Once Sun Wukong entered the garden,
the local land god hurriedly summoned the hundreds of immortal attendants who worked in the Peach Garden to meet him.
The tree-hoeing strongmen, water-carrying strongmen, peach-pruning strongmen, cleaning strongmen, Yellow Turban Strongmen, and other attendants filed out to pay their respects to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Sun Wukong paid these minor immortals no mind.
He waved them away
and had the land god lead him on a tour of the Peach Garden.
The sights within the Peach Garden
were wondrous indeed.
Blossoms blazed on every tree, fruit gleamed on every branch.
Blazing blossoms filled the trees; heavy fruit weighed down the branches.
The fruit hung like brocade balls from the boughs, while blossoms clustered like rouge among the leaves.
They bloomed and bore fruit, ripening over thousands of years, untouched by summer or winter.
The ripe ones wore flushed, drunken faces; the unripe ones still had green skins and clinging stems.
Their jade-green flesh seemed veiled in mist, their crimson forms glowed in the sun...
At the sight of it all, Sun Wukong's mouth watered. He stared at the peach trees, wiping his lips again and again.
"Great Sage Equal to Heaven, there are three thousand six hundred trees in the Peach Garden."
Seeing Sun Wukong's interest, the land god hastened to explain. "The first twelve hundred bear small blossoms and fruit. They ripen once every three thousand years. Whoever eats one becomes an immortal, strong of body and light of step."
"The middle twelve hundred have layered blossoms and sweet fruit. They ripen once every six thousand years. Whoever eats one ascends on rosy clouds and gains eternal life."
"The last twelve hundred have purple-veined fruit and pale-yellow pits. They ripen once every nine thousand years. Whoever eats one lives as