The Tempter
Matthew and Bajie spent the next few days waiting for Wukong to return. On one afternoon, after they had eaten their lunch of rice and soy sauce, Matthew thought he might try to climb one of the nearby trees. Bajie was sleeping under a peach blossom, after eating too heavily, so Matthew took the time to scout around the camp site.
He had liked climbing trees when he was younger, and this tree looked different to any he had seen before. It had a black trunk, gnarled, and twisted branches, and pure golden leaves tipped with blood red. He had a little trouble making his way up the first part of the trunk, but soon found some places to get a grip with his hands and feet. It was a tall tree, and he wanted to climb high enough to get a good view of the landscape. Utredius followed him up the tree with short bursts of flight.
When he was halfway up, a snake slithered its way down from one of the higher branches, moving up beside him to gaze upon Matthew with emerald eyes. Its skin was speckled blue and red across its back, though its scales were mostly shiny black underneath. To his shock, the snake opened its mouth to speak to him!
‘Welcome, Matthew,’ the snake said, ‘I have been waiting to speak with you.’
‘I never heard of any talking snakes before!’ Matthew said in disbelief.
‘Oh, but I am not really a snake,’ the snake said. ‘I come by many shapes and different names, but you can call me Serpent.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Serpent,’ Matthew said, suddenly feeling quite unsure of the situation.
‘I wonder,’ said the Serpent, ‘what price would you ask to part with your pet dragon?’
‘Utredius is not for sale,’ Matthew said. ‘I would not part with him for any price.’
‘That is what I thought you would say, Matthew,’ said the snake. ‘But surely there is something you wish for that could allow us to strike a bargain.’
‘I miss my Mother, an awful lot,’ Matthew admitted.
‘There, that is a worthy bargain,’ said the Serpent. ‘Give me the dragon, and I will allow you to see your Mother again.’
‘Truly?’ asked Matthew. ‘But that’s impossible! My mother died years ago.’
‘There are ways, Matthew,’ hissed the snake. ‘I will make it possible for you to see her again, if you will just give me your dragon.’
For a moment, the burning pain in Matthew’s heart nearly made him give in. Then he hardened his heart, and replied, ‘Utredius is not for sale.’
‘So be it!’ hissed the Serpent, and with that, he launched at Matthew to bite him on the forearm. Matthew wailed, and fell from the tree to land with a heavy thump.
***
Bajie woke to the squawks and chirping of Utredius, who was frantic over something. It was then that Bajie realised the boy had gone. He called out to him, but there was no answer. He then followed the little dragon, who led him to Matthew. The boy seemed to have fallen from the nearby tree. His right arm was swollen and black, and when Bajie looked closely, he saw twin bite marks. He must have been bitten by a snake!
Bajie carried the boy back to the campsite and prepared a fire to try to mix up some medicine. He had many herbs of medicinal properties, but he was no expert healer. But that bite needed treatment, and fast! He wondered if the boy had any broken bones from the fall, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.
Bajie prayed and made ceremonial dances, burning incense, and asking for help from the gods. When Matthew woke, Bajie poured the medicine down his throat, and the boy drank with some coughing and spluttering. Bajie had tied off the wound, to make sure the poison did not spread too quickly. He had tried to suck some of the poison out of the bite marks, by making cuts along the wounds, but he feared he had slept too long for that to be of any use.
He needed the help of an expert healer. Wukong still had not returned, and he began to worry that in a short time, the boy may be at death’s door. He then bundled the boy in some warm blankets and took him to a nearby cave. He told Utredius to watch over the boy, and then he summoned a whirlwind to carry him across the land with haste to try to reach a healer with the necessary medicines.
***
Sun Wukong arrived at the Gates of Heaven in a clever disguise. He wore the Illusion-Magic that had transformed his image into that of the Gold Star of Venus. He was illuminated, and the Gatekeepers of Heaven welcomed him and allowed him to enter without any fuss. Wukong made his way through the Hallways of Heaven at an even pace, for although he did not wish to dally, he did not wish to seem in a hurry either.
He felt a little homesick, returning to the wonders of heaven. Where ten thousand shafts of golden light whirled as a coral rainbow. Scores of celestial sentinels, carrying bows and clutching banners. Divine beings in golden armour, holding halberds and whips. He waved and smiled as he passed them by, feeling that everything was going to plan so far.
He had a good memory of the layout of the buildings within heaven, and within a short time he had made his way to the Jade Emperor’s Stables, where about a thousand celestial horses were kept, and many were being groomed by stablemen.
He approached one of the men and inquired as to whether he may borrow one of the horses to make a long journey, which may take more time than he could accurately predict. ‘I’ll need an exceptionally fine horse,’ Wukong said. ‘One of the Wind Chasers or Distance Breakers would do nicely.’
It was then that a great light appeared in the sky, and there on a gleaming white cloud sat Buddha staring down at Wukong with a warm smile. ‘Good day, Wukong,’ Buddha said. ‘That is a clever disguise you are wearing.’
‘Disguise?’ Wukong asked. ‘I do not know what you mean, Buddha.’
‘Do not play games with me, Sun Wukong,’ Buddha said. ‘You wish to acquire a horse for the boy Matthew. That will come at a price.’
‘How much are we talking?’ Wukong asked with a sheepish grin, after revealing his true form.
‘The Jade Emperor will require a handsome sum of gold if we are to rent out one of his finest horses to you,’ Buddha said. ‘I understand that you have come into possession of five-hundred gold dragon-marks. That may be just enough to appease the Emperor for this little ruse you have attempted.’
Wukong coughed and made a grimace to consider he would need to give up Matthew’s gold. But he thought it fortunate the boy had won the wager, as he would be able to recover more from the demons when he made his claim. He then reached into his cloak pocket, to pull forth a single acorn, that was the chest of gold transformed. He then made the acorn become the chest of gold once more and laid it at the feet of the stableman.
‘I hope this will make for an acceptable deal,’ Wukong said with head bowed.
The BanHorsePlague Stableman opened the chest to pick up a gold coin and gave it a bite test, then raised his hand to Buddha with a thumbs up.
‘You have shown fine character this day, Wukong,’ Buddha said. ‘I will speak to the Emperor on your behalf. The horse is yours for now.’
As Wukong was leaving, Buddha called again to say, ‘Wukong!’ Sun Wukong turned to Buddha, who said, ‘I have just now learnt that the boy Matthew is gravely ill. He was bitten by a snake. I am afraid to inform you that it was in fact the Serpent.’
‘The Serpent!’ Wukong shouted in disbelief.
‘Yes,’ said Buddha. ‘Take this elixir. It is fortified Heavenly Peach Elixir. Three drops will revive the boy. Ten drops will make him much stronger in his magical abilities. It is important that you only allow the boy to have three drops. Understood?’
Wukong smiled and kowtowed several more times, saying, ‘Thank you, merciful Buddha,’ before taking the elixir, and the horse and leaving with great haste.
***
The End of the First Book of Heroes of Legend
***