This is a fresh, complete English translation of Wu Cheng’en’s public-domain one-hundred-chapter novel, produced with GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark assistance. It is an AI-assisted first edition, not a reproduction of an existing translation.

Yet those two small demons held the fake gourd in their hands and peered at it for a while; then they lifted their heads and Sun Wukong was nowhere to be seen. Lingli said, "Brother, even an immortal can lie. He said he would swap treasures and make us into immortals—how could he leave without so much as asking?" Jingsi said, "If we had done that, it would have profited us immensely. How could he have done such a thing? Bring the gourd here, and let me summon heaven once, just to test it." He truly threw the gourd up, and with a thud it came straight down. Startled, Lingli said, "Why won’t it work? Why won’t it? Could it be that Sun Wukong only pretended to be an immortal, swapped his false gourd for our real one, and escaped?" Jingsi said, "Do not speak nonsense. Sun Wukong is still pinned under the three mountains; how could he get out? Bring it over. I’ll recite a few of the spells and try it." This demon, too, tossed the gourd up into the air and chanted, "If there is even half a word of resistance, then upon Lingxiao Hall I will call out arms and blades." He had no more than begun when it came down again with a thud. The two demons said, "No conjuring, no conjuring—surely it is a fake."

Just as they were shouting, Sun Wukong, in midair, understood clearly. Seeing how things were going, and fearing they would waste too long at the critical moment, he sent a sudden gust of wind, shook himself, and drew the hairs that had formed the counterfeit gourd back onto his body, leaving the two demons empty-handed. Jingsi said, "Brother, bring the gourd." Lingli said, "You’re the one holding it." "Heaven! How did it vanish?" they both went down and groped wildly, probing in the grass, searching under sleeves, patting their waists—where was it to be found? The two demons, frightened and bewildered, said, "What is to be done? What is to be done? At first the Great King gave us this treasure and ordered us to seize Sun Wukong. Now Sun Wukong has not been taken, and the treasure itself is gone too. How can we dare go back and report? This is certain death, and they will beat us dead. What is to be done? what is to be done?" Lingli said, "Let us leave." Jingsi said, "Where should we go?" Lingli said, "Go anywhere. If we return and say the treasure is missing, it is certain death." Jingsi said, "Do not run. Go back. The two Great Lords have always favored you; I will put in a word for you. If he is willing to pardon, you may keep your lives. If he cannot bear it, he will kill you right there. Do not let it come to neither side. Go on, go on." The demon thought it over and then turned and went back toward the mountain.

At once, when Sun Wukong saw them turning back, he changed form in midair and became a fly, then dropped down and followed the demons. You may ask where that treasure is kept if he has become a fly. If he had tossed it on the road, hidden it in the grass, and some mortal had seen and taken it, would not everything have been wasted? He kept it on him still. He kept it on him. A fly is no larger than a bean—how could it hold what it needed to hold? The truth is that his treasure is the Ruyi-Fo Treasure, like his Golden-Hooped Staff: it can change in size and form at will, and therefore it can be carried on one’s person.

With a chirp, Sun Wukong flew down and followed the demons. Soon he reached the cave. He saw the two demons seated there drinking, and the small demon knelt before them. He fixed himself to the door cabinet and listened with a straining ear. The small demon said, "Great Lord." The old demon at once set down his cup: "Have you come?" The small demon said, "We have." Then he asked, "Have you brought Sun Wukong?" The small demon knelt and did not dare to speak. The old demon asked again; he still did not dare to answer, only knelt. Pressed again and again, the little demon prostrated himself on the ground and said, "Forgive us ten thousand deaths, forgive us ten thousand deaths, forgive us ten thousand deaths. We took hold of the treasure and came halfway up the mountain when suddenly we met an immortal of Mount Penglai. He asked where we were going, and we replied: 'To take Sun Wukong.' When that immortal heard the name Sun Wukong, he was angered and wished to lend us help. It was not we who asked him to help. Yet we told him how the treasure was to trap a man. That immortal also had a gourd, skilled in containing heaven. We were foolish and greedy, thinking to trade—his for containing heaven, mine for containing men. So we agreed to swap gourds. It was a gourd for a gourd, and Lingli even handed him a pure bottle. Who would have imagined that an immortal’s object cannot be touched by mortal hands? Just as he tried it, even the person was gone. Please, spare these poor demons for our death-dealing sins."

When the old demon heard this, he burst out like thunder: "Enough! Enough! This is what it is: Sun Wukong disguised himself as an immortal and fooled and swindled us away. That monkey-headed one has immense powers and is feared everywhere; who knows which stray spirit let him out and was deceived out of the treasure?" The second demon said, "Elder brother, moderate your rage. Though that monkey-headed one has indeed been uncouth, and though he has means, if he has escaped, let him go. How could he also have carried off the treasure by deceit? If I cannot catch him, I shall no longer trouble the Western journey as a monster." The old demon said, "How are we to seize him?" The second demon said, "We once had five treasures; two are gone, but three remain, and we must take him by force." The old demon said, "What are those three?" The second demon said, "We still have the Seven-Star Sword and the Banana-leaf Fan with me, and that one golden-hoop rope is being kept by the old mother in the Crushing Dragon Mountain at Crushing-Dragon Cave. Now send the two little demons to ask mother to come and eat Tang Monk’s flesh, and have her bring the golden-hoop rope to take Sun Wukong." The old demon said, "Who should I send for that?" The second demon said, "Do not send such useless creatures for this." He called out once, "Jingsi! Lingli!" The two responded, "Fate, fate—we have not been beaten and we have not been scolded, yet you have spared us." The second demon said, "Call the regular attendants Ba Shan Hu and Yi Hai Long." The two knelt. The second demon ordered, "You must be careful." Both answered, "Careful." He added, "Be very careful." Both answered, "Very careful." Again he asked, "Do you know the old mother’s place?" They answered, "We know it." "Since you know it, go quickly; bow to her many times and tell her we invite her to eat Tang Monk’s flesh. Tell her to bring the golden-hoop rope too, and we are to seize Sun Wukong."

The two demons, receiving the order, ran at full speed. Yet Sun Wukong standing nearby heard everything clearly. He spread his wings, flew after them, and caught up to Ba Shan Hu, clinging himself to his person. After two or three li he was about to kill the two. Then he thought, "What difficulty is there in killing him? Yet the golden-hoop rope is near his mother, and I do not know where it is kept. I will question him first, then strike." The capable Great Sage let out a chirp, slipped away from the little demon, and let them go ahead a hundred or ten paces. Then he changed again and became a little demon, donning a fox-skin cap and fastening a tiger-skin skirt up over his waist, and came running up: "You on the road, wait a moment." The one who was Yi Hai Long turned back and asked, "Who are you, and where did you come from?" Sun Wukong said, "Good brother, you do not even recognize your own folk?" The little demon said, "There is no such one in my family." Sun Wukong said, "How can I not be you? Look again at me." The little demon said, "You look strange, strange; we have never met before." Sun Wukong said, "Indeed. You did not meet me before; I am from outside your band." The little demon said, "An outsider-officer, certainly we have not met. Where are you going?" Sun Wukong said, "The Great King sent you two to ask mother to come and eat Tang Monk’s flesh, and to have her bring the golden-hoop rope to seize Sun Wukong. Fearing that you two are going too slowly, maybe lingering in greed and laziness and ruining the task, he sent me to hurry you on."

Hearing this, the little demon, seeing the glance from beneath his sea-dark eyes, had no further suspicion and took Sun Wukong for one of their own. In a rush he flew ahead. In one breath they ran eight or nine li. Sun Wukong said, "You are running too fast. How far from home now?" A small demon said, "Fifteen or sixteen li." Sun Wukong said, "How much farther is it?" Yi Hai Long pointed and said, "It is at the Ulin grove." Sun Wukong raised his head and saw a strip of dark forest not far away; he reckoned the old monster was just outside the woodland. He stopped there and let the small demon go ahead. Then he drew out his iron cudgel and stepped forward, and with the back of his foot scraped them sharply. He could no longer bear it; he swept the two little demons into one mass of minced flesh. Dragging his feet, he hid them in the deep grasses by the roadside. Then he pulled out one hair and blew a breath of immortal air, saying, "Transform!" He became Ba Shan Hu and at once changed himself into Yi Hai Long. Thus he disguised himself as the two little demons and set out toward Crushing-Dragon Cave to fetch the old mother. This was the supreme power of the Seventy-two Transformations; by mere hand signs he could transmute things to the highest degree.

With three or five great strides he leapt into the grove. Just as he searched for the entrance, he saw two stone gates, half open and half shut, and dared not enter without permission. He called out loudly, "Open the gate! Open the gate!" At once the female demon who watched the gate was startled, and she opened half a door panel, saying, "Where are you from?" Sun Wukong said, "I have come from Lotus Cave on Level-Top Mountain, sent to invite the old mother." The female demon said, "Enter." At the second gate he looked over his shoulder, peered inside, and saw a matriarch seated in the center. As for how she looked, it was like this:

Hair loose and wild like scattered snow, with a glimmer like stars. Her face was ruddy and red, richly wrinkled, with sparse teeth and a stout, imposing air. She seemed of a color like flowers fading under frost, her form like the face of an old pine after the rain. A white silk strip was wrapped around her head and tied into a knot, and at her ears hung gold settings set with jewels.

Sun Wukong saw it and did not dare to enter. He stayed outside the inner gate with a hard face, and burst out crying. You may ask why he cried—could he have been afraid? If it were fear, he would not have to cry. First he had cajoled the creature’s treasure and even killed its young demon; why should he cry for that? At that time he had been boiled in nine cauldrons of oil for seven or eight days and never shed a tear. He only wept because he remembered Tripitaka’s suffering in the journey for the scriptures, and his grief broke him. In his mind he thought: “Since old Sun has already shown his arts and turned into a little demon to fetch this old monster, there is no reason to stand upright and just speak. I must surely make him kowtow first. I have been a worthy man and have bowed only to three: Buddha of the Western Heaven; Guanyin of the Southern Sea; the master of the Two-Worlds Mountain who saved me, to whom I paid four bows. For him I have worn out the heart of my three hairs and seven orifices, my body and all. How much could one volume of scripture be worth? And yet today I must go and bow to this monster. If I do not kneel and bow, I am certain to lose everything. Alas! In the end, it is only for Master’s peril that I, a man, submit to humiliation before others.”

When he came to this point he had no choice. He charged inside and knelt, saying, “Grandmother, I bow to you.” The monster said, “My child, rise.” The Monkey-Wise One thought inwardly, “Excellent, excellent—he called him out with such authority!” The demon-lord asked, “Where are you from?” The Master said, “From Lotus Flower Cave on Flat-Top Mountain. By the order of the two Great Kings I was sent to invite Grandmother to eat Tripitaka’s flesh, and to bring the Golden-Hooped Staff, saying that Sun Wukong should be taken too.” The old monster rejoiced: “Such a filial son!” and went to summon a sedan chair. Sun Wukong said, “My boy, are demon-maids to carry a sedan too?” Right then, from behind, two female demons brought out a cane-liana sedan, set it outside the gate, and hung blue silk curtains on it. The old monster stepped out of the cave and sat in it. Behind him followed several young demon-maids carrying cosmetics, hand mirrors, handkerchiefs, and fragrance boxes. The monster said, “Why have you come? At my own place there is usually no one to attend when my son returns; why have you come to offer such service? Go back home, close the gate, and guard the place.” All of those little demons returned; only the two sedan bearers remained. The old monster asked, “What are the names of the two sent as envoys?” The Master quickly answered, “One is called Bāshān Tiger, and I am called Yǐhăi Dragon.” The monster said, “You two go first and clear the way for me.” The Great Sage reflected, “What bad fortune—after all, the scriptures are still not won, and I am now made a drudge.” Yet he dared not resist force, so he went ahead and cried out with four mighty shouts.

They went about five or six li. He sat on a stone ledge and waited for the sedan-bearers to catch up. Sun Wukong said, “Let us rest a while. My shoulders hurt from carrying the load.” The small demon, ignorant of any arts or tricks, put the sedan down. Behind it the Master plucked one hair from his chest and turned it into a large steamed cake, which he held and ate. A sedan-bearer asked, “Great sir, what are you eating?” The Great Sage said, “Hard to tell. The road is far; I was sent to ask for Grandmother and no reward was given. I’m hungry, and I had only dry provisions with me—let me eat a little and then we go.” The porter said, “Give us some too.” Sun Wukong laughed, “Come now, we are one household—why measure and withhold?” The little demon, not knowing what good was, crowded around and divided his dry food. The Monkey-Wise One drew out his staff and struck once: one fellow was smashed into nothing; another was only grazed and, though injured, still groaned. When the old monster heard that groan, he reached out from the sedan to look. Sun Wukong had already leaped to the front. With one staff blow to the front he made a hole, and brain and blood spurted out in a rush. Dragged out of the sedan, it turned out to be a nine-tailed fox. The Master laughed, “Wayward beast! You called him Grandmother. If you call this one Grandmother, you should at least call old Sun his Great Ancestor, yes?”

“Good Monkey King,” he said, “bring out that shimmering golden rope and hide it in your sleeve.” He was delighted. “Even if that splashing demon has its own arts, from this moment the three treasures belong to the family of Sun.” He then plucked two hairs and turned them into Bāshān Tiger and Yǐhăi Dragon; he plucked two more and made two sedan-bearers. He then changed himself into the old grandmother, and sat in the sedan. Lifting it, he returned by the same road.

Before long they reached the entrance of Lotus Flower Cave. The little demons made from hairs were ahead, crying, “Open the gate! Open the gate!” The gate demon opened and asked, “Have Bāshān Tiger and Yǐhăi Dragon arrived?” One hair-demon replied, “They have.” “And where is the grandmother you invited?” The hair-demon pointed and said, “Isn’t it in that sedan?” The small demon said, “Wait. Let me enter first and report.” He reported: “Great king, the Grandmother has come.” At once the two demon lords ordered an incense table to be brought out for reception. Hearing this, Sun Wukong rejoiced inwardly: “Heaven has turned things—now it is my turn to be a proper person. Earlier I became a little demon and came to invite the old monster, and I made him take just one bow. This time I become him, as his mother, and I shall receive four bows in proper courtesy. Not elegant though, but at least I gain two heads of it.” The Great Sage dismounted from the sedan, shook his clothes, and drew the four hairs back onto himself. The gate demon carried the empty sedan inside. He then followed slowly and deliberately, with graceful, coquettish turns and little twists, acting exactly as the old demon did, and went straight in. Thereafter all small and great demons came kneeling to receive him. Drums, zithers, flutes and pipes sounded in full chorus; in the furnace hall a pale curl of incense smoke drifted up. He came into the main hall and sat facing south. The two demon-lords knelt on both knees, struck their heads to the floor, and cried, “Mother, your child bows in reverence.” The Great Sage said, “My son, rise.”

At that time Zhu Bajie, hanging from the beam, let out a loud laugh. Sha Wujing said, “Second brother, what a good laugh, even hanging upside down.” Zhu Bajie said, “Brother, there is a reason behind my laughter.” Sha Wujing asked, “What reason?” Zhu Bajie said, “We thought grandmother had come and that we were to steam her for a meal. It turns out it was not grandmother—it was an old joke.” Sha Wujing said, “What old joke?” Zhu Bajie laughed, “Bimawen has come.” Sha Wujing asked, “How did you know it was him?” Zhu Bajie said, “He bent his back and said, ‘My child, rise.’ Right behind him he lifted a monkey’s tail. My hanging is higher than yours, so I can see clearly.” Sha Wujing said, “Then keep quiet and just listen to what he says.” Zhu Bajie said, “Exactly, exactly.”

The Great Sage sat in the middle and asked, “My son, what is it you ask my presence for?” The demon-lord said, “Mother, for many days we have been unable to offer proper reverence and have not been filial enough. This morning my foolish brothers took in Tripitaka of the Central Kingdom, but dare not eat him; they invited Mother to come and taste him, so that you may steam him and prolong your life.” The Great Sage said, “My son, I do not eat Tripitaka. I have heard that one of Zhu Bajie’s ears is very fine. Have it cut off, cleaned and fixed, and I shall take it as a drink.” Zhu Bajie, hearing this, panicked and said, “Cursed wretch, you come to cut off my ear—calling this out would not sound good at all.”

Ah! Just for one candid word from that muddle-headed one, the whole play of the Great Sage’s transformations was blown away. Then several patrol demons, and all the gate demons, dashed in and reported, “Great king, disaster has come! Sun Wukong has slain Grandmother and has come in his own guise.” Hearing this, the old demon did not pause to speak. He drew out the Seven-Star Treasure Sword and swung it down to split the Great Sage from front to back. The Great Sage flicked his body aside once; instantly the whole cave was filled with red radiance, and he had already fled. Such was his method—truly a masterful trickster. As the old saying goes, when gathered he forms shape; when scattered he becomes spirit-vapor.

The old demon was so frightened that soul and spirit seemed to fly apart, while the horde of spirits gnawed at their fingers and shook their heads. The old demon said, “Brother, return Tripitaka, Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie, the White Horse, and all our provisions to that Sun Wukong, and close the gate of contention.” The second demon said, “Older brother, what are you saying? Do you not know how much labor I expended to devise this plan and bring all those monks here? Now, if you are so daunted by Sun Wukong’s strange arts that you send him all of this back, people would call you one who fears a knife and avoids a sword—is that fitting for a man of strength? Sit and do not fear. I’ve heard that Sun Wukong has vast powers. Though I have met him once, we have not yet matched force. Bring my armor and robes; let me seek him for three bouts of fighting. If he cannot defeat me in three rounds, then Tripitaka still remains our meal. If in three rounds I cannot beat him, then to send Tripitaka back to him is no great delay.” The old demon said, “My worthy younger brother speaks rightly.” He ordered his armor and robes to be brought.

He wore a phoenix crown, flashing like winter’s snow, and over his body a suit of battle mail and bright-steeled plate. At his waist was a coiled python-dragon belt; his pale-leather boots folded like petals of plum-blossom. His face was like that of Guankou Huo Zhenjun; his form had no difference from Great Spirit Jiling. In his hand he bore the Seven-Star Treasure Sword; his fierce rage shot upward, terrible as a storm.

The Second Demon shouted, ‘Sun Wukong, return my treasures and come to my mother at once; I will let you go in peace to fetch the sutras with Tripitaka.’ The Great Sage could not hold back himself and cursed: ‘You wild monster, you have mistaken me for your own old grandfather. At once send back my Master, my younger brother in Dharma, the white horse, and our pack; and send me some travel money before I leave westward. If a single “no” escapes your teeth, I will wind a rope myself and go, so that your old-grandfather need not lay a hand on me.’

Heard this, the demon sprang upward on a cloud and leapt into the air, swinging his treasure sword to stab; Wukong drew out the Iron Staff and met him with a split-front clash. The two met in midair, and it was a great killing match:

When chess meets its match, a worthy general appears. In equal chess, stratagem cannot be hidden; in a worthy general, the arts of war are fully tested. The two divine generals met; it was like the tiger of Mount Nan and the dragon of the North Sea struggling. Where the dragon contended, scaled armor flashed with light; where the tiger fought, claws and fangs flew in chaos. Scaled armor flashed, shedding iron-like flakes. One turned and turned in a thousand evasive tricks; the other came and went with no slack at all. The Golden-Hooped Staff was only three finger-widths from the crown point; the Seven-Star Sword rushed toward his heart in a single leap. One’s imperial air chilled the Dipper and Ox; the other’s fury was as perilous as thunder and lightning. They fought for about thirty exchanges and no winner emerged.

Wukong thought to himself: ‘This wild demon can indeed withstand old Sun’s iron staff. I have already taken his three treasures, yet to brawl with him so hard may ruin my timing. Would it not be better to put him in the calabash or purified bottle and be done?’ He thought again: ‘No, no. There is a saying: possessions follow their owner. If I bid him refuse, would that not still spoil our work? Better use the Golden-hooped rope and bind his head.’ The Great Saint held his staff out with one hand to bar the demon’s treasure weapon; with the other he took up the rope and, with a sharp clack, looped it around the monster’s head.

That demon had both a Tightening Rope spell and a Loosening Rope spell. If he bound another, he chanted the Tightening Rope spell and it could not be loosened; if he bound one of his own, he chanted the Loosening Rope spell and harmed no one. Recognizing the ropes as his own, he instantly recited the loosening charm; the knot gave way and he slipped out, then turned to cast it at Wukong—but had already caught the Great Sage.

Wukong was about to use the Body-Thinning Art to free himself, and tried to slip out, but the demon had invoked the Tightening Rope spell and it clamped down hard. He was tightly bound below the neck by a golden ring. The monster gave the rope a yank, yanked it down, and chopped at his shiny head with seven or eight treasure swords. Not even a pink flush rose on Wukong’s scalp.

The demon said, ‘Monkey, your skull is so hard that I will not cut you. I will take you back and beat you later. Bring back those two treasures of mine first.’

Wukong said, ‘What treasures of yours did I take? You ask me to return?’

The demon searched him down to the last seam and pulled out both the calabash and the purified bottle. He kept the rope, pulled him to the cave, and said, ‘Elder brother, I have brought him.’

The Old Demon asked, ‘Brought who?’

The Second Demon said, ‘Sun Wukong. Come, take a look.’

At first sight, the Old Demon recognized him: ‘It is him, it is him. Bind him with that long rope to the pillar and make a plaything of him.’ He tied Wukong up, and the two demons went into the back hall to drink.

Wukong crawled under the base of the pillar and startled Baijie. The fool was hanging from the beam, laughing wildly: ‘Brother, my ears are done for.’

Wukong said, ‘Bajie, can you hang there all right? I am going out now and will surely save you all.’

Bajie replied, ‘Shameful, shameful. You yourself cannot get free, and yet you wish to rescue others. Enough—if we all die here, we can all ask the way in the Yama halls.’

Wukong said, ‘Do not speak nonsense. Watch: I will go out now.’

Bajie said, ‘See how you can go out.’

While Wukong spoke to Bajie, his eyes were on those two demons. Inside they were drinking; several little demons carried trays and cups, lifted jars of wine, and ran back and forth at both ends, so the watch was slightly loosened. Finding no one before him, he worked a spell: he brought out the staff, exhaled a breath of immortals’ air, and called, ‘Change!’

At once he became a steel rasp. He twisted the ring at his throat and with three or five strokes of the rasp split it in two. He opened the rasp’s mouth and got out.

He pulled out one hair and changed it into a decoy body, tying it there. His true body flickered once, became a little demon, and stood aside.

Bajie, still on the beam, cried out, ‘No good, no good—what is tied up is false, what hangs is the true body.’

The Old Demon set down his cup and asked, ‘What is that Pig Bajie shouting about?’

Wukong, already in the little-demon form, came forward: ‘Pig Bajie says that Sun Wukong instructed him to transform and slip away; he refused, so he is still shouting here.’

The Second Demon said, ‘I used to say Pig Bajie was honest; now it turns out he is this way too. He deserves to be beaten with twenty rods.’

Then the Great Sage moved up to take a cudgel to him. Bajie said, ‘Strike softly. If you strike too hard I will cry out and I will recognize you.’

Wukong said, ‘Old Sun’s transformations are only for the two of you, and yet you are the one who has let your nerve go cold? In this cave none of the demons can recognize him; why is it only you who does?’

Bajie said, ‘You may have changed your face and features, but you did not change your rear; are not there two red marks on that backside? That is how I recognize you.’

Wukong went toward the kitchen, took a handful from the pot bottom, rubbed both buttocks black, and returned to the front.

Bajie saw him and laughed, ‘Where did that monkey go and how long did he wander, that he now comes back with a black backside?’

Wukong still stood before the demon, intent on seizing his treasure. The ruffian had real wit.

He went into the hall, and with one pull at one of the demon’s legs said, ‘Great King, see how Sun Wukong is tied to the pillar, scrambling here and there, chafing away that golden rope. It would be best to bring down a thicker rope for him.’

The Old Demon said, ‘You are right,’ and immediately unfastened the lion-bound belt at his waist and handed it to Wukong.

Wukong took the belt and tied the false Wukong with it. He slipped the old rope into his sleeve.

He then pulled out one hair, breathed out celestial breath, and turned it into a fake Golden-hooped rope, and handed that to the demon with both hands.

That demon, drunk with wine and greedy, did not look closely, and simply took it. This was the Great Saint’s art: one hair changed into a Golden-hooped rope.

With that treasure now in hand he turned and leapt out through the gate, revealing his true form, and shouted, ‘Demon!’

The little demon at the gate asked, ‘Who are you, and why are you bawling here?’

Wukong said, ‘Go in at once and report to your outrageous demon: Wukong is here.’

The little demon did as told; the Old Demon cried out in astonishment, ‘You have taken Sun Wukong—then how has this Wukong come?’

The Second Demon said, ‘Brother, why fear him? I have both treasures in my hands. Let me take out the calabash and fetch him in.’

The Old Demon said, ‘Brother, be careful.’

The Second Demon took the calabash and walked out of the mountain gate. He suddenly saw someone who looked exactly like Wukong, only slightly shorter.

‘Who are you, and where do you come from?’ the demon asked.

Wukong said, ‘I am Sun Wukong’s brother. I heard you had seized my elder brother, and so I have come to seek this score with you.’

The demon said, ‘Yes, I took him and he is locked in the cave. Since you are here, there must be battle. I will not exchange troops with you, but I will call out to you first: do you answer me?’

Wukong replied, ‘Shout your ghost-name a thousand times and I will answer ten thousand.’

The demon seized the treasure, leapt into the air with his feet toward the sky and mouth to the ground, and shouted, ‘Zhe Xing Sun.’

Wukong did not answer. In his heart he thought, ‘If I answer, I will be swallowed at once.’

The demon called again, ‘Zhe Xing Sun.’

Wukong counted with his fingers under his breath and said, ‘My true name is Sun Wukong; the spirit-name I was given is Zhe Xing Sun. A true name can be taken on as guise, but a ghost-name cannot be faked so easily.’

Yet he could not restrain himself and answered once. In a rush he was sucked into the calabash and stuck fast like a postage patch.

The truth was that the treasure-spell cared little whether a name was true or false: it captures whoever answers with the right spirit.

When Wukong was in that calabash, he was utterly black. He tried to push his head upward, but it could not lift at all, and it was so tightly packed.

Suddenly he fretted in his heart: ‘When I was on the mountain I met those two little demons, and they told me: whether in calabash or purified bottle, once a person is put inside, in only a little while they turn to pus. Couldn’t they turn me so, too?’

Then, with single-minded thought, he told himself: ‘No matter—he cannot liquefy me. Five hundred years ago, old Sun ravaged Heaven, and the Sovereign was cast into the Eight Trigrams Furnace for forty-nine days, where he was tempered into a body of gold heart and liver, silver lungs and entrails, copper head and iron back, fire eyes and golden pupils. How could one and three moments dissolve me? I will go inside with him and see what he does.’

The Second Demon brought him inside and said, “Brother, it’s been fetched.” The Elder Demon asked, “Brought whom?” The Second Demon replied, “The wandering Sun who is Sun Wukong was what I put inside the gourd.” The Elder Demon, rejoicing, said, “Good younger brother, please sit. Do not move; only when it shakes and makes a sound should you lift the sealing sheet.”

When Sun Wukong heard this he said to himself, “With a body like mine, how can it shake and sound? Only if I transform into thin gruel-like liquid can it rattle. I will relieve myself first; when he hears it rattle, he will surely lift the seal, and I can escape in the air.” Then he thought again, “No, no. Though urine can make a sound, it will soil this plain robe. When he lifts it, I’ll just gather some saliva, spit and slosh until it sounds thick and noisy, trick him into opening, and old Wukong will leave again.” The Great Sage prepared himself, while the demon, drunken and fond of wine, would not shake.

Then Sun Wukong cast a spell, only intending to tease the demon into shaking; suddenly he cried out, “By Heaven! even my walking cane has all been dissolved.” The demon did not shake. Sun Wukong cried out again, “Oh my!” “Even my waist bones are transformed.” The Elder Demon said, “It is transformed to the waist and already all dissolved. Lift the seal and see for yourself.”

Hearing those words, Sun Wukong pulled out a single strand of hair and cried, “Transform!” becoming a half body at the bottom of the gourd. His true form became a tiny louse-larva and was pinned beside the mouth of the gourd. As soon as the two demons raised the seal-paper to look, the Great Sage had already flown away. He rolled once, then changed into an Yi-hai Dragon. The Yi-hai Dragon was the same little demon who had earlier gone to invite the old granny; now that one had shifted form and stood to one side.

The Elder Demon pried open the gourd mouth and spread the lid over it. Seeing a half body moving within, he still could not tell true from false, and hurriedly called, “Brother, cover it, cover it; it has not yet fully transformed.” The Second Demon likewise pressed it back on again. Sun Wukong, from the side, laughed to himself: “He doesn’t yet know that old Sun is already here.”

The Elder Demon took the flask, filled a full cup with wine, and stepped forward with both hands to give it to the Second Demon: “Dear younger brother, let me pass you a cup.” The Second Demon said, “Elder brother, we have already drunk for half a watch. Why give me another?” The Elder Demon said, “You have already captured Tripitaka, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, and moreover Sun Wukong as well, disguised and packed in the gourd. For such service, you deserve several more cups from me.”

Seeing his elder’s sincerity, the Second Demon, out of respect, dared not refuse. But with one hand he held the gourd and did not dare to receive with the other; instead he handed the gourd to the Yi-hai Dragon and took the cup with both hands. Neither noticed the Yi-hai Dragon was actually Sun Wukong in disguise. See how he bore the gourd, serving with elaborate deference. The Elder Demon drank, and then too tried to send a cup back. The Elder said, “No need to return it; I’ll share one drink with you here.” The two only exchanged formal modesty and polite courtesy.

Carrying the gourd on his head, Sun Wukong fixed his eyes and watched them pass the cups from side to side. Seeing there was no suspicion at all, he slipped the gourd into his sleeve. He plucked one hair and made a fake gourd, exactly alike, and held it in his hand. The demon served a few more cups and, not distinguishing true from false, took up the precious vessel all at once with a firm hand. They all took their seats, sat at ease, and kept on drinking.

Sun Wukong slipped away quietly, got hold of the treasure, and in his heart rejoiced: “Even if this demon has his tricks, the gourd in the end is still one belonging to Sun.”

Still unknown is how it will be handled afterward—how they will save the Master and destroy the demon. Read on for the resolution in the next chapter.