Leaving Five Elements Mountain behind, master and disciple headed west.
Though he had taken on a disciple with vast supernatural powers, the journey was far from peaceful.
The monkey had sworn an oath, but how could the wildness pent up for five hundred years be tamed overnight?
One moment, he sprang into the clouds to scout the way; the next, he burrowed into the grass to catch insects. The Iron Cudgel in his hand whirled with a whoosh, and any roadside rock that displeased him earned a couple of blows.
What proved rather an eyesore was his stark-naked body.
He was far too "open."
"Master, the road ahead won't be easy."
Sun Wukong carried the luggage as he strode ahead, his yellow fur gleaming in the sunlight.
Without a horse, even with his physique blessed by the Heavenly Dao, Xuanzang had begun to sweat after half a day on the rugged mountain path.
He found a slab of gray stone to sit on and steadied his breathing.
"Wukong, what lies beyond this ridge?"
"Heh, who cares? The road's beneath our feet. Just keep walking."
As they spoke, a fierce wind suddenly swept through the woods.
"Roar!!"
A tiger's roar shook leaves loose from the trees.
The grass parted, and a tiger with upturned eyes and a white forehead sprang out, lashing its tail. It roared, radiating ferocious menace.
The instant Sun Wukong saw the tiger, his eyes lit up. He looked happier to see it than he would a relative.
"Heh! What luck! What luck!"
Sun Wukong tossed the luggage to the ground and drew the Embroidered Needle from his ear. With a shake in the wind, it became an Iron Cudgel as thick as a bowl's mouth. His face beamed with delight.
"Don't be afraid, Master! It's brought me clothes!"
"I haven't used this treasure in five hundred years. Today, I'll bring it out and earn myself something to wear!"
He stretched his stride, charged toward the tiger, and bellowed:
"Wicked beast! Where do you think you're going?"
Sun Wukong raised his cudgel, about to smash it down on the tiger's head. "Take a blow from Old Sun!"
Xuanzang shouted:
"Wukong! Stop!"
That sharp command brought the descending Golden Cudgel to an abrupt halt in midair.
Sun Wukong looked back in bewilderment, thinking Xuanzang had succumbed to that stubborn streak of compassion again.
"Master? This is a man-eating beast. Killing it would save you, and its hide would make clothes to cover me. Why can't I kill it?"
Xuanzang ignored Wukong. Instead, he walked past him and slowly approached the trembling tiger.
"Amitabha Buddha."
Xuanzang pressed his palms together and looked gently at the tiger.
"It seems you have a karmic connection with this poor monk."
"I never expected to meet you here after we parted at Shuangcha Ridge. Are you blocking the road to do harm again?"
The tiger was indeed the one from Shuangcha Ridge. Sun Wukong had frightened it half to death, but at the sight of Xuanzang, it shook its head.
It concealed its fangs and lowered its forelegs to the ground, a housecat-like purr rumbling in its throat.
Sun Wukong rested the cudgel on his shoulder and stared, dumbstruck. "Master... is this tiger a relative of yours?"
Xuanzang glanced at him without answering and reached out to stroke the tiger's head. It neither attacked nor dodged, but rubbed its head against his hand.
Sun Wukong curled his lips and planted the cudgel on the ground, speaking with some disdain. "This tiger is a little strange, but Master, you're far too softhearted. I'm ridding the world of a menace. If we don't kill it, it's bound to eat people again."
"Besides, Old Sun is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. Am I supposed to give way to a beast?"
Xuanzang gently shook his head and suddenly asked:
"Wukong, since Guanyin enlightened you, do you know why Guanyin Bodhisattva has yet to become a Buddha and is still called a bodhisattva?"
Sun Wukong blinked twice and scratched his head. "Well... how would Old Sun know a secret like that? Maybe her cultivation isn't strong enough?"
"Do not speak recklessly."
Xuanzang lightly tapped the monkey's head, his gaze profound, as though it pierced through time.
"Long ago, Guanyin Bodhisattva had perfected her merit and was traveling to Spirit Mountain with other great worthies to pay homage to the Buddha and attain Buddhahood through nirvana."
"At that moment, she looked back upon the mortal world. In a forest, she saw a vicious tiger pursuing an old woman."
Xuanzang lowered his eyes, glanced at the tiger lying at his feet, and continued:
"That tiger had awakened its intelligence and was exceptionally cunning. It drove the old woman into the treetops, leaving her life hanging by a thread."
"The venerable ones traveling with her urged her onward, saying the gates of Buddhahood were about to close. Unless she entered at once, countless tribulations would pass before another chance came."
Sun Wukong listened, engrossed. "Then why didn't she go in? If it were Old Sun, I'd have somersaulted inside already."
Here, Xuanzang paused, his gaze blazing like a torch as it pierced straight into Sun Wukong's heart.
"Wukong, if it were you, what would you choose? The supreme Buddhahood only a step away, or turning back to save that mortal old woman?"
Sun Wukong froze.
Xuanzang's voice rang clear, carrying a power that shook the heart.
"The bodhisattva said, 'All living beings suffer. With such concerns weighing on my heart, how could I become a Buddha?'"
"In the instant before those gates closed, she did not hesitate at all. Resolutely turning away, she relinquished her chance at Buddhahood and returned to the mortal dust, solely to save that old woman!"
"This is called 'reverse the voyage of Cihang.'"
"Thus, she is called Guanyin Bodhisattva of great kindness and compassion, savior from suffering and calamity. With a compassionate heart and merciful vows, she reversed the voyage of Cihang, returning to Saha to deliver all beings with whom she shared a karmic connection."
Xuanzang pointed to the tiger on the ground and asked solemnly:
"The bodhisattva could relinquish even her chance at Buddhahood to save a single life. Yet merely for a hide skirt to cover your shame, you would cut off its path to life?"
Sun Wukong scratched his ears and cheeks under this rebuke. For the first time, he actually felt a trace of... shame.
"All right, all right! You win, Master!"
Sun Wukong put away his cudgel and muttered, somewhat deflated but with a measure of respect, "This business about reversing the voyage of Cihang makes Old Sun's scalp tingle."
"But Old Sun is still naked!" he grumbled.
Just then, the tiger rose, walked to Xuanzang's side, and lowered its body slightly.
Xuanzang calmly stroked its head. "Amitabha Buddha. Good, good. All living beings possess spirit. Since this is your wish, this poor monk shall accept this karmic bond."
He lifted his kasaya and mounted the tiger.
The tiger rose steadily and began walking, its gait remarkably smooth.
Behind them, Sun Wukong carried the luggage. He looked at his master riding the tiger with the bearing of a holy monk, then down at his own bare lower half, and sighed.
"Fine, fine. Master has a mount, while Old Sun still has to freeze. I'll find a household up ahead and ask for alms."
Above the clouds.
Guanyin Bodhisattva and Hui'an the Wanderer stood amid auspicious clouds, looking down at the scene.
Mucha wore an odd expression. "Bodhisattva... wasn't this tiger supposed to be a tribulation? How has it now... become Tang Sanzang's mount? What about Little White Dragon?"
Holding the Tribulation Ledger in one hand and her pure-water vase in the other, Guanyin Bodhisattva fell into a rare, prolonged silence.
Mucha could not help adding, "And that story about 'reversing the voyage of Cihang'-why have I never heard it? If he can expound the teachings like that, why bother fetching scriptures? He could deliver all living beings himself!"
Guanyin glanced at Mucha. "You talk too much!"
Then the bodhisattva watched the figure riding the tiger below, a trace of helplessness entering her eyes.
"This ordeal has already appeared in the Tribulation Ledger. We shall count it as a tribulation."
"This task is even harder than I expected."
"I fear unforeseen changes may arise in this karmic bond with the Dragon Tribe."
Before you continue