Monkey cheerfully made the fist as he had been instructed and went back to the monastery gates, brandishing his cudgel with one hand as he shouted, “Evil spirit, your lord and master Monkey's here. Come out at once and we'll see who's the champion.” When the little devils rushed inside to report the demon king asked how many soldiers Monkey had brought with him this time.
“None,” they replied. “He's here by himself.”
“That Monkey's at his wit's end and exhausted,” the demon king laughed, “and he can't get anyone else to help. He's just throwing his life away now.” Once he was in his armor again he took his treasure and his flexible wolf-tooth mace and went out through the monastery gates shouting, “You won't be able to hold out this time, Sun Wukong.”
“Damned demon,” Monkey replied abusively. “What do you mean, I won't be able to hold out?”
“Look at you,” the demon replied. “You're at your wit's end and exhausted. There's nobody else you can turn to for help. Now you're here again to try to resist me there won't be any more divine soldiers or anything like that to help you. That's why I said you wouldn't be able to hold out.”
“Fiend,” said Monkey, “you don't even know whether you want to live or to die. Stop all that talk and take this!”
Seeing that Monkey was wielding his cudgel single-handed, the demon burst out laughing: “What a clever little ape! Do you think you'll be able to hold me off by using your cudgel one-handed?”
“My dear boy,” said Monkey, “if I used both hands it would be too much for you. Even with four or five hands you wouldn't be able to beat me even if I had one hand tied behind my back. That is, as long as you didn't use that pouch of yours.”
“Very well then,” the demon king replied, “I won't use my treasure. I'll give you a straight fight and we'll see who's the best man.” With that he raised his wolf-tooth mace and attacked Monkey, who opened his clenched fist in the demon's face before wielding the cudgel in both hands. Once the demon was under the spell he put all thought of retreat out of his mind and indeed did not use his pouch, but went for Monkey with his mace. Monkey feinted then turned and fled in defeat, pursued by the evil spirit down the Western slopes of the mountain.
As soon as he saw the melon field Monkey rolled himself into a ball to go into it and turn himself into a big, ripe, sweet watermelon. The evil spirit stopped to look all around, not knowing where Monkey had gone.
He rushed over to the hut and asked, “Who's growing these melons?”
Maitreya, who had turned himself into an old melon grower, came out of the thatched hut and said, “I am, Your Majesty.”
“Have you got any ripe ones?” the demon king asked.
“Yes,” Maitreya replied.
“Pick me a ripe one then,” said the demon. “I'm thirsty.”
Maitreya then picked the melon that was Monkey transformed and handed it to the demon king respectfully with both hands. The demon king did not stop to examine it, but took it and bit into it. This was Monkey's chance to go straight down the demon's throat. Without any more ado he started hitting out and kicking, grabbing and clawing at the monster's entrails and stomach, turning somersaults, standing on his head, and doing just as he liked. The evil spirit ground his teeth and grimaced in agony, the tears flowing down his face, as he rolled around the melon field till it looked like a threshing floor.
“Stop, stop!” he shouted. “Save me, save me.”
Maitreya then reverted to his true form and said with a jolly smile, “Evil beast, do you recognize me?”
When the evil spirit looked up he fell to his knees on the ground, rubbing his stomach with both hands and kowtowing as he said, “Spare me,. master, spare me. I'll never do it again.”
Maitreya then stepped forward, seized him with one hand, undid the future heaven pouch, took back the stick for beating the stone chime, and said, “Sun Wukong, spare his life for my sake.”
Monkey, who was still beside himself with loathing and hatred, went on punching, kicking, and making havoc in the demon's insides until the demon collapsed in unbearable agony.
“He's had all he can take, Wukong,” Maitreya said. “Spare him now.”
“Open your mouth wide,” Sun Wukong finally said, “and let me out.” Although the demon's insides had been tied up into agonizing knots his heart had not yet been damaged, and as the saying goes,
Until the heart is damaged nobody dies;
Leaves only fall when the trunk's sap dries.
As soon as he was told to open his mouth wide he did so, in spite of the pain. Only then did Monkey jump out and turn back into himself. He at once seized his cudgel and was about to strike again, but the Buddha Maitreya had already put the evil spirit into the pouch and slung it at his waist. Holding the chime-stick in his hand Maitreya said, “Evil beast, where are the golden cymbals you stole?”
The monster, who was desperate to live, could be heard mumbling inside the future heaven bag, “Sun Wukong smashed them.”
“If they're broken give me my gold back,” said Maitreya.
“It's piled up on the lotus throne in the main hall,” the monster replied.
Holding the bag in one hand and the stick in the other the Buddha laughed as he said, “Wukong, you and I are going to get my gold back.” After the display of such dharma power Sun Wukong dared not be at all remiss, but took the master back up the mountain and into the monastery, where they gathered all the pieces of gold.
Although the monastery gates were firmly shut one push with the stick was enough to open them wide, and when they looked inside they saw that all the little devils had taken the monastery's wealth and were now fleeing in all directions. When Monkey found one he killed one; when he found two he killed two; and so on until he had killed all the six or seven hundred little devils, who resumed their real forms as mountain spirits, tree monsters, evil beasts and animal demons.
The Buddha gathered all the pieces of gold together, blew on them with magic breath, and said the words of a spell. At once they were the two golden cymbals again. He then took his leave of Monkey and headed straight back to his paradise by auspicious cloud. The Great Sage then released the Tang Priest, Pig and Friar Sand.
After being hung up there for several days the idiot was desperately hungry. Without waiting to thank Monkey he ran straight to the kitchen, his back bent, to find some food. As it happened the demon had sent for his lunch but not had time to eat it when Monkey challenged him to battle. The moment he saw it Pig ate half a saucepan of rice before fetching a pair of bowls for the master and Friar Sand each to eat two bowlfuls. Only then did he thank Monkey and ask about the evil spirit.
Monkey told him all about how he had asked the help of King Teacher, Tortoise and Snake, then borrowed the prince from the True Lord, and about how Maitreya had subdued the demon. When Sanzang heard this he expressed his gratitude at great length and kowtowed to all the heavens. “Disciple,” he asked, “where are all the gods imprisoned?”
“The Duty God of the Day told me yesterday that they were all in the pit,” Monkey replied. “Pig,” he continued, “you and I are going to rescue them.”
Now that he had eaten, the idiot was full of strength and energy again as he found his rake and went with Monkey to open up the pit, untie the prisoners, and ask them to come out to under the tower. Sanzang, who had now put his cassock back on, bowed to each of them in thanks, after which the Great Sage saw the five dragons and two generals off on their way back to Wudang, Little Prince Zhang and the four generals on their way to Bincheng, and the Twenty-eight Constellations on their way back to the palaces of Heaven. He also released the Protectors and Guardians so that each could return to his own territory.