Monkey King Sun Wu Kong——Journey to the West

16.Journey to the West——Capturing Demons at Bibotan

In the clearing stood an old, broken temple. Sunn Wuh-kong took one look and said, “This place is wrong. Something is off here.”Before he even finished speaking, a gust of gloomy wind blew by. An old man who claimed to be “the Local Land of this place” came out with a ghost servant behind him, a blue-faced, red-bearded fellow with his upper body bare, carrying a plate of steaming hot steamed buns on his head.The moment Juu Baa Jyeh saw food, he wanted to reach out and grab some,

15.Journey to the West—— Tang Sanzang sweeps the pagoda

Tung Sahn-zung said:“I planned to enter the palace to exchange the travel documents. But since we have encountered these monks, I cannot ignore them. Besides, when I departed from the Fa-men Temple in Chang’an, I made a vow: on the road to the Western Heaven, whenever I see a monastery, I must burn incense; and whenever I see a pagoda, I must sweep it. Since we are here, I should take a look.Sunn Wuh-kong, go find a new broom. After I bathe, I will go up the pagoda to sweep it and see what really happened. We will meet the king tomorrow and explain everything.”
 

14.Journey to the West——The Mountain of Flames

Lingji Bodhisattva took out a small silk pouch from his sleeve. He then took out the Wind-Fixing Pill from the pouch and carefully tucked it inside Sunn Wuh-kong’s collar. The Bodhisattva was worried that Sunn Wuh-kong might be careless, or that the pill might fall out. So he took a needle and thread and sewed the collar tightly, stitching the silk pouch firmly inside.

13.Journey to the West——The Two Monkey Kings

Tung Sahn-zung was riding alone on the White Dragon Horse, slowly moving forward along the mountain road.As soon as that gong stopped echoing, more than thirty men suddenly rushed out from the grass on both sides of the road and from behind the dirt slopes.They surrounded Tung Sahn-zung in an instant, blocked his way, and shouted at him in a noisy chorus, “Hand over your money! Hand over your gold and silver! Quickly give us everything valuable you’ve got on you!”

12.Journey to the West——The Kingdom of Women

That river was called the River of Sons and Mothers. If a woman drank the water, she would carry a male fetus. If a man drank the water, he would carry a female fetus.Anyone who drank the river water would show “symptoms of pregnancy.”Tung Sahn-zung was so anxious that sweat poured down his face. “Wuh-kong, Wuh-kong! Save me !”

11.Journey to the West——Tang Sanzang encounters a demon

 The White Dragon Horse didn’t dare take a single step forward.Tung Sahn-zung asked where the river came from. Juu Baa Jyeh took a look and said the river must be at least ten li wide—crossing it wouldn’t be easy. While they were still talking, a small wooden boat drifted down from upstream. A boatman rowed it to shore and warmly shouted that he could ferry them across.

10.Journey to the West——The True and False Kings

After the evening meal, the officer also arranged people to tidy three meditation rooms and let them rest. Everyone left. Tung Sahn-zung told his disciples to sleep first. He himself wanted to recite scriptures a while longer. Tung Sahn-zung recited until the third watch of the night, then closed the scroll. He had just gone to sleep when he suddenly heard a sound outside the door, and a gust of wild wind rose. But he was too sleepy and lay on the desk and fell asleep. Though asleep, his mind was still clear. He heard the cold wind “woo-woo” outside the window, and it seemed someone was calling, “Master… Master.”

9.Journey to the West——Gold and Silver Monster

As soon as Sunn Wuh-kong heard him mention the Bodhisattva of Compassion, his heart softened. He said, “Fine, I won’t hit you first. Speak clearly. Tell the truth—where is Tung Sahn-zung in danger now?”Hearing the question, Juu Baa Jyeh told everything that happened after Sunn Wuh-kong left.When Sunn Wuh-kong finished listening, he was furious. “You really are a fool! When I left, I told you that if some demon caught Master, you should tell the demon that Old Sun is his senior disciple. Why didn’t you say it?”

8.Journey to the West——The White Bone Demon

“She’s not human, Master—she’s a demon here to harm you!”Tung San-zang said, “A monk should be compassionate. You can’t just hit and kill. How can we fetch scriptures like this? Go back.”Wuh-kong kowtowed and pleaded. Tung Sahn-zung finally relented: “Fine. I’ll spare you this time. But you may not raise your hand again.”

7.Journey to the West——The First Test

It was getting dark. Tung Sahn-zung, together with Sunn Wuh-kong, Juu Baa Jyeh, and Sha Seng, kept walking on the road. As they went, they saw, in the distance, a pine forest with a few houses inside. “There’s a manor over there. Let’s go and ask to stay for the night.”