Outside Golden Pocket Cave, the wind and snow grew fiercer.
Wukong and the others dared not linger before the cave and headed straight around the mountain.
Rounding a cliff, they hurried another five or six li west, found a cave sheltered from the wind, and ducked inside.
Wukong took the pebble from his robe.
It landed in his palm, still holding a trace of warmth.
He gently blew on it.
The pebble slowly expanded.
Its edges softened, sleeves stretched out, shoulders and a back took shape, and finally Xuanzang's face emerged.
Xuanzang lay on a flat rock, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed.
Wukong supported the back of his neck with one hand and blew on his face again.
Xuanzang's body gave a faint tremor.
But his eyes did not open.
His breathing was steady, as though he were deeply asleep.
Sha Wujing grew anxious at the sight and hurriedly asked, "Eldest Brother, what's going on? Why won't Master wake up? Wasn't he just knocked unconscious?"
Wukong frowned without answering.
Bajie squeezed over at that, grinning. "Brother Monkey, don't you know anything about medicine? Let me, let me."
He crouched down, lifted Xuanzang's wrist, and placed three fingers on his pulse.
After a moment, he pressed Xuanzang's shoulders and neck, his chest, and both sides of his ribs.
Then he pressed just below Xuanzang's brow.
As Bajie worked, his smile faded little by little. Finally, his face grew solemn, and he looked up at Wukong.
"Brother Monkey, someone has sealed Master's heart aperture."
"And it wasn't demonic sorcery. It was an orthodox method of the Daoist Order."
"They used qi to veil his heart aperture, and quite cleverly, too. It wasn't meant to hurt him, just to keep him from waking."
Deep bewilderment showed in his eyes, and he