Chapter 76: Mind and Spirit Settle in the House; Bajie Joins in Subduing the Monster's True Form

Now, as for the Great Sage, he was still inside the old demon's belly. After being tormented for a while, the monster toppled soundlessly to the ground. He looked dead enough, until he twitched and moved a hand.

The monster gasped and cried, "Great Compassionate and Great Merciful Great Sage Equal to Heaven Bodhisattva."

Wukong heard this and said, "My son, do not waste breath. Save a few words. Just call me Sun Grandfather."

The demon, clinging to life, really did call out, "Grandfather, Grandfather, it was all my fault. I made one mistake after another and swallowed you by accident. Now you are turning the tables on me. I beg the Great Sage's mercy. Take pity on this ant's greed for life and spare my life. I am willing to send your master across the mountain."

Though a hero, the Great Sage never lost sight of Tripitaka's progress. Hearing the demon plead for mercy, and being soft-hearted in his own way, he said, "Monster, I will spare you. But how will you send my master?"

The old demon said, "I do not have gold, silver, pearls, jade, coral, glass, amber, tortoise shell, or any other rare treasure to offer. But my three brothers and I can carry your master in a fragrant vine sedan chair and send him across this mountain."

Wukong laughed. "If you carry him in a sedan chair, that is better than gifts. Open your mouth and I will come out."

The old demon really did open his mouth.

The third demon stepped close and quietly said to the old demon, "Big Brother, when he comes out, clamp down hard and chew the monkey to pieces. Swallow him, and then he can no longer harm you."

Inside, Wukong heard every word. He did not come out at once. Instead he poked out the Golden-Hooped Rod to test them.

The monster did indeed bite down. With a crack, all his front teeth were knocked out.

Wukong drew back the staff and said, "Fine monster. I was going to spare your life and come out, but you tried to bite me and kill me. I will not come out. If I stay in here, I will torment you to death. I will not come out. Not coming out."

The old demon complained bitterly to the third demon. "Brother, you have turned on your own family. We were trying to invite him out, and you told me to bite him. I did not get hold of him, but my gums are aching now. What sort of trick is this?"

The third demon, seeing that the old demon blamed him, used a goading trick of his own. He shouted, "Sun Wukong, I have heard your name like thunder in my ears. They say you showed off at the Southern Heavenly Gate and strutted beneath the Hall of Miraculous Mists. Now on the road west you subdue demons and bind fiends, but it seems you are only a junior monkey head."

Wukong said, "Why do you call me junior?"

The third demon said, "A traveler who has gone a thousand li ought to have a name that travels a thousand li too. Come out and fight me. That is what makes a true hero. What sort of work is it to hide in a man's belly? If that is not junior business, what is?"

Wukong heard this and thought, "Yes, yes. If I were to tear his guts and crush his liver now, what would be difficult? But that would ruin my reputation. Very well, then. Open your mouth and I will come out and fight you. Only this cave mouth is too narrow for the work of arms. We must move to a wider place."

The third demon at once ordered all the small fiends, great and small, more than thirty thousand in all, each carrying sharp weapons, to leave the cave and set up a three-talents battle array. They waited for Wukong to come out together.

The two demons helped the old demon to the gate and called, "Sun Wukong, true man, come out. There is room to fight here."

Inside his belly, Wukong heard the cawing of ravens, the chattering of magpies, the cries of cranes, and the sound of wind. He knew it was open ground. Then he thought, "If I do not come out, I break my word. If I do come out, this monster is a beast in human skin. He tricked me with promises to send my master, then wanted to bite me. Now he has set troops in array. Very well. I will make both sides happy. I will come out, and I will leave him something to remember me by inside his own belly."

He turned his hand, plucked one hair from his tail, blew on it with immortal breath, and cried, "Change!"

At once it became a cord as fine as a hair, yet forty zhang long.

The cord wriggled out, caught the wind, and thickened. Wukong tied one end to the monster's heart and made a running knot.

It was not so loose that it would slip, and not so tight that it would stop; if it was pulled tight, it hurt terribly.

Holding the other end, Wukong laughed. "If he truly sends my master across the mountain, that will be that. If not, and he starts waving blades about, I have no time to fight him. I will only pull on this cord, and it will be as if I were still inside his belly."

Then he shrank himself very small and crawled toward the outside.

When he reached the throat, he saw the monster's mouth wide open, with steel teeth set above and below like rows of blades. He thought, "No, no. If I come out through the mouth, he may bite down in pain and snap the cord. I will come out through the place with no teeth."

The fine Great Sage followed the cord and crawled up through the upper palate, all the way to the monster's nostrils. The old demon's nose itched. He sneezed violently and shot Wukong out.

Wukong came into the wind and bent his waist. At once he grew to three zhang tall. He held the cord in one hand and the iron staff in the other.

The old demon, not knowing any better, saw that he had come out and raised his steel blade to hack at his face. The Great Sage met him with one hand on the staff.

Then the second demon came with his spear, and the third demon came with his halberd. They all rushed in without regard for faces or heads.

Wukong relaxed the cord, put away the staff, and quickly leaped onto a cloud and fled.

He was afraid the little demons would surround him and make work difficult.

He jumped clear of the camp and landed on an open hilltop. There he came down from the cloud and pulled with all his strength on the cord. Only then did the old demon feel pain.

When the old demon hurt, he struggled upward; Wukong yanked downward again.

The little demons far away saw this and shouted together, "Great King, do not provoke him. Let him go. This monkey does not even know the season. It is not yet Clear and Bright, and he is already flying a kite."

When Wukong heard this, he used all his strength and stamped once.

The old demon came tumbling out of the sky with a crack, like a spinning wheel falling apart, and crashed into the hard yellow earth below the slope, leaving a pit two chi deep.

The second and third demons were frightened and lowered their clouds together. They rushed forward, seized the cord, and knelt on the slope, begging, "Great Sage, we only thought you were broad in heart and great in spirit. Who knew you were so narrow-bellied and snake-livered? We really did mean to trick you out so that we might meet you in battle. We did not expect you to tie a cord to our big brother's heart."

Wukong laughed. "You vile monsters, you are truly outrageous. Last time you tricked me out and tried to bite me. This time you tricked me out and set troops against me. What logic is there in sending tens of thousands of demons against one man? Pull him out. Pull him out and bring him before my master."

The demons all kowtowed and said, "Great Sage, spare our lives. We are willing to send the holy master across the mountain."

Wukong laughed. "If you want your life, you need only take a knife and cut the cord."

The old demon cried, "My heavens! If I cut the outside part, the inside part is still tied to my heart. Then my throat will turn sick. What can I do?"

Wukong said, "If that is so, open your mouth and let me go back in and untie the cord."

The old demon panicked. "If you go in again, you may refuse to come out. That would be hard indeed."

Wukong said, "I can untie the cord from outside. Will you really send my master across the mountain?"

The old demon said, "If you untie it, we will surely send him. I would not dare speak falsely."

Wukong made sure he was telling the truth and shook himself. At once the hair cord disappeared, and the pain in the old demon's heart stopped. This was one of Sun the Great Sage's disguise tricks: he had tied the demon's heart with a hair cord. Once he retracted the hair, the pain was gone.

The three demons leaped up together and thanked him. "Great Sage, please return and tell Tripitaka to collect his baggage. We will carry him away in the sedan chair."

The demon host laid down their weapons and all went back into the cave.

The Great Sage gathered up the cord and headed back south. At a distance he saw Tripitaka lying on the ground, rolling and crying. Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing had untied the bundles and were dividing the baggage between them.

Wukong sighed to himself. "No need to ask. Bajie must have told Master that I was eaten by the demon, and Master could not bear it and is crying. That fool is dividing the things and preparing to scatter. Hmm. I wonder if that is what is going on. Let me call him and see."

He lowered his cloud and shouted, "Master."

Sha Wujing heard him and blamed Bajie. "You are a coffin seat, always harming people. Senior Brother was not dead, but you said he was dead and got up to this nonsense. Why did you not call him back?"

Bajie said, "I clearly saw him swallowed by the demon. Maybe the day was unlucky, and that monkey has come back as a spirit."

Wukong came up beside him, grabbed his face, and slapped him so hard he staggered. "You clumsy brute! What spirit?"

The fool covered his face and said, "Brother, that monster truly ate you. How are you alive again?"

Wukong said, "Like you, you worthless pus sack? He ate me, and I clawed his intestines, pinched his lungs, and threaded this cord through his heart. I pulled so hard that he could not bear the pain. He knelt and begged, and then I spared him. Now he is coming with a sedan chair to carry my master across the mountain."

Tripitaka heard this and scrambled up at once. He bowed to Wukong and said, "Disciple, you have worn yourself out for us. If I had believed Bajie's words, I should already have been dead."

Wukong punched Bajie and cursed him. "You fat fool! You are always lazy and not at all human."

Tripitaka said, "Do not be angry with him. The monster is already coming to send you all on."

Sha Wujing was also deeply ashamed. He hurried to hide his embarrassment and gathered the baggage and the horse, all of them waiting by the road.

Now to return to the three demon kings and their little fiends. They went back to the cave.

The second demon said, "Brother, I thought Sun Wukong was a nine-headed, eight-tailed monkey. Who knew he was such a little monkey? You should not have swallowed him. If you had only fought him outside, he could never have matched the two of us. There are tens of thousands of demons in this cave. We could have drowned him with spit alone.

But you swallowed him, and then he used his tricks to make you suffer. How could you compare with him? Just now you said you would send Tripitaka, but that was only acting. The truth is that your life matters most, so you frightened him out. You will certainly not send him."

The old demon asked, "Why did you not send him?"

The second demon said, "If you give me three thousand little demons and let me set the array, I have a way to capture that monkey head."

The old demon said, "Never mind three thousand. Go out and set up your camp. As long as you can catch him, then everyone will have merit."

The second demon immediately chose three thousand little demons and went to the side of the road to draw up battle lines. He set up a blue-banner captain to run back and forth giving the report: "Sun Wukong, come out early and fight with my second Great King."

Bajie heard this and laughed. "Brother, as the old saying goes, 'A liar cannot fool a man from his own village.' They are playing false again. They said they would subdue the demon and carry our master away in a sedan chair, but now they are calling out for battle. Why?"

Wukong said, "The old demon has already been subdued by me, and he does not dare show his face. Hearing the word Sun makes his head hurt. This must be the second demon, unwilling to send us away, so he is calling for battle.

Brother, these demons are three brothers and they have some brotherly spirit. Are we brothers of three and without any spirit at all? I have already subdued the big demon. The second demon is out now. You can go fight him. That will be fine."

Bajie said, "What do I fear? Let me go beat him once."

Wukong said, "If you want to go, then go."

Bajie laughed. "Brother, if I go, lend me that cord."

Wukong asked, "What will you use it for? You do not have the skill to crawl inside a belly, and you do not have the skill to tie it to his heart. What good is it?"

Bajie said, "I want to tie it around my waist as a life rope. You and Brother Sha can hold the back end and let me go out to fight him. If I seem to be winning, you let go and I will hold him. If I am losing, pull me back and do not let him drag me away."

Wukong laughed to himself. "This is a good way to tease the fool."

He tied the rope around Bajie's waist and shoved him out to fight.

The fool raised his rake and ran up the slope, shouting, "Monster, come out and let your Pig Grandfather beat you."

The blue-banner captain hurried inside and reported, "Great King, a monk with a long mouth and big ears has come."

The second demon came out with his spear. Seeing Bajie, he did not waste words. He thrust straight at his face. The fool raised his rake and met him.

The two of them locked up before the slope and fought for seven or eight rounds. Then the fool's arms went weak and he could not hold the demon off.

He quickly turned and shouted, "Senior Brother, it is bad. Pull the life rope. Pull the life rope."

Wukong on the other side heard this and let the rope go slack, then tossed it out.

The fool lost the fight and ran back.

The rope had been dragging behind him all along, so he had not noticed it. But after Wukong loosened it, it started tripping his feet. He tripped once, got up, then tripped again.

At first he only stumbled. After that he fell face first.

The demon chased after him, grabbed him by the snout, and coiled him up like a flood-dragon. He returned to the cave in victory.

The demon host all sang a victory song and surged back together.

Tripitaka on the slope saw this and grew angry with Wukong again.

"Wukong, no wonder Bajie curses you when he says you are dead. Your brothers really do not love one another. You are all jealous and suspicious of each other. He told you to pull the life rope, and you did not pull it. You even threw the rope away. Now he has been harmed. What are we to do?"

Wukong laughed. "Master, you are too partial and too softhearted. When I was taken away, you did not worry much about me. You thought I was a man of my fate. But the moment that fool was captured, you blamed me.

Let him suffer a little. Then he will know how hard the scripture road is."

Tripitaka said, "Disciple, when you went away, of course I worried about you. But you can change yourself, so you are not likely to be harmed. That fool is built large and clumsy and cannot fly. He is in greater danger than good fortune.

Go rescue him."

Wukong said, "Master, do not blame me. I will go save him."

He hurried up the mountain, but in secret he thought, "This fool cursed me to death, so I will not make him too happy. I will follow him and see how the demon handles him. Let him suffer a little, then I will rescue him."

He pinched a spell, murmured an incantation, shook his body, and changed into a tiny locust-like insect. He flew after them and stuck himself by Bajie's ear as the group entered the cave.

The second demon led three thousand little fiends with great noise and beating drums to the cave mouth and camped there.

He himself took Bajie inside and said, "Brother, I have caught one."

The old demon said, "Bring him here and let me see."

He loosened the snout grip and dropped Bajie to the ground. "Is this him?"

The old demon said, "This fellow is useless."

Bajie heard this and said, "Great King, if this one is useless, then let him go and go catch one who is useful."

The third demon said, "Though he is useless, he is still Tripitaka's disciple Zhu Bajie. Tie him up and send him to the pond in the back. Once his hair has soaked thin, split open his belly, salt him, and dry him in the sun. Then when the weather turns cloudy, he will make good drink."

Bajie was terrified. "That is enough. I have met demons who trade in pickled meat."

At once the demons tied him in a four-hoofed bundle and carried him to the pond. They shoved him into the water in the middle and all turned back.

The Great Sage flew overhead and looked down. Bajie was floating half in and half out of the water, all four limbs up, his mouth making an ugly grunt. It was truly funny, like a black lotus pod dropped in frost after the eighth or ninth month.

Wukong looked at his face and could not decide whether to hate him or pity him.

"What shall I do? He is still one of the people who came to the Dragon-Flower Assembly. But I hate that he keeps talking about dividing the luggage and scattering, and that he keeps urging Master to recite the Tightening Spell to torment me. The other day I heard Sha Wujing say that Bajie had hidden away some private money. I do not know whether that is true. Let me scare him and see."

The fine Great Sage flew close to his ear and made a fake voice. "Zhu Wuneng, Zhu Wuneng."

Bajie panicked. "Bad luck! My name Wuneng was given by Guanyin Bodhisattva. Since I followed Tripitaka, I have been called Bajie. How is it that someone here knows my name Wuneng?"

He could not stop himself from asking, "Who is calling my Dharma name?"

Wukong said, "It is I."

Bajie asked, "Who are you?"

Wukong said, "I am the officer who comes to summon the dead."

Bajie panicked. "Sir officer, where have you come from?"

Wukong said, "I am sent by the Five Kings of Hell to summon you."

Bajie said, "Sir officer, please go back and tell the Five Kings of Hell that my senior brother Sun Wukong is very good friends with them. Ask them to let me keep my life for one more day and come to summon me tomorrow."

Wukong said, "Nonsense. As the old saying goes, 'When the king of hell marks you for the third watch, who dares keep you until the fourth?' Come along at once, or I will put a rope on you and haul you out."

Bajie said, "Sir officer, is there no easier way? Look at this face of mine. I am still hoping to live.

Death is certain, of course, but let me have one more day. If this monster takes my master and the others too, then we can all settle accounts together."

Wukong laughed inwardly. "Very well. I have thirty men on my books, and they are all somewhere between here and the front gate. If I go fetch them, you can have one more day. Do you have any travel money? Give me some."

Bajie said, "Alas, sir officer, what travel money could a monk possibly have?"

Wukong said, "If you have none, then I will demand it. Follow me."

Bajie panicked. "Sir officer, do not demand anything. I know your rope is called the life-chasing rope. Once it is looped around a man, he loses his breath."

He said, "Yes, yes, I have some money. I only have a little."

Wukong asked, "Where is it? Bring it quickly."

Bajie said, "Alas, I became a monk and from then until now, when some believers have invited monks to feast, because I have such a big appetite they have given me a few extra coins. I saved them up here. Scattered together, they make five mace of silver.

Because they were hard to carry, the last time I went into the city I asked a silversmith to melt them into one lump. He had no conscience and stole a little of mine, so now there is only one piece weighing four mace and six candareens. Take it."

Wukong laughed inwardly. "This fool has no trousers to speak of. Where does he hide such things?"

Then he said, "Your silver is where?"

Bajie said, "It is stuffed in my left ear. I am pinned down and cannot get it out. You take it yourself."

Wukong reached into his ear canal and really did pull out a lump of silver shaped like a saddle, weighing about four mace and five or six candareens.

Holding it in his hand, he could not help laughing aloud.

Bajie, hearing Wukong's voice, cursed wildly from the water. "Heaven destroy that Marshal Canopy! Even now, when I am in such misery, you are here cheating me out of my money."

Wukong laughed again. "You rotten fool. I have been protecting Master through who knows how many hardships, and you have actually saved up private money."

Bajie said, "What sort of private money is this? It is only the scraps I scraped from my teeth. I was not willing to spend it on mouth food. I saved it to buy cloth and make a robe. You frightened it out of me. Give me some back."

Wukong said, "Not even half a cent."

Bajie cursed, "Then at least let me have the ransom money. If you are decent, you will rescue me."

Wukong said, "Do not get angry. I will save you."

He tucked the silver away, resumed his true form, and drew his iron staff. He swept Bajie in and, seizing his feet, hauled him up and untied the rope.

Bajie jumped up, took off his clothes, wrung the water out, and shook it off. Then he pulled the wet robe back over himself and said, "Brother, let us go out through the back gate."

Wukong said, "Going out through the back gate - is that any sign of growth? We will fight our way in through the front gate."

Bajie said, "My feet are cramped and numb. I cannot run."

Wukong said, "Follow me."

The Great Sage swept his staff all along the way, opening a path as he went.

The fool, still numb, had no choice but to follow.

They saw the rake leaning under the second gate, and Bajie rushed up, pushed away the little demons, grabbed it, and began to strike wildly while Wukong cut a path through three or four layers of gates. No one knows how many little demons they killed.

The old demon heard the commotion and said to the second demon, "A good capture, a good capture. Look, Sun Wukong has rescued Zhu Bajie and is injuring our little demons at the gate."

The second demon hurried out, spear in hand, and cursed loudly, "You vile monkey, so outrageous! How dare you despise us?"

The Great Sage heard him and stopped at once. The monster would not waste words either. He thrust his spear. Wukong was a seasoned hand and did not hurry. He drew his iron staff and met him head on.

The two of them fought outside the cave gate in a fine and terrible battle:

The Yellow-Tusk Elephant took human form and entered into sworn brotherhood with the Lion King.
Because the big demon asked him to mediate,
he joined in a plot to eat Tripitaka.
The Great Sage of Equal Heaven had broad divine powers,
and he helped the right destroy the evil fiends.
Bajie, useless and trapped, suffered a poisonous hand,
but Wukong saved him and brought him out the gate.
The demon king pursued him with fierce valor,
spear and staff crossing as each showed his skill.
The spear moved like a python boring through the forest;
the staff flew like a dragon rising from the sea.
One came out of the sea gate and the other crashed through the mist.
In the end it was all for Tripitaka the monk,
and the bitter struggle had no affection in it at all.

Bajie stood on the hillside and watched Wukong and the demon fight. He did not come to help. He only held his rake upright and stared.

The demon saw that Wukong's staff was heavy and that his body had no openings at all, so he braced his spear and shoved out his nose, meaning to coil him up.

Wukong knew his trick and raised the Golden-Hooped Rod with both hands.

The demon wound his nose around Wukong's waist and hips, but not around his hands.

Look at Wukong, twirling the staff like a flower between the monster's nostrils.

Bajie saw this and beat his chest. "Oh, what bad luck for that monster! He wound up my clumsy self and even got my hands, so I could not move. But when he wound up that slippery monkey, he did not get the hands. If that fellow thrust the staff into his nose, it would hurt so badly he would run with tears. How could he hold him?"

Wukong had not thought of that, but Bajie gave him the idea.

He shook the staff once, made it as small as a chicken egg and as long as a zhang, and really did thrust it into the monster's nostril.

The monster was terrified and with a whoosh yanked his nose back.

Wukong turned his hand, seized it, and yanked forward with all his strength.

The monster's nose hurt too badly to stand it, and he staggered after him.

Bajie only then dared come close. He raised his rake and hacked at the monster's hips.

Wukong said, "No, no. The rake teeth are too sharp. They may break the skin and make him bleed. If Master sees that, he will say we are killing living creatures. Use only the handle."

So Bajie really did use the rake handle, stepping and striking, while Wukong led the monster by the nose as though the two of them were elephant handlers, and they dragged him down to the foot of the slope.

Tripitaka, who had been watching intently, saw them come shouting and called out, "Wujing, what is Wukong leading?"

Sha Wujing looked and laughed. "Master, Senior Brother has the monster by the nose. It is truly charming."

Tripitaka said, "Excellent, excellent. Such a huge monster and such a long nose. Ask him whether he is willing to send us across the mountain. If he is, forgive him and do not hurt his life."

Sha Wujing hurried forward and shouted, "Master says that if the monster really sends us across the mountain, then do not hurt his life."

When the monster heard this, he immediately knelt down, muttering through his nose. Wukong had twisted it so badly that it was like a heavy cold. He cried, "Old Master Tang, if you will spare my life, I will immediately carry you in a sedan chair."

Wukong said, "My master and disciples are all people of good faith. If you will do as you say, we will spare your life. Hurry and bring the sedan chair. If you go back on your word again, I will catch you and never spare you again."

The monster got away and kowtowed as he left.

Wukong and Bajie then told Tripitaka everything that had happened.

Bajie was so ashamed he could hardly bear it. He took off his clothes by the slope and let them dry while waiting.

The second demon, trembling, returned to the cave.

Before he even got back, little demons had already reported to the old demon and the third demon that the second demon had been dragged away by the nose.

The old demon was frightened, and with the third demon he led the host out.

When they saw the second demon returning alone, they all helped him in and asked why he had been let go.

The second demon told the company all about Tripitaka's pity and Wukong's willingness to spare them.

Everyone looked at one another and did not dare speak.

The second demon asked, "Brother, are you really going to send Tripitaka?"

The old demon said, "Brother, what are you talking about? Sun Wukong is a monkey head who spreads compassion and justice. When he was in my belly, if he had wanted my life, even a thousand of me would have been killed. Just now he held your nose. If he had wanted to pull it off, he could have torn your nose and made you panic.

Hurry and arrange to send them on."

The third demon laughed. "Send them, send them."

The old demon said, "Brother, what you say sounds like you are still proud. If you will not send them, then the two of us will send them."

The third demon laughed again. "My two brothers, if that monk does not want us to send him and slips by this way, that is still his good fortune. But if he does want us to send him, then I do not know whether that is not just my tiger-driving-away-from-the-mountain trick."

The old demon asked, "What is this tiger-driving-away-from-the-mountain trick?"

The third demon said, "We will call up the whole cave host, pick three thousand out of ten thousand, one thousand out of a thousand, one hundred out of a hundred, and then sixteen and thirty.

The old demon said, "Why sixteen and thirty?"

The third demon said, "We need thirty who can cook and prepare food. Give them fine rice, flour, bamboo shoots, tea buds, mushrooms, button mushrooms, tofu, and gluten. Let them set up rest places twenty or thirty li apart and prepare tea and food to serve Tripitaka.

The old demon said, "And what use are the sixteen?"

The third demon said, "Eight will carry the sedan chair, and eight will call out the road. My brothers and I will follow on either side and escort them for a stretch. Four hundred li west of here is my city, and there are people and soldiers there waiting for us. When we reach the city border, we will do this and this and make sure their front and back cannot look after each other. To capture Tripitaka, everything depends on these sixteen."

The old demon was delighted. He was truly as though drunk when suddenly awakened, or like a man waking from a dream.

"Good, good, good!"

He immediately chose the thirty who would carry provisions and ordered them to prepare the goods. He also chose the sixteen to carry a fragrant vine sedan chair.

Then he came out the gate and told the little demons, "None of you is to wander about on the mountain. Sun Wukong is a monkey full of suspicion. If he sees you moving around, he will certainly become suspicious and see through the plan."

The old demon then led his host to the roadside and shouted, "Old Master Tang, today no red-sand disaster falls on you. Please cross the mountain early."

Tripitaka asked, "Wukong, who is calling me?"

Wukong pointed. "That is the demon I subdued, bringing a sedan chair to send you."

Tripitaka joined his palms to the sky and said, "Excellent, excellent. If not for your disciple's skill, how could I ever get through?"

He went straight forward and bowed to the demons. "I am deeply obliged to you all for your kindness. I, your disciple, am traveling east to Chang'an to seek the scriptures, and I will surely spread the good fruit of this journey."

The demons kowtowed. "Please, holy master, get into the sedan chair."

Tripitaka, with his mortal eyes, did not know it was a scheme.

Sun the Great Sage, though a great immortal who knew loyalty and uprightness, had only just subdued the demons. How could he know that they harbored some other plot? He did not inspect the matter closely and simply followed his master's wishes.

He ordered Bajie to sling the baggage onto the horse and told Sha Wujing to keep close behind.

He himself took the iron staff and went in front to clear the road, watching for good and ill.

Eight demons lifted the sedan chair. Eight more shouted along the road in turn. The three demon kings helped carry the poles.

Tripitaka sat happily inside the sedan chair.

They climbed the high mountain and followed the main road.

Little did they know that joy would soon bring sorrow.

As the scripture says, when prosperity reaches its limit, decline begins again. The time and fortune they met were truly the season of the Great Disaster and the Mourning Star.

The demon host, united in purpose, guarded the sides with great care. Before and after, they were diligent. Every thirty li they offered a vegetarian meal, every fifty li they offered another, and when it was not yet dark they asked for rest. Everything along the road was tidy and well arranged. Three meals a day were served to perfection, and every night they found a good place to stay.

They went west for more than four hundred li when a city came into view.

The Great Sage, carrying his iron staff, was only one li away from the sedan chair when he saw the city and was so frightened that he fell to the ground and could not get up.

You may ask why he, who was usually so bold, should be frightened by this. It was because he saw that the city gave off a great deal of evil vapor.

It was like this:

Crowded together were demons and fiends, and every gate was full of wolf spirits.
Spotted tigers served as chief stewards, and pale-faced black panthers were the generals.
Forked-antler deer carried the notices and led the way,
and clever foxes walked the roads in charge.
Giant pythons of a thousand chi wound around the city,
and long snakes of ten thousand zhang blocked the paths.
Under the towers, blue wolves called out the orders;
before the platform, flowered leopards made human speech.
All the flags and drums were handled by demons,
and all the watch posts were filled by mountain spirits.
Cunning rabbits opened the gates to do business,
and wild boars carried loads to and fro.
In former days this had been a realm of the heavenly court;
now it had been turned into a city of tigers and wolves.

The Great Sage was still frightened when he heard the wind behind his ears.

He turned quickly and looked. It was the third demon, who had lifted a painted halberd with both hands and was bringing it down on the Great Sage's head.

Wukong hurriedly flipped over and sprang up, meeting him face to face with the Golden-Hooped Rod.

The two demons each carried bitterness in their hearts, and each gritted his teeth. They did not waste words but went straight to blows.

Then the old demon gave the order and raised his steel blade to hack at Bajie.

Bajie was frightened and dropped the horse, lifting his rake to strike back in a rage.

The second demon wound up his long spear and thrust at Sha Wujing.

Sha Wujing raised his demon-subduing staff and held him off.

The three demon kings and the three pilgrims, one against one, fought to the death on that mountain top.

Meanwhile the sixteen little demons obeyed orders and worked with all their strength. They seized the white horse and the baggage, surrounded Tripitaka, and carried the sedan chair straight to the city gate, shouting, "Our Great Kings have made the plan and have already captured Tripitaka."

On the city wall, the greater and lesser demons all ran down and threw the gates wide.

They ordered each camp to roll up its flags and silence its drums and not to shout.

They said, "The Great King already gave orders not to frighten Tripitaka. He cannot bear fright. If you scare him, his flesh will turn sour and will not be fit to eat."

All the demons were overjoyed and went out to receive Tripitaka. They bent low and took the holy monk in as their honored master.

They carried Tripitaka in his sedan chair up to the golden hall and asked him to sit in the center. On both sides they offered tea and food and moved around him in circles.

The elder monk sat dazed and wavering, with no friendly face to look at.

What will become of his life? That must wait for the next chapter.