Wukong and his two companions entered the city.
The stonemason first went to look for work.
Though their trade involved hard physical labor, it also required some skill, and they could not simply be replaced by anyone. They had a foreman over them and fellow craftsmen working alongside them. When the stonemason had injured his leg, he had borrowed money from craftsmen he knew to buy medicine.
When the stonemason returned now, everyone there knew him. Seeing that his injury had healed, they let him resume work.
Delighted as he was, the stonemason sought out the foreman and asked to borrow ten taels of silver, to be deducted from his future wages.
The foreman knew the stonemason's family circumstances. There were only four mouths in his household, and his injury had healed. What expense could be so great that he asked for ten taels of silver at a stroke?
So the foreman asked why he wanted to borrow the silver.
The stonemason told him about Tang Sanzang, saying that an eminent monk from the Great Tang in the Eastern Land had given him immortal medicine to heal his injury. He also said the monk was some Buddha descended into the world. In short, his tale grew more and more mysterious, and he ended by asking to borrow ten taels of silver to hire a physician for Tang Sanzang.
How could the foreman believe any of that? The stonemason must have been deceived by some wandering swindler, so he refused to lend him even a tenth of a tael.
The stonemason all but wore his lips out pleading, but no one believed his account. Instead, a crowd gathered around, all talking at once and advising him not to be taken in.
Wukong and Bajie watched from out of sight.
Wukong laughed.