Nozawa sat on the donkey cart, Tao Liulang led the donkey, Jing Qilang had his bow and arrows slung on his back, and A Qing, with the little macaque, guarded them with a stick. Just like when they came, they headed all the way back to Hibi Village.
This westward trip didn't bring back any true scriptures—Japanese monks absolutely have no real scriptures, Nozawa could bet his head on it—but the gains weren't bad at all: he built up a friendly diplomatic relationship with the Hosokawa Family in Hosokawa Castle, figured out the true weight of Japanese monks in Japan's Middle Ages, and even got a whole box of books free of charge. Not too shabby, right?
Nozawa was quite pleased with all that, but having learned his lesson from last time, he didn't dare relax too much on the way home. He kept an eye out for any trouble, just in case someone caught a wild idea and actually tried to rob him.
