Interesting Journey to the Dharma-Extinguishing Kingdom (V)

Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples, disguised as merchants, were traveling through the Dharma-Extinguishing Kingdom when they encountered the Patriarch Styx, who ambushed and robbed them.

Seeing this, Tang Sanzang was deeply troubled and said, "Your Great King, the four of us are monks on our journey to the Journey to the West the scriptures. We even have to beg for our food, so we really have no money to offer Your Great King!"

Bajie said, "That's right, we have no money!"

Among the Thieves, the one Ground-Digging Tiger") weighed his Steel Saber and said:

"Just now you claimed to be a horse merchant, and now you say you're a monk! What monk would dare to come Dharma-Extinguishing Kingdom? Hand over your silver now, or we'll chop you into mincemeat!"

Tang Sanzang was so frightened that he took a few steps back.

Bajie said, "We really are monks! We were monks from birth! Master, take off your hats and let them see!"

Tang Sanzang said, "Your Great King, this humble monk dares not lie. I am truly a monk and have no money!" As he spoke, he took off his hat, revealing his bald head.

"Big Brother," said the man who had been robbing people, Ground-Digging Tiger to take a look. "That old guy is really cunning. He knew we were robbing people, so he shaved his head!"

The One-Eyed Dragon nearby shouted, "I don't care if they have hair or not! If they don't hand over the silver, kill them all!"

Upon seeing this, Wukong stepped forward to support Tang Sanzang, saying, "Master, don't be afraid, I'll handle them!"

The Ground-Digging Tiger" sneered, "Though you're small, my knife doesn't discriminate! If you can't pay me, I'll still kill you!"

Tang Sanzang hurriedly said, "Benefactor, this disciple of mine is not to be trifled with! You'd better leave quickly!"

"Why would you spit out meat that's already in your mouth? You outsiders, do you even know my Big Brother's name?" said the Ground-Digging Tiger.

Wukong laughed and said, "We don't know, Your Great King, please tell us!"

"My Big Brother is Hua Yunlong, the infamous Ground-Digging Tiger who Dharma-Extinguishing Kingdom! Even a thousand soldiers couldn't subdue him. You little merchants dare to resist? Hand over your silver now!"

One-Eyed Dragon chimed in, "Hand over the silver!"

Wukong laughed, "I have silver! I have silver! Look, the silver is right here!"

As he spoke, he lifted a corner of his Monk's Robe.

Ground-Digging Tiger, he saw no silver, only monkey hair. He couldn't help but ask, "What country are you from? Your body hair is so thick!"

Wukong lifted another corner and said, "Here it is!"

Ground-Digging Tiger looked again and saw that it was still all monkey hair. He said, "The body hair is not only thick, but also coarse!"

Wukong tilted his ear, and the Golden Cudgel landed in his palm. He said, "Here it is!"

Ground-Digging Tiger saw a shimmering embroidery needle and exclaimed, "What kind of treasure is this? An ancestral embroidery needle?"

Tang Sanzang hurriedly said, "Wukong, spare his life and hand him over to the authorities!"

Wukong said, "Master, if I take him to the authorities, I don't know if he'll be caught, but he might arrest us first. Let me scare him a bit and teach him a lesson he won't dare to do evil again!"

After saying this, Wukong threw down his Golden Cudgel, which transformed into something as thick as a water vat and seven or eight zhang long. It slammed into the ground with a loud boom, causing the earth to shake.

Apart from the Patriarch Styx, all the Thieves were so frightened that they fell to the ground. Wukong said:

"You bunch of damned Bandits! Do you know that Old Sun, am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven! I was ordered to escort the Buddha's Disciple on their Journey to the West to Journey to the West! If it weren't for my master's great mercy, I would have finished you all off today!"

Seeing this, the Patriarch Styx said, "This guy is not to be trifled with, let's go!"

Upon hearing this, the thieves scattered and fled.

Upon seeing this, Wukong plucked a tuft of hair from his body and transformed it into twenty clones, each of whom chased after the Thieves.

The thieves hid in ravines, trees, grass, and water, but Wukong caught and punished them all. They had no choice but to kowtow repeatedly and promise never to do it again before Wukong released them.

Having driven away the thieves, the four travelers continued their journey, entering the city before dusk. Wukong found an inn and went inside, asking, "Innkeeper, are there any rooms available? We'd like to rest."

A shopkeeper said, "Yes, yes, please come in, sir."

A fellow servant came over to help Sha Wujing lead his horse.

The four, master and his disciples, entered the shop.

The shopkeeper placed the lamps forward.

Fearing his trick would be discovered, Wukong blew out the lamp, saying, "There's no need to light a lamp for this moon."

A maidservant brought over four bowls of tea, which Wukong and the others accepted and drank.

The shopkeeper asked, "Where are you four gentlemen from? What business do you have?"

Seeing this, Tang Sanzang and the others remained silent, letting Wukong answer.

Wukong said, "We are horse traders from the north."

The shopkeeper asked, "May I ask your surname, sir?"

Wukong said, "My name is Sun the Second Official, his name is Tang the First Official, this is Zhu the Third Official, and that is Sha the Fourth Official."

The shopkeeper laughed and said, "A different surname!"

Wukong said, "We are indeed living together despite not being of the same surname. There are ten of us brothers in total. Since it is too late to enter the city, the four of us will go first to rent a room in an inn and start a fire. The remaining six will stay outside the city to watch the horses. We will all come into the city tomorrow morning!"

The shopkeeper was delighted to hear this, as horse traders were known to make a lot of money. She asked, "How many horses do you have?"

Wukong said, "There are about a hundred of them, all resembling my horse in appearance."

The shopkeeper was even more delighted upon hearing this, and said:

"Sun Erguan, you've come to the right innkeeper. My courtyard is spacious, well-equipped with troughs and fodder; I could easily feed hundreds of your horses. But there's one thing: my inn serves guests in three ways. Let's be polite and settle the bill first, then we can settle the accounts."

Upon hearing this, Wukong asked, "That's true. But what are those three things?"

The shopkeeper said, "The first-class meal is a feast of five fruits and five vegetables, with a table for playing the 'Lion Fairy' game and drinking games. Two people share a table, and a young lady will be there to sing and keep you company. It costs five qian of silver per person, including the room fee. The second-class meal is a set table with fruit and hot wine. You can play drinking games and guessing games yourself. No young lady is needed. It costs only two qian of silver per person."

Wukong asked, "What about the third tier?"

The shopkeeper said, "Those in the third class receive no service. They eat whatever food is left in the pot, and once they're full, they take some straw and make a bed on the floor. At dawn, they'll be given a few coins, Buzheng argument."

Bajie said, "That's good! Old Pig, this third-class prize is my Old Pig Creation!"

Wukong said, "Brother, what are you saying? We can earn a few taels of silver anywhere, let's get the best!"

Upon hearing this, Bajie was overjoyed and said:

"Older Brother, I don't expect you to have such a sentiment! You've treated me today, I'll treat you to my wife's dowry another day!"

The innkeeper was delighted and invited Tang Sanzang and his companions upstairs to a superior room. Then she came downstairs and ordered people to kill a chicken and a sheep to cook a meal.

Hearing this from above, Tang Sanzang cried out anxiously, "Second Master Sun, they're going to kill chickens and sheep for us to eat!"

Upon hearing this, Wukong went down and said, "Shopkeeper, please don't kill us. We are observing a fast today."

The shopkeeper asked, "Is it a monthly fast or an annual fast?"

Wukong said, "It's neither a monthly nor an annual fast; it's just a fast today. We won't fast tomorrow. Let's raise the chickens and sheep first, and slaughter them for fresh food tomorrow morning. Today, let's prepare some vegetarian food, and I'll pay you the top price."

The shopkeeper was even more delighted upon hearing this and instructed someone to serve vegetarian food.

Before long, Vegetarian Wine, vegetarian food, and sweets were served, and the four of them enjoyed themselves to their hearts' content.

Just then, hearing a sound from below, Wukong looked over and saw a sedan chair being carried in. He asked the shopkeeper, "What's that?"

The shopkeeper said, "The young woman I asked my assistant to hire was inexperienced; she bumped into the door. I'll go get her."

Upon hearing this, Bajie forgot all about his meal, rubbed his hands together, and said shyly, "Older Brother, you paid for this lady, so we brothers should be respectful to you while we're out. Let you enjoy her first!"

Wukong glanced at Bajie, then turned to the shopkeeper and said:

"Don't invite them yet. First, we're fasting today, and second, our six brothers are still out there; it's not good to have them all to ourselves. Let's wait until they come in tomorrow morning, then we can invite a prostitute to each of our families."

The shopkeeper's wife listened and said, "Sun the Second Official said is right." So she sent the young woman back.

After the four of them finished their meal, they prepared to undress and go to sleep, but then they encountered a problem. They were afraid that their hats would roll off while they slept, and that someone would see them and recognize them as monks.

Wukong said to the shopkeeper:

"You can't sleep here. Zhu the Third Official has a bit of a cold and dampness constitution, Sha the Fourth Official has a bit of shoulder wind, and Big Brother Tang, I'm also a bit ashamed to sleep in the dark. This isn't a good place to sleep. Let's find a place where there's no light."

The shop owner was very distressed upon hearing this and went downstairs to worry.

Just then, she saw a large cabinet in the shop, which her husband's family had built when they were alive. It could hold six or seven people, so she had someone carry it upstairs and said to Wukong:

"Sun the Second Official, how about sleeping in this cabinet?"

Wukong was delighted to see this, and so he slept in the cupboard with Tang Sanzang and the others.

The poor cabinet was stuffy and poorly ventilated. People were crammed together, and the weather was hot, making it very uncomfortable.

Bajie complained, "What a mess you've made! You booked a first-class room, but I'm sleeping in this closet. You even called away a young lady. If she hadn't left, you could have had her sing a song outside so I could sleep better, right?"

Upon hearing this, Wukong pinched his thigh.

Bajie to hide by pulling his legs back, but there was nowhere to hide.

Wukong mischievously said, "Our original capital was five thousand taels. We sold the horses for Three Thousand taels, so now we have four thousand taels in total. We'll sell this herd of horses for another Three Thousand taels, so we'll make a profit. With this money, how could we not afford to hire a young lady?"

Bajie, upon hearing this, knew it was a ruse. He knew that such a large sum of silver could only be obtained by selling his master's Kasaya, so he didn't reply to him.

Little did they know that those traveling by carriage, boat, inn, and porter were often in league with Thieves.

The shopkeepers, water carriers, and fire-tenders all had connections with the Ground-Digging Tiger and the One-Eyed Dragon. When they heard Wukong mentioning in the counter that there was so much silver, they had evil intentions. They slipped out and reported the matter to the Ground-Digging Tiger and the One-Eyed Dragon, planning to rob them together.

Upon hearing their appearance, the two men, Ground-Digging Tiger and One-Eyed Dragon, recognized them as the group of merchants they had robbed during the day. They were reluctant to let Wukong and his companions go after hearing that they had so much silver, but they were too afraid of Wukong to make a move.

Seeing this, the Patriarch Styx said, "What's there to be afraid of! We weren't on guard during the day! Those merchants may have some skills, but they're no match for me. I'll lead the way, we'll go over there, rob the silver, and everyone can enjoy it!"

After hearing this, the Patriarch and the One-Eyed Dragon were very happy and said, "Listen to my brother, we who live in the world, how can we not see the reason for not giving up the money? Today is an enemy's road, so we robbed them so that we can avenge ourselves!"

So the bandits took up torches and went to the city gate.

The Patriarch Styx leaped over and flipped over.

"Good heavens! Big Brother, where did you learn such skill? You leap ten zhang high! Which soldier could catch you?" said the Ground-Digging Tiger.

After saying this, he used a hook and chain to climb over the city wall.

The other thieves were all used to doing this, and they quickly climbed over the walls one by one, heading straight for the shopkeeper.