Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 766 - 765 Betting

But if it were stolen by someone, the nature of the act would be different. Such a fruit, once stolen, even if he does not care about the thief, needs to properly punish the one who stole it.

However, the smile on Mr. Chen’s face was indeed a bit strange. Master Zhenyuan asked softly, "Seeing you laugh, Mr. Chen, could it be that you know how the fruit disappeared?"

Chen Nuo, of course, knew, but he definitely wouldn’t admit it now. So he began to feign ignorance, tilting his head and asking, "What’s wrong? Wasn’t I talking with the abbot in the main hall just now? If the fruit is missing, who stole it, and how would I know?"

Master Zhenyuan thought about it and realized it was true. He himself didn’t even know who had stolen the fruit, let alone this mortal. Even with incredible fortune, he still was just a mortal. How could he possibly know so much detail?

"However, I could come up with a way to inquire whether the Ginseng Fruit was truly stolen by this monkey," Chen Nuo said with a smile.

Master Zhenyuan was somewhat surprised. He didn’t know how to find out who had stolen the fruit, yet this mortal claimed he could, which seemed utterly impossible. How could he do it?

"Looking at the abbot like this, do you not believe what I say?" Chen Nuo countered.

Master Zhenyuan paused, then said, "Mr. Chen, what is your method?"

"Since the abbot doesn’t believe me, why ask what my method is?" Chen Nuo did not directly reveal to Master Zhenyuan the method he had thought of. Since Master Zhenyuan did not trust him, there was no need to say so much.

Master Zhenyuan was outmaneuvered and chuckled, "Mr. Chen, it’s not that I don’t believe you, but look, this monkey is obviously very cunning. Even we can’t think of any way to make it confess whether it truly stole the Ginseng Fruit or not. What could your method possibly be?"

"Since the abbot still does not believe me, then I indeed have no need to speak," Chen Nuo said, spreading his hands, clearly not planning to truly reveal anything.

Master Zhenyuan did not want to damage the harmony between the two, yet he still distrusted him. He was now pondering how to relieve the tension without their relationship turning sour.

Conflict has arisen before success; if the future brings prosperity, will he still remember? He fears only the bad will be remembered.

Mingyue and Qingfeng took turns interrogating the Six-Eared Macaque, but it stubbornly insisted it had only been sleeping in its room and never came out to eat the Ginseng Fruit.

Looking at the monk, he was caught in a dilemma. He claimed he had not eaten it and partly believed what Qingfeng and Mingyue said, yet was somewhat skeptical of his disciple’s words, and seemed to want to distance himself from blame.

Master Zhenyuan made a helpless gesture at Chen Nuo and chuckled. Then he said, "Mr. Chen, look at this situation. It’s a complete mess, and nothing is clear about who is right or wrong. Are you sure you can use your method to find out whether the monkey really did eat the Ginseng Fruit?"

"Look at you, abbot; you still don’t trust me. Well, I truly have nothing to say now. However, let me put it this way—I can make this monkey confess whether it ate the Ginseng Fruit or not. Do you finally believe me or not?" Chen Nuo’s posture seemed as if he was only waiting for Master Zhenyuan to state whether he believed him or not.

Master Zhenyuan thought to himself that, given the situation was already so tense and no matter who had eaten the Ginseng Fruit, his relationship with the Tang Monk and his disciples had soured.

If that’s the case, he truly did not care about making things even more tense. So he said, "Since Mr. Chen has a method, why not try it and see if it’s as effective as you claim, that a single question could indeed reveal who ate the Ginseng Fruit."

"It’s not as simple as that," Chen Nuo said. "Why don’t we, the master of the observatory, place a wager to see if I can really guess who did it?"

Master Zhenyuan did not expect Mr. Chen to propose a wager over this matter, suggesting his confidence must be profound. Not wanting to appear weak, he asked, "What kind of wager do you propose, Mr. Chen?"

"It’s like this. I’ve been tinkering with alchemy recently and found the Ginseng Fruit quite remarkable. I’m curious to see if it could be turned into an elixir, but to directly ask the abbot for it wouldn’t be proper. I was going to let go of the thought, but now an opportunity has presented itself due to this incident," Chen Nuo explained his reason for the wager to ensure Master Zhenyuan knew his goal was not only the Ginseng Fruit, then continued, "I’d like to propose a bet with the abbot. If I win, would you give me all the Ginseng Fruits on the tree, so I could take them with me to make elixirs?"

Master Zhenyuan was taken aback that Mr. Chen would stake a claim so bold as to ask for all the fruit on the tree, a truly greedy proposal.

Chen Nuo was in no rush, waiting for Master Zhenyuan’s response. The master was proud and relentless, someone who, if challenged directly, would confront one head-on.

Now that I’ve proposed this wager to Master Zhenyuan, he will surely agree. It’s not about whether he truly wants to bet but rather his competitive nature; he will surely agree to my proposition.

Sure enough, after just a short wait, Master Zhenyuan truly nodded and accepted the matter.

"Alright, but remember, Mr. Chen, my fruit takes nine thousand years to ripen. You’re asking for all the fruits on my tree at once, so the stake is quite substantial. Since you’re betting so boldly, I won’t be polite either, and I’ll also wager big," Master Zhenyuan contemplated, determined not to be on the losing end.

Chen Nuo didn’t hesitate and accepted Master Zhenyuan’s offer, even accepting before the master stated his stake.

In actuality, this wager was only for Master Zhenyuan to take part in, as the Six-Eared Macaque stealing the Ginseng Fruit was a done deal. There was no need for him to guess.

Surprised by Chen Nuo’s hasty agreement, Master Zhenyuan paused and then said, "You should think this over, Mr. Chen. I haven’t even mentioned what I want to wager. Isn’t your agreement a bit too reckless?"

"Actually, the wager was initiated by me. You just state the terms, abbot. Regardless, I’ve made it clear here—I will not lose this bet," Chen Nuo said with a confident smile on his face.