"Mysterious Pearl Lake."
The Earth God gazed at the lake and repeated the name.
The Mountain God stood beside the bluestone and nodded along.
Bajie held his bowl and scraped the bottom twice with his wooden spoon.
"Jindou Mountain, Mysterious Pearl Lake."
"Sounds lovely. They certainly suit each other."
He raised his wooden spoon, pointing first at the mountain, then at the lake before them.
"Jindou cradles a mysterious pearl."
"Brother Miaole found new life here, and Tiger Sister achieved Transformation here too."
"Marvelous, truly marvelous! This name has both a source and a destination."
Wukong laughed as he listened.
"Idiot, you certainly have a silver tongue now."
"Who was it just now who said Great Sage Lake sounded good?"
"You rascal, you clearly wanted to leave me with nowhere to hide."
Bajie continued scraping the bottom of his bowl without looking up.
"I was trying to spare the Earth God some embarrassment."
The Earth God blushed and stroked his beard. "Great Sage Lake wasn't all that bad, was it?"
Wukong jumped down from the rock.
"Idiot, you've left nothing for anyone else to say."
Bajie put the last piece of wild greens from the bottom of his bowl into his mouth and grinned.
The Earth God looked at Xuanzang, then at the blank bluestone.
"Now that the lake has a name, might we ask the Holy Monk to grace us with his calligraphy?"
Xuanzang said, "Let Wukong write the inscription."
Wukong raised a hand and pointed at himself.
"Me?"
But the Earth God was already nodding repeatedly.
"Excellent!"
"Nothing could be more fitting than the Great Sage's own handwriting."
Wukong looked at the Earth God and opened his mouth.
With things having come this far, he did not refuse.
Wukong reached into his ear and took out the