At that moment, the tall, thin Daoist was standing on the mountain, watching Tang Sanzang and the others from afar. His smile grew wider and wider. Heh heh. Go on, run! I was just afraid you wouldn't. Now let's see who can save you. So what if you have great magic power? So what if you've lived a long time? You still can't beat me.
Beasts were beasts. How could they possibly have human intelligence, no matter how long they cultivated?
Just as he was muttering to himself,
a cloud in the northern sky was slowly growing larger.
He knew that now was the time to see whether his acting was any good.
After taking a couple of deep breaths, the tall, thin Daoist composed himself. He took a dagger from his robes, looked at it, then at his arm. After hesitating for a long while, he still couldn't bring himself to do it. He tossed the dagger aside, then slapped both hands hard against the ground, coating his face with dust. "Ah! Ah! Master! Master, please avenge your disciple!" He began rolling around on the ground.
"Huang Tian, what happened here? Didn't I tell you to take good care of the temple?" Seeing Wuzhuang Temple in this state, Zhenyuanzi berated the tall, thin Daoist.
"Master, Master, it was all my fault. Please punish me. I shouldn't have listened to slander, Master." The tall, thin Daoist lay prostrate on the ground, bowing and kowtowing to Great Immortal Zhenyuan with an expression of utmost sincerity.
Seeing his disciple behave this way, Zhenyuanzi's heart softened. He simply brushed the dust off Huang Tian and asked gently,
"Tell me, what happened?"
"Master, Master, it happened like this. A few days ago, some monks from the Eastern Tang Lands came to the temple. They