Chapter 191: An Uproar in Golden Rhino Cave (II)
Now, Bajie had stolen oranges for Tang Sanzang to eat.
Sha Wujing peeled one and ate it first, saying, "Master, these oranges are delicious. They're fully ripe and sweet!"
The oranges were wonderfully fragrant, and Tang Sanzang had indeed grown hungry and thirsty along the road. Seeing that Sha Wujing had eaten one, he naturally found it a little hard to resist wanting one himself.
But Tang Sanzang still felt uneasy. "Bajie, even early-ripening oranges don't ripen until the ninth month. It's only the seventh month now. How could these oranges be ripe?"
"Master, the climate in this foreign country is different from the Great Tang's," Bajie said. "Think of rice: it ripens late in the north and early in the south. These oranges are probably the same. There's nothing strange about their ripening two months early."
Tang Sanzang nodded. "That does make sense."
Tang Sanzang picked up an orange and was about to eat it, but he saw how remarkably fine it looked. Its peel was smooth enough to reflect a person's image, without the slightest trace of exposure to wind or sun. Could this have grown in the wild?
Tang Sanzang simply could not set his mind at ease. "Bajie, give your master your word. You didn't steal these oranges, did you?"
Bajie's eyes shifted evasively. "Master, we're out here in the wild mountains, and nobody saw anything. Why worry about so much? Just eat!"
Tang Sanzang understood at once and said angrily, "So you did steal them! I teach you every day not to steal. Why won't you listen? I cannot eat these oranges. Take them back at once!"
"Master," Bajie said, "if nobody saw, isn't it just like picking up something abandoned? Even if I took them