Ram-Power Great Immortal

A boiling oil cauldron was set in the center of the royal court, the oil churning and steam billowing; even from ten paces away, one could feel the scorching heat. The Ram-Power Great Immortal stripped off his Daoist robe and leaped into the oil—the assembled civil and military officials gasped, expecting to see a charred corpse float to the surface. But it did not happen. Far from being burned, the Ram-Power Great Immortal seemed as cozy as if he were soaking in a hot spring—he rubbed his arms, washed his face, and even rolled over in the boiling oil. The King was stunned, and the officials were bewildered. This is the 46th chapter; Tiger-Power Great Immortal and Deer-Power Great Immortal had already met their gruesome ends, leaving him as the sole survivor of the three great immortals. He knew there was no way back, but he was unafraid—for he had the Cold Dragon.

Cold Dragon Protection: The Unique Secret Technique of the Ram-Power Great Immortal

Each of the three great immortals possessed a life-saving trump card: Tiger-Power could make his head fly back to him after decapitation; Deer-Power could slice open his belly, remove his internal organs, and then put them back; and the Ram-Power's specialty was "Cold Dragon Protection"—the ability to remain unharmed in boiling oil.

The so-called Cold Dragon is a small dragon-like creature capable of releasing extreme frigidity. Through some unknown method, the Ram-Power Great Immortal had subdued this Cold Dragon and let it coil at the bottom of the cauldron. The chill released by the Cold Dragon could plummet the boiling oil's temperature to near room temperature—from the outside, the oil still churned and steam still rose (as that was merely surface heat), but the interior of the cauldron was ice-cold. When the Ram-Power Great Immortal jumped in, he felt not the sear of boiling oil, but a pool of lukewarm liquid.

This technique was more ingenious than those of Tiger-Power and Deer-Power. Tiger-Power's decapitation survival required waiting for the head to fly back, creating a time gap that could be exploited (which is exactly how Wukong took advantage of it); Deer-Power's evisceration required exposing his organs completely, which was extremely risky. The Ram-Power's Cold Dragon Protection, however, was a "passive defense"—he needed to perform no action; as long as the Cold Dragon remained, the oil could not burn him. Theoretically, this was the safest of the three immortals' challenges.

But "passive defense" also meant a fatal weakness: his safety depended entirely on the Cold Dragon. If the Cold Dragon were gone, he would be nothing more than an ordinary man jumping into boiling oil—without even time to struggle.

Sun Wukong happened to notice this. In the 46th chapter, seeing the Ram-Power Great Immortal bathing so happily in the oil, Wukong knew something was fishy. Using his divine powers, he sought out the North Sea Dragon King—since the Cold Dragon fell under the jurisdiction of the dragon race, the North Sea Dragon King gave a single order, and the Cold Dragon immediately swam away from the bottom of the cauldron.

The moment the Cold Dragon left, the true temperature of the boiling oil returned instantly.

Fried into Mutton: The Darkest Humor in the Entire Book

At the moment the Cold Dragon was reclaimed, the Ram-Power Great Immortal was scrubbing himself in the oil. One second he was enjoying a "hot spring," and the next—the boiling oil pierced straight through his skin.

He had no time to scream. Temperatures of several hundred degrees engulfed his entire body in an instant; skin charred, fat melted, and muscles contracted—massive oil bubbles surged in the pot. The court officials witnessed a body twitching in the boiling oil, rapidly transforming, shrinking, and curling. A moment later, what floated to the surface was not a human form, but a golden-brown fried antelope.

"Fried into mutton"—these are the words Wu Cheng'en used. This is perhaps the coldest joke in the entire Journey to the West. A demon-Taoist who called himself a "Great Immortal" ended up as a dish of food. When Tiger-Power died, he at least left behind a complete tiger corpse; when Deer-Power died, he left a hollowed-out white deer; but the Ram-Power—he didn't even leave an intact body; he became fried mutton.

The dark humor of this scene lies in its "ordinariness." Fried mutton is a common food on a Chinese dinner table, and Wu Cheng'en wrote the death of a demon as the cooking process of a home-style dish. He did not use tragic phrases like "died miserably" or "shattered to pieces," but instead used a flat, domestic image—"fried into mutton." This contrast creates a peculiar reading experience: you know this is a scene of a demon's death, yet the image that springs to mind is that of frying meat in a kitchen. Here, Wu Cheng'en blends horror and farce, leaving the reader unsure whether to be terrified or to laugh.

With this, the sequence of deaths for the three great immortals concluded. Tiger-Power died in absurdity (his head carried off by a dog), Deer-Power died violently (his organs carried off by an eagle), and Ram-Power died ironically (fried into food). The three deaths form a perfect progression: from "ridiculous" to "terrible" to "pitiful"—three animal spirits spent twenty years of effort infiltrating the center of human power, only to be revealed in their true forms all in one night.

There is a deeper layer of irony to the Ram-Power Great Immortal's death: he was the last of the three to die, and the one most reluctant to do so. Tiger-Power entered the fray full of confidence; Deer-Power at least had the resolve to avenge his brother; but the Ram-Power—he was pushed onto the stage after watching his two sworn brothers die before his eyes. It was not that he lacked fear, but that he had no choice. If he refused, how would the King view him? The three great immortals had already lost two rounds; if the third simply surrendered, twenty years of status as national teachers, the splendor of the Three Pure Ones Temple, and the dominance of Taoism in the Chechi Kingdom would all vanish. He was pushed into the oil cauldron by the weight of sunk costs.

From this perspective, the death of the Ram-Power Great Immortal is not just the "elimination of a demon," but the end of a gambler: having lost the first two hands, the stakes on the table were simply too high to walk away, so he bet everything on the final round—and lost himself in the process.

Related Characters

• Tiger-Power Great Immortal — The leader of the three national teachers of Chechi Kingdom, a tiger spirit; the first to die, whose head was carried off by a dog during the decapitation contest.
• Deer-Power Great Immortal — The second of the three national teachers of Chechi Kingdom, a white deer spirit; the second to die, whose internal organs were carried off by an eagle during the evisceration contest.
• Sun Wukong — The primary opponent, who asked the North Sea Dragon King to reclaim the Cold Dragon, stripping the Ram-Power of his protection in the oil.
• Tang Sanzang — The representative of the Buddhist faith in the contest, who was also ordered into the oil cauldron but escaped thanks to Wukong's secret help.
• North Sea Dragon King — At Wukong's request, he reclaimed the Cold Dragon, indirectly causing the death of the Ram-Power Great Immortal.