"That dragon ate my horse!" said the monk. He fell to his knees. "How will I ever get to the Western Paradise? There are so many dangers along the way!"
Wukong laughed. "Master, you worry too much. There will be many dangers on your journey. But you have me, the Monkey King, to protect you. All of Heaven's soldiers couldn't defeat me. So why worry about a dragon?"
The monkey stepped into the water and pulled out his iron bar. "I'll get the dragon to come out of the water." He looked down at the water. "Dragon! Get up here right now!"
The dragon leaped from the water. "How dare you yell at me! Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am!" shouted Wukong. "Give that horse back!"
The monkey attacked the dragon with his iron bar. The dragon spun around, blocking the bar with his tail. Then with a splash, he dived back underwater.
Wukong stomped his foot and yelled at the river. "Coward!"
"What will we do?" asked the Tang Monk. "I have no horse."
Wukong nodded. "And we can't cross the river with that dragon in there. I'll try another plan."
The monkey swirled the water with his iron bar. The water became rough. Waves crashed and churned. The water dragged up dirt from the river bottom. Soon the river was brown and muddy.
The dragon appeared again. "What on earth are you doing now?" he cried. "I'm trying to take a nap!"
"Give us back our horse!" demanded Wukong.
"I can't!" cried the dragon. "It's in my stomach!"
The monkey attacked the dragon again. But once more the dragon disappeared under the water.
For more than three hours, Wukong yelled at the river. He yelled all kinds of insults. But the dragon would not come back up.
Wukong climbed up the riverbank and sat down next to the Tang Monk. "That dragon is tough. I'm not afraid of him, but I can't beat him either. I need help."
"Who can help you?" asked the Tang Monk.
Wukong thought for a moment. "Guanyin told me I can ask her for help if I need it."
"Yes," said the Tang Monk. "She told me the same thing."
Wukong felt the headband and shot a look at the monk. "She already did help you. She gave you this tight headband." He sighed. "But that doesn't matter now. You wait here. I'll be back soon."
* * *
Wukong shot into the air and flew south. Soon he came to Mount Potalaka in the South Sea.
Guanyin was in a garden next to her pagoda. "Hello, Wukong," she said. "How is the journey going? I see you're wearing the headband."
"Yes, thanks to your dirty tricks!" said the monkey.
Guanyin smiled. "You need that headband, Wukong. You are too violent and cruel."
Wukong rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm here because I have a problem. We reached a wide river with a dragon in it. The dragon ate our horse."
"Did you tell the dragon that you're traveling with the Tang Monk?" asked Guanyin.
"No," said the monkey. "Why?"
Guanyin sighed. "That dragon was waiting for you. When I met him, he was being punished for setting fire to his father's palace. I told him to help the Tang Monk reach the Western Paradise. That way he can earn forgiveness."
Wukong scratched his head. "It's too late for that now. He won't come out of the water."