The dragon sons were wearing the hempen clothes of mourning as they watched and wept over the dragon's body while the dragon grandsons and the prince were preparing the coffin at the back. Then in came Pig, roaring abuse at them. He landed a terrible blow from his rake that made nine holes in a dragon son's head. The dragon's widow fled inside in terror with the rest of them.
“The long-snouted monk's killed my son now,” she howled, and on hearing this the prince led the dragon grandsons out to fight, wielding his crescent-bladed halberd. Pig raised his rake to parry the halberd and fought a fighting retreat till he jumped out of the water. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the seven sworn brothers all leapt into the fray, thrusting furiously with sword and spear. One of the dragon grandsons was chopped up into mincemeat.
Seeing that things were going badly the prince rolled in front of the mountain, turned back into himself, spread his wings, and started circling around. Erlang then took his golden bow, fixed a silver pellet to it pulled it to its full extent, and fired it in the air. The monster pulled in its wings and swooped down to bite Erlang with the head that shot out from its waist. Erlang's slim dog leapt up, barked, and bit off the head, which dripped blood. The monster fled for his life in great pain, heading straight back for the Northern Sea. Pig wanted to go after him but Monkey stopped him.
“Don't chase him,” he said. “Never corner a defeated enemy. Now the dog's bitten that head off I'm sure he'll be more dead than alive. I'm going to turn myself into his double. I want you to part the waters and chase me in there to find the princess and trick the treasure out of her.”
“You don't have to chase him if you don't want to,” said Erlang and his six sages, “but by letting a creature like that stay alive you are only creating trouble for the future.” The nine-headed gory monsters that are still found today are its descendants.
Pig did as he was told and parted a way through the waters for Monkey, looking just like the monster, to flee with himself in noisy pursuit. They soon reached the dragon palace, where Princess Infinitely Sage asked, “Why are you in such a state, prince?”
“Pig beat me,” Monkey replied, “and chased me in here. I'm no match for him. Hide the treasures somewhere safe.”
Not realizing in her alarm that he was an impostor, she fetched a golden casket from the rear palace that she gave to Monkey with the words: “This is the Buddha relic.” Then she fetched a white jade box that she gave to Monkey saying, “This is the nine-lobed magic fungus. Hide the treasures away where they'll be safe while I fight two or three rounds with him to cover you. When the treasures are safe come and join in the fight.”
Monkey then tucked the treasures into his clothes, rubbed his face, and turned back into himself. “Have a good look, princess,” he said. “Am I really your husband?” As the princess made a desperate grab for the boxes Pig ran up and knocked her to the floor with a blow on the shoulder from his rake.
The ancient dragon's widow was fleeing as Pig grabbed her and raised his rake to smash her. “Stop!” said Monkey. “Don't kill her! Keep her alive for when we go back to announce our victory at court.” Pig then lifted her up out of the water while Monkey followed him to the bank with the two boxes.
“Thanks to your power and prestige, elder brother, we have recovered the treasures and wiped out the thieving devils,” said Monkey.
“That was no credit of ours,” said Erlang. “In the first place the king's good fortune equaled heaven, and in the second you worthy brothers showed your boundless powers.”
The brothers then all said, “As you have now succeeded, Brother Monkey, we shall take our leave of you.” Monkey expressed his thanks profusely and tried to persuade them to go to see the king. None of them agreed, and they led their forces back to Guankou.
Monkey carried the boxes and Pig dragged the dragon wife back to the city in next to no time, travelling by cloud and mist. The liberated monks of the Golden Light Monastery were waiting for them outside the city, and when they saw the two of them suddenly alight from the clouds, they went up and kowtowed, ushering them into the city. The king was then sitting in the main hall of the palace talking with the Tang Priest.
A monk came ahead and took his courage in his hands to go in through the palace gates and report, “Your Majesty, Lords Monkey and Pig are back with one of the thieves and the treasures.” The moment he heard this news the king hurried down from the throne hall to welcome them with the Tang Priest and Friar Sand. He was full of expressions of gratitude for their amazing achievement and he ordered a thanksgiving banquet.
“We don't need any drinks now,” said Sanzang. “We can only feast when my disciples have returned the treasure to the pagoda.” He then asked Monkey why it was that they were only back then as they had left the day before, Monkey then told him all about the battle with the prince, the death of the dragon king, meeting the True Lord Erlang, the defeat of the evil monsters and how he had got the treasures through trickery and transformation. Sanzang, the king and all the civil and military officials were delighted.
“Can the dragon wife talk in human speech?” the king then asked.
“Of course she knows human speech,” Pig replied. “She was married to a dragon and had a lot of dragon sons and grandsons.”
“In that case,” said the king, “she'd better tell us the whole story of their crimes.”
“I don't know anything about the theft of the Buddha relic,” she said. “That was all done by that husband of mine, the dragon who's a ghost now, and our son-in-law the nine-headed monster. They knew that the light from your pagoda came from the Buddha relic that they stole under cover of the blood rain.”
When asked how the magic fungus was stolen she answered, “My daughter the Infinitely Sage Princess sneaked into the Daluo Heaven and stole the Queen Mother's nine-lobed magic fungus from in front of the Hall of Miraculous Mist. The magic vapors of the fungus have nourished the relic, which will now be indestructible and shine for tens of thousands of years. Even if it's buried or put in a field it will give out thousands of beams of coloured light and auspicious vapors the moment it's brushed. You have now taken it back and killed my husband, all my sons, my son-in-law and my daughter. Please spare my life.”
“There'll be no mercy for you,” Pig replied.
“There's no such thing as a family that's all criminal,” said Monkey. “I'll spare your life on one condition: you look after the pagoda for me for ever.”
“A poor life is better than a good death,” the dragon wife replied. “Spare my life and I'll do whatever you want.” Monkey sent for an iron chain that was fetched by one of the aides.
He put it through the dragon wife's collarbone and said to Friar Sand, “Please ask the king to come and watch the treasures being put back in the pagoda.”
The king then had his carriage prepared and left the court hand-in-hand with Sanzang, accompanied by the civil and military officials. He went to the Golden Light Monastery and climbed the pagoda, where the relic was placed in a precious vase on the thirteenth floor just under the roof. The dragon wife was chained to the central column of the pagoda. Spells were then said to summon the local deities and city gods of the capital and the Guardians of the monastery, who were ordered to bring the dragon wife food and drink once every three days to keep her alive. If she tried any tricks they were to execute her on the spot. The gods all secretly accepted their orders. Brother Monkey used the magic fungus to sweep out the thirteen stories of the pagoda one by one, then put it in the vase to look after the relic. Then and only then did the pagoda shine anew with coloured light and an auspicious glow that could be seen from all directions and admired by the countries all around.