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25 The Kingdom of Jisai

The king said, "The holy monk is right. Whoever recovers the treasure is a man of talent!" He ordered a great sedan chair prepared and told his royal guards to attend Wukong well and go with him to fetch the thief. Wukong rode in the chair back to the Temple of Golden Light. Bajie came out to meet him, grinning. "Brother Monkey," he said, "with your yellow umbrella and your chair borne by eight men, you are a monkey king again!" "No joking now," said Wukong. He told Bajie and Sandy to bring the two demons along, and together they went to see the king. The king questioned the two demons himself, and at last was convinced that it was the Nine-Headed Son-in-Law who had stolen the treasure and that the monks of the Temple of Golden Light had nothing to do with it. He issued an edict pardoning them all. The monks were free again, and every one of them wept for joy. Straightway the king laid on a great vegetarian feast in honor of the Tang Monk and his disciples. Bajie let himself go and bolted his food down, eating every dish of fruit and vegetables clean. Presently soup and rice were brought, and those too he ate up to the last morsel. When the feast was over, the king asked Wukong to go and capture the thief, and Wukong agreed. The king then asked, "How many men will Elder Sun take with him, and when will he leave the city?" Bajie cried, "What need of men, what matter the hour! While we are full of wine and rice, let me go with my brother, and I promise we shall take him as easily as reaching out a hand!" Wukong said too, "Brother Sandy, stay here and guard Master. We two will make the journey." With that Wukong tucked the two imps under his arms, and together with Bajie he leapt onto a cloud and sped away to the southeast. The king was dumbfounded, and bowing toward heaven he said, "With these mortal eyes of mine I have today seen living immortals and buddhas!" Riding the clouds, Wukong and Bajie carried the imps over the Emerald-Waves Pool on Mount Luanshi and brought their clouds to a halt. Wukong breathed a breath of immortal air upon his golden-hooped rod and cried, "Change!" It became a broadsword, and with it he cut off the blackfish spirit's ears and the catfish spirit's lower lip. Wukong flung the two imps into the water and shouted, "Go at once and tell the Dragon King Wansheng that the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, has arrived, and bid him send out the treasure of the Kingdom of Jisai without delay. If he utters half a word of refusal, I will stir this pool dry and take the lives of his whole house!" Nursing their wounds, the two imps fled for their lives straight into the Dragon King's palace and reported, "Great King, disaster has struck!" The Dragon King Wansheng was drinking with the Nine-Headed Son-in-Law; when he saw them come in he set down his cup at once and questioned them, and the imps repeated Wukong's words in full. The Dragon King was frightened out of his wits and said to the son-in-law, trembling, "Worthy son-in-law, that monkey Sun is no easy foe!" The son-in-law smiled and said, "Rest easy, father-in-law. Let me fight a round with him, and I promise he will draw in his head and beg for mercy!" The son-in-law armed himself at once, took up his crescent-moon shovel, parted the waterway and cried out across the surface of the pool, "Sun Wukong, what is it to you if I stole the treasure of the Kingdom of Jisai? Why must you meddle in other men's affairs?" Wukong stood in midair and said, "You brought false accusation upon the monks of the Temple of Golden Light, and I mean to win justice for them!" The son-in-law said with a cold laugh, "Be sensible and be off, or I shall strike without mercy, take your life, and ruin your great quest for the scriptures!" Wukong flew into a rage and swore, "Thieving demon, what big words!" and brought his club down upon the other's head. The son-in-law was not at all dismayed; he raised his crescent-moon shovel and caught the iron club. The two began to fight on Mount Luanshi.

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