Chapter 27: Quicksand Hard To Cross
However, Tiger Vanguard tossed the written silk transformed by Ao Tu to Ba Jie. Ba Jie looked at it and was greatly alarmed, no longer caring about the battle. He dragged his plum blossom pitchfork and hurried back, saying:
“Master, this is bad! Senior Brother has gone back to Flower Fruit Mountain!”
Arriving before Tang Sanzang, Ba Jie hurriedly presented the written silk.
Tang Sanzang looked at it, first stunned, then angry.
Holding his monk’s spade, he paced back and forth in the room, muttering under his breath, resenting Sun Wukong the monkey for going home on his own without saying a word to him.
Ba Jie fanned the flames from the side, saying:
“Master, Senior Brother must think it’s too hard being a monk with you, so he went home. Who knows when he’ll come back! Maybe from now on, there will only be a monk named Pig and no pilgrim named Sun.”
Tang Sanzang said: “Didn’t the written silk he left say he’d return in over a month?”
Ba Jie said: “Master, don’t you understand? This is Senior Brother’s delaying tactic!”
Tang Sanzang said: “What?”
Ba Jie said: “Think about it. Following you as a monk, he endures sleeping rough and eating wind, having vegetarian meals when available and fasting when not; now back at Flower Fruit Mountain, he has flowers and fruits to enjoy all year round, vegetables to cook in all eight seasons, drinks wine with the Four Seas Dragon Kings when idle, and calls the large and small monkeys to tour the mountains when happy. Why would he suffer through the hardship of journeying for sutras with you when he can enjoy such an immortal life?”
Hearing this, Tang Sanzang grew even angrier and said bitterly:
“If he dares not come back, I’ll recite that spell a few times, and he’ll die!”
Seeing Tang Sanzang truly furious, Ba Jie immediately dared say no more.
Sha Seng advised from the side: “Holy Monk, don’t be angry. There’s a saying: ‘Though one has left the mundane world, the heart still ties to hometown kin.’ Elder Sun has been away from home for so long; returning to visit is only natural.”
Tang Sanzang felt a bit better then.
Ba Jie asked: “Master, now that Senior Brother has gone home, shall we continue on our way?”
Tang Sanzang said: “Without that monkey, do we stop journeying for sutras? Ba Jie, you are Marshal Tian Peng incarnate, with the power of subduing dragons and tigers. Go eliminate that fierce tiger and venomous dragon to let the fisherman ferry us across the river.”
Hearing this, Ba Jie drooped his ears, quite unwilling.
Tang Sanzang said: “What, you unwilling to go?”
Ba Jie said: “Master, it’s not that I won’t go. It’s just that old Pig has been away from home for many days and misses it greatly. I wonder if Master can give me a holiday to let old Pig go back to Gao Lao Village for a visit.”
Hearing this, Tang Sanzang angrily said: “You blockhead, you’ve only been out a short time and already miss home? I’ll write you a letter of dismissal to go back, and don’t come back!”
Hearing this, Ba Jie hurriedly knelt and said:
“Master, old Pig spoke some nonsense, not my true intent. It was just hunger in my belly causing laziness, leading to such words. I received the precepts from the Bodhisattva and your mercy, Master. I am willing to serve you to Western Heaven, with no regret or retreat.”
Tang Sanzang said: “If that’s the case, get up. After eating, go subdue the demon.”
Ba Jie then got up.
Sha Seng prepared the vegetarian meal, which is not mentioned.
At that time, Sun Wukong was still trapped in the Red Sand Formation, completely unaware of the outside situation.
This was precisely Ao Tu’s scheme.
Ao Tu actually had every chance to trap all three of Tang Sanzang and his disciples in the formation.
For example, earlier when Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered Sha Seng’s house, if Ao Tu had placed the formation diagram inside beforehand and activated the great formation as soon as they entered, none of the three master and disciples could have escaped.
However, Ao Tu deliberately did not do so. If he captured all three of Tang Sanzang and his disciples, it might seem glorious, but those secretly protecting Six Ding and Six Jia and the Guardian of the Dharma would surely go to Spirit Mountain for aid, calling the Buddha Ancestor and Bodhisattva. How long could he resist?
But now, with only Sun Wukong trapped, Tang Sanzang and Ba Jie safe and sound, those secretly protecting would not act. He could slowly drag things out with Pig Ba Jie here, maximizing his rewards.
On the other side, Ba Jie ate the vegetarian meal, picked up his plum blossom pitchfork, bid farewell to Master, and went to subdue the demon again.
Ba Jie carried his plum blossom pitchfork to the edge of the forest and was about to enter when he suddenly stopped.
Gazing at the deep forest, Ba Jie worried in his heart:
He didn’t know how many fierce tigers were in this forest. If only one, it would be fine, but if there were other Tiger Brothers, Tiger Brothers, tiger sons, tiger grandsons, seven or eight generations coming at once, without Senior Brother’s help, he feared he couldn’t handle them and might be carried off by the fierce tiger.
He also thought that the fierce tiger had previously called itself South Mountain Great King. How could one alone dare call itself Great King? There must be many little demons, hence South Mountain Great King.
The more Ba Jie thought, the less he dared enter. He circled outside the forest a few times, and when the sun set in the west, he turned back.
Tang Sanzang asked: “Ba Jie, have you subdued that fierce tiger?”
Ba Jie said: “Master, that fierce tiger knows old Pig’s power. Seeing me come, it shrank in its lair and didn’t dare come out. I cursed it for half a day, but it wouldn’t come out. Seeing the sky growing late, I came back to report to Master and will challenge it to battle tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Tang Sanzang had no choice but to let Ba Jie go again tomorrow.
The next day, when Ba Jie returned from subduing the demon, Tang Sanzang asked: “Have you subdued the fierce tiger this time?”
Ba Jie hemmed and hawed, saying: “That fierce tiger went visiting relatives and wasn’t home.”
On the third day, Tang Sanzang urged Ba Jie again to go subdue the demon.
Ba Jie lay on the bed, refusing to go, falsely claiming he had caught a headache from subduing demons for days.
Tang Sanzang saw Ba Jie was cowardly in battle and angrily said:
“If you won’t exert yourself, go back to Gao Lao Village! Your master will go subdue the demon himself!”
Ba Jie hurriedly got up and said: “Master, don’t be angry. Old Pig will go.”
Ba Jie picked up his plum blossom pitchfork, went out the door, entered the forest, and soon encountered Tiger Vanguard. He raised his pitchfork and fought.
One was a veteran fierce tiger, the other a pig spirit transformed from Marshal Tian Peng.
After ten rounds, Tiger Vanguard weakened and could no longer hold out. Ba Jie pressed his advantage.
Suddenly, Tiger Vanguard pulled out the long spear from his back and shone it overhead, releasing a burst of golden light.
Caught off guard, Ba Jie took a hit. Three inches of mane from his head were shaved off, and he fled in panic.
Soon, Ba Jie fled back, exhausted with drooling mouth and nose, foaming at the mouth, huffing and puffing as he approached, calling: “Master!”
Seeing this, Tang Sanzang was shocked: “Ba Jie, you went to subdue the demon—how did you end up so bedraggled?”
Ba Jie said: “Master, it’s tough! Your disciple went into the forest and fought that fierce tiger for three hundred rounds. The monster couldn’t match me and fled as wind.
Your disciple chased it, but who knew hundreds of little demons suddenly jumped out from the woods, surrounding me—some grabbing legs, some pulling feet. That monster then took out some unknown treasure and hit me on the head. Luckily old Pig dodged fast, or I’d nearly have been killed by it. That’s why I came back to meet Master.”
Hearing this, Tang Sanzang was quite frightened and said:
“So many demons! Amitabha, what are we to do!”
Ba Jie said: “Master, don’t panic. Your disciple follows Master and vows to protect you to the sutras even at the cost of life. Though many demons in that forest, old Pig can be called valiant. Let me rest a few days, recover my strength, then fight it to the death and surely eliminate that demon for Master!”
Hearing this, Tang Sanzang was overjoyed, though still worried for Ba Jie’s safety.
Ba Jie said: As long as that demon is eliminated, old Pig doesn’t mind risking his life.
But in truth, Ba Jie had already gauged the monster’s abilities—it was no match for him. It just had a treasure with some power, catching him off guard earlier. Now prepared, capturing that monster next time was practically guaranteed.
