Meanwhile the Great Sage Sun, with his two junior brothers in tow, rolled on the wind and rode the clouds toward the Gen quarter in the northeast; in a moment they reached the mouth of the Cave of Dark Splendor on the Green Dragon Mountain and lowered their clouds. Bajie at once made to rake the gates, but the Pilgrim said: "Easy, now. Let me go in first and see whether my master is alive or dead, and then we can fight them properly."
"This gate is shut fast," said the Sha Monk. "How will you get in?"
"I have my own magic arts," said the Pilgrim. Brave Great Sage! He put away his cudgel, made the magic sign with his fingers, recited a spell, and cried "Change!"—changing into a firefly. And indeed he was quick and agile! Just look at him: With spread wings he gleamed like a shooting star of light—the ancients said that rotting grass turns into fireflies. His magic transformations were no light matter, and he had of himself a hovering, drifting nature. He flew up to the stone gate and hung there looking, then slipped through a crack on the side, letting the wind in. With one bound of his body he reached the inner courtyard, to spy out the movements of the demons.
He flew in and saw a number of oxen lying this way and that, crooked and sprawled, each snoring like thunder, all fast asleep. He reached the middle hall, where there was not a sound. Doors and windows opened through on every side, but he could not tell where the three demons slept. He turned past the hall and looked to the rear, and heard the sound of sobbing—it was Tang Sanzang, locked to a pillar in the back room, weeping.
The Pilgrim listened in secret to what he wept, and heard him cry:
"Ten and more years since I left Chang'an, Over mountains and rivers in bitter hardship and distress. Happily I came to the western regions and met the fine festival; Gladly I reached Jinping in time for the full moon. I could not tell the false Buddhas in the lanterns— It is because my fate holds calamity and blame. My worthy disciples pursue and strike, displaying their might; I pray the heroes may unfold their great authority."
Hearing this, the Pilgrim was filled with joy. He spread his wings and flew close to his master.
Wiping his tears, Tang Sanzang said: "Ah! The scenes of the western regions are indeed different. In this season of the first month, when the hibernating insects are just beginning to stir, how is it that a firefly is already flying about?"
Unable to contain himself, the Pilgrim called out: "Master, I am here!"
Delighted, Tang Sanzang said: "Wukong, I was wondering how there could be fireflies in the first month—so it was you!"
The Pilgrim at once revealed his true form and said: "Master, because you could not tell the false from the true, how many miles of road have been wasted, how much heart and strength spent! I told you at once that they were not good people, but you bowed down all the same, and those monsters darkened the lantern light, stole the fragrant ghee oil, and carried you off as well. I then ordered Bajie and the Sha Monk back to the monastery to keep guard, and followed the wind to this place; not knowing the name of the place, I was lucky to meet the Duty Officers of the Four Seasons, who reported that this mountain is the Green Dragon Mountain, with the Cave of Dark Splendor on it. By day I fought with these monsters until nightfall before returning; I told the whole story to my junior brothers, and without a moment's sleep came here with them. Fearing that the night was too far gone for battle, and not knowing where you were, I changed my form and came in to learn the truth of your situation."
Delighted, Tang Sanzang said: "Are Bajie and the Sha Monk outside right now?"
"They are outside," said the Pilgrim. "When old Sun looked just now, the demons were all asleep. Let me unlock your chains, smash open the gate, and take you out." Tang Sanzang nodded and thanked him.
The Pilgrim used his art of unlocking; with a wipe of his hand, the lock fell open of itself. He led the master forward, when suddenly they heard the demon king in an inner room of the middle hall call out: "Little ones, shut the gates tight and be careful with fire and lamps. Why is no one calling the watches and patrolling now? Why have the clappers and bells stopped ringing?"
It turned out that the little demons, having fought all day, were all sleeping in weary exhaustion, and only woke when they heard the call. At the sound of the clappers and bells, several of them, carrying weapons and beating gongs, came from the rear—and chanced, of all things, right upon the master and his disciple.
The little demons shouted all together: "What a fine monk! You've twisted open the lock—where do you think you're going!"
The Pilgrim would not allow another word. He drew out his cudgel, shook it to the thickness of a bowl, and struck. Two were killed where the cudgel rose; the rest threw down their weapons and hurried to the middle hall, beating on the doors and shouting: "Great Kings! It's all over! It's all over! The hairy-faced monk is inside killing people!"
The three demons heard this and scrambled to their feet in a bound, crying only: "Seize him! Seize him!" Tang Sanzang was so frightened that his hands and feet went weak. The Pilgrim, no longer able to spare a thought for his master, rolled forward with his cudgel. The little demons could not parry or hold him; he struck down two or three of them, knocked over two or three more, broke through several layers of doors, and came straight out, calling: "Brothers, where are you?"
Bajie and the Sha Monk were just standing with rake and staff raised, waiting. "Elder Brother, what's happened?" they asked. The Pilgrim told them all about his transformation, entering to release the master, and how, when the demons woke, he had been unable to spare a thought for the master and had fought his way out. No more of this.
The demon kings seized Tang Sanzang again, chained him as before with iron chains, and with knives in hand and axes whirling, all the lamps lit, asked him: "How did you undo the lock, and how did that monkey get in? Confess at once and we will spare your life! If not, you'll be cut in two with one stroke!" Tang Sanzang, terrified, knelt trembling and said: "Great Kings, grandfathers! My disciple Sun Wukong knows seventy-two transformations. Just now he changed into a firefly and flew in to rescue me. Unexpectedly the Great King became aware, and he was caught sight of by the little great kings. My disciple, knowing no better, wounded two of them, and when they all shouted and raised their weapons and lit torches, he, unable to spare a thought for me, went out."
The three demon kings burst into loud laughter: "It is a good thing we woke; he has not gotten away after all!" They ordered the little ones to close the front and rear gates tight and keep silent.
"When they close the gates and keep silent," said the Sha Monk, "I suspect they are secretly doing something to our master. Let us attack!"
"You're right," said the Pilgrim. "Let's beat down the gate at once." The idiot put on a show of his magic powers; raising his rake, he struck with all his might and smashed the stone gate to pieces, then cursed in a stern voice: "Thieving oil demons! Send our master out at once!" The little demons inside were so frightened they came rolling in to report: "Great Kings, it's all over! It's all over! The front gate has been smashed by the monks!" The three demon kings were extremely vexed: "This fellow is truly without manners!" They at once ordered their armor brought, armed themselves, each taking his weapons, and led the little demons out the gate to meet the enemy.
It was now about the third watch; in mid-heaven the moon shone bright as day. They came out and, without a word of exchange, set to with their weapons. Here the Pilgrim parried the battle-axe, Bajie countered the great saber, and the Sha Monk met the great staff. This battle was a fine one: Three monks, with staff, cudgel, and rake, faced three demons whose courage ran high. Battle-axe, steel saber, and knotted rattan cane—one heard only the whine of the wind and the flying dust and sand. In the first exchanges they breathed out gloomy mists; then they soared and swooped, scattering colored clouds. The nine-toothed rake's every move rolled with his body; the iron cudgel's heroic mastery was yet more praiseworthy. The demon-quelling staff was rare in all the world; the demons' stubborn hearts would not yield to it. The battle-axe's blade was bright, its sharp ferrule keen; the rattan cane's knotted joints bristled all over with spines. The great saber flashed like a door plank; the monks' magic arts surpassed it nonetheless. On this side, for the master's very life, they struck in fury; on that side, the demons would not let the Tang Priest go, lashing at their faces. Axe hewed and cudgel met it, contending for victory and defeat; rake whirled and saber hacked, crossing and tangling. The knotted rattan cane and the demon-quelling staff, over and over, displayed their splendor.
The three monks and the three demons fought for a long while with neither side gaining the advantage. Then the King Who Expels Cold gave a great shout: "Little ones, come up!" The demons each seized his weapons and came on all together, and before long Bajie was tripped to the ground, and several water-buffalo demons grabbed him and dragged him into the cave, where they bound him. The Sha Monk, seeing Bajie gone, and the herd of oxen bellowing and roaring, drew his precious staff and feinted a break toward the King Who Expels Dust, meaning to flee; but the crowd of demons surged in on him all at once, caught him stumbling, and he could not scramble up in time, and was caught and bound as well. The Pilgrim, seeing the fight was too much for him, spread his somersault cloud and slipped away.
Then Bajie and the Sha Monk were dragged before Tang Sanzang. Seeing them, Tang Sanzang wept with both eyes streaming: "Alas, that you two have also fallen into vicious hands! Where is Wukong?"
"When Elder Brother saw us captured," said the Sha Monk, "he fled."
"If he has fled," said Tang Sanzang, "he must have gone somewhere to seek help. But I do not know when we shall escape this net." Master and disciples grieved together miserably. No more of this.
Meanwhile the Pilgrim, riding his somersault cloud, returned once more to the Monastery of Compassionate Clouds. The monks of the monastery came out to meet him and asked: "Has Master Tang been rescued?"
"Hard to rescue! Hard to rescue!" said the Pilgrim. "Those demons have vast magic powers. My three brothers fought their three demons for a long while, until the demon king called up his little demons and captured Bajie first and then the Sha Monk. Old Sun was lucky to get away."
The monks were frightened: "If even a master like you, who can ride clouds and mists, could not capture them, the old master must surely have been done for."
"No matter! No matter!" said the Pilgrim. "My master has the Protectors of the Faith, the Guardians, and the Ding and Jia gods protecting him in secret, and he has eaten the Grass-Returned Cinnabar besides; he is certainly not fated to lose his life. It's only that the demons have real powers. Keep a good watch over the horse and luggage, and let old Sun go up to Heaven to ask for troops."
The monks were timid: "Can the master really go up to Heaven?"
The Pilgrim laughed: "The Heavenly Palace was my old home. In those days when I was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, because I made havoc of the Peach Banquet I was subdued by our Buddha; now, having no choice, I protect the Tang Priest on his quest for scriptures, working merit to atone for my crimes. All along the road I have upheld the right and swept away the evil. That my master should suffer this ordeal is his destiny—you would not understand." Hearing this, the monks kowtowed and bowed again.
The Pilgrim went out the gate, gave a whistle, and vanished in a moment.
Brave Great Sage! Soon he reached the West Gate of Heaven, where he suddenly saw Taibai Jinxing the Gold Star, with the Heavenly King of Growth and the four great Numinous Officers Yin, Zhu, Tao, and Xu, conversing. Seeing the Pilgrim come, they all hastened to bow and ask: "Where is the Great Sage going?"
The Pilgrim said: "Because I was escorting the Tang Priest, we came to the Mintian County of the Prefecture of Jinping, on the eastern border of the Kingdom of Tianzhu, where my master was kept by the monks of the Monastery of Compassionate Clouds to enjoy the Lantern Festival. When we reached the Golden Lantern Bridge, there were three golden lanterns there, lit with the fragrant ghee oil, worth more than fifty thousand taels of silver, and every year the Buddhas were said to descend with blessings to receive it. As we were watching, three Buddha images did indeed come down; my master, knowing no better, went up onto the bridge and bowed. I said they were not good people, but before I could stop it, they darkened the lantern light and, with a gust of wind, carried off both the oil and my master. I followed the wind in pursuit; at daybreak I reached a mountain, and luckily the four Duty Officers reported that the mountain is the Green Dragon Mountain, with the Cave of Dark Splendor upon it, and in the cave three monsters, named the King Who Expels Cold, the King Who Expels Heat, and the King Who Expels Dust. Old Sun hurried up to their door to demand him back, and fought them a bout without winning. I changed my form and went in, and saw my master locked up but unharmed; I was about to release him and come out, when he became aware of it, and I made off. Then, with Bajie and the Sha Monk, I fought them bitterly again, and they carried off those two and bound them as well. And so old Sun has come especially to lay the matter before the Jade Emperor, to find out their origin and ask for heavenly generals to subdue them."
The Gold Star laughed coldly: "Great Sage, since you have fought with the demons, how is it you could not see where they come from?"
"Recognize them I can," said the Pilgrim. "They are a pack of ox demons. But their magic powers are great, and I cannot quickly subdue them."
"Those are three rhinoceros spirits," said the Gold Star. "Because of the celestial signs, they have cultivated and awakened to truth over many years, and they can fly through clouds and walk in mists. These monsters love cleanliness above all; they often dislike their own shadow and form, and always want to go down into the water to bathe. Their names are many: there are the xi rhino, the male rhino, the bull rhino, the spotted rhino, and the hu-mao rhino, the duo-luo rhino, and the heaven-piercing flower-pattern rhino—all of them with a single nasal opening, three bristles, and two horns. They range through rivers and seas and can open up waterways. As for the Kings Who Expel Cold, Heat, and Dust, their horns carry noble vital energy, and so they take these names and call themselves kings. If you want to capture them, only the Four Wooden Animal Stars can bring them down at the sight of them."
The Pilgrim at once made a bowing salute and asked: "Who are the Four Wooden Animal Stars? I beg Senior Changgeng to explain them to me plainly, one by one."
The Gold Star laughed: "Those stars dwell beyond the Palace of the Dipper and the Ox, spread abroad over heaven and earth. Go and report the matter to the Jade Emperor, and you will see the answer."
The Pilgrim folded his hands and thanked him, then went straight in through the Gate of Heaven. Before long he reached the Hall of Universal Brightness, where he first met the four great Celestial Masters, Ge, Qiu, Zhang, and Xu. "Where are you going?" asked the Celestial Masters. "Having recently come to the district of the Prefecture of Jinping," said the Pilgrim, "because my master relaxed his Zen nature and went out to view the lanterns on the night of the full moon, he was carried off by a demon. Old Sun cannot subdue him alone, and has come especially to report to the Jade Emperor and ask for help." The four Celestial Masters at once led the Pilgrim to the Precious Hall of Lingxiao to lay the matter before the throne.
When all the greetings were done and the whole affair had been told, the Jade Emperor issued a decree: "Which road of heavenly troops shall be sent to help?"
The Pilgrim reported: "Just now at the West Gate of Heaven old Sun met the Gold Star, who said those monsters are rhinoceros spirits, and that only the Four Wooden Animal Stars can subdue them." The Jade Emperor at once dispatched Celestial Master Xu to go with the Pilgrim to the Palace of the Dipper and the Ox, to muster the Four Wooden Animal Stars and send them down to subdue the demons.
When they reached the palace gate, the twenty-eight constellations were already there to receive them. The Celestial Master said: "I bear the imperial decree, to muster the Four Wooden Animal Stars to go down below with the Great Sage Sun to subdue the demons." At once the Wooden Dragon of the Horn Mansion, the Wooden Xiezhi of the Dipper Mansion, the Wooden Wolf of the Kui Mansion, and the Wooden Chai of the Well Mansion stepped forward and answered: "Great Sage Sun, where do you want us to go subdue demons?"
The Pilgrim laughed: "So it's you! That old Changgeng was being secretive; I couldn't understand his meaning. If he had only said outright that they were the four wooden stars of the twenty-eight constellations, old Sun would have come straight to invite you, and there would have been no need to trouble the imperial decree!"
"What talk is that, Great Sage!" said the four wooden stars. "Without the imperial decree, who of us would dare leave his post of his own accord? In truth, where is the place? Let us be off at once."
The Pilgrim said: "In the Cave of Dark Splendor on the Green Dragon Mountain, in the Gen quarter northeast of the Prefecture of Jinping—rhinoceros spirits."
The Wooden Xiezhi of the Dipper, the Wooden Wolf of the Kui, and the Wooden Dragon of the Horn said: "If they really are rhinoceros spirits, there is no need for all of us—just send the Well Star. He can climb mountains and eat tigers, and go down into the sea and seize rhinos."
The Pilgrim said: "These rhinos are not the rhinos that gaze at the moon. These are ones who have cultivated and attained the Way, all of them with a lifespan of a thousand years. It is best that all four go together. Please do not refuse; if one of you alone could not hold him, wouldn't that cause even more trouble?"
"What sort of talk is this!" said the Celestial Master. "The decree names the four of you—how could you not go? Take to the air at once; I am going back to report." The Celestial Master took his leave of the Pilgrim and went.
The four wooden stars said: "Great Sage, there is no need to hesitate. Go first and challenge them, lure them out, and we will make our move afterwards."
The Pilgrim at once went forward and cursed: "Thieving oil demons! Give me back my master!" The gate had been smashed by Bajie, and a few little demons had propped some boards against it. Hearing the cursing from inside, they hurried in to report: "Great King, the monk Sun is outside cursing!"
The King Who Expels Dust said: "He fled in defeat—why has he come again after a whole day? I expect he has gone somewhere and brought back troops."
The Kings Who Expel Cold and Heat said: "What do we care about his troops! Bring our armor at once! Little ones, all of you must surround him with care; don't let him get away."
The demons, not knowing death from life, one and all took up their spears and blades, waved their flags, beat their drums, came out of the cave, and roared at the Pilgrim: "You monkey that doesn't fear a beating—you've come again!" The word "monkey" was what the Pilgrim hated most of all; grinding his teeth, he braced himself and raised his iron cudgel to strike.
The three demon kings deployed the little demons in a ring formation, encircling the Pilgrim in the very center of the field. On the other side, the Four Wooden Animal Stars each whirled their weapons and said: "Beasts! Hold your hands!" The three demon kings, seeing the four stars, were naturally afraid, and said one and all: "It's all over! It's all over! He's found the ones who can bring us down! Little ones, each of you look to his own life!" And with a howling and roaring, a panting and gasping, all the little demons revealed their true forms—they were the mountain-ox demons, the water-buffalo demons, and the yellow-ox demons, and they ran helter-skelter all over the mountain.
The three demon kings also revealed their true forms, dropped their weapons, and still on their four hoofs, like iron cannonballs, ran straight off to the northeast. The Great Sage led the Well Chai and the Horn Dragon in hot pursuit, without a moment's slackening. Only the Dipper Xiezhi and the Kui Wolf, in the hollows of the eastern mountain, on the mountain tops, in the mountain streams, and in the mountain valleys, killed or captured every one of the ox demons and cleared them all away. Then they went into the Cave of Dark Splendor and released Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and the Sha Monk.
The Sha Monk recognized the two stars, and bowed in thanks together with the others, asking: "How did the two of you come to rescue us here?"
The two stars said: "We were sent by the Great Sage Sun, who laid the matter before the Jade Emperor and obtained the decree to subdue the demons and rescue you."
Tang Sanzang wept: "Why has my disciple Wukong not come in?"
The two stars said: "The three old monsters are three rhinoceroses. When they saw us, each thought only of saving his own life and fled to the Gen quarter in the northeast. The Great Sage Sun led the Well Chai and the Horn Dragon in pursuit. The two of us swept away the herd of ox demons and came here, especially to release the holy monk."
Tang Sanzang bowed in thanks again and again, and bowed toward Heaven besides. Bajie raised him up: "Master, too many bows must mean fraud—there's no need to keep bowing. The four star lords are here first by the Jade Emperor's decree, and second by Elder Brother's good offices. Now that the host of demons has been swept away, we still don't know how the old demons have been subdued. Let's gather up some of the fine things from the cave, overturn this cave to root it out completely, and go back to the monastery to await Elder Brother."
The Kui Wolf said: "What the Marshal Tianpeng says is right. You and the Curtain-Raising General protect your master back to the monastery to rest, and let the two of us go to the Gen quarter to meet the enemy."
"Exactly, exactly," said Bajie. "If you two would also join in the capture, it must be done thoroughly, and then you can report back." The two star lords set off at once in pursuit.
Bajie and the Sha Monk searched out the fine things and treasures of the cave—much coral, agate, pearls, amber, cowries, treasures, fine jade, and good gold—enough to fill a load. They carried it outside, invited the master to sit on the cliff, and then went back in and set fire, burning the whole cave to ashes. Only then did they lead Tang Sanzang along the road back to the Monastery of Compassionate Clouds in Jinping. This was truly:
The scripture says that from the extreme of fortune ill fortune is born; Truly, in the midst of good one may still meet with evil. Loving the flower lanterns disordered his Zen nature; Delighting to roam fair scenes drained away his mind of the Way. The great elixir from of old must be guarded long; Once it is lost, in the end all is lost. Grasp tight and bind fast, and never wander free; A moment of slackness shows its harm at once.
No more, for the moment, of the three of them returning to the monastery with their lives. Let us speak instead of the two star lords, the Dipper Xiezhi and the Kui Wolf, who rode their clouds straight to the Gen quarter in the northeast in pursuit of the demons. The two of them searched in mid-air but could see nothing, until they came to the Western Ocean, where from afar they saw the Great Sage Sun shouting on the sea. They lowered their clouds and said: "Great Sage, where have the demons gone?"
The Pilgrim said resentfully: "Why didn't the two of you come to chase and capture them? Now you come blundering up asking questions?"
The Dipper Xiezhi said: "I saw the Great Sage with the Well and Horn stars routing the demons and giving chase, and assumed they would surely be captured. So the two of us swept away the host of demons, entered the Cave of Dark Splendor, and rescued your master and junior brothers. We searched the mountain and burned the cave, and entrusted your master to your two junior brothers to lead back to the Monastery of Compassionate Clouds in the prefecture city. Not seeing your carriage return for a long time, we came searching after you here."
Hearing this, the Pilgrim was delighted and thanked them: "In that case, you have done great merit—many thanks! Many thanks! But those three demons, chased by me to this place, dived down into the sea. The Well and Horn stars are pressing them hard and told old Sun to hold the shore. Since you two have come, keep watch on the shore, and let old Sun go in again as well."
Brave Great Sage! Whirling his cudgel and making the magic sign, he parted a waterway and plunged straight into the depths of the waves. He saw the three demons beneath the water fighting desperately for their lives with the Well Chai and the Horn Dragon. He leapt up close and shouted: "Old Sun has come!" The demons, hard pressed by the two star lords and caught off guard, at the sound of the Pilgrim's shout, cared only for their remaining lives; they turned their heads and fled at a run toward the middle of the sea. It turned out that the horns on these monsters' heads could part water supremely well; with a hiss and a splash, they opened up a clear road. Behind them the two star lords and the Great Sage Sun pursued with all their might.
Now in the Western Sea there was a yaksha sounding the deep and a patroller keeping watch over the sea, who saw from afar the rhinos parting the waters, and recognized the Great Sage Sun and the two heavenly stars. They hurried to the Crystal Palace and reported in a panic to the Dragon King: "Great King! Three rhinos are being chased here by the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and two heavenly stars!"
Hearing this, the old Dragon King Ao Shun at once summoned the crown prince Mo'ang: "Quickly muster the water troops. It seems the rhinoceros spirits, the Kings Who Expel Cold, Heat, and Dust, have picked a quarrel with Sun the Pilgrim. Now that they have come into the sea, hurry and draw your blades to help." Ao Mo'ang received the order and at once mustered his troops. In a moment, turtles, terrapins, alligators, and soft-shelled turtles, bream, white mandarin fish, and carp, with shrimp soldiers and crab captains, each with spears and blades, all raised a shout and surged out of the Crystal Palace to block the rhinoceros spirits.
The rhinoceros spirits could not advance; they hastily fell back, but behind them the Well and Horn stars and the Great Sage blocked their way. In a panic they lost their formation, each seeking to save himself and scattering in all directions; and before long the King Who Expels Dust was surrounded by the old Dragon King's troops.
The Great Sage Sun rejoiced at the sight and called: "Easy! Easy! Capture him alive—don't kill him!"
Mo'ang obeyed the order; the host surged forward, flipped the King Who Expels Dust to the ground, pierced his nose with an iron hook, and bound him up, hoofs together. The old Dragon King issued another command, to divide the troops in pursuit of the other two, assisting the two star lords to capture them. The little Dragon King at once led the host forward, and saw the Well Chai, in his true form, pressing down on the King Who Expels Cold and gnawing at him in great mouthfuls and small, eating him.
Mo'ang called out loudly: "Well Star! Well Star! Don't bite him to death! The Great Sage Sun wants him alive, not dead!" He called again and again, but the Well Star had already bitten through his neck. Mo'ang ordered the shrimp soldiers and crab captains to carry the dead rhino back to the Crystal Palace, and then went forward again with the Well Chai in pursuit. They saw the Horn Dragon driving the King Who Expels Heat back, straight into the Well Star. Mo'ang led the turtles, terrapins, alligators, and soft-shelled turtles, and spread out in the winnowing-basket formation to surround him. The monster could only cry: "Spare my life! Spare my life!" The Well Chai stepped up close, seized his ear with one hand, snatched away his knife, and cried: "We won't kill you! We won't kill you! We'll take you to the Great Sage Sun for him to dispose of."
Thereupon they reversed their weapons and came back before the Crystal Palace, reporting: "They are all caught." The Pilgrim saw one lying dead on the ground, its head severed, dripping with blood, and the other held by the ear by the Well Chai, pushed down to kneel. He went close and looked carefully: "This head was not cut by blade or weapon."
Mo'ang laughed: "If I had not shouted so urgently, even his body would have been eaten by the Well Star Lord."
"If that is so," said the Pilgrim, "well, fetch a saw. Saw off his two horns and skin him, and take the hide along. Leave the rhino flesh for the Dragon King and his worthy son to enjoy." He also had the King Who Expels Dust's nose pierced and told the Horn Dragon to lead him, and had the King Who Expels Heat's nose pierced and told the Well Chai to lead him: "Take them to the Prefecture of Jinping to see the prefect, get to the bottom of the case, and question them on their years of counterfeit Buddhas that harmed the people; then they can be tried and executed."
All obeyed. They took leave of the Dragon King and his son, left the Western Sea leading the rhinos, met up with the Kui and Dipper stars, and, riding clouds and mists, made straight back to the Prefecture of Jinping. The Pilgrim, treading on auspicious light in mid-air, called out: "Prefect of Jinping, all you deputy officers and chief officials, and all you soldiers and civilians within and without the city, hear this: I am the holy monk of Great Tang in the eastern land, sent to the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures. The golden lanterns offered every year by your prefecture and county, which you took for the Buddhas descending with blessings—they were none other than these rhinoceros monsters. When we passed through here and viewed the lanterns on the night of the full moon, we saw these monsters carry off the lamp oil together with my master, and I invited the heavenly gods to subdue them. Now the mountain cave has been swept clean and the demons destroyed root and branch; they can do harm no more. From now on your prefecture and county must never again offer the golden lanterns, wearying the people and wasting their money."
At the Monastery of Compassionate Clouds, Bajie and the Sha Monk had just brought Tang Sanzang through the monastery gate when they heard the Pilgrim speaking in mid-air. They at once abandoned their master, dropped their loads, soared up on wind and cloud into the air, and asked the Pilgrim how the subduing of the demons had gone.
The Pilgrim said: "One was bitten to death by the Well Star; his horns have been sawed off and his hide stripped and brought along. The other two are captured alive—here they are."
Bajie said: "These two might as well be pushed down into this city for the officials and people to see, so that they may know we are sages and gods. By the way, let us ask the four star lords to bring down their clouds and go together to the prefectural hall, to try and execute these monsters. The facts are clear and the punishment fits the crime—what more is there to say!"
The four stars said: "The Marshal Tianpeng has lately come to understand reason and the law—well done!"
Bajie said: "Because I've been a monk these past few years, I've learned a little."
The gods indeed pushed the rhinos down, and a cluster of colored clouds descended upon the prefectural hall. The officials of the prefecture and county, and the people within and without the city, were all frightened, and every household set up incense altars, and every family bowed to the heavenly gods. Presently the monks of the Monastery of Compassionate Clouds carried the elder in a sedan chair through the prefecture gate, where he met the Pilgrim, not letting the word "thanks" leave his mouth: "The star lords took great trouble to rescue us. Because your worthy disciple was nowhere to be seen, we were anxious, thinking of you constantly; how fortunate that you return victorious! But to what place were these monsters chased before they were captured?"
The Pilgrim said: "Since the day before yesterday, when I took leave of you, honored master, old Sun went up to Heaven to make inquiries. Thanks to Taibai Jinxing recognizing that the demons were rhinos, he directed me to invite the Four Wooden Animal Stars. I reported the matter to the Jade Emperor at once, and by his decree the stars were sent with me to the very mouth of the cave to do battle. The demon kings fled, and thanks to the Kui and Dipper stars your honored master was rescued. Old Sun and the Well and Horn stars pressed the pursuit with all their might, all the way to the Western Ocean, where thanks again to the Dragon King, who sent his son with troops to help, we captured them and have brought them here for trial."
The elder praised him and thanked him again and again. Then he saw the chief officials of the prefecture and county, with their deputies and leaders, all burning precious candles and offering incense with full ladles, bowing toward Heaven. Presently Bajie's temper rose; he drew out his monk's blade and struck off the King Who Expels Dust's head with one blow, and with another blow struck off the King Who Expels Heat's head; then he fetched a saw and sawed off the four horns.
The Great Sage Sun, more resourceful still, said: "Four star lords, take these four rhino horns up to the upper world, present them to the Jade Emperor, and report the fulfillment of the decree." As for the two horns he himself had brought, he said: "Leave one in the prefectural hall to guard the treasury, as proof for the future remission of the lamp-oil levy; and we will take one with us, to present to the Buddha at Numinous Mountain."
The four stars were overjoyed. They at once took leave of the Great Sage and, riding colored clouds, went back to report. The officials of the prefecture and county detained the four travelers and laid a grand vegetarian banquet, inviting all the local gentry to attend. On the one hand they issued proclamations, informing the soldiers and civilians that in the coming year the golden lanterns would no longer be lit, and the corvée of the great oil-buying households abolished forever; on the other hand they had a butcher slaughter the rhinos and flay their hides, tan them in smoke, and make armor, while the flesh was distributed among the officials and people. And on yet another hand they drew upon the unappropriated funds of fines and confiscations, bought open ground from the people, and built a temple to commemorate the four stars' subduing of the demons; they also built a living shrine for Tang Sanzang and his three disciples, each with a stele and an inscribed record, to be handed down through a thousand ages, in gratitude and requital. Master and disciples, broadening their hearts, accepted it all. And then the two hundred and forty great lamp-oil households, this family offering feasts and that family issuing invitations, gave them no moment of respite.
Bajie was completely satisfied with all this enjoyment; he put away in his sleeves a little of each kind of the treasures searched out of the cave, to serve as presents at the vegetarian banquets of the various households.
They stayed a full month without being able to get away. At last the elder gave his orders: "Wukong, give all the remaining treasures to the monks of the Monastery of Compassionate Clouds as gifts of thanks. And hide it from those great households—we must leave before dawn. If we keep on indulging in pleasure, we shall delay the scripture quest, draw the Buddha's displeasure, and bring new calamities upon ourselves—that would be most inconvenient." The Pilgrim dealt with each of these matters in turn.
The next day they rose early at the fifth watch, and the Pilgrim called Bajie to saddle the horse. The idiot, who had eaten and drunk at his ease and slept befuddled, muttered: "Why saddle the horse this early?"
The Pilgrim shouted: "The master says we must be on the road!" The idiot wiped his face: "It's this elder again, being so capricious! Of the two hundred and forty great households that all invited us, I've only eaten thirty-odd full vegetarian meals—how can he make old Pig go hungry again!"
The elder heard this and cursed: "You trough-guzzling blockhead! No more nonsense! Get up at once! If you talk back again, I'll have Wukong knock your teeth out with the gold-banded cudgel!"
The idiot, hearing of a beating, was all a-fluster: "The master has changed! Usually he pities me and loves me, thinks me a dull blockhead and protects me; when Elder Brother wants to beat me, he talks him out of it. Why is he so harsh today, telling him to beat me?"
The Pilgrim said: "The master is angry that your mouth has delayed the journey. Quickly pack the luggage and saddle the horse, and avoid a beating!" The idiot truly feared a beating. He jumped up, put on his clothes, and shouted to the Sha Monk: "Get up quickly! A beating is coming!" The Sha Monk also jumped up, and each packed up all his gear. The elder waved his hand: "Softly, softly—do not disturb the monks of the monastery." He hurriedly mounted his horse, opened the monastery gate, found the road, and went. This departure was truly:
In secret the jade cage is opened, and the colored phoenix flies free; Privately the golden lock is unlocked, and the flood dragon escapes.
After all, who knows what the families that must offer thanks will do when morning comes? Listen to the explanation in the next chapter.