Chapter 78: Treasure-seizing In Lotus Cave
Now, Ba Jie arrived at the Lotus Cave.
He knocked on the door, and two little demons who guarded the gate came out from inside.
These two little demons had sharp ears, red hair, a strange nose, and messy teeth. Though they barely looked human, any normal person could tell at a glance that they were monsters.
But Ba Jie, this idiot, didn’t find it strange. He just thought these two looked a bit odd, but still pleasing to the eye, so he stepped forward, saluted, and said:
“Amitabha, benefactors, is this the Lotus Temple?”
As soon as the two little demons opened the door, they suddenly caught sight of Ba Jie’s face and were startled.
Somewhat fearfully, they said: “What kind of monster are you?”
Ba Jie said: “Benefactor, I’m not a monster. I’m a monk going to the Western Heaven to worship Buddha and seek scriptures.”
Upon hearing he was a monk, the little demon became alert.
It was because the Greatest Great King and the Second Great King had said a year ago that they wanted to catch some Tang Sanzang, saying that eating Tang Sanzang’s flesh could grant immortality, but they still hadn’t caught him even now.
Could this one have come right to their door?
The two little demons asked: “Monk, what are you doing coming to our place?”
Ba Jie said: “Benefactors, my master encountered a lame daoist priest calling for help on the road, who called himself Silver Horn Daoist. He said he was one of yours. My master feared he was a monster in transformation, so he sent me to investigate.
If there’s no such person, then he’s a monster, and he’ll tell my senior brother to smash him dead with one blow of his cudgel. If there really is such a person, I’ll go back, have my master send him back, and we won’t ask for any gold and silver reward from you—just give us a vegetarian meal.”
The two little demons, upon hearing “Silver Horn Daoist,”
thought their Greatest Great King was Golden Horn Great King, and Second Great King was Silver Horn Great King—this Silver Horn Sir was none other than the Second Great King in transformation?
So they said: “Monk, wait here. I’ll go in and report to our Great King!”
Upon hearing this, Ba Jie thought suspiciously: “This Taoist temple is built in a cave, fine, but why call the temple master Great King?”
The gate-guarding little demon went in to report, fearing Ba Jie would run, and along the way called over a dozen brothers to come out and watch Ba Jie.
The little demons from the cave came out one by one; some looked somewhat human, others still had beast forms. They crowded forward and surrounded Ba Jie.
At the sight, Ba Jie realized this was no Taoist temple—it was clearly a group of monsters.
He hurriedly turned to leave.
How could those little demons let him go? They tugged at his cassock and pulled at his hands and feet, not letting him leave.
Ba Jie, in a panic, used brute force to fling all these little demons flying, took out his plum blossom pitchfork, and thrust wildly.
The commotion of the fight spread, and more little demons came out from the cave upon hearing it.
Seeing this, Ba Jie feared there were too many little demons and he couldn’t escape for the moment. If that old monster came out, wouldn’t he be done for?
So he picked up his plum blossom pitchfork and ran.
The little demons chased after him from behind.
Ba Jie, panting heavily, ran over half a hillside, then suddenly stopped, dragging his plum blossom pitchfork, and ran back.
The pursuing little demons, seeing this, were baffled.
Why was this long-mouthed, big-eared monk not running forward but coming back instead?
As they drew near, it turned out Silver Horn Great King was dragging a Mount Tai, flying ahead of Ba Jie.
That’s when Ba Jie got scared and ran back.
But there were little demons behind him too.
Ba Jie was blocked from both ends, unable to advance or retreat.
Ba Jie watched as Silver Horn Great King dragged the mountain closer and closer, scaring him so much that his hands and feet went limp, and he dropped his plum blossom pitchfork, thinking: Old Pig just wanted a vegetarian meal—surely they wouldn’t use a mountain to crush me!
The little demons took the chance to rush up, knock Ba Jie to the ground, tie him with rope, and eight or so little demons hoisted him up together, capturing him back to the cave.
Ba Jie didn’t resist. He thought that if the monsters caught him, his master and senior brother would come to rescue him when he didn’t return for a long time, so he wouldn’t lose his life.
But if he fought those monsters, and that old demon got ruthless and dropped that huge mountain—which was who knows tens of thousands of feet high—crushing him, and he didn’t have the monkey’s indestructible diamond body, wouldn’t he be squashed flat? How could he survive?
Little did he know, Silver Horn Great King was flying in the air, casting spells to control the great mountain, fully vigilant, fearing Wukong might somersault over from somewhere, with no time to notice Pig Ba Jie on the ground.
The little demons first carried Pig Ba Jie into the cave, and Silver Horn Great King arrived at the cave entrance afterward.
Silver Horn Great King had taken two blows from Wukong: one on the back, breaking who knows how many bones; one on the leg, breaking it.
He had also been controlling Mount Tai and flying all the way, so by the time he reached the entrance, his magic power was nearly exhausted.
Plus he had severe internal injuries, so his face was ashen as gold paper, bloodless.
Limping along unsteadily into the cave, he saw many little demons waiting at the entrance, including Fine Ghost and Clever Worm.
Silver Horn Great King hurriedly reached out his hand, wanting these two usually clever little demons to help support him—he could barely hold on.
But Fine Ghost and Clever Worm misunderstood, seeing Silver Horn Great King’s face somewhat silvery white and bloodless, not knowing he was severely injured.
They thought Silver Horn Great King was gesturing at them, so they hurriedly showered him with flattery.
“Second Great King, amazing!”
“Second Great King’s ability to move mountains and overturn seas is unmatched in the world!”
“With one move from Second Great King, that long-mouthed big-eared monk was so scared he didn’t dare move!”
The other little demons, seeing this, cheered and praised vigorously.
Silver Horn Great King had just suffered a defeat, and now with this fuss, he grew even more furious, his originally silver face turning somewhat flushed.
Fine Ghost said: “Second Great King is radiant!”
Clever Worm said: “Second Great King is displaying divine might, heroic and invincible!”
Silver Horn Great King, in anger, kicked the two away: “You two idiots!”
But forgetting his injured leg, he fell to the ground.
Only then did the crowd of little demons notice something wrong and hurriedly go up to help Silver Horn Great King up.
Several little demons hurried inside to tell Golden Horn Great King the news of Second Great King’s injury.
Upon hearing this, Golden Horn Great King hurried out and supported Silver Horn Great King.
“Virtuous younger brother, what happened to you?”
Silver Horn Great King said: “Brother, don’t worry. Today I took the little ones on patrol and encountered Tang Sanzang and his disciples. I fought with Tang Sanzang’s eldest disciple Sun Wukong and got some minor injuries—nothing serious. Give me some of those pills you usually refine, and I’ll be fine.”
Golden Horn Great King hurriedly took out pills and gave them to Silver Horn Great King to eat.
Silver Horn Great King ate a handful of pills, and his injuries improved somewhat, but not completely.
These were pills refined by Golden Horn Great King in the mortal world, with limited potency, naturally not comparable to heavenly golden elixirs.
Golden Horn Great King saw that Silver Horn Great King’s injuries were serious, so he carried him on his back to rest on the couch.
Golden Horn Great King asked: “Virtuous younger brother, how did you get hurt so badly?”
Silver Horn Great King lay on the couch and said:
“Brother, today I encountered Tang Sanzang and his disciples. Thinking that Tang Sanzang was the reincarnation of Golden Cicada, a good man of ten lifetimes of cultivation, he should have some compassion, so I transformed into a lame Taoist priest, lay by the roadside, and tried to trick Tang Sanzang.
Unexpectedly, Tang Sanzang had no compassion. I begged him for a long time, but he wouldn’t even dismount his horse. Instead, he questioned me repeatedly. I wasn’t prepared beforehand and was seen through as fake.
Then I fought with his eldest disciple Sun Wukong. We were evenly matched, but that monkey’s cudgel was heavy. Caught off guard, I got injured.”
Golden Horn Great King, hearing this, said worriedly:
“What are we to do? That monkey is so powerful, and you’ve been injured, virtuous younger brother. I think we should forget about Tang Sanzang’s flesh—your safety is more important. I just heard the little demons caught Pig Ba Jie. I’ll have them release Pig Ba Jie and return him to that monkey, count it as a favor, and let the master and disciples pass.”
Silver Horn Great King, upon hearing this, firmly refused:
“No, that Pig Ba Jie was hard-won through my scheme—we can’t release him! We still have to eat Tang Sanzang’s flesh. Brother, we’ve worked hard for this—can’t let it go to waste!”
Golden Horn Great King said: “Virtuous younger brother, I’m worried about your safety. Since you won’t let Tang Sanzang and his disciples go, I’ll go to Dragon Subduing Cave and invite Spirit Mountain Great King over. He’s dealt with Tang Sanzang and his disciples many times and surely has a plan to help us capture Tang Sanzang.”
Silver Horn Great King said upon hearing: “Can’t go, brother! I boasted earlier about eating Tang Sanzang’s flesh, but now I haven’t even touched Tang Sanzang’s cassock! If we invite him like this, he’ll laugh at me!”
Golden Horn Great King said: “Virtuous younger brother, if we don’t invite him, you can’t beat that Sun Wukong, and I’m not good at fighting either—what do we do?”
Silver Horn Great King stubbornly said: “Who says I can’t beat that Sun Wukong? I fought him evenly without falling behind. He ambushed me, and caught off guard, I got injured. If word gets out, it’s at most a draw!”
Golden Horn Great King said: “Virtuous younger brother, your leg is broken—how can you fight?”
Silver Horn Great King said: “No matter, after eating the pills and resting two days, I can walk. We have four treasures in our cave—we’re not afraid of not beating that Sun Wukong!”
Golden Horn Great King, hearing this, was deeply worried, but seeing Silver Horn Great King’s insistence, he couldn’t dissuade him.
As the saying goes, misfortune never comes singly—this day, it started raining outside.
Tang Sanzang and his disciples, midway, hurriedly found a mountain hollow to shelter from the rain.
Wukong said: “Ba Jie, go chop some wood to build a shelter from the rain!”
For some reason, no one responded.
Wukong called a few times without Ba Jie answering, and said: “Where’s this idiot?”
Sha Seng, protecting Tang Sanzang, said: “Seems we didn’t see second senior brother—he probably went to relieve himself.”
Tang Sanzang, upon hearing, suddenly remembered and said:
“Oh, I forgot about Ba Jie! I sent him to find the Taoist temple that monster mentioned, and he hasn’t come back yet—could he have been captured by monsters?”
Wukong said: “No, no, Master, don’t worry. Ba Jie isn’t that easy to capture. Now that it’s raining, he probably hasn’t found the temple and is sheltering somewhere. If he hasn’t returned after the rain stops, Old Sun will go look for him.”
Tang Sanzang, hearing this, was still worried at heart.
The rain fell for two hours, from noon to late afternoon, before stopping.
Poor Ba Jie, tied in the demon’s cave mansion, unaware of the outside situation, kept thinking when the monkey would come rescue him so he could escape.
Two little demons nearby were arguing about something.
One said pickling and eating was tasty, the other said steaming and eating was tasty.
Ba Jie, listening beside them, got hungry and said:
“Stop arguing—what’s there to argue about? If it’s vegetables, pickling and eating is tasty; if it’s rice or steamed buns, then of course steaming and eating is best!”
The two little demons, hearing this, one laughed and said: “We don’t eat vegetables.”
The other little demon said: “We don’t eat rice or steamed buns either.”
Ba Jie said: “Ah, then what do you eat?”
The two little demons laughed: “We eat meat!”
One said: “Eat pickled pork!”
The other said: “No, his skin is too tough—better eat steamed pork!”
Ba Jie panicked: “You want to eat old Pig?”
The two little demons said: “Our Great King said tomorrow we’ll wash and butcher you clean, prepare and eat you—just don’t know how to eat you yet.”
Ba Jie said: “Old Pig isn’t tasty!”
The little demon said: “You’re fat and sturdy—definitely tasty!”
Seeing they really meant to eat him, Ba Jie grew afraid and couldn’t help saying:
“Is there a Great King named Ao Tu in your cave? Old Pig is his old acquaintance—go find him and have him plead for me!”
The two little demons said: “Ao Tu? Never heard of him.”
Ba Jie said: “Maybe called Dragon Disciple—a five-clawed golden dragon in human form.”
The two little demons said: “No, no, we do have a Yi Hai Long in the cave, but he’s not a dragon—he’s a python demon!”
Ba Jie, hearing this, thought: “Done for”—this time he really ran into real monsters who would eat him!
Outside, the rain stopped, and Tang Sanzang, seeing Ba Jie still not back, hurriedly told Wukong to go search.
Wukong rode a cloud out, following the location Silver Horn Great King had mentioned earlier, and soon found the Lotus Cave.
He transformed into a fly, slipped in through the door crack, flew inside, and heard Golden Horn Great King and Silver Horn Great King talking inside.
Golden Horn Great King said: “Virtuous younger brother, we’ve caught Pig Ba Jie—that monkey will surely come to demand him back. How do you plan to take him?”
Silver Horn Great King said: “Brother, don’t worry. If that monkey comes, I’ll bring the Seven Star Sword, Purple Gold Red Gourd, and Banana Fan three treasures to deal with him.”
Golden Horn Great King said: “How to deal with him?”
Silver Horn Great King said: “I’ll take the Seven Star Sword and exchange a couple moves with him. Seeing my leg injury, he’ll get careless.
Then I’ll take out the Purple Gold Red Gourd, call out like this, and with no defense, he’ll surely respond. As soon as he makes a sound, won’t he be sucked in?
I’ll slap on the label, and in a moment, he’ll turn to pus! Then we’ll catch Tang Sanzang and slowly eat Tang Sanzang’s flesh, hahaha!”
Golden Horn Great King praised: “Virtuous younger brother, great plan! Excellent! Excellent!”
Wukong, listening nearby, heard all the key points clearly, laughed inwardly, flew to the back, and saw Ba Jie tied in the rear cave, guarded by several little demons front and back.
Wukong flicked some sleepy bugs, making the little demons fall asleep, then revealed his true form.
Ba Jie, seeing him, cried: “Bro, why’d you take so long! These monsters were gonna wash and butcher old Pig clean, pickle and steam and eat me! If you didn’t come soon, old Pig would’ve been done for!”
Wukong said: “Don’t yell! Don’t yell! Old Sun’s here to save you, isn’t he?”
Ba Jie said: “Hurry and get me out! Old Pig asked around—this cave has no dragon demon king, only man-eating monsters!”
Wukong said: “I know, I know. These two demons have treasures! Old Sun wants to take a couple from them for self-defense later.”
Saying this, Wukong blew a breath of immortal qi, untied the ropes, and let Ba Jie down.
Wukong said: “Let’s sneak out quietly first—don’t alert the demons.”
Ba Jie agreed, and they carefully tried to leave, but the timing was bad—two little demons came to change shifts, one called Ba Shan Hu, one called Yi Hai Long, and they ran right into Wukong and Ba Jie.
Ba Shan Hu and Yi Hai Long, seeing this, were about to shout.
Wukong was quick and smashed Ba Shan Hu into a meat lump with one blow of his cudgel.
Ba Jie was slow; his plum blossom pitchfork struck Yi Hai Long’s head, making nine holes, but still let Yi Hai Long shout out the commotion.
Golden Horn and Silver Horn, hearing the noise, hurriedly came to check.
Wukong, seeing this, feared the narrow cave wouldn’t allow free movement, so he shook his body, cast a form-gathering qi-dispersing spell, and left the cave.
Silver Horn Great King, seeing this, recaptured Ba Jie and said:
“Brother, you guard inside the cave. I’ll take the treasures and go out to meet that monkey!”
Golden Horn Great King said: “Virtuous younger brother, you have a leg injury—if you can’t beat that monkey, flee back to the cave. Don’t be reckless!”
Silver Horn Great King said: “Brother, rest assured.”
Silver Horn Great King stuck the Seven Star Sword in his belt; shrank the Banana Fan small and held it in his mouth; shrank the Purple Gold Red Gourd small and put it in his sleeve for quick use, then led a crowd of little demons, opened the cave door, and went outside.
Because his leg injury wasn’t fully healed, his walking was a bit unsteady.
Wukong waited outside, standing on a mountaintop.
After Silver Horn Great King came out, he looked around and, spotting Wukong, called:
“Sun Wukong, you thieving monkey who loves to steal—how’d you sneak into my cave mansion? Hurry down and face death before this Great King!”
Wukong, standing on the mountain, laughed:
“Lame Great King, how’d you come out limping?”
Silver Horn Great King, hearing this, flew into a rage, drew the Seven Star Sword, leaped up, and charged at Wukong.
Wukong drew his cudgel to meet him.
Silver Horn Great King said: “Sun Monkey, dare you fight me head-on?”
Wukong laughed: “My son, why not?”
Cudgel and sword clashed; after four or five rounds, Silver Horn Great King was already no match for Wukong in martial skill, and with his leg injury, he soon showed signs of defeat.
Silver Horn Great King fought while retreating.
Wukong pressed the attack.
Silver Horn Great King pretended to be flustered but was secretly delighted, waiting for an opportunity. He shook his sleeve, suddenly took out the purple gold gourd, and called: “Sun Wukong!”
But there was no one in sight.
Silver Horn Great King’s smile froze on his face.
Wukong had seen Silver Horn Great King shake his hand and knew he was using a treasure. His right hand still swung the golden cudgel, but he turned his left shoulder, did a somersault, and was gone.
Seeing the ploy fail, Silver Horn Great King dared not linger, fearing the monkey might jump out suddenly and hit him, so he hurried back to the cave.
But Wukong somersaulted ahead of Silver Horn Great King, shook his body, transformed into Golden Horn Great King’s likeness, and came to greet Silver Horn Great King.
How could Silver Horn Great King recognize him?
Because he feared the monkey, he was already worried; now seeing family coming to greet him, his face lit up with joy, and he said: “Brother, why’d you come?”
Wukong said: “Virtuous younger brother, I feared you couldn’t beat that monkey and was worried, so I came to check.”
Silver Horn Great King said: “No need to worry. Just now, despite my injury, I fought that monkey for dozens of rounds. If not for my injury flaring up, I almost had him. When I just pulled out the treasure, the monkey got scared and fled. Let’s go back first!”
Wukong said: “Virtuous younger brother, you have such skill. That Sun Wukong caused the Great Havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago, and all the gods of heaven couldn’t do anything to him. For you to match him—you’re a true hero!”
Silver Horn Great King laughed: “Nothing to it!”
Wukong said: “Virtuous younger brother, you’ve driven off Sun Wukong and must be tired. With your injury, you shouldn’t walk much outside. I’ll support you back. Let me take this Purple Gold Red Gourd for you.”
Silver Horn Great King, off guard, readily agreed and handed the Purple Gold Red Gourd to Wukong.
Wukong took the treasure, stuffed it in his bosom, grinned, and changed face—not a monkey’s visage?
This is called overconfidence.
Silver Horn Great King, seeing this, turned pale with shock.
Wukong laughed: “My son, this fine treasure is mine now!”
Silver Horn Great King, furious, drew the Seven Star Sword and slashed at Wukong, urgently saying:
“Monkey, return my treasure!”
Wukong dodged left, then right, taking advantage of his lameness.
Silver Horn Great King slashed six or seven times without touching Wukong’s clothing.
Wukong said: “You’ve slashed at Old Sun so many times—now Old Sun returns one blow!”
Wukong raised his cudgel and twisted away, vanishing.
Silver Horn Great King looked left—no; up and down—no; behind—no.
Wukong suddenly appeared right in front of him and smashed a fierce blow on Silver Horn Great King’s waist and abdomen, sending Silver Horn Great King tumbling deep into the ground.
Wukong leaped down again to strike Silver Horn Great King, aiming to finish him off.
Silver Horn Great King crawled up, reached out his hand, and spat a mouthful of blood onto it from his mouth.
In the blood was the Banana Fan.
He wanted to spit out the Banana Fan, but Sun Wukong’s blow was too ruthless—his mouth was full of blood, so he spat it out with the blood.
Silver Horn Great King took the fan in hand, recited a spell, and the fan grew to three feet, which he waved at Wukong.
Wukong was startled, not expecting he had another treasure.
He turned to somersault, but was half a step late and got fanned on half his body.
This was no ordinary fan, but an innate Banana Fan.
The fire from the fan was no ordinary fire, but divine fire.
The fire blazed brilliantly, with lightning-like red floss; scorching and glowing, with flying crimson silk. The whole mountain was aflame, the ground bright red.
With the mountain in fire and flames on Wukong too, this fire was fierce. Fearing his fur would burn off, he cast a fire-avoidance spell and twisted away.
Silver Horn Great King, seeing this, breathed a sigh of relief and dragged his heavily injured body back to the cave.
Golden Horn Great King said in alarm: “Virtuous younger brother, what happened to you!”
Silver Horn Great King didn’t reply, limped to the alchemy room in Golden Horn Great King’s cave mansion.
Silver Horn Great King took a big bowl and poured in all the pills Golden Horn Great King had refined before—healing pills, spirit-concentrating pills, calamity-removing pills, plague-stopping pills, misfortune-avoiding pills, dragon-tiger pills, Taiqing pills, and so on—without sorting, all into the bowl, then shoveled them frantically into his mouth.
Golden Horn Great King, watching anxiously, ordered someone to fetch water for Silver Horn Great King, fearing he’d choke.
Silver Horn Great King finished shoveling the pills, lay on the ground, and only then felt slightly better.
The monkey’s blow was too heavy; even after gulping so many pills, he still felt his five organs and six viscera shattered. If not for his immortal body, he’d surely be dead by now.
Golden Horn Great King said: “Virtuous younger brother, feeling better? How’d you end up like this?”
Silver Horn Great King said: “Don’t mention it, brother. That monkey is truly formidable—the Purple Gold Red Gourd was also snatched by that monkey. Hurry and invite Spirit Mountain Great King!”
