Now Tang Sanzang and his disciples had reached the Black Water River region.
Not far from the Black Water River stood a small city, where the Imperial Envoy was staying.
Upon learning that the holy monk from the Tang Dynasty had arrived, the Imperial Envoy hurried out with his men to welcome him, escorted Tang Sanzang into the city, and ordered his subordinates to arrange singing and dancing and prepare a banquet.
Seeing this, Tang Sanzang said, "This humble monk is merely a man of the cloth. How could I presume to trouble Your Excellency to go to such lengths?"
The Imperial Envoy smiled. "Holy monk, these are merely small tokens of my regard. I ask for nothing else, only that you agree to help our kingdom build the Great Bridge."
Tang Sanzang dared not agree lightly and said to Wukong, "Wukong, what do you think of this...?"
Wukong said to the Imperial Envoy, "Leave that aside for now. Tell us about this Dragon King in the Yellow River. Where did he come from, and why did he ask for us to come here and build a bridge?"
At this, the Imperial Envoy recounted everything that had happened in the Yellow River, from beginning to end.
Compared with the others, the Imperial Envoy, who had experienced it himself, gave a more detailed account.
He even described all the details of the earlier sacrifices to the Dragon God.
Tang Sanzang listened to the Imperial Envoy's account. When he heard that the River God had refused young boys and girls, he could not help saying, "If that is so, this River God is a good deity after all."
The Imperial Envoy said, "Who cares whether he is good or bad? Young boys and girls are a small matter; building the bridge is