Spring had come. Tang Monk and his disciples advanced west. They came in front of a river before long, water clear, waves cool. Far away on the bank, a small village was set off by green willows with several thatched cottages apprearing among tender leaves. “There must be a boatman in the village,” Monkey King pointed forward. “I think so,” Tang Monk said. “Boatman!” Pig Bajie shouted towards the village. “Pole a boat and come here!” But no one answered. Only when he shouted several times more, did someone poled a small boat coming out of the shadow of willows. The boat came near in a while. It was surprising that the one poling the boat was a woman. “You ferry passengers across the river everyday?” Monkey King asked. “Right,” replied the woman. “The boatman isn’t here and asks a lady to pole the boat, why?” asked Monkey King. The woman only smiled without saying anything. She put up a gangplank and let them step into her boat and then removed the gangplank and started ferrying them across the river. The boat reached the western bank not long after. Stepping onto the bank, Tang Monk untied his luggage, took out some money and gave it to the woman. Taking over the money and not saying whether the money was enough or not, she skillfully tied the boat onto a stake at the bank and then smilingly went into her house.
Tang Monk was very thirsty and found the river water very clear. “Bajie,” he called, “take out a bowl and get me some water.” “All right,” Bajie said. “I’m going to have a drink, too.” Bajie got a bowl of water immediately and gave it to his master. Tang Monk drank less than half and handed the bowel to Bajie. The pig took over the bowl and drank the left-over water in a breath. They continued their journey happily. But before long, both Tang Monk and Bajie said that they had dull pains in their bellies. Sha Monk said that it was probably because they drank too much cold water. Before his voice had died away, they said the pains were unbearable. And worse of all, their bellies became larger and larger. Softly touching, they felt as if something hard was moving in their bellies. “Master,” said Monkey King. “There is a bar over there. We’d better go there and get you some hot water to drink. And maybe we can also find some medicines for you.” On his words, Tang Monk was delighted. They came to the bar a few minutes later. There was an old lady sitting at the door. “Madam,” stepping up, Monkey King said, “my master took some river water and felt a terrible bellyache. We just don’t know how to help him relieve the pains.” On his words, the old lady laughed. “How interesting!” she said. “Come in. Let me tell you why.”
Monkey King helped Tang Monk into the house. And Sha Monk helped Pig Bajie. With their bellies growing bigger and bigger, Tang Monk and Pig Bajie suffered a terrible pain and looked ghastly pale. “Madam,” said Monkey King, “please get them some hot water.” Neither lighting stove nor heating water, the old lady smilingly went away. “Come and have a look,” she cried. Before her voice had died away, several women, neither old nor young, ran over and laughed at Tang Monk and Pig Bajie. Flying into a rage, Monkey King put on a fierce look and frightened the women away. Then he caught the old woman and cried, “Go heat up some water! Or I don’t forgive you.” The old women terribly trembled and said, “Even if I give them hot water, their pain still cannot be stopped. Loosen your grip. I’ll tell you.” Monkey King relaxed his grasp. “Here is the Western Liang Female Country,” said the ole lady. “All women in the whole country. Not a single man. So the women are very happy to see you. The water your master drank is not ordinary. We call the river Son-mother River. Outside the town, there’s a special spring in a temple in Mt.Jieyang. It’s called Fetus-revealing Spring. Only over the age of twenty do the women here dare to drink the river water. Whenever they feel they are in pregnancy, they’ll have to wait for three days and then go to the spring to look at themselves in the spring water. If a woman gets her image doubled, she will give birth to a baby very soon. Now that your master already drank the water, he must have been in pregnancy. I’m sure he ’ll give birth to a child in a day or two. How can I help him just with some hot water?”
On her words, Tang Monk was terribly startled and said, “Oh, how can we do?” “Why, I’m going to give birth to child.” Pig Bajie said, twisting his waist. “We’re men. We have no places in our bodies for the babies to come out?” Laughing mischievously, Monkey King said, “Don’t worry about it. As the saying goes that a melon falls when it ripe. Whenever the time is ripe, there will surely be a hole between your armpit and waist for the baby to come out.” “That’s terrible!” cried Bajie. “Don’t move carelessly.” Sha Monk said smilingly to Bajie. “Mind you don’t sprain the fetus.” Looking flurried with teas in eyes, Pig Bajie grasped Monkey King and said, “Go ask the old lady where to find midwives. We’d better find several ones. I feel that something is moving in my body. I think the baby is eager to come out. And I’m now suffering a terrible pain. The baby will soon be out!” “Now that you feel painful,” Sha Monk said to Bajie, “don’t move so as not to cause the amniotic fluid come out.” “Madam,” Tang Monk asked. “Are there any doctors nearby? I’m going to ask my disciple to go buy some aborticide. We must have abortions.” “Even if you take aborticide, it’s no use,” said the old lady. “If you want to have an abortion, you must drink the water of the Abortion Spring in a temple outside the town. But it’s not very easy to take the water now.”
“Why?” “Because that the spring is occupied by a Taoist. Only when you give him rich gifts, does he let you take the spring water. As poor monks, how can you afford enough gifts? I think you can do nothing but wait for the time to give birth to child.” On her words, Monkey King was delighted. “How far is the temple from here?” he asked. “Thirty miles.” “All right, master.” Monkey King said to Tang Monk. “Let me go take the water for you.” Before his words had dies away, the old lady already took out a large bowl. “Take the spring water, the more the better,” the old lady handed the bowl to Monkey King. “If you don’t need that much, we can take the leftover.” Taking over the bowl and stepping outside, Monkey King turned a somersault and disappeared at once.
Monkey King came to the temple before long and found a Taoist at the door. He made clear what he’d come for. “Let me know your name so as for me to report to my master,” said the man. “I’m Sun Wukong.” “Where are your gifts?” “I’m a poor monk. I have no gifts.” “How stupid!” said the man. “My master never gives water to anyone for nothing.” “Go and tell my name to your master,” said Monkey King. “I’m sure he’ ll give me the water, or even the whole well, so long as he hear my name.” On his words, the man could do nothing but go in to make a report to his master. “Master,” the man said to his master, an old Taoist. “A monk is outside. He told me that he is the disciple of Tang Monk. He comes here to ask you for some spring water to save his master.”
It was all right when he didn’t hear the name of Sun Wukong, but he flew into a rage immediately aster hearing his disciple mentioned Sun Wukong. Taking a sharp hook as his weapon, the Taoist rushed out at once. “Where is Sun Wukong?” cried the Taoist. “I’m here,” replied Monkey King. “You’re true Sun Wukong?” “Absolutely!” “Do you know me?” asked the Taoist. “No, I don’t know,” said Monkey King. “But an old lady told me something about you. So I come here to ask you for some spring water to save my master. He wrongly drank the river water.” “Your master is Tang Monk?” “Yes.” “Did you meet with a Red Baby?” “Yes,” said Monkey King. “But why you ask this?” “He’s my niece,” the Taoist said with a great anger. “I’m the brother of his father Ox Devil King.” On his words, Monkey King made an explanation about Red Baby’s being rescued by Goddess of Mercy. “My niece was free in the past. But now he is a slave. Which one is better?” Said the Taoist. “I have no time to listen to your nonsense. Let me fight you!”
After ten-plus rounds, the Taoist was no match for Monkey King who was fighting more and more fiercely. Not much can be done to turn over the conditions, the Taoist could do nothing but flee in panic, pulling his hook. Without pursuing him, Monkey King ran to the backyard to take spring water. But the door was closed. Monkey King kicked the door open and rushed to the spring which was actually a deep well. But the Taoist tried his best to protect the water, Monkey King cried out and was going to beat back the Taoist with his golden cudgel. The Taoist turned back and ran away. Monkey King stepped up and began to take the spring water with a bucket. Rushing forward, the Taoist caught Monkey King’s leg with his hook and pulled back fiercely. Monkey King fell down immediately. Picking himself up, he wanted to strike the Taoist with his cudgel. Hook in hand, the Taoist backed and stood at the well. “Come on,” the Taoist said to Monkey King, “I want to see how you can take the water!” “You come over,” cried Monkey King. “Let me kill you!”
Without stepping up, the Taoist only stood there to stop Monkey King from taking the water. Seeing that the Taoist didn’t move, Monkey King rushed forward with cudgel in left hand and bucket in right hand, and began to take water again. The Taoist hooked up Monkey King once again. Worse, the bucket fell into the well together with the rope. “That’s going too far!” cried Monkey King. Getting up immediately, Monkey King struck the Taoist mercilessly. And the Taoist ran away before he could touch him. Without a bucket, how could he take water? Now that he could do nothing empty-handed, he could only go back to ask others for help. Back to the village, Monkey King asked Sha Monk to go with him. They two left with a bucked at once. Tang Monk and Pig Bajie stayed in the house of the old lady. Monkey King and Sha Monk arrived at the temple before long. “You keep the bucket and go into hiding,” Monkey King told Sha Monk. “ Let me fight the Taoist. When he focuses his attention on me, you just take this opportunity to take water.” Sha Monk nodded his consent.
Golden cudgel in hand, Monkey King cried, “Open the door! Open the door!” A guard went in to make a report at once. “Master, Monkey King comes back again,” the guard said. Flying into a rage, the Taoist said, “Shit!” he said continuously, “ People say he possesses enormous ability. It’s true. It’s very hard for me to deal with his golden cudgel.” “He is really a man of remarkable ability,” said the guard. “But you’ re not second to him. You two are equal in strength.” “He won the first two rounds,” said the Taoist. “That’s right,” the guard said, “but you won the second two rounds. Every time the monkey wanted to take the spring water, you drove him away. You’re just well-matched. He could do nothing but go away. But he comes again. Why? It must be that Tang Monk will give birth to baby immediately.” On his words, the Taoist was very excited and cried to Monkey King, “You dirty monkey, why are you coming back?” “I come to take some water,” Monkey King replied. “It’s my water,” replied the Taoist. “Whoever wants to take the water must give me rich gifts. No exception even for the emperor and prime minister, let alone you, my enemy.” “You really don’t give me the water?” asked Monkey King. “Absolutely not!” “You devil!” cursed Monkey King. “Now that you don’t want to give me the spring water, let me fight you!”
While Monkey King fighting the Taoist, the doorman safeguarded the well in order to prevent Monkey King from taking the spring water. Seeing Sha Monk with a bucket in hand, the guard asked, “Who are you? How can you dare to take the water?” Without saying anything and taking out his treasured stick, Sha Monk struck the guard in his head. Too late to withdraw, the guard had his left arm struck broken and fell down struggling desperately. “My original idea is to kill you,” Sha Monk shouted to the guard. “But I pity you and let you go this time because you’re a man. Don’t move! Let me take the water!” Uttering cries of anguish, the guard ran away. And Sha Monk rushed to the well and get the spring water with his bucket. “Brother!” Sha Monk cried to Monkey King. “I’ve already got the spring water. Let’s go!”
On his words, Monkey King stopped fighting and said to the Taoist, “ Listen to me! My original idea is to kill you all. Better thinking, you haven’t broken the law. And secondly, I treat you this way only for the purpose of showing due respect for the feelings of your brother, Ox Devil King.” Monkey King said, “At the beginning, I was struck by you and failed to get the water. But this time, I changed my stratagem and adopted a skill of luring the tiger out of the mountains. That is to say, I lured you to fight me so as to give an opportunity to my brother to take the water. If I really want to fight you, you’ll be killed definitely. Not to say a single person like you. Even if several ones like you, there’s still no problem for me to kill them. But killing a person is no better than letting him go. This time, I forgive you. But from now on, you’re not allowed to force water-takers to give you gifts.” Not knowing what was good and what was bad, the Taoist still wanted to put up a last-ditch struggle. Quick of eye and deft of hand, Monkey King snatched the hook from the Taoist and broke it into four pieces and dropped them onto the ground. “You devil!” cursed Monkey King. “Do you still dare to resist?” Terribly trembling and extremely ashamed, the Taoist said nothing. Monkey King laughed happily and turned a somersault and disappeared into the sky. Not long after, he caught up with Sha Monk.
Back at the village, they saw Tang Monk and Pig Bajie suffering from terrible pain of their big bellies. With a protrusive bell, Pig Bajie was leaning against the door frame and groaning painfully. Stealthily stepping up, Monkey King said to Pig Bajie in joke, “When to give birth to your baby?” All in a flurry, Pig Bajie scolded Monkey King, “Don’t make a fun of me. You got the water?” Monkey King wanted to crack a joke continuously. But Sha Monk came. “Water has come! Water has come!” cried Sha Monk. Disregarding the unbearable pain, Tang Monk bended over, saying, “Thank you, disciples!” The old lady was also very happy and ladled a large bowl of spring water and then handed it to Tang Monk. “Take it, master,” said the old lady. “Only a mouthful of water. That’ s enough to get rid of nausea, vomiting during pregnancy.” “I don’t need a bowl,” said Bajie. “I just want to drink the water directly from the bucket.” “You crazy!” exclaimed the old lady. “If you take the whole bucket of water, even your intestines will be corroded!”
Scared to death, Pig Bajie didn’t dare to act wantonly and only took half bowel of water. Both Tang Monk and Pig Bajie had a bellyache and their bellies began to rumble. After having loose bowels, they felt that the pain was over and the hard lumps disappeared before long. “Master,” said the old lady, “let us have the surplus water.” Monkey King asked Pig Bajie, “Do you need more?” “I’m all right now,” replied Pig Bajie. “I don’t need anymore.” “Now that they’re all right,” Monkey King said to the old lady, “you can have the surplus water.” “Thank you,” the old lady said to Monkey King. Everyone was delighted. After having a delicious dinner, the master and the disciples took a good sleep. Next morning, they set out early to continue their long journey.