Threat

The four travelers, leading their horse and carrying their loads, rode to the city. It was a peaceful place, and the gates were still open at midnight. They went inside and saw the innkeeper standing at the door. They heard someone inside calling out:

"What happened? My headscarf is gone!"

Some people said, "You're lucky, all my clothes are gone."

However, Sun Wukong pretended not to know anything and led Tang Xuanzang and the others to the inn across the street to rest. The inn was still lit, so he quickly went up and knocked on the door, saying:

"Shopkeeper, do you have any rooms available for us to rest?"

The woman inside replied repeatedly, "Yes, yes, please all come upstairs."

Just then, a man came to lead the horse. Sun Wukong handed the horse to the man, and then Sun Wukong led his master through the main gate and straight upstairs.

There were comfortable chairs upstairs. I opened the window and saw the moonlight falling onto the floor of the room.

Then someone tried to light a lamp, but just then Sun Wukong suddenly appeared at the door, blew out the lamp, and said to the person, "With a moon like this, there's no need for a lamp."

After speaking, the man left. A short while later, another maid came up with four cups of tea in her hands, which Sun Wukong accepted.

Then a woman, who appeared to be elderly, came upstairs and went to the side to ask Sun Wukong:

"Esteemed guests, where do you all come from? What fine goods do you have?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong quickly stepped forward and said to the old woman, "We come from the north, and we have a few horses to sell."

Are you the only people selling horses here? And what are your names?

The old woman asked Sun Wukong with a puzzled look.

However, Sun Wukong didn't care at all and said to the old woman:

"Actually, you don't need to worry about him. This is Tang Yi, the one with the honest-looking face is Zhu Er, this one with the darker complexion is Sha San, and I am Sun Si."

"I just realized that you don't even share the same surname."

After speaking, the old woman smiled at Sun Wukong then explained to her:

"We don't all share the same surname. We have more than a dozen brothers. Four of us came into the shop first, while the other six are resting outside, leading a group of horses, because it's too late to go into the city."

"So it's just the house we rented. They'll all be coming in tomorrow morning, and we'll only be able to go back after we sell the horse."

The old woman asked Sun Wukong with a hint of doubt, "How many horses do you have?"

Without a second thought, Sun Wukong said to the old woman, "There must be several hundred of them, big and small, all about the same size as the horse next to me, just with different coat colors."

After speaking, the old woman smiled and said to Sun Wukong:

"Sun Si is indeed very honest. If you had come here sooner, no one else would have dared to take you in. My place is very spacious, and I have all the necessary fodder. I can feed your hundreds of horses."

"You've told me so much, is there something you want to discuss with me?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong frowned and spoke to the old woman.

However, upon seeing Sun Wukong's appearance, the old woman quickly waved her hand and began to explain to Sun Wukong. She said:

"My hotel has been open for quite some time now, and it has an unpleasant name because my husband's surname was Zhao, and he recently passed away."

"So I named this place 'Widow Zhao's Inn.' Here, I usually require that the room rate be agreed upon first, and the bill be settled later."

"Then tell me, what exactly are the requirements for setting a price? Goods have three price levels, high and low, how do you plan to calculate it?"

After speaking, Sun Wukong smiled and said to the old woman.

Upon hearing this, the old woman pondered for a long time before saying to Sun Wukong:

"I have three kinds of high-quality food here: superior, medium, and inferior. I also have various kinds of food and I'll hire a woman to sing and drink with you. Each woman will be charged five coins, and that includes the room fee."

"If that's the case, I'm afraid my money wouldn't be enough to hire them."

Sun Wukong touched the silver in his pocket and said to the old woman with a smile.

"Actually, you don't need to worry about that at all. We also have mid-range prices here, just some fruit and wine, no female singers to accompany you, it only costs two coins per person."

The old woman continued speaking to Sun Wukong then asked, "Then tell me, what did the last one look like?"

The old woman's expression hardened slightly upon hearing this, and she said to Sun Wukong, "I'd better not say the last one; it wouldn't be good if I did."

"Just tell us what you want, and we'll consider it and see what price range you're looking for."

After speaking, Sun Wukong took out a bag and shook it. Judging from the sound, it was filled with quite a few things. Upon seeing this, the old woman immediately beamed with joy and said to Sun Wukong:

"The last one is unserved. There's some rice in the pot, and he can eat however he wants, as long as he's full. He can just make a bed on some dry grass, and they'll collect a few coins for his food at dawn."

Just then, Zhu Bajie suddenly stepped forward and said, "That's great! I can finally get a good deal. Let me finish this whole pot of rice and have a good nap next to the boiler."

However, Sun Wukong grabbed Zhu Bajie 'Zhu Bajie ear and said to him:

"Look at what you're saying! We're all in this business, we don't need this little bit of money. Hurry up and bring out all the best stuff."

After speaking, Sun Wukong looked at the old woman, who, beaming with joy, called out loudly, "Quickly bring up all the best wine and tea! I'll go downstairs right now and have the cook prepare a meal for you."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong burst into laughter, while the old woman immediately ran downstairs and shouted, "Quickly kill all the animals we keep to cook!"

Then he added:

"Don't give me so much advice. If we don't need it tonight, we can save it for tomorrow. Now, quickly bring up the wine, cook the rice, and make pancakes with flour for the guests upstairs."

Upon hearing this, Tang Xuanzang was immediately shocked and hurriedly said to Sun Wukong, "Sun Si, what should we do? He's going to kill some meat for us now, but none of us can eat meat. Who dares to eat it?"

After speaking, Sun Wukong thought seriously for a long time, then said to Tang Xuanzang, "Master, don't worry about this. Leave it to me. I'll just go and tell them."

Sun Wukong immediately went to the top of the stairs and called out loudly, "Boss Zhao, come up here for a moment."