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.

After the Great Sage had no means left to act, he mounted a single auspicious cloud, rode his cloud-cart through the sky, and traveled straight to the Nanzhan Continent to bow at Wudang and petition the Great Deity Subduing Demons to explain the calamities of Tripitaka, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the heavenly troops. He did not stop in midair; before the day was out, at dawn he beheld the Patriarch’s immortal realm. He drifted down gently upon the cloud’s crown and fixed his gaze: this was indeed a worthy place:

In the southeast of the great capital, in the middle heaven, lies the divine mountain-range. Lotus Peak rises lofty and proud; Purple-Cap Ridge stands in awesome grandeur. The waters of the Nine Rivers stretch far toward Jingyang; the hundred Yue ridges link together like paired wings. Above is the Treasure Cave of Great Emptiness, below the Vermilion-Ground Spirit Terrace. Gold and bronze gongs sound from thirty-six palaces, while host after host comes bearing incense. Shun and Yu offer prayers, upon jade tablets and golden books. Blue birds fly among pavilions and towers, banners and streamers with scarlet hems ripple in the wind. The earth is the mighty cosmos set in famed peaks; heaven opens into immortal lands, bright and empty. Several wild trees are in bloom, and across the mountain the fairy-grass spreads in color. Dragons lurk beneath ravines; tigers crouch inside cliffs. Their hush is like whispered words; tame deer wander as if they can walk with men. White cranes, with the clouds their mates, roost beside ancient cedars; blue pheasants and vermilion phoenixes sing toward the sun. Here is Yuxu, where the Master’s image abides, true immortal ground, the Golden Ridge gate of compassion that governs the world. The Patriarch of Shangdi was born to the King of Jingle and Empress Shansheng, who dreamed of swallowing the sunlight. When they awoke she conceived, and after fourteen months of pregnancy, in the first month of the first day of Kaihuang, in the year jiashen of that cycle, at midday he was born in the royal palace. In his lineage they said: As a child he was valiant and fierce; in manhood he was spirit-filled and numinous. He did not seize the throne, but devoted himself only to cultivation. His parents could not restrain him; he left the imperial palace behind. He entered perfect stillness and entered meditation in these mountains. His work fulfilled, he completed his practice, and he rose to heaven in broad daylight. The Jade Emperor decreed his title as Zhenwu. In response to Xuanyu he answered, and the turtle and snake formed one shape. He governed the heavens and the six directions, and all the spirits called him the Ten Thousand Spirits. Nothing hidden escaped his discernment; nothing open was beyond his grasp. At each cycle’s end and beginning he cut off demonic essence. Sun Great Sage, delighted by the immortal scenery, came in turn to the First Heaven Gate, the Second, and the Third. When he reached the outer court of the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony, he suddenly saw between auspicious light and omens a cluster of five hundred spirit officers. One stepped forward and asked, “Who comes there?” The Great Sage replied, “I am Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and I have come to meet the Master.” They reported him at once. The Patriarch descended, went out to the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony, and received him. The Wanderer bowed and said, “I come to trouble the old master with one matter.” “[What] matter?” the Patriarch asked. “I am escorting Tripitaka to obtain the sutras in the West, but the road is fraught with peril. In the Western Niuhe Continent stands a mountain called Little Western Heaven, and in that Little Leiyin Temple is a demon. When my Master entered the gate, he saw arhats, jiedi, bhikshus, and holy monks lined up in order and, taking them for true Buddhas, lay down in prostration. At once he was seized and bound. Carelessly, I too was taken; he hurled a golden gong over me and enclosed me in it, no seam of thread to pass through, its mouth clamped like tongs. By good fortune, Golden Dragon of the Capable-Serpent thrust his horn through it, entered the jing and drew me out, and I crushed the golden gong, startling the demon. In the fighting he threw a white cloth bundle and packed me, the twenty-eight stars, and the five-direction jiedi inside; then he tied us all up. That night I escaped and saved the stars and my master. Later, searching for the cloth and alms bowl, I again startled that monster and fought with the heavenly soldiers. He brought out another white bundle; while he fussed with it I recognized his voice and slipped away. All the rest were captured and packed by him again. I escaped with no other means, and so I have come to beg the Master’s help.” The Patriarch replied: “In the past, when I suppressed the north, I held the position of Zhenwu and cut down demons across the world by the Jade Emperor’s command. Later I shaved my hair and went barefoot, stepped across the leaping snake-turtle spirit, and took with me the five thunder generals, giant-serpent lions, fierce beasts and venomous dragons. By the summons of Primordial Heaven-Lord, I subdued the demonic haze of the northeast. Today I live peacefully on Wudang Mountain, at ease in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, with sea and mountains tranquil and heaven and earth clear. But now, in both Nanzhanbu and Beijuluo, demons ravage, and evil ghosts prowl in secret. Since the Great Sage has descended, I cannot remain still. Yet in the upper realms there is no imperial order for action, so I dare not stir war on my own. If I send all the gods, I fear punishment from the Jade Emperor; if I abandon the Great Sage entirely, I betray human feeling. I figure that even if demons haunt the western road, they are not yet a great calamity. I will therefore send with you the turtle and snake generals and five divine dragons to give aid; they will capture the demon-spirit and save your monk.”

After bowing his thanks to the Patriarch, the Great Sage set out at once with the turtle, the snake, and the dragon gods, each bringing their chosen elite troops, and turned toward the western continent’s boundary once more. In less than a day they arrived at Little Leiyin Temple, dropped the cloud in midair, and went straight to the gate, calling for battle.

Now it is said the Yellow-Browed Great King had gathered his host of demons beneath the treasure pavilion and was saying, “For two days now, that Monkey-Farer has not come. Who knows where he has gone to borrow soldiers.” As he had no time to finish his speech, a small demon at the front gate reported, “The Wukong has come with several dragon, snake, and turtle allies and is calling for battle outside the gate.” The demon king said, “How did that monkey get dragon, snake, and turtle allies? From where have such creatures come?” He quickly dressed in armor, came out of the gate, and shouted, “Who are these dragon gods, and from what realm do you come to invade my immortal territory?” The Five Dragons and two Generals had towering, fierce countenances and spirits alert, and cried out: “Impudent fiend! I am one of the five dragon gods and the two turtle-snake commanders who serve the Grand Master of the Hunyuan School, the Great Deity Subduing Demons of the Hall of Supreme Harmony at Wudang Mountain. Today, by summons from Sun Wukong, our Master’s seal has called us, and we have come here to capture you. Demon, release Tripitaka, the heavenly stars, and the others, and avoid death. If not, I will split this mountain’s monsters and reduce several halls to ash.” The demon, hearing this, grew furious and replied, “What power has this beast that dares to speak so arrogantly? No more words—come and eat my staff!” The five dragons raised the clouds and summoned rain; the two generals raised dust and sand with their spears and sabers and halberds. Sun Wukong charged behind with his iron staff. It was a ferocious clash:

The fierce demon unleashed force; the Wanderer sought troops. The fierce demon took the precious hall as if it were a Buddha image; the Wanderer sought troops and borrowed dragon gods from a distant holy land. Turtle and snake stirred water and fire; demons drew forth spear and blade. The five dragons came to the western road by imperial command, while the Wanderer held back for his master behind. Swords and halberds flashed like lightning, spears and swords gleamed like shimmering rainbows. That wolf-canine cudgel, hard and short of the wrist; this Golden-Hooped Staff moves as one wills. The clattering roars sounded like firecrackers, and the metallic ringing was like gold being struck. Water and fire came together against the demon, steel and blades swirled around the spirits. Their cries and shouts frightened tigers and wolves; the uproar shook ghosts and gods. The battle was at first too even to tell winner from loser, and the demon again seized treasures and jewels. The Great Sage, with the five dragons and two generals, fought the demon for half a time unit. Then the monster unfastened the bundle from his hand. Sun Wukong saw this and called out, “Hold still, all of you!” The dragon gods, turtle, and snake did not know what he meant and each halted his arms, pressing forward to block. In a flash the demon threw that white bundle into the air. The Great Sage, forgetting the five dragons and two generals, mounted his cloud-cart and leaped into the ninth sky to escape. The demon had packed the dragon gods, turtle, and snake into another bundle and gone off with them. The demon, satisfied with victory, returned to the temple and also bound them with rope, lifting them into a cellar and covering them over—no need to set forth the rest.

Now see: the Great Sage fell from the cloud and slanted against the mountaintop, exhausted and spiritless, muttering in vexed disgust, “That demon is truly formidable.” Unbeknownst to him, his eyes had begun to close as if with sleep. Suddenly he heard someone shout, “Great Sage, do not pretend to sleep—rise at once and seek aid. Your Master’s life hangs by a moment.” The Wanderer opened his eyes sharply and sprang up. It was the civil assistant of the sun-star. Wukong barked, “You little spirit, you always lurk there chasing blood-food and never come to offer a word at the proper hour. Today, yet, you come to startle me. Stretch out your staff and let old Sun beat two blows to relieve my temper.” The gong-cao hurriedly offered obeisance: “Great Sage, you are the joy-immortal among men; why be in a mood? We were ordered by the Bodhisattva at dawn to secretly guard Tripitaka. Together with the local earth gods we dared not leave his side even for a moment, so we could not come often for visits. Why should we be scolded for this?” The Great Sage said, “If you truly guard him, where now are the star host, the jiedi, Kalpa, and my own Master and my fellows? Where are they held and what sufferings do they endure?” The gong-cao answered, “Your master and his brother disciples hang in the pavilion corridor of the treasure hall. The host of stars has all been taken into the cellar and is punished there. For two days we have not heard from the Great Sage. Only now have we just seen the demon seize the divine dragon, the turtle, and the snake and send them again into the cellar, and so it seems you had brought those troops. The little gods came at once to find you. Great Sage, do not hold back, and do not delay. Go quickly, again, for aid.”

Hearing these words, the Great Sage could not help but shed tears and said to the gong-cao, “I now feel shame before the Celestial Court and humiliation before the heavenly sea-store. To ask why the Bodhisattva acted so; to face the Buddha-image of the Tathagata I am filled with sorrow. The ones taken were precisely the turtle, snake, and five dragons of Zhenwu Master’s host. I have no further way to seek rescue now—what am I to do?” The gong-cao smiled: “Do not be so tight of heart, old monkey. I remember a body of fine soldiers; if summoned at once they can certainly bring this under control. While the Great Sage came to Wudang, he passed through the Nanzhan Continent. Those troops are also on that same continent, at Xuyi Mountain in Pin City, now called Sizhōu. There is a Great National Master Bodhisattva Wang there, with broad divine powers. One disciple under him is called Prince Xiao Zhang, and he has four great generals; in former years they subdued the Mother of Medusas. Go to him yourself now; when he comes, his compassion will help, and surely the demon can be caught and your Master saved.” The Great Sage brightened and replied, “You go and protect my Master, let there be no harm to him. I will go and invite him on my own.”

The Great Sage sprang up on his jindou cloud, dodged away from the demon’s place, and rushed straight for Mount Xuyi, arriving in less than a day. On close inspection, it was truly a fine place:

South lies Jiangjin, the north looks onto the Huai River, the east opens to Haijiao, and the west connects with Fengfu. On the peak stand lofty towers and cloisters; in the mountain hollows, spring waters surge forth. Jagged, uncanny rocks and graceful, towering pines fill the slopes. Every kind of fruit is fresh in season; a thousand branches of flowers open to the sun. People move in crowds like ant ranks, and boats drift back like lines of wild geese. Above are Ru Rock-Lit Cave Hall, Dongyue Palace, Wuxian Shrine, and Guishan Temple, where bell-toned incense rises into the blue sky; also Glass Spring, Five-Pagoda Valley, Eight Immortal Terrace, and Apricot-Blossom Garden, and the light and trees reflect Bingcheng. White clouds do not pass across, and lone birds, wearied, sing as they return. How could one sing its beauty? This fairyland here is like the fabled Penglai. The Great Sage could not exhaust the sight, crossed the Huai, entered Bingcheng, and came to the gate of Great Sage Chan Temple. Again he saw imposing halls, bright long corridors, and a steep pagoda towering high. It was truly: Piercing the clouds, high as a thousand zhang, it leans against the river heavens; looking up, one sees gold urns piercing the blue sky. Light gathers from top to bottom to solidify the cosmos; east and west have no shadows, only screen-like reflections. Wind shakes the treasure bells, and heaven’s music is heard; sunlight on the ice-drake faces the Brahma palace. Soaring spirit-birds sometimes cry out; from afar the Huai stretches endless into the distance. The Great Sage walked on while still gazing, until he came under the two-story gate. Master Wang Bodhisattva had already known, and came out with Prince Xiao Zhang to receive him. Formalities completed, the Great Sage said, “I am escorting Tripitaka on his journey to the West for scriptures. On the road there is a Small Leiyin Temple where a yellow-bearded monster impersonates the Buddha. My Master could not tell true from false and prostrated, and was taken. Then the monster covered me with the gold clapper. Fortunately, by stars fallen from Heaven I was saved. I shattered the gold clapper, wrestled with him, and with a cloth bundle-bag I put Tian-shen, Jiedi, Galan, my Master, and my junior master-disciple all inside. I went to Wudang Mountain and begged Xuantian Emperor for aid; he sent five dragons, turtle, and snakes to seize the monster, but he was captured and put into that same bundle. My disciples have no one to rely on, so I come to implore the Bodhisattva. Show your full might, use your arts of drawing in water spirits and saving living beings, and go with this disciple to rescue my Master for one hardship. If we obtain the scriptures and return, their teaching will spread in China forever, proclaiming Buddha’s wisdom and raising the waves of prajñā.” Master Wang said, “What you have done today is truly an enlargement of my Buddha’s teaching, and I should go myself. But now is early summer, when the Huai waters are rising. I have only just taken in the Great Sage of the Water Ape; when he sees water he immediately stirs up trouble, and if I leave, he will run wild in the air with no spirit able to tame him. For now, take this young disciple, lead the four generals, and go with you to give help. Go capture and subdue the demon.”

The Great Sage thanked him, then with the four generals and Prince Xiao Zhang rode on cloud back to Little Western Heaven, straight to Small Leiyin Temple. Prince Xiao Zhang took up a zhu-bai spear; the four great generals brandished four kunhu swords, and Sun Wukong advanced with the Great Sage to exchange taunts and blows. The little demon sent word again. The demon king then rallied his bandits with drums and shouting, and came out, saying, “Monkey, whom have you dared to bring here this time?” Before he could finish, Prince Xiao Zhang gave the signal; the four generals moved up together and called, “Rabid demon spirit! Your face has no skin—do you not know who we are here?” The demon king said, “Which minor commander is that, so bold as to aid him?” The prince replied, “I am disciple of Master Wang Bodhisattva, the Great Sage of Sizhou, leading four great divine generals. By order, I have come to seize you.” The demon king laughed, “You child—what martial art do you have that dares come here with this bravado?” The prince said, “If you wish to know my arts, then hear me:

My family is from the western land of the Country of Flowing Sand; my father once was king of the Sands. Since childhood my body carried many ailments; the malignant star of Hua-gai plagued my destiny. Seeking my master and longing for the Way of Long Life, I was fated to meet him and leave the prescription-way behind. Half a grain of cinnabar-powder eased disease and drove it back, and I swore to practice and forgo becoming king. Having learned, I gained agelessness and heavenly longevity; my face remains forever like a youth’s. I once hurried to the Dragon-Wonder Assembly, and once leapt to the Buddha hall through flying clouds. I seized mist and held wind to capture water monsters, caught dragons and subdued tigers, and stilled mountain grounds. I built lofty Buddha towers to steady the people; in the quiet sea shines the relic-light deep and bright. The tip of this zhu-bai spear can bind fiends; with sleeves of pale black I can bring demons to heel. Here in tranquil Bingcheng my fame now rises—my name is Xiao Zhang!” The demon king listened and gave a light cold smile: “You, little prince, abandoned a kingdom to follow Master Wang Bodhisattva and learned this art of longevity and immortality. It is good only for catching Water-Monster spirits, yet how could you believe monkey Wukong’s lies, cross thousands of hills and rivers, and come here to offer your life? See if you can truly be immortal and ageless?”

Hearing this, the small prince grew very angry, and at once twined his spear and stabbed forward. The four great generals rushed as one; Sun Wukong stepped in with his iron staff and struck again. The demon, a fine demon-spirit indeed, stood without fear. He raised his short, soft wolf-tooth club, blocking left and right, and charged straight and broad. A fierce fight ensued:

The little prince, zhu-bai spear, and the four kunhu swords were even stronger. Wukong again used the Golden-Hooped Staff, and together they encircled and struck at the demon king. The demon king truly had great divine power and feared not a hair’s breadth of either side; he did not mind the slightest resistance. The wolf-tooth club was a treasure from within the Buddha’s realm; with sword and spear-swing he was not easily harmed. One only heard the furious wind roaring, and at once saw evil qi in a vast fog. One side delighted in displaying skill, while this side was singularly focused on the Buddha-mission for scripture. After many charges, after repeated bouts of arrogance, he sprayed cloud and mist, obscured the three lights, and unleashed all manner of anger and wrath in disorder. For a long while, even the unsurpassed Dharma of the Three Vehicles, and all their highest arts, were brought to a painful, humbled close.

After the many-parted battle had gone on for long, there was no clear victory. The demon then opened the bundle-bag again. The Great Sage called out, “All of you, be careful.” Prince Xiao Zhang and the rest did not know what that warning meant. With a single sliding sound, the monster took the four generals and the prince and put them into the bundle one more time. Only the Great Sage, foreknowing, had already slipped away. Victorious, the demon king returned to the temple, ordered ropes brought, had him bound, and sent him to the cellar, sealed in and locked in strong bonds; nothing further is worth recounting.

The Great Sage rose with his jindou cloud and stood in midair. Seeing the monster return with his men and shut the gates, he lowered the auspicious light and stood upon the western hillside, looking out in sorrow and crying:

Since receiving the Dharma and entering the Chan grove, I have deeply benefited from the Bodhisattvas’ deliverance. I guard your journey west for the Great Way, helping together to reach Leiyin. I was told it was a broad and smooth road like a goat’s path; who could have thought a towering monster would invade? In a hundred schemes and a thousand methods I could not save you, running east and west to implore in vain.

At the time the Great Sage was at his most desolate and sad, he saw at once a rainbow-colored cloud descending on the southwest. The whole mountain-head burst into vivid rain. A voice called out, “Wukong, do you recognize me?” The Great Sage hurried forward and looked; that figure was:

Broad ears and a wide, level jaw, broad-shouldered, full-bellied, and sturdy of frame. A chest full of springlike joy, eyes like autumn waters bright and rippling. His sleeves flew open with abundant blessing-luck, and his straw sandals made him stride with great vigor. In the Pure Land of Supreme Bliss, he is first among the venerable ones: Namo Maitreya, the Laughing Monk. Wukong immediately prostrated and said, “Laughing Buddha Maitreya, where do you come from? My disciple failed to avoid him and blundered badly—sins upon sins.” Maitreya said, “I have come only for this Small Leiyin monster of yours.” Wukong said, “I am greatly indebted for your boundless kindness. Please tell me: from where does that monster come, what kind of deluding spirit is he, and where is he from? I do not know what that bundle-bag is; please show it to me.” Maitreya said, “He is one of the yellow-bearded youths before my hall. On the third day of the third month I traveled to the Primordial Origin Assembly and left him in the palace as watchman. He stole those few treasures of mine, posed as a Buddha, and became a true spirit-form. That bundle-bag is my after-nourishing sack, known in common speech as the ‘human-seed sack.’ That wolf-tooth club is actually a clapper for striking the bell.” When Wukong heard this, he cried out, “Fine laughing monk indeed. You let this child escape, taught him to counterfeit you as Buddha and to set up false accusations against Old Sun. This is surely a lapse in household discipline.” Maitreya said, “One fault is mine: I was careless with a lost person. The other is that your disciples’ demonic obstacles are not yet finished, and so in this age many spirits descend and should undergo hardship. I have now come to take him away with you.”

Wukong asked, “The spirit of this demon has vast powers, and you have no weapons. How can you capture him?” Maitreya smiled and said, “Below this mountain slope I have set up a grass hut and planted a melon field. Go to him and challenge him. In combat, never truly win—only appear to lose—and lure him into my melon patch. All my other melons are unripe; you alone must become a great ripe melon. He will insist on eating him, and I will then eat both of you. Once he is in my belly, do whatever you wish to arrange there to him. Then I shall take his bundle-bag and put him back in it.” Wukong said, “Though this plan is clever, how can you tell the melon has ripened? And how will he agree to follow me here?” Maitreya smiled, “I am one who governs the age, my慧眼 is sharp and high; can I fail to know you? Whatever form you take, I know. I only fear the demon may not follow, so I will teach you one art.” Wukong said, “He undoubtedly wraps us in the bundle-bag. How could he then follow me?” Maitreya smiled, “Stretch out your hand.” Wukong immediately relaxed his left hand and held it out. Maitreya wet the tip of his right index finger with divine water from his mouth and wrote the character “禁” on Wukong’s palm, teaching him to clutch a fist. When the demon-spirit sees this and lets go before him, he will follow.

The Journeyer squared his fists and, with pleasure, accepted the challenge. With one hand he brandished the iron staff, marched out in front of the mountain gate, and cried, 「Demon fiend, your Grandpa Sun comes again. Come out at once and settle this with me." The small demon hurried to report. The demon king asked, 「How many troops has he brought this time to call a fight?" The little demon said, 「No troops at all, only him." The king laughed. 「That monkey has exhausted his tricks and his strength. He can call on no one. Certainly he has come to meet his death." Then he composed himself, took up his treasured weapon, raised the light and pliant rhinoceros-horn staff, and came out, crying, 「Sun Wukong, this time you cannot pull through." The Journeyer shouted back, 「You impudent fiend, do you think I cannot contend?" The king said, 「I see the monkey’s schemes have run out and his strength has spent itself. He has no one to go to for help and has come on his own in defiance. I have him now; with no heavenly troop to save him, that is why I say he cannot struggle out." The Journeyer replied, 「This brute knows no life or death. Stop talking. Take this staff from me." The demon king, seeing him swing the rod with one hand, could not help laughing: 「That monkey—watch him, how does he use a cudgel with only one hand and still look so crafty?" The Journeyer said, 「Boy, you cannot stop me with both hands. Even if I do not use my paired-clinch move and even if three or five came at once, they would still lose to Old Sun’s one hand." Hearing this, the king said, 「All right, all right. I will not use the treasure weapon now. I will meet you in fair combat, just strength against strength." He raised the rhinoceros-horn cudgel and came out to duel. The Journeyer faced him squarely, set his fist, and swung both hands with the staff. The demon, bound by an enforced spell and not thinking to retreat, truly did not try the paired-strike; he only chased with his staff. The Journeyer made a feint and withdrew in seeming defeat. The demon kept charging to the foot of the western slope.

The Journeyer saw a melon patch. He rolled, then slipped in and became a great ripe, sweet melon. The demon stopped and looked in all directions, not knowing where the Journeyer had gone. He then chased to the edge of the hermit hut and called, 「Who planted these melons?" Maitreya transformed into an old melon grower and came from the thatched hut to answer, 「Great King, this poor man planted them." The demon king asked, 「Are there ripe melons?" Maitreya said, 「There are ripe ones." The king ordered, 「Pluck me a ripe one. I am thirsty." Immediately Maitreya presented the melon in which the Journeyer had become, and with both hands offered it to the king. The demon king did not suspect the ruse; he took it, and with his mouth bit in. The Journeyer seized this chance and, as one wheel spun, slipped right beneath his throat. He did not pause for a better moment; he moved his hands and feet within, grasping the intestines, turning and wrenching from the roots, setting a skittering motion inside. The demon cried out in pain, tusks of pain in his jaw, eyes brimming with tears, and he rolled the melon field like a threshing ground. His only cry was, 「Enough—enough! Who will come to my rescue?" Then Maitreya revealed his true form, chuckling, and called, 「Accursed beast, do you recognize me?" The demon looked up and, in panic, knelt on the ground, rubbing his belly with both hands and knocking his head, crying only, 「Lord, spare my life, spare my life. I will not dare again." Maitreya stepped forward, grabbed him, untied his after-heaven bag, and took the clapper mallet from him. He said, 「Sun Wukong, for my sake, spare him."

The Journeyer was deeply enraged, but still he struck with his left fist and right foot, digging and pounding wildly inside. The demon writhed in unbearable pain and sank to the ground. Maitreya said again, 「Wukong, he has had enough. Spare him." The Journeyer then said, 「Open wide your mouth and wait for Old Sun to come out." Although the demon suffered gut-rot pain, he had not yet given up his life. As the proverb says, 「A man does not die until he breaks in spirit; when petals fall and leaves fall, the root is already decayed." When he heard to open his mouth, he bore the pain and opened it as wide as he could. The Journeyer then leapt out and returned to his true form. He drew back the staff as if to strike, but by then the Buddha had already packed the demon into a bag and had him slung diagonally at the waist. Holding the clapper in hand, Buddha scolded, 「Abominable creature! Who stole the golden clapper, and where has it gone?" The demon, inside the after-heaven bag, could only whimper in complaint, 「Sun Wukong smashed the clapper." Buddha said, 「If the clapper is broken, return me my gold." The demon answered, 「The broken gold is piled on the lotus platform in the hall."

The Buddha, carrying the bag and holding the clapper, laughed and called, 「Wukong, come with me to recover the gold." Seeing such divine power, the Journeyer dared not disobey. He led the Buddha up the mountain and back to the monastery, and gathered the broken gold. The mountain gate was tightly shut, but the Buddha, with one tap of the clapper and one pointed finger, opened it. When they entered, they saw the small demons, now knowing the old fiend had been captured, all collecting what was in their sacks and trying to run off in all directions. The Journeyer saw one, struck one; saw two, struck two. He beat the five-to-seven hundred small demons all to death. Each showed its true body: mountain spirits, tree demons, beastly fiends, winged birds of evil. The Buddha gathered the gold in one heap, blew out a trace of immortal breath, chanted a spell, and in an instant restored them to their original forms. He recovered a full pair of golden clappers. After seeing the Journeyer off, he mounted a lucky cloud and turned straight for the Western Pure Lands.

Only then did the Great Sage untie and release Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing. The Pigsy had hungered for many days and, panicked with hunger, went not to thank the Great Sage at once; instead, with his waist bent, he ran to the kitchen in search of food. It happened that the demon had set out the noon meal, but because the Journeyer had demanded combat, none had eaten yet. Seeing it, he ate half a pot. Then he brought out two bowlfuls and called the Master and his younger brothers to each take two bowls. Only then did he thank the Great Sage. When told about the origin of the demon trouble, the Journeyer recounted in full how he had first invited the Patriarch, then the Turtle and the Snake, then later borrowed the Prince for the Great Sage, and also how Maitreya subdued and captured him. Hearing this, Tripitaka’s thanks could not be exhausted, and he respectfully knelt and bowed to all the heavens, saying, 「Disciples, where are these sacred beings confined?" The Journeyer answered, 「Yesterday the laboring magistrate told old Wukong that all of them are inside the pit." He said, 「Zhu Bajie, you and I will go free them."

With his strength restored by the meal, the Piggy shook himself and gathered his courage. He found his spiked rake-and-shovel weapon and, together with the Great Sage, went to the back. There he opened the underground cellar and untied all the bindings, bringing everyone out beneath the precious tower. Tripitaka put on his kasaya and, facing upward, bowed in thanks to each in turn. Only then did this Great Sage send the Five Dragons and the Two Generals back to Wudang, send young Prince Zhang and his four generals back to Bin City, and then send the Twenty-Eight Mansions back to the Celestial Court, dispatching Jie-di and Jia-lan each to their own realms.

The three disciples only rested there for half a day. After feeding the white horse and repacking their baggage, they set out the next morning. As they were about to depart, they lit a fire and burned the precious tower, the jeweled seat, the tall pavilions, and the lecture hall to ashes.

No attachments and no entanglements — flee danger and tribulation, remove calamity and obstacle, and walk forth in freedom.

Still it remains unknown when they will at last reach Great Thunder Sound. Let us await the next chapter’s resolution.