Tang Sanzang's Sudden Enlightenment, Turning the Tables on Guanyin

Tang Sanzang straightened his chest, his face brimming with the confidence of someone who had long since seen through the Heavenly Secrets.

"Immortal Lord must be testing whether this humble monk truly trusts his disciple! Testing whether I would be swayed by external things, grow suspicious of my own brother and comrade-in-arms, and foolishly try to use such things to control and harm him!"

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, his tone turning increasingly righteous and stern.

"Who is Wukong? He is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven! He is this humble monk's fine disciple! He may be mischievous, and his wild nature may not yet be gone, but he is by no means some faithless wretch who would abandon his master! Just the other day, he even saved this humble monk from a 'demon'!

"With such a loyal, righteous, and extraordinarily powerful disciple, if this humble monk believed your dubious 'Mind-Calming True Words' and made him wear this ridiculous hat, would I not chill his heart? Would that not make me, his master, seem narrow-minded and utterly lacking in trust? If I accepted this test, I would have already lost! Lost completely! Immortal Lord would surely be utterly disappointed in me!"

His words rang with force, his logic entirely self-consistent. He looked every bit the "eminent monk" defending the bond between master and disciple and holding firm to the bottom line of trust.

Guanyin was completely dumbfounded. The hands holding the Golden Silk, robe, and hat froze in midair. Her face went from green to black, then black to white. Her chest heaved violently, and she felt a mouthful of old blood lodged in her throat, neither able to spit it out nor swallow it down!

She was about to go mad! What in the world was