Chapter 26: Sun Wukong Seeks a Remedy from the Three Isles; Guanyin Revives the Tree with Sweet Dew

In the world, keep a blade's edge in the heart; in self-cultivation, remember the inch of restraint.
People often say the character for blade is a way to make a living, but think three times and guard against anger and deceit.
The highest men have always taught noncontention; sages carry virtue from age to age.
But for every hard man, there is a harder one, and in the end all turns to emptiness and falsehood.

The Great Immortal gripped Wukong by the arm and said, "I know your skill, and I know your reputation. But this time you have gone too far. You have fooled your own heart, and however much you may turn and twist, you cannot get out of my hand. Even if I take you all the way to the Western Heaven and stand before your Buddha, I will still have my ginseng fruit tree back. Do not keep showing off your powers."

Wukong laughed. "Sir, you think too small. If you want the tree alive, what is hard about that? If only you had said so sooner, we would not have had this fight at all."

The Great Immortal said, "I will not let you go lightly unless you can make the tree live again."

Wukong said, "If you will release my master and the others, I will make you a living tree."

The Great Immortal said, "If you truly have the power to revive the tree, I will become sworn brothers with you."

He thereupon had Tripitaka, Bajie, and Brother Sha released.

Brother Sha said, "Master, I do not know what trick my brother has played."

Bajie said, "What trick? This is what you call a bit of face-saving theater played right in front of you. The tree is dead. How can he make it live? He only put on a show to get us out of here. He does not care a fig for you or me."

Tripitaka said, "He would never have abandoned us. Let us ask where he means to seek the cure."

They called to him, "Wukong, how did you talk the immortal into releasing us? What cure are you going to seek?"

Wukong said, "Old Sun is speaking the truth. How could I be deceiving him? As the old saying goes, remedies come from the sea. I am going to the Eastern Ocean, to travel through the Three Isles and Ten Continents, to ask the immortal elders and venerable sages for a medicine that can bring the dead back to life. With that, I can make the tree live."

Tripitaka asked, "How long will it take you to come back?"

Wukong said, "Only three days."

Tripitaka said, "Very well. I will give you those three days. If you come back within them, all is well. If you are late by a day, I will start that old spell."

Wukong said, "As you command. As you command."

He quickly tied up the tiger-skin skirt, stepped out of the gate, and said to the Great Immortal, "Do not worry. I am off at once and will be back at once. In the meantime you must treat my master properly: give him tea three times a day and six meals, with not the least lack. If there is even a little shortfall, when I come back I will settle accounts with you and smash the bottom out of your cauldron first. Wash the robe for him and rinse it clean. I do not care if his face is a little yellow, but if he grows thin, I will not leave the gate."

The Great Immortal said, "Go, go. I will not let him go hungry."

The Great Sage leaped on his somersault cloud, took leave of Five Village Monastery, and headed straight for the Eastern Ocean. In midair he went as quick as lightning, swift as a falling star, and before long he was in the immortal realm of Penglai.

He lowered the cloud and looked down carefully. It was truly a fine place.

The world of immortals stood lined up in ranks, with the sea rolling beneath them.
On the jade terrace, a shadow reflected the cold heart of heaven; on the giant gate, a gleam rose above the sea's surface.
Five-colored haze held the jade pipes in its embrace; stars and moon in the nine skies shone on the golden turtle.
The Queen Mother of the West came often to this place, to offer blessings to the Three Immortals and their peaches.

Wukong could not take in all the fairy splendor, so he walked directly into Penglai. Just then, outside White Cloud Cave, under the shade of the pines, he saw three old men playing chess, with the Star of Longevity looking on and the Stars of Fortune and Rank at the board.

Wukong stepped up and said, "Greetings, my good brothers."

The Three Stars saw him, pushed the chessboard aside, and returned his salute. "Why has the Great Sage come?"

Wukong said, "I came only to play a little."

The Star of Longevity said, "I heard that the Great Sage gave up the Dao for the Buddha, left his life in Tripitaka's keeping, and went west to seek the scriptures. You are running all over the mountain roads from day to day. Where would you find the leisure to come play?"

Wukong said, "I will not hide it from you. On my way west I have run into a little trouble, and I have come on a small errand to ask a favor. I do not know whether you will consent."

The Star of Fortune said, "What sort of trouble? Where has the road been blocked? Please speak plainly, so we can decide."

Wukong said, "It was blocked when I passed Mount Wanshou and Five Village Monastery."

The Three Old Men were startled. "Five Village Monastery is the immortal palace of Zhenyuan, the Great Immortal. Did you not perhaps steal and eat his ginseng fruit?"

Wukong laughed. "What would it have been worth if I had only eaten it?"

The Three Old Men said, "You monkey, you really do not know right from wrong. One sniff of that fruit adds three hundred and sixty years to your life. Eat one and you live forty-seven thousand years. That is why it is called the Ten-Thousand-Year Grass-Returning Elixir. Our own cultivation cannot begin to match his. He obtained it with hardly any effort and can stand level with heaven in longevity. We still have to nourish essence, refine breath, preserve spirit, balance dragon and tiger, and fill the deep with the shallow, and no one knows how many efforts that costs. How can you say it is worth only a little? There is no other spiritual root like it under heaven."

Wukong said, "Spiritual root, spiritual root. I have already ruined his root to the last stalk."

The Three Old Men cried out, "How did you ruin it?"

Wukong said, "The other day we were in his monastery, and the Great Immortal was away from home. Only two little boys received my master. They brought out two ginseng fruits for us. My master did not recognize them and said they looked like children not yet three days old, and would not eat them. The boys ate them instead, not letting us have any. So Old Sun stole three. My brothers and I each ate one. The boys, not knowing any better, cursed us as thieves. I got angry and struck the tree with my staff, and then shoved it to the ground. The leaves and fruit were gone, the branches split open, and the roots came up. It was already dead and gone.

I did not expect the boys to lock us in. I used my hands and opened the lock, then went out. The next morning the Great Immortal came home and chased us. We argued, then fought. He spread his sleeve and took us all in one sweep. He tied us up with ropes, beat us with whips, and kept us under punishment for a full day.

That night we slipped out. He caught up again and swept us up once more. He himself had no weapon, only a fly-whisk to block us. My brothers and I had three kinds of weapons, but we still could not land a blow. This time he arranged things all over again, wrapping my master and the two junior brothers in cloth and lacquer, then sending me to the oil pot.

I used another trick to escape and even smashed his pot. Since he could not catch me, he was only the more angry. So I bargained with him, had him release my master and brothers, and promised to find medicine to revive the tree. That was the only way both sides could settle down.

I thought the cure must come from the sea, so I traveled here to the immortal islands to ask the three of you, my good brothers. If you have any remedy for reviving trees, teach it to me quickly so that I can rescue Tripitaka from his suffering."

The Three Stars were troubled at heart when they heard it.

"You monkey," they said, "you truly do not understand people. Zhenyuan is the ancestor of the earth immortals, and we are only the elders of the heavenly immortals. You may have attained immortality, but you are still an offshoot of the Great Pure Immortals and have not yet entered the true stream. How could you get away from him? If a Great Sage had killed beasts and birds or worms and fish, we could save them with a pellet of millet elixir. But the ginseng fruit is the root of an immortal tree. How could it be healed? There is no formula. None at all."

Wukong, hearing there was no remedy, knitted his brows and furrowed his forehead.

The Star of Fortune said, "Great Sage, there is no remedy here, but there may be one elsewhere. Why grow upset?"

Wukong said, "Finding another place is easy enough. Even if I had to roam to the ends of sea and sky and turn through the thirty-six heavens, that would be nothing. Only, my Tripitaka is strict and narrow. He has given me only three days. If I am late by even one day, he will chant the Tightening Spell at me."

The Three Stars laughed. "Good, good. If it were not for that spell, you would be up in the sky again."

The Star of Longevity said, "Do not worry, Great Sage. Since the Great Immortal is an old acquaintance of ours, and we have not called on him for a long time, we may as well go ourselves to pay a visit. We will speak to him on your behalf and ask him not to let Tripitaka chant the Tightening Spell. Let alone three days, if you take five and still find the remedy, we will not leave until you return."

Wukong said, "I am grateful. I am grateful. Please go at once, my good brothers. Old Sun is off."

He took leave of the Three Stars and need not be followed further.

The Three Stars gathered their auspicious light and went straight to Five Village Monastery. The whole court was startled when it heard the cry of cranes in the high air and understood that the Three Elders had arrived.

The sky filled with clustered auspicious light, fragrant and bright.
Colored haze wrapped their feather robes in a thousand strands, and a single light cloud bore their immortal feet.
Blue-green phoenixes flew, vermilion phoenixes sang, and the perfume from their sleeves swept the ground.
Dragon-headed staffs shook with joy, white beards hung like jade across the chest.
Their childlike faces were bright with happiness, and their strong bodies were full of fortune.
They held star-tallies, filled the Sea Mansions, and carried gourds and registers at the waist.
Ten thousand ages and a thousand springs of fortune and long life traveled with them;
they often came to the world to bring a thousand blessings and add a hundred more.
They measured heaven and earth in rank, fortune, and long life, and all of it was theirs in this glad hour.

The Three Old Men rode their auspicious light to greet the Great Immortal. The hall was filled with peace and harmony.

The little immortals saw them and hurried to report, "Master, the Three Stars from the Sea have come."

Zhenyuan was just then in the hall speaking with Tripitaka's party, and when he heard the report he came down the steps to meet them.

Bajie saw the Star of Longevity, stepped forward, and grabbed him with a laugh. "You old fellow made of meat, I have not seen you in so long and you are still so spry. You even forgot your hat."

He plucked off his own monk's cap and plunked it onto the star's head, clapping his hands and laughing. "Good, good, good. This is really promotion and salary all in one."

The Star of Longevity snatched the cap off and cursed him. "You clumsy fool, you really do not know your place."

Bajie said, "I am not the clumsy fool. You are the real servant."

The Star of Fortune said, "You are the clumsy fool, yet you dare call other people servants?"

Bajie laughed again. "If you are not someone's servant, then should I call you 'long life,' 'good fortune,' and 'good rank'?"

Tripitaka scolded Bajie away and quickly arranged his robes to bow to the Three Stars.

The Three Stars greeted the Great Immortal as junior visitors and then took their seats.

Once they were seated, the Star of Rank said, "We have long been cut off from your honored face, and we have been negligent in our respect. Today, because the Great Sage Sun has made trouble on this immortal mountain, we have come to call on you."

The Great Immortal said, "Has Sun Wukong gone to Penglai?"

The Star of Longevity said, "Yes. Because he harmed your elixir tree, he came to us to seek a cure. But we have no formula. He has gone elsewhere now, but we feared he might miss the holy monk's three-day limit, and that Tripitaka would begin chanting the Tightening Spell. So we have come first to pay our respects and second to ask for a grace period."

Tripitaka said at once, "I will not chant it. I will not chant it."

As they were speaking, Bajie ran in again, grabbed the Star of Fortune, and begged him for fruit. He groped in the sleeves, pawed at the waist, and would not stop lifting the star's robe to search him.

Tripitaka laughed. "What sort of manners are those, Bajie?"

Bajie said, "It is not bad manners. This is what I call 'fortune comes again and again.'"

Tripitaka scolded him out again.

The fool loped outside, glaring at the Star of Fortune without blinking.

The Star of Fortune said, "You clumsy oaf, what have I ever done to make you hate me this way?"

Bajie said, "I do not hate you. This is what I call 'looking back at fortune.'"

When he came out of the hall, he saw a little boy carrying four tea spoons. He had just gone off to fetch a cup and fruit when Bajie snatched them away, ran onto the hall, took up a little chime, and battered it with both hands for a while.

The Great Immortal said, "This monk is becoming more and more disrespectful."

Bajie laughed. "It is not disrespect. This is what I call the Four Seasons of Good Fortune."

We need not follow Bajie through all his clowning. Let us return to Wukong, who rode on a cloud from Penglai and soon reached Fangzhang Isle, another truly fine place.

Fangzhang stood high and noble, as though cut from another heaven; it was the court where the Great Source met the gods.
Purple terraces shone along the road of the Three Purities; flowers and trees shed fragrance through five-colored haze.
Golden phoenixes nested in the jeweled gate; jade wine ran where iron and stone grew hard.
Five-colored green cocks crowed in the sea sunrise; vermilion phoenixes drank the smoke of a thousand years.
Men in the world never fully know the scene within the gourd; beyond the forms, spring lasts ten thousand ages.

The Great Sage brought down his cloud with no appetite for scenery. Just as he was walking along, he smelled rich perfume and heard the cry of an old crane. On the other side there was a deity.

He wore splendor in a robe of purple light, and his rainbow colors never faded.
Vermilion phoenixes carried flowers and made them brighter; blue-green phoenixes wheeled with a sweet and lovely cry.
He had the happiness of the Eastern Sea and the longevity of a mountain; his face was like a child, his body robust and strong.
He hid immortal medicine in a gourd-dwelling cave, and the long-life seal hung at his waist.
He had sent blessings to the world more than once and had often cut off disaster for men.
Emperor Wu once decreed him added years; he often attended the peach banquet at the Jade Pool.
He taught monks to break from their dust-bound ties and pointed them toward the great road as clear as lightning.
He had also crossed the sea to salute a thousand autumns and often went to Lingshan to pay respects before the Buddha.
His sacred title was Donghua the Great Emperor, the first among the immortals of cloud and haze.

Sun Wukong came forward with a modest face and called, "Great Emperor, a greeting."

The Great Emperor hurriedly returned the salute. "Great Sage, I have failed to meet you. Please come in and take tea at my humble place."

He took Wukong by the hand and led him inside. It truly was a palace of shell and jade, with the jeweled pond and the crystal pavilions beyond counting.

While they were seated waiting for tea, a boy stepped out from behind a green screen.

You should see how he was dressed:

He wore a Daoist robe that shimmered like rainbow light; a sash of silk glistened around his waist.
On his head he wore a cloth turban that gathered the stars; on his feet were rush shoes fit for wandering the immortal peaks.
He refined his original spirit and shed his outer shell; when his work was finished, he was content and at ease.
He had seen through the source of essence, breath, and spirit, and his master recognized him without any mistake.
Now he was glad to be free of fame and to have long life without end, beyond counting in the cycles of years.
He turned through the corridors and mounted the precious tower; he had already tasted the peaches of the Queen Mother three times.
Sweet cloud drifted from the green screen, and the little immortal was Dongfang Shuo.

When Wukong saw him, he laughed. "The little thief is here. No peaches at your great emperor's place for you to steal!"

Dongfang Shuo bowed and answered, "Old thief, what are you doing here? Your master has no immortal pills for you to steal."

The Great Emperor called out, "Manqian, do not talk nonsense. Bring the tea."

Manqian was Dongfang Shuo's Daoist name. He hurried inside and brought out two cups of tea.

After they drank, Wukong said, "Old Sun has come on one matter of business. I do not know whether you will grant it."

The Great Emperor said, "What matter? You may speak."

Wukong said, "I am escorting Tripitaka westward. On the road we passed Mount Wanshou and Five Village Monastery. Because the little boys there were rude, I lost my temper and overturned their ginseng fruit tree. Tripitaka could not get free, and I have come here to beg you for a formula to cure it. I earnestly hope you will not refuse."

The Great Emperor said, "You monkey, you never mind what you are doing and go causing trouble everywhere. Zhenyuan of Five Village Monastery holds the title 'Lord of the World,' and he is the ancestor of the earth immortals. How could you go and offend him? His ginseng fruit tree is grass-returning elixir. If you only stole the fruit, that would still be a crime. But you uprooted the tree as well. How could he let it rest?"

Wukong said, "Exactly so. We slipped away, and he caught up with us and swept us all away as if we were a handkerchief. That is why I am angry. There was no other way, so I promised to ask for a cure and came to beg you."

The Great Emperor said, "I do have one Nine-Cycle Great Returning Pill. It can heal living creatures in the mortal world, but it cannot cure a tree. A tree has the spirit of earth and wood, nourished by heaven and earth. If it were an ordinary fruit tree of the human world, it might still be treated. But Mount Wanshou is an unborn blessed land, Five Village Monastery is a cave of the Hezhou realm, and the ginseng fruit is the spiritual root formed when heaven and earth opened. How could it be cured? No formula, no formula."

Wukong said, "If there is no formula here, I will take my leave."

The Great Emperor wanted to detain him and offer one cup of jade liquid, but Wukong said, "The matter is urgent. I dare not linger."

He rode a cloud again and headed for Yingzhou Island, another fine place.

The jeweled trees shone in the purple haze; Yingzhou's palaces touched the heavens.
Green hills, blue water, and marvelous flowers were all bright with color.
Jade liquid and the sharpened iron were as hard as stone.
Five-colored teal called to the sea sunrise; vermilion phoenixes drank the red smoke for a thousand years.
Men of the world cannot fathom the scene in the bottle-gourd;
beyond all form, spring light lasts ten thousand ages.

When the Great Sage reached Yingzhou, he saw beneath the red cliffs and jeweled trees a number of white-haired elders with childlike faces and crane-like temples. They were playing chess, drinking wine, talking, laughing, and singing.

It was truly a place where:

Auspicious clouds filled the sky and beauty steamed upward;
colorful phoenixes sang at the cave mouth, and dark cranes danced on the mountain head.
Lotus roots and peaches served as drinks, and pears and jujubes granted a thousand autumns of life.
Some had no imperial decrees to record, and some had immortal talismans to keep.
They drifted free and easy, careless and serene.
Bound by no cycles of years, they lived only by liberty.
White apes bearing fruit came in pairs to attend them with delight;
white deer carrying flowers knelt in twos with deep devotion.

The old men were drinking and making merry. Wukong shouted sharply, "What if I came here to play for a while?"

The immortals saw him and hurried out to meet him.

The ginseng fruit tree had lost its spiritual root, and the Great Sage had come seeking the secret formula.
Colored dawn wrapped the jeweled grove, and the Nine Old Men of Yingzhou came forward to receive him.

Wukong recognized them as the Nine Elders and laughed. "My brothers are at ease here."

The Nine Old Men said, "Great Sage, if you had kept to the right path in those years and not raised havoc in Heaven, you might be even freer than we are. Still, all is well now. We hear that you have returned to truth and are heading west to worship Buddha. How did you find time to come here?"

Wukong explained the matter of the tree and asked for a cure.

The Nine Old Men were likewise shocked. "You have brought trouble on yourself, trouble indeed! We truly have no remedy."

Wukong said, "If there is no remedy, I will take my leave."

The Nine Old Men invited him to drink jade nectar and eat jade lotuses, but Wukong would not sit. He only stood and drank one cup of nectar, ate one lotus root, and hurried away from Yingzhou, heading straight back to the Eastern Ocean.

Soon he could see Mount Putuo not far off, so he brought down his cloud and went straight to the Putuo Rock, where he found Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, expounding the scripture to the divine guardians, Hui'an, and the Dragon Girl in the Purple Bamboo Grove.

The sea lord's city stood high, and auspicious vapor was thick.
The oddest and most wondrous things kept appearing without end.
Only when you know the hidden things beyond a thousand forms do you see that all of them rise from the slightest of sources.
The four holy ones attain fruition in due season; the six kinds of beings listen and escape the cage.
Beyond the mountain forest there is another true savor, with the fragrance of flowers and fruit red upon the branches.

Guanyin had already seen Wukong coming and ordered the mountain guardian to greet him.

The guardian came out of the grove and called, "Sun Wukong, where are you going?"

Wukong lifted his head and shouted, "You bear spirit, since when do you call Old Sun by his name? If I had not let you off back then, you would already be a dead ghost of Black Wind Mountain. Now that you follow the Bodhisattva, enjoy your good fruit and keep watch over this blessed isle, you are not fit to call me anything but 'old lord.'"

The black bear spirit had truly attained the right fruit and now guarded Putuo as a great guardian spirit, all thanks to Wukong in the first place.

He could only smile. "Great Sage, as the ancients say, a gentleman does not keep old grudges in his heart. Why keep bringing it up? The Bodhisattva sent me to greet you."

Wukong then became solemn and respectful, went with the guardian into the Purple Bamboo Grove, and bowed before Guanyin.

Guanyin said, "Wukong, how far has Tripitaka traveled?"

Wukong said, "He has reached Mount Wanshou in the Western Ox-Cart Continent."

Guanyin said, "At Mount Wanshou there is Five Village Monastery. Have you met Zhenyuan, the Great Immortal?"

Wukong bowed his head. "Because it was in Five Village Monastery that I did not know Zhenyuan, the Great Immortal, I damaged his ginseng fruit tree and offended him. He has trapped my master and kept us from going forward."

Guanyin, knowing the matter already, said, "You wild monkey, you really do not know what is good for you. His ginseng fruit tree is the spiritual root that was born when heaven and earth first opened. Zhenyuan is the ancestor of the earth immortals. I would still give him three parts of respect. How could you go and damage his tree?"

Wukong bowed again. "This disciple truly did not know. That day he was not home. Only two immortal boys were there to receive us. It was Zhu Bajie who heard that he had fruit and wanted one for a fresh taste. I only stole three myself, and the brothers shared them. The boys noticed and cursed us without end. I was angry, so I pushed over their tree.

The next day he came back and caught up with us, sweeping us all into one sleeve. He bound us with ropes and beat us with whips for a whole day. That night we escaped, but he caught us again and swept us up once more. Three times and two, we truly could not escape. I have already promised to cure the tree, so I came here from the sea to seek a formula. I have traveled through the Three Isles, and all the immortals say they cannot do it. That is why I have come to bow to the Bodhisattva with all sincerity and beg for mercy and a cure, so Tripitaka can go west as soon as possible."

Guanyin said, "Why did you not come to me first and instead went to search the islands?"

Wukong heard this and was secretly delighted. "Good fortune, good fortune. The Bodhisattva surely has a remedy."

He begged again, and Guanyin said, "The sweet dew at the bottom of my Jade Purity Vase can cure the spirit root of an immortal tree."

Wukong said, "Has it been tested?"

Guanyin said, "It has."

Wukong asked, "What proof is there?"

Guanyin said, "In the old days Lord Lao once staked a bet with me. He plucked one of my willow branches and put it in his furnace, roasting it until it was dry and black. Then he brought it back to me. I placed it in the vase, and after one day and one night it recovered its green branches and leaves, exactly as before."

Wukong laughed. "Then there is truly good fortune! If even a branch that had been scorched black could be brought back to life, how much more the tree that has merely been pushed down!"

Guanyin ordered the attendants, "Guard the grove. I will return at once."

She took up the Jade Purity Vase, with the white parrot chirping prettily in front of her, and the Great Sage followed behind.

The jade whisk and golden form are hard to measure in the world. This is truly the honored one of mercy, who saves the suffering.
In past kalpas he met the Buddha Free of Defilement, and to this day he has become a body of doing.
Many lives had he faced the sea of desire, but now a single field of heart had no trace of dust.
The sweet dew has long known its true and marvelous art, and this treasure tree is guaranteed a lasting spring.

Back at the monastery, the Great Immortal and the Three Stars were in mid-conversation when they suddenly saw the Great Sage descend on his cloud and cry, "The Bodhisattva has come! Quick, welcome her!"

The Three Stars and Zhenyuan, together with Tripitaka's party, hurried out together to greet her.

Guanyin only then brought her cloud to rest. First she exchanged words with Zhenyuan, then returned the Three Stars' salutes, and after the bows were complete she took the seat of honor.

At the steps below, Wukong led Tripitaka, Bajie, and Brother Sha in their bows. The immortals of the monastery also came to pay respects.

Wukong said, "Great Immortal, do not delay. Set out the incense table at once and ask the Bodhisattva to cure the tree for you."

The Great Immortal bowed and thanked Guanyin. "It is a small matter of mine. How could I dare trouble the Bodhisattva to descend here?"

Guanyin said, "Tripitaka is my disciple. Sun Wukong offended the gentleman, and by rights he should make repayment for the precious tree."

The Three Stars said, "Since that is so, there is no need for more modest talk. Please, Bodhisattva, come look in the orchard."

The Great Immortal at once ordered the incense table set up and the back garden swept clean, then asked Guanyin to lead the way with the Three Stars behind her. Tripitaka's party and the immortals of the monastery all went into the orchard to look. The tree lay on the ground, roots open to the air, leaves fallen, branches withered.

Guanyin called, "Wukong, hold out your hand."

Wukong spread his left hand open.

Guanyin dipped the willow branch in the sweet dew from the vase, then drew a charm for life and death in Wukong's palm and told him to place it under the roots and watch for water to rise.

Wukong clenched his fist and thrust it under the roots. Before long, a clear spring welled up.

Guanyin said, "That water must not touch any five-element vessel. Use a jade scoop to ladle it out. Raise the tree and water it from the top down. Naturally the roots and bark will join again, the leaves will sprout, and the branches will turn green and bear fruit."

Wukong called, "Little Daoists, hurry and fetch a jade scoop."

The Great Immortal said, "My poor mountain has no jade scoop. Only jade teacups and jade wine cups. Will those do?"

Guanyin said, "Any jade vessel that can hold water will do. Bring them here and let us see."

The Great Immortal ordered the little boys to bring out twenty or thirty teacups and forty or fifty wine cups, and they ladled the clear spring from the root. Wukong, Bajie, and Brother Sha lifted the tree and set it straight. They piled soil around it, and the jade vessels of sweet spring water were brought to Guanyin cup by cup.

Guanyin sprinkled them carefully with the willow branch and murmured scripture and mantra.

It was not long before the ladled water was gone, and the tree truly stood green and lush again, with twenty-three ginseng fruits hanging on it.

Qingfeng and Mingyue said, "When the fruit was missing the other day, we counted and could only make twenty-two. Why is there one more now that it has come back to life?"

Wukong said, "Time reveals the human heart. The other day Old Sun only stole three. One more fell to the ground. The earth spirit said that the treasure enters the soil when it meets earth. Bajie kept shouting that I had cheated on the count, and that was why the wind got out. Only now has the matter become clear."

Guanyin said, "I did not use a five-element vessel because I knew that this thing is hostile to the five elements."

The Great Immortal was overjoyed and ordered that a golden fruit picker be brought so that ten fruits might be knocked down. He invited Guanyin and the Three Stars back to the hall. First to thank them for their trouble, and second to hold a ginseng fruit feast.

The little immortals then moved the tables and chairs around, spread out the vermilion platters, and invited Guanyin to sit in the honored seat at the top. The Three Stars sat on the left, Tripitaka on the right, and Zhenyuan in front as host. They all ate one fruit each.

The poem says:

In Mount Wanshou there is a hidden cave heaven; one ginseng fruit ripens once in nine thousand years.
The spiritual root, though wounded, sends out new buds; sweet dew nurtures it and makes leaf and fruit whole again.
The Three Elders rejoice because they are old friends; the four monks rejoice because of a former bond.
From this day on, those who eat ginseng fruit are all immortal, free of old age and death.

At this point Guanyin and the Three Stars each ate one fruit. Tripitaka then learned what a fairy treasure it truly was and ate one as well. Wukong and the other two each ate one, Zhenyuan ate one with them, and the immortals of the monastery shared out the rest.

Only then did Wukong thank Guanyin and return to Putuo Rock. The Three Stars were sent straight back to Penglai Island. Zhenyuan then arranged vegetables and wine and became sworn brothers with Wukong.

So it was a case where there could be no acquaintance without a beating: in the end, both sides became one family.

The four travelers were all glad. When evening came, they rested.

The elder Tripitaka was then:

Fortunate enough to eat the grass-returning elixir, yet still forced to endure the misery of the demons' road.

As for how they would take leave on the morrow, that must wait for the next chapter.