It was nearing midnight. Dorje the Monk said:

“But Master, why did Chou Long and the Yaoguai want to eat Zhu Bajie and Sanzang the monk?”

The Abbot considered him in the shadows of the prayer room.

“You see, Dorje, Sanzang the Monk was no ordinary monk. He was chosen by the Boddhisatva Guanyin to retrieve the True Scriptures from the Western Paradise of Jiu Jin Shan. One bite of his flesh would make any monster immortal, and reveal to him the secrets of heaven and earth.”

Dorje thought about this. “So Chou Long, in fact, was a pious monster?”

“This is one interpretation,” said the Abbot. "Another interpretation is that Zhu Bajie is the pious one, since it is he who makes the parable of the man in hell, and the propitiation of hellfire."

"But Zhu Bajie is a glutton, a pig," said Dorje.

"And thus he understands best the hungers and exigencies which are inherent to the flesh," replied the Abbot. He rose up through the cold air of the prayer hall.

"A third interpretation is that the Monk Sanzang and Yulong the Horse are the only pious ones, since only they say nothing, because they are continually appalled by the transient nature of physical things. The counterargument is that horses can't talk and the Monk Sanzang is just zonked on methamphetamines."

"These are a few interpretations among many. First, hear the rest of the story."