“Never mind about my sleeping. I dreamt that two men came for me. They dragged me to the city-wall of the World of Darkness, where I came round. I showed them my magic powers and went yelling all the way to the Senluo Palace, where I had an argument with those Ten Kings and looked through the Register of Life and Death of us. Wherever there was mention of your names in the register, I crossed them out. We won't come under the jurisdiction of those idiots any more.”
All the monkeys kowtowed to him in gratitude. The reason why from that time on so many mountain monkeys have never grown old is that their names are not on the books of the officials of the Underworld. When the Handsome Monkey King had finished telling his story, the four Stalwart Generals informed the other monster kings, who all came to offer their felicitations. A few days later his six sworn brothers also came to congratulate him, and all were delighted to hear how he had struck the names off the books. We will not describe the daily feasts that followed.
Instead we will describe how one day the Supreme Heavenly Sage, the Greatly Compassionate Jade Emperor of the Azure Vault of Heaven, was sitting on his throne in the Hall of Miraculous Mist in the Golden-gated Cloud Palace, surrounded by his immortal civil and military officials at morning court, when the Immortal Qiu Hongji reported, “Your Majesty, Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, has presented a memorial outside the Hall of Universal Brightness, and is awaiting a summons from your Imperial Majesty.”
The Jade Emperor ordered that he be called in, and the Dragon King came to the Hall of Miraculous Mist. When he had done obeisance an immortal page came from the side to take his memorial. The Jade Emperor read it through. It ran:
Your Subject Ao Guang,
the Humble Dragon of the Eastern Sea of the Eastern Continent of Superior Body in the Nether Watery Regions
Reports to the Jade Emperor of the Azure Vault of Heaven
Recently one Sun Wukong, an immortal fiend born on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit now living in the Water Curtain Cave, bullied this humble dragon and occupied my watery house by force. He demanded a weapon by displaying magical prowess; he insisted on having armour by showing off his evil powers. He terrified the watery tribe and made the tortoises and alligators flee in terror. The dragon of the Southern Sea trembled, the dragon of the Western Sea was made miserable, the dragon of the Northern Sea had to hang his head and come in submission, and I, your subject Ao Guang, humbled myself before him. We had to present him with a miraculous iron cudgel, a golden phoenix-winged helmet, a suit of chain mail, and a pair of cloud-walking shoes; and we escorted him out politely.
He continued to show off his martial arts and magic powers, and all he had to say for himself was, “My apologies for disturbing you.” There is truly no match for him, and he is uncontrollable. Your subject now presents this memorial, and respectfully awaits your sage decision. I humbly beg that heavenly soldiers be sent to arrest this evil demon, so that the sea and the mountains may be at peace, and the ocean may enjoy tranquillity.
When the Jade Emperor had read this through he ordered, “Let the Dragon God return to the Sea; we shall send generals to arrest the demon.” The Old Dragon King bowed till his head touched the floor and took his leave.
Then the Venerable Immortal Ge, a heavenly teacher, reported, “Your Majesty, the King of Qinguang, one of the ministers of the Underworld, has come with a memorial from the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha.” A jade girl messenger took the memorial, which the Jade Emperor read through. It ran:
The regions of darkness are the negative part of the Earth. Heaven contains gods while the Earth has devils; Positive and Negative are in a constant cycle. Birds and beasts are born and die; male and female alternate. Life is created and change takes place; male and female are conceived and born; this is the order of nature, and it cannot be changed. Now the evil spirit, the Heaven-born monkey of the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, is presently giving full rein to his wicked nature, committing murders, and refusing to submit to discipline. He killed the devil messengers of the Ninth Hell with his magic, and he terrified the Ten Benevolent Kings of the Underworld with his power. He made an uproar in the Senluo Palace and crossed some names out by force. He has made the race of monkeys completely uncontrollable, and given eternal life to the macaques. He has annulled the law of transmigration and brought them beyond birth and death. I, impoverished monk that I am, importune the might of Heaven by presenting this memorial. I prostrate myself to beg that Heavenly soldiers be despatched to subdue this fiend, bring the positive and Negative back into order, and give lasting security to the Underworld.
When the Jade Emperor had read this through he ordered, “Let the Lord of Darkness return to the Underworld. We shall send generals to arrest the demon.” The King of Qinguang then bowed till his head touched the floor and took his leave.
His Celestial Majesty then asked all his civil and military officials, “When was this monkey demon born? What is his origin, that he should have such powers?”
Before he had finished speaking, Thousand-mile Eye and Wind-accompanying Ear came forward from the ranks of officials and said, “This demon monkey is the stone monkey who was born of heaven three hundred years ago. At the time nobody paid any attention to him, and we do not know where he refined himself and became an Immortal in recent years, so that he has been able to make the tigers and dragons submit to him and to strike his name off the register of the dead.”
“Which divine general shall be sent down to capture him?” asked the Jade Emperor, and before he had finished speaking the Great White Planet stepped forward, bowed down, and submitted, “All beings in the upper worlds that have nine apertures can become Immortals. This monkey has a body that was created by Heaven and Earth and conceived by the sun and moon. His head touches they sky and his feet stand on the earth; he drinks the dew and eats the mist. How does he differ from humans, if he has succeeded in cultivating the way of immortality and can subdue dragons and tigers? I beg Your Majesty to remember your life-giving mercy and hand down a sage edict of amnesty and enlistment, summoning him to this upper world and inscribing his name on the list of officeholders, thus keeping him here under control. If he obeys Your Majesty's heavenly commands, he can later be promoted; and if he disobeys, he can be arrested. This will both avoid military operations and be a way of winning over an Immortal.”
The Jade Emperor, delighted with the suggestion, ordered that it should be put into effect. He told the Wenqu Star Officer to compose the edict, and commanded the Great White planet to persuade the monkey to accept the amnesty.
The Great White Planet left Heaven by the Southern Gate, and brought his propitious cloud down by the Water Curtain Cave, where he said to the little monkeys, “I am an envoy from Heaven, and I am carrying a divine edict inviting your great king to the upper world. Go and tell him at once.”
The little monkeys outside conveyed the message by relays into the depths of the cave: “Your Majesty, there's an old man outside carrying a document on his back. He says he's an envoy from Heaven with an invitation for you.” The Handsome Monkey King was delighted.
He said, “I'd been thinking of going up to Heaven to have a look round for the past couple of days, and now a heavenly envoy has come to invite me.”
“Ask him in at once,” he shouted, hastily straightening his clothes and going out to meet the envoy.