The next morning, Tang Priest and his disciples woke up and found the 800-kilometer-wide river frozen. San Zang urged his disciples to cross the river over the ice. When they reached the middle of the river, the ice cracked and the river swallowed Tang Priest who was then captured by the spirit. The three disciples ran after the spirit who knew he was no match for them and did not come out. Monkey King had to seek help from Guanyin (a Bodhis-attva)。 It turned out that the spirit was a big goldfish in the South Sea lotus pond. The fish escaped from the Buddha to hurt people. So the Buddha was asked to retrieve the fish spirit. Later, the four were worrying about how to cross the river. Suddenly, there came an old turtle, who said, “Iused to live in the river. Now that you have chased away the spirit, I am back. Let me help you get across the river.” So the four jumped over the turtle’s back and the turtle took them to the other side of the river.
唐僧師徒四人,一路往西行,傍晚來到了通天河。只見河寬八百里,水勢洶猛,無法渡過,只好在附近村子借宿一夜。他們來到一戶叫陳澄的家中,見全家人正痛哭流涕。經(jīng)詢問才知道通天河有一妖怪,要村里人每年送一對童男童女給它吃,今年正好輪到陳澄家送人。悟空聽了,安慰陳家人不要怕,他和八戒扮作童男童女到廟中等妖怪。關(guān)夜妖怪闖進(jìn)廟來,剛伸手抓女孩,扮女孩的八戒心慌,輪起釘鈀就打,妖怪一溜煙跑回河中。
第二天清晨,唐僧師徒醒來,見八百里河面凍得明鏡一般,唐僧急催徒弟們踏冰過河。走到河中心,只聽“咔嚓”一聲,河面裂開一個(gè)大口,唐僧落到河里被妖怪捉去。三個(gè)徒弟追到河底,妖怪自知不是對手,閉門不出。悟空沒辦法,只好去求觀音菩薩。原來這妖怪正是南海蓮池中一條大金魚,乘菩薩不備,跑出害人,于是菩薩收回這條魚精。師徒四人正愁無法過河時(shí),游過來一只老龜,老龜說:“我原住在河中,你們打走妖怪,我又回來了,我送你們過河吧!”于是師徒四人跳上龜背向河對岸漂去。