"Bear demon, do you know why I have come?" Guanyin Bodhisattva sat atop a lotus, her voice once again as ethereal as before. She questioned the Black Bear Spirit before her without a trace of emotion.
"I... I don't know." Cold sweat poured from the Black Bear Spirit, but he still refused to admit anything.
Guanyin Bodhisattva didn't bother with pointless back-and-forth. She spoke clearly.
"The cassock you stole was a treasure I gave Tang Sanzang to protect him on his journey west. Tang Sanzang is the reincarnation of Golden Cicada, who served beneath Tathagata Buddha, and Buddha himself named him to retrieve the Western scriptures. Today, you stole the cassock and kept it for yourself, preventing Tang Sanzang from continuing west. Do you have some grievance against Tathagata Buddha?
"Or are you dissatisfied with my decision to give Tang Sanzang the cassock?"
At her words, beads of sweat the size of beans ran down the Black Bear Spirit's forehead. He had never imagined that the frail-looking white-robed monk had such an imposing background.
Had he known, he wouldn't have dared provoke Tang Sanzang, even if he'd been given ten times the nerve.
But now it was too late.
"Bodhisattva, Black Bear was wrong. I'll return the cassock to Tang Sanzang right away." The Black Bear Spirit struggled up from the ground, clutching his stomach as he headed into his cave. Before long, he emerged carrying the cassock in both hands and knelt before Guanyin Bodhisattva, raising it above his head like an offering. He only hoped she would forgive him.
"Bodhisattva, the cassock is right here. Could you summon Sun Wukong out of my belly? I know I was wrong." The Black Bear Spirit pointed at his round stomach and spoke with difficulty.
Sun Wukong was running wild inside