Now, Alu's devotion to Buddhism moved Venerable Kasyapa.
Kasyapa took the scripture back from the old abbot and the others, and bestowed it on Alu instead.
Alu thanked him profusely, repeatedly declaring that he would not fail the venerable one's trust and would spread the Buddhist Sect's renown.
For Alu, this was a joyous occasion.
But for the old abbot and the others, it was a plunge of a thousand fathoms.
They had thought that after decades of sincere devotion to Buddhism, their bitter days had finally given way to sweetness: they had won Buddha's regard and received the true teachings.
Yet now, barely a month later, those teachings had been taken back.
They had scarcely learned any Buddhist arts before their path ahead was cut off.
What they found even harder to accept was that the true teachings had been bestowed instead on Alu, that traitor who had betrayed the Buddhist Sect.
The old abbot and the others all believed Alu had deceived Venerable Kasyapa. They called the other old monks together and knelt outside Kasyapa's meditation room, pleading their case and begging him to recognize Alu's true face and change his mind.
Kasyapa found this endlessly tiresome, but these old monks were all sincerely devoted to Buddhism. As a venerable one, he could hardly suppress them outright.
Seeing Kasyapa's difficulty, Alu proved most understanding and immediately ordered his disciples to lock the old monks back in the quiet rooms.
The other old monks were easy enough to handle.
But the old abbot and the other two who had studied the true scripture had some magical power, and ordinary disciples could not keep them confined.
When Wukong heard, he made a special trip to help.
With his Golden Cudgel, Wukong drew a circle around the quiet rooms, leaving the