“We're in luck, we're in luck,” chortled Pig. “The treasure's shining.”
Going nearer for a closer look they saw that it was in fact the starlight and the moonlight reflected by the water in a well.
“Brother,” said Pig, “you ought to think ahead.”
“What do you mean, think ahead?” asked Monkey.
“This is a well,” said Pig. “If you'd told me back in the monastery that the treasure was hidden in a well I'd have brought a couple of the luggage ropes along with me and we could have worked out a way of letting me down the well. But how am I going to go down there to fetch the thing empty-handed?”
“Are you willing to go down?” Monkey asked.
“I would if I could,” said Pig, “but there's no rope.”
“Take that garment off-I know what to do,” said Monkey with a grin.
“I've got nothing good enough to be called a garment,” said Pig. “The only thing I could take off is this tunic.”
The splendid Great Sage brought out his gold-tipped cudgel, pulled it at both ends, and said, “Grow!” It grew seventy or eighty feet long. “You hold one end, Pig, and I'll lower you in,” said Monkey.
“Let me down till I reach the water, brother, and then stop,” said Pig.
“Understood,” said Monkey. As the idiot clung to the tip of the cudgel Monkey lightly lifted him up and lowered him into the well. Before long Pig had reached the water. As soon as Monkey heard him call out that he was there, Monkey thrust the cudgel down, making the idiot let go of it and tumble in with a splash.
“Heavens, I'm being murdered,” Pig mumbled in the water. “I told you not to let me go when I got to the water, but you pushed me in.”
Monkey pulled his cudgel out and asked with a laugh, “Can you find the treasure, brother?”
“What treasure?” said Pig. “There's only a wellful of water.”
“The treasure's at the bottom,” said Monkey, “so go down and have a feel around.” The idiot, who really was a good swimmer, did a surface dive and plunged down. Wow! The well was extremely deep, so he thrust himself even further down, and was suddenly gazing in astonishment at an ornamental arch on which were written the word WATER CRYSTAL PALACE.
“That's enough of this,” said Pig with horror. “I've taken the wrong turning. I must have blundered into the sea. There are water crystal palaces in the sea, but there couldn't possibly be one in a well.” What Pig did not realize was that this was the water crystal palace of the Dragon King of the Well.
As Pig was talking to himself a patrolling yaksha opened the gates and shot straight back inside again at the sight of him to report, “A disaster, Your Majesty. A monk with big ears and a long snout has just fallen into the well. He's dripping wet and stark naked. He's still alive and is talking for all he's worth.”
The news was a great shock to the Dragon King of the Well, who thought, “This must be Marshal Tian Peng. Yesterday evening the Patroller of the Night came with an edict ordering me to send the soul of the king of Wuji to visit the Tang Priest and ask that the Great Sage Equaling Heaven be sent to capture the fiend. I suppose that the Great Sage and the Marshal must be here now. I must be very polite to them and go straight out to welcome them.”
The dragon king neatened up his clothes and went out through the gates at the head of his watery tribe. “Please come in and take a seat, Marshal Tian Peng,” he called at the top of his voice.
This made Pig feel a great deal happier. “So it's an old friend,” he thought. Without any further thought the idiot went straight into the water crystal palace. He really had no sense of proper behavior, and sat, stark naked as he was, in the place of honour.
“Marshal,” said the dragon king, “I hear that you have been given a new life, been converted to the Buddhist faith, and are escorting the Tang Priest on his journey West to fetch the scriptures. What bring you here?”
“It's just as you say. My senior fellow-disciple Monkey sends his respects and has told me to come here to ask you for some kind of treasure.”
“Oh dear,” said the dragon king, “we don't have any treasure here. I'm no match for the dragon kings of the Yangtse, Yellow, Huai or Ji rivers, who can fly around, do transformations, and get treasure that way. I've been stuck here for ages, and not been able to broaden my horizons for many a long month, so how could I possibly get any treasures?”
“Stop trying to fob me off,” said Pig. “Bring out whatever you've got.”
“It's true I do have one treasure,” admitted the dragon king, “but I can't move it. Perhaps you would like to come and see it for yourself, Marshal.”
“Splendid, splendid, splendid,” said Pig. “I really must have a look.”
The idiot followed as the dragon king led the way. As they left the halls of the water crystal palace they saw a body six feet long lying in an open corridor. “There's the treasure,” said the dragon king, pointing to it. When Pig took a closer look he saw to his astonishment that it was the body of a king stretched ramrod-straight and wearing a heaven-touching crown, a robe of yellow ochre, no-worry shoes and a belt of Lantain jade.
“This is no good at all,” chuckled Pig, “no good at all. Can't call that a treasure. I remember that when I was an ogre in the mountains I often used to make a meal out of things like that. Never mind how many of them I've seen-I've eaten a lot. There's no way you could call that a treasure.”
“There are some things you don't know, Marshal,” said the dragon king. “It's the body of the king of Wuji. When he fell into the well I put a face-preserving pearl on him and he has not decomposed. If you were to carry the body up to see the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and if it could be brought back to life, then you'd get anything you asked for, never mind just treasures.”
“If what you say is right and I carry him up for you, tell me how much you'll pay me for arranging his funeral,” Pig said.
“Honestly, I don't have any money,” the dragon king replied.
“So you like making people work for nothing, do you?” said Pig. “No money, no carriage.”
“If you won't, then please be on your way,” replied the dragon king. Pig left with two hefty yakshas who carried the body outside the palace gates, where they put it down and removed the water-repelling pearl.
At once there was a watery noise. Pig turned straight back to look, but the water crystal palace had disappeared. After feeling the king's corpse he floundered around until he was weak from exhaustion, then surfaced and took hold of the wall of the well. “Brother,” he yelled, “lower the cudgel and rescue me.”
“Got a treasure?” asked Monkey.
“No way,” said Pig. “All I found under the water was the Dragon King of the Well who wanted me to carry a corpse up. When I refused he saw me out and the water crystal palace disappeared. I could only grasp that corpse. I was in such a panic that I went weak all over and I can't move it. Brother, for goodness' sake rescue me.”
“But that is the treasure,” said Monkey. “Why didn't you bring it up?”
“I knew he'd been dead for ages,” said Pig, “so what would have been the point?”
“If you won't bring it up I'm going back,” said Monkey.
“Where to?” Pig asked.
“Back to the monastery and our master to go to bed,” replied Monkey.
“Can't I come?” said Pig.
“You're welcome if you can climb out, but if you can't, tough luck,” said Monkey. This threw Pig into a panic as he could not climb out.
“Just think,” he called, “a city wall is hard enough to climb. This well narrows towards the top. It's got round, overhanging walls, all overgrown with very slippery moss because nobody's drawn water from it for years. How d'you expect me to climb it? Brother, don't forget we're good friends. I'm going down to get it.”