The old woman transformed into a golden ray of light and returned eastward. Sanzang, knowing it was Guanyin Bodhisattva who had bestowed this mantra, hurriedly gathered some soil, burned incense, and earnestly bowed towards the east. After bowing, he gathered his clothes and hat, hiding them in his bundle, and sat by the roadside, reciting the mantra for calming the mind. He recited it several times until he knew it by heart and had it firmly in his mind.
Now, Wukong bid farewell to his master, and with a somersault, he headed straight for the Eastern Ocean. He pressed down on the cloud, parted the waterways, and arrived directly at the Crystal Palace. The Dragon King was already alarmed and came out to greet him, welcoming him into the palace to sit down. After the ceremony, the Dragon King said, "I recently heard that the Great Sage is in trouble. I have failed to congratulate you! I suppose you have rebuilt the Immortal Mountain and returned to your ancient cave." Wukong said, "I also have this inclination, but I have become a monk again." The Dragon King asked, "What kind of monk?" Wukong replied, "Thanks to the Bodhisattva of the South Sea for persuading me to do good, I was taught the true path and followed Tang Sanzang from the East to the West to worship Buddha, becoming a Buddhist monk and being called Wukong again." The Dragon King said, "That is truly commendable! That is what it means to turn over a new leaf and cultivate a virtuous heart. If that is the case, why did you not go west but return east?" Wukong laughed and said, "That's because Tang Sanzang doesn't understand human nature. Some petty thieves robbed the road, and I killed them. Tang Sanzang then went on and on, saying many things I had done wrong. Do you think I, Old Sun, could tolerate such humiliation? I abandoned them and wanted to return to my own mountain. That's why I came to see you first and asked for a cup of tea." The Dragon King said, "You are too kind, you are too kind!" At that moment, his dragon sons and grandsons brought out fragrant tea to offer.
After finishing his tea, the traveler turned around and saw a painting of "Presenting Shoes at Yiqiao Bridge" hanging on the back wall. The Monkey King asked, "What is this scene?" The Dragon King replied, "Great Sage, you didn't recognize it because this happened after you. This is called 'The Three Presentations of Shoes at Yiqiao Bridge.'" The Monkey King asked, "How so?" The Dragon King said, "This immortal is Huang Shigong, and this young man is Zhang Liang of the Han Dynasty. Shigong was sitting on Yiqiao Bridge when he suddenly lost his shoe below. He then called Zhang Liang to retrieve it. The young man immediately brought it back and knelt before him. This happened three times, and Zhang Liang showed no arrogance or negligence whatsoever. Shigong admired his diligence and secretly gave him a heavenly book, instructing him to assist the Han Dynasty. Later, he indeed strategized and won battles from afar. After the peace was restored, he resigned his post and returned to the mountains, where he followed Chisongzi and attained enlightenment. Great Sage, if you don't protect Tang Sanzang, don't work diligently, and don't accept instruction, you will remain a demon immortal and never achieve true enlightenment." Upon hearing this, Wukong pondered for a long time without speaking. The Dragon King said, "Great Sage, you should decide for yourself. Don't be carefree and ruin your future." Wukong said, "Don't say any more. I'll go and protect him." The Dragon King said happily, "Since that's the case, I dare not stay any longer. Please, Great Sage, show mercy and don't neglect your master for too long." Seeing that he was being urged to leave, Wukong hurriedly got up, left the sea, rode on a cloud, and bid farewell to the Dragon King.
As they walked, they encountered the Bodhisattva of the South Sea. The Bodhisattva said, "Sun Wukong, why do you disobey your teachings and fail to protect Tang Sanzang? What are you doing here?" The pilgrim, flustered, bowed from the clouds and said, "Thanks to the Bodhisattva's kind words, a Tang Dynasty monk indeed came, removed the seal, saved my life, and I became his disciple. However, he blamed me for being fierce, so I dodged him. Now I'm going to protect him." The Bodhisattva said, "Go quickly, lest you miss the opportunity." After speaking, they each returned home.
The traveler, after a short while, saw Tang Sanzang sitting listlessly by the roadside. He went up to him and said, "Master! Why aren't you walking? What are you doing here?" Tang Sanzang looked up and said, "Where are you going? I'm told to go, but I dare not go; I dare not move, so I've just been waiting for you here." The traveler said, "I'm going to the Dragon King's house in the Eastern Ocean to ask for some tea." Tang Sanzang said, "Disciple, a monk shouldn't lie. You've been away from me for less than an hour, and you're already saying you're going to the Dragon King's house for tea?" The traveler laughed and said, "To tell you the truth, Master, I can ride the somersault cloud, and one somersault can cover 108,000 li, so..." "You can come back as soon as you leave." Sanzang said, "I was a little too harsh in my words, and you blame me and leave me here. Someone as capable as you can get tea; someone like me who can't go can only suffer hunger here. You must feel bad about that!" Wukong said, "Master, if you are hungry, I will go and beg for some food for you." Sanzang said, "No need to beg for food. I still have some dry food in my bundle, given to me by Liu Taibao's mother. Go and get my alms bowl and some water so I can eat something before I go on my way."
The traveler untied the bundle and found several coarse flour flatbreads in the middle, which he took out and handed to his master. He then noticed a gleaming cotton robe and a hat embroidered with gold flowers. The traveler asked, "Did you bring these clothes and hat from the East?"
Tripitaka had never lied to anyone, and felt somewhat embarrassed. He recalled the Bodhisattva's words and said, "These are the clothes I wore when I was a child. If I wear this hat, I will be able to recite scriptures without being taught; if I wear these clothes, I will be able to perform rituals without being taught."
The pilgrim said, "Good master, please help me put on these clothes."
Sanzang said, "I'm afraid the length might be different. If it fits you, then wear it." So the Monkey King took off his old white cloth robe and put on the cotton robe, which was tailored to fit his body perfectly. He then put on his hat. When Sanzang saw him put on the hat, he stopped eating his dry rations and silently recited the Tightening-Headband Mantra once.
The pilgrim clutched his head and cried out, "Headache, headache!" The master chanted the mantra several more times, causing the pilgrim to writhe in pain, tearing his gold-inlaid hat. Sanzang, fearing the golden headband would break, stopped chanting. When he stopped, the pain subsided. He reached up to touch his head and felt a golden thread tightly binding it, impossible to remove or break; it seemed to have taken root. He took a needle from his ear, inserted it into the headband, and started pulling it outwards haphazardly. Sanzang, fearing he would break it, began chanting again. The pilgrim was still in excruciating pain, so much so that he was writhing on his hands and knees, his ears turning red, his face flushed, his eyes bulging, and his body numb. Seeing this, the master, unable to bear it any longer, stopped chanting, and the pilgrim's headache disappeared again. The pilgrim said, "It turns out that it was Master who cursed me." Tripitaka said, "I was reciting the Tightening-Headband Sutra, how could I have cursed you?" The pilgrim said, "Recite it again." Tripitaka really did recite it again, and the pilgrim really felt pain again, saying, "Don't recite it, don't recite it! Reciting it hurts me! What's wrong with you?" Tripitaka said, "Have you listened to my teaching this time?" The pilgrim said, "I have!" "Will you be rude again?" The pilgrim said, "I dare not!"
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