Now, Wukong swung his staff at the White Bone Demon.
The White Bone Demon’s true body had fled, leaving behind a real corpse.
Wukong said the woman was a demon—how could Tang Seng possibly believe him?
Bajie, meanwhile, added fuel to the fire from the side:
“Master, speaking of this woman, she was a farm wife from around here. She was bringing food to the fields when she happened upon us and kindly offered us alms. Senior Brother was too heavy-handed and killed her, then framed her as a monster. In any case, this is a wild mountain wilderness; no one will know if someone dies here, so there’s no fear of a lawsuit. It’s just a pity about this perfectly good vegetarian meal—must it go to waste?”
As he spoke, Bajie picked up the basket, gathered the steamed buns that had fallen to the ground, and blew the dust off them. Then, from the shattered earthen jar, he used his alms bowl to scoop out the clean top layer of rice and said:
“Master, just now that woman offered it to you, but you wouldn’t eat. Now look—she’s dead. If you had eaten earlier, perhaps she might still be alive.”
When Tang Seng heard this, he grew even angrier. His fingers formed the spell gesture, and his mouth began to chant the incantation.
Wukong’s head ached, and he said, “Stop chanting! Stop chanting! If you have something to say, then say it.”
Tang Seng said, “What is there to say? A monk should never let a single thought stray from compassion: when sweeping the floor, he fears harming the lives of ants; out of pity for moths, he shades the lamp with gauze. Yet you commit violence at every step! What use is there in seeking scripture after beating this innocent woman to death? Go back!”
Wukong said, “Master, where would you have me go back to?”
Tang Seng said, “I no longer want you as my disciple.”
Wukong said, “If you do not want me as your disciple, I fear you will never make it to the Western Heaven.”
Tang Seng said, “My fate is in Heaven’s hands. If some demon is meant to steam me or boil me, that has nothing to do with you!”
Wukong said, “Master, I can go back, but I have yet to repay your great kindness.”
Tang Seng said, “What kindness have I shown you?”
Hearing this, Wukong knelt and kowtowed, saying:
“I, Old Sun, caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace and was pinned beneath Five Elements Mountain by the Buddha. Fortunately, Bodhisattva Guanyin gave me the precepts, and Master rescued me from my suffering and freed me. If I do not accompany you to the Western Heaven, would I not be one who knows kindness yet fails to repay it?”
Tang Seng was a compassionate man. Seeing Wukong plead so sincerely, kneeling and begging, and thinking too that this had been arranged by Bodhisattva Guanyin, his heart softened, and he said:
“In that case, I will spare you this once. If you harm anyone again, I will chant this spell twenty times!”
Wukong said, “Even thirty times is up to you. I absolutely will not strike anyone again.”
He then helped Tang Seng mount the horse and earnestly offered up the peaches he had picked.
Tang Seng ate a few, making do to stave off his hunger.
The four master and disciples continued on their way.
After they had walked for some distance, they saw a burly man emerge from the woods ahead. He looked like a hunter, holding a firewood knife in his hand and carrying a hunting bow on his back. Seeing Tang Seng and the others, he called out:
“Masters, have you happened to see my younger sister?”
When Bajie saw him, he cried in alarm, “Master, this is bad! Her family has come looking for her!”
Tang Seng said, “Looking for whom?”
Bajie said, “It must be that woman Senior Brother beat to death. Don’t admit anything, or they’ll make us pay with our lives!”
Wukong possessed Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils; the moment the man arrived, he recognized him as Tiger Vanguard. He said, “Master, don’t listen to that fool’s nonsense. This is clearly a demon. Watch Old Sun give him a staff strike first!”
Tang Seng said, “Do not commit violence. If you harm someone again, I will not spare you!”
Hearing this, Wukong had no choice but to hold back, though an ominous feeling stirred faintly in his heart.
He knew this demon was under Ao Tu, and thought to himself that trouble had come again.
Ao Tu was intent on stopping Tang Seng from obtaining the scriptures. Although Wukong had some personal friendship with him, his own desire to protect Tang Seng on the journey west was also sincere. Now, seeing that Tang Seng was about to meet with another calamity, he could not help but grow anxious.
Tiger Vanguard came before the four master and disciples, gave a bow, and asked:
“Masters, you have come from the mountain path. Have you happened to see my younger sister?”
Tang Seng returned the salute and asked, “Benefactor, where are you from? Why have you come here looking for someone?”
Tiger Vanguard said, “Master, I was originally a hunter. After misfortune befell my family, I came to White Tiger Ridge to seek refuge with my sworn elder brother. My brother’s home is just ahead, due west of the slope. This morning, my brother and sister-in-law went to work in the fields. At noon, my younger sister went to deliver food, but she has yet to return, so I came out to look for her. I wonder, when you masters passed through ahead, did you see her?”
Hearing this, Tang Seng truly found it difficult to speak. He stammered and could not get a word out.
Bajie said, “We didn’t see her, didn’t see her. We passed through here, and it was nothing but wild mountains and wilderness. There wasn’t half a human shadow in sight!”
Hearing this, Tiger Vanguard looked toward Bajie. Seeing the basket in his arms, he cried out in alarm:
“Isn’t that the basket my younger sister used to deliver food? Yet you say you didn’t see her! Could it be that she suffered at your wicked hands?”
Seeing this, Tang Seng sighed and said, “Amitabha. Benefactor, restrain your grief. It is all this poor monk’s fault for failing to discipline my disciple strictly, allowing this wretched disciple of mine to take your family member’s life.”
Tiger Vanguard said furiously, “You pack of wild monks, pretending to be men of the cloth, when in truth you are highway robbers! Pity my poor younger sister, still so young, yet she met such a cruel end at your hands!”
Tang Seng had no way to defend himself and could only keep chanting scripture.
Wukong said, “Monster, others may not recognize you, but I do. What trick are you playing now to deceive my master? Take this!”
As he spoke, he drew his staff and struck. Tiger Vanguard shifted his body aside, stretched out his leg, and took the blow head-on. In an instant, his flesh split open, revealing ghastly white bone.
Tang Seng was so frightened he did not dare open his eyes.
Tiger Vanguard endured the pain, dragged his leg, and fled backward, shouting:
“Help! Help! The monk is killing people to silence them!”
Wukong was just about to give chase.
Without another word, Tang Seng immediately began chanting the Tight-Fillet Spell, chanting it a full twenty times.
Pitiful Wukong’s head was squeezed until it looked like a gourd. Even with his vajra body, he could hardly endure such pain. He shot into the air and smashed a great mountain to the south to pieces, yet it did not ease the agony in the slightest. He rolled back over and pleaded:
“Master, stop chanting! If you have something to say, then say it!”
Tang Seng said, “What else is there to say? A monk should listen to good counsel and avoid falling into hell. I have admonished and guided you like this, yet how can you still commit violence? Not only did you kill one person, you even wanted to kill another to silence him?”
Wukong said, “He is a demon.”
Tang Seng said, “Nonsense! How can there be so many demons? You are clearly committing evil on purpose, intent on murder! Go back! I cannot tolerate you as my disciple here!”
Wukong said, “Master would have me go back again? I can go back, but there is one thing Master must agree to; otherwise, I cannot leave.”
Tang Seng said, “What is it?”
Bajie said, “Master, he wants to divide the luggage with you. He has been a monk under you for so long; he can’t go back empty-handed. Give him a couple of old clothes and tattered hats from the bundle.”
Hearing this, Wukong was so angry he snapped, “You long-snouted oaf! Old Sun has always upheld the teachings of the Buddhist order and has not the slightest greedy attachment. When did I ever ask to divide the luggage? I think you’re asking for a beating!”
Bajie hurriedly begged for mercy. “Senior Brother, don’t hit me! Old Pig was only joking just now!”
Tang Seng said, “Since you have no greedy attachment, why do you not leave?”
Wukong said, “To tell the truth, Master, five hundred years ago, Old Sun lived in the Water Curtain Cave on Flower Fruit Mountain and was known as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. I wore a purple-gold crown on my head and an ocher-yellow robe on my body. If I go back now wearing this golden fillet, I truly will have no face to meet my old acquaintances.
“If Master truly wants me to go back, then I beg you to chant the Loosening-Fillet Spell and remove this fillet. That, at least, would count as our master-disciple bond having meant something.”
Tang Seng was greatly startled and said, “Wukong, at that time, the Bodhisattva secretly gave me only one Tight-Fillet Spell. Where would there be any Loosening-Fillet Spell?”
Wukong said, “If there is no Loosening-Fillet Spell, then let me continue following you to the Western Heaven.”
Tang Seng, left with no choice, said, “Very well. I will spare you this once more.”
At that time, Ao Tu had Tiger Vanguard lie on a bed and instructed him to pretend in a while that he was crippled, unable to move in the slightest, so they could extort Tang Seng.