Sun Wukong once again placed Tang Monk back on the road leading westward, accompanied by Bajie and Sha Wujing.
Before long, they came upon an impressive building that, due to its towering height and lavish decoration, resembled a genuine palace.
Yellow Flower Temple
Tang Monk immediately pulled on the reins and, turning toward Wukong, asked:
“Do you know what kind of place this is?”
Wukong replied:
“That is not the palace of any king nor the residence of someone truly wealthy or important—it must be either a Taoist temple or a Buddhist monastery. To confirm this with certainty, we should get a little closer.”
They soon arrived at its entrance, where there was a large stone tablet inscribed with the following words: Yellow Flower Temple.
They entered the compound. The main hall was closed, but in the corridor to the east, they saw a Taoist priest preparing medicines and pills.
Tripitaka approached him and, raising his voice respectfully, greeted him:
“This humble monk offers you his respects.”
The Taoist lifted his head, momentarily startled by such a greeting. However, he quickly recovered, set aside the medicine, adjusted his hairpin as best as he could, tidied his robes slightly, and hurried toward the newcomers, saying:
“Pardon me for not coming out earlier to welcome you. Please come in.”
The Taoist ordered tea to be served. Soon enough, two young attendants arrived with a tray, washing the cups, cleaning the spoons, and setting out fruits.
The Spider Demons’ Warning
They did so rather noisily, which eventually alerted the seven girls from the Spiderweb Cave.
These girls had been fellow disciples of the Taoist, studying under him the most difficult principles of magic.
When they saw the boys busy with the tea preparations, they asked:
“Who are those important guests who have just arrived?”
“They must be four monks,” the boys replied. “All we know is that our master has ordered us to prepare the tea as quickly as possible.”
“One of them,” a girl inquired, “does he have very fair skin and a rather robust build?”
“Yes, that’s right,” they confirmed.
“And another of them,” she continued, “does he have very large ears and a notably long snout?”
“Exactly,” they confirmed again.
The woman concluded:
“In that case, go ahead and serve the tea. Without being seen, give a signal to your master to come out. It’s essential that we speak with him about something extremely important.”
After a while, the Taoist hurriedly withdrew to the private chambers of the temple guardian, where he found the seven maidens. Upon seeing him, all of them knelt before him at once and said:
“Forgive us. Who are these guests? We overheard your servants mention that they are four monks.”
“What’s wrong with that?” exclaimed the Taoist.
Ignoring his irritation, the same girl added:
“Among them is one quite strong and with a remarkably fair face. He is accompanied by another who has huge ears and an unusually long snout. Have you asked where they come from?”
“How do you know what they look like? Have you seen them before?” the Taoist asked in surprise.
Another girl explained:
“It’s obvious you haven’t fully understood what’s going on. The one with the fair face is a monk sent by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to the Western Paradise in search of sacred scriptures. This morning he knocked at the door of our cave begging for food. Since we had long heard of the famous Tang Monk, we decided to capture him.”
“Why would you do such a thing?” the Taoist inquired.
The girl explained:
“It’s no secret to anyone that Tang Monk possesses a perfect body, having cultivated virtue through ten successive reincarnations. If we captured him, it was because anyone who tastes even a bit of his flesh can attain eternal life. To celebrate our good fortune, we took bathe in the Purification Stream, where we unfortunately encountered that other monk with the enormous ears and long snout. First, he stole our clothes. Then he had the audacity to want to bathe with us in the pool. When we refused, he grabbed a nine-toothed rake to attack us. For the sake of our old friendship as fellow disciples, please, avenge our humiliation!”
Upon hearing this, the Taoist became furious, his face reddening with rage, and he shouted with an emotionally altered voice:
“So those monks are a band of shameless ruffians! Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them myself.”
“If you wish to fight, we can assist you,” the girls said after thanking him.
The Taoist responded:
“Who needs to fight? Come with me at once.”
The Poisonous Plot
The girls followed him into the room. There, he took a ladder, placed it behind the bed, climbed up, and pulled down a leather chest hidden behind a beam.
He unlocked it with an almost invisible key and carefully取出 a small packet of medicine.
Then, the Taoist explained to the girls:
“If a mortal were to take even a ten-thousandth of a milligram of this potion, he would die before it even reached his stomach. For an immortal, merely three thousandths of that amount would suffice.”
Next, the Taoist selected twelve red dates. He gently crushed them with his fingers and inserted approximately a ten-thousandth of a milligram of the deadly medicine into each one. Then he distributed them into four teacups. He picked up another cup and, to distinguish it, added a couple of black dates. Once the infusion was ready, he poured tea into all the cups and placed them on a tray.
Approaching where Tang Monk and his disciples were seated, the Taoist once again invited them to make themselves comfortable:
“Please forgive my long absence, but I had to instruct my servants to select some fresh vegetables and radishes to prepare a vegetarian meal.”
Tang Monk said:
“How can I accept your hospitality when I arrived here with empty hands?”
Smiling, the Taoist replied:
“You and I are both people who have renounced worldly life. As soon as we see the gates of a temple or monastery, we know we will be welcomed kindly. Why speak of arriving with empty hands? This is also your home. May I ask which monastery you belong to, and why you are traveling today?”
Tripitaka responded:
“I am on my way to the Thunder Monastery in the Western Paradise, sent by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in search of sacred scriptures. It has truly been an honor to rest in your noble dwelling.”
The Taoist replied, his face glowing:
“It’s clear that you are a Buddha of extraordinary virtue and piety. The only thing I regret is not having come out to greet you with the respect you deserve. Please forgive my ignorance.”
He then turned toward the door and raised his voice:
“Come in and bring us fresh tea!”
A young servant entered and did so. The Taoist picked up one of the cups containing red dates and respectfully offered it with both hands to Tang Monk. Seeing how large Bajie and Sha Wujing were, he assumed they were the first and second disciples and served the poisoned tea accordingly.
Betrayal Revealed
Bajie, known for his insatiable appetite, was terribly thirsty and hungry and immediately set about drinking his tea. Upon seeing that it contained three red dates, he popped them into his mouth and swallowed them in an instant. Tang Monk and Sha Wujing did the same.
The Taoist left Sun Wukong for last, assuming from his slim build that he was merely an apprentice.
Little did the Taoist know that the Monkey King’s powers of observation were extremely sharp. Indeed, Wukong had noticed at once that the remaining cup on the tray contained two black dates, while theirs held red ones.
Before bringing the drink to his lips, the Monkey King exclaimed:
“Just a moment! If you don’t mind, I’d like to switch cups with you.”
Smiling, the Taoist replied:
“To tell the truth, a Taoist cultivator like myself doesn’t always have everything needed to prepare good tea. I myself had to go looking for the dates. Unfortunately, I could only find twelve red ones, and as you’ve seen, I kept the less attractive ones for myself. I did it out of respect for you. You can believe me.”
The Monkey King retorted:
“How can you say such a thing? No, no! Let’s stop fooling around and exchange cups right away.”
Tripitaka scolded him:
“Do you mind telling me why you want to do that? If you refuse to drink it, you’ll be insulting this honorable immortal’s hospitality.”
With no choice, Wukong took the cup in his left hand, covered it with the palm of his right, and fixed his gaze on his three companions.
Very soon, Bajie lost all color in his face, tears sprang to Sha Wujing’s eyes, and Tang Monk began foaming at the mouth.
Suddenly, they lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Wukong realized at once that they had been poisoned and furiously hurled the cup in his hand at the Taoist’s face.
The Monkey King cursed:
“Cursed beast! What explanation do you have for poisoning my brothers? What have we done to you to make you put poison in our tea?”
The Taoist replied:
“Don’t you know? Your lewd behavior has brought upon yourselves a great calamity!”
The Monkey King defended himself:
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about! We practically just walked through your door. We didn’t even have time to tell you who we are. How could we possibly bring misfortune upon anyone?”
The Taoist shot back:
“Didn’t you stop at the Spiderweb Cave begging for food? Didn’t you later bathe together in the Purification Stream?”
The Monkey King replied:
“The only ones who bathed were those seven monstrous girls. If you didn’t know them, you wouldn’t be speaking of them—this clearly proves you belong to the same kind. Don’t run away—taste the flavor of my iron rod!”
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