When he reached the Palace of Crimson Splendor the gods of fire all went in to report, “Sun Wukong is here to see you, my lord.”
The Star Lord of Fire of the South straightened up his clothes and came out to greet him with the words, “Kehan was here to inspect us yesterday, and nobody here is longing for earthly things.”
“I know,” Monkey replied. “Heavenly King Li and Prince Nezha have been defeated in battle and lost their weapons, which is why I have come here to ask for your help.”
“Nezha is the God of the Third Altar, the Seas, who first made his name by subduing ninety-six caves of demons,” the Star Lord of Fire replied. “His magical powers are tremendous, so if he can't subdue the fiend what hope would I have of doing so?”
“I've discussed it with Heavenly King Li,” Monkey replied. “Water and fire are the most powerful things in heaven and earth. That fiend has a ring that can catch things. I don't know what treasure it is. As they say that fire can destroy everything I've come here to ask you, Star Lord, to lead your fire forces down to the mortal world to burn up that evil monster and rescue my master.”
When the Star Lord of Fire heard this he mustered his divine troops and went with Monkey to the Southern slopes of Mount Jindou, where he exchanged greetings with the Heavenly King and the thunder gods. “Great Sage Sun,” said Heavenly King Li, “call that demon out again and I'll start fighting him. When he throws his ring I'll get out of the way and the Star Lord can lead his forces to burn him up.”
“Yes,” said Monkey. “I'll go with you.” The Fire Star Lord stood with Prince Nezha and two thunder gods on a high peak to challenge the demon to battle.
When the Great Sage reached the mouth of the Jindou Cave he shouted, “Open up! Give me my master back at once.”
“Sun Wukong's back,” the little devils reported with urgency, and the demon led his horde out of the cave to say to Monkey, “Impudent ape, what soldiers have you brought here?”
Heavenly King Li, the Pagoda-carrier, came forward to shout back, “Vicious monster, do you know who I am”
“Heavenly King Li,” replied the demon with a laugh, “no doubt you want to avenge your distinguished son and get his weapons back.”
“I want my revenge and his weapons,” replied the Heavenly King, “and I'm also going to catch you and rescue the Tang Priest. Stay where you are while I get you with my sword.” The demon dodged the cut and thrust back with his spear. The two of them fought a magnificent fight in front of the cave. Just watch:
The Heavenly King hacked with his sword,
The demon's spear parried.
The sword gleamed cold and breathed out fire,
The sharp spear belched out baleful clouds.
One was the monster who had grown up in Jindou Cave;
The other had been sent from the Hall of Miraculous Mist.
One wished to use his might to oppress the dharma nature;
One was employing his greatness to rescue the priest.
The Heavenly King's powers made sand and gravel fly,
The demon fighting back stirred up the dust.
The dust cast heaven and earth in darkness,
The sand and gravel made seas and livers turbid.
The two of them struggled hard for victory
Because the Tang Priest wanted to see the Buddha.
When Monkey saw the two of them starting to fight he jumped up to the highest peak and said to the Star Lord of Fire, “Pay attention.” Watch as the demon produces his ring again when the fight is at its fiercest. When Heavenly King Li saw this he set his auspicious light moving and fled in defeat. At once the Star Lord of Fire issued the order to his troops from his peak to release all their fire together. It was a terrifying sight:
The Classic says that in the South is the essence of fire.
Even a single spark
Can burn a hundred thousand acres.
The might of the Star Lord
Could create a hundred different kinds of fire.
He had fire spears, fire swords,
Fire bows and crossbows,
And all his gods used different weapons.
The sky was filled with cawing crows of fire.
Fire horses galloped on the mountaintops.
Fire rats came in twos,
Fire dragons in pairs.
The fire rats coming in twos breathed flame,
Making a thousand miles glow red;
The pairs of fire dragons belched thick smoke,
Casting a pall of darkness all around.
The fire carts were brought out,
The fire gourds opened up.
When fire banners waved the skies glowed sunset-red;
Fire cudgels made the whole earth blaze.
Compared with this the charge of burning oxen was nothing;
This beat Zhou Yu's fire ships attacking Red Crag.
It was a terrible heavenly conflagration,
A blazing burning storm of fire.
But the onslaught by the fire did not frighten the demon in the least. He threw his ring up into the air, and as it came whistling down it caught the fire dragons, fire horses, fire crows, fire rats, fire swords, fire spears, fire bows and fire arrows. The demon then led his troops back to his cave in victory.
The Fire Star Lord, holding a useless banner, called back his officers and went to sit with Heavenly King Li and the others on the Southern slope of the mountain. “Great Sage,” he said to Monkey, “I've never seen so ferocious a demon before. Now I've lost all my fire-raising equipment what am I to do?”
“Stop complaining,” said Monkey with a smile. “Will you gentlemen please sit here for a while while I go off again?”
“Where are you going this time?” Heavenly King Li asked.
“If that fiend isn't bothered by fire I'm sure he must be vulnerable to water. As the saying goes, water defeats fire. I'm going to the Northern Gate of Heaven to ask the Star Lord of Water, the planet Mercury, to use the power of water to flood the cave and drown the demon king. Then I'll be able to return you all your things.”
“That's a very good idea,” said the Heavenly King, “except that I'm afraid your master might be drowned too.”
“No problem,” said Monkey. “Even if he is drowned I have a way that will bring him back to life. But I'm wasting your time, gentlemen, and that is quite wrong.”
“In that case,” said the Star Lord of Fire, “please be on your way.”
The splendid Great Sage went straight to the Northern Gate of Heaven by his somersault cloud. He looked up to see the Heavenly King Vaisravana bowing to him and asking, “Where are you going, Great Sage Sun?”
“There is something about which I must see the Star Lord of Water in his Palace of Dark Vastness,” said Monkey. “What are you doing here?”
“It is my turn to patrol today.” Vaisravana replied. As he was speaking the four heavenly generals Pang, Liu, Gou and Bi greeted him courteously and offered him tea.
“As I'm in such a hurry I won't trouble you,” said Monkey, and taking his leave of them he went straight to the Palace of Dark Vastness, where he sent all the gods of Water in to announce him.
“Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, is here,” they reported. As soon as he learned this the Star Lord of Water dismissed the gods of the Four Seas, the Five Lakes, the Eight Rivers, the Four Streams, the Three Great Watercourses and the Nine Tributaries, as well as all the dragon kings, then straightened his hat, tightened his belt, and went out through the gates of the palace to greet him and lead him inside.
“Yesterday Kehan came here on his inspection,” the Star Lord said. “He wondered if any of my Water gods had become demons because they longed for worldly things. We are checking all the gods of rivers, seas and streams but have not yet finished.”