Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 3 2018 | Page 256

After a few hours later, the pair realized that they were running short of food. The bodhisattva,
Guanyin appeared. "Go to the village in the west region. You will go to the house of a man surnamed
"Gao" where you will find a creature of half-human, half-pig monstrosity. Then you will go further to
Flowing Sands River where you will find a spirit. You two are to defeat both of them." When they arrived
at the village, they talked to the patriarch. "Three years ago, a good-looking man showed up asking for my
youngest daughter's hand in marriage. I agreed, but the man turned out to be a shape shifting pig demon
instead," the patriarch confirmed. "Even though the pig demon is a hardworking man, he is not attractive
and possessive. All I really want is my daughter back, and for the demon to not be affiliated with me or his
family anymore." So they came up with a plan. Sun Wukong rescued the patriarch's daughter and shape-
shifted to look like her while wating for the demon to return. When the demon returned, Sun Wukong
revealed himself and defeated the pig. The pig was commisioned by Guanyin to join them on their
pilgrimage. There was a long period of silence but the pig broke it by saying, "I'm Zhu Bajie, by the way,"
he sighed. "Oh, how I wish being immortal, and Marshall of the Heavenly Canopy." "What happened?"
Xuanzang asked. "I was banished to the mortal world after a failed attempt of seducing Chang'e, the Moon
Goddess."
When they arrived at Flowing Sands River, they realized that they were unable to fight the river
spirit underwater. At first, Zhu Bajie attempted to lure the demon out of the water. But when that failed,
they called upon the merciful Guanyin to intercede on their behalf. She called the river spirit Sha Wujing
and revealed that she had previously enlisted him as Xuanzang's third disciple. Xuanzang and his disciples
set foot in an eerie forest whereupon things immediately went wrong. Zhu Bajie went missing looking for
food and Sun Wukong went looking for him. Xuanzang entered a pagoda to light incense and pray but
woke up a sleeping demon and got captured and tied up. He saw a young lady walking towards him.
"Hello? Who's there?" His voice echoed. "I am the demon's wife, he kidnapped me." "Can you help me?'
the monk asked. "I will help you in exchange for you delivering the news of my whereabouts to my family
in the West," she replied. She gave Xuanzang a letter and convinced her husband to leave the disciples alone
so that they could continue westward. Soon they came across the kingdom where the young maiden was
stolen from. They deliver the letter to the king, who asked for volunteers to save his daughter. Both Sun
Wukong and Zhu Bajie set off to save the princess, leaving Xuanzang. A few moments later, the same
demon Xuanzang encountered in the forest appeared in the king's court . He transformed himself into an
attractive man and spun a story. "Your Grandness, before I married your daughter, I saw a shape-shifting
tiger threatening the princess." He proceeded."So I saved her. I married her because she never told me she
was a princess." Suddenly, he pointed to Xuanzang and created an illusion around him to make him look
like the tiger monster. With this, the king locked up Xuanzang and his disciples.
The four of them were imprisoned, hopeless, trapped. They did what the only thing they could do:
Meditate. They sat in a circle with their eyes lightly closed. They began chanting and reciting prayers. Their
souls were transported to the heavens, where they received enlightenment. Sha Wujing became an arhat,
which gave him a higher level of exultation hat Zhu Bajiewho was relegated to cleaning every altar for
eternity. Xuanzang and Sun Wukong were granted buddhahood. The scriptures appeared in front of them,
slowly dissolving back to the East.