallen asleep. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
The soldier sent by Deputy General Chen called out for a while outside, and not hearing Tian Peng come out, he took the initiative to enter and placed the bowl of soup in front of Tian Peng.
"General, Deputy General Chen said, why not drink some soup before you sleep? It’s been cooled just right for you. The temperature is perfect, not too cold and not too hot, just the right warmth to drink."
Tian Peng continued to play dead.
The soldier was somewhat anxious, but with Tian Peng still asleep, he didn’t know whether this general had a temper upon waking up. If there was no temper, fine, but if there was, then he’d be in a sorry state.
"What’s going on? What’s the matter?" Tian Peng, not one to give his subordinates a hard time, pretended to have just been woken up and asked.
