Chapter 34

Now, the two minor demons took the fake gourd in their hands, vied in looking at it for a moment, and suddenly raised their heads to find the Great Sage was gone. Clever Bug said, "Elder brother, immortals too can tell falsehoods. He said he would trade treasures and help us become immortals, so why did he leave without saying goodbye?" Exquisite Ghost said, "We profited quite a bit as it is. Would he dare to succeed in going? Hand the gourd over, let me try and load the heaven, and rehearse it too." Truly he threw the gourd upward, and with a *thump*, it dropped right back down. Clever Bug said in a panic, "Why is it not loading? Not loading? Could it be that Sun Wukong falsely transformed into an immortal and swapped our real gourd with a fake one?" Exquisite Ghost said, "Stop talking nonsense. Sun Wukong is pressed under those three mountains, how could he possibly get out? Hand it over, let me recite those few spells of his and load the heaven to see." This freak also tossed the gourd toward the sky, and chanted in his mouth: "If there is half a sound of refusal, then ascend to the Hall of Miraculous Mist and stir up weapons of war." Before he could finish chanting, with a *thump*, it dropped right back down again. The two demons said, "It doesn't load, it doesn't load. It must definitely be a fake one." Just as they were clamoring, the Great Sage Sun in midair heard it clearly and saw it truly. Fearing that they would waste too much time and let the critical moment slip by, he shook his body and pulled back onto himself the hairs that had transformed into the gourd, leaving the two demons with empty hands on all four sides. Exquisite Ghost said, "Brother, bring the gourd over." Clever Bug said, "You are holding it." "Heavens! How is it gone?" They all went to the ground to feel about blindly, searched the grass in confusion, swallowed their sleeves, and tucked into their waists—how could it be anywhere? The two demons were frightened stiff and dazed, saying, "What is to be done? What is to be done? Earlier the Great King entrusted the treasure to us and told us to capture Sun Wukong. Now, not only has Wukong not been captured, but even the treasure is gone. How will we dare to go back and report? This beating will surely beat us straight to death. What is to be done! What is to be done!" Clever Bug said, "Let us leave." Exquisite Ghost said, "Where would we walk to?" Clever Bug said, "No matter where, let us just walk. If we return and say there is no treasure, it is definitively throwing our lives away." Exquisite Ghost said, "Do not leave, let us go back. The Second Great King usually thinks very well of you, I will push a word of it onto your body. If he is willing to accommodate and spare our lives, or if talking is of no avail and we are beaten to death, it will still be right here. Do not end up falling short on both ends. Let us go, let us go." Having conferred, the freaks turned their steps back to the mountain. The Great Sage, seeing them return from midair, shook his body once more, transformed into a little fly, and flew down to follow the minor demons. You might ask, since he had transformed into a fly, where then did he keep the treasure? If he threw it on the road or hid it in the grass for someone to see and take away, wouldn't that be laboring without achieving anything? He still carried it on his person. Carrying it on his person, you ask? A fly is no bigger than a bean grain, how could it accommodate it? Originally, that treasure of his was the same as his Ruyi Golden Cudgel, called the Ruyi Buddha Treasure. It could transform along with his person, able to become large or small, and therefore it could be accommodated on his body. With a *buzz*, he flew down and tightly followed the freaks. Before long, they arrived at the cave. They saw the two demon kings sitting there drinking wine, while the minor demons knelt facing upward. The Great Sage simply nailed himself to the door frame and listened with inclined ears. The minor demons said, "Great King." The two old demons immediately stopped their cups and said, "You have come?" The minor demons said, "We have come." They asked again, "Did you capture Sun Wukong?" The minor demons kowtowed and did not dare to utter a sound. The old demon asked again, and they still did not dare to reply, only kowtowing. When asked again and again, the minor demons prostrated themselves on the ground: "Pardon your little ones ten thousand times for the crime of death, pardon your little ones ten thousand times for the crime of death. As we were holding the treasure and walking to the middle of the mountain, we suddenly encountered an immortal from Mount Penglai. He asked us where we were going, and we replied: 'To capture Sun Wukong.' When that immortal heard the mention of Sun Wukong, he too was vexed with him and wanted to help us out. We did not ask him to help, but instead told him the circumstances of holding the treasure to load people. That immortal also had a gourd that was skilled at loading the heaven. We too harbored delusional hearts and intentions of supporting our households: his loading the heaven and my loading people—let us trade them. Originally it was said gourd for gourd, and Clever Bug even tipped him a pure vase besides. Who would have thought that things of the immortals' household cannot be approached by the hands of mortals? Just as we were rehearsing it, even the people disappeared. We earnestly hope you will spare your little ones the crime of death." Upon hearing this, the old demon flew into a rage like thunder and said, "Enough, enough! This was Sun Wukong falsely pretending to be an immortal to deceive and swindle it away. That monkey head possesses vast divine powers and is familiar with people everywhere; I do not know which minor deity let him out and swindled the treasure away." The second demon said, "Elder brother, calm your wrath. It is insufferable that this monkey head should be so devoid of propriety! Since he has the methods, let him escape if he will, but how could he also swindle the treasure away? If I do not have the ability to capture him, I shall never again be a monster on the western road." The old demon said, "How shall we capture him?" The second demon said, "We had five treasures, and two are gone, but there are still three left. We are resolved to capture him." The old demon said, "Which three are still left?" The second demon said, "There are still the Seven-Star Sword and the Plantain Fan by my side, while that length of the Jin-Binding Cord is kept by our aged mother in the Press-Dragon Cave on Mount Press-Dragon. Now we shall dispatch two minor demons to invite Mother to eat Tang Monk's meat, and instruct her to bring the Jin-Binding Cord to capture Sun Wukong." The old demon said, "Whom shall we dispatch?" The second demon said, "We will not dispatch such trash as those." He shouted Exquisite Ghost and Clever Bug to their feet with a cry. The two men said, "Good fortune, good fortune! We were not beaten, nor were we scolded, and yet we are pardoned just like that." The second demon said, "Call the regular attendants, Mountain-Climbing Tiger and Sea-Leaning Dragon, to come here." The two men knelt, and the second demon instructed: "You must be careful." Both replied, "Careful." "You must be meticulous." Both replied, "Meticulous." He asked again, "Do you recognize Old Mistress's home?" Both again replied, "We recognize it." "Since you recognize it, make haste and walk quickly. Arrive at Old Mistress's place, offer her my manifold respects, and say I invite her to eat Tang Monk's meat. At the same time, have her bring the Jin-Binding Cord, for we want to capture Sun Wukong." The two freaks accepted their orders and hurried off. How could they know that the Great Sage was right beside them, hearing everything clearly and distinctly? He spread his wings, flew away, caught up with Mountain-Climbing Tiger, and nailed himself to his body. After traveling two or three miles, he thought of beating and killing the two of them. Then he reflected: "To kill them, what difficulty is there? But by their mother's side is that Jin-Binding Cord, and I do not know where she lives. Let me first ask him a question and then strike." A fine Great Sage was he: with a *buzz*, he hid away from the minor demon, letting him go ahead by a hundred paces or so. Yet he shook his body once more and also transformed into a minor demon, wearing a fox-fur hat, with a tiger-skin skirt turned upside down and cinched tight, and caught up along the road, saying, "Wayfarer, wait for me a moment." That Sea-Leaning Dragon turned his head and asked, "Where are you from?" The Great Sage said, "Good brother, you don't even recognize your own family?" The minor demon said, "My house has no you." The Great Sage said, "How can there be no me? Look at me again." The minor demon said, "Your face is unfamiliar, unfamiliar; we have never met." The Great Sage said, "Precisely so. You have never met me because I am from the external shift." The minor demon said, "An officer of the external shift—we indeed have never met. Where are you going?" The Great Sage said, "The Great King said he is dispatching the two of you to invite Old Mistress to eat Tang Monk's meat, and instructed her to bring the Jin-Binding Cord to capture Sun Wukong. Fearing that the two of you would walk slowly and be somewhat playful, delaying the proper business, he additionally dispatched me to urge you to go quickly." The lesser sprite, upon hearing mention of the Eye of the Seabed, harbored no further doubts and recognized the Patriarch as one of its own. Flurried and flustered, it flew and ran forward, running eight or nine *li* in one breath. The Patriarch said, "You are running rather too fast. How far are we from home?" The lesser fiend said, "It is fifteen or sixteen *li*." The Patriarch said, "How much farther?" Rely-Sea-Dragon pointed with his finger and said, "Wulin is right inside there." Raising his head, the Patriarch saw a strip of dark forest not far off, and reckoned that the old fiend would simply be in or out of the forest. He then came to a halt to let the lesser fiend go ahead. Straightaway he took out his iron cudgel, stepped forward, and swept it across the back of its feet. Pity it was unable to bear a blow, for in an instant it swept the two lesser sprites into a ball of meat paste. Then, dragging his feet, he hid them in the deep grass by the side of the road. Forthwith he plucked out a single hair, blew a breath of immortal vapor, and cried, "Change!" It changed into a Mountain-Climbing Tiger, while he himself changed into Rely-Sea-Dragon. Disguised as two lesser sprites, they headed straight to the Yalong Cave to invite the Old Grandmother. This is called the divine power of the seventy-two transformations being vast, the method of pointing at objects and moving about being high. In three or five steps, he leaped into the forest. Just as he was searching for the place, he saw only a pair of stone doors, half-open and half-shut, not daring to enter presumptuously. He had no choice but to shout loudly, "Open the door! Open the door!" This had already startled a female fiend guarding the door, who opened the half-leaf and said, "Where do you come from?" The Patriarch said, "I am sent from the Lotus Cave on Flat-Top Mountain to invite the Old Grandmother." The female fiend said, "Come in." Arriving under the second layer of doors, he craned his neck to look inside, and saw once again an old mother sitting right in the middle. How would you say she appeared? You need only see: Snow-white sideburns disheveled, starlight brightly shining. A ruddy complexion with many wrinkles, sparse teeth and a spirited aura. Her appearance resembled fading flowers in the frost, her shape like an aged pine after the rain. A white silk thread-bound scarf wrapped round her head, gold-inlaid jeweled rings hanging from her ears. When the Great Sage Sun saw her, he did not dare go in. Standing outside the second gate with his face buried in his hands, he burst out crying. How would you say he cried? Could it be that he feared her? Even if he feared her, he would not cry; moreover, he had first tricked her treasures and then beaten her lesser sprites to death, so why did he cry? In the past, he had once descended into the nine-tripod vat of oil, and even when fried there for seven or eight days, he never shed a single tear. It was solely because he thought of the trials and tribulations of Tang Monk fetching the scriptures that his tears welled up from the depths of his bowels and he wept aloud. In his heart he thought: "Since Old Sun has displayed his skills, transforming into a lesser sprite to invite this old fiend, there is no reason to stand straight and speak; I must certainly kowtow to her. In all my days as a man and a hero, I have bowed to only three persons: in the Western Heaven, I bowed to the Buddha; in the Southern Sea, I bowed to Guanyin; at Two-World Mountain, my master saved me, and I bowed to him four times. For him I have exhausted my six-leafed liver and lungs, and spent my three-haired and seven-apertured heart. What is a single scroll of scriptures worth? Today, however, I am made to go and bow to this fiend. If I do not kneel and kowtow, the news will surely leak out. Bitter indeed! Reckoning it up, it is solely because my master is suffering adversity that I am subjected to this humiliation by others." At this juncture there was no help for it, so he blundered in, knelt facing upwards, and said, "I kowtow to Grandmother." The fiend said, "My child, get up." The Patriarch thought to himself, "Good, good, that was a solid call!" The old fiend asked, "Where do you come from?" The Patriarch said, "From the Lotus Cave on Flat-Top Mountain. Entrusted with an order from the two great kings, I am sent to invite Grandmother to go and eat Tang Monk's meat, and told to bring the Gilded Gold Rope, for they want to capture Sun Wukong." The old fiend was overjoyed and said, "What a filial son." She forthwith told them to bring out the sedan chair. The Patriarch said, "My child, do demons even use sedan chairs?" In the back there immediately emerged two female fiends carrying an aromatic rattan sedan chair, which they placed outside the door and draped with green silk curtains. The old fiend got up, left the cave, and sat inside the sedan chair. Behind her were several lesser female fiends holding cosmetics, carrying mirror stands, holding towels, and supporting incense boxes, following to her left and right. The old fiend said, "What are you coming for? I am going to the place of my own son; am I worried there won't be anyone to wait on me, that you must go and offer your flatteries and dangling lips? Go back, all of you, and close the doors to watch the house." Those few lesser sprites indeed all went back, leaving only the two sedan-chair bearers. The old fiend asked, "What are the names of the ones sent?" The Patriarch hastily answered, "He is called Mountain-Climbing Tiger, and I am called Rely-Sea-Dragon." The old fiend said, "You two walk ahead and clear the way for me." The Patriarch thought to himself, "How ill-starred; not only have I failed to fetch the scriptures, but now I've come to be a runner for her." Yet not daring to resist stubbornly, he had no choice but to lead the way forward, shouting loudly four times. After walking for some five or six *li*, he sat down on a stone cliff to wait for the sedan-chair bearers to arrive. The Patriarch said, "How about resting a bit? My shoulders ache from the pressing." How could the lesser sprites know any tricks? They simply set the sedan chair down. Behind the sedan chair, the Patriarch plucked a hair from his chest, turned it into a large baked cake, and held it in his arms to munch on. The sedan-chair bearer said, "Officer, what are you eating?" The Patriarch said, "It is hard to speak of. Coming this far to invite Grandmother without any reward, my belly was hungry, so I brought some dried rations along. Let me eat some before we go on." The sedan-chair bearer said, "Give us some to eat too." The Patriarch smiled and said, "Come now, we are all one family, why quibble?" The lesser sprite, not knowing any better, surrounded the Patriarch to share his rations. The Patriarch suddenly pulled out his cudgel and ground it across their heads: the one who parried it was beaten to a pulp; the one who was grazed by it, if not dead, was still groaning. When the old fiend heard someone groaning and stretched her head out from the sedan chair to look, the Patriarch leaped in front of the sedan chair, struck her head with a single blow of his cudgel, smashed a hole in it, sent her brains spurting, and her fresh blood flowing straight out. Dragging her out to look at her, it turned out to be a nine-tailed fox. The Patriarch smiled and said, "Evil beast, you call yourself Old Grandmother. If you call yourself Old Grandmother, you should rightly call Old Sun your Supreme Great-Grandfather." What a wonderful Monkey King! He searched out her Gilded Gold Rope, tucked it into his sleeve, and joyfully said, "Though those perverse demons possess skills, these three treasures now belong to Sun." He then plucked two hairs and turned them into Mountain-Climbing Tiger and Rely-Sea-Dragon; and plucked two more hairs to turn into two sedan-chair bearers; while he himself changed into the likeness of the Old Grandmother, sitting inside the sedan chair. Having hoisted the sedan chair up, he headed straight back along the same road. Before long, he arrived at the entrance of the Lotus Cave. The lesser sprites transformed from hairs were all ahead shouting, "Open the door! Open the door!" The lesser sprites guarding the door inside opened it and said, "Have Mountain-Climbing Tiger and Rely-Sea-Dragon come?" The hairs said, "They have come." "Where is the Grandmother you invited?" The hairs pointed with their fingers and said, "Is she not inside that sedan chair?" The lesser sprite said, "Wait a moment, let me go in and report first." He reported, saying, "Great King, Grandmother has arrived." Hearing this, the two demon lords immediately ordered an incense table to be set out to receive her. Hearing this, the Patriarch rejoiced secretly and said, "Good fortune! It is my turn to be a human being. First I transformed into a lesser sprite to invite the old fiend, and I knocked my head against the ground for her; this time I have come transformed into the old fiend, her mother, so I must surely perform the courtesy of four bows. Though it may not amount to much, surely I can trick two kowtows out of them." What a great Sage! He got out of the sedan chair, shook his clothes, and stowed those four hairs back onto his body. The lesser sprite guarding the door carried the empty sedan chair inside the gate. He followed right behind at a slow pace, swaying and twisting with such coquettish affectation, exactly like the old fiend's movements, and went straight inside. Then he saw the throngs of lesser sprites, large and small, all coming to kneel and welcome her. Drums, music, flutes, and pipes rang out in a chorus; in the Boshan censers, incense smoke drifted hazily. He arrived at the main hall and sat facing south. The two demon lords knelt down on both knees, knocked their heads against the ground facing upward, and called out, "Mother, your child pays his respects." The Patriarch said, "My children, get up." Now, Zhu Bajie, hanging from the roof beam, let out a loud laugh. Sha Seng said, "Second Brother, this is good. Hanging there has even made you laugh." Bajie said, "Brother, my laugh has a reason behind it." Sha Seng said, "What reason?" Bajie said, "We were only afraid it was the Grandmother coming to steam and eat us. Turns out it is not Grandmother, but an old acquaintance." Sha Seng said, "What old acquaintance?" Bajie laughed and said, "The Bimawen has come." Sha Seng said, "How do you recognize him?" Bajie said, "He bends his waist, calls out, 'My child, get up,' and right behind him, he flicks his monkey tail. I am hanging higher than you, so I can see it clearly." Sha Seng said, "Do not speak for now. Listen to what he says." Bajie said, "Quite right, quite right." That Great Sage Sun sat in the middle and asked, "My child, you invited me here for what business?" The demon head said, "Mother, for days past we children have shown a lack of etiquette and failed to serve you with filial piety. This morning, we foolish brothers captured the Tang Monk of the East. Not daring to eat him without permission, we invited Mother to come and witness the offering, so he can be steamed and eaten to extend Mother's longevity." Xingzhe said, "My child, as for the Tang Monk's flesh, I certainly do not eat it. I hear there is a Zhu Bajie whose ears are very fine; you can cut them off, prepare them well, and I will have them with wine." Hearing this, Bajie panicked and said, "Accursed pest, you came to have my ears cut off! If I cry out, it will not sound good." Alas! Just because of the idiot's slip of the tongue, the wind of the Monkey King's transformation leaked away. A few mountain-patrolling little fiends and gate-guarding demons all crashed inside and reported, "Great King, disaster has struck! Sun Xingzhe beat and killed Grandmother, and he has disguised himself as her." Hearing these words, the demon head brook no further argument, drew his Seven-Star Precious Sword, and came hacking straight at Xingzhe's face. A fine Great Sage! With a single sway of his body, nothing was seen but red light throughout the cave as he made off in advance. Such sleight of hand is truly marvelous: gathering, it takes form; scattering, it turns to breath. It frightened the old demon head until his soul flew and his spirit scattered, while the crowd of fiends bit their fingers and shook their heads. The old demon said, "Brother, send the Tang Monk, Sha Seng, Bajie, the white horse, and the luggage all back to that Sun Xingzhe, and let us close the door on trouble." The second demon said, "Brother, what kind of words are you speaking? I do not know how much toil I spent and what schemes I laid to capture all those monks. Now, because you are afraid of Sun Xingzhe's trickery, you would send everything back to him? This is truly what they call a person who fears blades and avoids swords—how can it be the action of a great man? Just sit down and do not be afraid. I hear you say Sun Xingzhe has vast divine powers; although I have met him once, I have never sparred with him. Bring my battle array, and let me seek him out to cross blows for three bouts. If he cannot defeat me in three bouts, the Tang Monk is still our food; if I cannot defeat him in three bouts, it will not be too late to send the Tang Monk to him then." The old demon said, "Younger Brother speaks correctly." He ordered his battle array to be brought out. The demons carried out the armor and gear, and the second demon dressed himself neatly, grasped his precious sword, walked out the door, and shouted, "Sun Xingzhe, where have you gone?" At this time, the Great Sage was already in the clouds. Hearing his name called, he hurriedly turned his head to look, and it turned out to be the second demon. Look at how he was dressed: Head wearing a phoenix helmet that mocks the snow of December, Body clad in battle armor gleaming with wootz iron. Belt at his waist made of python-dragon tendons, Powdered-leather boot shafts with plum-blossom folds. Face like the living True Lord of Guanjiang, Appearance matching the Gigantic Spirit with no second. Seven-Star Precious Sword held in his hand, Wrath piercing the firmament, might blazing fierce. The second demon shouted loudly, "Sun Xingzhe, quickly return my treasure and my mother to me, and I will spare you to go fetch the scriptures." The Great Sage could not refrain from cursing, "You splashing monster, you have mistaken your Sun grandfather! Make haste to return my master, junior fellow apprentice, white horse, and luggage, and furthermore tip me some travel expenses so I may head west on the road. If a single word of 'no' crosses your teeth, go weave a rope for yourself, and spare your grandfather the trouble of moving his hands." Hearing this, the second demon hastily spurred his cloud, leaped into the air, and wielded his precious sword to thrust; Xingzhe brandished his iron cudgel to meet him face-to-face. The two of them fought a fine battle in mid-air: Chess players meeting their match, generals encountering a worthy opponent. Chess players meeting their match find it hard to conceal their excitement; generals encountering a worthy opponent can put their skill to use. Those two divine warriors engaged in battle, much like a South Mountain tiger fighting a North Sea dragon. Where the dragon fights, scales and armor gleam bright; when the tiger struggles, claws and fangs scatter down. Claws and fangs scattering down cast silver hooks; scales and armor gleaming bright prop up iron leaves. This one turns and twists, possessing a thousand methods; that one comes and goes, leaving not half a step idle. The golden-hooped cudgel was separated from the crown of the head by a mere three tenths of an inch; the Seven-Star sword lunged toward the heart with only a span's difference. The one's might and majesty chilled the Dipper and the Ox; the other's surging wrath surpassed the peril of thunder and lightning. The two of them fought for some thirty bouts, neither able to claim victory. Xingzhe thought with secret delight, "This splashing monster actually manages to withstand Old Sun's iron cudgel. I have already obtained his three treasures, yet I am fighting him so bitterly here—wouldn't this delay my business? Better to take the gourd or the pure vase and suck him inside; how good would that be?" Then he thought again, "No, no. As the saying goes, 'Things follow their owners.' What if I call him and he doesn't respond, wouldn't that delay my enterprise? I might as well use the Hoarfrost-Gold Rope to cinch his head." A fine Great Sage! With one hand he wielded his cudgel to parry the monster's treasure, while with the other hand he picked up the rope and *swish-clack* cinched the demon. Now, that demon had a tight-rope spell and a loose-rope spell. If he cinched someone else, he would recite the tight-rope spell so they could not get free; if he cinched one of his own people, he would recite the loose-rope spell so as not to harm their body. Recognizing it as his own treasure, he immediately recited the loose-rope spell to loosen the cord so he could slip out, and in turn hurled it back toward Xingzhe, which prematurely cinched the Great Sage. Just as the Great Sage was about to use his "slender-body method" to escape, the demon recited the tight-rope spell, cinching him tightly so how could he get free? It slipped down below his neck, turning into nothing more than a golden ring trapping him. The monster tugged on the rope, pulled him down, and hacked seven or eight precious sword blows at his bald head. Not even a patch of Xingzhe's skin turned red. The demon said, "You monkey, since your head is this hard, I will not hack you; I shall just take you back and beat you some more. Return my two treasures to me as soon as possible." Xingzhe said, "What treasures of yours did I take that you are asking me for them?" The demon head searched his own body carefully, and pulled out both the gourd and the pure vase. Then, pulling on the rope, he led Xingzhe into the cave and said, "Elder Brother, I have brought him." The old demon said, "Who have you brought?" The second demon said, "Sun Xingzhe. Come look, come look." As soon as the old demon saw him, he recognized Xingzhe, and with joy spreading across his face, he laughed and said, "It is him, it is him! Tie him with a long rope to the pillar so we can play with him." They truly tied Xingzhe up, and the two demon heads went into the back hall to drink wine. That Great Sage crawled and scraped beneath the base of the pillar, suddenly startling Bajie. That idiot, hanging from the beam, laughed ha-ha and said, "Elder brother, ah, your ears cannot be eaten." Xingzhe said, "Idiot, are you hanging comfortably? I shall go right out now, and I guarantee I will save you all." Bajie said, "How shameless, how shameless. You cannot even save your own body, and still you think of saving people. Stop, stop, stop. Let the master and disciples die together in the same place, and it will be good for asking the way at the underworld tribunals." Xingzhe said, "Do not talk nonsense, watch me go out." Bajie said, "Let me see how you go out." While the Great Sage was talking with Bajie in his mouth, his eyes were watching those two monsters. Seeing them drinking inside, with several little demons holding trays and cups, carrying pots and pouring wine, running back and forth without stopping, the guard had loosened just a little bit. Seeing no one in front of him, he displayed his divine powers: he slipped out his rod, blew a puff of immortal breath, and cried, "Change!" It instantly changed into a pure steel file; he pulled over the neck hoop, and with three or five strokes, filed it into two sections. Prying open the file's mouth, he slipped right out. He plucked out a single hair, called for it to change into a false body, and tied it there. His true body gave a shake, changed into a little demon, and stood off to the side. Bajie shouted again from the beam, "It is bad, it is bad, what is tied is a fake, what is hanging is the real body." The Old Demon stopped his cup and asked, "What is that Zhu Bajie shouting about?" Xingzhe had already changed into a little demon, stepped forward and said, "Zhu Bajie was instigating Sun Xingzhe, telling him to use transformations and leave, but he was unwilling to leave, and is shouting over there." The Second Demon said, "I still thought Zhu Bajie was honest, but it turns out he is not honest at all. He deserves twenty-odd snout beatings." This Xingzhe then went to fetch a cudgel to beat him. Bajie said, "Hit a little lighter; if it is a bit too heavy, I will shout again, I recognize you." Xingzhe said, "Old Sun's transformations are solely for you all, how is it that you instead leaked the wind and news? The spirits in this whole cave do not recognize me, how is it that you alone recognize me?" Bajie said, "Although you changed your head and face, you have not yet changed your buttocks. Are those two red patches on the buttocks not there? That is how I recognized it was you." Xingzhe thereupon went to the back, came to the kitchen, took a handful from the bottom of the wok, and smeared both buttocks black, then walked to the front. Seeing this, Bajie laughed again, "Where has that monkey been mingling for this moment, making himself come back with a black backside?" Xingzhe still stood close by, intending to steal their treasure. Truly he had much insight: he walked up to the hall, bowed and scraped before the monster, saying, "Great King, look at that Sun Xingzhe tied to the pillar, crawling and scraping left and right, wearing out that golden rope. Only by getting a somewhat thicker rope to replace it will it be good." The Old Demon said, "What you say is right." He immediately untied the lion-brocade belt from his waist and handed it to Xingzhe. Xingzhe received the belt, tied up the falsely disguised Xingzhe, replaced that length of rope, and gathered the whole lot inside his sleeve. He plucked another hair, blew a puff of immortal breath, and changed it into a fake Hoarding-Gold Rope, presenting it with both hands to the monster. Because that monster was greedy for wine, how could he have looked closely? He simply accepted it. This was the Great Sage tossing and turning and displaying his skill, using a hair to swap for the Hoarding-Gold Rope. Having obtained this treasure, he hastily turned around, leaped out the door, revealed his original body, and shouted loudly, "You monsters!" The gate-guarding little demon asked, "What kind of person are you, raising a din here?" Xingzhe said, "You hurry and go inside to report to that splashing fiend of yours, and say that Zhe Xingsun has come." The little demon reported just as told, and the Old Demon was greatly startled and said, "We captured Sun Xingzhe, yet how can there be a Zhe Xingsun?" The Second Demon said, "Brother, why fear him? The treasure is entirely in my hands. Wait for me to take that gourd out and suck him inside." The Old Demon said, "Brother, be careful." The Second Demon took the gourd, walked out of the mountain gate, and suddenly saw someone identical in appearance to Sun Xingzhe, only slightly shorter. He asked, "Where have you come from?" Xingzhe said, "I am Sun Xingzhe's younger brother. Hearing that you captured my elder brother, I have come to pick a fight with you." The Second Demon said, "I am the one who captured him and locked him in the cave. Since you have come today, you surely want to demand a battle. I will not engage in combat with you either; I will just call your name, and do you dare answer me?" Xingzhe said, "I would not fear you calling a thousand times, I will answer you ten thousand times!" That monster grasped the treasure, leaped into the air, turned the bottom toward the sky and the mouth toward the earth, and shouted, "Zhe Xingsun." Xingzhe did not dare to answer, and thought secretly in his heart, "If I answer, I will be sucked right inside." The monster said, "Why do you not answer me?" Xingzhe said, "I am a little deaf in my ears and did not hear. Shout louder." That monster shouted again, "Zhe Xingsun." Xingzhe pinched his fingers down below and calculated, saying, "My real name is Sun Xingzhe, and the ghostly name given to me is Zhe Xingsun. A real name can be sucked in, but a ghostly name surely cannot be sucked in." Then he could not help but answer him with a "Heng." With a *whoosh* he was sucked into the gourd, and the paper seal was pasted on. Originally, that treasure did not care whether a name was true or false; as long as one caught the breath of an answer, it would suck the person right in. When the Great Sage arrived inside his gourd, it was pitch black. He pushed upward with his head, but there was no moving it, and moreover it was plugged extremely tight. Only then did his heart grow anxious and he thought, "At that time when I encountered those two little demons on the mountain, they once told me: regardless of whether it is a gourd or a pure vase, once a person is placed inside, it takes only an hour and a quarter for them to turn into pus. Could it be that I am being melted?" His mind thought again, "It is nothing, I cannot be melted. Five hundred years ago, I, old Sun, created havoc in the Heavenly Palace, and was placed by Lord Laozi into the Eight Trigrams Brazier to be refined for forty-nine days, smelting a golden heart and liver, silver lungs, a bronze head and iron back, and fiery eyes with golden pupils. How could I be melted in an hour and a quarter? I will just follow him inside and see what he does." The Second Demon took it inside and said, "Brother, I have captured him." The Old Demon said, "Who did you capture?" The Second Demon said, "Zhe Xingsun is what I have sucked into the gourd." The Old Demon happily said, "Worthy younger brother, please sit. Do not move, just wait until it rattles before peeling off the seal." Hearing this, Xingzhe thought, "With a body like mine, how can it rattle? Only if I turn into liquid soup will it rattle. Wait until I take a piss; if he wants to rattle it, he will surely peel off the seal and open the lid, and I will take advantage of the empty space and run away, the motherfucker." He thought again, "No, no. Although urine can make a sound, it would only soil this unlined robe. When he rattles it, I will just gather some saliva to rinse my mouth, making a *slurping* sound to trick him into peeling it open, and old Sun will run away then." The Great Sage made his preparations, but that monster was greedy for wine and did not rattle it. The Great Sage worked a spell, intending merely to trick him into coming to rattle it, and suddenly shouted, "Oh Heavens! My shins have melted away." The monster still did not rattle it. The Great Sage shouted again, "Oh Mother! Even my waist and spine have melted away." The Old Demon said, "When it melts to the waist, they are all melted away. Peel off the seal and take a look." Hearing this, the Great Sage plucked a hair and cried, "Change!" It turned into half a torso at the bottom of the gourd. His true form turned instead into a small *jiaoliao* insect, which alighted on the rim of the gourd. Just as the Second Demon lifted the talisman to look, the Great Sage had already flown out. With a somersault, he transformed again into a Sea-Leaning Dragon. The Sea-Leaning Dragon was actually the little demon who had previously gone to invite the Old Grandmother; transformed as him, the Great Sage stood to one side. The Old Demon tilted the gourd's mouth to take a look, and seeing half a torso stirring about, he did not check whether it was real or false, but hastily cried, "Brother, cover it, cover it! He has not been dissolved yet." The Second Demon pasted the talisman back on as before. The Great Sage, standing to the side, laughed secretly, "He little knows old Sun is already out of here!" The Old Demon took the flask and poured a full cup of wine, stepped forward, and presented it to the Second Demon with both hands, saying, "Worthy brother, I shall offer you a cup." The Second Demon said, "Elder brother, we have already been drinking for quite a while; why offer another cup?" The Old Demon said, "It is one thing that you captured Tang Monk, Bajie, and Wujing, but you also tracked down Sun Wukong and stored away Zhe Xingsun. Such merit deserves to be rewarded with a few extra cups." Seeing his elder brother show such respect, how dared the Second Demon not accept? Yet with one hand supporting the gourd, he dared not use that hand to receive it, so he handed the gourd to the Sea-Leaning Dragon and used both hands to take the cup. Little did he know that the Sea-Leaning Dragon was transformed by Sun Xingsun. Watch him steady the gourd and wait upon them with utmost attentiveness. After the Second Demon received the wine and drank it, he wanted to return the courtesy with a cup of his own. The Old Demon said, "No need to return the wine; I shall keep you company with a cup right here." The two of them continued exchanging polite modesties. The Xingsun, supporting the gourd with his head and keeping his eyes unblinkingly fixed on them as they passed cups back and forth without the slightest suspicion, shoved the gourd straight into his sleeve. He plucked a hair and changed it into a fake gourd, identical and without a second difference, which he held in his hands. After the demons had exchanged wine for a while, without inspecting whether it was real or false, one of them snatched back the treasure. Each returned to their banquet seat, sat down securely, and drank as before. The Great Sage Sun withdrew his body and walked past; having secured the treasure, he rejoiced inwardly in his heart, saying, "No matter what methods these demon-heads possess, the gourd still bears the surname Sun!" If you do not know how he would act thereafter in order to rescue his master and destroy the monsters, listen to the decomposition in the next chapter.