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.

In this turn, this doctrine of cause and effect urges people toward goodness and forbids evil. Let no one dare to do evil. When a single thought arises, the heavenly spirits behold it, and each follows whatever that thought makes him do. How can a clumsy, stubborn fool like you learn the Way? In either case it is still a medicine without a true heart. While this life still remains, and the Way is at hand, it should be cultivated—do not wasteful-linger. Recognize the root and shed your shell. If you seek the Long Life, you must seize it. At all times keep things clear to your sight and weigh the essence like the finest cream. Push through the three passes and cross the dark sea, and then teach the worthy to ride phoenix and crane. In between, through compassion born of mercy, one rises to the Supreme Bliss.

After this, Tripitaka’s one-minded devotion was sincere; do not speak of heavenly gods offering protection. Even spirits of these grasses and trees would come to escort him. After a single proper night’s meeting, he slipped out from brambles and thorns, and no more vines clung to him. The four disciples pressed westward, and after many stages the late-winter chill had passed; it was exactly the days of early spring:

Nature and flourishing things harmonized; the Dipper’s handle turned toward Yīn. Green shoots of grass spread everywhere, and on every bank the willow tips were all blue-green. One ridge of peach blossoms was painted red as brocade, and half a stream shone clear, misty and blue. Whatever wind and rain had come before, they gave way to boundless feeling of heart. Sunlight brightened the flower hearts into vividness, and swallows lightly picked at mossy stamens. Mountain colors, like Wang Wei’s paintings, held soft gradations; birds’ voices of the season darted to and fro. Spring beauty spread like rich embroidery, but no one came to behold it; yet butterflies danced and bees sang with feeling. The disciples sought out the blossom paths and followed their horses at an easy pace. As they walked, they suddenly saw a tall mountain; from afar it seemed to join the sky itself, breaking through the blue heavens. Tripitaka raised his whip and pointed: “Sun Wukong, I do not know how high that mountain is, but it seems to be touching the heavens and piercing the blue ether.” Wukong said, “There is an old verse: ‘Only Heaven is above; no mountain is on par with it.’ To say that a mountain is exceedingly tall does not make it comparable with Heaven; how could it truly touch Heaven?” Zhu Bajie said, “If it does not touch Heaven, how is Mount Kunlun called the Pillar of Heaven?” Wukong said, “You do not know. From old times it has been said, ‘Heaven is not full in the northwest.’ Kunlun Mountain lies in the northwestern corner, so it has the sense of blocking the sky and filling emptiness—that is why it is called the Heaven Pillar.” Sha Wujing laughed and said, “Elder brother, do not speak these good words to him; if he hears them, he will go off and confuse others. Let us just keep walking. Once we reach the mountain, we’ll know its height.”

That fool drove on behind Sha Wujing, teasing and sparring with him all the way. Master’s horse ran as fast as an arrow. Soon they reached the edge of the cliff and climbed up step by step. The mountain looked like this:

In the forest the wind whistled, and in the ravine the water murmured. Rooks and sparrows could not fly through; even immortals would find it hard. A thousand cliffs, ten thousand gullies, a hundred bends in every curve. Dust rolled in great drifts where no one came, while strange rocks stood thick and did not weary the eye. In places, clouds spread like water; here trees and birdsong were all in abundance. Deer carried away the sacred lingzhi, and monkeys went back with peaches. Fox and marten came and went, leaping upon the cliffs; goral and deer moved in and out of ridge-heads in playful unrest. Suddenly a tiger’s roar made one’s courage shake, and brindled leopards and gray wolves blocked the path. Tripitaka saw it and was alarmed. Wukong, whose divine powers were vast, looked to his Golden-Hooped Staff and gave one roar. He frightened away the wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards, split open a path, and led Master up the mountain. Passing the ridge and descending to level ground in the west, they suddenly saw soft auspicious light and drifting colored mist. There stood rows of towers, pavilions, and halls; faint temple bells and chimes floated out. Tripitaka said, “Disciples, what place is this?” Wukong lifted the brim of his thought and shaded his eyes with his hand, then looked closely. This place was truly: Jeweled towers and precious seats; the upper monastery is called Fang. Empty valleys, echoing with many wild winds; the still realm scattered heavenly fragrance. Green pines veiled with rain sheltered lofty pavilions; jade-green bamboos held the clouds, guarding the lecture hall. Rosy light dimly revealed the Dragon Palace; colored haze drifted long across the river sands. Vermilion railings, jade doors; painted ridges and carved beams. Talk of sutras filled the hall with scent, and the scriptural tablets shone like the moon in the windows. Birds sang from red trees, and cranes drank beside a stone spring. All around the flowers bloomed, in beautiful gem gardens; three-sided gates opened with the radiance of Śewēi. Towers and terraces jutted abruptly, gates facing the ridges; temple bells and chimes rang out in long, empty, slow resonance. Windows opened to a fine wind, curtains drew back into drifting haze. The monks’ mood was quiet and detached, with no trace of common worldliness. Red dust never reaches this true-immortal realm. In this still soil, a splendid Dharma field was made. After seeing it, Wukong answered, “Master, that place is a monastery, yet among its auspicious light there is some fierceness. Its appearance is like Leiyin, yet the paths are not the same. We should not, upon arriving, enter recklessly; else we may be met with poisoned hands.” Tripitaka said, “If it has the appearance of Leiyin, then it must surely be Ling Mountain. Do not delay my sincerity; do not obstruct my purpose.” Wukong said, “No, no. I have walked the road to Ling Mountain several times before. This is not that path.” Zhu Bajie said, “Even if not, some good man must live there.” Sha Wujing said, “Do not be over-suspicious. This road must pass through this gate; whether it is so can be known at a glance.” Wukong said, “Wujing is right.”

Master urged his horse and lashed him on. When he reached the front of the mountain gate, he saw the three characters “Leiyin Temple” and in panic dismounted in a tumble, falling to the ground, muttering, “Impudent ape! You’ve done for me. It is Leiyin Temple and yet it has deceived me.” Wukong smiled and said, “Master, do not be upset; look again. The gate has four characters—how could you have read only three and blame me?” Master trembled and rose, looking again. It truly was four characters: “Small Leiyin Temple.” Tripitaka said, “If this is Small Leiyin Temple, there must certainly be some Buddha within. The scriptures say there are three thousand Buddhas, not confined to one place—Guanyin in the South Sea, Samantabhadra at Mount Emei, Manjushri at Mount Wutai. Who can say which Buddha’s sanctuary this is? The ancients said, ‘Where there is Buddha and sutra, there is no boundary and no jewel. We may enter.’” Wukong said, “Do not enter. This place has little fortune and much peril. If calamity comes, do not blame me.” Tripitaka said, “Even if there is no Buddha, there will certainly be an image. My disciple’s intention is to meet a Buddha and bow before him. How could I fault you?”

At once he ordered Zhu Bajie to fetch the monastic robes, exchange the monk’s cap, and arrange their dress, then step forward. At the gate they heard someone called from inside: “Tripitaka, you have come from the eastern land to pay homage to my Buddha, how can you be so negligent?” Tripitaka at once went down and prostrated himself; Zhu Bajie also knelt in submission, and Sha Wujing knelt as well. Only Wukong held the horses and gathered the luggage behind. Then, on entering the two-story gate, they saw the Great Hall of the Buddha. Beneath the hall’s gate, on a jewel platform, stood five hundred Arhats, three thousand Jie-di, four Vajra Kings, eight Bodhisattvas, nuns, upāsakas, and countless holy monks and Taoist adepts. In truth there was radiant flower and perfume, and auspicious light in full abundance. In his haste, Master and the two disciples made a bow at every step, kneeling up to the spirit platform itself. Wukong openly did not bow. From above the lotus platform came a harsh cry: “Sun Wukong—how dare you not bow before the Buddha?” Wukong looked more closely and saw that it was a sham. He threw aside horse and pack, drew his staff, and shouted, “You rabble of evil beasts, how bold are you! How can you hide beneath Buddha’s name and corrupt the Buddha’s pure virtue? Do not flee.” He raised both hands with the staff and lunged to strike. Then in midair came a sharp ding-dang, and a pair of golden clappers was cast down, enclosing Wukong head and feet together within them. Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing hurried to bring out their heavy spiked staffs, but a cluster of Arhats, Jie-di, holy monks, and Taoist adepts rushed in at once and surrounded them. The two were caught off guard and all were seized. Tripitaka too was taken. All were bound tight with rope and cord and fastened securely.

The one seated on the lotus throne as Buddha was, in fact, a demon king, and all the Arhats and others were only little fiends. The Buddha image was put away and the demon form reappeared. The three from Tripitaka’s party were carried to the rear and locked away. Wukong, kept enclosed in the golden clappers, was never released, set on the treasure platform, and left for three nights and three days to become pus and blood. After that, they put him in an iron cage and steamed him, using him for their feast. It was truly:

Green-eyed ape-men discerned the false as true, and from a trace of Zen they bowed to a golden form. The blind yellow hag performed reverence without sight; the wooden-mother, deluded in affection, discoursed with him. A demonic nature grows fierce and deceives its own root; the demon lord, harboring evil intent, feigned heaven and men. Truly this little demon lord is no small one—he is a great one, and to enter by a side gate has wasted his body in vain. At that time the band of demons stored Tripitaka and his two disciples in the rear, tied the horse behind, and put his robes and monk’s cap into the load on his shoulder. They stored everything there as well. The other side was strictly guarded, no need to describe it further.

Then he said the Great Sage, Sun Wukong, was wedged inside the golden cymbals, dark and hollow, soaked in sweat from the heat; he arched left and collided right, yet could not get out. In desperation he struck the Iron Staff about wildly, and could not move it by a single hair. His plan vanished from his mind. He stretched outward as if he could break through the golden cymbal. He twisted a secret technique and shot up so tall, a thousand- and hundred-zhang height; the cymbal grew with him, and not a hint of seam or glimmer appeared. He twisted the technique again and shrank himself a little, small as a mustard seed; the cymbal shrank with him too, with even fewer tiny pores left. He then blew immortal breath through the Iron Staff and called, 「Change！」 and it became like a banner pole, bracing the cymbal. He plucked two of the longest hairs from the back of his head and called, 「Change！」 At once they became five-petaled plum-blossom drills. Sliding beneath the staff, he drilled and drilled by the hundreds and thousands, producing only a dull ringing, and could not drill further.

Sun Wukong grew urgent. He twisted another technique, chanted the spell, 「唵㘕靜法界，乾元亨利貞」, and called forth the Five-Direction Jiedi, the Six Ding and Six Jia, and eighteen Dharma-guard Jialans. They stood outside the golden cymbal and said: 「Great Sage, we are all protecting Tripitaka so that no demon may hurt him. Why call us here again?」

Sun Wukong replied, 「My Tripitaka will not heed my counsel; if he is killed, I lose nothing. But why cannot you quickly open this cymbal and let me out so I can go on punishing this matter? In here there is no light, and my whole body burns with heat—won’t I be suffocated?」

The gods really tried to lift the cymbal, but it stayed fixed, as if nailed down, and could not be moved at all.

Jingtou Jiedi said, 「Great Sage, I do not know what kind of treasure this is. Up and down it is fused into one solid piece. My strength is too small to lift it.」

Sun Wukong said, 「Even from inside, I do not know how many divine arts I have used, and still I cannot move it.」

When Jiedi heard this, he ordered the Six Ding gods to protect Tripitaka, the Six Jia gods to watch the golden cymbal, and all the Jialans to inspect it before and behind. He then rose in auspicious radiance and in an instant entered the South Heavenly Gate. Without waiting for a summons, he went straight up beneath the Hall of Lingxiao Treasures. There he knelt before the Jade Emperor and reported: 「Your Majesty, I am Jiedi, an envoy of the Five Directions. Today Sun Wukong, the Great Sage of Equalizing Heaven, is escorting Tripitaka to fetch the scriptures. On the road, we met a mountain called Little Leiyin Temple. Tang Monk mistook it and worshiped there, thinking it the sacred Ling Mountains, but it was an illusion set by a demon. The monster captured him and his companions and enclosed the Great Sage inside a pair of golden cymbals, making his progress impossible and facing him with no way out—surely to die there. I thus come to report on this.」

Then he issued his decree: 「Send the Twenty-Eight Constellations at once, quickly descend to remove this calamity and subdue the demon.」

The constellation spirits did not dare to linger. They followed Jiedi out of the Heavenly Gate and reached inside the mountain gate at the second watch. In those hours the larger and smaller demons, having obtained Tang Monk, had all been rewarded by the old demon and each went to sleep. The star spirits were no longer anxious. They came outside the cymbals and announced, 「Great Sage, we are the Twenty-Eight Constellations sent by the Jade Emperor to rescue you.」

When Sun Wukong heard this, he was overjoyed and told them, 「Raise weapons and strike to break it, and old Sun will come out.」

The stars replied, 「We dare not strike. This object is a fused gold treasure; if struck it will ring, and the roar would wake the demons, making rescue impossible. Let us pry it with weapons. Move only where you can see a trace of light.」

Sun Wukong said, 「You are right.」

See them then: those with spears used spears; those with swords used swords; those with knives used knives; those with axes used axes. Some hauled, some lifted, some pried up, some levered. They worked until the third watch. It stayed utterly unmoving, as if it were cast into one piece. Inside, the Great Sage kept turning this way and that, crawling over and rolling, and could see no gleam of light.

Kang Jinlong said, 「Great Sage, be at ease and do not be so agitated. Observe, this treasure must be a wish-granting object and surely can transform. Since you are inside, place your hand upon the seam and wait for my horn tip to push in. Then you can transform and slip out through the loosened opening.」

Sun Wukong did as told and truly groped about in agitation. The constellation spirit shrank his body; the horn tip became like a needle point and entered along the rim seam, advancing inward. He used all his strength of a thousand jin before he could break through. He then synchronized body and horn with his art and cried, 「Long! Long! Long!」 The horn became as thick as a bowl. The rim of the cymbal did not seem cast in metal either; it seemed like living skin and flesh lengthened, clenching tightly around Kang Jinlong’s horn, and on all sides there was not a trace of a pulling gap.

Feeling along the horn, Sun Wukong called out, 「It is of no use. Above and below there is no slack in the slightest. I have no choice but to ask: endure this little pain and carry me out.」 So he transformed the Golden-Hooped Staff into a steel drill and drilled a hole at the tip of that horn. He shrank himself to the size of a mustard seed, crouched and threaded himself through the drilled eye, crying, 「Pull out the horn, pull out the horn！」

That star spirit, spending who knows how much force, only then managed to pull it free and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

Sun Wukong crawled out through the drilled eye of his horn and reappeared in his true form. He drew out the iron staff and struck the cymbal with a crash: it rang out and split it apart like a toppled bronze mountain, as if a gold mine had been blasted open. Alas, he had reduced a Buddhist rite implement to a thousand scattered pieces of gold.

This frightened the Twenty-Eight Constellations and made the Five-Direction Jiedi stand with bristling hair; all classes of demons woke as if from dreams. The old demon king, startled in his sleep, sprang up, dressed in haste, beating drums, gathering the demons, each of them taking up weapons. By then dawn was near. A great crowd rushed to the foot of the treasure platform and saw Sun Wukong, with the constellations, standing outside the shattered golden cymbal. They were greatly shocked and pale.

He ordered, 「You little ones, lock down the front gate tightly; do not let anyone out.」

When Sun Wukong heard this, he took the star hosts with him, mounted the cloud, and leapt into the sky of nine heavens. The demon king gathered the broken gold, formed ranks of demon soldiers, and deployed them outside the mountain gate. Nursing resentment, he donned his gear and took up a short, pliable wolf-tooth club. He came out from camp and shouted, 「Sun Wukong, a true man does not run far into the high heavens. Come at once and fight me in three rounds.」

Sun Wukong could not endure it. He brought the star cohort with him, set down the cloud, and inspected that demon’s appearance. He saw him:

His hair was tangled, and he wore a thin, flat golden circlet; his eyes were bare, with two yellow brows raised like a pair. He had a dangling nose, and open nostrils; wide-mouthed and sharp-toothed all around. He wore a linked chain-mail of interlocking armor plates and a strip of raw silk gathered with tassels at the waist. On his feet were a pair of black, odd shoes, and in his hand a wolf-tooth club. His shape was like a beast yet not-beastly, his looks not human yet vaguely human.

Sun Wukong held aloft his staff and barked, 「Monster, you need not brag. If this is a wager, then come and take a staff stroke.」

The demon king grinned and set the wolf-tooth club against him. This was a fierce battle:

Two clubs, not alike, yet if you speak of them they have their own forms. One was a short, soft cudgel of Buddhist making; the other hard as Canghai-cang. Both had arts of change at will, and this time they met to contend for strength. The short pliant wolf-tooth, mixed with brocade adornment; the hard Golden-Hooped Staff, like a coiled dragon bound in a gold hoop. Thick or thin, each could rightly be praised; short or long, each could be made exactly fitting. Monkey and demon fought together, this bout was truly without falsehood. Monkey-mind under discipline made its craft; evil monsters played the heavens with false forms. Angry and resentful, each heart merciless; wicked and ferocious, each had its own guise. This one struck first and never let the strike relax; that one parried and smashed down the face; hard to resist or push aside. Clouds were expelled and dimmed the sun; vapors exhaled and veiled the peaks. Staff met staff, staff came and went, and they met each other again and again, forgetting life and death for Tripitaka.

After the two fought through fifty exchanges, no winner or loser appeared.

At the mountain gate, gongs and drums sounded. The demons shouted and waved banners. On this side, the Twenty-Eight heavenly soldiers and the assembly of Five-Direction Jiedi, each with weapons, shouted once and enclosed the demon lord in their midst. That frightened the outer demons so much that they could hardly strike the drums; trembling, their hands went slack and they did not beat them.

The old demon, unafraid, with one hand blocked the crowd with his wolf-tooth club while with the other untied from his waist an old white cloth carry-bag, tossed it upward; with a smooth ringing sound it flew, and in one sweep swallowed Sun Wukong, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, and the Five-Direction Jiedi. He slung the whole burden over his shoulder and strode off. The little demons each returned, happy with victory.

The demon king ordered his minions to bring thirty or fifty hemp ropes. They untied the carry-bag, took one, then bound one. Each was made with soft bones and wrinkled skin. They bound and lifted them to the rear, and without choosing good or bad, threw everyone to the ground. The demon king then ordered a banquet table laid out; they drank freely from dawn till dusk, then dispersed, each returning to its bedchamber. Nothing further is recorded.

Now it was near midnight, and Great Sage Sun Wukong and the gathered gods had remained bound all through the dark hours, when suddenly there came a sound of bitter weeping. He listened closely and found it was Tripitaka’s voice: "Wukong, ah, I:

I alone regret that I did not heed you then, and so today I have fallen into this disaster. Within that golden yoke you were harmed, and I am lashed with hemp rope—who knew of this? Four of us, meeting fate by karma, have suffered bitterly, our three thousand deeds of merit nearly spent and collapsing. By what means can this tangle of hardship be untied, so that we may go straight to the Western Regions and return? Hearing this, the Wanderer said inwardly in compassion: "Though my master did not heed my words before, and now suffers this harm, he still, in this peril, remembers old Wukong. While the night is still and the demons sleep, with no one keeping watch, we should go now and free all of us and save them away."

Good Great Sage, he used a vanishing-body art, reduced his body to small size, slipped his bonds, and came near Tripitaka. He called out, "Master." The elder recognized the voice and said, "Why have you come here?" The Wanderer quietly told him what had just happened. The elder rejoiced: "Disciple, save me quickly. Thenceforth all matters rest with you; I will not press the issue anymore." Sun Wukong moved at once, first unbound the Master, then released Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. He also freed the Twenty-eight Mansions, the Five-direction Jie-di gods, each one in turn. Then he led the horse forward and told them to leave quickly. Only when they were already at the gate did he realize he did not know where their baggage was, and came back searching. Kang Jinlong said, "You are light enough to carry the load but too heavy-hearted; rescuing your master is enough—why seek baggage still?" Wukong said, "A living person comes first, but robes and bowl are also most important. In the pack are the passage credentials, the brocade-edged kesa, and the purple-gold alms bowl; all are supreme Buddha treasures. How could I leave them?" Zhu Bajie said, "Elder Brother, you go look for it; we will wait along the road." See: the star-spirits crowding around Tripitaka used a capture method together with their arts. In one gust of wind they tore through the wall-circuit and ran to the road, down the mountain slope, and then arrayed themselves on level ground and waited.

At about the third watch, Great Sage Sun Wukong moved about with slow, light steps and entered within. He found the gates layered one inside another and locked tight. Climbing the upper story and peering out, he saw all the windows closed. When he tried to come down, he feared the lattice would rattle and so did not dare to push it. He twirled a charm and changed his form, becoming a fairy mouse, commonly called a bat. You ask what manner of form it took?

Its head was sharp and still mouse-like, and its eyes were bright like a mouse’s eyes. It gives wings at dusk, but in bright white daylight it stays indoors. It hides in cracks in the roof tiles and seeks insects to pounce. It delights in clear, bright moonlight; that is when it knows best to rise and fly. He followed along the unsealed tile edges beneath the eaves and squeezed inside, passing from gate to house and reaching the center. There, beneath a third-tier window, he saw a sharp glittering line of light—neither lamp-flame nor firefly glow, neither rosy cloud-flash nor lightning. Half-flying, half-leaping, as he came near the window he saw it was the bundle giving off radiance. The demoness had taken off Tripitaka’s robe and, without folding it, shoved it in disorder into the pack. That kesa was a Buddha treasure, embroidered with a wish-granting pearl, a Mani pearl, red agate, purple coral, śarīra, and moon-bright pearl; thus it shone through. Seeing this robe and bowl, she rejoiced in her heart, resumed her true shape, took it, and without even straightening the carrying rope, hoisted it to her shoulder and set off downward. But unexpectedly one end slipped loose and it dropped with a thud onto the upper-floor boards. Alas! just so happened: the great old demoness sleeping below was awakened by the sound, sprang up, and cried wildly, "Someone’s here! Someone’s here!" The large and small demons rose, lit lanterns and fires, and all shouted together, rushing ahead and behind to look. Some reported, "Tang Sanzang has gone." Some reported, "Wukong and the others have all gone." The demon lord rushed and ordered commands: "Be careful at every gate." The Wanderer heard and, fearing he might again be netted, leaving the bundle behind was impossible; with a long leap he vaulted out the window and fled.

The demoness searched front and back for Tripitaka and the others and found none. When she saw dawn approaching, she took up her staff and led her troops to give chase. Sun Wukong and the gods were visible beneath the hillside of the western slope, like clouds and mist billowing. The demon king cried out, "Where are they going? I come!" Jiao Mujiao cried out in haste: "Brothers, a monstrous thing is coming!" Kang Jinlong, Di Tufu, Fang Ritu, Xin Yuehu, Wei Huohu, Ji Shuibao, Dou Muxie, Niu Jinniu, Nu Tuhè, Xu Rishu, Wei Yueyan, Shi Huozhu, Bi Shuihóng, Kui Mulang, Lou Jingou, Wei Tuzhi, Mao Riji, Bi Yuewu, Zui Huohou, Shen Shuiyuan, Jing Muxuan, Gui Jinyang, Liu Tuzhang, Xing Rima, Zhang Yuelu, Yi Huosha, and Zhen Shuiyin came with the Golden-Headed Jie-di, Silver-Headed Jie-di, the Six-Jia and Six-Ding gods, and the Hojiao Galan, together with Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing (not bringing Tripitaka and leaving the White Dragon Horse). Each bore arms and surged upward at once. The demon king saw them, laughed cruelly, and sounded a whistle. Four or five thousand large and small demons advanced, each one mighty and powerful. They clashed headlong on the western hillside in one wild battle. A great and dreadful fight:

The demon-chief flung vile evil and mocked true nature; how can gentle true nature withstand evil? A hundred schemes cannot free it from suffering; a thousand clever arts cannot match. All the heavenly courts came to shelter; all the Saints joined with weapons. Show mercy on Mother Mu, fix your resolve, and awaken Lady Huang. The whole battle shook heaven and stirred the earth; the struggle sought to trap and encircle. On that bank they raised flags and shouted; on this bank they pounded drums and clanged gongs. Spears and sabers flashed, a cold glint of blades in dense ranks. Swords and halberds rose in swarming kill, the demon soldiers were fierce and brave; how could divine arms withstand them? Sorrowful clouds hid the sun and moon; dark mist covered mountain and river. In harsh grappling and wrenching combat they fought; all because Tripitaka worshipped Amitabha. The demon king, made all the more vigorous and daring, led his troop forward to smother and slaughter.

Just when neither side could be declared victor, they heard Sun Wukong cry out, "Old Wukong has come!" Zhu Bajie called, "What of the baggage?" Wukong replied, "I can hardly say my own life will survive—how can I speak of baggage now?" Sha Wujing gripped his precious staff and said, "No more words. Go strike the demon now." The star spirits, the Jie-di, and the Dingjia gods had been trapped in the battle center and were being butchered by the fiends together. The old demon swung his staff and struck all three. The Wanderer, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing dropped their staves and staffs and raised nails and spikes to meet it. In truth, the earth seemed dark and the sky dim; they could not gain the upper hand. They even slew so that the Sun star vanished into the mountain root in the west and the Moon star rose over the seahead in the east. Seeing evening draw near, the demon sounded a whistle, ordering every demon to keep vigilance, and then he brought out the treasure. Sun Wukong clearly saw it: the monster unfastened the bundled sack and held it in his hand. Wukong cried, "This is bad—go!" and without heeding Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, or the heavenly gods, he leapt in successive bounds straight up into the ninth sky. The gods, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing could not fathom his intent. He tossed them up and even stuffed them all into that bundle before flying away. Then the demon king withdrew his men back toward the temple, ordered rope brought out again, and bound everyone as before. He hung Tripitaka, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing from beams in high suspension, tethered the White Dragon Horse behind, and bound the gods as well, lifting them all into the cellar and sealing it shut. The rest of the demons obeyed and each returned to his place; it need not be further related.

Now it is told that Sun Wukong, who had leapt into the ninth sky, had preserved his life. Seeing the demon troops returning, with no flags raised, he already knew the others had been captured. He suppressed his aura and fell onto the peak of the eastern mountain. Clenching his teeth, he railed against the demon, tears dripping as he thought of Tripitaka, then looked up toward the sky and suddenly was struck mute with a grieving cry. He called out, "Master, in which former life did you shape this tangle of sorrow, that in this life at every step one meets demon spirits? In such misery as this, with no escape, what is to become of us?" Alone, he sighed for a long while, then calmed himself and thought in the silence of his mind: "What kind of bundling sack does this demon carry that it can hold so many objects? And now he has even put in there heaven’s gods and heavenly generals, so many people besides. I must ask Heaven for aid, yet I fear offending the Jade Emperor. I remember there is a True Warrior of the North, called Zhenwu, the Great Lord who Quells Demons. He is now on Wudang Mountain in the Southern Continent. I should go and ask him to come save the Master from this danger." It is said:

The Way of immortality is not yet accomplished; monkeys and horses have scattered. Mind and spirit have no master; the five elements wither.

Still unknown is how this will end in the journey ahead. Listen, then, for the resolution in the next installment.