Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 120 Encountering the Blackwater River (Part 6)
Meanwhile, Ao Tu and Wukong made a bet.

Pigsy smiled and said to Sandy:

"This little river god is really ignorant. Senior Brother's body is impervious to swords and spears. He was refined in the Eight Trigrams Furnace for forty-nine days and it was still intact. Let alone being hit by three moves, even three hundred or thirty thousand moves would be fine for him!"

Sha Wujing said, "Yes! Yes!"

The imperial envoy wiped the sweat from his face and said:

"Lord Dragon God, Elder Sun, you two should refrain from gambling. Gambling results in winners and losers, which harms harmony and is detrimental to everyone. Let me deposit the silver into the treasury first."

Ao Tu said, "No need to put it in the warehouse, just take it directly to the riverbank for inventory."

The imperial envoy exclaimed in surprise, "Absolutely not!"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Why not?"

The imperial envoy hurriedly thought for a moment and replied, "Because... the silver is exposed in the wilderness, and I fear it may be lost."

Ao Tu said, "I will protect it with my divine power, and it will not be damaged by a single penny."

The imperial envoy then said, "This... the silver is placed on the riverbank, and it is inconvenient to convert it."

Ao Tu asked, "Why should we calculate the cost?"

The imperial envoy said, "The silver will be converted so that we can purchase bridge-building materials as needed."

Ao Tu asked, "What items do you intend to purchase?"

The imperial envoy said, "Axes, saws, hammers, and chisels all need to be purchased."

Ao Tu said, "I have divine power. I can turn grass into axes and saws, and stones into hammers and chisels. I don't need to buy them."

The imperial envoy said, "Even so, we still need to purchase wood and stone."

Ao Tu asked, "What kind of wood and stone should we purchase?"

The imperial envoy said, "Our country has little mountainous land but much arable land. The trees and rocks are all owned, so we need to purchase them."

Ao Tu said, "I have divine power; I can create forests from grass and turn soil into stone. Do the grass and soil in your country have an owner?"

The imperial envoy chuckled awkwardly, "No, no."

Ao Tu said, "In that case, quickly send the silver to the shore for counting."

The imperial envoy said, "Wait!"

Ao Tu asked, "Is there anything else?"

The imperial envoy, his back soaked with sweat, said, "Lord Dragon God, since you don't need to purchase any wooden or stone utensils, what do you need so much silver for?"

Ao Tu said, "I ordered you to recruit 20,000 laborers to complete the 100-day construction period. Don't you want money for that?"

The imperial envoy asked, "What do those laborers need money for?"

Ao Tu said, "It's not hard labor, but manual labor."

The imperial envoy said, "Lord Dragon God, you do not need to recruit laborers. You only need to conscript an equal number of hard laborers. I have already taken care of it for you."

Ao Tu laughed and said, "You are quite clever. Very well, you go and command these laborers to build the bridge within a hundred days."

The imperial envoy whispered, "I'll go and take command... What about you?"

Ao Tu said, "I'm going back to the river to sleep, and I'll wait for you to finish building the bridge."

Upon hearing this, the imperial envoy knelt down with a thud and said:
"My Lord Dragon God, I deserve to die! Even if you nailed me to the riverbed, you couldn't build a bridge across this sixty-mile stretch of water! Please, I beg you, do not be angry. I will follow your lead without question!"

Ao Tu said, "In that case, quickly send the silver cart to the riverbank and recruit another 20,000 laborers."

The imperial envoy replied, "Yes."

The silver cart was then pulled to the riverbank and counted in public.

However, the officials in charge of transporting the silver did not panic in the face of this situation.

Boxes of silver were carried out and weighed one by one.

Officials were in charge of counting.

Wukong, Ao Tu, Tang Sanzang, Bajie, Sha Wujing, the imperial envoy, and many soldiers and civilians watched from the surrounding area.

After the officials spent a long time counting, the silver had piled up into a small mountain.

Finally, the amount was determined.

The official report stated: "The total amount obtained was 200,124 taels, 7 mace, and 5 candareens."

Wukong asked, "Why is there more than a hundred taels extra?"

The silver transport official explained, "That's because silver is inevitably damaged during transport. To prevent a shortage, extra silver is loaded when it's being transported."

Wukong understood upon hearing this, and then turned to Ao Tu with a smile:

"You've lost! Quickly stretch out your leg and let me fight!" Ao Tu laughed and said, "I haven't lost, it's the Great Sage who has lost."

Wukong said, "You wicked dragon, you cheated! You got every penny of silver, plus an extra hundred taels. How did I lose?"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "The Great Sage has been deceived by that strange rat's magic weapon without realizing it."

Wukong asked, "Where is the magic weapon?"

Ao Tu stepped forward with a smile, broke off a small piece of silver from the pile of gold and silver in front of him, and said, "Does anyone have a scale? I'd like to borrow it. This silver will be my payment."

As soon as Ao Tu finished speaking, someone immediately said, "I have a scale at home, let me go get it."

Soon, the man brought over the scale.

Ao Tu ordered the weight to be measured again.

The official weighing the silver, his brow beaded with sweat, tremblingly picked up a piece of silver and placed it on the scale. The result filled him with horror.
"Grandpa Dragon King, this scale is inaccurate!"

Ao Tu said, "You weigh your things and just report the numbers. The amount is none of your business, but if you dare to lie or give false information, be careful, my divine eyes are like lightning, and I will strike you with divine lightning and turn you into a charred corpse."

Upon hearing this, the official in charge of weighing the goods nodded vigorously.

After a long time, when it was almost dark, the number was finally obtained.

"Ten... Twelve thousand eight thousand seventy-nine taels, eight mace, and four fen."

The silver transport officer plopped down on the ground, saying, "This scale is wrong, this scale is wrong!"

Wukong's expression was even more somber than Ao Tu's.

Tang Sanzang shook his head and kept chanting Amitabha Buddha.

Ao Tu laughed and said, "This scale is definitely wrong. Whose scale is this?"

Someone in the crowd said, "This is the scale of Wang the rich man. When Wang the rich man borrows grain, he uses this scale to weigh it when others return the grain. One jin of grain only weighs eight liang."

Ao Tu shook his head and chuckled. He summoned the original Blackwater River God, ordered him to carry the silver on his back, and asked, "How heavy is it?"

The River God of the Blackwater River said, "One hundred and sixty-six thousand seven hundred and seventy taels, six mace, two fen, five li, and three hao."

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Great Sage, do we still need to verify?"

With a dark expression, Wukong slowly stepped forward and slammed his golden cudgel into the ground. With a loud boom, the earth shook violently.

The people were so frightened that they fled in panic.

Tang Sanzang exclaimed in alarm, "Wukong, you mustn't hurt people!"

Wukong walked up to the silver transport officer who had lost control of his bladder in fear, lifted him up by one hand, and asked, "Speak, who stole the silver?"

The silver transport official dared not conceal the truth and said in a trembling voice, "All the high-ranking officials and nobles have received some."

Wukong asked, "How did you manage to steal the silver without my knowledge?"

The silver transport officer said, "I dare not hide it from you, sir. The amount of silver was already less when it was loaded, and this... this is still..."

Wukong said, "Speak!"

The silver transport official said, "This is only because the officials saw the divine manifestation and were filled with awe, so they stopped. In the past, 40 or 50 percent of the silver was lost as soon as it left the city."

Wukong exclaimed, "I'm so angry!"

Wukong leaped up and arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Huoluo in a short while.

It was already dark when the city was filled with revelry and debauchery.

Wukong made his golden cudgel dozens of feet thick, and seeing that there was no one on the street outside the palace, he swung it down hard.

With a deafening roar, divine power shook the world, and a huge crater was blasted into the ground. Everyone in the city, regardless of their social status, was alarmed and filled with fear and unease.

Wukong stood in the sky, his voice like thunder, and said:
"You bunch of treacherous and wicked officials, how dare you embezzle my old Sun's silver? How could you hide it from me? My ears can hear the thirty-three heavens above and know the nine netherworlds below. Whoever stole the silver, you must bring it to me within three quarters of an hour, without fail. Otherwise, I will stuff your entire family into a pit and grind them into mincemeat!"

Not long after, the Blackwater River.

Wukong flew back carrying a large bundle, placed it on top of the pile of silver, and said, "The remaining silver has been replenished."

Having said that, he walked up to Ao Tu and said:

"Old Sun is a man of his word, go ahead and hit me."

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Great Sage, there's no need for that. I was just joking. How could I dare to actually attack you?"

Wukong said, "I keep my word and will never go back on it. Hurry up and attack, or it will be said that I have broken my promise."

Ao Tu said, "I really dare not. How about this, let memorize these three moves first, and then we can fight later."

Wukong said, "I'm afraid you won't be able to hit them anymore."

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Great Sage, do not worry about this matter."

(End of this chapter)