At last, Tang Sanzang and his disciples had crossed Yellow Wind Ridge, and the Ao Tu System's rewards updated accordingly.
There was little to say about the three-day reward, the Three-Turn Soul-Reviving Pill, or the seven-day reward, the Six-Thousand-Year Peach of Immortality.
The half-month reward was a houtian spiritual treasure, the Headache Chime.
Ao Tu knew this treasure. It was a Plague-Bringing Instrument belonging to a disciple of Lü Yue, the Plague Emperor. A single strike could infect someone with pestilential qi and give them an unbearable headache.
Once he obtained the chime, he could go strike it a couple of times at Tang Sanzang whenever he had nothing else to do, keeping him plagued by headaches and unable to travel.
The one-month reward was the Dragon-Binding Rope, a houtian spiritual treasure. Although it belonged to the same category as the Headache Chime, even houtian spiritual treasures differed in quality.
During the Investiture of the Gods, when the two sects were at war, Huanglong Perfected of Chanism's Twelve Golden Immortals had issued a challenge before the battle lines. Zhao Gongming of Jiejiao unleashed this treasure, instantly binding Huanglong Perfected in midair and hanging him from a Banner Pole.
Clearly, the Dragon-Binding Rope and the Five-Fire Divine Flame Fan were both top-tier houtian spiritual treasures. Though houtian, their power rivaled that of ordinary congenital spiritual treasures. They simply could not aid in comprehending the Great Dao as congenital spiritual treasures could.
Finally, Ao Tu turned his attention to the reward for a season: the Five-Colored Divine Light.
Spiritual treasures were fine things, but having a divine ability of one's own was better.
The Five-Colored Divine Light could sweep away anything. No matter how many spiritual treasures you possessed, once the divine light rose, it would capture you and your treasures together.
With this divine ability, Ao Tu would dare exchange a few blows even with Tathagata Buddha himself.
But holding them up for a whole season was simply too long.
A season was three months.
Even counting the thirty-four days left over from Yellow Wind Ridge, Ao Tu would still have to delay Tang Sanzang and his disciples for nearly another two months to obtain it. He had no confidence that he could manage it; he could only do his best.
Since Tang Sanzang and his disciples had already crossed Yellow Wind Ridge, they would presumably arrive here before long.
Ao Tu had Sha Wujing build a wooden hut on the bank of the Flowing Sand River to receive Tang Sanzang and his disciples when they arrived.
He intended to stage a little play and buy some time.
Ao Tu instructed Sha Wujing, "Drive away the families living nearby, lest they expose a flaw in our disguise when the Pilgrim arrives."
Sha Wujing said, "Honored deity, there is no need to drive them away."
"Why?" Ao Tu asked.
Sha Wujing said, "The Jade Emperor punished me and sentenced me to suffer in this Flowing Sand River. Unable to bear the hunger and cold, every two or three days I would emerge from the waves to find someone to eat. Woodcutters who met me lost their lives, and fishermen who saw me met their deaths. In time, no one remained living on either bank."
Ao Tu laughed. "Excellent! Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot-your way of doing things makes you a perfect fit for our Buddhist fold! Transform into a fisherman and wait here. When you meet the Pilgrim, do this and that, then such and such..."
Sha Wujing committed all of Ao Tu's instructions to memory.
Since Ao Tu's plan was merely to obstruct the Pilgrim, with no intention of harming him, hearing it only made Sha Wujing more firmly convinced of Ao Tu's identity.
After Tang Sanzang and his two disciples crossed the Eight-Hundred-Li Yellow Wind Ridge, their westward route led through a stretch of level plains. Time flew; autumn departed and winter arrived. The north wind sharpened the bitter cold, and the gathering chill laid down a light frost.
A month or two passed. As they traveled along, they came upon a vast expanse of raging water, its turbid waves surging and rolling.
From horseback, Tang Sanzang called, "Disciples, look how broad the water is ahead. Why are there no boats passing? Where can we cross?"
Bajie looked and said, "Those are raging waves indeed. There's no boat to take us across."
Wukong leaped into the air and shaded his eyes with one hand to look. Alarmed, he said, "Master, this really is difficult, truly difficult! If it were just Old Sun crossing this river, all I'd need to do is twist my waist and I'd be over. But for you, Master, it's a thousand times harder to cross, a journey that could take ten thousand years."
Tang Sanzang said, "I can see no end to it from here. How many li wide is this river?"
"About eight hundred li," Wukong said.
Bajie asked, "How do you know it's eight hundred li, senior brother?"
Wukong said, "To tell you the truth, worthy younger brother, these eyes of Old Sun can see good fortune and danger a thousand li away in daylight. Just now, from the air, I saw that although there's no telling how far this river runs upstream or downstream, it's a full eight hundred li straight across."
Hearing this, Tang Sanzang sighed in distress, not knowing how they could cross. He turned his horse around and suddenly noticed a stone tablet on the bank.
Three seal-script characters on it read "Black Water River." Beneath them were four lines of solemn verse: "Rolling ink blankets the earth; surging gray stretches a thousand li. Look close, and no human shadow appears; gaze afar, and no shape can be found."
Bajie said, "So this is called the Black Water River. Come to think of it, the water is rather muddy-not as clear as the Heavenly River I used to command."
Wukong said, "The name of this river sounds familiar."
Bajie said, "Senior brother, back when you ruled your mountain, you befriended heroes from all over the world. Perhaps you heard its name from one of them."
Remembering his glorious past, Wukong said, "Exactly! Exactly!"
Tang Sanzang said, "Disciples, stop chattering about such irrelevant matters. This river is swift and hard to cross. Can either of you carry your master over it?"
Wukong said, "Bajie, carry Master across."
Bajie said, "Master is mortal flesh and blood, as heavy as Mount Tai. How could my cloud-riding bear him? It'll have to be your somersault."
Wukong said, "As the old saying goes, 'Moving Mount Tai is as light as a mustard seed; carrying a mortal makes it hard to escape the dust of the world.' My somersault is cloud-riding too-it just goes a little farther. If you can't carry him, how could I?"
Tang Sanzang grew somewhat angry at this. "Usually, both of you possess great abilities and boast of subduing dragons and taming tigers. Yet now neither of you is willing to carry your master across a river?"
Bajie lowered his head and remained silent.
Wukong smiled. "Master, subduing dragons and taming tigers is easy, but crossing a river is hard. On this Journey to the West, you must travel through foreign lands to their utmost reaches before you can escape the sea of suffering. Bajie and I can only serve as your protectors, keeping your body safe and your life intact. We cannot endure these hardships in your place. Otherwise, I fear you would obtain no scriptures-the Buddha would refuse to pass them on. That is what they mean by, 'What comes easily is treated lightly.'"
Tang Sanzang said anxiously, "What are we to do? We've only just survived the dangers of Yellow Wind Ridge, and now this great river blocks our way. When will we ever reach the Western Heaven?"
Wukong said, "Don't worry, Master. Let Old Sun see whether anyone lives nearby and ask about the situation here."
Wukong sprang up on a cloud and surveyed the surroundings. He saw just one dwelling four or five li away. Aside from that, not a single household lived within a thousand li.
When Wukong landed, Tang Sanzang asked impatiently, "Disciple, does anyone live here?"
Wukong said, "Someone does, but it's no good place to visit."
Tang Sanzang asked, "If someone lives there, why is it no good place to visit?"
Wukong said, "There's not a soul within a thousand li, except for one household five li to the south. It must be a monster's disguise."
Tang Sanzang said, "Perhaps someone lives here in seclusion."
Wukong said, "No, no. Even a genuine hermit would occasionally go somewhere inhabited to trade for wine. Who would live alone like this with no one else within a thousand li?"
Rolling, that sight, yet, speaking straight.
A person appeared in the river.
His face was dark blue-green and rather ill-favored, and his body was thickset. Wearing a straw rain cape and a bamboo-leaf hat, he rode alone in a small boat, standing barefoot aboard it with a fishing net in his hands.
Tang Sanzang was delighted at the sight and said:
"Wonderful! There's a fisherman. Let's ask him to take us across!"
Wukong hurried to stop him:
"Master, don't go. Old Sun just looked, and there are hardly any homes within a thousand li. How could someone suddenly appear? It must be a monster in disguise!"
Tang Sanzang wavered.
Just then, the fisherman began to sing at the top of his voice:
"A leaflike boat drifts wherever I dwell; ten thousand layers of misty waves hold no fear. I drop my hook and cast my net to catch fresh silver scales; without rich sauce, they have their own fine flavor. My straw cape serves as a quilt upon the autumn river; I snore in sleep, without a care, craving neither worldly glory nor wealth."
Tang Sanzang exclaimed in delight, "What a refined gentleman!" He started forward.
Wukong blocked him again. "Master, you mustn't go! That's a monster!"
Tang Sanzang said, "Utter nonsense! How could a monster compose such elegant verse? He is plainly a cultivated gentleman living here in seclusion!"
Wukong said, "Master, monsters are full of tricks. With your mortal eyes, you cannot distinguish the true from the false. You mustn't go!"
Meanwhile, the fisherman poled his boat away, about to leave.
Seeing this, Tang Sanzang said, "My mind is made up. Stop barring my way. If you ruin my great undertaking, beware-I'll recite the Tight-Fillet Spell!"
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