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.

Now the officer in brocade robes dragged the counterfeit Tripitaka out of the relay inn, and with troops of the Yulin Guards enclosed and followed him all the way to the gate outside the court, then told the Yellow Gate official, “We have invited Tripitaka to this place; please convey it in report.” The Yellow Gate official hurried into court and, as instructed, reported to the dim king, who ordered him admitted. All the officials knelt at the foot of the stairs, but the false Tripitaka stood upright on the stairs and shouted at the top of his voice, “Monk-King, why do you summon this poor monk?” The king laughed: “I have a disease that has persisted for many days and refuses to heal. By fortune, the Lord Marquess has obtained a prescription and all the medicinal ingredients are ready, only one ingredient remains as an attractor. I have summoned the elder to ask for that drawing ingredient. If I am cured, I will build a shrine for the elder and offer sacrifice four times a year, keeping the state incense burning through the ages.” The false Tripitaka replied, “I am an ordained monk, and I came here alone. I do not know what Your Majesty asked the marquess for as the required bait.” The dim king said, “I ask especially for your heart and liver.” The false Tripitaka said, “I will not hide it from Your Majesty: a heart is one thing, though I do not know what color you ask for.” The marquess at his side pointed and said, “That monk, I need your black heart.” The false Tripitaka said, “If so, bring a knife quickly; open my chest and abdomen. If there is a black heart, I will faithfully obey your order.” The king was delighted and thanked him, then ordered the charioteer to fetch a short horn-handled knife and hand it to the false monk. The monk took the knife, loosened his robes, threw back his chest, wiped his belly with his left hand and held the blade in his right. With a sharp rasping scrape he cut open his belly, and a heap of hearts rolled out from within. The civil officials turned pale and the martial generals went numb. The marquess, seeing this in the hall, said, “This is a monk with many hearts.” The fake monk, bloody and bare, picked out those hearts one by one to show the crowd. They were hearts of red, white, and yellow, avaricious hearts, hungry-for-fame hearts, jealous hearts, calculating hearts, proud-competition hearts, high-standing hearts, contemptuous hearts, killing hearts, cruel hearts, fearful hearts, cautious hearts, deluded hearts, hidden obscure-mind hearts, and all sorts of wicked hearts. Not one was black. The dim king stood astonished and trembling, unable to speak, and in a shaky voice commanded, “Take them away, take them away.” The fake Tripitaka could no longer hold back. He gathered in the spell-heart and revealed his true form: “Your Majesty has no discernment. My monk’s heart is all pure kindness. Only your marquess is black-hearted, fit to be your medicinal bait. If you do not believe me, wait until I draw his out for you to see.”

When the marquess heard this, he snapped his eyes open wide and watched closely. He saw the monk had changed his face and no longer looked the same. Ah!

Recognize me, do you not—Sun Great Sage, named and famed five hundred years past. He stepped back, leapt up on a cloud, and as the Wanderer somersaulted into the air he cried, “Where do you run? Eat this one staff-blow!” The marquess at once raised his coiled-dragon cane to meet him. The two fought that day in midair in a superb battle: The Golden-Hooped Staff, the coiled-dragon cane: in the void, a whole sheet of clouds thick and swirling. Indeed the marquess was a demon spirit, and that was why he had taken the strange demoness for his pretty concubine. The king’s lust and greed had infected his body, and the fiend sought to butcher children. Meeting the Great Sage, he displayed divine powers, seized the demon and saved the people, whose peril could not then be untied. The iron staff struck like a tiger at the mountain’s head, and the cane came up in return, worthy of applause. The sky darkened with a cloud of mist over the city, and the cityfolk turned ashen. Civil and military officers alike seemed to have their spirits fly; consorts and painted maidens lost their former composure. Terrified, that monk-kingly ruler lurked in confusion, rigid with fear. The staff rose like a tiger descending a peak; the cane spun like a dragon leaving the sea. This uproar in the realm of the monk-king made right and wrong stand starkly apart. That demon spirit and the Wanderer fought fiercely for more than twenty rounds. The coiled-dragon cane could not stand against the Golden-Hooped Staff. With one flash of false swing, it turned its body into a blade of cold light, fell into the inner court of the palace, dragged out the tribute-bearing demon concubine through the gate, became cold radiance again, and vanished from sight.

The Great Sage came down from the cloud-head and reached the courtyard before the palace hall, then said to the officials, “Your good marquess!” The officials knelt together in gratitude to thank the divine monk. The Wanderer said, “Do not bow now. Go and see where your stuporous king is hiding.” A minister said, “When the combat broke out, our lord, in panic, hid himself. We know not in which palace he went.” The Wanderer ordered, “Search quickly; do not be led astray by the beautiful empress.” The officials heard and, not distinguishing inner from outer quarters, ran first to the empress’s palace with him. No trace at all could be found; even the Beautiful Empress was nowhere to be seen. The principal hall, the east hall, the west hall, and six inner compounds—all the ladies and consorts—came out to bow and thank the Great Sage. The Wanderer said, “Do not kneel in thanks here. Go now and search for your lord.” Soon they saw four or five eunuchs supporting the dim king, who was coming from behind the hall in a self-contracted carriage of body. All ministers prostrated themselves and together began: “Your Highness, Your Highness, by receiving the divine monk here, the true and false were made clear. The marquess of this state is a demon spirit, and even the Beautiful Empress is missing.” Hearing this, the king invited the Wanderer out of the palace and into the Hall of Treasures, offered thanks, and said, “Elder, when you came earlier your appearance was so handsome and handsome indeed. Why have you changed your countenance now?” The Wanderer laughed and said, “Do not think Your Majesty so naïve. The one who came earlier was my master, Tripitaka of the Tang dynasty. I am his disciple Sun Wukong. He also has two junior disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, at the Golden Pavilion relay station. Knowing that Your Majesty believed the demon’s lies and wished to take my master’s heart and liver as bait, I, Old Sun, took my master’s form and came here specifically to subdue the demon.” When the king heard this, he issued orders at once: the Court Grand Steward should quickly go to the relay station and summon the whole trio of disciples to court.

When Tripitaka heard that the Wanderer had shown his form and was subduing a demon in the air, he was near to terror with spirit flying and soul scattered. Thankfully Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing remained beside him, and he still had a clay-smeared face. He sat in unease when he heard a cry: “Dharma Master, we are the grand marshal sent by the king of the Monk-King realm, and we are directed to enter court and offer thanks.” Zhu Bajie laughed: “Master, do not fear, do not fear. This is no new request to hand over your heart. It must be elder brother’s victory, and this is but a summons to reward him.” Tripitaka said, “Though this may be a call of victory and invitation, how can I be seen in this dirty, soiled face?” Zhu Bajie said, “There is no remedy. Let us go meet elder brother first; he will explain.” So the venerable monk, with no way out, followed Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, shouldering the burden pole and leading the horse, and together they went up to the relay-yard. When the grand marshal saw them, he flinched and said, “Oh, good sir! They all look like demon-headed, monstrous-minded creatures.” Sha Wujing said, “Courtiers, do not mock because of their ugliness. We are but naturally formed bodies. If my Master comes and sees elder brother, he will be handsome again again.”

The three of them came to court with the rest and, without waiting for summons, went straight to the hall. Seeing them, the Wanderer turned and descended from the hall, stepped forward, tore off Master’s clay-face, blew one immortal breath, and cried, “Transform!” Tripitaka at once returned to his original form, and his spirit felt all the more clear and free. The king came down from the hall and personally welcomed him, calling, “Dharma Master, Great Buddha.” The three masters and disciples tied their horse and all came up into the hall for audience. The Wanderer said, “Your Majesty, do you know from where that demon came? Let Old Sun capture him with you and eliminate the later calamity at once.” The three inner palaces, six apartments, and all the consorts and ladies-in-waiting were behind the jade screen; when they heard the Wanderer speak of cutting away the root of harm, they did not mind distinctions of inner and outer, male and female, but came out together and bowed, imploring: “We all hope the divine monk, Great Buddha, will fully exert your powers, cut the weed by the root and remove him utterly. This would be a boundless grace, and we shall repay you greatly.” The Wanderer hastily answered the bows and only told the king where he wished to stay. The king, embarrassed, confessed, “Three years ago when he came then, I once asked him. He said it was not far from the city, only seventy li to the south, at Qinghua Manor atop Willow-Slope Grove. The marquess is old with no sons; later his wife bore one daughter, sixteen years old, never yet married, and she wished to enter for me. Since I came to adore that girl, I accepted and favored her in the palace. My sickness came unawares. Though the physicians treated repeatedly, all remedies failed. He said, ‘I have a divine prescription: only a broth with a child’s heart as the drawing ingredient will work.’ I, being unworthy, took that word too lightly, and thus selected children from among the people, choosing this very midday for the cut to take their hearts. By sheer mischance, when the divine monk descended, the caged boys at once vanished. He said the monk had practiced true cultivation for ten lifetimes, that his primal yang had not yet leaked, and that this monk’s heart surpassed children’s hearts by ten thousand times. For a moment I erred, not knowing the divine monk discerned the demon spirit through and through. How dare I ask that your great Dharma power should be fully cast down to cut away this later plague; I shall repay, with my kingdom’s all resources, in gratitude.” The Wanderer smiled: “I will not hide the truth from you. The children in the cage are those spared by my Master’s compassion; he told me to hide them. Do not speak of material recompense. Let me first capture the demon; that will be my own merit.” He called, “Zhu Bajie, come with me.” Zhu Bajie said, “I respectfully obey my brother’s command. Yet my stomach is empty; I cannot put forth strength well.” The king then ordered that Guanglu Temple prepare a ceremonial fast meal at once. In no time the offering was ready. Zhu Bajie ate a full meal and revived his spirit; then he rose with the Wanderer and mounted the clouds. The king, the consorts and all the many civil and military officials watched in awe, each bowing toward the sky, and all said, “He truly is a real Immortal, a true Buddha descending to the mortal world.

The Great Sage went with Zhu Bajie straight to a place seventy li to the south, came to stay at Fengyun, and searched for the demon’s lair. But he saw only a clear brook, with banks on both sides, and on those banks millions of weeping willows; he still could not tell where Qinghua Manor was. It was exactly as follows:

Across ten thousand acres of wild fields no eye can grasp the bounds; a thousand dikes, with smudged willow haze, vanish beyond sight. When Sun Wukong could not find anything, he twisted his talisman-seal, chanted once the true-word of the syllable “Om,” and drew forth the local earth deity. The deity trembled forward, knelt, and called: "Great Sage, the Earth Spirit of Willow-Grove Slope bows." Sun Wukong said, "Do not be afraid. I will not strike you. I ask: there is said to be a Qinghua Manor at Willow-Grove Slope. Where is it?" The earth deity said, "There is a Qinghua Cave here, but no Qinghua Manor. This little spirit knows. Great Sage, you must have come from the Bikshu Kingdom." Sun Wukong said, "Yes, yes. The king of Bikshu was deceived by a demon. Old Sun came that way, recognized it as a fiend, and at the time drove it off with a burst of cold light, then it vanished. When I asked the king, he said that three years ago, while he was going near the Beauty Pavilion, the creature said it lived in Qinghua Manor on Willow-Grove Slope, seventy li south of the city walls. Now I have come only to this place and find only the slope, no manor. So I ask you." The earth spirit knelt and implored, "Great Sage, pardon my offense. The king of Bikshu is also master of this land, and this little spirit should have investigated properly. Yet the demon has a terrifying power. If this little spirit had revealed it, the fiend would come and bully me. So I could not manage it. But now that the Great Sage has arrived, go to the root of that one willow tree with nine forked branches on the south bank. Turn left three times, turn right three times, strike the tree together with both hands, and call out "Open the gate" three times; then the Qinghua Hall will appear."

After hearing this, the Great Sage sent the earth spirit back, then crossed the stream with Zhu Bajie and went to find that willow tree. There were indeed nine-pronged branches, all from one trunk. He told Zhu Bajie: "You stay well back. When I call for the gate to be opened and bring out the demon, be ready to receive him." Zhu Bajie obeyed and stationed himself at about half a li away. The Great Sage, following the land spirit’s instruction, circled the root, turned left three times and right three times, slapped both hands upon the tree, and called, "Open the gate, open the gate." In an instant there came a ringing crack, and with a rasping sound two doors snapped open; the tree itself vanished. Beyond was a bright, rosy brilliance, yet no sign of people. As he followed his power, Wukong dashed in. It was a wonderful scene:

The cloud-sheen shimmered, and the sun and moon stole faint light. White clouds rose from the cave all the time; tangled green moss spread thick in the court. One path of strange flowers competed to be most fair; at every step, precious grasses contended in fragrant splendor. The air was warm, the scene always spring-like, entirely like Langyuan, not inferior to Penglai. Slippery stools clung along long vines; level bridges hung with tangled creepers. Bees with red stamens in their mouths came to the rock caves; butterflies played with hidden orchids beyond the stone screen. He hurried forward and, on getting nearer, saw four large characters on the stone screen: "Qinghua Immortal Mansion." He could not help himself and leapt beyond the screen. There he saw the old fiend embracing a beauty, breathing hard, speaking of Bikshu affairs. In one voice the old monster cried, "My chance has come. Three years of this, and today it is finished, yet that monkey head spoiled it." Wukong rushed near and shouted, "You bunch of shaggy wretches! What do you mean by "good chance"? Take this staff!" The fiend dropped the beauty and raised a coiled-dragon cane to face him. The two fought outside the cave; it was a hard battle, unlike the earlier one: The staff rose and scattered gold light; the cane whirled, evil force exploding. The fiend said: "You fool, how dare you enter my gate?" Sun Wukong said: "I have come to capture this demon." The fiend said: "I am attached to the king, and you have no business. Why dare you come to flaunt yourself?" Sun Wukong said: "A monk who upholds the Dharma is naturally compassionate, and does not take pleasure in slaughtering the living." Their words crossed in hatred; staff met cane, striking toward the heart. He stepped hard, tripping the emerald moss and smashing the ground where it was slick. Only by striking did the rosy glow in the cave and the radiant colors above the cliffs grow dim and beaten down. Clang and crash startled birds from flight; the beauty scattered at the terrifying shouts. Only the old demon and the Monkey King remained, with whirling winds battering the earth. Then they burst from the cave together, and ran against Zhu Bajie, whose blunt temper flared. Outside, Zhu Bajie, hearing their commotion, felt his blood rise. He drew his pida, struck one of the nine-pronged willows flat, and hacked several blows. Blood seemed to well out and hiss, as if it had a voice. He said, "Even this tree has become a spirit!" He raised the pida and struck again, then saw Wukong leading the fiend out. The fool spoke no word, rushed forward, and swung the pida. The old demon, already hard-fought against Wukong, felt himself more panicked by Bajie’s pida, lost formation, and in a single motion turned into a streak of cold light and ran east. The two did not relent and chased it eastward.

At that very moment of battle, a wild-crane cry sounded, and a faint, auspicious light appeared. Looking up, it was the star known as the Old Man of the Southern Pole. The elder had enveloped the cold light, and said, "Great Sage, do not come on. Tianpeng, do not chase him further. The old Daoist offers worship here." Sun Wukong replied with ceremony: "Brother Shouxing, where do you come from?" Zhu Bajie laughed, "That flesh-bodied old fellow has covered the cold light; he must have caught the demon." The Old Man smiled: "Here, here. I beg you, both of you, spare the demon." Sun Wukong said, "The fiend has nothing to do with my younger brother; why do you speak of mercy?" Shouxing smiled: "He is one of my subordinate strengths. Unwittingly he ran off and became this demon." Sun Wukong said, "If this is the matter of my brother, then make him show his true form." Hearing this, Shouxing released the cold light and shouted, "You imp of evil! Show your true form at once, and I will spare your life of blame." The fiend spun once, and turned out to be a white deer. Shouxing took up his staff: "This wretch has even stolen my own cane." The deer dropped to the ground, could not speak, and only knelt and wept. It appeared then as:

A body like mottled white jade, two antlers crooked, seven-pronged and bent. Many a time, hungry, it sought the herb garden; when thirsty, it drank where the cloud-water rippled. Through many years it learned the art of flight and ascent; through long practice its form had changed. Now that it sees its master’s call, it appears, tucks its ears, and bows down in the dust of the world. Shouxing thanked Sun Wukong and mounted the deer to go. Wukong pulled him up and said, "Elder brother, wait. Two matters remain undone." Shouxing said, "What two matters?" Wukong said, "First, the beauty has not yet been taken, and we do not know what demon she is. Second, we still must return to Bikshu City and present this truth before that deluded king." Shouxing said, "If so, then I shall wait. Take Tianpeng down into the cave and seize that beauty. Then we can all go and present ourselves." Sun Wukong said, "Elder brother, wait a little. We’ll return immediately after we go there."

Zhu Bajie shook himself and followed Wukong straight into the Qinghua Immortal Mansion, crying out loudly, "Catch the demon! Catch the demon!" The beauty trembled, already hard pressed for escape. Hearing the cries swell, she darted back behind the stone screen, and no back gate appeared from which to come out. Zhu Bajie shouted, "Where are you running? You stinking fiend that deceives men—show your pida!" The beauty had no weapon in her hand and could not meet him. In one instant she flashed into cold light and tried to flee. Sun Wukong blocked the light and struck once with a resounding staff blow. The monster could not stand, fell to the dust, and revealed its true form: a white-faced fox. Zhu Bajie could not restrain himself; he raised his pida and smashed it on the head. The woman of a thousand charms that could stir a kingdom was transformed into a snarled bundle of fur, in fox form. Wukong called, "Do not smash him to bits. Leave this body intact and take him to be shown before the deluded king."

The fool did not mind filth; he seized the tail and hauled and hauled, following Wukong out the gate. There he saw the Old Man of the Southern Pole holding the deer’s head and cursing: "Good beast of evil, how could you betray your master and run off to become spirit-power here? If I had not arrived, Great Sage Sun Wukong surely would have beaten you to death." Wukong stepped out and said, "What are you saying, brother?" Shouxing said, "I had warned the deer, I had warned the deer." Zhu Bajie flung the dead fox at the deer’s feet and said, "Is this your daughter?" The deer nodded its head, moved it about, and sniffed him a few times, making a low sound of reluctance and attachment. Then Shouxing struck the deer with a palm: "Beast of evil, your life has run its course enough—how could he have done this?" He untied the tie-belt from his robe, bound it around the deer’s neck, pulled it up, and said, "Great Sage, I will go with you to meet at Bikshu." Sun Wukong said, "Wait. Let us first clean this side completely, so that no demon-kin can rise again."

On hearing this, Zhu Bajie raised his pida and hacked up the willow tree in disorder. Wukong once more uttered the seed-sound "Om," and again called forth the earth spirit of this place, saying: "Find some dry brushwood. Light a fierce fire. Remove this demon-affliction from this region so it can never again oppress others." The earth spirit turned, and a bleak wind sighed sharply. He marshaled dark soldiers, and brought back yingshuang-grass, qiuqing-grass, liao-jie grass, mountain-bud grass, louhao twigs, dragon-bone wood, and reed-tassel wood—all completely dry, fully cured and hardened with age. They caught fire as if ghee-fed. Wukong said, "Zhu Bajie, do not keep bashing the tree. It is enough to fill the cave with these and set the fire, and burn this thing clean through." Once the flames rose, the Qinghua demon dwelling was burned into a blazing pit of fire.

At that moment he had only just driven away the Earth God when Longevity Star returned, leading the white deer and dragging the fox. They came together before the hall. He said to the king, “Is this your beautiful queen, and do you make a toy of him?” The king was shaken with fear. Then Sun Wukong appeared, leading Longevity Star and the white deer, and all came before the hall. The king, ministers, and entire royal household immediately knelt in prostration. The Great Sage stepped forward, steadied the king, and laughed: “Stop paying respects to me. This white deer is your Guo-zhang; only bow to it.” So ashamed that the king had no face left, he said, “I thank the holy monk for saving my small kingdom. Truly this is heaven’s favor.” He immediately issued an order: let the Ministry of Court Light arrange a vegetarian banquet, open the East Pavilion, and invite the Old Man of the Southern Pole and Tripitaka’s four companions to sit together and receive our gratitude. Tripitaka paid his respects to Longevity Star, and Sha Wujing also paid proper respect. All asked, “Since this white deer belongs to Old Longevity, how did it come here to cause harm?” Longevity Star laughed: “Formerly, when Lord Donghua passed through my wild mountain, I stayed and played one round of chess. The game was still unfinished when this wretch fled away. Later, when I went to look for it and found nothing, I reckoned by my fingers and knew it had wandered here. I came to search for it, and by chance met the Great Sage displaying his majesty. Had I come any later, this beast would have been gone.”

The account could not be finished before a report arrived: “The feast is ready.” A magnificent vegetarian banquet:

Five colors filled the gate, and strange scents filled every seat. Brocaded cloth hung upon the tables glowed like woven silk in bright splendor; red carpets on the floor shimmered with rosy cloud-light. In the treasure-shaped ducks coiled sandalwood incense rose in thin plumes; before the imperial table, the vegetable dishes released fragrant aroma. The trays held piled, towering fruit like stacked pavilion towers; confections and carved sugar animals coiled like dragons at their arrangement. Swan lozenges, lion-sage sweets, each in proper and playful shape; parrot cups and egret-cormorant ladles, formed to almost living likeness. Before the seats the fruits were all bountifully arranged; on the tables the vegetarian fare was meticulously prepared. Full-round chestnuts, fresh lychees and peaches. Date treats and persimmon cakes were sweet; pine nuts and grapes perfumed the scented wine. Several kinds of honey sweets, a few kinds of steamed pastries. Fried sugar cakes, then flower-like trays arranged in layered color. Golden trays heaped high with great dumpling-like mochi, silver bowls filled with aromatic rice. Long noodles in hot fragrant soup followed one upon another, each course replaced with another and still more delicious. Mushrooms, black fungus, tender bamboo shoots, and huang-jing—one can scarcely recount them all—ten-scented vegetables, and delicacies of a hundred flavors. There was no pause in the busy hands passing back and forth; at both entry and exit all sorts were abundantly set. At that time the seating was assigned: Longevity Star took the principal seat, Tripitaka next, the king in the seat before him, and Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing at the side seats. On each side there were two or three learned masters to attend. Then he ordered the music office to play. The king lifted a rosy-purple cup and offered wine one by one. Only Tripitaka did not drink. Zhu Bajie said to Sun Wukong, “Elder Brother, let the fruit be yours; for soups and grain I ask you to let me enjoy them.” The oaf distinguished not between fine and coarse, surged in all at once, and came only to eat everything to emptiness.

After one seating of the feast was complete, Longevity Star took his leave. The king once again came forward and knelt to beseech him for methods to remove illness and lengthen life. Longevity Star smiled: “I came in search of the deer and brought no cinnabar pills. If I told you methods of cultivation, yet your sinews and spirit are weakened; you cannot yet receive the Elixir. In my sleeve are only three jujubes, brought to offer tea to Lord Donghua. I have not eaten them. Take these.” The king swallowed them and gradually felt his body lighten and his illness withdraw. The ones who later gained longevity all traced back to this source. Seeing this, Zhu Bajie called out, “Old Longevity, there are fire-dates—send me a few to eat.” Longevity Star said, “I did not bring any; come another day and I will send you a few jin.” He then left the East Pavilion, returned thanks, called once to the white deer, leapt across and upon it, and went forth on cloud paths. The king, consort, and the palace and townspeople all burned incense and bowed in reverence, not worth further record.

Tripitaka said, “Disciple, prepare and take leave of the king.” The king again earnestly begged for instruction. Sun Wukong said, “Your Majesty, from now on reduce lustful desire, accumulate more hidden merit, and in all matters let your long be added to your short and your short made long; that alone suffices to banish illness and prolong life—that is the teaching.” He then brought out two trays of scattered gold pieces and broken silver, offering them as travel expense. Tripitaka firmly declined and would not take a single coin. The king could not help himself. He ordered a palace carriage to be laid out and asked Tripitaka to take the seat in a phoenix sedan-dragged dragon carriage. The king and the consort together pushed the turning wheels, and only then did they send the party out of court. In the six streets and three markets, all householders and common folk added cups of clear water, burned true incense, and also sent them out of the city.

Suddenly there sounded a wind through midair, and along both sides of the road came down one thousand one hundred and eleven goose cages, each with a child crying inside. In secret, the city guardians who had originally been posted came out—the City God, Earth God, Village Spirit, True Officials, the Five-Directional Jie-di, the Four Duty Magistrates, the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Dharma-Protecting Pagoda and other hosts. They cried out at once: “Great Sage, we were first instructed to seize the children’s goose cages. Now we know your merit-work is complete and you are setting forth; we have brought them here for you one by one.” Then the king, queen, and all ministers and subjects likewise knelt in bowing. Sun Wukong looked up and said, “You have all labored; please each return to your shrines. I will make offerings among the people to thank you.” A hard wind rose with a hiss and whisper, then withdrew as it had come.

Sun Wukong called on the city households to identify the children. As soon as the word spread, everyone came and recognized the children in the cages. Gladly they carried them out, calling “Brother!” “My little one!” “Child!” jumping and laughing; all cried, “Hold onto Tang Zongye! Come to my house and we will repay the grace of rescuing our children.” No matter age, no matter boy or girl, no one cared for how ugly he looked. They lifted Zhu Bajie on their shoulders, bore Sha Wujing, supported Sun Wukong, clutched Tripitaka, led the horse, and carried the poles together, forming one great crowd returning to the city. Even the king could not forbid it. Some houses held feasts; others set out tables. Those who had not been able to make full preparations made monk hats, monk shoes, padded short robes, cloth socks—inside and outside, every size and kind of clothing—and came to send him off. So this loitering lasted nearly a month before they could leave the city. There were also reports from shadow spirits: tablets were raised, and people offered top-bowing, incense, and worship. This was the close:

Yin-merit piled high, layered heavier than a mountain of grace, and saved tens of thousands upon thousands of lives.

In the end it is still unknown what further events await. For that, listen to the explanation in the next chapter.