The evil demon king had tricked the true nature:
The gentle true nature was no match for him.
With so many plots it was hard to escape from pain;
When so much cunning was used there could be no peace.
All the heavens offered their protection,
And hosts of sages helped to wage the fight.
The mother of wood suffers for showing mercy.
Determination moves the yellow-wife.
The bitter fight shook heaven and earth;
Both sides spread their nets in the struggle.
On one side the waving of banners and warcries,
On the other the beating of drums and gongs.
A cold sea of light from massed sabers and spears,
And a murderous look of the swords and the halberds.
The demon troops were cruel and tough;
The heavenly soldiers were no match for them.
Dreary clouds blocked out the sun and moon;
Spine-chilling mists lay over the landscape.
Hard and bitter was the fight,
And all because Sanzang wanted to visit the Buddha.
The evil spirit now felt more ferocious than ever as he led his hosts into the attack. Just when the issue was hanging in the balance there could be heard an angry roar from Monkey of, “I'm here.”
“What about the luggage!” Pig asked as he greeted him.
“I barely got away with my life,” Monkey replied, “so what are you asking about the luggage for?”
“Stop talking, you two,” said Friar Sand, who was wielding his staff. “Hurry up and fight the evil spirits.” The Constellations, Protectors, Dings, Jias and all the other gods had been surrounded and bunched together by the demons in the wild melee, while the demon king attacked the three of them with his mace. Monkey, Pig and Friar Sand held the enemy off by striking and swinging with their cudgel, staff and rake. The earth and sky were now plunged into darkness, and still there was no victor. They fought on till the sun set in the Western hills and the moon rose over the Eastern islands.
Seeing how late it now was, the demon whistled and told all the fiends to be specially careful while he produced his treasure once more. Monkey could see clearly as he undid the pouch and took it in his hands.
“This is bad,” said Monkey. “Let's get out of here.” And with that he somersaulted straight up to the ninth heaven, not concerning himself with Pig, Friar Sand and the heavenly hosts, who failed to take his hint and were left behind to be caught in the bag again. Monkey alone escaped. The demon king then called off his forces and took them back inside the monastery, where once more he sent for ropes and tied them up again. The Tang Priest, Pig and Friar Sand were hung up from a high beam and the white horse was tethered at the back. The gods, who were also bound, were carried down into a cellar that was then covered and sealed. We will not go into how the devils then packed everything away once more.
When Monkey saved his life by springing up into the clouds and saw the devil soldiers returning, not waving their banners, he knew that his side must have been made prisoner once more. As he landed his auspicious light on the Eastern summit
He ground his teeth in hatred of the demon;
The tears flowed free as Monkey missed his master.
Then in despair he turned his face to heaven
And groaned aloud at Sanzang's new disaster.
“Master,” he called, “in whatever past world did you lay down so many difficulties for yourself that you meet evil spirits at every turn? There's no end to your troubles. What are we to do?” He sighed alone up there for a long time before calming himself down and working out what to do.
“I wonder what sort of pouch it is the devil has that can hold so many things inside!” he thought. “Now it's got the gods, the heavenly generals and a lot of other people too. I'll have to ask Heaven to help me, but I fear the Jade Emperor will be angry about what has happened. Now I remember there's a True Martial God of the North, the Heavenly Honoured Demon Suppressor, who now lives on Mount Wudang in the Southern Continent of Jambu. I'll go and ask him to rescue my master.” Indeed:
With the Way still uncompleted ape and horse were scattered;
When the mind was masterless the Five Elements lacked life.
If you don't know what happened on this journey listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 66
All the Gods Meet a Vicious Foe
Maitreya Binds the Evil Monster
The story tells how the Great Sage Sun, finding himself at his wit's end, somersaulted by auspicious cloud straight to Mount Wudang in the Southern Continent of Jambu to ask the Heavenly Honoured Demon Suppressor to save Sanzang, Pig, Friar Sand, the heavenly soldiers and all the rest of them. He flew non-stop and was soon in sight of the patriarch's immortal domain. As he brought his cloud gently down to land and took a good look around this is what he saw:
The great fortress of the Southeast,
A divine pillar of the central heaven.
Lotus Pinnacle soared in its majesty,
Purple-covered Ridge rose to a great height.
The nine rivers ended here, far from Jing and Yang;
A hundred mountains touch the stars in Wing and Axletree.
Above was the precious cave of Emptiness,
And the spirit tower of Zhu and Lu.
In the thirty-six palaces golden chimes rang,
As thousands of worshippers offered their incense.
Here the emperors of antiquity patrolled and worshipped,
Officials held jade tablets inscribed in gold.
Blue birds flew over lofty towers;
Under the canopies red gowns were worn.
The place was set on a mountain that towered over the cosmos,
An immortal domain suffused with emptiness.
Some plum trees were just in blossom,
And the hillside was covered in a blaze of color from the flowers.
Dragons hid at the bottom of ravines
While tigers lurked on the precipices.
The pheasants seemed to be talking;
Tame deer came up to people.
White cranes perched in cloud-topped junipers;
Green and red phoenixes sang to the sun.
Jade-pure, it resembles a land of immortals;
The compassion of the golden gateway rules the age.
The True Martial Lord had been born after King Purejoy and his wife Queen Victoria had dreamed one night that she conceived by swallowing the light of the sun. After fourteen months of pregnancy she had given birth in the royal palace on the first day of the third month of the year jiachen, the first of the reign period of Kaihuang. The prince
Was brave from his boyhood,
Grew into perception.
Did not take the throne,