Chapter 80: The Maiden Seeks a Mate to Nurture Yang; The Mind-Monkey Guards the Master and Sees Through the Demons

When the king, the ministers, and the common people of Biqiu sent Tripitaka and the four pilgrims out of the city, they went with them for twenty li and still could not bear to part. Tripitaka at last got down from the imperial carriage, mounted his horse, and took his leave. The watchers did not turn back until they could no longer see him.

The four pilgrims traveled on for many more days, and winter faded into spring. Wild flowers and mountain trees were everywhere, all bright with fragrance.

Ahead of them they saw another high and rugged mountain. Tripitaka was alarmed and asked, "Disciples, is there a road over that mountain ahead? You must be careful."

Wukong laughed. "Master, that does not sound like a traveler speaking. It sounds more like a prince or young noble looking at the world from the bottom of a well.

"As the old saying goes, 'A mountain does not block the road; the road opens through the mountain.' Why speak of whether there is a road?"

Tripitaka said, "Even if the mountain does not block the road, I am afraid some demon may appear among those steep crags and that some fiend may come out of the thick growth."

Bajie said, "Do not worry, do not worry. We are coming close to the Pure Land. We are sure to have peace and no trouble."

As they spoke they reached the foot of the mountain. Wukong took out the Golden-Hooped Rod, climbed onto a rocky ledge, and called out, "Master, this is the turning road over the mountain. It is very easy going. Come on, come on."

The elder had no choice but to ride forward with a lighter heart. Sha Wujing said, "Second Brother, take one shoulder of the luggage."

Bajie took the luggage and hoisted it up. Sha Wujing gathered the reins, the old master sat steady in the carved saddle, and they all followed Wukong up the rocky slope and onto the main road.

Look at this mountain:

Cloud and mist wrapped the peaks, and clear water rushed through the ravines. Flowers filled the road with fragrance, and ten thousand trees grew thick and dense. Plum blossoms were green, plums white, willows green, and peaches red. Where cuckoos cried, spring was already ending, and the swallows' chatter meant the sacred rites of the season were finished. Jagged rocks rose steeply, and green canopies of pine stood over the ravines. The winding road was rough and craggy, but the cliffs and ledges were sheer and elegant, covered in luxuriant vines, creepers, grasses, and trees. A thousand crags vied in beauty like ranks of halberds, and ten thousand ravines raced with water like a flood of waves.

The elder looked slowly at the mountain scenery and at last heard birds crying. His homesickness rose again, and he halted his horse to sing:

I received the imperial order under the banner and the brocade screen.
Since the Lantern Festival, I have been gone from the Eastern Land.
At last I met the dragon and tiger and the winds and clouds,
yet the horses and men of this journey have long resisted me.
I have gone through twelve peaks of Wushan.
When will I again see the present ruler face to face?

Wukong said, "Master, you are always thinking of home. That does not look much like a monk. Calm yourself and keep going. The old saying goes, 'If you want riches and rank in life, you must put in dead-hard effort.'"

Tripitaka said, "Though you speak reasonably, I still do not know where the road to the Western Heaven is."

Bajie said, "Master, the Tathagata would not bear to part with the Tripitaka sutras. When he knew we were coming to fetch them, he must have moved them elsewhere. Otherwise why have we still not arrived?"

Sha Wujing said, "Do not talk nonsense. Just follow Big Brother. If we keep at the work, there will surely come a day when we arrive."

As they chatted on, they saw another great forest of black pines. Tripitaka grew afraid again and called out, "Wukong, we just passed a rough mountain road. Why are we now meeting this dark pine forest? You must be careful."

Wukong said, "What are you afraid of?"

Tripitaka said, "Why speak that way? 'Do not trust the straight within the straight; you must guard against kindness that is not kind.' I have crossed many pine forests with you, and none was as deep and far-reaching as this one."

Look:

Trees were packed so tightly east to west and north to south that they reached all the way to the sky and pressed deep into the blue vault. Thorny brambles were tangled all around, and smartweed coiled branch over branch. Vines wound around creepers, and creepers wound around vines. Travelers from east and west could not get through; merchants from north and south could not enter. Stay half a year in this forest, and you could not tell day from month; walk only a few li, and you would not see the Dipper or the stars. On the shady side, a thousand kinds of scenery; on the sunny side, ten thousand kinds of blossoms. There were thousand-year pagodas, ten-thousand-year cypresses, winter-hardy pines, mountain peaches, wild peonies, drought hibiscus, all packed together in dense and layered heaps, a confusion so rich even immortals could not paint it. Then there were the birds: parrots whistling, cuckoos crying, magpies threading through the branches, crows feeding their young, orioles fluttering, mockingbirds singing, partridges calling, swallows speaking, mynahs learning human speech, and thrushes seeming to recite sutras. There were tigers swishing their tails, old tigers grinding their teeth, foxes and raccoon dogs dressed up like ladies, wolves roaring among the trees. Even if Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, came here, he might know how to subdue demons and still lose his soul.

Sun Wukong was not afraid in the least. He swung his iron staff and cut out a road ahead, leading Tripitaka straight into the deep forest.

They went in peace and ease, and after half a day still had not found a way out. Tripitaka called, "Disciples, ever since we set out west, we have passed endless mountains and forests and steep paths. Luckily this place is so clean and quiet, and the road has been smooth. These rare flowers and strange blossoms in the forest are truly pleasing. I want to sit here for a while: first to rest the horse, and second because I am hungry in the belly. Go somewhere and beg some vegetarian food for me."

Wukong said, "Please get down, Master. Old Sun will go beg the food."

The elder really did dismount. Bajie tied the horse to a tree. Sha Wujing set down the luggage, took the alms bowl, and handed it to Wukong.

Wukong said, "Master, sit steady and do not be afraid. I am going and will be right back."

Tripitaka sat upright under the pine shade, while Bajie and Sha Wujing went off to pick flowers and fruit for amusement.

Wukong leaped on his somersault cloud and went up into the air. He steadied the cloud and looked back. In the pine forest he saw auspicious clouds drifting and radiant mist gathering. He cried out in surprise, "Good! Good!"

Why did he say that? Because he was praising Tripitaka. He thought of him as the reincarnated elder Golden Cicada, a good man who had cultivated through ten lives, and so there was this auspicious light above his head. "As for Old Sun," he thought, "when I stirred up the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago, I roamed to the ends of sea and sky, unrestrained and wild. I gathered a band of fiends and called myself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. I subdued dragons and tigers and removed my death record. I wore a three-layer golden crown, a suit of golden armor, carried the Golden-Hooped Rod, and walked in cloud-stepping shoes. Under me were forty-seven thousand demon hosts, and they all called me Great Sage Lord. I was truly a man. Now I have cast off heavenly punishment and bent low to follow you as a disciple.

"Since Master has auspicious clouds and luminous vapors over his head, if he returns to the Eastern Land he will surely gain some good fruit, and Old Sun will surely gain true fruition too."

As he was thinking this over, he suddenly saw a streak of black air rising from the south end of the forest. Wukong was startled. "That black air must mean evil. Bajie and Sha Wujing would never let out black air."

The Great Sage stood in the air and watched closely.

As for Tripitaka, he sat in the forest, made his mind bright and his nature clear, and chanted the Heart Sutra. Suddenly he heard a voice crying faintly, "Save me! Save me!"

Tripitaka was shocked. "Goodness, goodness! Who is calling in such a deep forest? Perhaps some wolf, tiger, or leopard has frightened a person. Let me go look."

He got up and moved forward, passing through thousand-year cypresses and weaving between ten-thousand-year pines, pushing aside vines and climbing creepers until he came near.

He saw a young woman tied to a great tree. Her upper body was bound to the trunk with vines, and her lower body was buried in the ground. The elder stopped and asked her, "Bodhisattva, what has happened that you are tied up here?"

Clearly the creature was a demon, but the elder, with fleshly eyes and a mortal body, could not recognize it. When the monster saw him come to ask, tears flowed like a spring.

She had peachlike cheeks and flowing tears, with a face as lovely as fish sinking and geese falling. Her starry eyes held sorrow, and her beauty could halt the moon and shame flowers. The elder truly dared not go near, but he still asked, "Bodhisattva, what crime have you committed? Tell me, and I may rescue you."

The demon answered quickly with sweet words and false feeling. "Master, I live in the Poor Woman Kingdom, more than two hundred li from here. My parents are alive and are very devout and kind. In the spring, they invited our relatives and the household young and old to sweep the tombs of our ancestors. All of us went in sedan chairs and horses to the wild outskirts.

"When we reached the graves, we set out the sacrifices and had just burned the paper horses when we heard gongs and drums sounding. A band of strong men rushed out carrying blades and staffs, shouting and killing as they came. We were terrified out of our wits.

"My parents and relatives who had horses and sedan chairs all escaped with their lives. I was young and could not run. I fell to the ground in fright and was carried off into the mountains by those ruffians. The great king wanted me for his wife, the second king wanted me for his consort, and the third and fourth all coveted my beauty. Seventy or eighty households quarreled at once, and no one was willing to back down. So they tied me here in the forest and the gang of ruffians scattered. It has now been five days and five nights. I can see my life running out, and soon I will die.

"I do not know what ancestor in some former life stored up merit for me, so that today I should meet a master like you. I beg you from the bottom of my heart to save my life. In the netherworld I will never forget your kindness."

She finished and the tears fell like rain.

Tripitaka truly had a compassionate heart, and he could not stop tears from falling. His voice caught in his throat and he cried, "Disciples!"

Bajie and Sha Wujing were off in the forest picking flowers and fruit. When they suddenly heard their master call out so sorrowfully, the Foolish One said, "Brother Sha, Master has met some old friend here."

Sha Wujing laughed. "Second Brother, you are babbling. We have been traveling all this time and have not met a single good person. Where would an old friend come from?"

Bajie said, "If she is not an old friend, why would Master be crying for someone? Come with me and see."

Sha Wujing really did turn back, led the horse, and carried the luggage to where they were. He came up and asked, "Master, what is it?"

Tripitaka pointed at the tree and said, "Bajie, untie this Bodhisattva and save her life."

The Foolish One did not bother to distinguish right from wrong. He went at once to work.

Wukong, high in the air, saw the black air grow thicker and cover the auspicious light completely. He cried out, "Bad, bad! The black air has darkened the auspicious light. Could it be that some demon is harming my master? Begging for food is a small matter. Let me go see my master."

He turned his cloud around and descended into the forest. There he saw Bajie busily untying the ropes. Wukong came forward and grabbed his ear, then flung him flat on the ground.

Bajie looked up, got to his feet, and said, "Master told me to save her. Why are you relying on force and throwing me down?"

Wukong laughed. "Brother, do not untie her. She is a demon, making a racket and deceiving us."

Tripitaka shouted, "You rotten monkey! You are at it again. How can you tell this one woman is a demon?"

Wukong said, "Master, you do not know. This is all a trick I have done before. It is the sort of scheme that wants to eat men. How would you recognize it?"

Bajie puckered his mouth and said, "Master, do not listen to that Horse-keeping General fooling you. This woman is from a family here. We came from far away in the Eastern Land, and since we are not fighting her and she is not kin to us, how can you say she is a demon? We sent her ahead and now he has turned a somersault and come back to play his own little secret tricks. That is just his way."

Wukong shouted, "Bumpkin, stop talking nonsense. Old Sun has traveled west all this time. Where have I ever had any lazy tricks? You are the sort of person who values lust and despises life, who sees profit and forgets loyalty. You do not know right from wrong. You are helping someone else lure a husband here and have tied her to a tree."

Tripitaka said, "Very well, very well. Bajie, your senior brother is often right after all. Since he says so, leave her alone and let us go."

Wukong was delighted. "Good. Master has made up his mind. Please mount up. Outside the pine forest, if we find people, you can beg food there."

The four of them really did move on, leaving the monster behind.

The monster, still tied to the tree, ground her teeth in hatred and said, "For years I have heard people say Sun Wukong has great power. Today I have seen him, and the rumors were no lie. Tripitaka is a monk who has cultivated from childhood and never leaked his original yang. I wanted to capture him and make a union so I could become a Great Pure Immortal, but that monkey saw through my art and saved him away. If only he had untied the ropes and let me down, I could have caught him in one move. Would he not be mine? Instead he carried him off with a mouthful of empty chatter. Was that not all effort and no gain? Let me call to him two more times and see what happens."

The demon did not move the ropes. She only used a few sweet phrases, and with a favorable wind she blew them into Tripitaka's ears. What did she call out?

"Master, you will not even save a living human life. What sort of scripture do you seek by ignoring your conscience and bowing to Buddha?"

Tripitaka, riding the horse, heard her call again and reined in. "Wukong, go rescue that woman."

Wukong said, "Master, we have resumed the road. Why are you thinking of her again?"

Tripitaka said, "She is still calling from there."

Wukong asked, "Bajie, do you hear her?"

Bajie said, "My ears are so large they are covering me. I did not hear anything."

Wukong asked, "Sha Wujing, do you hear her?"

Sha Wujing said, "I am carrying the luggage and walking ahead. I was not paying attention, and I did not hear her."

Wukong said, "Old Sun did not hear her either. Master, what was she calling that only you heard?"

Tripitaka said, "She said something reasonable:

"'You will not save a living person's life, but you bow to Buddha with no conscience. Saving one life is better than building seven-level pagodas.' Go rescue her. That would be better than worshiping Buddha and seeking scriptures."

Wukong laughed. "Once Master sets his heart on kindness, there is no medicine for it.

"Think about it. Since you left the Eastern Land and came west, you have crossed more than one mountain and encountered many demons. They often captured you and carried you into caves. Old Sun came to save you, and I used my staff to kill thousands and tens of thousands of them. Today, for the sake of one demon's life, you cannot bear to let it go?"

Tripitaka said, "Disciple, as the old saying goes, 'Do not fail to do good because it is small, and do not do evil because it is small.'

"Go rescue her."

Wukong said, "Since Master says so, I cannot shoulder this burden. If you want to save her, I would not dare press my view too hard. I have advised you for a while, and you are already angry.

"Do as you like and save her."

Tripitaka said, "Monkey, no more talk. Sit here while I and Bajie rescue her."

Tripitaka went back into the forest and told Bajie to untie the upper half of the rope, then use the rake to knock out the lower half of her body.

The demon tightened her shoes, straightened her skirt, and happily followed Tripitaka out of the pine forest, where she met Wukong. Wukong only smiled coldly and did not stop.

Tripitaka scolded him. "You rotten monkey head, why are you smiling?"

Wukong said, "I am smiling because your luck has met a good companion while your fortune has gone and met a beauty."

Tripitaka scolded again. "You damned monkey, stop speaking nonsense. Ever since I came from my mother's womb I have been a monk. Now I am following the imperial command west to seek the scriptures and worship the Buddha in sincerity. I am not some man who chases profit and rank. What sort of lost fortune are you talking about?"

Wukong laughed. "Master, though you have been a monk since childhood, you only know how to read sutras and recite Buddha. You have never seen the law and statutes of the world.

"This woman is young and lovely. You and I are monks traveling with her. Suppose we meet wicked people who seize us and bring us before the court. No one will care whether we are going to seek the scriptures or bow to Buddha. They will only say we are guilty of wicked conduct. Even if nothing like that happens, they will still ask whether we abducted a person. Master would lose his ordination certificate and be beaten nearly to death; Bajie would be sent to the frontier army; Sha Wujing would be assigned to the relay stations; and Old Sun would not get off clean either. I can talk my way out, but however I explain it, they would still ask why I was not careful."

Tripitaka shouted, "Do not talk nonsense. Surely I would not let you take the blame if I rescued her and caused trouble. I will bear whatever happens."

Wukong said, "Though Master says the trouble is yours, you do not understand that you are not rescuing her. You are hurting her instead.

"When she was tied to the forest, she might have gone without food for three to five days, or ten days or half a month, and then died of hunger with a whole body. That would have let her go to the shade complete and intact. But now that you have taken her out, you ride a swift horse and travel like the wind, and we can only follow you. Her feet are small and hard to move. How can she keep up? If you leave her behind for a moment and she meets wolves, tigers, leopards, or other beasts, and one bite swallows her whole, would that not be harming her life instead?"

Tripitaka said, "That is true. You are the one who thought of it. How should we deal with this?"

Wukong laughed. "Have her climb up and ride with you on the horse."

Tripitaka said uncertainly, "How could I sit on a horse with her?"

Wukong asked, "Then how should she go?"

Tripitaka said, "Let Bajie carry her."

Wukong laughed. "Fool, your fortune has come."

Bajie said, "A long road means no light burden. Why should I carry a person? What fortune is that?"

Wukong said, "Your mouth is long. If you carry her and turn your face around, you can trade secret sweet talk with her. Would that not be convenient?"

When Bajie heard that, he beat his chest and jumped. "No, no. I would rather be hit a few times by Master. I can endure pain. If I carry her, I will surely not come out clean. Senior brother has spent his whole life burying people in filth. I will not carry her."

Tripitaka said, "Very well, very well. I can still walk a few steps. Let me get down and walk slowly with her, and let Bajie lead the empty horse."

Wukong laughed. "The Foolish One is rather a businessman after all. Master is taking care of you by letting you lead the horse."

Tripitaka said, "That monkey is speaking nonsense again.

"As the old saying goes, 'A horse can travel a thousand li, but no one can make it go by itself.' If I walk slowly on the road, will you leave me behind? If I go slowly, then you must go slowly too. All of us will go down the mountain together with this Bodhisattva. When we reach a temple, convent, or monastery, or some household place, we can leave her there. That will count as saving her."

Wukong said, "Master speaks reasonably. Please go ahead."

Tripitaka led the way on foot, Sha Wujing carried the luggage, Bajie led the empty horse and the woman, and Wukong carried the iron staff. The party moved forward. Before they had gone twenty or thirty li, evening drew near and they saw another cluster of towers and halls.

Tripitaka said, "Disciples, that must be a temple or monastery. We can stay there tonight and start early tomorrow."

Wukong said, "Master speaks rightly. Let us all quicken our steps."

In a moment they reached the gate. Wukong told them, "Stand a little farther away. I will go ask for lodging first. If there is a convenient place, I will call you over."

The others stood under the willow shade while Wukong, with his staff in hand, kept the woman at his side.

The elder stepped up to the gate and saw that it was crooked and broken, falling apart at every seam. He pushed it open and looked in. He could not help feeling mournful. The long corridors were silent, the ancient monastery was desolate. Moss filled the courtyard, and tall weeds clogged the path. Only the lampfire of fireflies replaced the lanterns, and the frogs took over for the watch drums. The elder suddenly let tears fall.

Truly:

The halls and buildings were collapsed and decayed, and the galleries stood lonely and in ruins.
More than a dozen piles of broken brick and shattered tile were all that remained, along with crooked beams and split pillars.
Everywhere front and back had grown wild grass, and the dilapidated incense kitchen was buried in dust.
The bell tower had fallen, the drum had lost its skin, the glass lamps were broken.
The Buddha images had lost their gold, and the luohans were toppled east and west.
Guanyin was soaked and turned to mud, and the willow vase had fallen to the ground.
By day there was no monk inside, and by night foxes made their beds there.
Only wind could be heard, roaring like thunder, and the place was clearly a den for tigers and leopards.
The walls on all sides had collapsed, and no gates stood to shut the place in.

There is a poem to prove it:

For years the ancient monastery had gone unrepaired, and it had fallen into wreck and ruin.
Fierce winds had split the faces of the guardian gods, and heavy rains had washed the Buddha images bare.
The vajras had been battered and soaked, and the Earth God had no house to spend the night in.
There was one more thing to lament: the bronze bell lay on the ground with no tower to hang from.

Tripitaka steadied his heart and walked into the second gate. He saw that the bell tower and drum tower had both fallen. Only one bronze bell remained, stuck upright in the ground. The upper half was as white as snow, and the lower half was blue as indigo. Over the years the rain had whitened the top, while the bronze had turned green from the earth below.

Tripitaka touched the bell and called out, "O bell, you once hung high in the tower and roared. You once carried your voice far under the painted beams. You once announced the dawn with the cocks and sent off the dusk with the evening light. I do not know where the bronze-smelting Daoist has gone, nor where the bronze caster now remains. Perhaps their two lives have already returned to the netherworld, and you, with no trace of them, have fallen silent."

The elder praised it aloud, and in doing so he startled the people inside the monastery.

There was a Daoist there who served the incense and lamps. Hearing human voices, he sprang up, picked up a broken brick, and struck the bell. The bell rang with a clang. This frightened the elder so badly that he stumbled backward. He struggled up and tried to leave, but tripped over a tree root and fell again.

Lying on the ground, Tripitaka looked up and said, "O bell, I was just lamenting you, and now you suddenly ring. I suppose no one has come this way on the road to the West for a long time, and after so many years you have become a spirit."

The Daoist hurried forward and took him by the hand. "Please rise, my lord. It is not the bell that has become a spirit. I was the one who struck it."

Tripitaka looked up and saw that the man was ugly and black. He said, "Are you some goblin or demon? I am no ordinary man. I am a monk from Great Tang, and under me are disciples who can subdue dragons and tigers. If you run into them, you will not keep your life."

The Daoist knelt and said, "Do not be afraid, my lord. I am not a demon. I am the Daoist here who serves the incense. When I heard your kind words just now, I wanted to come out and welcome you. But I feared you might be some evil ghost striking the gate, so I picked up a broken brick and struck the bell once to steady my nerves before I dared come out. Please rise, my lord."

Only then did Tripitaka calm down. "Abbott, you nearly scared me to death. Lead me inside."

The Daoist led Tripitaka through the third gate. Once inside, the place was very different from the front. Look:

Blue bricks built walls like painted clouds, and green tiles roofed halls like glass. Gold ornament covered the holy images, and white jade made the steps. In the Great Hero Hall, blue light danced; beneath the Pilu Pavilion, sharp spirit rose. The Manjushri Hall was wrapped in colorful flying clouds, and the Scripture Wheel Hall was painted with flowers and layered green. On the three-eaved rooftops, treasure vases stood like points; in the Five Blessings Tower, embroidered canopies lay flat. A thousand green bamboos shook the meditation seats, and ten thousand pines shaded the Buddha gates. Inside the Bi Yun Palace, golden light shone forth; among the purple mist, auspicious haze drifted. In the morning one could hear fragrant breezes through the fields; in the evening, from high in the mountains, one could hear painted drums sounding. One might think there should be a sunny dawn to mend a worn robe, and surely there would be a moonlit night to finish a broken sutra. Only one side of the hall was lit from behind, while a line of incense smoke shone through the middle court.

Seeing this, Tripitaka did not dare go in. He asked, "Daoist, the front part is so battered and broken. Why is the back part so neat and orderly?"

The Daoist laughed. "My lord, there are many demons and bandits in these mountains. On clear days they raid along the ridge, and when the sky turns cloudy they come hide in the monastery. They have knocked down the Buddha images to use as seats and hauled in firewood to burn. The monks here are weak and do not dare argue with them, so they gave the broken front rooms over to those strong men to sleep in. Then, by collecting alms again, they rebuilt this other part of the monastery. Dirty and clean are kept apart. That is how things are in the West."

Tripitaka said, "So that is how it is."

As he went on, he saw five large characters on the mountain gate: "Monastery of the Quiet Sea Zen Grove."

Just as he stepped inside the gate, a monk came out. Look at him: he wore a left-parted embroidered cap, with a pair of bronze rings hanging from his ears. He wore a wool and leather robe of mixed threads, and his eyes were white and bright as silver. In his hand he shook a little drum, and his mouth muttered foreign scriptures that could not be made out. Tripitaka did not know it, but this was a Laman monk from the Western Road.

The Laman monk came out the gate and saw that Tripitaka had clear brows and bright eyes, a broad forehead, ears hanging to his shoulders, and hands long enough to pass his knees, like a luohan descended to earth. He was very handsome indeed. The monk came up, grabbed him, and smiled all over his face, touching his hands and feet, feeling his nose, and tugging his ears to show friendliness.

He led him into the abbot's quarters. After the greetings were finished, he asked, "Where has the master come from?"

Tripitaka said, "This disciple is an imperial envoy under Great Tang from the Eastern Land, traveling to the Western Heaven of India to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures. We have just arrived in your honored place at dusk, so I have hurried up to your monastery to ask for lodging for the night and to travel on early tomorrow. I beg you to show me some kindness."

The monk laughed. "What nonsense, what nonsense. We did not become monks because we wanted a good life. Our parents gave us birth, and because our destiny was to be burdened by the canopy star, we could not stay at home, so we cut off the world and entered the clergy. Once one is a disciple of the Buddha, one must not speak falsehoods."

Tripitaka said, "I am speaking truthfully."

The monk said, "From the Eastern Land to the Western Heaven, how many li is it? Along the road there are mountains, and in the mountains there are caves, and in the caves there are spirits. You are traveling alone and look so tender and delicate. How do you look like a scripture seeker?"

Tripitaka said, "You are right to see that. How could I reach here alone? I have three disciples. When we meet a mountain, they open the road; when we meet water, they build a bridge. They protect me, and that is how I have been able to reach your monastery."

The monk said, "Where are the three excellent disciples?"

Tripitaka said, "They are waiting outside the gate."

The monk was alarmed. "Master, you do not know. There are tigers, wolves, demons, bandits, ghosts, and monsters in this place. During the day no one dares go far, and before dark the gates are shut. How can you leave people outside at this hour?"

He called, "Disciples, hurry and bring them in."

Two little Laman novices ran out. When they saw Wukong, they were so frightened they tumbled over. Seeing Bajie, they tumbled again. They scrambled up and fled backward, crying, "My lord, your fortune is low. We did not see disciples, only three or four demons standing at the gate."

Tripitaka asked, "What did they look like?"

The little monks said, "One had a mouth like a thunder god, one had a mouth like a millstone, and one had a blue face with tusks. Beside them was a woman with an oily face and powdered cheeks."

Tripitaka laughed. "You do not know them. Those three ugly ones are my disciples. That woman is one I rescued from the pine forest."

The Laman monk said, "My lord, how can such a handsome master have such ugly disciples?"

Tripitaka said, "They are ugly, yes, but all useful. Hurry and invite them in. If you delay a little longer, that thunder-mouthed one will cause trouble. He is not the kind of person a birth father or birth mother can control. He will force his way in."

The little monk hurried out and knelt trembling. "Sirs, Master Tang invites you."

Bajie laughed. "Brother, if he invited us, why is he trembling so hard?"

Wukong said, "He is frightened by our ugliness."

Bajie said, "That is nonsense. We were born this way. Who would choose to be ugly?"

Wukong said, "Put away the ugliness a little."

The Foolish One really did tuck his mouth away in his chest, lower his head, and lead the horse. Sha Wujing carried the luggage. Wukong walked behind with the staff and kept the woman at his side. So they all went in.

They passed through the ruined front buildings and entered through the third gate, tied the horse and set down the luggage. They went into the abbot's room and met the Laman monk, where they were seated according to rank. The monk went inside and brought out seven or eight dozen little Laman novices. After the greetings were finished, they prepared a vegetarian meal to host them.

Truly:

Merit must be built on compassion, and when the Buddha's law flourishes, monks praise one another.

But how they would leave the monastery, that must wait for the next chapter.