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14 Wave Moon Cave

The Yellow-Robe Demon rode a cloud to the Kingdom of Baoxiang, lowered his cloud, and walked to the gate of the court. He said to the chamberlain, "The Third Prince-in-Law has come to see Your Majesty; please announce me." When the king heard the report, he said in surprise, "I have only the First Prince-in-Law and the Second Prince-in-Law; how is there now a Third Prince-in-Law?" The officials said, "It must be the demon. Misfortune cannot be avoided; we might as well summon him in." The king had no choice but to summon the Third Prince-in-Law into the hall. They saw the Yellow-Robe Demon walk into the hall and kneel in salute. The officials saw his fine appearance and did not think him a demon, taking him for a good man. The king was also pleased and asked, "Prince-in-law, where are you from? When did you marry the princess, and why do you come only today to acknowledge the family?" The Yellow-Robe Demon answered, "Sire, I am from Wave-Moon Manor on Mount Wanzi east of the city, three hundred li from here. The story of how I married the princess, please let me tell it slowly." "Since childhood I have loved the bow and horse and made my living by hunting. Thirteen years ago, I went out hunting and saw a striped tiger carrying a woman down the slope." "I drew my bow and shot the tiger with one arrow, then brought both the woman and the tiger back to my village. I revived the woman with warm water and saved her life." "When I asked about her background, she was so frightened that she refused to say she was Your Majesty's third princess and claimed to be the daughter of an ordinary family. She stayed in the village, and since we were mutually pleased, we became husband and wife." "After the wedding, I wanted to slaughter that tiger, but the princess said the tiger was the matchmaker and would not let me harm its life. I obeyed the princess, untied the tiger's rope, and the tiger ran off with its arrow wound." "Unexpectedly, within a few years, that tiger cultivated itself into a spirit in the mountains. Later, when a monk of the Great Tang passed by, the tiger ate him and kept only the travel permit. The tiger spirit then changed into the appearance of the scripture-seeking monk and went about deceiving and harming people." At this point, the Yellow-Robe Demon pointed at the Tang Monk and shouted, "Sire, this is the tiger that became a spirit, not the true scripture-seeker!" The king was flesh-eyed and mortal-bodied and could not tell truth from falsehood. He said, "If that is so, son-in-law, can you make him show his true form?" The Yellow-Robe Demon agreed, asked for half a cup of clean water, went before the Tang Monk, cast the dark-eye body-fixing spell, recited the incantation, and sprayed a mouthful of water at the Tang Monk, crying, "Change!" The Tang Monk suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the ground, truly turning into a striped tiger. When the king saw this, he was frightened out of his wits, and the officials also hurriedly drew back. A few bold generals took up their weapons and surged forward. They shouted until dark before they managed to capture the tiger alive and lock it in an iron cage. The king said fearfully afterward, "If not for the Third Prince-in-Law saving me, I would nearly have been harmed by that monk." He immediately ordered a great banquet at the Court of Imperial Entertainments to entertain the Yellow-Robe Demon. After the banquet, the king and his ministers went to rest, but the Yellow-Robe Demon's interest had not waned. He entered the Silver Peace Hall, ordered a banquet set out, and selected eighteen palace maidens and talented women to play music, sing, and dance to enliven the drinking.

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