Back in the cave the demon was saying with delight, “Sun the Novice is beaten, my little ones. I may not have killed him this time, but at any rate he passed out for a long time.” He sighed, then added, “The only thing is that he might send for reinforcements. Open up, and I'll go out to see who he's sending for.”
The demons opened the gates for the evil spirit to spring out and look around from mid-air. Seeing Pig heading South the spirit reckoned that he must definitely be going to ask the Bodhisattva Guanyin to come as there was nowhere else to the South where he might be going. The demon brought his cloud down quickly and said to his followers, “Little ones, fetch my leather bag. The string at the mouth may not be any good now as I haven't used it for ages, so please put a new string in it and leave it outside the inner gates. I'll lure Pig back here and pop him in the bag. Then we can steam him nice and tender as a reward for all of you.” The little demons fetched their king's As-You-Will leather bag, replaced the string in it, and put it inside the main gates.
As the demon king had lived there so long he was very familiar with the district, and knew which ways to the Southern Sea were quicker and which were longer. Riding his cloud by the quick route he overtook Pig and turned himself into an imitation Guanyin to sit on a crag and wait for him.
When the idiot suddenly saw Guanyin as he was hurtling along on his cloud he had no way of telling that this was a false one: it was a case of seeing the image and taking it for a Buddha. The idiot stopped his cloud, bowed down, and said, “Bodhisattva, your disciple Zhu Wuneng kowtows to you.”
“Why have you come to see me instead of escorting the Tang Priest to fetch the scriptures?” the Bodhisattva asked.
“I was travelling with master,” Pig replied, “when an evil spirit called the Red Boy carried my master off to the Fire-cloud Cave by Withered Pine Ravine on Mount Hao. Monkey and us two went to find the demon and fight him. Because he can make fire we couldn't beat him the first time. The second time we asked the dragon kings to help out with rain, but even that couldn't put it out. The flames have hurt Monkey so badly that he can't move, which is why he's sent me to ask for your help, Bodhisattva. I beg you in your mercy to save the master.”
“The lord of the Fire-cloud Cave is no killer,” said the evil spirit. “You must have offended him.”
“I never offended him,” said Pig. “It was my brother Monkey who did. The demon turned himself into a little boy hanging at the top of a tree to tempt my master. My master is so kind-hearted that he told me to untie the boy and made Monkey carry him. It was Monkey who smashed him to bits and made him carry the master off in a wind.”
“Get up,” said the evil spirit, “and come with me to the cave to see its lord. I shall ask him to be kind to you. You will just have to kowtow as an apology and ask for your master back.”
“Bodhisattva,” said Pig, “I'll kowtow to him if I can get the master back that way.”
“Come with me,” said the demon king. Knowing no better, the idiot followed the demon back to the Fire-cloud Cave by the way he had come instead of going on to the Southern Sea. They were back at the entrance in an instant.
“Do not worry,” said the evil spirit as he went in, “he is an old acquaintance of mine. Come in.” As soon as the idiot raised his foot to go inside the demons all captured him with a great shout, knocked him over, and pushed him into the bag. Then the cord at the mouth was drawn tight and Pig was hung up from a rafter.
The evil spirit resumed his true form, took his seat in the midst of the demons, and said, “Pig, what powers do you think you have? How do you have the nerve to promise to protect the Tang Priest on his way to fetch the scriptures, or to ask the Bodhisattva here to subdue me? Take a good look. Can't you see I'm the Sage Boy King? Now I've got you I'm going to hang you up for four or five days, steam you, and give you as a treat to the little devils to nibble with their drinks.”
Hearing this, Pig started cursing inside the bag: “Damn you, monster. It's disgraceful behavior. You may have used all your tricks and devices to be able to eat me, but I guarantee I'll give every one of you the head-swelling plague.” The idiot kept on cursing and yelling, but we will say no more of him.
Monkey meanwhile had felt a stinking wind rush past him as he sat with Friar Sand. “That's bad,” he said with a sneeze. “That's a thoroughly ill wind. I'm afraid Pig's got lost.”
“But wouldn't he ask the way if he got lost?” asked Friar Sand.
“He must have run into the demon,” said Monkey.
“But wouldn't he have come rushing back here if he'd met a demon?” said Friar Sand.
“Can't be sure,” said Monkey. “You sit here and look after the things while I go over the ravine and see what's going on.”
“Let me go,” said Friar Sand. “Your back is still aching and he might fight you again.”
“You'd be useless,” said Monkey. “It'll have to be me.”
Splendid Monkey gritted his teeth against the pain, took his cudgel in his hand, crossed the ravine, and shouted “Vicious monster!” at the mouth of the cave. The little devil at the gate rushed inside to report that Sun the Novice was yelling at the gates again. The demon king ordered Monkey's capture. With a great battle-cry a crowd of demons armed with swords and spears opened the gates and shouted, “Get him.” Monkey was indeed too exhausted to fight them. He squeezed himself against the side of the path, shouted, “Change,” and turned himself into a bundle wrapped in a gold-embroidered cloth. As soon as they saw it the little devils picked it up and took it inside. “Your Majesty,” they reported, “Monkey's a coward. As soon as we shouted 'Get him' he was so scared he dropped his bundle and ran.”
“There won't be anything in there that's worth anything,” smirked the demon king. “Probably just some worn-out monks' habits and old hats. Get them in, and wash and tear them up to use as rags.” One of the little demons took the bundle right inside the cave, not realizing it was really Monkey. “Splendid,” thought Monkey, “they're carrying the bundle in.” The evil spirit dropped it inside the doors without paying any attention to it.
Splendid Monkey could work transformations within transformations and deceits within deceits. Pulling out one of his hairs he blew on it with magic breath and made it look just like the first bundle. He then turned himself into a fly that perched on the pivot of the door. He could hear Pig grumbling away rather indistinctly, like a hog with swine-fever. When Monkey buzzed over to look for him he found Pig hanging up in the leather sack. Monkey landed on the sack, where he could hear Pig cursing and swearing at the demon.
“How dare you pretend to be the Bodhisattva Guanyin and trick me into coming here! Then you hang me up and say you're going to eat me. One day soon my elder brother
Will use his superlative Great Sage powers
And have all you demons caught in a shake.
He'll open this bag and let me get out
To give you all thousands of thumps with my rake.”
Monkey was delighted to hear this. “The idiot may be a bit stuffy in there, but he's not running down his colours. I'll get that demon and have my revenge on him.”
Just as Monkey was working out how to rescue Pig he heard the demon king shouting, “Where are the six warriors?” Six of the little devils who were his friends had been given the title of Warrior. Each one had his own name. They were Mist in the Clouds, Clouds in the Mist, Fire-fast, Windspeedy, Heater and Cooker. The six warriors stepped forward and knelt down. “Do you know where the Old King lives?” the demon asked.