“Brother,” said Pig in alarm, “you're a poor judge. I'm rough and I can't do anything much. I'd just get in the way as I walked along. What use would I be to you?”
“You may not be up to much, brother,” Monkey replied, “but you're someone. As the saying goes, even a fart can swell the wind. You'd make me feel a bit braver.”
“All right,” Pig said, “all right. You can take me with you. But don't play any of your tricks on me when the going gets tough.”
“Don't forget that Friar Sand and I will be waiting here,” said Sanzang.
The idiot braced himself and set off a gale with Monkey that carried them by cloud up to the top of the mountain where the entrance to the cave was. They saw at once that the gates were shut tight. There was nobody in sight anywhere around. Monkey went forward, his iron cudgel in his hands, to shout at the top of his voice, “Open up, evil monsters! Come out right now and fight Monkey!” When the young devils in the cave went inside to report the senior demon shook with terror as he commented,
“I've heard tell for years of that monkey's ferocity;
Now I can vouch for the story's veracity.”
“What do you mean, elder brother?” the second demon chief asked.
“When that Sun the Novice first turned himself into a fly to sneak in here none of us realized who he was except our Third Brother, who put him in the jar. He used his skills to drill a hole in the jar, pick up his clothes and get out. Now he's outside challenging us to battle. Who's brave enough to be the first to take him on?” Nobody replied. The senior demon asked again; again there was no response. Everyone was pretending to be deaf and dumb.
“We've got ourselves a lousy reputation in the West already,” the senior demon chief said in fury. “Now that Sun the Novice has treated us with such contempt today our reputation will stand even lower if we don't fight him. I'm going out there to chance my old life on three rounds with him. If I can hold out for those three rounds the Tang Priest will still be a meal in our mouths. If I can't then shut the gates and let them pass.” He then kitted himself out in his armor, had the gates opened and went out. As Monkey and Pig watched from beside the gates they saw that he was a fine monster:
On iron brow and brazen head a precious helmet
With tassels dancing brightly in the wind.
His eyes both flashed as if with lightning,
And ruddy glowed the hair at his temples.
Pointed and sharp were his silvery claws,
And his saw-like teeth were set close and neat.
His armor was golden, without any seam,
Bound with a dragon sash that could foresee the future.
In his hand flashed a cutlass of steel.
Such martial might is rare in the world.
With a voice that roared like thunder he asked,
“Who is that knocking at my gates?”
“Your grandfather, Lord Sun, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven,” said Monkey, turning to face the gate.
“Are you Sun the Novice?” asked the demon with a laugh. “You've got a cheek, ape. I never gave you any trouble, so why are you here challenging me to battle?”
“'No waves come without a wind; without the tide the waters are still,'“ Monkey replied. “Would I have come looking for you if you hadn't given me trouble? The reason why I'm here to fight is because your gang of foxes and dogs is plotting to eat my master.”
“From the way you're acting so fierce and shouting at our gates you must want a fight,” the old demon replied.
“Yes,” Monkey said. “Stop all that ranting and raving then,” said the demon. “It would be most unfair if I brought out my devil soldiers and drew them up in battle order with flags flying and drums beating to fight you as I'm on my own territory. I'll fight you single-handed with no helpers for either side.”
When Monkey heard this he shouted, “Keep out of the way, Pig, and let's see how he copes with me.” The idiot did indeed get out of the way.
“Come over here,” the senior demon shouted, “and be a chopping block for me. Let me hack you three times as hard as I can with sword on your bare head. After that I'll let your Tang Priest pass. If you can't take it then hand your Tang Priest over at once. He'll be a tasty morsel to help our rice down.”
“Bring out a brush and some paper if you have them in your cave and I'll give you a bond. You can hack at me from today till next year, but it'll be nothing to me.”
The old demon then summoned up all his might, took up a stance with his feet apart, lifted his sword with both hands and hacked at the top of the Great Sage's head. The Great Sage raised his head, and though there was a mighty crash his scalp did not even go red.
“That monkey really does have a hard head,” exclaimed the old demon with shock.
“You wouldn't know about it,” said Monkey with a laugh. “I was
Born with a skull of bronze and iron,
Like nobody else's in all the world.
Hammer and axe will never smash me;
I went in Lord Lao Zi's furnace when I was a boy.
The Star Lords of the Four Dippers helped mould me,
The twenty-eight constellations all used their skill.
I've often been soaked in water but never come to harm,
And all over my body the sinews are knotty.
The Tang Priest, fearing I would not stand firm,
Placed a golden band around my head.”
“Cut out that insolence, ape,” the senior demon said, “and take these two blows from my sword. I'm most certainly not going to spare your life.”
“It's nothing,” Monkey replied. “Have another cut like that if you like.”
“You monkey,” the old demon said, “you don't know about this sword,”
Created in furnaces of metal and fire,
A hundred times tempered by divine craftsmanship.
Its sharp blade follows the Three Strategies,
And it is as strong as described in the Six Plans.
The point is as fine as a housefly's tail,
And supple as the body of a white dragon.
When it goes to the mountains dense clouds arise;
If it plunges into the sea the great waves roll.
It has been burnished times beyond number,
Heated and tempered many hundred times over.
Deep in the mountains it is kept in the caves;
Great is the glory it has won when in battle.
If I use it to strike at your monkish pate
I'll cut it into a pair of gourd ladles.”
“You're blind, evil spirit,” laughed the Great Sage, “if you think my head is just gourd ladles. I'll let you hack at me if you're silly enough to want to. Have another go and see what happens.”
The senior demon raised his sword for another hack, which the Great Sage moved his head forward to meet. With a loud band his head was split into two, whereupon the Great Sage rolled on the ground and gave himself a second body. The sight so alarmed the demon that he lowered his sword.
Watching all this from a distance Pig said with a laugh, “Give him a couple more hacks, old devil, then there'll be four of him.”
Pointing at Brother Monkey the senior demon said, “I'd heard that you can use self-dividing magic. Why are you showing it off to me now?”
“What self-dividing magic?” Monkey asked.
“Why was it that the first time I hacked you it made no impact, but this time I cut you in two?” the senior demon asked. “Don't worry, evil spirit,” said the Great Sage with a smile. “If you cut me ten thousand times there'll be twenty thousand of me.”
“You ape,” the demon said, “you may be able to divide yourself but you can't put yourself together again. If you can, hit me with your cudgel.”