Journey to the West: Treasure Vase of the Great Dao

At that moment, Lu Yu gently smiled and said, "If I let you succeed, wouldn't I lose face as a master?"

With a casual throw, the agate stone in his hand soared into the air, instantly vanishing into the dark clouds. A piercing scream rang out, frightening everyone so much that they clutched their heads and trembled.

Suddenly, the fierce wind ceased, and the dark clouds in the sky vanished in an instant as if they had never been there at all. The sun shone directly above, and the sky was as clear as washed in blue.

The crowd emerged from their fear, staring in astonishment at the scene outside. The recent depiction, which resembled the end of the world, seemed as if it had never happened. Some pinched themselves, the pain reminding them that they weren't dreaming, and it had truly transpired.

Naturally, for the elderly, such occurrences weren't unheard of. After all, in this era, demons seeking seals were not uncommon, the only difference being that this time the visitor seemed a bit more skilled.

The elderly village chief stared at Lu Yu in disbelief, as if seeing him for the first time. The apocalyptic scene, the terrifying demon, had vanished into thin air with just a nonchalant toss from Mr. Lu, as if it had never existed. He suddenly understood why the demon had waited for Mr. Lu to be out before daring to make a move.

However, Lu Yu appeared completely at ease, strolling nonchalantly to the middle of the shrine hall and sitting down slowly at the desk. He began to brew tea, seemingly unconcerned about what had just transpired.

"Mr. Lu, about that demon," the village chief still had some reservations, not knowing whether the demon was dead or had escaped. Such creatures were always vengeful, and if it bore a grudge against Willow River Bay, that could spell trouble.

"Don't worry, it's completely dead," said Lu Yu as he sipped his tea, speaking softly.

"Village chief, come have some tea," Lu Yu offered, pouring a cup of tea for the old village chief.

The elder kept his shock to himself and slowly sat down, but his trembling hand holding the teacup betrayed how unsettled he felt.

"Children, the master's agate stone is lost. Help the master find it," Lu Yu suddenly seemed to remember something and called out to the children who were studying.

To the mischievous children, this request was akin to celestial music. They promptly put down their textbooks, thumping their chests eager to share their master's worries.

"But master, where did you throw the agate stone? We need to know so we can go look for it." Zhu Zi was older and more composed, and he asked.

"Just follow along the river bay. You should be able to find it," Lu Yu pondered and then said.

The children dispersed in a hubbub, shouting as they headed for the river bay, but the old village chief still seemed uneasy and asked, "Master, is it really okay to let the children search?"
Experience tales at empire

"Don't worry, the children are sharp-eyed and often play by the river bay. They'll probably find it faster than you adults," Lu Yu said with a smile. However, catching the village chief's gaze, he realized that even this venerable old man was overcome with curiosity and could hardly wait.

Therefore, he added, "However, the children are still weak after all, so it would be best for the village chief to gather some able-bodied adults to help. When the time comes, we should also bring back the demon's body; that's valuable material, not to be wasted."

The village chief quickly agreed, clutching his walking stick and summoning people around the village. Mr. Lu had a famous reputation at Willow River Bay. The moment they heard that Mr. Lu's beloved agate stones were missing, the entire village mobilized, and a large crowd set off toward the bay, moving along the river until they saw a toad as big as a millstone lying on the ground.

Blood slowly leaked from its forehead, and one of its eyes was smashed to smithereens. The crowd was astonished, having never seen such a large toad, but a sharp-eyed child soon cried out, "It's Mr. Lu's agate stones!"

Only then did the people notice that the smashed eye of the toad housed the very agate stones that Mr. Lu could not let go of, and, unsurprisingly, the other was embedded in its forehead. Everyone then realized that it was Mr. Lu who had used the agate stones to kill the demon, thus dispersing the storm.

"Move aside, the village chief is coming," a villager shouted.

As soon as the words were spoken, the elderly village chief could be seen approaching, staggering with his cane. No one dared stop him, and they quickly cleared a path, allowing the village chief to reach the body.

"Good, it's dead, that's good," the village chief murmured continuously as he closely inspected the deceased giant toad. Only then did he feel relieved. After all, the villagers of Willow River Bay were ordinary people, and if such a mighty demon had set its sights on them, there would be no peace in the future. Seeing the corpse now truly allowed him to rest easy.

"Don't just stand there, quickly get Mr. Lu's agate stones out, clean them, and send them to him," the village chief rebuked while tapping his cane. In his heart, however, he thought: These young people really haven't seen much of the world—a big toad has them all stunned, completely forgetting how shocked they themselves were upon first seeing this demon's corpse.

However, before the adults could react, the quick-witted children had already extracted the agate stones and washed them numerous times with spring water. They then hurriedly carried them to Mr. Lu.

"Village chief, what should we do with this toad?" the villagers asked, unsure of how to deal with the dead toad. Given its size, it was clearly a demon. Though it was dead, they couldn't help but feel frightened.

"Mr. Lu said it's valuable; let's carry it back," replied the village chief calmly. At that moment, he truly looked imposing. In the eyes of the young people, such a grand village chief was indeed the village's treasure.

Since Mr. Lu had instructed them to carry it back, the villagers naturally did not object. In their eyes, Mr. Lu was like an Immortal who had descended to Earth, and whatever he said was right.

By the time the crowd had carried the massive toad's body back to the village entrance, Lu Yu had already been there waiting for a while with the children.

Looking at the now cold body of the toad, Lu Yu smiled and said, "This creature, being one of the Five Poisons, is a valuable medicinal herb; its entire body can be used in medicine. You should process this body properly, whether you decide to keep it for dealing with illness or to sell it, either choice is good."

"I heard that Toad Skin is very expensive. With the toad being this large, isn't it a rare treasure? If sold, it would probably fetch an astronomical price," a villager was tempted.

With a smack, a walking stick hit him, and the old village chief, wielding his cane, began to give him a thorough beating, scolding as he beat him, "I ought to beat the sense back into you, always eyeing money. This is a relic left by a demon, and of course, it must be enshrined in the shrine. Who knows, one day the people of Willow River Bay might depend on it for their lives.

Money can be earned again, but if this thing is gone, you couldn't buy it back even with all the money in the world."