This is a fresh, complete English translation of Wu Cheng’en’s public-domain one-hundred-chapter novel, produced with GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark assistance. It is an AI-assisted first edition, not a reproduction of an existing translation.

Now it is said that Sun Wukong was all embittered and vexed, rising in the air. He wanted to return to Water Curtain Cave of Flower-Fruit Mountain, but feared the small demons there would laugh at him, saying he had gone out and come back the wrong way and was no true hero’s matter. He thought to throw himself into the Heavenly Court, yet feared he would not be allowed to stay there long. He thought to cast himself to the sea islands, but was ashamed to face the immortals of the Three Isles. He thought to flee to the Dragon Palace, yet would not dare to petition the Dragon King in person. Truly he had no support to rely on. Bitterness rising in his heart, he said to himself, "Enough, enough, enough. I will go back to meet my Master; that is still the true realization."

Then he pressed down his cloud and went straight to Tripitaka’s horse, kneeling before it and saying, "Master, forgive this disciple this time. Hereafter I dare not act with violence—let me atone by your teaching. Above all, this is to preserve you on the way to the West." When Tripitaka saw him, he did not answer, pulled the reins, and began to chant the Tightening Headband Spell. He rolled and writhed, chanting it more than twenty times. He sent the Great Sage lock-spell crashing down; the band sank into the flesh nearly an inch deep. Only then did he stop and say, "If you will not go back, why do you return to pester me again?" Wukong only begged, "Stop chanting, stop chanting. I can live out my days elsewhere; I only fear that without me you cannot reach the Western Regions." Tripitaka grew angry: "You, monkey, you kill and take life and have entangled me in so much trouble. Henceforth I truly have no use for you. Whether I can go or not has nothing to do with you. Go, go, go—if I am delayed any more, I will chant the true words again, and this time I will not stop, and I will squeeze your brain out of your skull." The Great Sage could not bear the pain; seeing the Master still unmoved, he had no choice but to mount the magic cloud again and rise into the air. At once he realized, "This monk has betrayed me. I will go tell Guanyin at Putuo Cliff what has happened."

Thus Great Sage, turning his cloud, in scarcely an hour reached the South Sea. He descended in radiance and straight went to Mount Loka, plunging into the Purple Bamboo Grove. There he saw a Mucha practitioner come forward and bow: "Great Sage, where are you going?" Wukong said, "I am going to see the Bodhisattva." The Mucha led him on to the mouth of the Tide-Resounding Cave, and there Shancai the Child, bowing, asked, "Great Sage, what brings you here?" Wukong said, "I have business to report to the Bodhisattva." Hearing only the word "report," Shancai laughed: "Fine words, you sly-mouthed monkey, and yet like before when I had taken Tripitaka and you deceived me. My Bodhisattva is one of immense compassion and mercy, vast vow and Great Vehicle, saving from pain and disaster, infinite in compassion and merit. If there is anything lacking in the world, tell me. How can you accuse the Bodhisattva?" Wukong, filled with pent-up vexation, heard this and at once his anger flared. With one cry he drove Shancai backward and said, "You treacherous, ungrateful wretch—truly dense and foolish. When you once played tricks and became a demon, I asked the Bodhisattva to receive you, restore you to the righteous path and rightness. Now you enjoy this Great Bliss and long life, free and easy, living with heaven in immortality, and yet you do not bow to old Sun, but only insult and revile him. I have come with business to petition the Bodhisattva, and you call me a crafty monkey here to accuse a Bodhisattva?" Shancai answered with a smile, "You are still a hasty monkey. I was only making sport with you, why did you so quickly change your face?"

While this was being spoken, a white parrot flew back and forth; sensing the Bodhisattva’s summons, the Mucha and Shancai then guided them onward to the foot of the jeweled lotus platform. When Wukong saw the Bodhisattva, he threw himself down and bowed, and tears like springs poured out of him as he cried out. Guanyin said to the Mucha and Shancai, "Raise him up," and said, "Wukong, whatever hurts, speak plainly. Do not cry, do not cry—I can help you relieve hardship and avert disaster." Wukong, tears still running, knelt and said, "In the days before, when I was still a disciple, what was the cause of this grief? By your grace, Bodhisattva, you released me from heavenly calamity, instructed me to become a monk, and sent me to guard Tripitaka in going west to worship Buddha and seek scripture. I spent my life with reckless courage to save him from demons, as if snatching fresh bone from a tiger’s mouth or tearing living scales from a crocodile’s back. I only hoped to return to true fruit, cleanse sin, and end evil. Yet that elder betrayed his duty and forgot his kindness, blinded in one stretch of good fortune, and would not discern right from wrong at all." Guanyin said, "Now tell me all of why this right and wrong matter is." Wukong then gave a full account of the whole sequence of killing and crushing the bandits. It is said Tripitaka, because he had many slain by him, grew resentful and could not distinguish right from wrong; therefore he chanted the Tightening Headband Spell and drove him off several times. With no road in heaven and no gate in earth, he had therefore come to report to the Bodhisattva. Guanyin said, "Tripitaka was sent by Buddha to go west, and with one heart he wishes to keep the monastic vow and not lightly damage life. You have boundless powers—why have you killed so many bandits? Though bandits are unruly, in the end they are human forms and should not be slain. That is unlike demonic birds, monsters, ghosts, and fox and fox-spirit demons. Slaying those might be your merit. To slay human bodies is still your inhumanity. Yet to drive them away was itself a way of protecting your Master. By my judgment, this is still on your side a fault."

Wukong, with tears in his mouth and forehead, knelt and bowed: "Though your disciple has been unkind, he should still have merit offset sin; you should not thus drive him away. I beg the Bodhisattva to extend vast compassion and chant, even once, the spell to loosen the headband, remove the band from my head, return it to you, and let me go back to Water Curtain Cave to save my life." Guanyin smiled and said, "The Tightening Headband Spell was given to me by Buddha. In former days Buddha sent me to the eastern lands to seek the monks who would fetch the scriptures, and bestowed three precious treasures on me: the brocade-banded kasaya, the Golden-Hooped Staff, and three golden tightening headbands. I was secretly entrusted with three spells, but there is no spell for loosening a headband." Wukong said, "If that is so, then I will take my leave of the Bodhisattva." Guanyin said, "Where do you mean to go if you leave me?" Wukong said, "I will go west to Buddha and ask for a loosening spell." Guanyin said, "Stay a while. Let me inspect your auspicious or inauspicious sign." Wukong said, "There is no need. This ill omen is enough already." Guanyin said, "I will not inspect you. I will inspect Tripitaka’s sign."

Well then, the Bodhisattva sat upright on the lotus platform, centered her mind on the three realms, and with wisdom eyes surveyed far, covering all the universe. In an instant she spoke: "Wukong, in this very moment your Master has impending danger to his body; not long from now he will come seeking you. Stay here; I will speak with Tripitaka and tell him to still go with you to fetch the scriptures and complete true attainment." Wukong could only submit, dare not act rashly, and stood in attendance at the foot of the treasure lotus platform.

Then it is told that Tripitaka, after chasing after the Great Sage, ordered Zhu Bajie to lead the horse and Sha Wujing to carry the packs; with all four horses they hurried west, not yet fifty li from where they had come. Tripitaka pulled the horse and said, "Disciple, since we left the village after dawn, that Bima-warm wind had already stirred me in anger; this half-day we are hungry again and still hungry, thirsty again and still thirsty. Who shall we go to now to take alms for me?" Zhu Bajie said, "Master, please dismount. Let me see whether there is a nearby hamlet to turn into alms food." Tripitaka, hearing this, slid off the horse. The Fool rode up his cloud-head and looked carefully through the sky, but all he could see was ridges and hills; no household in sight. He descended the cloud and told Tripitaka, "There is no place for alms. From this far view there is not a dwelling at all." Tripitaka said, "If there is no place for alms, at least get us some water for thirst." Bajie said, "Let me go below to the stream in the south mountain for water." Sha Wujing at once took the alms-bowl and handed it to Bajie. Bajie held the bowl under his arm and rode off on a cloud in the mist. Tripitaka sat by the roadside. After waiting long enough, with no sign of return, his mouth was parched and tongue dry. A poem is given as proof:

Guarding spirit and nurturing breath is called essence; emotion and nature are naturally one and born in the same form. When the mind is scattered, spirit is confused, and every illness arises; the form declines, essence decays, and the Way’s root tips toward ruin. Chasing after the three flowers is vain labor for no gain; the four greats fall into desolation and the struggle is wasted. Earth and wood give no efficacy, metal and water are cut off; with a lax and lazy Dharma-body, when will it truly be formed? Sha Wujing by the side saw Tripitaka unable to bear hunger and thirst and saw that Bajie still had not returned with water. He set the packsecure, tied the white horse firmly, and said, "Master, sit free and still, I will go hasten the water." The elder answered with tears but no words, only a nod. Sha Wujing quickly rode his cloud-light and went south toward the mountain.

The Master, alone, suffered through it himself, and the hardship was extreme. Just as sorrow and panic overtook him, he suddenly heard a loud sound. Frightened, the elder bent forward and looked around. It was that Sun Wukong was kneeling by the roadside, both hands holding a magnetic cup, saying, "Master, without old Sun, you cannot even get water. Here is a cup of very cool water; please take a sip to quench your thirst, and let me go to fetch alms again." Tripitaka said, "I will not drink your water; if I stay this moment I may die of thirst—that is my choice. I have no need for you. Go." Wukong said, "Without me, you cannot go to the west." Tripitaka said, "Whether I can go or not does not concern you. Wicked monkey, why do you keep coming to trouble me?" Wukong’s face changed; in anger and fury he shouted at the Master, "You hard-hearted shaven monk, you despise me too much." He swung his iron staff, threw down the cup, and struck once at the Master’s back. The Master fainted where he stood, dizzy and unable to speak. Wukong took the two blue felt bundles in his hands, mounted his cloud, and left by the wayside unknown.

Now it is told that Zhu Bajie, carrying the alms bowl, ran only down the southern slope of the mountain, when he suddenly saw, in a hollow of the ridge, a thatched cottage that was a household. At first, because the mountain rose high, he had not seen it; only now that he came to the edge did he know there was a dwelling. The Fool thought to himself, "If I keep this ugly, bad-mouthed face, I will surely frighten them, and all this wasted thought will be for nothing—I will never be able to transform and obtain alms food. I must change my face first. I must change my face first."

The fool, twisting the formula in his fingers, muttered a spell, and shook his body up and down seven or eight times. He transformed into a yellow, sickly, pot-bellied monk, and came near the gate with a hoarse, whining hum in his mouth, calling out: "Alms-man, there is leftover rice in the kitchen, and a hungry person on the road. I am a poor monk from the Eastern Lands, coming from the east toward the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures. My master is hungry and thirsty on the way, and there is some cold rice and pan-crisp in the house—please turn just a little of it into food to save him." In that house the men were not there; they had all gone to transplant the paddy. Only two women were at home. They had just cooked the noon meal and filled two basins, then packed up and hurried out to the fields. A little rice and some scorched-rice bits still remained in the pot, not yet served. Seeing his sickly look, and hearing him speak of going from the Eastern Lands to the Western Heaven, the women thought he might be delirious and babbling from illness, and they also feared he might fall and die at the gate. So with whispers and rustling they filled a bowl to the brim with the leftover rice and pan-crisp and handed it to him. The fool took it back, resumed his true form, and at once returned by the old path.

As they walked, a voice called, "Bajie." When Zhu Bajie raised his head and looked, it was Sha Wujing, standing on the cliff and shouting, "Come here, come here." He descended the cliff and came before them, saying: "I do not dare to draw water from this ravine; where are you going?" Zhu Bajie laughed: "I came this way and saw a house in a mountain hollow. I transformed and fetched this bowl of dry rice from there." Sha Wujing said: "We do need the rice, but Master is parched and thirsty. How are we to get water?" Zhu Bajie replied: "Water is easy too. You hold up this rice in your sleeves, and I will fetch water in the bowl."

The two returned to the road with cheerful faces, and there they saw Tripitaka prostrate face-down in the dust; his body on the ground, and the white horse, with bridle cast loose, neighing and bucking along the roadside. Their baggage pannier was gone from sight. Alarmed, Zhu Bajie stamped his feet and struck his chest, calling and crying out: "No need to speak of explanations—no need to explain! This is no less than the remnant band of the one Sun Wukong drove off; he has come here to slay the master and snatch the luggage." Sha Wujing said, "First, tie up the horse!" then wailed again and again: "What is this? what is this? This is truly to abandon the road halfway, to stop in midstream." He called once, "Master!" and tears poured from his eyes; he sobbed in grief. Zhu Bajie said, "Brother, stop crying for now. Since things have come to this point, do not speak of the journey for scripture anymore. Watch over Master’s body, and let me saddle the horse and ride to a nearby market town of that prefecture and county, sell a few taels of silver, buy a coffin, and bury Master. Then the two of us will each seek our own roads and part company."

Sha Wujing truly could not bear to let it be, so he turned Tripitaka over and placed him face-up, warming the master’s face with his own, and cried out once: "Wretched master!" At once the old master exhaled warm breath from his nose and mouth; his chest was still warm. He called in one breath: "Bajie, come—Master has not been fatally hurt." Only then did the fool come close and help him up. After waking he groaned for a moment, then snapped: "You rude monkey—try to kill me, too." Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie asked, "Which monkey was that?" The master answered nothing, only sighing. He took some water and drank a few sips, then said: "Disciples, you had just gone, and Wukong came again and tormented me. I stood my ground and refused to yield, so he beat me with a staff and snatched away my blue- felt bundle with the travel cloth and bowl.」 Zhu Bajie heard this and ground his teeth, anger flaring in his chest. He said, "This wayward monkey can never be tolerated! How dare he be so rude?" Then he ordered, "Sha Wujing, stay at master’s side. I’ll go to his house and demand the bundle." Sha Wujing replied, "Do not flare up yet. We will carry Master to that hollow-house family, boil some hot tea there, heat the rice we already transformed, and restore Master first; after that we can go to seek him."

Bajie followed the instruction: he helped Master mount the horse, carried the bowl, wrapped the cold rice in his robe, and went straight to the house door. There was only an old woman in the house; when she saw them, she hurried away in fright. Sha Wujing folded his palms and said, "Good mother, we are those sent from the Tang capital in the Eastern Lands, traveling to the Western Heaven. Master has taken ill; we beg you to boil hot tea and let him eat." The woman said, "A little while ago, a monk sick and yellow and pot-bellied came here saying he was sent from the Eastern Lands, and he already transformed and took the alms. How can there be yet another from the Eastern Lands? I have no one else at home. Please go elsewhere." When she spoke, Tripitaka heard and, supported by Bajie, dismounted and bent his body, saying: "Grandmother, I have three disciples who travel with me, all of one mind and heart, to carry me in protection to Great Thunder-Resounding in Tianzhu and worship the Buddha for scripture. Yet my eldest disciple, Sun Wukong, by nature fierce and violent and unwilling to follow the Way, was sent back by me. But as I did not expect it, he came stealthily and struck me on my back with a staff, then took my baggage and robe-and-basin. I now need one disciple to go fetch him. The road is empty and there is no place here for us to sit, so I came to this household to rest a while. Once he brings back my luggage, we leave at once and will not stay long." The woman said: "Just now a sick-looking yellow monk with a swollen belly came and said he was from the Eastern Lands going to the Western Heaven, and he transformed for alms. How can there be another one?" Zhu Bajie could not help laughing: "That was me. Because my face is long-mouthed and my ears are big, I feared your household would be frightened and not give alms, so I made myself look this way. If you do not believe it, is not this the pot-crisp rice from your pot from earlier in my brother’s robe?"

The woman recognized that it was indeed the rice he had given, and so she offered no refusal; she made them sit. She brewed a kettle of hot tea and passed it to Sha Wujing to soften the rice. He immediately soaked the cold rice and handed it to Master. After Master ate a few mouthfuls, and his condition had settled for a while, he said: "Which one of you will go get the luggage?" Bajie answered: "Last year, because Master sent him back, I once searched for him and recognized his Water-curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain. Let me go, let me go." Master said: "You cannot go. The monkey and you were never at odds, and you speak roughly. One phrase or two in between and he will strike you. Let Wujing go." Sha Wujing assented: "I will go, I will go." Master further instructed Sha Wujing: "When you reach him, watch the signs and his mood. If he is willing to return the bundle, politely thank him and take it. If he is not, do not contend with him. Go straight to the Bodhisattva of the Southern Sea, report this matter, and ask the Bodhisattva to inquire of him." Sha Wujing listened to all. Turning to Bajie, he said: "I will go search for him now. You must not worry; devote yourself to serving Master. Do not behave roughly with this household, lest he refuse to feed us again. I will return as soon as I can." Bajie nodded: "I understand. But go and come back quickly, whether you gain the bundle or not; do not make this like a balancing pole with firewood slipping from both ends." Sha Wujing then twirled the formula, mounted the cloud-shine, and sped toward the Eastern Shengtian Continent. Truly, he sang:

I am with no shrine and yet roam the heavens, how can a cauldron forge elixir without flame? I seek the Golden Old One from the old woman’s hall, and beg the Wooden Mother to mend my sick-faced body. No one knows what day I shall return from this course, nor when I shall come back from this journey. In the Five Phases, generation and restraint have no peace; only when the mind-monkey re-enters the Pass will it be set right."

Sha Wujing, in midair, crossed three day-nights. Only then did he reach the Eastern Ocean, and he suddenly heard the roar of waves. Looking down, he truly saw black fog rising to the sky, a heavy gloom, and the vast sea swallowing the dawn’s light, making it cold and dim. He had no mind to admire it. He looked over the Immortal Mountain pass and passed beyond Yingzhou, steering straight eastward toward the realm of Flower-Fruit Mountain. Riding the sea wind, feeling the pull of the water, after more time he saw high peaks like spears in formation, sheer cliffs like hanging screens. Reaching the crest, he followed the clouds to find the path down and searched for the Water-curtain Cave. As he drew near, he heard countless monkey spirits in the mountain shouting in a surging din. Drawing closer and looking more carefully, he saw it was Sun Wukong seated high on a stone platform, both hands holding a sheet of paper, reciting aloud:

By edict of Emperor Li of the Great Tang, this missive is issued to the holy monk Chen Xuanzang, to go west to the Tianzhu kingdom, to the Great Vulture Peak of Sarvastivada Sound-Sounding Mountain, to the Great Sound-Hearing Temple of Great Thunder-Resonance, and offer single devotion to the Buddha of the Therefore-Come-Thus for the scriptures. I have fallen into severe illness; my soul wandered to the netherworld. By grace of long life in my fortune, the Lord of the Dark Court granted me return to the living, and I established meritorious rites and built the altar-way for saving the dead. Through the golden-bodied Guanyin Bodhisattva, who appears to relieve the suffering, I was shown that in the West there are Buddha and scripture that can uplift the tormented dead and bring liberation; therefore, I have dispatched Master Xuanzang to journey through a thousand mountains and seek out the verse-mantra of the Buddha. If you pass through the nations of the western border states, do not sever good ties; act in accord with this document. Edict of the former throne hall, auspicious autumn day of the thirteenth year of Zhen Guan in the Great Tang: since departing the Great Country, he has traversed kingdoms and in midjourney has obtained my eldest disciple Sun Wukong, the traveler; second disciple, Zhu Bajie; and third disciple, Sha Wujing, the monk. He read it from the beginning and read it again.

Hearing that it was the passage-clearance document, Sha Wujing could not help but come forward and call out in a raised voice: "Elder brother, how do you recite Master’s edict in this way?" Hearing him, Sun Wukong instantly raised his head. Not recognizing him as Sha Wujing, he shouted: "Bring it, bring it." The monkeys gathered around, dragging Sha Wujing close, and he shouted: "Who are you, and how dare you come near my immortal cave?" Sha Wujing saw that he had changed in countenance and would not recognize him, so he could only bow and report upward: "I respectfully report to my elder brother: earlier, Master, hasty and ferocious, misunderstood you and wrongly cursed you several times and sent you back home. First, my fellow disciples could not reason with him. Second, he and Master then went hungry and thirsty, and we sought water and cooked alms. Unexpectedly, Brother Wukong came with good intentions again, and yet because Master clung stubbornly to strict discipline, he struck Master, knocking him down and sending him into a faint. He also robbed his baggage and robe-and-bowl. After this we rescued Master and have come now to bow to you. If you do not hate Master and if you still remember the grace of our rescue of you in former days, return with your younger brother, take back the luggage, and let us show it to Master and together go west for final liberation. If your resentment runs too deep and you will not go with us, then at least grant the bundle to your younger brother. You may remain in the deep mountains and enjoy a mellow old age with桑榆; that would also be truly a twofold good."

The Great Sage heard him and let out a cold laugh: 'Younger brother, this proposal is wholly contrary to my wishes. I struck Tripitaka and seized the luggage; neither was it because I refuse to go west, nor because I love staying here. I have read the edict clearly now. I will go west myself, worship Buddha, seek the scriptures, and bring them back to the Eastern Land. I alone will succeed; I will have the people of the Nanzhanbu Continent set me up as an ancestor, and my name will be passed down for ten thousand ages.' Sha Wujing laughed: 'Elder, what you said is off the mark. There has never been a saying that Sun Wukong is to fetch the scriptures. The Buddha as Tathagata composed the True Tripitaka, and Guanyin Bodhisattva was already searching in the Eastern Land for someone to seek and bring the scripture. We were to endure a thousand mountains and all kinds of hardship, inquire through many states, and protect that pilgrim. The Bodhisattva said the scripture-seeker is a disciple of the Tathagata, called Elder Golden Cicada. Because he did not heed the Buddha’s teachings, he was demoted from Ling Mountain, reborn in the Eastern Land, and told that he should turn himself toward the West and once again cultivate the Great Way. On the road he was meant to meet demon obstructions; if we free us three and he gains us as guardians, he can complete his charge. Elder, if you cannot get Tripitaka, who would the Buddha bestow the scripture on you? It would be a vain waste of divine effort.' The Great Sage replied: 'Younger brother, you are truly ignorant—you know one thing but not the second. If you claim that you have Tripitaka and are protecting him with me, do I then have no Tripitaka? I can choose another genuinely enlightened monk here to go; I can support him by my own strength alone. What is not possible? I have already resolved to depart at first light tomorrow. If you do not believe me, wait—I will call for him and let you see.' He called, 'You youngsters, quickly ask the Teacher to come out.' Immediately he ran in, led out a white horse, brought forth one Tang Sanzang; behind him walked Zhu Bajie carrying the baggage, and Sha Wujing with a staff.

Sha Wujing, seeing this, grew furious and said, 'I, old Sha Wujing, do not change my name or alter my surname—how can there be another Sha Monk? Do not be discourteous; you will feel my staff once.' The good Sha Wujing raised the demon-subduing staff with both hands and felled the false Sha Monk with one blow to the face. It was a monkey demon. The Great Sage, incensed, brandished the Golden-Hooped Staff, led out the troop of monkeys, and surrounded Sha Wujing. Sha Wujing charged east and west, bashing through to the exit, then fled through mist and clouds, crying, 'That unruly monkey is so shamelessly careless; I will go report this to Guanyin.' The Great Sage saw Sha Wujing had killed one monkey spirit and driven the real Sha Monk away, and though he was angry he did not pursue him. He returned to the cave and told the juniors to drag the dead demon body to one side, skin it, and cook the flesh; they fried it, and with coconut wine and grape wine all the monkeys ate together. He then selected another demon monkey that could shapeshift and made it turn into a Sha Monk again, taught it afresh, and there is no need to set down its later journey westward.

Sha Wujing took to cloud in a single bound from the East Sea and in one day and night traveled to the South Sea. While en route, he saw Mount Luojia not far ahead. He hurried on, dropped among the mists, and searched around for a worthy place. What a spot! In truth it was:

In the recesses of Bao-gan, in the tract of Kua-kun, where a hundred rivers meet and bathe beneath the surging sun-star, where converging currents return as wind and moonlit ripples. The tides surge upward, heaving and rising, transforming like the great Kun; waves overturn in broad billows, while vast turtle-like creatures roam. The waters reach the Northwest Sea, and the waves align toward the Eastern Ocean. The four seas are linked as one earth-vein, and on every fairy isle stand fairy palaces. Need not speak of every ground being Penglai; come see Mount Putuo Cloud Caves. What a beautiful view! Atop the peaks, rosy cloud-light gathers the primal radiance; beneath the cliffs, auspicious breeze stirs moon-bright crystals. In violet bamboo groves peacocks fly, and on green willow boughs spirit parrots converse. Gem flowers and jade grasses bloom year after year, treasure trees and golden lotuses flower season after season. White cranes climb the summit time and again, and pale swan-mandarin ducks come to the mountain pavilion many times. Even roaming fish understand the way of cultivating true nature, leaping through waves and breaking foam to listen to the Dharma. Sha Wujing walked down slowly toward Luojia Mountain and surveyed the immortal realm. A Mucha attendant of the pilgrimage greeted him and asked, 'Sha Wujing, you do not guard Tripitaka on the way to the scriptures—why are you here?' After saluting, Sha Wujing replied, 'I have come on one matter only to have audience with the Bodhisattva; please lead me for an audience.' The Mucha attendant, knowing he was looking for the Great Sage, made no further ado and first informed the Bodhisattva, 'A junior disciple of Tripitaka, Sha Wujing, waits outside to bow.' Hearing this from below the dais, Sun Wukong laughed: 'This must mean Tripitaka is in trouble and Sha Wujing has come to ask the Bodhisattva.' Guanyin ordered the Mucha attendant to call him inside. Sha Wujing bowed fully and, as he rose to report, suddenly saw Sun Wukong standing by his side; he could not wait to speak, so he jerked the demon-subduing staff and struck toward Sun Wukong’s face. The Great Sage did not swing back, but moved aside to avoid it. Sha Wujing cursed wildly: 'You are a rebellious ape-beast guilty of the ten evil deeds! You come again to trick Guanyin!' Guanyin ordered, 'Wujing, do not strike. Tell me first what happened.'

Sha Wujing put away the precious staff and bowed again in the space below, then spoke to the Bodhisattva in a flushed voice: 'This ape has committed violence all along the road without number. The day before yesterday he beat and killed two powerful brigands on the slope below the hill, and Master became angry with him. Then that same evening he lodged at the bandit chief’s house and then beat to death the whole band of thieves, bringing one of their severed heads, all blood and all, to show Master. Master, frightened, staggered down from his horse, scolded him a little, and drove him back. After they parted, Master was tormented by hunger and thirst. He sent Zhu Bajie to look for water. He waited long with no return, and then sent me in search of him as well. Suddenly Sun Wukong, seeing that Zhu and I were both gone, came back, struck Master with an iron staff, and snatched away two blue felt bundles. We returned and revived Master. We then came here to his Water-curtain Cave to demand the bundles, but to our surprise he had changed his face and would not recognize me; he kept reciting the spell that seals the master over and over. I asked what he was doing with that recitation. He said he did not protect Tripitaka; he intended to go to the Western Heaven and fetch the scriptures himself, bring them to the Eastern Land, accumulate his own merit, become an ancestral master, and be praised for ten thousand ages. I said, 'Without Tripitaka, who would Buddha give the sutra to you?' He said he had selected a genuine monk of the Way. He then brought him out: indeed, there was a white horse, a Tripitaka, with Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing following. I said, 'I myself am Sha Monk—where is this other Sha Monk?' I had run up and struck him once with a precious staff, and he proved to be a monkey spirit. Then he marshaled the troop and took me. I came expressly to petition the Bodhisattva. I did not know he could wield the jindu cloud and arrive here in advance. I also did not know what clever speeches and flowery words he used to deceive Guanyin as well.' Guanyin said, 'Wujing, do not shift blame. Sun Wukong has been here for four days now. I have not yet sent him back. By what right did he think he had chosen another Tripitaka and gone off to fetch scriptures?' Sha Wujing said, 'Now, in the Water-curtain Cave there is a Sun Wukong; how can he dare to deceive and swindle?' Guanyin said, 'Then do not grow impatient. Ask Sun Wukong to go with you to Flower-Fruit Mountain and see there. What seems hard to extinguish may be easy to remove; what seems easy to remove may be hard to see through. You will understand there for yourself.'

The Great Sage heard this and, with Sha Wujing, took leave of the Bodhisattva. From there he went to:

Before Flower-Fruit Mountain one can separate black from white; at the entrance of the Water-curtain Cave one may discern true from false.

It remains unknown how to distinguish these things. Listen in the next chapter for the resolution.