“Our mortal eyes were only able to see that your illustrious disciples had the power to capture thieving devils. We never realized that you were superior immortals with the power to ride on winds and clouds.”
“I do not have any dharma powers,” Sanzang replied. “On my journey I have depended very much on my three disciples.”
“I tell you the truth, Your Majesty,” said Friar Sand. “My senior fellow-disciple is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who has been converted. He once made havoc in Heaven, and none of the hundred thousand heavenly troops was a match for his gold-banded cudgel. He had the Supreme Lord Lao Zi and the Jade Emperor both scared. My next senior fellow-disciple is Marshal Tian Peng, now a faithful Buddhist. He once commanded 80,000 sailors on the River of Heaven. I'm the only one of us with no magic powers: I was the Curtain-lifting General before I took my vows. We're useless at everything except capturing demons and monsters, arresting thieves and runaways, subduing tigers and dragons, and kicking the sky into a well. And we know a thing or two about stirring up the sea and turning rivers upside-down. Oh yes, and then there's riding clouds and mists, summoning wind and rain, moving the stars around in the sky, carrying mountains, and chasing the moon: but those are just extras.” All this made the king treat them with very great respect Indeed:
Inviting Sanzang to take the place of honour, he kept addressing him as “Buddha” and referring to Friar Sand and the others as bodhisattvas. All the civil and military officials were delighted, and the citizens of the country kowtowed to them.
The story switches to the Great Sage Monkey and Pig riding their storm wind to the Green Wave Pool on the Ragged Rock Mountain, where they stopped their clouds.
Blowing a magic breath on his gold-banded cudgel Wukong told it to change and turned it into a monk's knife with which he cut an ear off the snakehead and the lower lip of the catfish, then threw the two demons into the water with a shout of, “Tell the Infinitely Sage Dragon King that Lord Sun, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, is here. If he wants me to spare the lives of him and his family he'd better hand over the treasure from the pagoda of the Golden Light Monastery in Jisai at once. If there's even the hint of a 'no' from him I'll give this pool such a stirring that there'll be no water left in it and then exterminate his whole family.”
Having been given this order the two little devils fled for their lives in great pain, jumping into the water, chains, ropes and all, to the alarm of the various turtle, alligator, shrimp, crab and fish spirits, who crowded round them to ask, “Why are you roped and chained?”
Once of them shook his head and waved his tail with his hand over his ear; the other stamped and beat his chest as he covered his mouth. There was much shouting and commotion as they both went to the dragon king's palace to report, “Disaster, Your Majesty.”
The Infinitely Sage Dragon King was drinking with his son-in-law Prince Ninehead when the two of them arrived. “What disaster?” the dragon king asked, putting down his cup.
“We were on sentry duty last night,” they reported, “when the Tang Priest and Sun the Novice captured us as they were sweeping the pagoda. We were chained up and taken to see the king this morning. Then Sun the Novice and Pig dragged us here. One of us had an ear cut off and the other a lip. Then they threw us into the water to come to ask for the treasure from the top of the pagoda.” They then told the whole story in great detail. The news about Sun the Novice, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, gave the ancient dragon such a fright that his souls left his body and were scattered beyond the sky.
“Son-in-law,” he said to the prince, shivering and shaking, “anyone else would have been easy enough to deal with; but if it's him it's terrible.”
“Relax, father-in-law,” the prince replied. “I've been studying the martial arts since childhood and made friends with quite a few of the world's heroes. He's nothing to be scared of. After three rounds with me I guarantee the wretch will surrender with his head hanging so low he won't even dare look you in the face.”
The splendid demon jumped to his feet, put on his armor, took the weapon he used, a crescent-bladed halberd, walked out of the palace, parted the waters, and when he reached the surface called out, “What's all this about a 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven'? Come and give yourself up at once.” Standing on the bank, Pig and Monkey saw how the evil spirit was dressed:
A silver helmet on his head,
Outshone the whitest snow;
The suit of armor that he wore
Was higher than autumn frost.
Over it was a battle-robe of brocade,
With dragons, cloud-patterns and pearls;
The rhinoceros-patterned belt at his waist
Was like a python wrapped in gold.
He held a crescent halberd
That flew and flashed like lightning;
The pigskin boots on his feet
Moved as smoothly as water or waves.
From a distance he seemed to have only one face and head,
But seen from close to there were faces all around him:
Eyes in front and eyes behind
That could see in all directions;
Mouths to the left and mouths to the right,
Nine of them, all talking.
One shout from him would make the sky shake
Like the call of the crane resounding through the stars.
As nobody answered he shouted again, “Which of you is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?”
Touching the golden band round his head and fingering his iron cudgel, Monkey replied, “I am.”
“Where do you live?” the demon asked. “Where are you from? What brought you to Jisai to look after the king's pagoda? Why did you have the effrontery to capture and mutilate two of our officers? And why are you here demanding battle now?”
“Thieving devil,” replied Monkey abusively, “it's obvious you don't know who I am. Come a little closer and I'll tell you:
My people come from the Mount of Flowers and Fruit,
From the Water Curtain Cave in the middle of the sea.
Since childhood I have made my body indestructible;
The Jade Emperor created me Heaven-equaling Sage.
When I made havoc in the Dipper and Bull Palace
All the gods of Heaven were not enough to beat me.
The Buddha then was asked to use his great and subtle powers;
His infinite wisdom went beyond the mortal world.
When I matched my powers with his and made my somersaults
His hand turned to a mountain and crushed me underneath.
There I was kept for full five hundred years,
And only was released when converted by Guanyin
Because Sanzang was going to the Western Heaven
To seek the Buddha's words at distant Vulture Peak.
She freed me then to escort the holy monk,
To clear up all the monsters and purify my conduct.
Our journey led to Jisai in the regions of the West
Where there monkish generations have been cruelly mistreated.
When in our mercy we asked them what had happened
We learned that the pagoda no longer shone with light.
My master swept it clean to find out the reason.
In the deep silence of the night's third watch,
We captured the demons and extracted their confessions:
They said you were the thief who had stolen the great treasure,
Conspiring to be a robber with the ancient dragon king
And the princess who is also known as Infinitely Sage.
Your rain of blood washed out the pagoda's magic light
And you brought the treasure back to use it here yourselves.
The confession that they made was true in every detail,