The fire blazed on till dawn before burning itself out. The undraped monks howled and wailed as they searched through the ashes for bronze and iron, and picked over the cinders to find gold and silver. Some of them fixed up thatched shelters in what remained of the frames of the buildings, and others were rigging up pots to cook food at the bases of the exposed walls. We will not describe the weeping, the shouting and the confused hubbub.
Brother Monkey grabbed the Anti-fire Cover, took it back to the Southern Gate of Heaven with a single somersault, and returned it to the Broad-visioned Heavenly King with thanks. “Great Sage,” said the Heavenly King as he accepted it. “You are as good as your word. I was so worried that if you didn't give me back my treasure, I'd never be able to find you and get it off you. Thank goodness you've returned it.”
“Am I the sort of bloke who'd cheat someone to his face?” asked Monkey. “After all, 'If you return a thing properly when you borrow it, it'll be easier to borrow it next time.'”
“As we haven't met for so long, why don't you come into the palace for a while?” said the Heavenly King.
“I'm no longer the man to 'sit on the bench till it rots, talking about the universe,'“ Monkey replied. “I'm too busy now that I have to look after the Tang Monk. Please excuse me.” Leaving with all speed, he went down on his cloud, and saw that the sun was rising as he went straight to the meditation hall, where he shook himself, turned into a bee, and flew in. On reverting to his true form he saw that his master was still sound asleep.
“Master, get up, it's dawn,” he called.
Sanzang woke up, rolled over, and said, “Yes, so it is.” When he had dressed he opened the doors, went outside, and saw the walls reddened and in ruins, and the halls and towers gone. “Goodness,” he exclaimed in great astonishment, “why have the buildings all disappeared? Why is there nothing but reddened walls?”
“You're still asleep,” Monkey replied. “There was a fire last night.”
“Why didn't I know about it?” Sanzang asked.
“I was protecting the meditation hall, and as I could see you were asleep, master, I didn't disturb you,” Monkey replied.
“If you were able to protect the meditation hall, why didn't you put out the fire in the other buildings?” Sanzang asked. Monkey laughed.
“I'll tell you, master. What you predicted actually happened. They fancied that cassock of ours and planned to burn us to death. If I hadn't noticed, we'd be bones and ashes by now.”
“Did they start the fire?” asked Sanzang who was horrified to learn this.
“Who else?” replied Monkey.
“Are you sure that you didn't cook this up because they were rude to you?” Sanzang asked.
“I'm not such a rascal as to do a thing like that,” said Monkey. “Honestly and truly, they started it. Of course, when I saw how vicious they were I didn't help put the blaze out. I helped them with a slight breeze instead.”
“Heavens! Heavens! When a fire starts you should bring water, not wind.”
“You must know the old saying-'If people didn't harm tigers, tigers wouldn't hurt people.' If they hadn't started a fire, I wouldn't have caused a wind.”
“Where's the cassock? Don't say that it's been burnt too.”
“It's all right; it hasn't been burnt. The abbots' cell where it was kept didn't catch fire.”
“I don't care what you say. If it's come to any harm, I'll recite that spell till it kills you.”
“Don't do that,” pleaded Monkey desperately, “I promise to bring that cassock back to you. Wait while I fetch it for you, and then we'll be on our way.” With Sanzang leading the horse, and Monkey carrying the luggage, they went out of the meditation hall and straight to the abbot's lodgings at the back.
When the grief-stricken monks of the monastery suddenly saw master and disciple emerge with horse and luggage from the meditation hall they were terrified out of their wits, and screamed, “Their avenging ghosts have come to demand our lives.”
“What do you mean, avenging ghosts coming to demand your lives?” Monkey shouted. “Give us back our cassock at once.”
The monks all fell to their knees and kowtowed, saying, “Masters, wrongs are always avenged, and debts always have to be paid. If you want lives, it's nothing to do with us; It was the old monk and Broad Plans who cooked up the plot to kill you. Please don't punish us.”
Monkey snorted with anger and roared, “I'll get you, you damned animals. Who asked for anyone's life? Just bring out that cassock and we'll be on our way.”
Two brave men from among the monks said, “Masters, you were burnt to death in the meditation hall, and now you come back to ask for the cassock. Are you men or ghosts?”
“You cattle,” sneered Monkey, “there wasn't any fire. Go and look at the meditation hall and then we'll see what you have to say.” The monks rose to their feet, and when they went forward to look, they saw that there was not even the slightest trace of scorching on the door and the window-frames. The monks, now struck with fear, realized that Sanzang was a divine priest, and Monkey a guardian god.
They all kowtowed to the pair of them and said, “Our eyes are blind. We failed to recognize saints sent down from Heaven. Your cassock is in the abbot's rooms at the back.” Sanzang went past a number of ruined walls and buildings, sighing endlessly, and saw that the abbot's rooms at the back had indeed not been burnt. The monks all rushed in shouting. “Grandad, the Tang priest is a saint, and instead of being burnt to death he's wrecked our home. Bring the cassock out at once and give it back to him.”
Now the old monk had been unable to find the cassock, which coming on top of the destruction of the monastery had him distraught with worry. When the monks asked him for it, he was unable to reply. Seeing no way out of his quandary, he bent his head down and dashed it against the wall. He smashed his skull open and expired as his blood poured all over the floor. There are some verses about it:
Alas that the aged monk in his folly
Lived so long a life for nothing.
He wanted the cassock as an heirloom for the monastery.
Forgetting that what is Buddha's is not as mortal things.
As he took the changeable for the eternal,
His sorry end was quite inevitable.
What use were Broad Wisdom and Broad Plans?
To harm others for gain always fails.
The other monks began to howl in desperation, “Our Patriarch has dashed his brains out, and we can't find the cassock, so whatever shall we do?”
“I think you've hidden it somewhere,” Monkey said. “Come out, all of you, and bring me all the registers. I'm going to check that you're all here.” The senior and junior abbots brought the two registers in which all the monks, novices, pages, and servants were registered. There were a total of two hundred and thirty names in them. Asking his master to sit in the place of honour, Monkey called out and marked off each of the names, making the monks open up their clothes for his inspection. When he had checked each one carefully there was no sign of the cassock. Then he searched carefully through all the boxes and baskets that had been saved from the flames, but again he could find no trace of it. Sanzang, now absolutely furious with Brother Monkey, started to recite the spell as he sat up high.