A-Hu did not grow smug at Wukong's praise.
He merely flicked his ears.
Grains of snow slid from their tips.
He lowered his head to look at the snowy ground.
Snow fell beside his paws, flake after flake, and the warmth rising from his tiger paws soon melted it into water.
Bajie stood in the snow, his head lowered in thought for a moment.
Then he said, "A-Hu."
"You said just now that Old Tortoise did it on purpose. I reckon there's sense in that."
"But I think you got one thing wrong."
A-Hu looked up at him. "What did I get wrong?"
This time, Bajie wore no cheeky grin.
He was perfectly serious.
His voice grew more measured as well. "Calling him greedy is a bit harsh."
"He wants to move forward, but he doesn't want to die."
"Wanting to have it all is only human nature."
"So is fearing death."
"After all, he has to cross a tribulation of life and death."
"Old Tortoise did hide things, and he did keep looking ahead and behind, but at worst, his disposition is flawed and he's overly cautious."
"That doesn't really count as greed, does it?"
Bajie planted the Rake in the snow and scraped out a hole, then pointed at it and asked:
"Take me, Old Pig. Say I know there's a pit ahead, but I have to keep going."
"If I find someone to ask how deep it is and whether anyone's died in it, isn't that normal?"
"I just don't want to die, but I still want to go forward. I want to know what I'm facing. Sure, I'm looking ahead and behind, but what's wrong with asking until I understand before going on?"
"If you insist that being cautious means being greedy, I don't think that's