Chapter 95: Baiting the Trap

As Sun Wukong and Xuanzang journeyed westward, they finally reached a place called Guanyin Temple by sunset.

Thanks to the advance warning from Chu Xiaoyu, that formidable immortal sovereign, Sun Wukong already knew this temple was a nest of filth and vice.

Looking over the temple gates, he kept rolling his monkey eyes restlessly.

Inwardly, he gave a cold smile. Heh. I’d like very much to see what sort of demons and monsters are hiding inside this Guanyin Temple.

Xuanzang noticed the monkey’s strange manner immediately and saw everything he did, though he did not dare ask.

A day’s travel covered roughly thirty miles. Even though he had ridden all the way, Xuanzang was now sore in the waist and aching in the back, so tired he scarcely felt like speaking.

Though exhausted, he silently endured the hardship of the road.

The journey to seek the scriptures in the Western Heaven had only just begun. If he could not even bear this little suffering, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes.

Xuanzang dismounted and said to Sun Wukong, “Benefactor Sun, I think we should lodge here for tonight. It is already dusk, and even if we press on, we will not be able to travel far. What do you think?”

“All right, I have no objection,” Sun Wukong said at once.

Xuanzang went to knock at the gate.

After a while, the tightly shut door creaked open, and a head poked out.

It was a young novice monk, only about fifteen or sixteen years old.

Seeing that there were unexpected visitors, and that one of them was a monk, along with a monkey covered all over in hair, the novice first looked at Xuanzang, then at the monkey a couple of times, and in the end his gaze was utterly captured by the snow-white divine steed, White Dragon Horse.

The novice made no attempt to hide the greedy look in his eyes.

“May the Buddha bless us. Young benefactor, this poor monk has come from the eastern land of the Great Tang. Passing through your honored place, and seeing that the day is late, I wished to stay here for one night. Might you grant us this convenience?”

Xuanzang greeted him politely.

The novice’s sly little eyes lit up again, and he immediately called inward, “Master, guests have arrived.”

Shortly after, a monk of about sixty came hurrying over.

Behind him followed several sturdy young monks.

The moment everyone saw Xuanzang, they all showed surprise.

A monk with such a ruddy face, fair and fresh skin, and such a clean, delicate appearance was truly a rare sight in this world.

The old monk’s face brightened, and a flash of unexpected delight passed through his cloudy eyes.

He promptly took Xuanzang’s arm in a most familiar manner and said, “Ah! Welcome, honored guests from afar. Welcome, welcome.”

As he greeted him, his side glance kept sweeping over the white horse, and even the bulging saddlebags upon its back did not escape his notice.

The monks’ faces grew increasingly pleased.

Sun Wukong had been standing behind them the whole time, watching every change in their expressions.

Ha.

Every one of these monks had the shifty, miserly look of petty thieves.

The immortal sovereign’s prediction was indeed correct. This Guanyin Temple was inhabited by a band of robbers.

“Our honored guests have come at just the right time. You must be tired from the journey. Let my disciples help carry your baggage.”

“A Da, Little Third, hurry and give our guests a hand.”

The old monk gave the orders warmly, but the instant he saw Sun Wukong, whose body was covered all over in hair, he was startled rigid.

“A... this... a demon...”

The insult was not severe, but it stung deeply.

“Bah! Old monk, you’re the demon, and your whole family are demons! Hmph!”

Sun Wukong almost raised his golden-hooped staff on the spot and smashed this blind bald fool into a heap of meat paste.

“Pah! Have you ever seen a demon this handsome?” the monkey snapped irritably, baring his teeth.

Xuanzang hurried to explain, “Be virtuous, be virtuous. His name is Sun Wukong. I have hired him as a companion. He is not a demon.”

Well then, perhaps a beast that had attained spirit was not so strange after all.

Still, the old monk remained somewhat afraid of Sun Wukong, and with a cautious air he invited the two of them into the temple.

As they entered, Sun Wukong quietly said to Xuanzang, “Monk, you had better be careful tonight. Tell me... do you have anything especially valuable that needs me, Old Sun, to guard?”

Xuanzang jumped in alarm at the monkey’s sudden approach and whisper. “B-Benefactor Sun, this poor monk carries nothing particularly precious. You worry over nothing.”

Eh... he had been refused so bluntly?

He had only meant to give a friendly reminder.

What an aloof monk from the Great Tang!

Fine, refuse if you like.

It only makes my life easier.

Still, Sun Wukong did not forget to ring an alarm bell for Xuanzang. “Monk, do not blame me for being suspicious. I’m only warning you. This Guanyin Temple is not right, especially these monks. Though they shave their heads and wear monastic robes, they are not true men of the cloth. You’d best be careful.”

“Benefactor Sun, enough. Do not say any more. From what I see, they are not as you claim. Especially the abbot—he looks kind and gentle, and no matter how I see it, he does not resemble a bad man. Do not slander others at random.”

Xuanzang’s self-defense showed not the least gratitude, and it nearly made Sun Wukong furious enough to spit fire.

Damn it all!

Very well!

Since Xuanzang did not know what was good for him and treated Old Sun’s kindly warning as worthless filth, then so be it.

Heh.

As for Chu Xiaoyu’s prophetic abilities, Sun Wukong never doubted them.

Monk, just wait and suffer for yourself.

The old monk arranged two guest rooms for Xuanzang and Sun Wukong.

The two rooms were not adjacent; several rooms lay between them.

The rooms had been cleaned fairly well.

Once the lodgings were settled, the old monk said to Xuanzang with a smiling face, “Tonight I must ask our honored guest to bear with some inconvenience. I have already instructed A Da and the others to prepare supper. After you have washed up, you may come eat.”

Xuanzang folded his hands in gratitude and bowed slightly. “In that case, I shall trouble you.”

“You are too polite.”

The old monk waved a hand and departed.

In a side room somewhere, the old monk and several young monks gathered together in secret.

“Master, just now this disciple carefully weighed the Tang monk’s baggage and rummaged through it. I found nothing especially valuable, but there was one set of monk’s robes that looked exceedingly precious. If I’m not mistaken, the material should be silk.”

“What? Silk? S-silk? That is a first-rate treasure indeed.”

At once, a vicious light appeared in the eyes of the monks, like a pack of starving wolves upon sighting prey.