Chapter 28: Flower-Fruit Mountain's Demons Gather in Loyal Brotherhood; Tripitaka Meets a Monster in Black Pine Forest

Now the Great Sage, though driven off by Tripitaka, still thought of him with grief and long regret. He soon came in sight of the Eastern Sea and said, "I have not traveled this road for five hundred years!"

And there before him lay the sea:

Waves and mist rolled on and on, great billows moving without pause.
The waves rose with the sky and linked to the Milky Way; the surging water ran down to the very root of the earth.
The tide came roaring in, filling every inlet and bend.
It thundered like the cry of spring lightning, and its flooding swell seemed like a furious wind in high summer.
Even immortals riding dragons would have to knit their brows here;
even immortal boys riding cranes would have reason to worry.
Near the shore there were no villages; by the water there were few fishing boats.
The waves rolled up snow from a thousand years; the wind stirred autumn in the heat of the sixth month.
Wild birds came and went at will; gulls rose and sank as they pleased.
No fishing folk were in sight, only gulls at the edge of hearing.
The fish under the sea were at ease; the wild geese in the sky were full of sorrow.

Wukong leapt into the air and crossed the Eastern Sea in a single bound. Soon he reached Flower-Fruit Mountain. He lowered the cloud, looked around, and saw that the mountain had been stripped bare of flowers and grasses. Haze and rosy clouds were gone; the peaks had caved in; the forests were scorched and withered. Why was it so ruined? Because after his rebellion in Heaven, the place had been set on fire by Erlang Shen, the Sagely Manifestation, together with the Seven Brothers of Meishan. The Great Sage felt grief all the more deeply.

A poem bears witness to the ruined mountain:

Looking back at the immortal mountain, tears stream down;
facing the mountain itself, the heart is heavy with grief.
In those days I only said the mountain had suffered no loss;
today I know the earth itself has been made to suffer.
Erlang is hateful for seeking my destruction;
the Little Sage is maddening for cheating a man.
To cut down your ancestral tombs is an act of violence;
to break your forefathers' grave mounds is no affair of mine.
All the rosy haze in heaven has vanished away;
all the wind and cloud over the land have thinned and scattered.
On the eastern ridge no striped tiger now roars;
on the western mountain no white ape can be heard crying.
The foxes and rabbits of the north brook leave no trace;
the antelopes of the south valley have disappeared without sign.
Blue stone has been burned to thousands of clods;
green sand has turned into a single mass of mud.
Outside the cave all the tall pines lie toppled;
before the cliffs the cypresses have all thinned away.
Chaste trees, firs, locusts, cypresses, chestnuts, and sandalwood have all been scorched;
peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, pears, and dates are all gone.
How can silk worms be raised where no mulberry remains?
How can birds roost where the willows and bamboo are so scarce?
Strange rocks at the peak have been reduced to dust;
springs at the ravine's bottom have all run dry.
The earth before the cliff is black, and no orchids or iris remain;
red mud clings to the road, with vines and creepers trailing over it.
Where did the birds fly in those former days?
What mountain did the beasts of that time now seek?
Panthers and pythons would not stay in such a ruin;
cranes avoid snakes and turn away from broken ground.
It must be because of my evil done before,
that now I suffer this present hardship.

The Great Sage was still grieving when he suddenly heard, from the grassy slope and the hollow among the thorn bushes, a cry and a rustle. Seven or eight little monkeys leapt out and crowded around him, bowing low again and again.

"Great Sage, you have come home today!"

The Handsome Monkey King said, "Why have you all stopped playing and hiding? I have been here for a long while and have not seen so much as a shadow of you. What happened?"

The monkeys all wept as they answered. "After the Great Sage was taken up into Heaven, we suffered terribly at the hands of hunters. Their hard bows and strong arrows, their yellow hawks and vicious dogs, their snares, spears, and hooks were more than we could bear. So, to save our lives, we dared not show our faces. We hid deep in the caves and kept far away from the nest. When we were hungry, we crept to the slope to eat grass; when we were thirsty, we went down to the ravine for clear spring water. When we heard the Great Sage's voice just now, we came at once to greet you. We beg you to protect us."

Wukong heard this and grew even more sorrowful.

"How many of you are left on this mountain?"

The monkeys answered, "Young and old together, only about a thousand."

Wukong said, "When I left, I had forty-seven thousand little monsters under me. Where have they all gone?"

The monkeys said, "After you left, the mountain was set on fire by Erlang the Bodhisattva, and more than half of them were burned to death. We hid in wells, burrowed into ravines, and took shelter beneath the Iron-Board Bridge, and that is how we saved our lives. When the fire died and the smoke cleared, there was no more fruit to eat in the mountain, and many of us could not survive. Half again went elsewhere. Those of us who remained have only managed to endure in the mountain. In the last two years, the hunters have taken away half again."

Wukong asked, "What do you mean, taken away?"

The monkeys said, "Those hunters are hateful indeed. Any of us struck by their arrows or spears, or beaten and killed by poison, they carry off to skin and bone. They stew us in sauce, steam us in vinegar, fry us in oil, and salt us up for their meals. And those caught in nets or nooses, if they are taken alive, are made to jump through hoops, perform tricks, somersault, and stand on their heads. They beat drums and strike gongs in the street and do with them whatever they please."

The Great Sage heard this and grew furious.

"Who is in charge in the cave?"

The monkeys answered, "Marshal Ma and Marshal Liu, and Generals Beng and Ba are still there in command."

Wukong said, "Go and tell them I am here."

The little monkeys ran into the cave and shouted, "Great Sage, the Great Sage has come home!"

Marshal Ma, Marshal Liu, Beng, and Ba heard the news, hurried out, and bowed to welcome him into the cave. The Great Sage sat in the center, the demons knelt in rows before him, and they asked:

"Great Sage, we heard lately that you had regained your life and were protecting Tripitaka to the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures. Why have you not gone west, and why have you returned to your native mountain?"

Wukong said, "You little ones do not know. That Tang monk cannot tell good from bad. I have captured monsters and seized demons for him along the whole road, using every trick I know, and several times I have killed demons for him. Yet he says I behave violently and commit evil. He would not have me as his disciple and drove me away, writing out a dismissal letter as proof. He will never again have my service."

The monkeys clapped and laughed.

"Good fortune, good fortune! Why become a monk? Come home and play with us for a few years."

They called, "Quickly, bring out the coconut wine and welcome the Great Sage home."

Wukong said, "Do not drink yet. Tell me, how often do the hunters come up this mountain?"

Marshal Ma and Marshal Liu said, "Great Sage, no matter the season, they come here every day to make trouble."

Wukong asked, "Then why have they not come today?"

They said, "Perhaps they are on their way."

Wukong ordered, "Little ones, go and gather up all the scorched loose stones from the mountain and pile them for me. Some piles of twenty or thirty will do, or some of fifty or sixty. I have need of them."

The little monkeys, all buzzing like a hive, moved the stones in heaps and stacks. Wukong looked them over and told them, "All of you hide in the cave. Let Old Sun work his spell."

Then the Great Sage climbed to the mountain top. Looking down, he saw drums booming on the south side and gongs clanging. More than a thousand men and horses were coming up the mountain, with hawks, hounds, knives, and spears.

He looked carefully. Those men were indeed fierce and brave.

They wore fox-fur capes on their shoulders and brocade wrapped around their waists and chests.
Quivers of wolf-tooth arrows hung at their sides, and jeweled carving bows were slung at the hip.
They moved like tigers searching the mountains and horses leaping ravines.
Hounds followed in packs; hawks perched on every arm.
Firelocks were carried in bamboo baskets, and sea-eagles were tied in place.
There were hundreds of pole nets for birds, and thousands of rabbit forks.
Cow-headed blocking nets and nooses fit for King Yama.
All at once they shouted and scattered over the sky like stars.

The Great Sage saw them spreading across his mountain, and rage rose in him. He pinched a sign with his fingers, muttered a spell, drew in a breath from the southeast, and blew it out. At once there came a fierce wind. What a wind it was:

Dust flew up, earth was scattered, trees were blown down and forests broken.
The sea surged like mountains, the rolling waves stacked in ten thousand layers.
Heaven and earth went dim and dark; sun and moon were swallowed in shadow.
At one turn the pines roared like tigers; at another the bamboo sounded like dragon song.
Every hollow wailed with the sound of Heaven itself drawing breath;
sand and stones flew wildly, striking and wounding men.

Then the Great Sage let the wind carry the loose stones in wild flight. Alas for those thousand or more men and horses! One by one:

Stone crushed their black heads to powder; sand flew and all their horses were wounded.
Ginseng, cinnamon, and cassia were busy at the ridge's edge; blood dyed the cinnabar ground.
Aconite could not return to its own home; areca nuts had no way to get back to their land.
Bodies lay as light as flour in the field of slaughter, while their wives at home waited in vain.

A poem says:

How can men return home when men and horses are dead?
Wild ghosts and lonely souls are scattered like hemp.
Pity these valorous soldiers who shook themselves in vain;
they could not tell good from bad, and their blood stained the sand.

Wukong lowered the cloud and clapped his hands with a laugh.

"Good fortune, good fortune. Ever since I went over to Tripitaka's side and became a monk, he has often lectured me: 'If you do good for a thousand days, it is still not enough; if you do evil for a single day, evil will remain.' Truly, such words exist. While I was following him, if I killed a few monsters he blamed me for violence. Today I have come home and finished off so many hunters."

He called out, "Little ones, come out!"

The monkeys, after the wind had passed, heard Wukong calling and all sprang out.

Wukong said, "Go down the southern slope and strip the clothes from the dead hunters. Wash off the blood and wear them for warmth. Push the corpses of the dead into the thousand-fathom deep pool. Drag the dead horses back here, skin them for boots, and salt the meat so we can eat it slowly. Take the bows, spears, and knives and practice with them. Gather in the odd-colored flags and banners and bring them to me."

The monkeys all accepted the order.

Wukong took the flags apart, washed them, and stitched them into one multicolored banner. On it he wrote fourteen characters: "Rebuild Flower-Fruit Mountain, restore Water-Curtain Cave, Great Sage Equal to Heaven." He raised the pole and hung the banner outside the cave.

Each day he gathered demons and wild beasts, stored up grass and grain, and never again spoke the word "monk."

He was generous and powerful besides, and so he went to borrow sweet rainwater from the Dragon Kings of the four seas and washed the mountain green again. He planted elms and willows in front, pines and nanmu behind. Peaches, plums, jujubes, and apricots were all planted in good order. He lived free and easy, happy in his mountain kingdom, and there is no need to say more of it.

Now to turn back to Tripitaka. He had listened to his monkish nature's cunning, let the mind-monkey go free, and mounted up again. Bajie walked ahead to clear the road, while Sha Wujing carried the baggage westward.

They crossed White Tiger Ridge and soon saw a stretch of wooded hills. It was truly a place where vines climbed and creepers wound, with dark cypresses and green pines.

Tripitaka called out, "Disciples, this road is rough and hard to travel, and the pine woods are thick and crowded. You must be very careful, for there may be evil spirits or wild beasts here."

The fool threw himself into the work, told Sha Wujing to lead the horse, and used his rake to cut a path as he guided Tripitaka into the pine forest. As they were going along, the elder pulled up his horse and said, "Bajie, I am truly hungry today. Where can I find some vegetarian food?"

Bajie said, "Master, dismount and wait here while Old Pig goes to find some."

Tripitaka got down. Sha Wujing set down the load and handed the alms bowl to Bajie.

Bajie said, "I am off."

Tripitaka asked, "Where are you going?"

Bajie said, "Do not worry. I am going to dive through ice to find food, or to cut through snow and beg a meal."

He left the pine forest and walked west for more than ten li, but still did not meet so much as a single household. It was truly a place with wolves and tigers and not the least sign of smoke from people.

The fool walked on with some hardship and thought to himself, "In the days when Wukong was here, the old monk got anything he wanted. Today it falls to me. As the saying goes, 'Only when you are head of the house do you know the price of firewood and rice; only when you raise a child do you know your parents' love.' It is fair enough that I cannot get the food."

Then sleep began to press on him. He thought, "If I go back now and tell the old monk there was nowhere to beg food, he will not believe I walked so far. I had better spend a few more hours wandering before I go back with my answer. Very well, then, I will sleep in this patch of grass for a while."

He tucked his head into the grass and lay down. At first he only meant to doze a little and rise again. But for a man who has walked hard and then dropped his head, sleep comes hard indeed, and he began snoring at once.

Let us not speak of Bajie sleeping there.

Tripitaka, meanwhile, sat in the woods with hot ears and jumping eyes, uneasy in body and mind. He called out to Sha Wujing in haste, "Wuneng has gone to beg food. Why has he not come back at this hour?"

Sha Wujing said, "Master, you still do not know him.

"Since there are many households in the West that feed monks, and his belly is so large, why should he worry about you? He will only come back after he has eaten his fill."

Tripitaka said, "Just so. But if he is greedy for food over there and we cannot find him, the sky will be dark soon, and this is no place to spend the night. We must find a lodging."

Sha Wujing said, "It is no great matter. Master, you sit here a while and let me go look for him."

Tripitaka said, "Just so, just so. Food or no food, never mind that for now. Finding a place to stay is the important thing."

Sha Wujing took up his treasure staff and went out of the pine forest to look for Bajie.

The elder was left alone in the woods, exceedingly bored and tired. He had no choice but to force himself to his feet, gather the luggage together, tie the horse to a tree, take off his broad hat, plant the monk's staff upright, arrange his black robe, and walk slowly through the secluded forest to ease his boredom.

He looked at all the wild grasses and mountain flowers, but he could not listen to the cries of the birds returning to their nests.

The forest was all tangled in grass and narrow paths, and because his thoughts were in confusion he took the wrong road. He had meant only to relieve his boredom and perhaps find Bajie and Sha Wujing, but those two were walking a straight road due west, while the elder turned and wandered south.

When he came out of the pine forest and looked up, he saw gold light flashing on the other side and auspicious clouds rising and drifting. Looking more closely, he found that it was a pagoda with a golden top shining brilliantly. The setting sun was striking the gilded roof and making it glow.

He said to himself, "My disciple and I are still lacking in merit. Ever since I left the Eastern Land, I vowed that when I saw a temple I would burn incense, and when I saw a Buddha I would bow. Is that not a golden pagoda shining ahead? How could I fail to follow that road? There must be a monastery below the tower, and within the monastery there must be monks. Let me go take a look. The baggage and the white horse are not likely to be disturbed in this place where no one passes. If there is a place to rest, I can wait there until the disciples come and then we can lodge together."

Alas, at that moment bad luck had found Tripitaka. He strode up to the tower.

There he saw:

A stone cliff rising ten thousand feet, the mountain pressing up into the blue sky.
Roots joined to the deep earth below, peaks stabbing high into heaven.
To either side were mixed trees in the thousands, and vines before and behind for more than a hundred li.
Flowers reflected on the tips of grass where the wind left its shadow; water flowed through holes in the clouds where the moon had no root.
Fallen trunks leaned across deep ravines; dead vines hung from shining peaks.
Below the stone bridge rolled clear streams; on the terrace stood a great white plastered base.
From afar it looked like heaven among the Three Isles; up close it seemed a wonderland of Penglai.
Fragrant pines and purple bamboo circled the mountain stream; crows, magpies, apes, and monkeys moved through the steep ridges.
Outside the cave gate, beasts came and went in file; within the forest, birds flew in and out in ranks.
Green sweet grass stood lush, and bright wild flowers opened everywhere.
This was clearly an evil place, yet the elder had blundered into it by misfortune.

He stepped forward and reached the tower gate. Inside, hanging there, was a strip of variegated bamboo curtain. He pushed through and entered. Lifting his head, he saw a demon lying on a stone bed and sleeping on his side.

What did he look like?

Blue-black face, white fangs, a huge mouth forever gaping.
On both sides hung shaggy sideburns, dyed red as cinnabar;
three or four ranks of purplish beard made him look like a luxuriant lychee spray.
His nose curled up like a parrot's beak; his eyes were bright as dawn stars.
His fists were the size of alms bowls; his feet were blue as a cliff root.
He wore a pale yellow robe, as splendid as a brocade cassock.
The blade he held gleamed cold and sharp; the stone he slept on was smooth and flawless.
He had once marshaled little demons like ants; he had once sat as the great monster over a hive of spirits.
His majesty was so fierce men shouted "Master" without thinking;
he could drink wine from a moonlit cup with three companions, or pour tea in cups with two wings of wind.
His supernatural power was vast; in the snap of an eye he could roam the whole world.
Wild forest birds and beasts made noise together; in the deep thickets dragons and snakes slept side by side.
Immortals planted fields and raised white jade; Daoists fired furnaces and bred cinnabar.
Though the cave gate was small, it was no lesser than the hell of Avici;
the monster himself was brute-faced, but no less than a bull-headed yaksha.

Tripitaka saw him in this shape and was so frightened that he staggered backward, his whole body going weak and numb and both legs losing strength. At once he turned to flee.

The demon's spirit was truly strong. As soon as Tripitaka turned, he opened his golden eyes wide and called out, "Little ones, what sort of man is standing outside the gate?"

One little monster peeked out and saw a bald-headed elder at the door. He ran back at once to report, "Great King, there is a monk outside. Round head, broad face, ears hanging to the shoulders, soft and smooth all over, with delicate skin and a fair face. He is a very fine monk."

The demon laughed when he heard it.

"This is the flies-on-a-snake's-head kind of luck - food that has come of its own accord. You little ones, hurry and seize him for me. I will reward you richly."

The little monsters swarmed out like a hive.

Tripitaka had a heart as frantic as an arrow and feet as quick as flight, but his nerves still shook and his legs had gone numb. And the road was steep and broken, the woods deep and the day already late. He could not move fast enough. The little monsters simply carried him off.

Truly, a dragon in shallow water is mocked by shrimp; a tiger on the flat plain is bullied by dogs. Even good deeds have many obstacles, but who suffers as much as Tripitaka on the road to the West?

The little monsters carried the elder and set him down outside the bamboo curtain, then hurried in with joy to report, "Great King, we have brought the monk."

The old demon cast a sly glance and saw that Tripitaka was straight of posture and handsome of face, truly a fine monk.

"Such a good monk must be one of the upper realms. He is no common thing," he thought. "If I do not show some authority, why would he submit?"

At once he put on a tiger's ferocity, made his red beard stand up, threw his blood-colored hair skyward, bulged his eyes, and shouted, "Bring the monk in!"

The demons all answered at once, "Yes!" and shoved Tripitaka inward.

This was a time for "under the low eaves, one must bow the head." Tripitaka had no choice but to join his hands and offer a bow.

The demon asked, "What monk are you? Where have you come from, and where are you going? Speak quickly!"

Tripitaka said, "I am a monk from Great Tang, sent by imperial command to the West to seek the scripture verses. I passed through your honored mountain and came here specially to pay my respects beneath the tower. I did not expect to disturb your majesty. I beg forgiveness. When I have gone west, obtained the scriptures, and returned to the Eastern Land, your great name will be forever spread abroad."

The demon burst out laughing.

"I said you were a man of the upper realms, and so you are. I was just about to eat you, and you have come at the perfect time. If you had not come now, I might have missed you. You are born to be food in my mouth, and now that you have stumbled here, you will not be able to escape whether you go or stay!"

He called to the little monsters, "Take the monk away and bind him."

At once the little monsters crowded forward and wound rope around Tripitaka, tying him fast to the Soul-Securing Post.

The old demon held his knife and asked again, "Monk, how many are in your party? Surely you do not think one man can go all the way to the Western Heaven?"

Tripitaka, seeing the knife, spoke honestly.

"Great King, I have two disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. They have gone out of the pine forest to beg food. There is also one load of baggage and a white horse, both left in the pine forest."

The old demon said, "That is even better. Two disciples, plus the three of you, plus the horse - four in all. Enough for one meal."

A little monster said, "Shall we go catch them?"

The old demon said, "No need to go out. Shut the front gate. When they come back after begging food, they will certainly look for their master. If they do not find him, they will surely come to our door. As the saying goes, 'A business that comes to your door is an easy business.' Let us wait and catch them slowly."

So the little monsters closed the front gate.

Let us not speak for the moment of Tripitaka's calamity.

Sha Wujing, for his part, had gone into the forest looking for Bajie and walked more than ten li without seeing a single village or hamlet. He stood on a high mound and was looking about when he heard someone talking in the grass. He hurriedly used his staff to part the deep weeds and saw that it was just the fool lying there talking in his sleep.

Sha Wujing grabbed his ear and woke him at once.

"You fool! Master told you to beg food. Did he allow you to sleep here?"

Bajie woke in a daze and said, "Brother, what time is it?"

Sha Wujing said, "Get up quickly. Master says food or no food, it does not matter now. He told us to find a place to stay."

The fool, still muddled, took up the alms bowl, clamped his rake under his arm, and returned with Sha Wujing.

When they got back to the forest, the master was nowhere to be seen.

Sha Wujing complained, "It was all because of you, fool, that you did not come back with the food. A demon must have taken Master."

Bajie laughed. "Brother, do not talk nonsense. That forest is quiet and elegant. There is certainly no demon. I think the old monk could not sit still and went off to look around. Let us go find him."

The two had no choice but to lead the horse and carry the load, gather up the cloak and staff, and leave the pine forest to search for their master.

This time Tripitaka was not doomed to die. The two of them searched for a while without finding him, and then they suddenly saw gold light flickering to the south and below. Bajie said, "Brother, a man blessed with fortune will always have fortune. Look, Master has gone to a rich household. That shining place is a pagoda. Who would dare slight it? They must be arranging a vegetarian meal and keeping him there to enjoy it. We should hurry and catch up so we can have some vegetarian food too."

Sha Wujing said, "Brother, fortune and misfortune are hard to know. Let us go take a look."

The two of them, full of swagger, came to the gate. Alas, it was shut tight.

Above the gate there was a white jade tablet with six characters carved on it: Bowl-Handle Mountain Moonlight Cave.

Sha Wujing said, "Brother, this is not a temple at all. It is a demon's cave. If Master is here, he will not have it easy."

Bajie said, "Brother, do not be afraid. Tie up the horses and watch the baggage. Let me go in and ask what the story is."

The fool raised his rake and shouted to the gate, "Open up! Open the gate!"

Inside the cave, a gatekeeper little monster opened the gate and saw the two of them. He hurried back inside to report, "Great King, the business has arrived."

The old demon asked, "What business?"

The little monster said, "At the cave gate there is a monk with a long mouth and big ears, and another monk with a gloomy face, calling for the gate."

The old demon was delighted.

"It is Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing coming to look for us. Ah, he can search after all. How did he find my gate? Since their faces are so fierce, do not treat them lightly."

He called, "Bring my armor."

The little monsters brought it, and he dressed himself, took up his knife, and went straight out the gate.

Now Bajie and Sha Wujing were waiting by the gate when the demon came out looking fierce indeed.

Look how he was dressed:

Blue face, red beard, and bright red hair streaming.
Gold armor flashing with hard light.
A stone belt bound his belly and waist; a cloud-stepping sash crossed his chest and armor.
When he stood alone on the mountain, the wind howled;
when he wandered the outer seas, the waves roared.
His blue-black hands were tough as sinew,
and in them he gripped the soul-taking, life-stealing blade.

To know his name and title, listen: he was called the Yellow-Robed Demon.

The old monster came out of the gate and asked, "What monks are you, shouting at my door?"

Bajie said, "My son, do you not recognize me? I am your grandfather. I am one of the Tang monks headed west on imperial command. My master is Tripitaka, the imperial brother. If he is in your house, send him out at once, and spare me the trouble of pounding in your gate with my rake."

The demon laughed.

"Yes, yes, yes. There is a Tang monk in my house, and I have not mistreated him. I have even had some human-meat buns made for him to eat. Why not come in and eat one yourself?"

The fool really began to step inside.

Sha Wujing grabbed him at once.

"Brother, he is tricking you. Since when do you eat human flesh?"

The fool woke up at once, snatched up his rake, and struck the demon full in the face. The demon dodged aside and met him with the steel knife. The two of them both showed their powers, rode clouds into the air, and fought there in the sky. Sha Wujing abandoned the luggage and the white horse, raised his treasure staff, and hurried up to help.

So there were two fierce monks and one wicked demon, and high in the clouds they fought a splendid battle:

Staff meeting knife; rake meeting knife.
A demon general showed his power; two divine monks displayed their transformations.
The nine-toothed rake was truly heroic, and the demon-quelling staff was indeed fierce and wild.
Without moving east or west, they came on in all directions; that Yellow-Robed Demon was openly unafraid.
His steel knife flashed like silver, and his own supernatural force was vast beyond measure.
All the sky was filled with twisting mist and cloud; half the mountain shook and cracked apart.
One fought for his fame and would not give over;
the others fought for their master and would not fear.

The three of them went back and forth in the air, fighting through dozens of rounds without a winner. Since each side had life and death at stake, the struggle could not be broken.

But how Tripitaka is to be rescued, that must wait for the next chapter.