[Translator's note: the couplet plays on the homophones shi "master/teacher" and shi "lion," shou "transmit" and shou "receive," dao "the Way" and dao "steal," and chan "entangle" and chan "Zen meditation."]
Meanwhile the Great Sage Sun, coming out over the city wall together with Bajie and the Sha Monk, faced the demons head-on and saw that the whole pack were lions of mixed, motley manes: the Yellow Lion spirit led them in front; the Suanni Lion and the Elephant-Grappling Lion held the left; the Baize Lion and the Fuli Lion held the right; the Nao Lion and the Snow Lion brought up the rear; and in the very center stood a nine-headed lion.
The green-faced monster carried a jeweled banner embroidered with clustered flowers and kept close beside the nine-headed lion, while Wily-Weird and Weird-Wily waved two red flags. In perfect order they all drew up their ranks in the quarter of the Kan trigram.
Bajie, blundering as ever, strode up to them and cursed: "Thieving demon who stole our treasures! What do you mean by going off and bringing this pack of hairy beasts back here with you?"
The Yellow Lion spirit gnashed his teeth and cursed in reply: "Vicious bald-headed ruffian! Yesterday three of you fought me all alone, and I went back beaten—I let you have the day! But how can you be so cruel and wicked? You burned my cave, wrecked my mountain grounds, and slaughtered my kinsfolk! The feud between you and me runs deeper than the sea! Don't run away—taste your grandfather's spade!" Brave Bajie raised his rake and met him head-on.
The two had barely crossed weapons and settled who was the stronger when the Nao Lion, whirling an iron spiked mace, and the Snow Lion, wielding a three-edged club, charged straight at him. "Well come!" shouted Bajie. Just look at him, plunging this way and that, tangling with the whole lot at once. Over here, the Sha Monk hastily drew his demon-quelling staff and hurried up to help; and then the Suanni spirit, the Baize spirit, and the Elephant-Grappling and Fuli spirits all surged forward in a mob together.
There the Great Sage Sun used his gold-banded cudgel to hold off the whole pack: the Suanni fought with a muffled club, the Baize with a copper hammer, the Elephant-Grappling with a steel spear, the Fuli with a battle-axe. Seven lion spirits against three fierce monks—what a fight! Cudgel and hammer, spear and axe, the three-edged club; the spiked mace and the gleaming spade. The seven lions and their seven weapons, all of piercing sharpness, ringed the three monks about and raised their battle cries together. The Great Sage's gold-banded iron cudgel was fierce; the Sha Monk's precious staff was rare in all the world; Bajie came storming in, majestic in his might, his nine-toothed rake flashing with a baleful gleam. Shielding front and covering rear, each plied his craft; parrying left and meeting right, all were brave. On the city wall the princes lent their might, beating drums and clanging gongs to hearten them. On they thrust and fought, working their magic arts, until the world was blurred and Heaven and Earth turned upside down.
The whole pack of demons fought the Great Sage and his two companions for the better part of a day, until, before any of them knew it, evening had come on. Bajie's mouth was slobbering with spit and his legs were going weak; he brandished his rake in a feint and fled the field—but the Snow Lion and the Nao Lion shouted after him: "Where do you think you're going? Take this!"
The idiot could not dodge in time. A blow from the club landed square on his backbone and down he sprawled, crying only: "It's all over! All over!" The two spirits grabbed him by the bristles and dragged him along by the tail, carrying him off to present before the nine-headed lion: "Patriarch, we've caught one!" And before the words were even out, the Sha Monk and the Pilgrim had also been beaten in the fighting.
All the demons came charging after them, but the Pilgrim plucked out a handful of hairs, chewed them fine, blew them out, and cried "Change!" At once they changed into a hundred-odd little Pilgrims, who closed round in a ring, enveloping the Baize, the Suanni, the Elephant-Grappling, the Fuli, and the gold-furred lion monster in their midst. Then the Sha Monk and the Pilgrim pressed forward again to join in the assault. By evening they had captured the Suanni and the Baize, while the Fuli and the Elephant-Grappling had got away.
The gold-furred one reported it to the old demon. Seeing that he had lost two of his lions, the old monster gave his orders: "Tie up Zhu Bajie, but do not take his life. When they return my two lions to me, I will hand Bajie back to them. If they are so senseless as to do my two lions harm, then I will kill Bajie to square the account!"
That night the demons camped and rested outside the city. But no more of this.
Meanwhile the Great Sage Sun carried the two lion spirits back to the foot of the city wall. When the old prince saw them, he at once gave orders to open the gates and sent twenty or thirty officers out with ropes, who bound the lion spirits and carried them into the city. The Great Sage Sun took back his magic hairs and went with the Sha Monk straight up to the gate-tower, where they presented themselves before Tang Sanzang.
"This affair is truly dreadful!" said Tang Sanzang. "I wonder whether Wuneng is alive or dead."
"It's all right," said the Pilgrim. "Now that we've captured these two demons, they would never dare harm him. Keep the two spirits tightly bound and leashed, and tomorrow morning we'll trade them for Bajie." The three young princes kowtowed to the Pilgrim and said: "Master, when you fought your duel just now, we saw only a single body of you; and after you feigned defeat and came back, why were there suddenly a hundred-odd bodies of the master? And when you captured the demons and came near the city, there was only one body again—what kind of magic power is this?"
The Pilgrim laughed: "There are eighty-four thousand hairs on my body. One changes into ten, ten into a hundred, a hundred into thousands, ten thousands, millions—all these transformations are the art of bodies beyond the body." The princes one and all bowed in reverence, laid out a vegetarian feast at once, and the company ate there on the gate-tower.
At every crenel of the wall they hung lanterns and banners, and kept up their clappers, bells, gongs, and drums; they stood their night watches and passed the signal arrows, fired cannon, and raised shouts. And soon it was daylight again.
The old monster at once summoned the Yellow Lion spirit and laid his plan: "Today you and yours must give your whole minds to capturing that Pilgrim and the Sha Monk. While you are doing that, I will fly up in secret through the air to the city, seize his master and the old prince with his sons, and carry them first to the Cave of Nine Winding Turns. Wait there to report to me when you have won."
The Yellow Lion took the plan and led the Nao Lion, the Snow Lion, the Elephant-Grappling, and the Fuli, each with his weapon in hand, up to the city, where they rolled up wind and brewed up mist, challenging to battle.
Here the Pilgrim and the Sha Monk leapt out over the city wall and cursed them in stern voices: "Vicious thieving demons! Give us back our junior brother Bajie at once, and we'll spare your lives! Otherwise you'll all be ground to powder and shattered bones!"
The demons would allow not another word. With one surge they came on all together. The two brothers, the Great Sage and the Sha Monk, each plied his wiles—stratagems swift to bend with the shifting of events—and held off the five lions. This battle was very different from yesterday's:
Howling, howling, an evil wind scraped the ground; Dark on dark, thick black mists blotted out the sky. Stones flew, sand whirled, gods and ghosts alike took fright; Woods were leveled, trees were toppled, tigers and wolves were stunned. The steel spear was cruel, the battle-axe gleamed bright; Staff, spade, and copper hammer showed their vicious hearts. They longed to swallow the Pilgrim whole, To seize and bind the little Sha Monk alive. The Great Sage's single As-You-Will staff, Coiling and spreading, withdrawing and thrusting, was wondrously deft. The Sha Monk's demon-quelling staff Had made a name for itself outside the Lingxiao Hall. This time, plying their vast magic powers, They worked their might in the western marches to sweep the demons clean.
The five motley-maned lion spirits were fighting the Pilgrim and the Sha Monk at the very height of the battle when the old monster, riding a black cloud, soared straight up to the gate-tower. He shook his heads, and the very sight frightened the civil and military officials of every rank on the wall, together with the men on guard, so that they all came tumbling down from the wall. He dashed into the tower, opened his mouths, and scooped up Tang Sanzang and the old prince with his sons at one swoop; then, returning to the ground in the quarter of the Kan trigram, he took Bajie up in his mouths as well.
It turned out that with his nine heads he had nine mouths: one mouth held Tang Sanzang, one held Bajie, one held the old prince, one held the eldest prince, one held the second prince, one held the third prince—six mouths holding six people, and three mouths left over. He gave a great shout: "I'm off ahead!" The five young lion spirits, seeing their patriarch victorious, one and all spread their heroic talents all the more.
Hearing the shouts and cries of the people on the wall, the Pilgrim knew at once that he had fallen for the old demon's trick, and hastily called to the Sha Monk to be careful. Then he plucked every hair from his arms, chewed them fine in his mouth, and blew them out; they changed into a thousand-odd little Pilgrims, who surged forward all together in the attack. In that very moment they pulled down the Nao Lion, captured the Snow Lion alive, seized the Elephant-Grappling Lion, and toppled the Fuli Lion; the Yellow Lion they beat to death. Then, shouting and roaring, they swept all the way back to the foot of the prefecture city—only the green-faced imp and the two demons Wily-Weird and Weird-Wily had slipped away and escaped.
When the officials on the wall saw this, they opened the gates once more, bound the five lion spirits with ropes, and carried them into the city.
They had not yet decided what to do with them when the princess-consort came wailing and weeping, bowing low before the Pilgrim: "Divine master! My husband the prince, his sons, and your master—their lives are as good as lost! What is to become of this lone city?"
The Great Sage took back his magic hairs, made a bow to the princess-consort, and said: "Good lady, do not grieve. It is only because I captured his seven lion spirits that the old demon worked his art of snatching; he must certainly have snatched away my master and the prince with his sons by that art, and I am sure no harm has come to them. Tomorrow at the very first light of dawn, my brother and I will go into the mountains, and I guarantee we shall capture the old demon and give you back your four princes." When the princess-consort and her whole train of ladies heard this, they all bowed to the Pilgrim: "We beg that the prince and his sons may live to return whole, and that the kingdom's foundations stand firm!" When the bows were done, one by one they returned to the palace in tears.
The Pilgrim gave his orders to the officials: "Skin the Yellow Lion spirit that was beaten to death, and keep the six live lion spirits firmly shackled and locked away. Bring out some vegetarian fare—we'll eat, and then sleep. Set your minds at ease; I guarantee nothing will go wrong for you."
Early the next day the Great Sage led the Sha Monk aboard an auspicious cloud, and before long they reached the summit of Bamboo-Joint Mountain. Lowering his cloud to look about, he saw what a fine high mountain it was! Just look at it: Peaks ranged in jagged spires, ridges steep and rugged. In the deep ravines below, murmuring streams washed the stones; before the sheer cliffs, flowers spread their brocade and perfume. Winding ridges folded one upon another; the ancient paths curved and circled. Truly, when the crane comes, the pine has company; indeed, when the cloud departs, the rock has nothing to lean on. Black gibbons sought their fruit in the bright sunlight; river deer hunted blossoms, rejoicing in the warm day. Blue phoenixes cried in clear, crisp notes; yellow orioles sang in soft, sweet voices. In spring the peach and the plum vied in beauty; at summer's height the willow and the locust contended in luxuriance; when autumn came, yellow flowers spread their brocade; at winter's turn, white snow flew like floss. The fine scenes of the four seasons and the eight festivals were in no way inferior to the immortal vistas of Yingzhou.
The two of them were just enjoying the view from the mountain top when suddenly they caught sight of the green-faced imp, a short staff in his hand, dashing out from among the cliffs and ravines.
"Where do you think you're going? Old Sun is coming!" shouted the Pilgrim. The little demon was so frightened that he went tumbling and rolling down the cliff into the ravine. The two of them gave chase all the way, but the demon was nowhere to be seen. They took a few more steps forward and came upon a cave dwelling, its two gates of mottled stone shut fast. Across the lintel was set a stone tablet, engraved in formal script with ten large characters: "The Cave of Nine Winding Turns on Bamboo-Joint Mountain, Home of Ten Thousand Numinous Beings."
It turned out that the little demon had run into the cave and shut the gates behind him. Reaching the central hall, he said to the old demon: "Grandpa, two more monks have come from outside."
"Have your great king and the Nao Lion, the Snow Lion, the Elephant-Grappling, and the Fuli come back yet?" asked the old demon.
"Not seen! Not seen!" said the little demon. "Only the two monks, gazing about from the high peak. The moment I caught sight of them I turned and ran; they came chasing after me, and so I shut the gates."
The old demon heard this, lowered his head, and said nothing for a long while. Then, all of a sudden, tears rolled down his face. "Woe is me!" he cried. "My grandson the Yellow Lion is dead! And my grandsons the Nao Lion and the rest have all been captured and carried into the city by those monks! How shall I ever requite this hatred!"
Bajie, who lay bound to one side, crammed in together with the prince, his sons, and Tang Sanzang, suffering in misery and fright, heard the old demon say that all his grandsons had been captured and taken into the city by the monks, and he rejoiced in secret: "Master, do not be afraid; Your Highnesses, do not grieve. My elder brother has already won the day and caught all the demons; he will find his way here and rescue us all." Hardly had he spoken when they heard the old demon cry: "Little ones, keep careful watch here. Let me go out and seize those two monks and bring them in, to be punished together with the rest." Just look at him—no armor on his body, no weapon in his hand, striding out to the front, where the shouts of Sun the Pilgrim could be heard.
He threw the gates of the cave wide open and, without a word, charged straight at the Pilgrim. The Pilgrim thrust up his iron cudgel to block him, and the Sha Monk swung his precious staff and struck. The old demon shook his head, and the eight heads around the central one all opened their mouths together, lightly catching up the Pilgrim and the Sha Monk and carrying them into the cave. "Fetch rope!" he ordered. Wily-Weird, Weird-Wily, and the green-faced imp—those who had escaped with their lives the night before—fetched two ropes and bound the pair up good and tight.
The old demon said: "You impudent monkey! You captured my seven sons and grandsons; now I have caught four of your monks and four of your princes, which is more than enough to pay for the lives of my sons and grandsons! Little ones, pick out some brambles and willow canes and give this monkey-head a beating, to avenge my grandson the Yellow Lion!"
The three little demons each took up a willow cane and set about beating the Pilgrim alone. But the Pilgrim had a body that had been tempered through countless ordeals; such willow canes could only scratch an itch for him. How could he so much as make a sound? No matter how they thrashed him, he did not mind in the least. Bajie, Tang Sanzang, and the princes watched, and every hair on their bodies stood on end. Before long the willow canes were beaten to pieces; and they went on beating him until nightfall, without any count of the strokes.
The Sha Monk, seeing the beating go on and on, could no longer bear it. "Let me take a hundred strokes or so in his place," he said.
"Don't be in such a hurry," said the old demon. "Tomorrow it will be your turn. One by one, in turn, each of you will be beaten."
Bajie was alarmed: "So the day after tomorrow they'll get to old Pig!"
They beat for a while, until the sky gradually darkened. Then the old demon called: "Little ones, stop for now. Light the lamps, eat some food, and let me go to the Brocade Cloud Nest for a little sleep. The three of you have all suffered harm before—keep a careful watch, and tomorrow morning we'll beat them again." The three little demons brought the lamps over and took up their willow canes once more to beat the Pilgrim on the crown of the head, just like knocking on a wooden clapper—tick-tock, tock-tick, a few quick strokes, a few slow ones.
The night was growing deep, and one and all they dozed off to sleep.
Then the Pilgrim used his art of escape: he shrank his body small, slipped free of the ropes, shook out his hairs, and straightened his clothes; he took the cudgel from his ear and shook it, and it became as thick as a bucket and a good two zhang long. Turning to the three little demons, he said: "You beasts! You've given your grandfather a great many strokes of the cane! But your grandfather is still just the same as ever. Let your grandfather give you a touch of this cudgel and see how you like it!"
He pressed down on the three little demons lightly, flattening them into three cakes of flesh. Then he trimmed the lamp bright and released the Sha Monk.
Bajie, frantic from being bound so long, could not hold back and shouted at the top of his voice: "Elder Brother! My hands and feet are all swollen from the ropes! Why don't you come and untie me first?"
The idiot's shout startled the old demon awake. The old demon scrambled to his feet in a bound: "Who's being released?" The Pilgrim heard him, blew out the lamp with one breath, and, no longer able to spare a thought for the Sha Monk and the others, took his iron cudgel, smashed through several layers of doors, and fled.
The old demon went to the central hall and called: "Little ones, why is there no lamplight? You don't suppose someone has gotten away?" He called once—no one answered. He called again—still no one answered. When he brought a lamp to look, he saw three bloody cakes of flesh on the ground; the old prince and his sons, Tang Sanzang, and Bajie were all still there, but the Pilgrim and the Sha Monk were nowhere to be seen. Lighting a torch, he hurried to search front and back, when suddenly he caught sight of the Sha Monk, still standing with his back pressed against the gallery. He seized him with one grab, flung him to the ground, and bound him up as before.
He searched for the Pilgrim as well, but found only that several layers of doors had all been smashed and broken; he knew at once that the Pilgrim had broken through them and gone. He did not give chase, but patched what could be patched, covered what could be covered, and guarded his home. No more of this.
Now the Great Sage Sun, having left the Cave of Nine Winding Turns, bestrode an auspicious cloud and made straight back to the Prefecture of Yuhua. As he drew near he saw the local deities of every quarter and the city god on the city wall coming up into the air to greet him with bows.
"Why is it only tonight that you show yourselves?" asked the Pilgrim.
"We lesser gods knew that the Great Sage had descended upon the Prefecture of Yuhua," said the city god, "but since the good prince was keeping you, we dared not appear. Only now, learning that the princes had run into demons and the Great Sage had come to quell them, have we come especially to knock our heads before you."
The Pilgrim was just getting annoyed when the Gold-Headed Guardian and the divine generals of the Six Dings and Six Jias appeared, escorting a local deity, who knelt before him and said: "Great Sage, we have caught this earth-goblin for you!"
"Why are you not at Bamboo-Joint Mountain protecting my master?" demanded the Pilgrim. "What do you mean by clamoring all the way here?"
The Ding and Jia gods said: "Great Sage, after you escaped, that demon caught the Curtain-Raising General again and bound him up as before. We could see that his magic powers were enormous, so we brought the local deity of Bamboo-Joint Mountain here under guard. He knows the origins of that demon. We beg the Great Sage to question him, and then you can deal with the creature easily, and rescue the holy monk and the good prince from their suffering."
The Pilgrim was overjoyed to hear this. Trembling, the local deity kowtowed: "That old demon came down to Bamboo-Joint Mountain the year before last. The Cave of Nine Winding Turns was originally the den of the six lions, and when the old demon arrived there, the six lions all bowed to him as their patriarch. The patriarch is a nine-headed lion, styled the Primal Sage of Nine Numinosities. If you wish to have him destroyed, you must go to the Palace of Marvelous Rocks in the Eastern Pole and ask his master to come; only he can subdue him. No one else could ever hope to capture him."
Hearing this, the Pilgrim pondered for a long while, then said: "The Palace of Marvelous Rocks in the Eastern Pole—that is the Heavenly Honored One of Great Unity Who Rescues from Suffering. The beast he rides is precisely a nine-headed lion. If that is so—" Then he gave his orders: "Guardian, golden-armored generals, go back together with the local deity, and protect my master, my junior brothers, and the prince and his sons in secret. And you, the city god, keep guard over the city." Then he went out. The gods, one and all, obeyed and departed.
The Great Sage spread his somersault cloud and traveled on through the night. Toward the hour of the Tiger, about daybreak, he reached the East Gate of Heaven, where he ran straight into the Heavenly King of Far-Seeing Eyes, with his heavenly soldiers and strongmen in a train of attendants. They all halted, folded their hands, and greeted him: "Where is the Great Sage bound?"
The Pilgrim returned their greetings, then said: "I am going to take a turn at the Palace of Marvelous Rocks."
"The road to the Western Heaven lies elsewhere," said the Heavenly King. "What business have you at the East Gate of Heaven?"
"Because, on arriving at the Prefecture of Yuhua," said the Pilgrim, "I was entertained by the prince of the prefecture, who sent his three sons to bow to my brothers and me as their masters and learn the martial arts. Unexpectedly we ran into a pack of lion demons. Now I have learned that the Heavenly Honored One of Great Unity Who Rescues from Suffering, of the Palace of Marvelous Rocks, is the master of the demon, and I want to ask him to come subdue the demon and rescue my master."
"It is because you wanted to become a master to others," said the Heavenly King, "that you stirred up this whole den of lions against yourselves."
The Pilgrim laughed: "Exactly so! Exactly so!" The heavenly soldiers and strongmen one by one folded their hands and made way for him.
The Great Sage entered the East Gate of Heaven, and before long arrived before the Palace of Marvelous Rocks, where he saw: Layered rainbow clouds, luxuriant purple vapors. On the tiles rippled waves of golden flame; at the gate stood ranks of lofty jade beasts. Flowers filled the twin towers, ringed about with rosy mists; the sun lit the soaring forest, veiled in emerald haze. Truly, ten thousand perfected ones circled it in homage; a thousand sages flourished there. Hall and pavilion, tier upon tier of brocade; windows and latticed doors, opening in every direction. A gray dragon coiled in guard, its divine light gentle; the imperial way blazed with auspicious radiance. This indeed was the realm of Azure Bloom and Lasting Joy, the Palace of Marvelous Rocks of the Eastern Pole.
Inside the palace gate stood an immortal lad in a rainbow cape. The moment he caught sight of the Great Sage Sun, he went in to announce: "Master, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who once made havoc in Heaven, has come."
When the Heavenly Honored One of Great Unity Who Rescues from Suffering heard this, he at once bade the attendant immortals go out to welcome him. Escorted into the palace, the Pilgrim saw the Heavenly Honored One seated high upon a nine-colored lotus throne, amid a hundred billion rays of auspicious light. Seeing the Pilgrim, he came down from his throne to greet him. The Pilgrim bowed toward him, and the Heavenly Honored One returned the courtesy and said: "Great Sage, it has been some years since we met. I heard some time ago that you had abandoned the Way of the immortals and turned to the Buddhist faith, escorting Tang Sanzang on his journey west to fetch scriptures. I suppose your merits are now complete?"
"My merits are not yet complete," said the Pilgrim, "but they are drawing near. Just now, though, because I was escorting Tang Sanzang and arrived at the Prefecture of Yuhua, the prince there was good enough to send his three sons to bow to old Sun and his brothers as their masters and learn the martial arts. He had copies made of our three divine weapons, but during the night they were stolen by thieves. When we hunted for them at daybreak, it turned out that a gold-furred lion who had become a spirit in the Tiger's Mouth Cave on Leopard Head Mountain, north of the city, had stolen them. Old Sun recovered them by a trick, whereupon that spirit gathered a number of lion spirits and made a great uproar against old Sun. Among them was a nine-headed lion of vast magic powers, who carried off my master, Bajie, and the prince with his three sons—four people in all—to the Cave of Nine Winding Turns on Bamboo-Joint Mountain. The next day old Sun and the Sha Monk went in pursuit and were carried off as well. Old Sun was bound and beaten times without number, and only escaped by a trick of magic; they are still suffering there. When I questioned the local deity of that district, I learned that the Heavenly Honored One is his master, and so I have come especially to ask you to come subdue him and rescue them."
When the Heavenly Honored One heard this, he at once ordered an immortal general to go to the lion shed and bring the lion keeper out for questioning. The lion keeper was fast asleep, and only after the generals pushed and shook him did he wake; they dragged him into the central hall for an audience.
"Where is the lion beast?" asked the Heavenly Honored One.
Weeping, the keeper kowtowed and could only cry: "Spare my life! Spare my life!"
"The Great Sage Sun is here," said the Heavenly Honored One, "so I will not beat you for now. Quickly tell me how it is that you were so careless as to let the nine-headed lion get away."
"Master," said the lion keeper, "the day before yesterday, in the Hall of Sweet Dew of the Great Chiliocosm, I saw a bottle of wine. I don't know what came over me, but I stole it and drank it all, and before I knew it I was dead drunk and sound asleep. I failed to fasten his chain, and so he ran away."
"That wine was a gift from Lord Lao Zi," said the Heavenly Honored One. "It is called the Jasper Dew of Reincarnation. After drinking it, you should lie drunk and unconscious for three days. How many days has the lion beast been gone, then?"
"According to the local deity," said the Great Sage, "he came down the year before last, so it has been two or three years by now."
The Heavenly Honored One laughed: "That is right! That is right! One day in the Palace of Heaven is a year in the mortal world." Then he said to the lion keeper: "Get up. I will spare you the death penalty. Come with me and the Great Sage down below to bring him back. All you immortals, return to your places; there is no need to follow."
The Heavenly Honored One then set off on a cloud with the Great Sage and the lion keeper, straight for Bamboo-Joint Mountain, where the Guardians of the Five Quarters, the Six Dings and Six Jias, and the local deity of the mountain all came kneeling to receive them.
"Have you been guarding and protecting my master?" asked the Pilgrim. "Has any harm come to him?"
"The demon was angered and went to sleep," said the gods, "and he has not used any torture at all."
"My Primal Sage is a true numen who has cultivated the Way through long ages," said the Heavenly Honored One. "When he roars, his voice reaches the Three Sages above and penetrates the Nine Springs below; but ordinarily he does not take life. Great Sage Sun, go challenge him at his door and lure him out, and then I can collect him."
Hearing this, the Pilgrim drew his cudgel and bounded up to the mouth of the cave, cursing at the top of his voice: "Vicious demon! Give me back my people! Vicious demon! Give me back my people!" He called several times, but the old demon was fast asleep and no one answered. The Pilgrim grew impatient; he swung his iron cudgel and charged straight in, cursing and shouting without pause. Only then did the old demon wake with a start. Furious, he scrambled to his feet and roared "To battle!" then shook his heads and opened his mouths to seize the Pilgrim. The Pilgrim turned about and leapt out.
The demon pursued him outside, cursing: "Thieving monkey! Where do you think you're going?"
Standing on a high cliff, the Pilgrim laughed: "How dare you be so bold and impudent! You don't even know whether you're alive or dead! Is this not your old master and lord standing here?"
The demon reached the foot of the cliff, but before he could do anything, the Heavenly Honored One recited a spell and thundered: "Primal Sage! I have come!" The demon recognized his master and dared not struggle. He dropped flat on the ground on all four feet and kowtowed.
The lion keeper rushed over, grabbed the mane on his neck with one hand, and struck him a hundred-odd blows on the neck with his fist, cursing: "You beast! How could you steal away like that and make me suffer!" The lion beast shut his mouth and said not a word, not daring to stir. The lion keeper beat him until his hand was tired, and only then stopped. He laid a brocade saddle-cloth on the lion's back; the Heavenly Honored One mounted it, cried "Go!" and the beast soared up on colored clouds and made straight back for the Palace of Marvelous Rocks.
The Great Sage thanked him toward the sky, then entered the cave. First he untied the Prince of Yuhua, then Tang Sanzang, then Bajie and the Sha Monk and the three young princes. Together they ransacked the cave for all its goods, and then, at their leisure, at their ease, he led them all out of the door. Bajie thereupon gathered an armful of dry brushwood, piled it up before and behind, and set fire to it, burning the Cave of Nine Winding Turns into a blackened, charred wreck of broken tiles!
The Great Sage then dismissed the gods, telling the local deity to stay and keep guard there, and ordered Bajie and the Sha Monk to use their arts to carry the prince and his sons back to the prefecture on their backs, while he himself helped Tang Sanzang along. Before long they reached the prefecture city as the light was slowly fading. The consort, the concubines, and the officials all came out to greet them. A vegetarian banquet was laid, and they sat down together to enjoy it. The elder and his disciples rested once more in the Baosha Pavilion, and the princes went into the palace to their several beds. Not a word more that night.
The next day the prince issued another decree and spread a grand vegetarian banquet, and the officials of every rank throughout the prefecture came one by one to thank him for his favor. The Pilgrim also summoned a butcher, who slaughtered the six live lions; these, together with the Yellow Lion, were all skinned, and the meat was prepared for their enjoyment. His Highness was delighted beyond measure. He gave orders that they be killed, and kept one lion for use by all within and without his own mansion, gave another to be shared out among the chief steward and officers of the mansion, and had the other five chopped into pieces of one or two catties each, which officers were dispatched to distribute among the soldiers and civilians within and without the prefecture city, so that everyone could have a taste—first, to savor the flavor, and second, to quiet their terrors. Household after household looked on them with admiration.
Then the blacksmiths and their men, who had finished forging the three weapons, kowtowed before the Pilgrim: "Master, our work is complete."
"How heavy is each one?" asked the Pilgrim.
"The gold-banded cudgel weighs a thousand catties," said the blacksmiths, "and the nine-toothed rake and the demon-quelling staff weigh eight hundred catties each."
"That will do," said the Pilgrim. He had the three princes summoned, and each took up his own weapon.
The three sons said to the old prince: "Father, today the weapons are complete."
"For the sake of these weapons," said the old prince, "we very nearly lost the lives of my sons and me."
"Happily the divine masters worked their magic arts," said the young princes, "and rescued us, and swept away the demons and monsters, and removed the danger once and for all. Truly this is what is meant by 'the sea still and the river clear'—a world of perfect peace!" The old prince and his sons then rewarded and feasted the craftsmen, and afterwards went to the Baosha Pavilion to bow and thank the masters for their kindness.
Tang Sanzang then urged the Great Sage and the others to teach the martial arts quickly, and not to delay the journey. The three of them each brandished his weapon and taught the arts one by one in the courtyard of the prince's mansion. In no more than a few days the three princes had drilled them all to perfection—the methods of attack and retreat, the ways of pressing hard and giving ground, each with its seventy-two sequences and counters, so that none of them remained unknown to the princes. On the one hand, the princes' wills were firm; on the other, it was thanks to the Great Sage Sun's earlier gift of divine strength—and that was why they could lift and wield the thousand-catty cudgel and the eight-hundred-catty rake and staff. Compared with the martial arts they had managed on their own before, it was truly as far removed as Heaven is from the abyss—as distant and as different as could be! There is a poem in witness, and the poem says:
Because good fortune and kind deeds brought them divine masters, Who could have thought that practicing arms would rouse the demon lions? They swept away the host of evil and steadied the altars of state; Turning to the One, they settled the marches of the wild. The Nine Numinosities fell in with the principle of the primal yang; The arts on every side reached through to the fruit of the Way. Teaching and learning, hearts made clear, bequeathed to ten thousand ages: The Prefecture of Yuhua rejoices forever in an age of peace.
The prince then spread a grand banquet to thank them for their teaching, and brought out a great tray of gold and silver to answer his unspoken gratitude—the feelings hidden deep in his heart.
The Pilgrim laughed: "Take it back at once! Take it back at once! We who have left the world—what use would we have for such things?"
Bajie, standing beside him, said: "Gold and silver we truly dare not accept. But this robe of mine has been torn to shreds by those lion spirits. If you would only exchange some clothes for us, that would be kindness enough."
The prince at once ordered the tailors to follow the styles and colors, fetching several bolts apiece of blue brocade, red brocade, and dark-brown brocade, and had a robe made for each of the three.
The three gladly received their gifts, and each put on his robe of brocade cloth. They packed up their baggage and set out, and see how within and without the city, great and small, there was no one who did not cry that these were arhats come down to earth, living Buddhas descended into the world. The sound of drums and music, the sight of banners and streamers, filled the streets and choked the roads. Indeed, at every house they burned incense before the door, and at every gate they offered colored lanterns; and the crowds saw them off a long way before turning back. Only then could the four travelers leave the city and head west. This departure cast off all worldly thoughts at a stroke and set their hearts upon the true fruit. This was truly:
Free of care and worry, they come to the Buddha's realm; With single heart and true intent, they ascend to the Thunderclap.
After all, who knows how many miles still lie before Numinous Mountain, or when their journey will be complete? Listen to the explanation in the next chapter.