NINETY

Masters and lions,¹ teachers and pupils, all return to the One;

Thieves and the Dao, snares and Buddhism, quiet Ninefold-Numina.

We were telling you about the Great Sage Sun, who went out of the city with Eight Rules and Sha Monk. When they met the monster-spirits face to face, they found them to be a bunch of lions of various colors: Yellow Lion Spirit led in front, with Suanyi Lion and Elephant-Baiter on his left, Baize Lion and Wildcat on his right, and Gibbon-Lion and Snow Lion at the back. In the middle of the group was a nine-headed lion, and by his side was the fiend, Child Blue Face, holding a brocade pennant with raised floral patterns. Child Shifty-and-Freaky and Child Freaky-and-Shifty held high two red banners as they all stood in an orderly fashion to the north.

Eight Rules, always foolhardy, walked up to them and began to abuse them, saying, “You larcenous fiend! Where did you go to collect these several hairy lumps to come here?”

“You lawless and vicious bonze!” cried the Yellow Lion Spirit, baring his teeth. “Yesterday three of you attacked one of me, and I was defeated. Wasn’t that enough that you had the upper hand? Why did you have to be so cruel as to burn down my cave-dwelling, ruin my mountain home, and harm all my relatives? My animosity toward you is deep as the sea! Don’t run away! Have a taste of your venerable father’s shovel.” Dear Eight Rules! He met the lion with upraised rake.

The two of them had just come together, and no decision could yet be reached when the Gibbon-Lion, wielding an iron caltrop, and the Snow Lion Spirit, using a three-cornered club,² also advanced to attack. “Welcome!” shouted Eight Rules, and on his side, Sha Monk quickly took out his fiend-routing staff to lend his assistance. Then Suanyi Spirit, Baize Spirit, Elephant-Baiter, and Wildcat all surged forward, and they were met by the Great Sage Sun grasping his golden-hooped rod. Suanyi used a cudgel, Baize a bronze mallet, Elephant-Baiter a steel lance, and Wildcat a battle ax. Those seven lion-spirits and these three savage priests thus had quite a battle!

Mallet, cudgel, lance, and three-cornered club,

Four-lights shovel, iron caltrop, and an ax³—

Seven lions with seven weapons sharp

Encircle three priests as they roar and shout.

Vicious is the Great Sage’s iron rod

And rare among men, Sha Monk’s treasure staff.

Eight Rules, as if plague-ridden, sallies forth

With a radiant muckrake that terrifies.

Back and front they parry as they ply their might;

Left and right they charge for they’re fearless all.

Princes on the rampart now lend their strength

By beating gongs and drums to rouse their hearts.

Pressing back and forth they use magic power

And fight till Heaven and Earth grow obscure.

Those monster-spirits fought for half a day with the Great Sage and his two companions, and it became late. Eight Rules was foaming at the mouth, and his legs were gradually weakening. With a last halfhearted wave of his rake, he turned to flee.

“Where are you off to? Watch out!” cried Snow Lion and Gibbon-Lion. Our Idiot did not dodge quickly enough and received a blow to his spine from the club. As he lay flat on the ground, all he could mumble was “Finished! Finished!” Seizing him by the bristles and the tail, the two spirits hauled Eight Rules away to show him to the nine-headed lion, saying, “Grandmaster, we’ve caught one.”

They had hardly finished speaking when Sha Monk and Pilgrim, too, were defeated. As the various monster-spirits gave chase together, however, Pilgrim pulled off a bunch of hairs, chewed them to pieces, and spat them out, crying, “Change!” They changed at once to hundreds of little Pilgrims who had Baize, Suanyi, Elephant-Baiter, Wildcat, and the golden-haired lion-fiend completely surrounded. Sha Monk and Pilgrim then returned and also plunged into the fray. When night fell, they captured Suanyi and Baize, though Wildcat, Elephant-Baiter, and Golden Hair managed to escape. When the old fiend learned from his grandsons that two lions were lost, he gave this instruction: “Tie up Zhu Eight Rules, but don’t take his life. Wait till they return our two lions, and we’ll give Eight Rules back to them. If they’re foolish enough to harm our two lions, we’ll make Eight Rules pay with his life.” That night the various monsters rested outside the city, and there we shall leave them for the moment.

We tell you now about the Great Sage Sun, who had the two lion-spirits hauled near the city. When the old prince saw them, he ordered the city gates open and sent out some thirty guards with ropes to truss up the lion-spirits and take them inside. After he had retrieved his magic hairs, the Great Sage Sun went with Sha Monk up to the city tower to see the Tang Monk.

“That was quite a fierce battle!” said the Tang Monk. “You think Wuneng will live?”

“Relax!” replied Pilgrim. “Since we’ve caught these two monster-spirits, they will never dare harm him. Let’s have these two spirits firmly bound, so that they may be exchanged for Eight Rules tomorrow.”

Kowtowing to Pilgrim, the three young princes said, “When our master first went into battle, we saw only one of you. But when you feigned defeat later, over a hundred of you suddenly appeared. By the time you had the monster-spirits captured and returned to the side of the city, you became a single person once more. What sort of magic was that?”

“On my body,” replied Pilgrim with a chuckle, “there are eighty-four thousand hairs. One of them can change into ten of me, and the ten can also change into one hundred. In fact, the transformation can grow to millions and billions. This is the magic of the body beyond the body.” One after another, the princes touched their heads to the ground to show their reverence, after which, food was brought up to the tower for them to dine right there. At each crenel on the battlement were set up lanterns and flags, watch rattles, gongs, and drums. The soldiers were told to be diligent in announcing the watches, sending communication arrows, firing cannons, and shouting battle cries.

Soon it was dawn. The old fiend summoned the Yellow Lion Spirit into his presence to give him this plan: “All of you today should exert yourselves and try to capture Pilgrim and Sha Monk. Let me secretly soar through the air to ascend the city and seize their master along with the old prince and his sons. After that, I’ll go back first to the Nine-bends Curvate Cave to wait for your triumphal return.” Accepting the plan, Yellow Lion led Gibbon-Lion, Snow Lion, Elephant-Baiter, and Wildcat, each grasping his weapon, and approached the city to provoke battle, in the midst of churning wind and roiling mist. On this side Pilgrim and Sha Monk leaped down from the parapet and shouted, “Lawless fiends! Return our brother Eight Rules quickly, and we’ll spare your lives! Otherwise, we’ll pulverize you!”

Those monster-spirits, of course, did not permit further conversation. As they rushed forward, our Great Sage and his companion both exercised their intelligence to oppose those five lions. This battle was quite different from that of yesterday:

A vicious, howling wind that scrubs the earth,

A dark, heavy fog that blots out the sky.

Flying dirt and stone dismay ghosts and gods;

Toppling trees and woods alarm tigers and wolves.

The lance is cruel, the ax, luminous;

Caltrop, club, and shovel are all ruthless.

How they wish they could swallow Pilgrim whole!

Or capture alive that puny Sha Monk!

This one compliant rod of our Great Sage

Can thrust, turn, toss, and twist most cleverly.

That fiend-routing staff of bold Sha Monk

Has great fame beyond the Divine Mists Hall.

Their action this time has great magic powers

To sweep away the spirits of the West.

When that battle between those five lion-spirits with coats of more than one color and Sha Monk and Pilgrim reached its most feverish moment, the old fiend mounted a dark cloud to ascend the city tower. All he had to do was to give his heads a shake, and those on the rampart—the various officials and the guards—became so terrified that they all tumbled down from the battlement. He sped inside the tower, and with wide-open mouths, caught hold of Tripitaka, the old prince, and his sons. He then went back to the spot at the north and seized Eight Rules with another mouth. He had, you see, altogether nine heads, and he therefore had nine mouths. One mouth held the Tang Monk, the second one Eight Rules, the third one the old prince, the fourth one the eldest young prince, the fifth one the second young prince, and the sixth one the third young prince. With six persons in six mouths, he still had three empty ones! “I’m leaving first!” he roared. When these five young lion-spirits saw the triumph of their grandmaster, they became more aggressive than ever.

Pilgrim, too, heard the commotion on the rampart, and he knew at once that he had fallen for their scheme. Quickly admonishing Sha Monk to be careful, he ripped off all his hairs from both arms and chewed them to pieces before spitting them out: they changed instantly into hundreds and thousands of little Pilgrims. As they surged forward to attack, they dragged down the Gibbon-Lion, captured live Snow Lion, caught hold of Elephant-Baiter, overturned Wildcat, and beat to death Yellow Lion. From this wild melee, however, Child Blue Face, Shifty-and-Freaky, and Freaky-and-Shifty managed to escape.

When the officials on the rampart saw what was happening, they opened the city gates once more and brought out ropes to tie up the five lion-spirits. After they had been dragged inside and before they had even been disposed of, a tearful queen came to bow to Pilgrim, saying, “O divine master! Our Royal Highness, his sons, and your master may have lost their lives! What is to become of this deserted city?”

“Worthy Queen, please do not grieve,” said the Great Sage, bowing to her as he retrieved his magic hairs. “Because I have caught these seven lion-spirits, I don’t think that my master or His Highness and his heirs will be harmed, even though they have been abducted by the magic of the old monster. Early next morning, we two brothers will go to that mountain. We promise you that we shall capture the old monster and return four princes to you.” When the queen and other court ladies heard this, all of them kowtowed to Pilgrim and said, “We pray earnestly that the lives of His Highness and his heirs be preserved and that his royal dominion be established forever!” After their bows, each of them returned to the palace, struggling to hold back her tears.

Pilgrim gave this instruction to the various officials: “Skin that Yellow Lion Spirit that we have beaten to death, and lock up the rest of the six living ones. Bring us some vegetarian food so that we may take a rest after the meal. You can all relax, for I promise you nothing serious will occur.”

On the following day, the Great Sage led Sha Monk to mount the auspicious cloud, and in a little while, they arrived at the summit of the Bamboo-Knot Mountain. As they lowered the direction of their cloud to look around, they saw a marvelous tall mountain indeed, with

A row of peaks rugged

And summits most jagged.

Deep in the stream flows a gurgling torrent;

Below the cliff blooms the ornate fragrance.

Winding ranges one after one

And ancient paths encircling.

Truly the cranes arrive to squire the pines,

But the clouds depart to make the rocks forlorn.

The apes face the sunlight to search for fruits,

And deer enjoy the warmth to find their flowers.

The bluebird’s reedy songs,

The oriole’s murmurous notes.

Spring peaches and plums vie for glamour;

Summer elms and willows both prosper;

Autumn spreads brocades of yellow flowers;

Winter comes with white snow aflutter.

A splendid scene in all four seasons,

As good as the immortal Isle Yingzhou.

As they enjoyed the scenery on the summit, they suddenly caught sight of that Child Blue Face dashing out of a little valley down below, his hand gripping a small cudgel.

“Where do you think you’re going?” bellowed Pilgrim. “Old Monkey’s here!” The little monster was so terrified that he tumbled down the slope, while the two brothers eagerly gave chase. In a moment, however, Blue Face disappeared. A few steps more brought them to the front of a cave-dwelling, where they found tightly shut two doors of veined rocks. Across the top of the door was a stone placard, with the following inscription in clerkly script: Myriad-Numina Bamboo-Knot Mountain, Nine-Bends Curvate Cave.

The little monster, you see, had dashed in and closed the doors, and had gone to the center of the cave to say to the old monster, “Venerable Father, there are two monks outside again.”

The old monster said, “Did your great king and the rest return—Gibbon-Lion, Snow Lion, Elephant-Baiter, and Wildcat?”

“I haven’t seen any of them! I haven’t seen any of them!” replied the little monster. “Only two monks high on the peak scanning the region. When I saw them, I turned and ran. They chased me back here, and I quickly bolted the door.”

On hearing this, the old monster fell silent for a long time; then all at once he shed a few tears. “Woe!” he cried. “My Yellow Lion grand-disciple is dead, and the others have all been taken captive into the city by those priests. How am I to avenge myself?”

Lying on one side, a melancholy Eight Rules, who had been trussed up along with the Tang Monk, the old prince, and his sons and left there to suffer, was gladdened by this statement of the old monster about his grandsons. “Master, don’t be afraid!” he whispered. “And Your Highness, don’t worry! My elder brother has won a victory and caught several monsters. He’ll soon find his way here to rescue us.” He finished speaking, and then he heard the old monster say, “Little ones, stand guard here. Let me go out and capture those two monks and bring them in here also for punishment.”

Look at him! With neither armor on his body nor weapons in his hands, he walked in big strides up to the front, where he could hear the shoutings of Pilgrim Sun. Flinging wide the doors, he did not wait for the exchange of even one word before heading straight for Pilgrim. As Pilgrim wielded his iron rod to meet him, Sha Monk brandished his treasure staff and struck. All the old monster did was to give his head one shake, and eight other heads with open mouths appeared, four on each side. Ever so gently they caught Pilgrim and Sha Monk and brought them inside the cave. “Bring me some ropes!” he cried.

Shifty-and-Freaky, Freaky-and-Shifty, and Child Blue Face were the three who had escaped with their lives the night before. Taking out two ropes, they bound up the priests firmly.

“You wretched ape!” said the old monster. “You’ve taken my seven grandsons, but I’ve caught four of you priests and four princes. That should be a fair exchange for my grandsons’ lives! Little ones, select some thorny willow canes. Let’s give this monkey-head a flogging, so that my Yellow Lion granddisciple may be avenged.”

Each picking up a willow cane, those three little monsters began to rain blows on Pilgrim. Pilgrim’s body, however, was one that had undergone prolonged cultivation and refinement. The effect of those willow canes on him was no more severe than scratching an itch! No matter how hard they flogged him, he neither showed concern nor made a sound. Eight Rules, the Tang Monk, and the princes, however, were petrified at the sight. After a little while, even the canes broke from the flogging and had to be replaced.

It went on like this until evening. The blows Pilgrim received were numberless. When Sha Monk saw how long Pilgrim had been beaten, he felt guilty and said, “Let me take a hundred strokes or so for him!”

“Don’t be so impatient!” said the old monster. “You’ll be beaten tomorrow! Each of you will have your turn!” Horrified, Eight Rules said, “Then the day after tomorrow will be old Hog’s turn!”

The flogging continued for yet another while until it grew dark. “Little ones, let’s stop!” cried the old monster. “Light the lamps, and take some food and drink, all of you. I’m going to my brocade den to take a nap. All three of you have suffered before in the hands of these monks, and you should therefore guard them carefully. Wait till tomorrow before we flog them some more.”

Moving the lamps over, the three little monsters took up the willow canes and began beating Pilgrim’s skull: tick-tick-tock, tock-tock-tick, now fast, now slow, it sounded as if they were beating a rattle. As the night deepened, however, the monsters all fell sound asleep.

Immediately Pilgrim exercised his magic of Passage. He shrank his body and climbed out of the ropes. Having shaken loose his fur and straightened out his clothes, he whipped out his rod from his ear. One wave of it and it acquired the thickness of a bucket and the length of twenty feet. “You cursed beasts!” he said to the three little monsters. “You have beaten your Venerable Father umpteen times, but he hasn’t changed a bit. Let your Venerable Father drop this rod on you a little, and see what happens!” Ever so lightly he dropped the rod on those three little fiends, and at once they turned into three meat patties.

Then Pilgrim pulled up the wick in a lamp and began to untie Sha Monk. As he had been hurting from the ropes, Eight Rules could not refrain from saying in a loud voice, “Elder Brother, my hands and feet are swollen! Why can’t you untie me first?” This one yell of Idiot’s aroused the old monster, who scrambled up immediately, saying, “Who’s untying . . . ?”

When he heard that, Pilgrim blew out the lamp immediately and abandoned Sha Monk. With his iron rod he punched through several doors and escaped. The old monster went out to the center hall and called out: “Little ones, why are the lights out? Has someone escaped?”

He shouted like that once, but no one answered him. He cried again, but still there was no answer. By the time he lit a lamp himself, the first thing he saw were three bloody meat patties on the ground. Then he saw that the old prince, his sons, the Tang Monk and Eight Rules were still there; only Pilgrim and Sha Monk had disappeared. With a lighted torch, he rushed to the back and front to search for them, and he found Sha Monk sidling along a wall in one of the porches. The old monster grabbed him, threw him on the ground, and tied him up as before. Then he continued to search for Pilgrim. When he saw that several of the doors had been smashed, he knew that Pilgrim had managed to escape. Instead of giving chase, he tried to patch up and repair the doors to guard his property. There we shall leave him for the moment.

We tell you instead about the Great Sage Sun who, having emerged from the Nine-Bends Curvate Cave, went straight back to the Jade-Flower County astride the auspicious cloud. In the air above the city he was met by several local spirits of the region and the tutelary deities of the city, all bowing.

“Why did you all wait until now to come to see me?” asked Pilgrim.

“These humble deities,” replied the city god, “knew already that the Great Sage had descended upon the Jade-Flower County. Since you have been entertained by a worthy prince, we dared not intrude upon you. Now we have learned that the princes encountered fiends and that the Great Sage is in the process of subduing demons. We have therefore come especially to bow to receive you.”

Pilgrim was still annoyed and was beginning to berate them when the Golden-Headed Guardian, the Six Gods of Darkness, and the Six Gods of Light appeared with another local spirit in their custody. As they knelt down, they said, “Great Sage, we have captured this devil-in-the-earth and brought him here.”

“Why aren’t you all protecting my master at the Bamboo-Knot Mountain?” snapped Pilgrim. “Why are you milling about at this place?”

One of the Gods of Darkness and Light said, “Great Sage, after you had escaped, the monster-spirit captured again the Curtain-Raising General and had him tied up once more. When we saw how powerful his magic was, we rounded up the local spirit of the Bamboo-Knot Mountain and marched him here. He should know the origin of this monster-spirit. Let the Great Sage question him, so that he may devise the proper means to rescue the sage monk and deliver the worthy prince from his suffering.”

Pilgrim was delighted by what he heard. Trembling all over, the local spirit kowtowed and said, “The year before last that old monster descended upon the Bamboo-Knot Mountain. The Nine-Bends Curvate Cave was originally a den for six lions. Since the old monster’s arrival, however, the six lions all honored him as their grandsire, who is actually a nine-headed lion. He styles himself the Nine-Numina Primal Sage. If you want to vanquish him, you must go to the Wondrous-Cliff Palace at the East Pole and fetch his master. Only that person and no one else has the power to subdue him.”

When he heard this, Pilgrim thought for quite some time, musing to himself: “The Wondrous-Cliff Palace at the East Pole, that’s the Salvific Celestial Worthy of the Great Monad. His beast of burden is precisely a nine-headed lion. In that case . . .” He at once gave this instruction: “Let the Guardian and the Gods of Darkness and Light return with the local spirit to their proper stations to provide secret protection for my master, my brothers, and the princes of the district. The city deities should take up their post to guard the city.” The various deities obeyed and left.

Mounting the cloud somersault, our Great Sage journeyed through the night. By about the hour of the Tiger,⁴ he arrived at the East Heaven Gate, where he ran into Devarāja Virūpākṣa and an entourage of celestial guards and vīra. They all stopped and, folding their hands in their sleeves to salute him, asked, “Where are you going, Great Sage?”

After returning their salutation, Pilgrim said, “Making a trip to Wondrous-Cliff Palace.”

“Why aren’t you on your way to the Western Heaven?” asked the devarāja. “Why have you come to the Eastern Heaven?”

“When we arrived at the Jade-Flower County,” replied Pilgrim, “we were royally entertained by the prince. His three sons, in fact, took us three brothers in and honored us as teachers of martial arts. Little did we expect that we would end up with a bunch of lion-fiends. I’ve just found out that the Salvific Celestial Worthy of the Great Monad at the Wondrous-Cliff Palace is the lion master, and I would like to ask him to subdue the fiend and rescue my master.”

“It’s precisely because you desired to act as someone’s teacher,”⁵ said the devarāja, “that you got into trouble with a den of lions.”

“No doubt that’s the reason! No doubt that’s the reason!” chuckled Pilgrim. All the soldiers and vīra saluted him again with folded hands and stepped aside to let him pass. After the Great Sage entered the East Heavenly Gate, he reached in a little while the Wondrous-Cliff Palace. He saw

Colored clouds in tiers,

Billows of purple mist,

Tiles shimmering in golden flames,

Doors guarded by rows of jade-beasts.

Flowers fill a double arch swathed in red mist;

Tall trees, sun-drenched, are encased in green dew.

Truly myriad gods surround the place

Where all sages flourish.

The buildings are layers of brocade,

All joined through windows and porches,

Watched by an old dragon circling in light

Divine and charged with thick, auspicious air.

This is the realm of everlasting bliss,

The Palace of Wondrous-Cliff.

Inside the gate of the palace stood a divine lad wearing a garment of rainbow hues. When he caught sight of the Great Sage Sun, he went inside to announce, “Holy Father, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, who caused great havoc in the Celestial Palace, has arrived.”

The Salvific Celestial Worthy of the Great Monad at once asked his guards and attendants to usher his visitor in. When they entered the palace, the Celestial Worthy left his lofty lotus throne of nine colors enshrouded in countless beams of auspicious radiance to greet them. Pilgrim bowed low, and the Celestial Worthy returned his salutation, saying, “Great Sage, we haven’t seen you these few years. I heard some time ago that you left the Dao to embrace Buddha in order to escort the Tang Monk to acquire scriptures in the Western Heaven. Your merit and work must have been accomplished.”

“Not quite,” replied Pilgrim, “but they are near completion. At this moment, however, my accompaniment of the Tang Monk has taken us to the Jade-Flower County, where the local prince was kind enough to have his three sons take old Monkey and his brothers as teachers of martial arts. New weapons were being forged, using ours as models, but they were stolen by a thief at night. When we looked for them in the morning, we learned that the thief was a golden-haired lion-spirit residing in the Tiger’s-Mouth Cave on the Leopard’s-Head Mountain north of the city. A ploy of old Monkey got back our weapons, but that spirit banded together with a considerable number of other lion-spirits to brawl with me. In their midst was a nine-headed lion who possessed vast magic powers. He caught with his mouths my master, Eight Rules, and the four princes and took them to the Nine-Bends Curvate Cave of the Bamboo-Knot Mountain. The next day old Monkey and Sha Monk followed them there, and we too were captured. Old Monkey was bound and beaten by him countless times, but I was fortunate enough to have escaped, using my magic. They are still suffering at that place. Not until I questioned the local spirit of the region did I find out that the Celestial Worthy happens to be his master. I’ve come especially to ask you to subdue the monster and grant deliverance.”

On hearing this, the Celestial Worthy immediately ordered his subordinates to fetch the lion page from the lion den and bring him forward for interrogation. The page, however, was sleeping soundly and did not wake up until some of the gods had given him a few shakes. They dragged him up to the center hall, and the Celestial Worthy asked, “Where’s the lion?”

Shedding tears and kowtowing, the page boy could only mutter, “Spare me! Spare me!”

“In the Great Sage Sun’s presence you will not be beaten,” said the Celestial Worthy. “But you’d better confess quickly how you carelessly allowed the nine-headed lion to run away.”

“Holy Father,” said the page, “the day before yesterday I came upon a bottle of wine in the Hall of Universal Sweet Dew. Not knowing any better, I stole it and drank it, and I fell fast asleep. I must not have locked up the beast properly, and that’s why he escaped.”

The Celestial Worthy said, “That wine happened to be a gift of Laozi called Jade Liquid of Transmigration. If you drank it, you’d stay drunk for three whole days. How many days has it been since the lion ran away?”

“According to the local spirit,” said the Great Sage, “he descended to earth the year before last. By now it’s almost three years.”

“Yes! Yes!” said the Celestial Worthy with a smile. “A day in Heaven is a year in the mortal world.” Then he said to the lion page, “Get up. We’ll spare you for the moment. Follow me and the Great Sage to the Region Below to retrieve him. The rest of the immortals may go back. There’s no need for all of you to accompany us.”

The Celestial Worthy trod the clouds with the lion page and the Great Sage to reach the Bamboo-Knot Mountain, where they were met by the Guardians of Five Quarters, the Six Gods of Darkness and the Six Gods of Light, and the local spirit of the mountain. “You who are supposed to be guardians, has my master been harmed?” asked Pilgrim.

“The monster-spirit,” replied the deities, “has been rather upset and has gone to sleep. He has not inflicted punishment on anyone.” “After all,” said the Celestial Worthy, “that Child Primal Sage of mine is a true spirit who has attained the Way through prolonged cultivation. One roar of his can reach the Three Sages above and penetrate the Nine Springs down below. He will not take a life casually. Great Sage Sun, please go and provoke battle at his door. Entice him to come out so that I may subdue him.”

Hearing this, Pilgrim indeed whipped out his rod and leaped toward the cave’s entrance, shouting, “Brazen monster-spirit! Return my people! Brazen monster-spirit! Return my people!” He shouted several times, but there was no answer at all, for the old monster had fallen fast asleep. Growing impatient, Pilgrim wielded his iron rod and fought his way inside, shouting abuses as he moved along. Only then was the old monster roused from his sleep. Startled and enraged, he scrambled up and roared, “To battle!” At once he shook his head and attacked with open mouths.

Pilgrim turned back and leaped out of the cave. The monster-spirit followed him out, crying, “Monkey thief! Where are you going?”

Standing on a cliff, Pilgrim said, chuckling, “You still dare be so audacious and unruly! You have no idea what’s coming to you in a moment! Don’t you realize that your Venerable Father Master is here?”

The monster-spirit rushed up to the cliff, only to find a Celestial Worthy reciting a spell and shouting, “Child Primal Sage, I’m here!” The monster recognized his master, and he dared not struggle at all. Falling prostrate on all fours, he could only kowtow repeatedly. From one side the lion page dashed out and, seizing his hair on the neck with one hand, rained blows on his head with the other. “You beast!” he scolded him. “Why did you run away and make me suffer?”

The lion dared neither move nor utter a word. Only when his fist grew tired did the lion page stop punching and put the brocade saddle on. The Celestial Worthy mounted him, gave the order to leave, and the lion rode the colored clouds to return to the Wondrous-Cliff Palace.

After giving thanks toward the sky, the Great Sage entered the cave. He untied the Jade-Flower prince first, then Tripitaka Tang, and finally, Eight Rules, Sha Monk, and the three princes. Together they looted the cave’s valuables before stepping outside. Eight Rules piled up dried wood front and back and started a blaze. The entire Nine-Bends Curvate Cave was reduced to a charred and gutted kiln! Then the Great Sage dismissed the other deities, though he ordered the local spirit to remain there and guard the region. Eight Rules and Sha Monk were told to exercise their magic and carry the princes back to the prefectural city on their backs, while Pilgrim himself took hold of the Tang Monk by the hands to transport him. In a short while, when the sky darkened, they all arrived at the capital and were met by the queen, the palace ladies, and various officials. Evening maigre was served at once, and they all sat down to enjoy the fare. The elder and his disciples again rested in the Gauze-Drying Pavilion, while the prince retired to the palace. They all had a peaceful night.

The next day the prince ordered another huge vegetarian banquet, for which all the officials of the palace, high and low, gave thanks. Pilgrim also asked the butchers to slaughter the six lions and skin them, as they had done to the yellow lion. Their meat was to be prepared for the people’s enjoyment. Delighted by this suggestion, the prince at once gave this command: the meat of one lion was to be saved for the residents of the palace, and that of another would be given to the Administrator of a Princely Establishment and other district officials. The rest of the five lions would be cut into small pieces, about two to three ounces each, and distributed by palace guards to the civilian and military populace in and out of the city, so that they might have a taste of lion meat to calm their fears. All the households thus acknowledged the gift with gratitude.

In the meantime, the ironsmiths had finished forging the three weapons. As they kowtowed to Pilgrim, they said, “Holy Father, our work is done.”

“What’s the weight of each of the weapons?” asked Pilgrim.

“The golden-hooped rod weighs a thousand pounds,” replied one of the ironsmiths. “The nine-pronged rake and the fiend-routing staff both weigh eight hundred pounds.” “All right,” said Pilgrim, and he asked the three princes to come out and pick up their weapons.

“Father Prince,” said the three princes to the old prince, “today the weapons are perfected.” “Because of them,” said the old prince, “my sons and I almost lost our lives.” “It was fortunate that the divine master did exercise his magic to have us rescued,” said the young princes, “and to have the monstrous deviates dispersed. With all evil consequences removed, we may truly expect a peaceful world of calm seas and clear rivers.” At once the old prince rewarded the ironsmiths; then father and sons went to the Gauze-Drying Pavilion to thank the masters.

In order that their journey would not be delayed, Tripitaka urged Pilgrim and his companions to hasten in giving lessons in martial arts to the princes. Right in the palace courtyard, therefore, each of the brothers wielded his weapon and began instructing the princes one by one. In a few days those three princes became thoroughly familiar with their drills and exercises. All the methods of offense and defense, fast and slow, indeed all seventy-two styles of movement that belonged to each weapon were mastered. The three princes, after all, were most determined to learn, and, moreover, the Great Sage Sun had endowed them with divine strength. For this reason they could now raise and move a thousand-pound rod or an eight-hundred-pound muckrake. Compared with the martial arts they formerly practiced by themselves, this was something else indeed! We have a testimonial poem, which says:

Good luck for them has three teachers convened.

Why should martial arts bestir a lion fiend?

The empire’s safe when perverts are wiped out;

They yield to One Body and pariahs⁶ rout.

Nine⁷ fits the principle of primal yang;

From all perfection the Dao truly sprang.

A mind informed these teachings e’er release

And grant Jade-Flower lasting joy and peace.

Once more the princes gave a huge banquet to thank their teachers for the instruction. A large platter of silver and gold was also presented as token of their gratitude.

“Take it away! Quickly!” said Pilgrim, laughing. “We are people who have left home. What do we need it for?”

Eight Rules, sitting to one side, said, “We really can’t take the gold and silver. But this robe of mine has been torn almost to shreds by those lion-spirits. If you could provide us with a change of clothing, it would be received as a token of your great love for us.” The princes at once asked the tailors to take several bales of blue silk, red silk, and brown silk and, following the styles and colors of what the priests were wearing, make three suits of clothing. The three pilgrims gladly received their gifts and put on their new cassocks of silk before packing to leave.

At this time there was not a single person in and out of the city who did not address them as incarnate arhats or living buddhas. All the streets were filled with the sounds of drums and music and clogged with the colors of banners and pennants. Truly

Outside each household the incense fires burned;

Before each door colorful lanterns turned.

Only after escorting the pilgrims a long distance would the people permit the four of them to resume their journey toward the West. Their departure signaled their escape from the various lions and their devotion to attaining the right fruit. Truly

Without a worry they’d reach Buddha’s realm

And, with hearts unfeigned, ascend Thunderclap.

We do not know, however, how great a distance remains for them to reach Spirit Mountain, or when they will arrive; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.