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.

Then Sun Wukong and his two brothers set down their cloud mounts and went straight into the inner court. There the king’s ministers and the queen, in small groups, came out to bow and return their thanks. Sun Wukong recounted to the ministers and ruler the part where the Bodhisattva subdued demons and captured monsters, and each one kept offering top bows. While all were in the midst of congratulation, the Huangmen official announced, "Your Majesty, four more monks are outside." Zhu Bajie was flustered: "Brother, could this be a demon’s trick, shaping himself as Manjushri Bodhisattva, fooling us, then changing into a monk again to spar wits with us?" Sun Wukong replied, "How could that be?" and at once ordered him to come in to be seen.

The court officers shouted for him to enter. When Sun Wukong saw him, it was indeed a monk from Baolin Monastery, carrying the sky-soaring crown, the green-jade belt, the reddish-yellow robe, and the wuyou boots. Sun Wukong rejoiced and said, "Well done, well done." He then had him brought forward, removed the hooded scarf and set the sky-soaring crown on his head; he took off the coarse cloth robe and put on the reddish-yellow robe; he untied the rope and fastened the green-jade belt; he removed the monk’s shoes and stepped him into the wuyou boots; he ordered the crown prince to bring out the white-jade gui and place it in his hand: he was to hasten and ascend the hall, and be addressed as ruler. There is an old saying: "A court cannot be without a ruler for even one day." The emperor would not sit. He wept and knelt in the middle of the steps, saying, "I have already been dead three years, and now by the Master’s mercy I have been brought back to life. How could I dare to call myself august? Let that revered master be my lord, and I will gladly take wife and household and live as a commoner outside the walls." Tripitaka would not accept it. He was determined only to worship Buddha and seek the scriptures. He also invited Sun Wukong to speak. Sun Wukong laughed: "I will not hide it from you. If Old Sun wished to become emperor, he could have been emperor of all the nations and nine provinces under heaven. But we are used to being monks, and this is a life of indolent ease. If I were emperor, I would have to keep my hair unshaven, forgo evening rest, stay wakeful through the fifth watch, be unsettled at every distant report, and be pained by every flood and famine. How could I manage such a life? You keep your emperorship, and I will keep my monastic path, and continue my cultivation and practice." The king could no longer press him and had to enter the Treasure Hall, sit facing south, issue a general amnesty, and then send back the monk of Baolin Temple with imperial honors. Only then did he open the East Pavilion and hold a banquet for Tripitaka. In another hall an edict summoned the court painters, who painted the happy likenesses of the four disciples of Tripitaka and enshrined them in the Golden-Canopy Hall.

After settling affairs in that kingdom, the disciples did not stay long; they wished to take leave of the king and turn westward. The emperor, together with the three palace consorts, the crown prince, and all ministers, presented him with the state treasures, gold and silver, and silk and brocade as a token of gratitude. Tripitaka accepted not even a hair’s worth and only exchanged the travel papers, pressing Sun Wukong and the others to mount and leave at once. The king was sorely displeased. He arranged the full court carriages and invited Tripitaka to sit; with two lines of civil and military attendants guiding them, he, with the three palace women and the crown prince’s household, shouldered the royal shaft and pushed the wheel, escorting them out beyond the city walls. Only after he had descended from the dragon sedan and bade all farewell did the party part. The king said, "Master, on the day you return from the Western Heaven with the scriptures, you must surely come once more into my realm for another audience." Tripitaka answered, "My disciple has received your instruction." The emperor wept openly and, with all his ministers, returned home.

The four disciples under Tripitaka took the goat-path road and fixed their hearts only on Mount Ling. It was late autumn and early winter:

Frost had thinned the red-leaf woods to a spare, withered gray, and ripe grain filled every field beneath the rain. The morning sun warmed the ridges, wild plum bloomed in dawn’s colors, while wind shook the mountain bamboo into cold-toned music.

After leaving the Kingdom of Wuji, they traveled at night and moved in the mornings; after more than half a month they suddenly saw a high mountain—truly one that blocked the sun and seemed to touch the sky. Tripitaka, seated on his horse, was startled and reined in sharply, calling in haste for Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong asked, "What instructions does the Master give?" Tripitaka said, "Look ahead—another steep and towering mountain. We must be cautious, for fear another evil thing may rush to attack us." Sun Wukong laughed and said, "Just keep moving and do not overthink it. Old Sun has enough protection.” Tripitaka only did so, steeled his heart, whipped his horse, and hurried toward the cliffs, which proved indeed extremely perilous. As they entered it, one saw: The height rose as high as heaven, and the ravine below seemed as deep as the underworld. Ahead of the mountain were white clouds like bleached bones and black mists heaving in dark clumps. Red plum and bright green bamboo; green cypress and blue-green pines. Behind the mountain stood soul-seizing terraces a million zhang high, and behind them were uncanny hidden demon caves. In the caves a dripping, clattering spring gave silver water sounds, and beneath it a winding, crooked ravine ran with running stream. They also saw monkeys leaping through the sky and down to the earth bearing fruit, strange antlered deer with wild stances, and dopey staring deer-like beasts among the pines. By evening came leaping-tiger things from mountain hollows; by dawn a water dragon rose up, turning the waves. As soon as they reached the cave gate there came a hissing, rattling crash, startling flying birds into a flurry. The forest beasts moved about with uneasy rustling, and seeing this company of birds and beasts made everyone’s heart shiver. Hall after hall of caves collapsed and rose in bewildering succession, caves clanging in uncanny rhythm. Green-blue stones seemed dyed into a thousand pieces of jade, and gauze-blue haze wrapped heaps upon heaps of mist.

At the moment they were all in fear, a red cloud was seen in a hollow of the mountain, rising straight up to the ninth height of heaven and gathering into a mass of heat and flame. Sun Wukong was greatly alarmed; he stepped closer, gripped Tripitaka by the leg, and pulled him from his horse, crying, "Brothers, stop here: a demon is coming." In his haste, Zhu Bajie snatched his spike-scythe, and Sha Wujing raised his treasure staff, surrounding Tripitaka in the center.

The tale now turns to the other side. The red glow truly came from one demon spirit. For several years he had heard people say that the monk from the Tang Dynasty traveling westward for the scriptures was Elder Golden-Cicada reborn, a virtuous man who had cultivated for ten lives, and that whoever ate one piece of his flesh would prolong life to endure with heaven and earth. He waited in the mountains each day for this event, and now unexpectedly he had arrived. From midair he watched and saw the three disciples surrounding Tripitaka on horseback, each prepared and each brandishing a weapon. The demon praised: "Fine monks! I only saw one white-faced fat monk riding a horse—surely that is the Holy Monk of the Tang Court—yet how is he guarded by three ugly monks? Each one has sleeves rolled and fists drawn, each holding arms as if ready to strike. Ah! I do not know who has enough eyesight to recognize me. In such a guise, do not even think you can get a taste of that monk’s flesh." He pondered for a while, asking his own heart, "If I try to seize him by force of might, I will never get near. Perhaps if I deceive him with holiness, I may yet get him. If I can make his mind confused and then find the moment within that kindness, I can seize him at once. I will go down and toy with him a bit."

Then the demon, seeing him as a splendid chance, dispersed the red light and descended from the cloud. He went to the mountain slope and shifted his body at once into that of a mischievous seven-year-old child, naked from waist up, hands and feet bound with hemp rope, hung high from the top of a pine branch, crying continuously, "Save me! Save me!"

At this, Sun Wukong suddenly looked up again and saw that the red cloud had vanished and the heat was gone. He called out, "Master, please mount and ride on." Tripitaka said, "You said a demon was coming. How can you now dare to travel on?" Sun Wukong replied, "Just moments ago I saw a red cloud rising from the ground and gathering in the air into a ball of fire. It was unquestionably a demon. Now that cloud has dispersed, so it is probably a passing demon spirit with no intent to hurt anyone. We can go." Zhu Bajie laughed: "Brother Sun says so artfully—what kind of passing demon could there be?" Sun Wukong said, "You have no way to know. If the demon king of that mountain and cave had called a banquet and invited spirits from the four cardinal directions, these beings would all come. In that case his intention is only to attend the feast, not to injure anyone. That is simply a passing demon spirit."

When Tripitaka heard this, he seemed half persuaded and half uncertain, but he did as told, shifted his seat to the saddle, and kept moving along the road toward the mountain. While he rode on, they again heard the cry, "Save him! Save him!" The Master was greatly startled: "Disciple, who is it in this half-mountain valley that cries so?" Sun Wukong came forward and said, "Master, just keep moving. Do not entangle yourself in any talk of sedan chairs—mule-litter, sedan-litter, or sleeping-litter. In this place there may be litters, but no one to carry you." Tripitaka said, "It is not a carrying-litter cry; it is a cry for help." Sun Wukong laughed, "I know. Do not bother with idle things. Keep going."

Tripitaka obeyed and spurred on his horse. Before they had gone a full li, they heard the cry again: "Save him!" The Master said, "Disciple, this cry is not that of ghost, demon, or fiend. If it were such an evil thing, it would cry out but never echo. You can hear it call once, then again—surely it is someone in distress. We should go rescue him." Sun Wukong said, "Today, put this compassion aside for a moment; after we pass this mountain, we may release it. This place is full of more danger than fortune. You know the saying about grass and trees giving spirit: things can become spirits. In most cases they can, but one especially dangerous type is a python that, after long years of practice, becomes a spirit-snake and can discern a person’s given name. If such a creature lurks in the grass or a mountain hollow and calls out, if one does not answer, nothing may happen; but if one answers once, it can seize the person’s vital spirit and follow through the night, then certainly kill the life of the man. So go on, keep going. As the ancients said: "If you get away, give thanks to Heaven and Earth." Do not listen to it."

The Monkey King thought to himself, “That unruly demon is somewhere out there, only shouting and shouting. Let old Sun give him a dose of the Mao-You Star Method and make it so the two will not meet.” Calling out, the Great Sage summoned Sha Wujing: “Keep hold of the horse and walk slowly, so old Sun can relieve himself.” He let Tripitaka go a few steps ahead, then muttered a spell and worked the art of moving mountains and shrinking earth; he pointed the Golden-Hooped Staff backward. Their group crossed this peak and went forward, leaving that demon behind.

He strode forward again and caught up with Tripitaka, running along the mountain path. Suddenly Tripitaka heard, again from behind the mountain, the cry, “Save me!” The Master said, “Disciple, those who cry out this way have no good karma in this world; they will not meet us. We have already passed him. You hear him crying behind the mountain.” Zhu Bajie said, “He is still in front, only the wind has shifted.” The Monkey King said, “Whether the wind shifts or not, keep walking.” From then on they were speechless, each hurrying as if to pass this mountain in a single step. No more words are needed.

The demon on the slope had called three or four times and no one came. He thought: “Tripitaka is right here; from behind I can see him, and he should not have been three li behind for so long. He must have taken another road.” He shook himself, took off the ropes, and in a rush rose again in red light. Unknowingly, the Great Sage looked up and recognized it as the demon; then he again took Tripitaka by the feet and pushed him off the horse: “Brothers, be careful, be careful—the demon has returned.” In panic, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, each gripping his halberd and staff, enclosed Tripitaka again in their middle.

The spirit, seeing this, cried from midair, “Fine monk! I only just saw that white-faced monk seated on the horse, yet how is he hidden again by those three of you? I can only know when I meet him. First I should bring down that sharp-eyed one and then seize Tripitaka; otherwise all my planning goes to waste and I lose my chance.” He then pressed down on the cloud-head and, just like before, hung high, waiting at the top of the pines. This time he did not come within half a li.

The Sun Great Sage lifted his head and looked again; he saw the red cloud had dispersed and again told the Master to remount and go on ahead. Tripitaka said, “You said a demon had come back; how can you still tell us to keep walking?” The Monkey King replied, “It is only a passing spirit and does not dare to bother us.” The Master, still angry, said, “That unruly ape has fully teased me. Right in the place where there are demons, he says there is no danger; in this calm place he frightens me again and keeps crying that some demon is here. Without sense of proportion he pulls my feet and drags me off the horse. Yet now he says it is a mere traveler spirit. If I were hurt in the fall, it might still be tolerated. But if a demon had dragged me away, where could we ever follow and find me?…” The Monkey King said, “Master, do not blame me. If only your hands or feet were hurt, they could be treated. If a demon abducted you, there is nowhere to pursue.” The Master, very angry, snorted and moved to recite the Tightening Headband Spell. It was Sha Wujing’s earnest pleading that made him remount and continue.

They had not even sat stably when they heard it again: “Master, save me!” Tripitaka raised his head and indeed saw a child, naked, hanging from a tree. He took the reins and scolded the Monkey King: “That lazy brute is so wicked! He has no sign of kindness at all, and his heart is only to mischief and violence. I was crying that this was a human voice, and he answered endlessly with lies, only shouting that it is a demon. Do you see him hanging there? Is he not a person?” The Great Sage saw the Master’s alarm had risen, and when he looked straight at the form he recognized him. One reason he dared not act was that he feared the Master might recite the Tightening Headband Spell. He lowered his head and, not daring to speak again, let Tripitaka go down to the tree. The Master pointed with the tip of his whip and asked, “Child, whose are you? Why are you hanging here? Speak and I will save you.” Ah! He was plainly a spirit altered in this way, but the Master was an ordinary man of flesh and blood and could not recognize him.

When the demon saw the Master ask below, it became even more cunning and, with tears in its eyes, cried, “Master, to the west of this mountain there is a dry pine ravine, and beyond it a village. I am from there. My maternal grandfather’s surname is Hong. He had long gathered great hoards of gold and silver, great quantities of household goods, and everyone called him Hong Baiwan. Long ago, after he passed away, he left the property to my father. Recently my father lived in wanton ease, and the estate dwindled away; they called him then Hong Shiwan. He only kept company with men of force from four roads, lending and placing gold and silver to earn interest. Suddenly these rootless men deceived him and carried off all of it; principal and interest were gone. My father swore a great oath and would lend no more. Those who had borrowed, poor and with no way out, formed a violent gang, came by daylight with torches and staves, stormed my gate, and looted all my property. They killed my father. Seeing that my mother still had some beauty, they carried her off to make her a stronghold wife. At that time my mother could not bear to leave me and clutched me in her arms, wailing, trembling, and followed the bandits. By chance we came to this mountain, and they meant to kill me too. Through my mother’s pleading, I was spared from the blade, and instead they tied me and hung me on a tree to die by cold and hunger. I do not even know where they carried my mother. I have hung here three days and three nights; not one person has passed this way. Who knows what merit from former lives made me meet the Teacher in this life? If you have great compassion and will save my life and let me go home, I will sell body and life to repay your grace. Even if yellow sands cover my face, I will not forget.”

Tripitaka, hearing this, accepted it as true and ordered Zhu Bajie to release the rope and bring him down. The idiot did not know any person and almost moved to strike. The Monkey King, who was beside him, could not hold back and shouted once: “You wretched brute! Someone here has recognized you. Do not merely stand in the heights, make nonsense, and lie to trick people. You say your property was robbed, your father wounded, your mother kidnapped. If I save you and hand you back, to whom are you to offer thanks? What recompense could you give me? This lie has fallen apart.” The demon, hearing this, became afraid and, knowing the Great Sage was a man of power, kept him in mind. Still trembling, it spoke with tears: “Master, though my parents are gone and all household wealth exhausted, some farmland remains and some relatives are still alive.” The Monkey King asked, “What relations do you have?” The demon said, “My maternal grandfather’s house is south of the mountain, my girl-cousin dwells on the north ridge, Li Si at the ravine’s head is my uncle by marriage, Hong San in the forest is my clan uncle, and there are also an uncle and elder cousin in this village around it. If the Master saves me, when we reach the village, let him tell all these kin of the Master’s grace. I will sell some fields and repay deeply.”

Hearing this, Zhu Bajie blocked the Monkey King and said, “Elder Brother, this is a child, why do you keep questioning him at such length? He only said he was robbed by bandits of some quick profits, not that he could lose even his house and fields. If we tell his relatives, even if we had very wide bellies, we could not eat the value of ten mu of his land. Bring him down.” The idiot only thought of food and cared little for right and wrong; he used his knife to cut the rope, letting the demon down. The demon then knelt before Tripitaka, eyes full of tears, and kept bowing. The compassionate Master called, “Child, climb up on my horse and I will take you with us.” The demon said, “Master, my hands and feet are all numbed from hanging, my waist and hips ache. Besides, I am a country person, unaccustomed to horse riding.” Tripitaka told Zhu Bajie to carry him. The demon gave a glance and said, “Master, when I was robbed, the bandits all had painted faces, false beards, and took knife and staff in hand. I was frightened of them. I saw this unlucky-faced Master and my soul fled from me; I dare not ask him to carry me.” Tripitaka said, “Have Sha Wujing carry him.” The demon gave another glance and said, “Master, when those bandits robbed my home, they all used make-up faces and false beards and held knives and staves. I was already terrified, and when I saw this ominous-faced Master, I nearly lost my spirits; I still do not dare ask him to bear me.” Tripitaka told Sun Wukong to carry him. The Monkey King laughed and said, “I will carry him, I will carry him.” The demon rejoiced inwardly, and with a steady, easy stride he asked the Monkey King to bear him.

The Monkey King dragged him to the roadside and tested him; he was only about three and ten-something liang in weight. The Monkey King laughed: “You vagrant demon—today you should have died. How dare you make trouble in front of old Sun again? I know you for that sort of thing.” The demon said, “I am a child of a good household; I was struck by great misfortune. How can I be some such kind?” The Monkey King said, “If you are from a good household, why is your frame so light?” The demon said, “My bones are small.” The Monkey King said, “How old are you?” The demon answered, “I am seven.” The Monkey King laughed: “At one jin a year you should be seven jin. Why are you not even four jin?” The demon said, “I had no milk as a child.” The Monkey King said, “Very well. I will carry you. If you need to urinate on the way, you must tell me.”

Tripitaka went on ahead with Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing; the Monkey King followed behind carrying the child, and the whole party turned westward. A poem is presented as proof:

High virtue rises, and so do the heights of demonic obstruction; Chan’s mechanism, once rooted in stillness, gives rise to demons. The true heart, upright, moves on the Middle Way; the Wood Mother, dull and errant, runs wild in outward haste. The mind-horse of desire does not speak with lustful attachment; the yellow old woman says nothing, smoldering in private grief. The guest-evil rejoices in success for naught; in the end it all returns and vanishes from the righteous place.

The Great Sage Sun Wukong was carrying the demon on his back and, to himself, resented Tripitaka for knowing no hardship: “We cross these wild and perilous mountains, and even unburdened it is hard to walk; yet the old Sun is made to carry people. This fellow, demon or not, could still be a decent man. He has no father or mother, so with whom should Master have him carried? Better to dash him dead outright.” The demon had already sensed this and immediately used his powers, drawing four breaths from the four directions and blowing onto Sun Wukong’s back; the Buddha-Born Master felt as if a thousand jins heavier. Sun Wukong laughed, “My child, with your heavy-body trick you are trying to press down your old lord.” The demon, fearing the Great Sage might hurt him, opened his corpse and sent forth his spirit, leaping away and hovering in the highest sky. Yet Sun Wukong felt even heavier on the back. The Monkey King, enraged, caught him and with a hard swing threw him against a slick roadside stone until the body was flattened like a meat pie. Still fearing he might act uncivilly again, he tore off all four limbs and flung them to either side of the road, where they all shattered to bits.

The creature, clearly seeing from above, could not hold his temper and thought to himself: “That lazy monkey monk thinks me a demon and intends to harm your Master, yet I have not even seen how to strike. How could you so injure me? If I had planned it, I would have used spirit-travel and gone; otherwise I would have been punished for shedding life without cause. If I do not seize Tripitaka at this moment and seize him once more, he will be made to tarry longer and lose the chance to continue.” With that, the beast in midair raised a wild whirl of wind. In one loud cry it spun, hurling stones and lifting sand, truly ferocious and cruel. The gale:

Swirling rage whirls water and cloud, dark reek rising, black vapors rise to blind the sun. Ridge trees are torn out with their roots, wild plum trunks and all lie flattened. Yellow sand clouds the eyes, men can scarcely walk; jagged rocks mar what should be a level road. Rolling, heaving darkness spreads across the plain, and all mountain birds and beasts cry out in alarm. It blew so hard that Tripitaka could scarcely remain in the saddle; Zhu Bajie dared not look up, while Sha Wujing lowered his head and covered his face. The Great Sage instantly knew the demon was making this wind. As he hurried forward to give chase, the demon had already used the wind head-on and whisked Tripitaka away. There was no trace, no shadow, and no way to follow.

After a while, the wind fell silent and the sunlight brightened. Sun Wukong moved ahead to look and saw the White Dragon Horse trembling and crying in a rasping snort, the baggage sacks flung down into the road below. Zhu Bajie was sprawled beneath the cliff groaning, and Sha Wujing crouched before the slope calling out. Wukong shouted, “Bajie!” The fellow heard the Great Sage’s voice. When he raised his head the wild wind had already stilled; he got up and grabbed Wukong, saying, “Brother, what a tremendous wind it was!” Sha Wujing too came forward, “Brother, it was a whirl of wind,” and then asked, “Where is Master?” Bajie answered, “The wind came hard and fast. We all hid our heads and eyes, each one dodging it. Master was lying on the horse, too.” Wukong asked, “Where has he gone now?” Sha said, “He was made of dengcao grass and could have been swept away by one blast.”

Sun Wukong said, “Brothers, from now on we should scatter.” Zhu Bajie said, “Exactly. It is best to scatter at once and each seek our own way. How endless is this road to the Western Lands; who knows when it will be reached?” On hearing that, Sha Wujing, struck with shock, his whole body went numb, and said, “Brother, what are you saying? In our former lives we are guilty; through Guanyin’s compassion we were persuaded to reform, we had our crowns touched, received new Dharma names, and took refuge in Buddha’s vow. We willingly pledged to protect Tripitaka on the way west to pray for the scriptures and repay our sins. Now we are halted all at once and each of us speaks of finding our own road. Is that not against Guanyin’s good merit, corrupting our own virtue, and inviting ridicule that we are without perseverance?” Sun Wukong said, “Brother, what you say is true, but Master will not listen. My old fire-eye, golden-pupil gaze can tell right from wrong. This wind was raised by that child hanging from the tree. I recognized him as a demon spirit. You did not know, and Master did not know, and thinking him a decent boy of a household, he ordered me to carry him. It was my plan to set him up and control him; then he used a heavy-body art and pressed me down. I smashed him into pieces. He then, I suspect, used corpse-shedding arts, stirred up a wind formation, and carried off my Master. So I, saying this all over again, found he never heeded me and I lost heart, even saying we should each disperse. Since you, worthy brother, have such sincere words, you place the old Sun in a double bind. “Bajie, how shall we proceed?” Bajie said, “I only spoke carelessly and said nonsense. Truly, I should not have said scatter. Brother, I have no means to do anything else. Still, I believe Sha’s words: let us go and seek that demon to rescue Master.” The Great Sage turned from anger to joy: “Brothers, we must once more join one heart. Gather up the baggage and the horses, then mount back up the mountain to find the demon and save Master.”

The three of them followed by pulling on gnarled vines and winding roots across slopes and ravines, going five or seven tens of li with no sign at all. On that mountain all flying birds and moving beasts were gone; only old firs and old pines were commonly seen. Sun Wukong grew truly anxious. He sprang up in a single bound and leapt to the rugged peak, then cried, “Transform!” He changed into his true form with three heads and six arms, as in the image he once took when he threw heaven into chaos. Swinging the Golden-Hooped Staff, he made it three Golden-Hooped Staffs and with sharp crashing blows struck one way to the east and one way to the west, swinging wildly without cease. Zhu Bajie saw this and said to Sha, “Sah Monk, this is bad: brother still seeks for Master and his angry heart has turned to storm.”

After striking for a while, Sun Wukong brought forth a troop of hungry mountain spirits, each with a ragged strip of cloth and no loincloth or trouser mouth, kneeling before the mountain and saying, “Great Sage, the mountain gods and the land gods have come to pay respect.” Sun asked, “How can there be so many mountain gods and land gods?” All bowed their heads and said, “Tell the Great Sage: this mountain is called Six-Hundred-Li Zhantou Mountain. We are ten li each for a mountain spirit, ten li each for a land spirit, totaling thirty mountain spirits and thirty land spirits. Yesterday we heard the Great Sage had come, but because we could not all gather in time, we received you late and caused your anger. We beg your pardon.” Sun Wukong said, “I will forgive you this offense. I ask: how many demons are on this mountain?” They replied, “Your lordship! Only one, and he has shaved our heads bare; he has left us without incense or spirit papers, without blood food at all. Each of us has neither clothing enough for the body nor food enough for the mouth. He even eats the mountain spirits. “Is this demon in front of the mountain or behind it?” “He is in neither. In this mountain is a ravine called Kusoong Ravine. By its side is a cave called Fire-Cloud Cave. Inside lives a demon king of vast magic. He often seizes our mountain spirits and land gods and takes them away. At times he sets blazing fires to their peaks, and through the night beats bells and cries and howls. What regular coin does this little demon ask for anyway?” Sun Wukong said, “You are ghosts and spirits—what coin do you have for him?” The spirits said, “Indeed, we have no money for him. Only at times we can catch a few mountain goats or wild deer and bring offerings to feed his crowd of spirits morning and evening. If we have nothing to send him, he comes and tears down halls and temples, strips us of clothes, and makes us so restless that we have no peace. Please, Great Sage, wipe out this demon and save the mountain’s living things.” Sun asked, “Since you are under his rule and keep to his cave, do you know what sort of demon he is, and what name he bears?” They said, “If we speak of him, perhaps the Great Sage knows too. He is the son of the Bull Demon King, raised by a Rākṣa woman. He once practiced on Flaming-Heart Mountain for three hundred years and forged Samadhi True Fire, and gained vast spiritual powers. The Bull Demon King brought him here to guard this Hao Mountain. His childhood name is Honghai-er, and he holds the title Holy-Infant Great King.”

Sun Wukong rejoiced and laughed to himself. He dismissed the land gods and mountain gods, then resumed his true form and climbed down from the peak, saying to Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, “Brothers, do not worry and do not keep thinking about it. Master will surely not be harmed. That demon has kinship with old Sun.” Zhu Bajie laughed: “Brother, do not lie. You are on Dongsheng Divine Continent, while this here is Xiniuhe Continent. The distance is endless, beyond ten thousand waters and ten thousand mountains; there are even two seas in between. How could there be kinship between you?” Sun replied, “The crowd I just questioned were the local mountain and land gods, spirits of this place itself. When I asked why this demon had become so, they told me he is the Bull Demon King’s son, raised by a Rākṣa woman, named Honghai-er and titled Holy-Infant Great King. Think: five hundred years ago, when I had once troubled Heaven and Earth, I roamed the world’s famous mountains seeking heroes across the earth. The Bull Demon King was among them and became one of my seven elder sworn brothers. Among five or six demon kings he alone saw that old Sun was born small and clever, and so he called the Bull Demon King ‘Elder Brother.’ “This demon is the son of the Bull Demon King, and I know his father, so he is, by our reckoning, my uncle. How could he dare to harm Master? Let us go at once.” Sha Wujing laughed, “Brother, there is a saying: ‘Three years without passing through a gate, even kinship does not remain as kinship.’ You parted from him five or six hundred years ago, never sent wine or returned, and no formal rite ever invited him. How could he recognize kin with you?” Sun answered, “How can you measure human ties so? As it is said, ‘A single duckweed drifts back to the Great Sea; where are people who will never meet again?’ Even if he does not acknowledge kin, there is no way he would harm my Master. We do not need him to arrange a welcome feast and keep us. He will surely return to us the whole Tripitaka.”

The three brothers, each with reverent hearts, led forward the white horse, on whose back their baggage was loaded, and followed the main road straight ahead. Without any distinction of day or night they traveled some hundred-odd li, and suddenly they came upon a pine grove; within it ran a winding ravine, and under it clear, verdant water gushed in living streams. At the head of that ravine stood a slate-and-stone bridge that led to the cavern dwelling on the opposite side. Sun Wukong said, "Brother, look at that side: the rock wall there glitters. It must surely be a demon’s abode. As for us, we should decide together: who will keep watch over the baggage and horses, and who is willing to come with me to subdue the demon?" Zhu Bajie said, "Elder Brother, old Pig has no taste for idling about; I’ll go with you." Sun Wukong said, "Good, good." He instructed, "Sha Wujing, hide the horses and all our baggage deep in the woods and guard them carefully. The two of us will go to seek Master Tripitaka." Sha Wujing did as told. Zhu Bajie followed him, and both arrived, each armed. It was then:

Before the child-devil fire is not yet tempered, the Mind-Monkey and Wooden Mother together support one another.

After all, we still do not know what good or ill this outing will bring. Listen, and in the next chapter it will be resolved.