The prince quickly remounted and went out through the back gate of the palace to get away from the city. Indeed:
With tears in his eyes he took leave of his mother;
Bowed down with grief he returned to Sanzang.
He was soon out of the city and back at the gate of the Precious Wood Monastery, where he dismounted amid the greetings of the whole army. It was now almost sunset. The crown prince ordered that the soldiers were to make no unnecessary movements. He then went back into the monastery, neatened up his clothes, and went to pay his respects to Brother Monkey just as he was swaggering out of the main hall.
The prince fell to his knees and said, “Master, I'm back.”
Monkey went over to him to raise him to his feet and said, “Please get up. Who did you question when you went into town?”
“I questioned my mother,” the crown prince replied, going on to tell him everything that had happened.
Monkey grinned slightly as he said, “If he's that cold he must be a transformation of something icy. Never mind. It doesn't matter. I'll wipe him out for you. The only trouble is that it's a bit late to do anything today. Go back now and wait till I come to see you tomorrow.”
The prince knelt down again, kowtowed and said, “Let me stay here to be at your beck and call till I go in with you tomorrow.”
“No,” said Monkey, “that would be no good. If we two went into town together the fiend would have his suspicions. He wouldn't think that I'd just met you by chance. He'd say that you'd asked me to come, and then be angry with you.”
“But-he's going to be angry with me anyhow if I go back to the city now,” replied the prince.
“Why?” asked Monkey.
“Because I'll have no way to face him when I go back without having caught a single thing after taking out so many men, horses, falcons and hounds on his orders this morning,” said the prince. “If he punishes me for incompetence I'll be thrown into jail and you'll have nobody to help you when you go into town tomorrow. And in this whole force there isn't a single friend of mine.”
“No problem,” said Monkey. “If you'd told me earlier I'd have a good bag ready for you now.”
Splendid Great Sage. Watch him as he shows off his powers in front of the prince, leaping up into the clouds with a single bound, making the magic with his fingers, and saying the esoteric words, “Om ram Pure Dharma World.”
He made the mountain gods and local deities of the place bow to him in mid-air and say, “Great Sage, what orders do you have for us humble deities?”
To this Brother Monkey replied, “I've escorted the Tang Priest this far and now I want to capture a demon. The trouble is that the crown prince has caught nothing on his hunt, so he doesn't dare return to the palace. I'd like to ask a favour of you all. Will you fetch some river-deer, antelopes, deer, hares, other birds and beasts to send him back with?” None of the mountain gods or local deities dared not to accept this order.
When they asked how many of each were wanted the Great Sage replied, “It doesn't matter. Just get some.”
The gods then mustered their invisible soldiers and made a magical animal-gathering wind blow. They caught hundreds and thousands of pheasants, deer, antelopes, river-deer, foxes, badgers, raccoon dogs, hares, tigers, leopards and wolves, which they presented to Monkey.
“I don't want them,” he said. “I'd like you to hamstring them and set them out on both sides of the fifteen miles of the road back so that the hunters can take them to the capital without having to use their falcons or hounds. That will redound to your credit.” The gods did as they were told, put their magic wind away, and set the prey out beside the road.
Only then did Brother Monkey bring his cloud down to land and say to the prince, “You may go back now, Your Highness. Your bag is set out by the road for you to collect.” After the mid-air display of Monkey's amazing powers the prince was utterly convinced that this had happened, so he could but kowtow and take his leave. He then went out of the monastery and ordered the soldiers back to the city. There were indeed no end of wild animals by the road that the soldiers could catch with their bare hands, not needing the falcons or dogs. They all cheered the prince and said that this was due to his very good luck, not realizing that it was Monkey's magical achievement. Just listen to the triumphant songs as they swarm back to the capital.
Monkey, meanwhile, was guarding Sanzang. Seeing how well the two of them were getting on with the prince, the monks of the monastery had to treat them with great respect. They provided them with vegetarian meals and looked after the Tang Priest, who was still resting in the meditation hall. For nearly a whole watch, or about two hours, Monkey was too troubled to sleep.
He jumped up, went over to the Tang priest's bed and called, “Master.”
Sanzang was still awake too, but he pretended to be asleep because he knew that Monkey was someone who caused alarms and trouble. So Monkey rubbed Sanzang's shaven pate and shouted wildly, “Why are you asleep, Master?”
“Wicked creature,” said the Tang Priest angrily, “what are you shouting for at this time of night when you ought to be asleep?”
“But Master,” said Monkey, “there's something I want to talk about with you.”
“What?” Sanzang asked.
“I can't sleep,” Brother Monkey replied, “because when I was boasting to the crown prince yesterday about how my magical powers were higher than mountains and deeper than the sea I said that I could catch that fiend as easily as taking something out of a bag. I'd only have to stretch out my hand to grab him. Thinking about it I realize it would be difficult.”
“If it is difficult,” said the Tang Priest, “then give up the idea of catching the monster.”
“He's certainly got to be caught,” said Monkey, “but it isn't right.”
“You're talking nonsense, ape,” said the Tang Priest. “The fiend has usurped a throne. What do you mean by 'it isn't right?'”
“All you know about is reciting sutras, worshipping the Buddha, sitting in contemplation and seeking religious instruction,” said Monkey. “You've never seen the Legal Code. As the saying goes, 'You can't arrest someone for theft without the loot as evidence.' That fiend has been king for three years now without giving the game away. He sleeps with the consorts and concubines in the harem and shares the pleasures of the civil and military officials at court. I have the power to catch him all right; but it'll be hard to make the charges against him stick.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked the Tang Priest.
“Even if he normally kept his mouth as shut as an unopened gourd,” said Monkey, “he'll brazen it out with you and say, 'I'm the monarch of Wuji. What crime have I committed against Heaven that you should come to arrest me?' What written documentation have you got to back up your case against him?”
“How would you cope?” asked Sanzang.
“My plan's already made,” said Brother Monkey with a laugh. “The only thing is that it affects Your Reverence and your favoritism.”
“How do I show favoritism?” the Tang Priest asked.
“Because Pig is so stupid he's rather a pet of yours.”
“What do you mean by that?” the Tang Priest asked.
“Well, if he's not your favorite, be a bit bolder today and agree to stay here with Friar Sand while Pig and I go ahead to the capital of Wuji, find the palace gardens, open up the glazed-tile well, fish out the remains of the dead king, and wrap them up in a carrying-cloth. Then when we go into town tomorrow never mind about the travel documents-as soon as I see the fiend I'll have my cudgel out to kill him. If he tries to argue, show him the remains and the clothes and say, 'This is the man you murdered.' Then bring the crown prince in to mourn his father and the queen to identify the remains of her husband. Let all the civil and military officials see their true lord, and then Pig and I will set to. That's the only way we'll be able to win a contested lawsuit afterwards.”