Now, the Great Sage Sun Wukong had been causing chaos inside the old demon's stomach for a while. The demon fell to the ground, without a sound or a breath. Had he not stirred slightly, one might have thought him dead. The demon finally caught his breath and cried out, "Oh, most merciful and compassionate Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Bodhisattva!"
The Pilgrim heard this and said, "Son, don't waste your breath on useless words. Save a few syllables and just call me ' Grandpa Sun ' directly." The demon, clinging to life, truly did call out, "Grandpa! Grandpa! I was wrong! In a moment of foolishness, I swallowed you, and now it has only brought me suffering. I beg the Great Sage to show mercy, to pity even a lowly ant that clings to life, and spare my life. I am willing to escort your master across the mountain!"
Although the Great Sage was a hero, what he cared about most was whether Tang Sanzang could continue his journey westward. Seeing the demon begging so desperately, and being himself fond of flattery, he was moved to kindness and asked, "Demon, I can spare you, but how will you see my master across?"
The old demon said, "I have no gold, silver, pearls, jade, agate, coral, crystal, amber, or tortoiseshell treasures to offer you. My two brothers and I will carry a sedan chair made of scented rattan and carry your master over this mountain."
The Pilgrim laughed and said, "Since you're willing to carry the sedan chair, that's much better than asking for treasures. Open your mouth, and I'll come out." The demon truly opened his mouth. The third demon, who was nearby, leaned in and whispered to the old demon, "Big Brother, when he comes out, bite down hard. Chew that monkey to pieces and swallow him, and you won't have to suffer his torment anymore."
But the Pilgrim, who was still inside the stomach, heard this. Instead of coming out, he first extended his gold-banded cudgel to test the waters. The old demon indeed bit down, but with a crack, he shattered his own front teeth. The Pilgrim withdrew his cudgel and cursed, "You wretched demon! I was going to spare your life and come out, but you tried to bite me and do me harm! I won't come out now! I'll torment you to death right here! I won't come out! I absolutely won't!"
The old demon blamed the third demon, "Brother, you've harmed your own kin! If you had just let him out, there would have been no trouble. But you had to tell me to bite him. I didn't bite him, and now my gums are in terrible pain. What kind of mess is this!"
The third demon, seeing the old demon blaming him, used a provocation tactic and shouted loudly, "Sun the Pilgrim! I have long heard your name thunder in my ears. I've heard of your prowess outside the Southern Heavenly Gate and your feats beneath the Hall of Miraculous Mist. Now, on the road to the Western Heaven, you subdue demons and monsters. It turns out you're just a worthless little monkey!"
The Pilgrim said, "How am I worthless?"
The third demon said, "'A true hero travels a thousand miles, his fame spreads ten thousand miles.' If you have any skill, come out and fight me fairly. That would make you a true hero. Hiding in someone else's belly, playing petty tricks—what is that if not worthless?"
The Pilgrim heard this and thought to himself, "Right, right, right! If I were to tear out his intestines and crush his liver now, killing this demon would be no trouble. But it would truly ruin my reputation. Enough! Enough! Open your mouth, and I'll come out and have a proper contest with you. But this cave entrance is too narrow for our weapons. We need to go to a more spacious place."
When the third demon heard this, he immediately mustered over thirty thousand lesser demons , large and small, all armed with fine weapons. They left the cave and formed a " Three-Talents Battle Formation ," waiting for the Pilgrim to come out so they could attack him together. The second demon helped the old demon out of the cave and called out, "Sun the Pilgrim! If you're a true man, come out! There's a battlefield here, perfect for a fight!"
The Great Sage, still inside the old demon's stomach, heard the commotion outside and the sounds of the wind and the frightened birds. He knew they had reached an open space, but he thought, "If I don't go out, I'll be breaking my promise. But if I do go out, this demon has a human face but a beast's heart. Earlier, he said he would see my master across just to trick me out so he could bite me. Now he's marshaled his troops, waiting for me. Enough! Enough! I'll do something that suits both sides: I'll go out, but I'll leave a 'root' behind in his stomach."
He turned and plucked a hair from his tail, blew on it with a magic breath, and shouted, "Change!" The hair immediately turned into a rope, as thin as a human hair but forty fathoms long. As he pulled the rope out, it thickened in the wind. He tied one end around the demon's heart and liver, making a slipknot —it wouldn't tighten unless pulled, but a tug would cause pain. Then, holding the other end, he laughed and said, "When I go out, if he escorts my master, that's fine. But if he doesn't and dares to use weapons, I won't have time to fight him. I'll just pull this rope, and it will be just like I'm still tormenting him from inside his stomach!"
Then he shrank his body small and crawled out. When he reached the demon's throat, he saw the demon's mouth wide open, with upper and lower steel-like fangs. Suddenly, he thought, "This won't do! This won't do! If I come out through his mouth while holding the rope, he'll be in pain and bite down, snapping the rope. I'll go out through a place where he has no teeth."
The good Great Sage, holding the rope, crawled forward along the demon's palate until he reached his nostril. The old demon's nose itched, and he let out a mighty "Ah-choo!" sneezing the Pilgrim out.
Once the Pilgrim felt the wind, he arched his back and immediately grew to thirty feet tall. With one hand holding the rope and the other holding his gold-banded cudgel, he stood ready. The old demon, not knowing his place, saw him emerge and raised his steel blade to slash at his face. The Great Sage blocked it with his cudgel in one hand, but the second demon thrust his spear, and the third demon swung his halberd , all attacking him at once from all sides. The Great Sage loosened the rope, put away his cudgel, and quickly leaped onto his cloud to flee—he was afraid that the tens of thousands of lesser demons would surround him, making it hard to escape.
He leaped out of the demon camp and landed his cloud on a spacious mountaintop. Then, with both hands, he gave the rope a mighty tug. The old demon immediately felt a sharp pain in his heart. As the old demon writhed in pain, the Great Sage pulled the rope down again. The lesser demons in the distance saw this and shouted in unison, "Great King, don't provoke him! Just let him go! This monkey doesn't know the time. It's not even the Qingming Festival yet, and he's already flying a kite!"
Hearing this, the Great Sage pulled even harder. The old demon came tumbling down from the sky, spinning like a spinning wheel, and crashed to the ground, smashing a two-foot-deep pit into the hard, yellow earth at the foot of the slope.
The second and third demons quickly brought their clouds down, rushed forward, grabbed the rope, and knelt at the foot of the slope, begging, "Great Sage, we thought you were a broad-minded and magnanimous immortal. We never imagined you were such a petty person! We truly tricked you into coming out to fight us, but we didn't expect you to have tied a rope around our elder brother's heart!"
The Pilgrim laughed and said, "You bunch of reckless demons are too rude! First, you tricked me out to bite me. Now, you've tricked me out again and set up a battle formation to fight me. So many demon soldiers attacking me alone—it doesn't make sense! I'll pull you away! I'll drag you all to see my master!"
The demons all kowtowed together, "Great Sage, show mercy and spare our lives. We are willing to escort your master across the mountain!"
The Pilgrim laughed and said, "If you want to live, just cut the rope with your knives, won't you?"
The old demon cried, "Grandfather, cutting the rope on the outside won't help. The inside is tied around my heart, and my throat is still itching and nauseating. What can I do?"
The Pilgrim said, "If that's the case, open your mouth. I'll go back in and untie the rope."
The old demon panicked, "If you go in again, you won't come out. That would be a real problem!"
The Pilgrim said, "I have the skill to untie the knot from the outside! If I untie it, will you truly escort my master?"
The old demon said, "If you untie it, I will definitely escort him. I won't deceive you!"
The Great Sage, confirming that he was telling the truth, gave his body a shake and withdrew the hair—the old demon's heart immediately stopped hurting. It turned out this was the Great Sage's illusion. He had used a hair to bind the old demon's heart. By withdrawing the hair, the pain naturally ceased. The three demons leaped to their feet and thanked him, "Great Sage, please return. We will go and speak with Tang Sanzang right away. Tell him to pack his things, and we will bring the sedan chair to escort him immediately." The demons all put away their weapons and returned to their cave.
The Great Sage put away the rope and went straight back to the eastern side of the mountain. From afar, he saw Tang Sanzang rolling on the ground, crying bitterly. Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing were opening their bundles and dividing up the luggage. The Pilgrim sighed to himself, "No need to ask. Bajie must have told my master that I was eaten by the demon. My master couldn't bear to part with me, so he's crying. That fool wants to divide the luggage and disband the group. Huh! I wonder if that's it. I'll call out to him and see."
He landed his cloud and called out, "Master!" Sha Wujing heard him and scolded Bajie, "You coffin-stand! You're always causing trouble! Big Brother isn't dead at all. You said he was dead, and now you're doing this! Look, Big Brother has returned!"
Bajie said, "I clearly saw him being swallowed by the demon in one gulp. It must be a bad day today, and the monkey's ghost has come to show itself!"
The Pilgrim walked over, grabbed Bajie by the face, and slapped him, sending him staggering. He cursed, "You blockhead! What ghost am I showing?"
The fool covered his face and said, "Brother, you really were eaten by the demon. How are you alive again?"
The Pilgrim said, "Like you, a worthless, spineless fool! He ate me, so I grabbed his intestines and crushed his liver. I also tied this rope around his heart and pulled it until he couldn't bear the pain. They all kowtowed and begged for mercy, so I spared their lives. Now they're going to bring a sedan chair to escort Master across the mountain."
When Tang Sanzang heard this, he scrambled to his feet, bowed to the Pilgrim, and said, "Disciple, you have worked hard! If I had believed what Wuneng said, I would have been in despair!"
The Pilgrim shook his fist at Bajie and cursed, "You chaff-eating fool, you're too lazy, not like a proper disciple at all! Master, don't be angry. The demon will be here soon to escort you." Sha Wujing was also ashamed. He quickly packed the luggage and led the white horse, waiting by the roadside. We will leave this for now.
Now, the three demons led the horde of demons back to their cave. The second demon said, "Big Brother, I thought Sun the Pilgrim was some fearsome creature with nine heads and eight tails. It turns out he's just a little monkey! You shouldn't have swallowed him. If you had fought him face to face, how could he have beaten us? With tens of thousands of demons in this cave, we could drown him with our spit. But you swallowed him, and he used his magic to torment you. How could you dare to compete with him? Our talk of seeing Tang Sanzang across was all a lie. It was only to save your life that we tricked him out. We absolutely cannot escort him!"
The old demon said, "Worthy Brother, why not?"
The second demon said, "Give me three thousand lesser demons. I'll set up a battle formation and have the skill to capture this monkey!"
The old demon said, "Don't just say three thousand. Even if you take all the demon soldiers in the camp, as long as you catch him, everyone will share the credit."
The second demon immediately mustered three thousand lesser demons and set up a formation by the main road. He had a small demon holding a blue flag run back and forth, shouting, "Sun the Pilgrim! Come out quickly and do battle with me, your Second Great King Grandfather!"
Bajie heard this and laughed, "Brother, as they say, 'Lies can't fool your hometown folk.' This demon is up to his old tricks again! Earlier, he said he would surrender and bring a sedan chair to escort Master. Now, why is he calling for battle again?"
The Pilgrim said, "The old demon has been subdued by me and doesn't dare to come out. Just hearing the name 'Sun' makes his head ache. This must be the second demon, who isn't convinced and doesn't want to see us off, so he's come to challenge us. I say, brother, these three demon brothers are quite loyal to each other. We three brothers, on the other hand, seem to lack that loyalty. I've already subdued the big demon. Now the second one has come out. There's no harm in you going to fight him."
Bajie said, "What's there to be afraid of! I'll go fight him!"
The Pilgrim said, "If you want to go, then go."
Bajie laughed and said, "Brother, I'll go, but let me borrow that rope of yours."
The Pilgrim said, "What do you want the rope for? You don't have the skill to get into his stomach or tie it around his heart. It's useless to you."
Bajie said, "I want to tie it around my waist as a lifeline. You and Sha Wujing hold the other end from behind. Let me out to fight him. If I win, you let out the rope, and I'll capture him. If I lose, you pull me back. Don't let him drag me away."
The Pilgrim laughed to himself, "It's time to play a trick on this fool!" He tied the rope around Bajie's waist and urged him to go and fight.
The fool raised his rake and ran up the mountain cliff, shouting, "Demon! Come out! Have a fight with your Pig Ancestor!"
The small demon holding the blue flag quickly reported, "Great King, a monk with a long snout and big ears has arrived."
The second demon immediately left his camp. Seeing Bajie, he didn't say a word but thrust his spear straight at Bajie's face. The fool raised his rake to meet it. The two fought in front of the mountain slope. But after only seven or eight exchanges, Bajie's arms grew weak, and he couldn't hold his own against the demon. He quickly turned his head and shouted, "Big Brother, it's bad! Pull the lifeline! Quick, pull the lifeline!"
When the Great Sage heard this, he instead loosened the rope and threw it away. The fool couldn't win, so he turned and ran. He didn't even notice the rope dragging behind him. As he ran back, because the rope was loose, it kept tripping him up. He fell down once, got up, and fell again—at first, just stumbling, but later, he fell flat on his face, eating mud.
The demon caught up, opened his snout like a dragon, and wrapped it around Bajie in one gulp. He returned to his cave victorious. All the demons sang songs of triumph and swarmed back.
Tang Sanzang, who was at the foot of the slope, saw this and blamed the Pilgrim, "Wukong, no wonder Wuneng cursed you to die! It seems there's no brotherly love between you at all, only jealousy! He called out to you like that, asking you to pull the lifeline. Why didn't you pull it? Instead, you threw the rope away! Now he's been captured by the demon. What can we do?"
The Pilgrim laughed and said, "Master, you are too protective and too partial! Enough! When I was captured by the demon, you didn't worry at all. You just thought I was meant to sacrifice my life. But the moment this fool is caught, you blame me. It's good for him to suffer a little, so he can understand how hard this journey to obtain the scriptures really is."
Sanzang said, "Disciple, how could I not worry when you were captured? I knew you could use transformations and magic, so you wouldn't be hurt. But this fool is clumsy and heavy, and he can't ride clouds or mist. This time, it's a bad omen. You should go and rescue him."
The Pilgrim said, "Master, don't complain. I'll go rescue him."
He quickly leaped into the air and chased after them, secretly harboring resentment: "This fool cursed me to die. I won't let him off easy! I'll first follow and see how the demon torments him. When he's suffered enough, I'll go and rescue him."
He immediately made a hand seal, recited a spell, shook his body, and turned into a tiny cicada. He flew over and landed on Bajie's earlobe, following the demon into the cave. The second demon, leading three thousand lesser demons, stopped at the cave entrance with much fanfare. He personally dragged Bajie into the cave and said, "Big Brother, I've caught one!"
The old demon said, "Bring him here and let me see." The second demon loosened his snout and threw Bajie to the ground. "Here he is."
The old demon said, "This thing is useless."
Bajie heard this and quickly said, "Great King, if I'm useless, then let me go and catch someone useful!"
The third demon said, "Although he's useless, he is still Tang Sanzang's disciple, Zhu Bajie. Tie him up first, then throw him into the pond out back to soak. When the hair is softened, cut open his belly, salt him, and dry him in the sun. On a cloudy day, we can have him as a snack with our wine."
Bajie was terrified, "It's over! It's over! I've run into a demon who sells salted meat!"
The demons all came forward, tied the fool's four limbs together, carried him to the pond, threw him in the middle, and then all went back.
The Great Sage flew up to look. The fool was floating half-submerged, with his four limbs in the air and his mouth pouting, panting heavily. The sight was truly comical, like a large, black lotus seed pod that had lost its seeds after the frost in the eighth or ninth month. The Great Sage looked at his sorry state, feeling both hatred and pity. He thought, "What to do? After all, he's one of those destined for the Dragon Flower Assembly. But what I hate is how he always wants to divide the luggage and disband the group, and how he urges Master to recite the 'Tight-Fillet Spell' to torment me. A few days ago, I heard Sha Wujing say that he had saved some private money. I wonder if it's true. I'll scare him first and see."
The good Great Sage flew to Bajie's ear, pinched his throat, and called out, "Zhu Wuneng! Zhu Wuneng!"
Bajie panicked, "What bad luck! This name 'Wuneng' was given to me by the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Since I started following Tang Sanzang, I've been renamed 'Bajie.' How could anyone here know to call me Wuneng?" The fool couldn't help but ask, "Who is calling my dharma name?"
The Pilgrim said, "It's me."
The fool said, "Who are you?"
The Pilgrim said, "I am an officer sent to summon your soul."
The fool was even more panicked, "Officer, where have you come from?"
The Pilgrim said, "I was sent by King Yama of the Fifth Court to summon you."
The fool quickly said, "Officer, please go back and tell King Yama that he has a good relationship with my senior brother, Sun Wukong. Ask him to grant me a one-day reprieve. Come and summon me again tomorrow."
The Pilgrim said, "Nonsense! 'When King Yama decrees death at the third watch, who dares to keep you until the fourth?' Come with me now, or I'll put a rope around you!"
The fool said, "Officer, can't you make an exception? Look at me, I still want to live! Death is certain, but just wait one day. When this demon captures my master and the others too, we'll have a reunion of master and disciples, and then we can all die together. That would be much better."
The Pilgrim laughed to himself, "Alright, then. There are thirty more people on my summons list, all in this area. I'll go and summon them all first, and then I'll grant you a one-day reprieve. Do you have any travel money? Give me some for my journey."
Bajie said, "How pitiful! What travel money would a monk have?"
The Pilgrim said, "No travel money? Then come with me now!"
The fool panicked, "Officer, don't rush! I know this rope of yours is called the 'Life-Chasing Rope.' Once it's around you, your breath stops. Yes! Yes! Yes! There is a little, but not much."
The Pilgrim said, "Where is it? Hurry up and take it out!"
Bajie said, "How pitiful! Since I became a monk, some faithful families would invite monks to dinner. Seeing how much I could eat, they gave me a little more alms money than others. I saved it up, bit by bit, and managed to collect five maces of silver. Because it was hard to keep, I found a silversmith in town to melt it into one piece. But that silversmith was heartless and stole a few maces from me. In the end, only a piece weighing four maces and six candareens was left. Take it."
The Pilgrim laughed to himself, "This fool's pants are almost worn out, and he's still hiding silver? Hmph! Where are you hiding the silver?"
Bajie said, "It's hidden in my left ear hole! I'm tied up and can't get it out. You'll have to take it yourself."
When the Pilgrim heard this, he reached into Bajie's left ear hole and, sure enough, fished out a piece of silver shaped like a saddle, weighing a full four maces and five or six candareens. He took it in his hand and couldn't help but let out a loud "Ha-ha" laugh.
When the fool heard the Pilgrim's voice, he started cursing wildly in the water, "You damned Horse-Plague! At a time like this, you still come to rob my money!"
The Pilgrim laughed again, "You chaff-eating fool! Old Sun has been protecting the master, enduring so much hardship, and you've been secretly saving private money!"
Bajie said, "Stop putting on an act! This isn't private money! It's what I saved from my own meals! I couldn't bear to spend it on food. I was keeping it to buy some cloth to make clothes, and now you've scared it out of me. At least give me a share!"
The Pilgrim said, "Not half a cent will I give you!"
Bajie cursed, "I've given you my life-buying money. At least get me out of here!"
The Pilgrim said, "Don't worry. I'll rescue you now." He hid the silver, changed back to his original form, pulled out his gold-banded cudgel, and scooped Bajie to the shore. He grabbed him by the feet, pulled him up, and untied the ropes.
Bajie jumped up, took off his wet clothes, wrung them out, shook them, and put them back on, still damp. He said, "Brother, let's escape through the back door."
The Pilgrim said, "Escape through the back door? That's not proper. If we're going, we go out the front door."
Bajie said, "My feet are numb from being tied. I can't run."
The Pilgrim said, "Follow me quickly."
The good Great Sage, wielding his gold-banded cudgel, fought his way out using all his skills. Bajie, enduring his numb feet, had no choice but to follow behind. Just as he saw his rake leaning against the wall near the second gate, Bajie rushed forward, pushed aside the small demons, grabbed his rake, and started swinging wildly. Together with the Pilgrim, they fought their way through three or four layers of gates, killing countless small demons.
The old demon heard the commotion and said to the second demon, "Well caught! Well caught! Look how Sun the Pilgrim has rescued Zhu Bajie and wounded our small demons at the gate!"
The second demon quickly leaped up, grabbed his long spear, and chased out the gate, cursing, "You reckless monkey! How dare you be so rude! Do you think so little of us?"
When the Great Sage heard this, he immediately stopped in his tracks. The demon, without a word, thrust his spear. The Great Sage, an old hand at this, was not flustered at all. He pulled out his gold-banded cudgel and met the attack head-on. The two of them engaged in a fierce battle outside the cave entrance:
The yellow-tusked old elephant, transformed into human form, had sworn brotherhood with the lion king. At the instigation of the great demon, they had conspired together to eat Tang Sanzang. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, with his vast supernatural powers, assisted the righteous and sought to eliminate the evil spirits. Bajie, being incompetent, had fallen into their deadly trap, but Wukong rescued him and fled the cave. The demon king caught up, displaying his fierce might; spear and staff clashed, each showing their prowess. The spear came like a python threading through the forest; the staff rose like a dragon emerging from the sea. When the dragon left the sea gate, clouds gathered; when the python threaded the forest, mist billowed. In the end, it was all for the sake of the Tang monk, and they fought bitterly with no mercy.
Bajie saw the Great Sage fighting the demon, but he just stood on the mountain spur with his rake on his shoulder, not helping, just watching stupidly. The demon, seeing that the Pilgrim's staff was both heavy and skillful, with no opening to exploit, used his spear to block and opened his snout to try and wrap it around him. The Pilgrim knew his move well. He raised his gold-banded cudgel horizontally, and the demon's snout only managed to coil around his waist, not his hands. You should have seen the Pilgrim, with both hands, twirling his staff playfully on the demon's snout.
When Bajie saw this, he beat his chest and said, "Aiya! This demon has terrible luck! When he coiled around me, a clumsy one, he caught even my hands, and I couldn't move at all. But when he coils around that slippery one, he can't even catch his hands. He's holding the staff with both hands. If he just poked it up the demon's nostrils, the demon would be in so much pain his nose would run. How could he still coil around him?"
The Pilgrim hadn't thought of this himself, but Bajie's words gave him the idea. He shook his staff, making it as small as an egg but over ten feet long, and then really did poke it up the demon's nostrils. The demon was so shocked that with a "whoosh," he loosened his snout. The Pilgrim seized the opportunity, turned around, and grabbed the demon by the snout, pulling him forward with all his might. The demon was in so much pain he had no choice but to follow.
Only then did Bajie dare to come forward. He raised his rake and started smashing it wildly against the demon's crotch. The Pilgrim said, "No, no, no! The rake's tines are too sharp. Don't break the skin and draw blood. If Master sees it, he'll say we killed again. Just use the handle of the rake to hit him."
The fool really did raise the handle of his rake and hit the demon once for every step they took. The Pilgrim led the demon by the snout, just like two elephant tamers, and they pulled the demon down to the foot of the slope.
Tang Sanzang was staring ahead, hoping for their return. When he saw them coming noisily, he called out, "Wujing, look, what is Wukong leading?"
Sha Wujing saw it and laughed, "Master, the senior disciple has grabbed the demon by the snout and is pulling him here. What skill!"
Tang Sanzang said, "Excellent! Excellent! Such a huge demon! Such a long snout! First, ask him: if he is willing to escort us across the mountain, then spare him. Don't take his life."
Sha Wujing quickly ran forward and shouted loudly, "The master says: if you truly will escort the master across the mountain, we will not kill you!"
When the demon heard this, he immediately knelt down, making a "wuwu" sound in agreement. It turned out that the Pilgrim had been twisting his snout for so long that it was sore and runny, like a bad cold. He mumbled, "Lord Tang, if you are willing to spare my life, I will immediately bring a sedan chair to see you across."
The Pilgrim said, "My master and I are all kind-hearted people. We'll go along with you and spare your life. Hurry up and bring the sedan chair! If you change your mind again, and we catch you, we won't be lenient!"
The demon, having gained his freedom, kowtowed once and ran off. The Pilgrim and Bajie went to see Tang Sanzang and told him the whole story in detail. Bajie was especially ashamed. He dried his clothes at the foot of the slope, waiting for the sedan chair. We will leave this for now.
The second demon, flustered and panicked, returned to the cave. Before he even got there, a small demon had reported to the old demon and the third demon that the second demon had been led away by the Pilgrim by the snout. The old demon was trembling with fear. Just as he and the third demon were about to lead the demons out the door, they saw the second demon returning alone. They quickly welcomed him in and asked him how he had been set free.
The second demon told them everything about how Tang Sanzang was merciful and kind, unwilling to take his life. The demons all looked at each other, none daring to speak. The second demon asked, "Brothers, are we really going to see Tang Sanzang across the mountain?"
The old demon said, "Brother, what are you saying! Sun the Pilgrim is a monkey who values righteousness. Before, when he was in my stomach, if he had wanted to harm me, he could have killed a thousand of me. Just now, when he had you by the snout, if he hadn't been willing to let you return, and had just crushed the tip of your nose, we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. Quickly, make arrangements to see them off."
The third demon laughed and said, "We'll see him off! We'll see him off! We'll see him off!"
The old demon said, "Worthy Brother, why do you say that as if you're sulking? If you won't see him off, then I and Second Brother will go."
The third demon laughed again and said, "Elder Brothers above: if that monk doesn't want us to see him off, and we just let it slide, that's his good fortune. But if he does want us to see him off, then it plays right into my 'Lure the Tiger from the Mountain' plan!"
The old demon said, "What is the 'Lure the Tiger from the Mountain' plan?"
The third demon said, "Now, call all the demons in the cave together. Choose one from ten thousand, then one from a thousand, then one from a hundred, and finally select sixteen from those. Then, choose another thirty."
The old demon said, "Why do you need both sixteen and thirty?"
The third demon said, "We need thirty who can cook. Give them fine rice, fine flour, bamboo shoots, tea, mushrooms, tofu, and gluten. Have them set up a shed twenty or thirty miles ahead and prepare a meal for Tang Sanzang."
The old demon said, "And what are the sixteen for?"
The third demon said, "Eight to carry the sedan chair, and eight to clear the way ahead. We three brothers will follow alongside and see them off for a while. From here, going west for over four hundred miles is my Lion Camel City. There are troops there to receive us. When