Chapter 55: Lust's Evil Teases Tripitaka; Right Nature Cultivates the Unbroken Body

Now to return: Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie were just about to use their magic to pin those women in place when they heard a gust of wind and Brother Sha crying out. They turned at once and saw that Tripitaka was gone.

Wukong cried, "Who has taken our master?"

Sha Wujing said, "A woman came, stirred a whirl of wind, and carried him off."

Wukong gave a sharp whistle, sprang up into the clouds, and looked in every direction, shading his eyes with his hand. He saw only a cloud of dust rolling away toward the northwest.

He cried back, "Brothers, mount your clouds and follow me. We must catch up with Master at once."

Bajie and Brother Sha quickly strapped the luggage to the horse, and with a roar they leaped into the air.

The king, the ministers, and the women of the Western Women's Kingdom were so frightened that they all knelt in the dust. "We have been blinded by our own eyes," they said. "These were arhats flying in broad daylight. Our ruler need not be alarmed. Tang's imperial brother is truly a monk of the Way. We had no eyes and mistook a Chinese man for an ordinary man, wasting all this divine calling upon him. Please, Your Majesty, return to the palace."

The queen was too ashamed to speak. The officers all returned to their kingdom, so we need not follow them further.

Now to return to Sun Wukong and his two brothers: they rode the clouds through the mist, keeping their eyes fixed on that whirlwind. Soon they came to a high mountain. There the dust settled and the wind died away, and they had no idea where the demon had gone. The brothers came down out of the clouds and searched for a road. Soon they saw a slab of blue stone shining like a screen.

The three of them led the horse around the stone screen. Behind it were two stone doors, and on the gate were six large characters:

Pipa Cave on Poison-Enemy Mountain.

Bajie, not knowing any better, stepped up and used his rake to strike the gate.

Wukong quickly stopped him. "Brother, do not be rash.

We have followed the whirlwind and come all the way here. We have searched for some time and only now found this gate. We still do not know what lies inside. If this is not the right door and we make a scene, what if we anger the creature? Let the two of you hold the horse and stand by the stone screen for a while. I will go in first to ask around and see whether there is truth or falsehood. Then we can act."

Sha Wujing was overjoyed. "Good, good. This is exactly being careful in rough work and bringing calm to urgent matters."

The two of them led the horse back and waited. The Great Sage showed his power, pinched a spell, muttered an incantation, and changed himself into a bee. He became truly light and nimble.

Its wings were thin and soft in the wind, its waist was light and slender in the sun.
Its mouth had long sought nectar, and its tail, sharp enough to strike a toad.
What labor in gathering honey! What politeness in bowing before the yamen!
Now it used a clever ruse and flew and fluttered under the eaves of the gate.

Wukong slipped through a crack at the door and flew into the inner chamber. In the middle of the flower pavilion sat a female demon. On both sides were several children in colored silk and embroidered dress, with hair twisted into two little knots. They were laughing happily, and he could not tell what they were talking about.

Wukong flew up quietly and settled on the lattice of the flower pavilion, leaning to hear.

Then he saw two girls with loose hair and topknots carrying up two steaming trays of noodles. They said, "Madam, this tray holds meat-filled buns, and this tray holds plain buns with sweet-sand filling."

The female monster laughed. "Children, bring out the Tang imperial brother."

Several of the children in colored silk and embroidered dress went to the rear room and helped Tripitaka out. The master's face was yellow, his lips pale, and his eyes were red with tears.

Wukong sighed in the dark. "Master has been poisoned."

The monster came down from the pavilion, her ten fingers like spring onions, and took Tripitaka by the sleeve. "Imperial brother, put your mind at ease. Though this place is not the palace of the Western Women's Kingdom and is not full of wealth and splendor, it is peaceful and free. It is just right for reciting Buddha and studying the scriptures. I will be your companion. We shall truly enjoy a hundred years of harmony."

Tripitaka said nothing.

The monster laughed. "Do not worry. I know that when you were entertained in the Women's Kingdom, you did not eat anything at all. Here there are meat and vegetarian noodles, so you may use whichever you like to calm your nerves."

Tripitaka thought to himself, "If I keep silent and refuse to eat, this monster is not like the queen. The queen was still a human body and acted according to courtesy. This one is a demon spirit, and may harm me. But my three disciples do not know that I have been trapped here. If she means to injure me, would I not be throwing away my life for nothing?"

He argued inwardly with himself and had no choice but to force himself to speak.

"What is the meat, and what is the vegetarian dish?"

The demon replied, "The meat is human-filled buns. The vegetarian ones are sweet-sand buns."

Tripitaka said, "This poor monk eats vegetarian."

The monster laughed. "Children, bring hot tea to the old imperial brother and let him eat the vegetarian buns."

One of the children indeed brought a cup of fragrant tea and set it before the elder. The monster split open a vegetarian bun and handed it to Tripitaka.

Tripitaka took the whole meat-filled bun and handed it back to the female monster.

The monster laughed. "Imperial brother, why do you not split it open and give it to me?"

Tripitaka joined his palms. "I am a monk. I dare not break the meat."

The monster said, "If you monks dare not break meat, how did you drink from the Mother-and-Child River the other day, and why are you so fond of sweet-sand buns today?"

Tripitaka said, "When the water is high, the boat goes quickly. When the sand is deep, the horse moves slowly."

Wukong heard the exchange through the lattice and feared that his master might lose his resolve. He could not bear it any longer. He showed his true form, pulled out the iron staff, and shouted, "You shameless monster!"

The female demon saw him and blew out a thread of smoke that covered the flower pavilion. She called, "Children, take away the Tang imperial brother!"

Then she seized a three-pronged steel fork and leaped out through the pavilion door, cursing, "You brazen monkey, how dare you come secretly into my house and spy on my face? Do not run. Taste my fork."

The Great Sage blocked the blow with his staff. They fought and retreated at the same time, and before long they had battled outside the cave.

Bajie and Brother Sha were waiting by the stone screen. Seeing the two of them locked in combat, Bajie hurriedly led the White Dragon Horse aside and said, "Brother Sha, just guard the luggage and the horse. I will go help in the fight."

The fool raised his rake in both hands and charged forward, shouting, "Brother, step back and let me beat this shameless creature."

The monster saw Bajie come and worked another magic. With a shout, she breathed fire from her nose and smoke from her mouth, shook herself, and sent the three-pronged fork flashing through the air to meet him.

No one knew how many arms she seemed to have, but she came rolling in from all sides. Sun Wukong and Bajie pressed her from both directions.

The monster said, "Sun Wukong, you truly do not know how to go easy. I know you, but you do not know me. Even the Buddha of Thunderclap Monastery is still afraid of me. What can the two hairy ones of yours do? Come on up, both of you, and watch me beat you to pieces."

How fierce the battle was:

The female monster's fierceness grew long, and the Monkey King's spirit rose.
Marshal Tianpeng strove for glory, lifting his rake wildly to show his skill.
One had many hands and a fork wrapped in smoke; the other two were quick-tempered and strong in their weapons.
The female demon only wanted a mate; how could the monk desire to spill his true essence?
Yin and yang could not agree, and so they fought each other with all their force.
Yin, when still, nourishes life; yang, when gathered, guards the breath.
Thus the two sides would not make peace, and fork, rake, and iron staff fought for victory.
The staff was strong; the rake was stronger; the female monster's steel fork struck point against point.
In front of Poison-Enemy Mountain the three refused to yield; outside Pipa Cave the two showed no mercy.
One wished to make the Tang monk a happy mate; the other two must escort the elder west to seek the true scriptures.
Heaven and earth seemed to shake in their clash, until sun and moon lost all brightness and the stars grew dim.

They fought for a long time, but no one gained the upper hand.

Then the female monster leaped once and used her tail-sting poison. Before Wukong could avoid it, she pricked him on the top of the head.

Wukong cried out, "Mercy! Mercy!"

He could not bear the pain. Clutching his head, he lost the battle and ran.

Bajie saw that matters were going badly. Dragging his rake behind him, he also withdrew. The monster had the victory and gathered in her steel fork.

Wukong held his head, frowned bitterly, and cried out, "Terrible! Terrible!"

Bajie came up and asked, "Brother, how were you fighting so well and then suddenly crying out in agony and running away?"

Wukong clutched his head and kept saying, "It hurts, it hurts."

Sha Wujing said, "Could it be that your head-ache has flared?"

Wukong jumped. "No, no."

Bajie said, "Brother, I did not see you wounded, so why should your head hurt?"

Wukong groaned, "It is awful, awful. I was fighting her just now and saw that I had broken her fork. Then she leaped up, and I do not know what sort of weapon it was, but it pricked me on the head. That is why the pain is so hard to bear and why I lost the battle."

Bajie laughed. "All this time you have been bragging in quiet places that your head had been hardened by cultivation. How is it that you cannot stand one little prick?"

Wukong said, "Exactly. This head of mine has been refined into true form. When I stole the Peaches of Immortality and the heavenly wine, and then, during the Havoc in Heaven, the Jade Emperor sent the Great Strength Ghost King and the Twenty-Eight Lodestars to drag me to the Bull-Dipper Palace and be executed, those divine soldiers used knives, axes, hammers, and swords, with thunder and fire besides. Later Laozi put me in the Eight-Trigram Furnace and refined me for forty-nine days, yet none of it could harm me. Today I do not know what weapon that woman used to injure the old Sun's head."

Sha Wujing said, "Open your hand and let me look. Do not let it split."

Wukong said, "It is not split."

Bajie said, "Shall I go to the Western Women's Kingdom and ask for some ointment for you to apply?"

Wukong said, "It is neither swollen nor broken. How could ointment help?"

Bajie laughed. "Brother, I never had any complaints before birth or after birth, but you have gone and made yourself a swollen head."

Sha Wujing said, "Second Brother, do not joke. It is late now. The eldest brother is hurt, and Master does not know whether he is alive or dead. What are we to do?"

Wukong groaned, "Master is all right. When I went in, I turned into a bee and flew inside. I saw that woman sitting in the flower pavilion. Soon two maids brought two trays of buns, one meat-filled and one vegetarian. Then two girls helped Master out and made him eat a bun to calm his fright, and the woman wanted to make him her companion. At first Master would not answer her and would not eat the buns.

Later, after she spoke sweetly, I do not know how, but he began to answer her and said he would eat vegetarian. The woman then split a vegetarian bun and handed it to him. Master took the whole meat bun and gave it to her.

The woman said, 'Why do you not split it open?'

Master said, 'A monk does not dare break meat.'

Then the woman said, 'If you do not dare break meat, how did you drink from the Mother-and-Child River the other day, and why are you so fond of sweet-sand buns today?'

Master did not understand her meaning and answered, 'When the water is high, the boat goes quickly. When the sand is deep, the horse moves slowly.'

When I heard that through the lattice, I feared Master might lose his resolve, so I showed my true form and struck with the staff. The monster then used her magic, breathed smoke and fire, shouted that they should take away the Tang imperial brother, and swung her steel fork at me. So I fought her out of the cave."

Sha Wujing heard this and bit his finger. "That shameless creature must have been following us somehow all the way from the start, and it knew all those earlier matters."

Bajie said, "If that is so, then we will not be able to rest. Whether it is dusk or midnight, let us go to her gate and challenge her. We will shout and make a racket and keep her from sleeping, so she cannot work any more tricks on Master."

Wukong said, "With this headache, I cannot go."

Sha Wujing said, "No need to challenge her. First, Brother's head hurts; second, our master is a true monk and will never let lust and emptiness confuse his resolve. Let us sit for the night just below the mountain slope in a place sheltered from the wind, gather our strength, and wait until daybreak before making another plan."

So the three brothers tied down the White Dragon Horse and guarded the luggage, then rested beneath the slope, leaving the matter there.

Now to return: the female monster laid aside her cruelty, set her face once more to joy, and called, "Children, shut the front and rear gates tight." She also set two watchmen to keep an eye out for Wukong, with orders that if they heard any gate sound they were to report at once.

Then she said, "Children, make up the bedchamber, light the candles and incense, and bring in the Tang imperial brother. I shall make merry with him."

So they supported the elder from the back room.

The monster put on a very charming and seductive manner, took Tripitaka by the hand, and said, "As the old saying goes, gold is not what is valuable; ease and comfort are worth far more. Come and be husband and wife with me for a while and play."

Tripitaka clenched his teeth and did not make a sound. He wanted to refuse, but feared that if he did she might take offense and harm his life. So he trembled all over and followed her into the fragrant chamber.

He was as if dumb and foolish. He did not lift his head or eyes, and he did not even see what sort of bed, curtains, chests, or dressing boxes were in the room. He paid no attention to the woman's sweet talk of wind and rain. Truly, the good monk was:

unwilling to look on evil beauty, unwilling to listen to lewd sound.
He treated silk and rouge as dirt and pearls and jade as ash.
All his life he loved only meditation and never left the Buddha's ground.
How could he cherish jade or pity fragrance? He knew only how to cultivate truth and nurture nature.
The female monster was all liveliness and spring; the elder was still as death and yet full of Zen.
One was soft jade and warm musk; the other was withered wood and dead ash.
One spread the mandarin duck quilt and burned with lust; the other fastened his robe tight and held his heart steady.
One wanted chest against chest and hip against hip, all as paired phoenixes;
the other wanted to face the wall, return to the mountain, and seek Bodhidharma.
The monster slipped off her clothes and displayed her fragrant flesh;
Tripitaka drew in his robe and hid his coarse body and rough skin.
She said, "Why not sleep in my leftover quilt and empty bed?"
He said, "How could my shining skull and monastic dress keep you company?"
She said, "I am willing to be the new Lady Liu Cui of the old court."
He said, "This poor monk is not a moon officiant at the gate of the rites."
She said, "I am as lovely and graceful as Xi Shi."
He said, "For that reason the Yue King long lay buried."
She said, "Imperial brother, do you not remember the saying, 'Better to die beneath the flowers and still be a ghost with style'?"
He said, "My true yang is my greatest treasure. How could I lightly give it to a painted skull?"

They argued back and forth like that until deep in the night, and Tripitaka's resolve never wavered. The female monster pulled and tugged and would not let go, but the master simply sat there old and steady and would not yield.

After she had pestered him for half the night, the monster grew angry and called, "Children, bring rope."

Pity the one who had wanted him for a lover. She tied him with a rope until he looked like a captured macaque-lion, then dragged him out under the corridor. She blew out the silver lamp and sent everyone back to sleep. The night passed without a word.

Before long the rooster crowed three times.

On the slope below, Sun Wukong sat up and said, "My head ached for a while, but now it no longer hurts or feels numb. It only itches a little."

Bajie laughed. "If it itches, let her prick you again. How about that?"

Wukong spat. "Go on with you."

Bajie laughed again. "Go on with you. My master was making a racket all night too."

Sha Wujing said, "Stop trading insults. Day is breaking. Hurry up and seize the monster while it is still early."

Wukong said, "Brother, stay here and guard the horse. Do not move. Pigsy, come with me."

Bajie shook himself, tightened his black silk robe, and followed Wukong with his weapon.

They leaped up the mountain ridge and came straight to the stone screen. Wukong said, "Stand here a moment. I fear the monster hurt Master in the night. Let me go in first and ask around.

If she deceived him and his vital essence was lost, that would truly be a loss of virtue, and then we should all scatter. If she did not break his resolve and his Zen heart has not moved, then all the better. We can fight hard, kill the spirit, and save the master to continue west."

Bajie said, "You are so foolish and speechless. As the saying goes, can a dried fish make a good pillow for a cat? Whether you like it or not, I am going to claw you a few times."

Wukong said, "Do not talk nonsense. Let me look."

The Great Sage went around the stone screen, left Bajie behind, changed once more into a bee, and flew through the gate.

He saw two maids asleep inside, their heads resting on the bell-pole. He went on to the flower pavilion. The monster, having been busy all night, was exhausted too, and all of them were still sleeping, not yet awake to the daylight.

Wukong flew behind the pavilion and faintly heard Tripitaka's voice calling. Looking up, he saw his master bound with his hands and feet beneath the corridor.

He landed lightly on Tripitaka's head and called, "Master."

Tripitaka recognized the voice. "Wukong has come? Hurry and save my life."

Wukong asked, "How did the good business go last night?"

Tripitaka gritted his teeth. "I would rather die than do such a thing."

Wukong said, "Yesterday I saw her show some feeling of pity and love. Why then did she treat you so cruelly today?"

Tripitaka said, "She kept me bound for half the night. I did not loosen my clothes or belt, and my body did not even touch the bed. Because I refused to go along with her, she tied me here. You must save me and get me back to the scriptures."

While master and disciple were speaking, they woke the monster. Though she had meant them harm, she still had some lingering reluctance to part. She rolled over once and heard the words "get me back to the scriptures." At once she fell from the bed and cried out, "You would not make a fine husband, and yet you want to go seek scriptures?"

Wukong was alarmed. He abandoned his master at once, opened his wings, and flew out. He took on his true form and shouted, "Bajie!"

Bajie turned around the stone screen and said, "Did it work?"

Wukong laughed. "Not yet, not yet. The master would not yield to her coaxing, and she grew angry and tied him up. I was just telling him the story when the monster woke up, and I had to hurry out."

Bajie asked, "What did Master say?"

Wukong said, "He only said that he had not loosened his clothes or belt and had not touched the bed."

Bajie laughed. "Good, good, good. He is still a true monk. Let us save him."

The fool was blunt and did not wait for more. He raised his rake and smashed with all his strength at the stone door. With a great crash it broke into several pieces.

The maids who had been sleeping against the bell-pole were so frightened that they ran out to the second gate and shouted, "Open the door! The front gate has been broken by those two ugly men from yesterday!"

The female monster, just as she came out of the inner room, saw four or five maids run in and report, "Madam, the two ugly men from yesterday have again smashed the front gate."

The monster heard this and at once called, "Children, boil water, wash my face, and dress my hair. Bind the Tang imperial brother with rope and carry him into the rear room. I will go beat them."

So out she came, holding the three-pronged fork, and cursed, "You brazen monkey! You wild boar! You fool of a thing, how dare you smash my gate?"

Bajie cursed back. "You filthy slut! You have trapped my master, and now you still dare talk big. My master was coaxed here to be your husband. Send him back at once and I may spare you. If you dare say even half a 'no,' Old Pig will bring my rake down and flatten even your mountain."

The monster did not let him finish. She shook herself and worked her old trick again, breathing smoke and fire from nose and mouth and thrusting with her steel fork at Bajie.

Bajie dodged to one side and struck with his rake. Sun Wukong came in on the other side with his iron staff to help.

The monster used her magic again, and no one knew how many arms she had, but she blocked left and right.

After three or five exchanges, whatever weapon she used, she also pricked Bajie on the lips.

The fool dragged his rake, held his mouth, and fled in pain.

Wukong was also somewhat offended by her, so he threw out a fake blow and lost the battle as well.

The monster returned in triumph and had her children pile up stones at the front gate. We need not dwell on that.

Now to return: Brother Sha was standing by the slope, watching the horse. Suddenly he heard a pig grunt. Looking up, he saw Bajie clutching his mouth and groaning as he came along.

Sha Wujing said, "What is the matter?"

Bajie groaned, "Terrible, terrible. It hurts, it hurts."

Before he could finish, Wukong also came up.

He laughed and said, "Well, Brother Pig, yesterday you cursed me as a swollen forehead; today you have gone and made yourself a swollen mouth."

Bajie groaned, "I cannot bear it. It hurts terribly."

The three of them were in the middle of their trouble when an old granny came along from the south mountain path, carrying a green bamboo basket of vegetables in her left hand.

Sha Wujing said, "Big Brother, that old granny is coming closer. Let me ask her for news and see what kind of demon this is and what weapon she uses to wound people like this."

Wukong said, "Hold on. Let Old Sun ask her."

He looked carefully and saw auspicious clouds over her head and fragrant mist around her body. He recognized her at once and called out, "Brothers, why are you still not bowing? The old granny is the Bodhisattva."

Startled, Bajie knelt despite the pain, Sha Wujing bowed with the horse, and Sun the Great Sage joined his palms and knelt, crying, "Namo, great compassionate, great merciful Guanyin Bodhisattva, savior from suffering and distress."

The Bodhisattva saw that they had recognized her original radiance, so she stepped on the auspicious cloud, rose into the air, and showed her true form. It turned out to be the image of the fish basket.

Wukong hurried into the sky and bowed to her. "Bodhisattva, forgive me for not coming out to meet you. We are doing our utmost to save Master, and did not know that you had descended. Now we are trapped by this demon and cannot gather her in. I beg you to rescue us."

The Bodhisattva said, "This monster is very dangerous. Her three-pronged fork is really the two claws she was born with. The thing that pricks people is the hook at the end of her tail, called the Back-Mounted Poison. She is in fact a scorpion spirit. In the past, when she listened to the Buddha preaching the scriptures at Thunderclap Monastery, the Tathagata saw her and, not thinking, reached out to push her. She turned her tail and pricked the thumb on his left hand. Even the Tathagata could hardly bear the pain and ordered the Vajra attendants to seize her. She has remained here ever since.

If you want to save Tripitaka, you must ask someone else. I cannot get close to her."

Wukong bowed again. "Please tell us who to ask. I will go invite him at once."

The Bodhisattva said, "Go to the Bright Palace inside the Eastern Heaven Gate and petition the Mao Ri Star Lord. Only he can subdue her."

When she had finished speaking, she turned into a streak of golden light and went straight back to the South Sea.

Only then did Sun the Great Sage settle back down on the cloud and say to Bajie and Brother Sha, "Brothers, be at ease. Master has found his rescuer."

Sha Wujing asked, "Who is the rescuer?"

Wukong said, "The Bodhisattva just told me to petition the Mao Ri Star Lord. I am going now."

Bajie groaned through his swollen mouth. "Brother, while you are at it, ask the Star Lord for some pain-stopping medicine."

Wukong laughed. "No need for medicine. Just wait until I have been in pain overnight like yesterday, and it will be better."

Sha Wujing said, "Enough talk. Hurry and go."

The Great Sage quickly mounted a somersault cloud and in no time had reached the Eastern Heaven Gate. There he saw the Growth Heavenly King stepping forward to bow.

"Where is the Great Sage going?"

Wukong said, "I am escorting Tripitaka west to seek the scriptures, but we have run into a demon. I have come to the Bright Palace to see the Mao Ri Star Lord."

Then he saw the Four Great Marshals Tao, Zhang, Xin, and Deng also ask where he was bound.

Wukong said, "I am looking for the Mao Ri Star Lord to subdue the demon and save my master."

The marshals said, "The Star Lord received an imperial decree from the Jade Emperor this morning and has gone up to the Viewing-Star Terrace to inspect the heavens."

Wukong said, "Is that so?"

Marshal Xin said, "We little commanders came down with him from the Bull-Dipper Palace. How could we tell a lie?"

Marshal Tao said, "He has been gone some time already and may well be on his way back. Great Sage, go first to the Bright Palace. If he is not there, then go to the Viewing-Star Terrace."

The Great Sage was delighted. He took his leave and went to the Bright Palace gate, where indeed no one was there. He turned to go when he saw a line of soldiers arranged over there and the Star Lord coming on behind them. The Star Lord was still wearing his court robe for formal audience, woven with golden threads all over. Look at him:

His cap was pinned with the golden glow of the five peaks;
in his hand he held a jade tablet shaped like the mountains and rivers.
His robe was hung with the cloud-mist of the seven stars;
around his waist shone the jeweled rings of the eight directions.
The clink of his ornaments rang like measured music,
and the quick wind around him sounded like bells in motion.
With his peacock fan he opened the sign of Mao,
and heavenly fragrance drifted through the gate and courtyard.

The leading soldiers saw Wukong standing outside the Bright Palace and rushed to report, "My lord, Sun the Great Sage is here."

The Star Lord gathered up his clouds and mist, straightened his court robe, stopped his attendants, and came forward to salute. "Great Sage, what brings you here?"

Wukong said, "I have come especially to trouble you and beg your help in saving my master from a calamity."

The Star Lord said, "What sort of calamity, and where?"

Wukong said, "At Poison-Enemy Mountain, in Pipa Cave in the Western Women's Kingdom."

The Star Lord said, "What demon is in that cave that sends for the little god?"

Wukong said, "Guanyin Bodhisattva just now manifested and said it was a scorpion spirit. She said only your own august person could subdue her, so I have come to invite you."

The Star Lord said, "I had meant to return and report to the Jade Emperor, but since the Great Sage has come in person, and since the Bodhisattva herself has recommended the matter, I fear delay. I will not trouble you with tea. Come, let us go together and subdue the monster. Then I will return and present my memorial."

The Great Sage was delighted. They left the Eastern Heaven Gate together and went straight to the Western Women's Kingdom. When they saw Poison-Enemy Mountain in the distance, Wukong pointed it out and said, "That is the mountain."

The Star Lord lowered his cloud and went with Wukong to the slope before the stone screen. Sha Wujing saw them and said, "Second Brother, get up. Big Brother has brought the Star Lord."

Bajie still held his swollen mouth and said, "My apologies, my apologies. I am too ill to bow."

The Star Lord said, "You are a cultivator. What sickness can you have?"

Bajie said, "Earlier, when I fought the monster, she pricked me on the lips. It still hurts."

The Star Lord said, "Come up here. I will treat it."

Only then did the fool let go and, groaning, said, "Please do, please do. When I am better, I will thank you."

The Star Lord touched his lips with one hand and blew a breath on them. At once the pain vanished.

Bajie bowed in delight. "Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Wukong said, "Please, Star Lord, touch my head as well."

The Star Lord said, "You were not poisoned. Why should I touch it?"

Wukong said, "I was stung yesterday too. It only began to ache this morning, and now it is a little numb and itchy. I fear it may grow cloudy with the weather. Please treat it as well."

The Star Lord touched his head in truth and blew one breath, and the remaining poison was dissolved. The numbness and itching vanished too.

Bajie, growing fierce again, said, "Brother, let us go beat that shameless creature."

The Star Lord said, "Exactly, exactly. You two call her out, and I will bring her under."

Wukong and Bajie leaped up the slope again and came to the stone screen. Bajie cursed without restraint and used his rake in a great sweep to claw away the piled stones at the cave mouth. He burst through the first gate, and then with another stroke of the rake he smashed the second gate to dust.

The little demon inside ran to report in panic, "Madam, those two ugly men have broken the second gate too!"

The monster was in the midst of freeing Tripitaka and asking him to eat a vegetarian tea meal when she heard that the second gate had been smashed. She leaped out of the flower pavilion, fork in hand, and stabbed at Bajie. Bajie raised his rake to meet her. Wukong came alongside again and used his iron staff to strike.

The monster rushed up close, wanting to land a poison blow, but Wukong and Bajie knew her tricks and turned away at once.

The monster chased them around the stone screen. Wukong cried out, "Where is the Mao Ri Star Lord?"

There on the slope the Star Lord stood and showed his true form. It was a great rooster with a double comb, six or seven feet tall, head held high. He crowed once toward the demon, and at once the monster showed her true form too - a scorpion spirit only the size of a Pipa lute.

The Star Lord crowed a second time, and the monster's whole body went soft and limp. She fell dead on the slope. There is a poem to prove it:

His comb was like a brocade crown and his neck like an embroidered collar;
his claws were hard, his spurs long, and his eyes burned with anger.
He leaped with great might, all five virtues in full display;
his proud bearing and fierce power were a delight to the three crows.
How could any common bird compare, cawing from a thatched roof?
He is a celestial star made holy, and only now is his true form revealed.
The poisonous scorpion wasted its practice in the human path;
restored to origin and root, it at last shows its real shape.

Bajie stepped forward and set one foot on the monster's chest and back. "You evil beast, now you cannot use your tail-sting poison."

The monster did not move. Bajie brought down his rake and pounded her into a lump of mashed paste.

The Star Lord gathered up his golden light and rode away on the clouds.

Wukong and Bajie, together with Brother Sha, bowed toward the sky in thanks.

"We have troubled you, we have troubled you," they said. "We will come to your palace another day to repay your kindness."

When the thanks were done, they collected the luggage and horses and went into the cave.

There they saw the maidens and little girls kneeling on both sides, who said, "Lords, we are not evil spirits. We are women from the Western Women's Kingdom who were carried off by that monster. Your master is crying in the fragrant chamber at the back."

Wukong heard this and looked carefully. There was indeed no demonic breath at all. So he went to the back and called, "Master."

Tripitaka saw them all come in and was overjoyed.

"My disciples have troubled themselves on my account," he said. "What became of that woman?"

Bajie said, "That creature was really a great mother scorpion. Lucky for us, Guanyin Bodhisattva gave us directions, and Big Brother went up to Heaven to invite the Mao Ri Star Lord down. He subdued the creature and turned her into mud before Old Pig dared come in here and see Master."

Tripitaka thanked them beyond measure.

They then found some plain rice and flour, set out a meal, and ate together. The women who had been carried off were sent back down the mountain and shown the road home.

Then they set fire to the place and burned the rooms to the ground.

Tripitaka mounted up, and they searched for the main road and traveled west again.

Thus do one cut away dusty ties and leave the realm of form;
thus does one drain the golden sea dry and awaken to the mind of Zen.

But how many years will it take before true completion is won? That must wait for the next chapter.