Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 41, Staying with Friends at Wuzhuang Temple (Part 4)
Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrived at Wuzhuang Temple.

The two attendants, Qingfeng and Mingyue, remembered their master Zhenyuan Daxian's instructions, so they warmly welcomed Tang Sanzang and invited him into the temple.

After waiting until Wukong and the other two were not around, they went to the back garden, picked two fruits, and gave them to Tang Sanzang to eat.

That ginseng fruit was a treasure produced by an innate spiritual root; it was just like a child, with moving hands and feet, nodding and bobbing its head. How could Tang Sanzang dare to eat it?
Despite repeated requests, Tang Sanzang refused to eat.

The two boys, Qingfeng and Mingyue, then took the fruits back to their room and ate the two ginseng fruits themselves.

Coincidentally, the rooms of the two Daoist boys, Qingfeng and Mingyue, were right next to the kitchen, separated only by a wall.

While cooking in the kitchen, Pigsy overheard their conversation and couldn't resist wanting to try a ginseng fruit himself.

He then summoned Wukong and asked him to steal some fruit.

Wukong went to steal ginseng fruit, but because he didn't know that the ginseng fruit was incompatible with the five elements, he accidentally dropped one on the ground and it burrowed into the soil.

He made three more and shared them with Pigsy and Sandy.

Afterwards, Qingfeng and Mingyue discovered that the number of fruits was incorrect and came to settle accounts with Tang Sanzang. Tang Sanzang then summoned Wukong.

Wukong stole three of their fruits.

But they forgot that one had fallen into the ground beforehand.

The gentle breeze and bright moon refused to listen and continued to hurl insults, hurling vulgarities and accusations, calling him a bald thief and a greedy thief, and cursing him incessantly.

Wukong had never been treated like this before.

Back then, the Queen Mother didn't invite him to the Peach Banquet, so he disrupted the event. How could he possibly stand here and get scolded now?
So he created a clone that stayed in the same spot, while his real body went straight to the ginseng garden, grabbed the golden cudgel, and used its divine power to push down the fruit trees.

However, it is said that Qingfeng and Mingyue were actually of good character.

However, the ginseng fruit was indeed precious, with only thirty fruits produced every ten thousand years. They themselves were only a little over a thousand years old, so they were afraid of being blamed by their master. That's why they were so anxious and insulted Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

After they had finished their tirade, the two left, and Qingfeng said again:
“That monk is quite honest; we’ve been cursing him for so long, and he hasn’t said a word. Perhaps the tree is tall and the leaves are dense, and we miscounted. We really did eat three. You and I should go check again.”

Mingyue said, "What Senior Brother says makes sense."

The two of them went to the garden again, and saw that the tree had fallen and no leaves had fallen.

So frightened was Qingfeng that his legs went weak and he stumbled, and Mingyue's waist trembled.

The two were terrified, their words tumbling out incoherently, only able to cry out, "What should we do! What should we do! If Master goes home, how will we explain ourselves?"

Suddenly, Mingyue realized something and exclaimed, "Oh my, Senior Brother, there really is such a divine person in the mortal world! He is truly a person who understands the universe!"

Qingfeng asked, "What kind of divine being?"

Mingyue said, "Senior brother, have you forgotten about that Venerable Fuzhu Zhenshi who came a few days ago!"

Qingfeng slapped his thigh and said:
"Ah, it's true! It's true! He said our immortal tree was in danger of collapsing, and now it's really true! I regret not listening to him. Let's go and invite him quickly!" Mingyue said, "Senior brother, don't be anxious. You go and keep those monks calm and don't let them escape. Capture the bald thief first, and I'll go outside to invite the Heavenly Venerable over."

Qingfeng said, "That makes sense, that makes sense!"

The two parted ways immediately, and Mingyue hurriedly left the temple, rushing outside and calling out to every mountain she encountered: "Fuzhu Zhenshi Tianzun! Fuzhu Zhenshi Tianzun! Fuzhu Zhenshi Tianzun!"

Ao Tu was on the mountain when he heard Mingyue calling him. Knowing that Wukong had already knocked down the ginseng fruit tree, he came down the mountain and asked, "What do you want?"

Upon seeing Ao Tu, Mingyue immediately knelt on the ground and pleaded:

"This child is unaware of the Heavenly Venerable's divine wisdom. After the Heavenly Venerable left, four thieving bald men indeed came to the temple. They were so audacious that they not only stole the fruit from my temple, but also knocked down the immortal tree. I beg the Heavenly Venerable to save my immortal tree!"

He kowtowed repeatedly.

Ao Tu said, "Seeing that you are quite sincere, I will forgive your ignorance. Take me to see him."

Mingyue then invited Ao Tu to go to Wuzhuang Temple.

On the other side, after Tang Sanzang and his disciples finished their meal, Qingfeng prepared some vegetarian dishes for them to keep them occupied. While they were eating, he suddenly slammed the door shut and locked it with a brass lock. He also closed both the front and back doors.

Pigsy laughed and said, "What kind of custom is this here? Why do you close the door when you eat?"

Qingfeng cursed, "You bunch of greedy bald monks! Not only did you steal my family's immortal fruits, but you also knocked down my family's immortal tree, damaging the immortal roots of my Wuzhuang Temple. How can you have the face to go to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang dropped his rice bowl, a heavy weight pressing on his heart. He complained to Wukong:

“You monkey, you keep getting into trouble! You stole his fruit, so you just put up with his temper and let him curse you a few times; but why did you knock down his tree! If we go on to file a complaint, even if your father were an official, he wouldn’t be able to explain it.”

Wukong said, "Master, don't be in a hurry. Once that boy is asleep, we'll get up tonight and take you out."

Sha Wujing asked, "How do we get out?"

Wukong laughed and said, "Don't worry about it! Don't worry about it! I have my own way."

Pigsy said, "Of course you have a way to get out. You can transform into some kind of insect and fly away, but how can Master leave? He can't transform, so he can only stay here and suffer as a scapegoat!"

Tang Sanzang said, "If he does this trick and doesn't take me out, I'll recite the old sutra and see how he gets through it!"

Pigsy asked, "Master, what is meant by 'old stories'?"

Wukong said, "Bajie, it's that headband. He's using that to make things difficult for me."

Tang Sanzang remained silent.

At that time, there was already some discord among the master and his disciples, but they did not express it.

(End of this chapter)