Wukong pleaded earnestly, but Tang Sanzang remained unmoved.
Bajie and Sha Wujing did not quite believe him either.
The Spirit Mountain's Sacred Realm before their eyes was simply too real.
Besides, the nearly twenty years of hardship the master and his disciples had endured had been far too exhausting...
Helpless, Wukong could only stop speaking of its falseness for the moment and join the other three in bathing.
Wukong was small, and when he entered the hot water, he sank straight beneath it. A moment later, he surfaced, his fur soaked through.
Bajie laughed. "Eldest Brother is playing at diving!"
At this, Wukong splashed water at him.
Bajie splashed back.
Tang Sanzang said helplessly, "Enough, disciples. Hurry and bathe. Do not keep the two venerables waiting too long."
Only then did Wukong and Bajie stop.
After some time, the four finished bathing and cleansing themselves and changed into clean clothes. Tang Sanzang donned the Brocade Kasaya, took up the Nine-Ringed Monk's Staff, and stepped out of the pavilion.
Wukong and the other two followed behind.
Ananda and Kasyapa were waiting outside. Seeing Tang Sanzang and the others emerge, they hurried forward to greet them and led the four farther inside.
As the master and his three disciples proceeded, they paid their respects to one Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Arhat after another.
Tang Sanzang bowed again and again, Bajie kowtowed again and again, and Sha Wujing knelt again and again.
Wukong passed through the various halls standing upright, neither bowing nor kowtowing.
Tang Sanzang asked him about it.
Wukong merely said they were monsters, so he would not bow.
Unable to persuade him, Tang Sanzang thought for a moment, then shook his head and sighed. "They truly are Buddhas, to be able to forgive such disrespect from you."
For a moment, Wukong