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At his side hung an immortal's tablet;
And on his feet were sandals.
He was a true winged adept,
Elegant and remarkable.
Having won immortality he lived in a wonderful land,
Cultivating eternal life and escaping from worldly dust.
The holy priest did not recognize the stranger on Vulture Peak,
The Gold-crested Immortal of yesteryear.
The Great Sage Monkey did, however, recognize him. “Master,” said Monkey, “this is the Great Gold-crested Immortal who lives at the Jade Truth Temple at the foot of Vulture Peak. He is here to greet us.” Only then did Sanzang realize who he was and step forward to salute him.
“You have finally arrived here this year,” replied the Great Immortal with a smile. “I was fooled by the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Ten years ago she went to the East at the Buddha's command to find the Pilgrim who would fetch the scriptures. She told me then he would be here within two or three years. I have been waiting for years on end with no news of you at all. I never thought that it would be this year before we met.”
Putting his hands together in front of his chest, Sanzang replied, “I am very grateful to you for your kindness, Great Immortal, very grateful.” Sanzang and his three disciples led the horse and carried the baggage with them into the Taoist temple, where they were introduced to all the Great Immortals there. Tea and a vegetarian meal were then ordered, and the Taoist boys were told to heat scented water for the holy monks to bathe in before climbing to the Buddha land. Indeed:
When achievements are complete it is right to bathe;
The fundamental nature has been trained into i
Many thousand troubles and today:
The nine prohibitions and triple surrender lead to renewal.
The monsters all done with, they climb to the Buddha land;
With disasters ended they see the Sramana.
Dirt and filth now washed away, they are wholly pure;
Returning to the fundamental, their bodies are imperishable.
By the time master and disciples had bathed the day was drawing to a close. They spent the night in the Jade Truth Temple.
The next morning the Tang Priest changed into his brocade cassock, put on his Vairocana mitre and grasped his monastic staff in his hand to climb the steps of the main hall and take his leave of the Great Immortal. “Yesterday you were in rags,” the Great Immortal said with a smile, “but today you are dressed in splendor. I can see from your appearance that you are indeed a son of the Buddha.” Sanzang then bowed in farewell.
“Wait a moment,” the Great Immortal said. “I will see you off.”
“There's no need for you to see us off,” Monkey replied. “I know the way.”
“What you know,” said the Great Immortal, “is the way by cloud. The holy monk has never gone by cloud. He must go by the overland way.”
“You're right,” replied Monkey. “Although I've been here several times I've always come and gone by cloud. I've never come here on foot. If there's an overland route I'll trouble you to see us along it. My master is very serious about worshipping the Buddha, so I'd be very grateful if you could hurry up about it.” The Great Immortal chuckled as he took the Tang Priest by hand and led the Incense to the gate of the Dharma. The way led not out by the temple's front entrance but through the main hall and out through the back gate.
Pointing towards Vulture Peak, the Great Immortal said, “Holy monk, do you see the auspicious light of many colours and the richly textured aura in the sky? That is the summit of Vulture Peak, the holy territory of the Lord Buddha.” As soon as he saw it the Tang Priest bowed low.
“Master,” said Brother Monkey with a smile, “we haven't got to the place for bowing yet. As the saying goes, 'The mountain may be in view, but your horse will collapse before you get there.' We're still quite a long way from the place, so why start bowing now? If you bow all the way from here to the top, however many times will you have to hit your head on the ground?”
“Holy monk,” said the Great Immortal, “You, the Great Sage, Marshal Tian Peng, and the Curtain-raising General have now reached the blessed land and seen Vulture Peak. I am going back now.” Sanzang took his leave of the Great Immortal and continued on his way.
The Great Sage led the Tang Priest and the others slowly up Vulture Peak. Within a couple of miles they reached a river of mighty rolling waves some three miles wide. There was no sign of anyone anywhere around.
“Wukong,” said Sanzang with alarm, “we have come the wrong way. I wonder if the Great Immortal misdirected us. This river is so wide and the waves so big, and there are no boats to be seen. How are we to cross it?”
“He didn't send us the wrong way,” replied Monkey with a smile. “Look over there. That's a bridge, isn't it? Once we're over that we'll have completed the true achievement.” When the venerable elder and the others went closer to look they saw a tablet beside it on which were written the words CLOUDTOUCHING CROSSING. Now this bridge was only a single log. Indeed:
From afar it seemed to span the void like a beam of jade;
Seen closer, the bridge was but a withered spar crossing the water.
To bind a river and frame the sea is easier
Than walking along the trunk of a single tree.
The glow of a myriad rainbows spread out all around;
A thousand lengths of fine white silk stretched to the edge of the sky.
It was narrow, slippery and hard to cross,
Unless one was a god who could walk on coloured clouds.
“Wukong,” said Sanzang in fear and trembling, “no mortal man could cross that bridge. Let us look elsewhere to find the way.”
“But this is the way,” replied Monkey with a smile, “this is the way.”
“Nobody's going to dare cross that even if it is the right way,” said Pig with alarm. “The river's so wide, and there are those terrible waves, and all there is is that narrow, slippery tree-trunk. We couldn't take a single step.”
“You all stand there while I go on it to show you,” replied Monkey.
The splendid Great Sage strode forward and sprang on the single-trunk bridge. He quickly ran across to the other side, swaying as he went, and called out, “Come over, come over.” The Tang Priest waved in refusal, while Pig and Friar Sand bit their fingers and said, “It's much too hard.”
Monkey then ran back again from the far side and pulled at Pig. “Come with me, you idiot,” he said, “come with me.”
“It's too slippery, it's too slippery,” said Pig, lying down on the ground. “I could never cross it. Please spare me that and let me cross by wind and mist.”
Monkey held him down as he replied, “This is no place for you to be allowed to go riding wind and mist. You can only become a Buddha by crossing this bridge.”
“Brother,” said Pig, “I'll never make it. Honestly, I can't walk across.”
As the two of them were pulling at each other and fighting, Friar Sand went over to talk them round. Only then did they let go of each other. Sanzang then looked round to see a man poling a boat towards them from downriver and shouting, “Ferry! Come aboard.”
“Stop fooling around, disciples,” said a delighted venerable elder. “There is a ferry-boat coming.” The other three sprang to their feet and all watched together as the boat drew closer. It was a bottomless craft.
Monkey had already spotted with the golden pupils in his fiery eyes that this was the Welcoming Lord Buddha, who is also known as Ratnadhvaja, the Royal Buddha of Brightness, but instead of giving this away he just kept calling, “Over here, punt, over here.”
A moment later the ferryman had punted his boat up to the bank and was again shouting, “Ferry! Come aboard!” Sanzang was once more alarmed at the sight. “Your boat has no bottom,” he said, “so however could you ferry anyone across?”