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21 Jindou Cave

The old demon's strength began to fail. He shouted to his imps to attack as one and ring Wukong round. Wukong laughed, "Just in time!" He tossed the golden-hooped rod into the air and cried, "Multiply!" A thousand iron rods filled the sky, whirling and dancing, and rained down in all directions. The imps, terrified out of their wits, fled back into the cave. The One-Horned King sneered, "You ape! Don't be too pleased with yourself. Watch my trick!" As he spoke he drew from his sleeve a ghastly white ring, hurled it into the air and cried, "Collect!" At the whoosh the thousand rods merged into one and were sucked into the ring. Deprived of his rod, Wukong had no heart to prolong the fight. He mounted his somersault cloud and fled the demon's cave. Wukong came to the rear of the mountain and sat on a cliff's edge, thinking. The fiend had praised his feat of wrecking the heavenly palace during their fight; he must be no mortal monster. Wukong would go up to heaven and look into it. So he mounted his cloud and headed for the southern gate of heaven. Wukong arrived at the southern gate of heaven. The Broad-Eyed Heavenly King and the four great marshals, Ma, Zhao, Wen and Guan, hurried forward to meet him. After Wukong had explained the purpose of his visit, he hastened on toward the Hall of Miraculous Mist. The four great celestial masters, the Six Ministers of the Southern Dipper and the Seven Lords of the Northern Dipper, all paid their respects to the Great Sage outside the Hall of Miraculous Mist. After the exchange of courtesies, Wukong followed the four celestial masters into the great hall. Wukong bowed to the Jade Emperor and said, "Old official! My master passed through Mount Jindou and was carried off by the One-Horned King of Jindou Cave. The monster seems to know old Sun, so he must be an evil star from above who has slipped down to the mortal world. Please, Your Majesty, issue a decree and have it looked into!" The Jade Emperor at once issued an edict, ordering True Lord Kehan to go and discover which of the gods had descended to stir up demons below. True Lord Kehan reported back: "All the stars of heaven and the divine generals on every side are at their posts. After a thorough check, none are found to have slipped down to the mortal world." The Jade Emperor said, "It is now clear that this demon is none of ours who has come down. Sun Wukong, you may choose a few heavenly generals to descend and capture the fiend!" Wukong replied, "In that case, many thanks, old official! Then I must trouble Li Jing, Nezha and the two thunder lords Deng Hua and Zhang Fan to come along with old Sun on a tiresome errand!" The Jade Emperor then ordered Heavenly King Li and his son to lead the heavenly troops and accompany Wukong to subdue the demon. Father and son received the imperial edict, mustered a great host of heavenly soldiers, and in grand array set out for Mount Jindou. Reaching the southern slope, Heavenly King Li reined in his cloud and pitched camp. Nezha, his feet on the Wind-Fire Wheels and a demon-slaying sword in his hand, came before the cave to challenge the enemy. The One-Horned King came out at the sound and laughed, "Little Nezha, you've been brought here by that ape, haven't you? Go back while you can, or you'll be defeated and your name will suffer." Nezha could no longer hold back his fury. He lunged with his sword and was soon locked in a wild fight with the old demon. Eager for victory, Nezha transformed himself into a three-headed, six-armed figure. Wielding the demon-slaying sword, the demon-cleaving blade, the demon-binding cord, the demon-subduing mace, the embroidered ball and the fire-wheels, he bore down on the old demon. The old demon was not to be outdone. He too took on three heads and six arms, and split the single steel spear in his hand into three to meet the attack head-on. The fight had not long begun when Nezha cast another spell. He hurled his weapons into the air, and the six weapons in an instant became a thousand, raining down on the old demon like a hailstorm. The old demon was not in the least afraid. He flung off the steel ring, tossed it up and shouted, "Collect!" Every weapon in the sky was drawn at once into the ring. At this moment the two thunder lords, Deng Hua and Zhang Fan, were called by Wukong up into the clouds and were about to strike their thunder. But seeing the tremendous power of the old demon's treasure, they hurriedly stayed their heaven-shaking hammers and retreated with Nezha from the field. Heavenly King Li saw Nezha return in defeat and thought to himself: the demon's magic is truly formidable; even with all the heavenly soldiers together they could not prevail. He at once offered Wukong a stratagem: "The saying is that water and fire are pitiless. Perhaps the Great Sage should go and invite the Star Lord of Fire Virtue, and see how the old demon deals with that." Wukong nodded his assent, mounted his somersault cloud and went straight to Tonghua Palace. The Star Lord of Fire Virtue, seeing the Great Sage arrive, dared not delay. After learning the matter, he mustered all the fire gods under him and went with Wukong to Mount Jindou.

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