Narration   Scene: Outside the Guanyin Hall

*Guanyin, Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara)

 

Narration They went to the Guanyin Hall and decided to have a rest, but Sun Xiaoshi felt that this place seemed familiar...

 

Dialogue   Scene: Outside the Guanyin Hall

-Sun Xiaoshi: Where is it? Guan…Yin… Yuan… Oh, it’s a Guanyin Hall     

-Sun Xiaoshi: Master, We are exhausted from our traveling, why don't we stop here for a rest?

-Protagonist: All right, let’s go inside.

 

                                                                                   

I. Mystery in the Temple                                                                                

Pushed open the gate (sound of the gate opening)

 

Dialogue   Scene: Inside the Guanyin Hall

-Sun Xiaoshi: (Why do I have the strange sense of déjà vu?)

-Sun Xiaoshi: Master, I feel like I’ve been here before... Let me take a closer look.

Sun Xiaoshi rummaged around and accidentally knocked over the oil lamp (the sound of the oil lamp falling to the ground)

-Sun Xiaoshi, what... what happened? How could this hall be burnt like this!

 

Picture of fire debris                                                   

           

-Xiao Bailong: Ah.. Now I remember... Isn't this the Guanyin Hall where we stayed a night when Master’s embroidered cassock was stolen?

-Protagonist: What the hell was going on?

-Xiao Bailong: On our journey to the West, we stopped by the hall and stayed for a night’s lodging. The old abbot here accommodated us, but unexpectedly, when he saw Master’s cassock, he was indeed moved to villainy. He set fire to our rooms to burn us to death at that night so that he could take the cassock for his own.

-Sun Xiaoshi: (surprised) This old monk was really vicious!

-Protagonist: Monks... shouldn't they all be compassionate?

-Xiao Bailong: Fortunately our elder brother borrowed the Fire-Repelling Cover from Virūpākṣa, so we escaped. But actually, I did not know the whole thing because I was with Master all night.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Why I did not remember such an important thing at all? No, I need to ask Virūpākṣa about it.

 

                                                                                   

II. The All-seeing Eye

                                                                                   

Full-body standing drawing of Virūpākṣa（Appearance of sound effects and animated effects of clouds and mists）

*Virūpākṣa is the guardian of the western direction. He lives in the western part of Sumeru. He is the leader of the nāgas and pūtanas.

 

He possesses the divine eye (Skt. divyena cakṣuṣā), which allows him to see great distances as well as the karma of sentient beings.

 

Dialogue   Scene: Inside the Guanyin Hall      

-Virūpākṣa: (Suddenly shows up)So everyone, To what do I owe this pleasure?

-Sun Xiaoshi: Are you Virūpākṣa? How do you know we are looking for you?

-Virūpākṣa: "With the divine eye, all manifestations of nature as well as the karma of sentient beings are clear to me. There is nothing in this world that would escape my eyes.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Then can you tell me what happened at that night? Did they steal Master’s cassock? What in heaven's name was that all about?

-Virūpākṣa: So what if I know? And What if I don’t know?

-Sun Xiaoshi: Come on, cough it up, tell us what you know!

-Virūpākṣa: What an interesting little monkey! Why should I tell it to someone I have never met before? Just because you want to know?

-Sun Xiaoshi: (scratching his ears and cheeks) What do you want?

-Virūpākṣa: This place has been attacked by monsters many times recently. The people are seized with fear. I am too busy to deal with them, so if you help me solve this, I'll tell you the ins and outs of the whole thing.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Piece of cake! But you have to keep your word!

-Virūpākṣa: Immortals never lie.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Master, let's go!

 

Battle with monsters                                                                          

 

           

III. Burning with Jealousy                                                                   

 

-Sun Xiaoshi: Huh... I know why you didn't handle them yourself. They are really a bunch of tough monsters.

-Virūpākṣa: (smiling slyly) Haha, Welcome back my dauntless friends. Your heroic efforts will be greatly appreciated.

-Sun Xiaoshi: You must tell us what happened to this Guanyin Hall now, surely?

-Virūpākṣa: Yes, yes, of course, do you know the "Three Poisons" in Buddhism?

-Xiao Bailong: Raga, Dvesha, and Moha?

*Moha (delusion, ignorance), Raga (greed, sensual attachment), and Dvesha (aversion, hate)

 

-Virūpākṣa: (nodding) Raga, one of the three poisons, refers to greed and sensual attachment. It includes any form of desire including attachments to fame, fortune, and treasure. People lost in Raga will sink into boundless avarice.

-Virūpākṣa: And the cassock story began with greed. That night, Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong stopped by the hall and asked for a night’s lodging.                       

 

                                                                                   

Gate of the Guanyin Hall (sound of a knock at the gate)

                       

-Virūpākṣa: By the way, it’s kind of funny how your little monkey looks like Wukong.

-Sun Xiaoshi: And then what?

-Virūpākṣa: They were warmly welcomed by the monk from the hall as venerable fathers from the Tang court in the land of the East, and entered the temple gate. Sanzang had not finished thanking him when an old monk emerged from the rear, supported by his disciples, attired in a brocaded woolen frock, and wore a hat topped by a precious, shining cat’s-eye stone.

-Sun Xiaoshi: My goodness, how could a monk's clothing be so extravagant... He must be as rich as the wealthy locals.

-Virūpākṣa: (gives a meaningful smile but keeps silent) The old abbot has been gathering rare treasures for years. He was so immersed in his own vanity, so certainly he thought it was an opportunity to flaunt his wealth in front of the monks from the Land of the East.

-Virūpākṣa: But Sun Wukong thought these treasures were mundane, against Sanzang’s dissuasion, he took theirs for the old abbot to look at — the embroidered cassock bestowed by Bodhisattva Guanyin.

                                                                                               

Icon of the embroidered cassock (splendor animated effect sound effect)

 

-Virūpākṣa: That got them in trouble. When the old abbot saw a treasure of such quality, he begged to borrow the cassock for a few days, so he could feast his eyes on its beauty.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Borrow and never give it back?

-Virūpākṣa: Hahaha, you little monkey does see him through!

-Virūpākṣa: That's right after he got the cassock, he cried with his disciples about his jealousy of Sanzang and wanted to own the cassock forever.

-Virūpākṣa: So his disciples conspired with him to set fire to the rooms of Sanzang and Wukong, Once they die, the cassock would belong to the old abbot.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Pfeeeh! What kind of evil monk is he? Such a treacherous murderer and robber must live by a devil’s doctrine!

-Virūpākṣa: You all know what happened next. The fire destroyed the whole monastery, but Sanzang was unharmed under the protection of the Fire-Repelling Cover. Seeing Sanzang and Wukong alive and intact, the monks were scared out of their wits, thinking that the wronged souls had come to seek vengeance. And the old abbot, feeling utterly helpless to see the ruined monastery and frightened by the Sanzang’s power, rammed his head into the wall.

-Virūpākṣa: Humans are at first born from desire, and will eventually die in desire.

-Virūpākṣa: Desire is not a demon in itself. It is legitimate for mortals to pursue fame and fortune all their life. But be careful not to be a man whose avarice knows no bounds, because that will destroy you.

-Xiao Bailong: Alas, what a tragedy of vanity.

-Sun Xiaoshi: (scornful) Woes of his own making.

 

                                                                       

IV. Good in the Evil                                                          

A monk opened the gate (sound of opening the gate)

 

Dialogue    Inside the Guanyin Hall

-Monk: Why are you standing outside? Please come in and have a rest.

-Sun Xiaosh: Ah, I didn’t notice that there is still a monk living in the Guanyin Hall...

-Protagonist: Sorry for our discourtesy.

-Monk: It's okay, I was just cleaning the hall for my master.

-Monk: I heard you talking about the wrongs that my master had committed. I want to sincerely apologize to everyone for what he did.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Do you know the old monk in the story?

-Monk: The old monk was my master. It was he who took me in and let me stay in the hall when I was a child. If it wasn't for my master, I might have died in the freezing winter.

-Monk: Maybe all of you see him as nothing but a sinful and greedy monk, but he saved my life.

-Virūpākṣa: Good begets good. That’s why after the old monk died, his disciple is still willing to clean the hall for him every day. So his whole life was not too bad in this sense.

-Sun Xiaoshi: Never thought that someone who killed for a fortune would also have a sense of mercy...

-Virūpākṣa: Perhaps for humans, there is only a thin line between good and evil.

-Protagonist: Let's go inside and light incense for the Bodhisattva Guanyin.

-Sun Xiaoshi: As you command, Master.

                       

                                                                       

Light incense QTE + interactions

Narration Inside the Guanyin Hall      

-Narration:

The Guanyin statue in the hall still watches all with its serene and loving eyes.

Nothing, apart from the ruins, could reveal the story of the bygone days.

The turmoil caused by obsession and greed will eventually fade away with time.