Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 143 The Battle of Wits in Chechi Kingdom (Thirteen)
Meanwhile, when Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered Chechi Kingdom, they happened upon a family performing a religious ceremony. To their astonishment, they saw two monks walk inside.
Tang Sanzang said, "How strange! How strange! We've heard all along that the Kingdom of Chechi loves Taoists and hates monks. We've even had trouble begging for alms along the way. How come here people are asking monks to perform rituals?"

Wukong said, "That's right, I'll go and find out!"

Bajie said, "What's the point of asking around? In my opinion, this family has new red bricks and tiles, so they must have just moved here from somewhere else. That's why they treat monks and Taoists the same. Why don't we go in with them, recite some scriptures for them, say some auspicious words, and ask for a meal without asking for any money? Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Sha Wujing said, "Second Brother is right."

Bajie said, "Master, let's hurry up. If we're late, the feast will have started, and it won't be convenient." With that, Bajie picked up the load and hurried forward.

Wukong laughed and said, "This idiot."

Bajie walked up to the house, twisted his body, and retracted his long snout and two large, fan-like ears.

Wukong stepped forward and patted him, saying, "Bajie, what are you doing?"

Pigsy laughed:

"You don't know, do you? Look at this house, all that music and celebration, it's a happy occasion, but I don't know if it's a housewarming or a baby's birth. If I, Old Pig, were to strain my ears and go in, wouldn't I scare everyone to tears? If it were a funeral, crying would be fine, it would show the host's filial piety. But since it's a happy occasion, crying would be bad luck, and we wouldn't be able to eat the vegetarian meal, and we'd even be kicked out."

Wukong laughed and said, "You fool, you only think about things like this. Why aren't you this meticulous when you're catching monsters?"

Pigsy said, "Brother, weren't you there when we were catching monsters? No matter how careful I am, how can I compare to you?"

Upon hearing this, Wukong laughed and patted Bajie's belly.

Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing came up from behind. Sha Wujing tied the horse to a tree by the roadside, and Tang Sanzang stepped forward and said, "Alright, let's go in first."

The four of them went inside.

There was a servant boy at the door of that house who greeted and saw off guests. When he saw Tang Sanzang and his companions coming, he quickly got up and stopped them, asking, "What are you doing here?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Amitabha, this humble monk comes from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East, on his way to the Western Paradise to obtain scriptures. I passed by your esteemed residence and saw that you are celebrating a joyous occasion today, so I came here to recite the true scriptures to increase your blessings and wisdom."

The servant said, "Go away, go away, we don't need your chanting!"

Bajie stepped forward and said, "Benefactor, we don't need money to chant scriptures, just a vegetarian meal will do."

The servant said, "You lot, there's no vegetarian meal, not even leftovers!"

Pigsy said angrily, "You little rascal, on this joyous occasion, we came here with good intentions to chant sutras and bring blessings to your family. How can you talk like that?"

The servant laughed and said, "A bunch of monks, hoping to chant sutras and gain blessings?"

Bajie asked, "What's wrong with the monks!"

The servant said, "Ha, who in the whole city doesn't know that monks' scriptures are all fake? We only invite Taoist priests, not monks!"

Tang Sanzang couldn't help but say, "Benefactor, monks chanting scriptures and Taoists performing rituals are both ways to help the world. How can you belittle us monks like this?"

The servant said, "What's the use of telling me all this, you old monk? My master said he'll only invite Taoist priests, not monks!"

Pigsy said, "You're talking nonsense! I clearly saw two monks go in just now!"

Sha Wujing said, "Yes, I saw it too!"

The servant said, "You're talking nonsense! My household only has Taoist priests, not Buddhist monks!"

Pigsy said, "There's a monk!"

The servant said, "There are no monks!"

Sha Wujing said, "There's a monk!"

The servant said, "There are no monks!" Pigsy was about to retort angrily, but Tang Sanzang stopped him, saying, "Pigsy, that's enough. Don't argue with him. Since they won't invite any monks, let's just leave!"

Upon hearing this, Pigsy reluctantly shut up; but still seething with anger, he turned around, unleashing a long snout and two large ears, and stretched them out at the servant. The servant was so frightened that he fell to the ground, completely bewildered, and cried out that it was a monster.

However, in the blink of an eye, Pigsy transformed back into his original form. The servant rubbed his eyes, and seeing that the monster was gone again, he could only pat his chest, thinking to himself that he had just imagined it.

Just as Tang Sanzang was about to leave, Wukong hesitated for some reason.

It turned out that Wukong had just left his primordial spirit and climbed into that family's house.

Wukong looked around the house and found that there were indeed no monks, only a few Taoist priests performing rituals.

Wukong regained his senses and said to Tang Sanzang:
"Master, I just went in to investigate, and there really weren't any monks inside, only a few Taoist priests. Could it be that Pigsy was mistaken?"

Bajie said, "I wasn't mistaken. There were two monks coming from that direction, and they disappeared when they reached this house. Brother Sha saw them too."

Sha Wujing said, "Yes, elder brother, I saw it too."

Wukong said, "That's strange. Did you see those two monks go in with your own eyes?"

Sha Wujing said, "No, that's not true. We were far away at the time, and there was a low wall blocking the way. I only saw the two monks turn into the house and disappear in front of it. But there's only one house here, so where else could those two monks have gone if they didn't go in?"

Bajie said, "Maybe those two monks were monsters in disguise, and they disappeared when they got here."

Wukong said, "Go! If it's a demon, how could it possibly hide from me, Old Sun?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Alright, since it's not a monster, let's leave it at that. Let's go."

Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing agreed.

The four travelers set off, asking around for directions to inns; however, the people they encountered along the way, seeing that Tang Sanzang and his companions were four monks, generally ignored them.

Fortunately, there were also kind-hearted people. An old man, upon hearing that Tang Sanzang came from out of town, kindly said:
“Elder, the people here dislike monks. If you go to the inn, you will probably only get a cold shoulder. You might as well go due south, where there is a Zhiyuan Temple where you can find shelter.”

Tang Sanzang said, "Thank you for the reminder, sir."

The four of them then headed towards Zhiyuan Temple.

Tang Sanzang thought he would stay at Zhiyuan Temple for the time being, then find a way to see the king, exchange his travel documents, and then leave directly.

The four of them walked and crossed several streets. In the distance, they saw several towering Buddhist temples. Wukong looked at them and said, "That must be Zhiyuan Temple."

Bajie said, "I didn't expect it to be so grand."

As they were talking, they saw several Taoist priests walking from another road toward the gate of Zhiyuan Temple.

Bajie asked, "Why are there several Taoist priests in this temple?"

Wukong exclaimed, "Strange! Strange!"

Tang Sanzang said, "Amitabha."

Sha Wujing said, "Master, there must be something strange about this."

Under the watchful eyes of the four men, the Taoist priests walked to the gate of Zhiyuan Temple, smeared their hair to reveal bald heads, and took off their Taoist robes to reveal the cassocks underneath.

Pigsy rubbed his eyes and said, "Old Pig's eyes are bad, has this Taoist priest turned into a monk?"

Wukong said, "It's not that the Taoist priest turned into a monk, it's that the monk pretended to be a Taoist priest! I know how those two monks from before died."

(End of this chapter)