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24 The Flaming Mountain

The Bull Demon King took a shortcut, met Wukong face-to-face, and called out, "Brother! Master feared you could not defeat the Bull Demon King, so he sent me to meet you!" Wukong was feeling triumphant and did not look closely. He answered, "No need for concern—I have already succeeded!" The Bull Demon King praised him unstintingly and said, "You have worked too hard, brother. Let me carry the fan for a while." Wukong did not think twice and handed the fan to him. The Bull Demon King took the fan, recited an incantation, and the fan shrank back to the size of an apricot leaf. He revealed his true form and cursed, "You damned monkey—do you know who I am?" Wukong saw him and cried in regret, "It was my own carelessness!" Wukong flew into a rage, drew his iron rod, and struck at the Bull Demon King's head. The Bull Demon King was no less fierce; he swung his twin swords to meet him. The two fought a fierce battle in mid-air, neither able to gain the upper hand. Meanwhile the Tang Monk sat by the road. Wukong had been gone a long time, and he said, "Bajie, Wukong has not returned yet—he must be fighting the Bull Demon King. Go and lend him a hand." Bajie mounted his cloud and hurried toward Mount Jilei. On the way he encountered Wukong battling the Bull Demon King. Bajie called out loudly, "Brother Monkey, I am here!" Wukong said bitterly, "You fool! The fan was already in my hands, but I did not expect that old ox to take on your shape and trick the fan back again!" Bajie's temper flared. Raising his nine-toothed rake, he rained wild blows on the Bull Demon King. The Bull Demon King had fought Wukong for a long time and was exhausted; now seeing Bajie's rake strike so fiercely, he could not hold his ground and fled in defeat. Wukong and Bajie gave chase. They saw the Bull Demon King flee into the Cloud-Scraping Cave and slam the gate shut. The two charged forward, wielding rake and iron rod, and with a clatter of blows smashed the cave door to pieces. Wukong and Bajie stormed into the cave. Panicked, the Bull Demon King turned into a swan and flew into the sky. The fox Jade-Face saw the situation turn against her and tried to flee, but Bajie struck her dead with one blow of his rake. Wukong told Bajie to wipe out the lesser demons in the cave. He himself transformed into a sea-hawk, darted into the clouds, dove down backward, landed on the swan's body, and pecked at its eyes. The Bull Demon King hastily changed into a white crane, uttered a long cry, and flew south. Wukong in turn transformed into the red phoenix, king of all birds, and pursued him. The Bull Demon King dropped onto a cliff and turned into a roe deer, pretending to be dull-witted as he grazed before the cliff. Wukong recognized him, descended, changed into a hungry tiger, and pounced forward. The Bull Demon King chuckled, revealed his true form, and became a gigantic white bull: head like a craggy ridge, legs like iron towers, over a thousand zhang from head to tail, and eight hundred zhang tall. Facing Wukong he cried aloud, "You damned monkey—what can you do to me?" Wukong also revealed his true form and shouted, "Grow!" He grew to ten thousand zhang tall, drew his golden-hooped rod, and struck at the bull's head. The Bull Demon King hardened his head and thrust with his horns. The two battled in a tangled mass, shaking mountains and rattling the earth. Their fierce battle halfway up the mountain alarmed the heavenly court. The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing and Nezha led heavenly troops and generals down to surround the Bull Demon King. By this time Bajie too had exterminated the demons of the Cloud-Scraping Cave and came to join the fight.

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