Monkey's iron arms were immensely strong
And auspicious lights glowed all around.
The halberd was like a new moon's crescent,
The cudgel like flying frost.
“Why don't you give up trying to right wrongs?”
“You were wrong to steal the pagoda's treasure.
Behave yourself, damned devil,
And give me back the treasure if you want to live.”
Cudgel and halberd fought for mastery:
Neither emerged as victor in the fight.
The two of them fought hard for over thirty rounds without either of them emerging as winner. Pig, who was standing on the mountain admiring the sweetness and beauty of their fight, raised his rake and brought down on the evil spirit from behind, Now the monster's nine heads all had eyes in them, and he could see Pig coming behind him very clearly, so he now used the butt-end of his halberd to block the rake while holding off the cudgel with the blade. He resisted for another six or seven rounds until he could hold out no longer against the weapons that were swinging at him from before and behind, when he rolled away and leapt up into the sky in his true form as a nine-headed bird. He looked thoroughly repulsive: the sight of him was enough to kill one with horror:
His body all covered in feathers and down,
His girth was some twelve feet measured around,
And he was as long as an old crocodile.
His two feet were as sharp as book-shaped blades,
And his nine heads were all set in a circle.
When he opened his wings he could fly superbly:
Not even the roc could match his great strength.
His voice could resound to the edge of the sky,
With an echo even louder than the call of the crane.
Bright flashed golden light from his many pairs of eyes;
His pride far outstripped that of ordinary birds.
The sight alarmed Pig, who said, “Brother, I've never seen anything as ugly in all my days. What sort of blood could that monstrous bird have been born of?”
“There's nothing like him,” Monkey replied, “nothing. I'm going up to kill him.” The splendid Great Sage then leapt up on his cloud into mid-air, where he struck at the monster's head with his cudgel. The monster now displayed the power of his body as he swooped down, his wings outspread, then turned with a roaring noise to come low over the mountain and shoot out from his waist another head with a mouth open wide like a bowl of blood. His beak gripped Pig's bristles at the first attempt, then he dragged Pig to the pool and pulled him in.
Once back outside the dragon palace he turned himself back into what he had been before, threw Pig to the ground, and said, “Where are you, little ones?”
Thereupon the mackerel, trout, carp, mandarin fish, hard and soft-shelled tortoises, and alligators, who were all armored demons, rushed forward with a shout of, “Here!”
“Take this monk and tie him up for me,” said the prince. “This will be revenge for our patrolling sentries.” Shouting and pushing, the spirits carried Pig inside, to the delight of the ancient dragon king, who came out to meet the prince with the words, “Congratulations, son-in-law. How did you catch him?” The prince then told him the whole story, after which the ancient dragon ordered a celebratory banquet, which we need not describe.
Instead the story tells how Monkey thought in terror after the evil spirit had captured Pig, “This monster is terrible. But if I go back to the court to see the master the king will probably laugh at me. But if I challenge him to battle again how will I deal with him single-handed? Besides, I'm not used to coping in water. I'll just have to turn myself into something to get inside and see what the evil spirit has done with Pig. If it's possible I'll sneak him out of there to help me.”
The splendid Great Sage then made magic with his fingers, shook himself, turned into a crab again, and plunged into the water till he was outside the archway again. He knew the way from when he had come here the previous time and stolen the Bull King's water-averting golden-eyed beast. When he reached the gateway to the palace he walked in sideways to see the ancient dragon king, the nine-headed monster and their whole family drinking together to celebrate. Not daring to go too close. Monkey crawled under the eaves of the Eastern verandah, where several shrimp and crab spirits were fooling around and amusing themselves. He listened to them for a while then said, imitating their way of talking, “Is the long-snouted monk the prince brought here dead or alive?”
“He's alive,” the spirits all replied, “and tied up. Can't you see him groaning under the Western verandah over there?”
Monkey then crawled quietly over to the Western verandah, where he did indeed find Pig tied to a column and groaning. “Can you recognize me, Pig?” he asked. Pig knew who it was from Monkey's voice.
“This is terrible, brother,” he said. “The monster got me.” Looking all around to make sure there was nobody there Monkey cut through the ropes with his claws and told Pig to go. “What am I to do, brother?” Pig said. “He's got my rake.”
“Do you know where he put it?” Monkey asked.
“I think he must have taken it into the main hall of the palace,” Pig replied.
“Wait for me under the arch,” said Monkey, and Pig slipped quietly out to save his skin. Monkey climbed up on the roof of the main hall, from where he saw the intense glow of Pig's rake down on the left, made himself invisible, and sneaked it out of the palace. Once under the archway he called, “Pig, take your weapon.”
“You go on ahead, brother,” said Pig, now reunited with his rake. “I'm going to attack that palace. If I win I'll capture the whole family of them, and if I lose you'll be waiting by the bank to rescue me.” Monkey, who was delighted at the suggestion, urged him to be careful. “I'm not scared of him,” Pig replied. “I know a thing or two when it comes to water.” Monkey then left him and came up through the water.
Pig meanwhile tightened the belt round his black tunic, grasped his rake with both hands, and charged in with a great war-cry that sent all the members of the watery tribe rushing into the palace and shouting, “Disaster! The long-snouted monk has broken free from his bonds and is charging back in.” The ancient dragon king, the nine-headed monster and the rest of the family were caught off their guard, and all they could do was jump to their feet and flee for cover. The idiot, not fearing for his life, charged into the hall, laying about him with his rake as he went. He smashed everything: doors, tables, chairs, wine-cups and all else too. There is a poem to prove it that goes:
When the mother of wood was taken by the water monster
The mind-ape did not flinch from a difficult rescue.
One used his secret skills to open the locks;
The other one showed his might in hatred and wrath.
The prince fled, taking his princess to safety;
Not a sound was heard from the shivering dragon.
The palace's crimson windows and doors were all smashed;
The dragon's descendants were all scared out of their wits.
Pig smashed the tortoise-shell screens to powder and the coral trees to fragments.
When the nine-headed monster had hidden his princess safely inside he grabbed his crescent-bladed halberd and went for Pig in the front of the living quarters of the palace, shouting, “Bloody idiot! Swine! How dare you terrorize my family?”
“Thieving devil,” retorted Pig. “How dared you capture me? This was none of my fight till you brought me into it. Give the treasure back at once for me to take back to the king and that'll be that. Otherwise every last member of your family will be killed.” The demon was in no mood for kindness: he ground his teeth and started fighting Pig. Only then did the ancient dragon calm down enough to lead his dragon sons and grandsons to surround and attack Pig with their spears and swords. Seeing that things were going badly for him Pig feinted and fled, followed by the ancient dragon and his host. A moment later he shot up through the water and they all surfaced at the top of the pool.