Sun Wukong supported Tang Seng and, along with Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng, continued their journey westward. As they walked, they suddenly spotted a magnificent pavilion that truly caught their eyes. Tang Seng stopped his horse and asked, “Disciples, what do you think that place is?” Wukong looked up and was immediately stunned by the sight before him: mountains surrounded the pavilion, streams wound around the pavilions, lush green trees shaded the entrance, and the fragrance of wildflowers filled the air. White egrets perched among the willows, looking like beautiful jade in the mist; yellow orioles sang in the peach trees, shimmering like gold in the fire. Wild deer strolled leisurely on the grass, while little birds chirped joyfully in the red trees. It was like a fairyland!
Wukong said to Tang Seng, “Master, that place isn’t a noble’s residence or a rich man’s home; it looks more like a Taoist temple. Let’s go take a look.” Upon hearing this, Tang Seng urged his horse to speed up. The four of them arrived at the entrance and found a stone plaque embedded in the door, inscribed with the words “Huanghua Temple.” Tang Seng dismounted, and Bajie excitedly exclaimed, “Huanghua Temple is a place for Taoists! Let’s go in and meet them. Even though we dress differently, we’re all practitioners!”
Sha Seng nodded in agreement: “That’s right! Let’s go in and enjoy the scenery, and we can also ask them to prepare some vegetarian meals for Master.” Tang Seng agreed and led everyone inside. As soon as they entered, they saw a couplet posted on the door: “The immortal’s abode of yellow buds and white snow, the house of feathered immortals with jade grass and exquisite flowers.” Wukong chuckled, “Clearly, this is a place for alchemy!” Tang Seng pinched him, “Be careful! We’re not familiar with him; just a brief meeting will do, let’s not overdo it!”
They walked through the second gate and saw the main hall tightly closed, while an old Taoist was sitting in the east corridor refining medicine. You could see he was dressed quite impressively: he wore a bright red golden crown, a black Taoist robe, green cloud shoes, and a yellow silk belt. His face was like a melon seed, his eyes sparkled like stars, he was tall, and his mouth was wide like a big bowl.
Seeing this, Tang Seng immediately called out, “Old immortal, this poor monk has come to greet you!” The Taoist was startled, quickly setting down the medicine, adjusting his clothes, and coming down the steps to welcome them: “Master, I’ve failed to greet you. Please come in and sit.” Tang Seng happily ascended the hall, pushed open the door, and saw three statues of the Three Pure Ones on the offering table, with incense smoke wafting from the burner. He sincerely offered incense and bowed three times, then exchanged greetings with the Taoist.
Afterward, he and his disciples sat down, eagerly calling for the young attendants to brew tea. Two little boys hurried in, washing the tea sets, wiping the tea spoons, and preparing snacks. Just as they were busy, a few female demons were also stirred up.
It turned out that the seven female demons were studying with the Taoist. Today, they wore old clothes and had called their sons to help with tailoring. Suddenly, seeing the little boys bustling about with tea, one of the female demons asked, “Little boy, what guests do you have? Why are you so busy?” The little boy replied, “Four monks just came in; Master sent us to brew tea.” The female demon asked, “Is there a chubby white monk among them?” The boy answered, “Yes.” She continued, “Is there one with a long mouth and big ears?” The boy said, “Yes.”
The female demon grew anxious: “Quick, go serve the tea, give your master a signal to let him in; I have something important to say.” So, the little boy carried out five cups of tea. The Taoist tidied his clothes and handed a cup of tea to Tang Seng, then to Bajie, Sha Seng, and Wukong. After they finished their tea, the little boy gave a signal, and the Taoist bowed, saying, “Please take a seat, young boy, continue to serve tea; I’ll be back shortly.”
At this moment, Tang Seng and his disciples were busy admiring the scenery outside the hall. The Taoist entered the abbot’s room and saw the seven women kneeling in unison, calling out, “Senior brother! Senior brother! Please listen to what the younger sister has to say!” The Taoist helped them up and asked, “What did you want to tell me when you came this morning? I was busy refining medicine, which can’t be seen by shady folks, so I couldn’t respond. Now that we have guests outside, you can speak slowly.” The female demons replied, “Senior brother, this matter is specifically for the guests. If they leave, it won’t matter what we say.”
Upon hearing this, the Taoist couldn't help but laugh, "How strange you ladies speak! Why wait for the guests to arrive before saying anything? Isn't that a bit mad? Even if I am a tranquil immortal, or just an ordinary person with a wife and children, I still have to deal with my household matters after the guests leave. You’re really making things complicated for me! Let me go out and take a look!" The female demons quickly grabbed the Taoist, saying, "Senior brother, don’t be angry! We want to ask about the guest who just arrived; where did he come from?"
The Taoist, looking impatient, didn’t respond. The female demons continued, "Just now, the little boy came in to fetch tea, and I heard him say there were four monks." The Taoist’s expression changed: "What about the monks?" The female demons replied, "Among the four monks, there is a chubby white one and another with a long mouth and big ears. Have you asked them?" The Taoist was taken aback: "I have seen those two; how do you know?" One of the women said, "Senior brother, you may not know, but that monk is from the Tang Dynasty, sent to the West to obtain scriptures. This morning, he was at our cave for a meal, and we heard about Tang Seng’s name, so we captured him."
Curious, the Taoist asked, "Why did you capture him?" The woman replied, "We heard that Tang Seng is the true body of ten lifetimes of cultivation, and eating a piece of his flesh can prolong life. That’s why we wanted to capture him. But that long-mouthed, big-eared monk blocked us at the Zhuangou Spring, first stealing our clothes and then forcing us to bathe. He even transformed into a catfish, swimming between our legs, trying to be sly! It was really annoying! Later, he jumped out of the water, revealing his true form, and seeing that we wouldn’t cooperate, he tried to harm us with his nine-toothed rake. If we hadn’t been clever, we would have been harmed by him. We specifically came to find you, hoping you could help us take revenge!"
Upon hearing this, the Taoist was furious: "That monk is too disrespectful! Don’t worry, I will handle him!" The women expressed their gratitude, saying, "If you take action, we will definitely assist you with all our strength!" The Taoist waved his hand, "No need to fight! As the saying goes, ‘To strike is to lower oneself.’ Follow me."
The Taoist led the seven women into the house, took a ladder, climbed up to the roof beams, and retrieved a small leather box. The box was not large and was locked. He took out a yellow handkerchief from his sleeve, which had a small key tied to it, unlocked the box, and took out a packet of medicine. This medicine was not ordinary; it was made from the droppings of various birds and had been boiled down for thousands of pounds, making it very precious.
The Taoist said to the seven women, "This medicine, if given to a mortal, one grain will kill them; for an immortal, three grains will also be fatal. Those monks probably have some cultivation, so they’ll need three grains. Hurry and prepare the portions!" One of the women quickly took out a scale, measuring out two and a half grains, dividing it into four portions. She then took twelve red dates, split them open, placed one grain of medicine in each of the four teacups, and used two black dates to make another teacup, arranging everything on a tray. She said to the others, "I’ll go ask him. If he’s not from the Tang Dynasty, then forget it; but if he is from the Tang Dynasty, let the little boy take the tea out. Once they drink this tea, they’ll all die, and we can take our revenge and relieve our worries!" The seven female demons expressed their gratitude and nodded in agreement.
The Taoist changed into another set of clothes and respectfully walked out, inviting Tang Seng and the others to sit down again. He smiled and said, "Master, please don’t take offense. I just went to the back to instruct my young disciples to prepare some vegetables and radishes for you, which is why I was delayed." Tang Seng hurriedly waved his hand, "This poor monk does not dare to trouble you with a meal!" The Taoist smiled and said, "We are all monks; when we see the mountain gate, we receive three measures of grain. Why speak of not troubling you? May I ask, Master, which precious mountain are you from? What brings you here?"
Tang Seng replied, "This poor monk was sent by the Tang Dynasty to the Western Thunder Sound Temple to obtain scriptures and has just passed by the celestial palace, specially coming to pay a visit." Upon hearing this, the Taoist’s face lit up with a smile: "You are a loyal and virtuous Buddha! I didn’t know and failed to welcome you properly; please forgive me! Quickly, young boy, go change the tea and prepare a meal!" The little boy dashed inside, and the female demons called out to him, "There’s good tea ready here; take it out." The little boy indeed brought out five cups of tea.
The Taoist quickly held out a red date tea cup to Tang Seng, noticing that Bajie was stout, he recognized him as the eldest disciple, and Sha Seng as the second disciple, finally handing the fourth cup to Wukong. Wukong, sharp-eyed, saw that there were two black dates on the tray and said, “Sir, let’s trade a cup.” The Taoist smiled and replied, “To be honest, elder, I didn’t have enough tea fruits prepared; I only found these twelve red dates in the mountains, so I used these two black dates to make one cup to accompany you.” Wukong chuckled, “That’s true; as the ancients say, it’s not poor at home, but on the road that one is truly poor. You are a resident here, so how can you say you’re poor? Let’s trade!”
Seeing Wukong so insistent, Tang Seng said, “Wukong, this immortal is showing hospitality; just drink it, why trade?” Wukong had no choice but to accept the tea cup, pondering to himself.
At that moment, Bajie was getting anxious, his stomach growling with hunger. Seeing three red dates in the tea cup, he immediately gobbled them down, followed by Tang Seng and Sha Seng. Before long, Bajie’s face changed, Sha Seng started to weep, and Tang Seng began to foam at the mouth; all three collapsed to the ground. Wukong noticed something was wrong and immediately raised the tea cup, throwing it at the Taoist: “You scoundrel, you actually poisoned us!” The Taoist was startled and quickly shielded himself with his robe sleeve, causing the tea cup to shatter into pieces.
The Taoist angrily exclaimed, “You monk, what a clumsy fool! How dare you break my tea cup?” Wukong retorted, “You beast! Look at what has happened to those three! What does my relationship with you have to do with this? How dare you use poison against me!” The Taoist coldly laughed, “You foolish creature, don’t you know you’ve brought this trouble upon yourself?”
Wukong countered, “We just entered and sat down to talk; how could we have brought trouble?” The Taoist asked, “Did you eat in the Spider Cave? Did you bathe in the Zhuangou Spring?” Upon hearing this, Wukong became alert: “The Zhuangou Spring is the place of the seven female demons. If you’re saying this, it must be related to them. Don’t think you can escape! Take this!” With that, Wukong pulled out his golden staff from his ear and aimed it at the Taoist.
Seeing the situation was dire, the Taoist quickly turned to dodge and drew a treasured sword to confront Wukong. As they cursed and fought, the female demons inside were startled and rushed out, shouting, “Senior brother, don’t worry! Let us handle this!” Seeing them, Wukong became even angrier, gripping his iron staff tightly and charging in to attack.
The seven female demons opened their arms, exposing their snow-white bellies, and began to cast spells. They conjured silk ropes from their navels, creating a large canopy to trap Wukong. Upon seeing this, Wukong’s heart sank; he rolled over and chanted a spell, performing a somersault to break through the canopy. Furious, he thought, “This is truly impressive! If I had known it would be like this, I shouldn’t have come so easily! My master and junior brother have been poisoned; these demons are truly ruthless. I’ll go find the Earth God for clarification!”
At this moment, Wukong wasn’t hesitating. He immediately landed on a cloud, formed a hand gesture, and chanted “Om,” summoning the Earth God back. Upon seeing him, the Earth God knelt down trembling, saying, “Great Sage, you went to save your master; why have you returned?” Wukong shook his head as he spoke, “I saved my master in the morning and hadn’t gone far when I encountered the Huanghua Temple. I entered with my master, and the temple master welcomed us. After a few words, he served poisoned tea to my master. I didn’t drink it but tried to hit him with my staff, and he mentioned the Spider Cave and Zhuangou Spring. Upon hearing that, I knew he was a demon. Just as I was about to act, the seven women rushed out and unleashed silk ropes. Fortunately, I’m knowledgeable and managed to escape. I thought you, as a god here, would know his background, so quickly tell me what kind of demon he is, or I’ll hit you!”
The Earth God bowed his head, saying, “That demon has lived here for less than ten years. I saw his true form three years ago; he is one of the seven spider spirits. The silk ropes he conjured are spider silk.” Upon hearing this, Wukong’s heart filled with joy: “So that’s it! You stay here and wait for me; I’ll go subdue him!” The Earth God quickly bowed and left, while Wukong ran outside the Huanghua Temple, plucked some hairs from his tail, blew out some celestial breath, and shouted “Transform!” He then transformed into seventy little Wukongs; he also changed his golden staff into seventy double-pronged forks. Each little Wukong had one, and Wukong himself held one, preparing for a grand battle.
Then, Wukong led the seventy little Wukongs and began to stir the silk ropes, working together to break them apart, managing to twist and tangle over ten pounds of it. As a result, the seven spider spirits were dragged out, each one as big as a ball, with their hands and feet tied, pleading for mercy: “Spare us! Spare us!” At this moment, the seventy little Wukongs were not planning to let them go. Wukong shouted, “Don’t hit them; first, return my master and junior brother!”
The demoness cried out sharply, “Senior brother, quickly return Tang Seng and save my life!” Just then, the Taoist also rushed out from inside: “Sister, I want to eat Tang Seng; I can’t save you now!” Upon hearing this, Wukong was filled with rage: “Since you won’t return my master, don’t blame me!” With that, he raised his forked staff and fiercely struck the seven spider spirits, beating them to a pulp as if they were bags of meat, with pus and blood splattering everywhere.
At this point, Wukong shook his tail, retracted his fur, and charged inside to find the Taoist. The Taoist, seeing his sister beaten to death, felt pained and quickly drew his sword to fight back. Both, filled with anger, engaged in a fierce battle: the demoness wielded her sword while the Great Sage raised his golden staff. For the sake of the Tang Dynasty’s Tripitaka, the seven female demons had already perished, making this battle truly spectacular, with the sounds of swords and staffs clashing, wind and sand swirling, the sky darkening, and the stars vanishing.
After fifty or sixty exchanges, the Taoist gradually felt overwhelmed, his hands weakening significantly. He even loosened his belt and took off his black robe. Upon seeing this, Wukong couldn’t help but laugh: “My son! Taking off your clothes won’t help if you can’t defeat me!” It turned out that without his robe, the Taoist had thousands of eyes under his armpits, shining with golden light, possessing immense power. The golden light intertwined with yellow mist, instantly trapping Wukong inside. Wukong felt a panic rise in his heart; he spun around, unable to move forward or backward, as if he were spinning in a barrel.
This left Wukong in a state of distress, thinking, “What should I do? I can’t move forward, backward, or sideways, and if I bump up, I just fall down. This is truly unlucky!” He pondered, “Today really isn’t my day; usually, I’m fine with knives and axes, but why does my head hurt so much today? This golden light is truly troublesome; it seems I need to come up with a plan; I can’t continue like this!”
At this moment, the Great Sage truly used all his skills, chanting a spell and transforming into a pangolin, also known as a dragon-scaled fish. Look at this fellow, with four iron claws, he could tunnel through mountains and crush stones as if he were grinding powder; his body covered in scales, he could break ridges and pierce rocks as if chopping green onions. His two eyes sparkled brightly, even brighter than twin stars; his sharp beak was harder than a steel drill. Thus, he burrowed into the ground, drilling down over twenty miles before finally popping his head out. It turned out that the golden light only covered about ten miles. Once he emerged, Wukong felt completely drained, his whole body ached, and he couldn’t help but shed tears, crying out, “Master! When I followed you out of the mountain, traveling west, it truly was unbearable!”
Just as the Beautiful Monkey King was feeling sorrowful, he suddenly heard someone crying behind the mountain. He wiped his tears and turned around to see a woman in deep mourning, holding a bowl of cool porridge in her left hand and a few sheets of burnt paper and yellow money in her right, walking while weeping pitifully. Wukong sighed, “What a coincidence—tearful eyes meet tearful eyes, a heartbroken person encounters another heartbroken person! What is this woman crying about? I must ask her.” The woman approached, and Wukong bowed and asked, “Lady Bodhisattva, who are you crying for?” The woman, holding back tears, replied, “My husband quarreled with the master of Huanghua Temple over buying bamboo poles and was poisoned to death by him with toxic tea. I am now burning paper money to repay our marital bond.” Upon hearing this, Wukong couldn’t help but shed tears.
However, the woman, upon seeing him, immediately became angry: “You ignorant person! My heart is like a knife being cut while I cry for my husband, yet you’re here shedding tears, mocking me?” Wukong quickly explained, “Lady Bodhisattva, please don’t be angry; I didn’t mean to. I am the imperial envoy from the East, the eldest disciple of Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong. I stopped at Huanghua Temple while traveling west to fetch scriptures. The Taoist there, I don’t know what kind of demon he is, actually formed a brotherhood with seven spider spirits. Those spider spirits tried to harm my master, and my junior brothers Bajie and Sha Seng and I fought desperately to save him. In the end, the Taoist served poisoned tea to my master, junior brother, and horse; only I didn’t drink it, and after smashing the tea cup, I fought with him.”
Wukong continued, “At that moment, the seven spider spirits rushed out and used silk ropes to bind me. Fortunately, I used my magical powers to escape. After asking the Earth God, I learned the true form of that Taoist. I then used my clone technique to tangle the silk ropes and drag out the demons, ultimately beating them to death. The Taoist, furious, picked up his sword to fight me, resulting in a stalemate. In the end, he took off his clothes, revealing thousands of eyes under his armpits that emitted golden light, trapping me. I then transformed into a pangolin and drilled my way out from underground. Just as I was feeling sorrowful, I heard you crying, so I came to inquire about it.”
Upon hearing this, the woman put down the porridge and paper money she was holding and bowed to Wukong: “Don’t take offense; I didn’t know you were also a victim. The Taoist you mentioned is actually a hundred-eyed demon lord called Duomuguai. Since you have such transformations and managed to escape the golden light after such a long battle, you must possess great supernatural powers. However, you still can’t approach that fellow. I suggest you seek a sage; he can break the golden light and subdue the Taoist.” Wukong quickly nodded: “Lady Bodhisattva, do you know who that sage is? I will go ask him to save my master and also avenge your husband!”
The woman replied, “I’ll tell you, if you ask him to subdue the Taoist, you can take revenge, but he probably won’t be able to save your master.” Wukong was puzzled: “Why can’t he save him?” The woman sighed: “The Taoist’s poison is extremely potent; once administered, it rots the bones and marrow within three days. If you go too late, it might be too late to save him.” Wukong confidently said, “I can travel quickly; no matter how far, I can cover a thousand miles in half a day!” The woman continued, “Since you can travel fast, listen to me: there’s a thousand-mile distance from here to there. There’s a Purple Cloud Mountain over there, and within it, there’s a Thousand Flower Cave, where a sage named Pi Lan Po resides. He can defeat this demon.”
Wukong hurriedly asked, “Where is that mountain located? How should I get there?” The woman pointed south: “Head south, and just keep going up the mountain.”
Wukong turned back to look, but the woman had already vanished. He felt anxious: “Oh Bodhisattva, I was just dazed and didn’t recognize you; please leave your name so I can thank you!” Just then, a voice came from the air: “Great Sage, it’s me.” Wukong looked up and saw it was the old woman from Lishan! He immediately expressed his gratitude, saying, “Old Mother, where did you come from to instruct me?” The old woman replied, “I just returned from the Longhua Assembly and saw your master in trouble. I pretended to be a mourning woman, using the name of a deceased husband to save him from death. Quickly go and seek him, but don’t say I instructed you; that sage is a rather peculiar person.”
Wukong thanked her repeatedly, and after saying goodbye, he jumped onto his cloud and headed straight for Purple Cloud Mountain. As he approached the mountain, he saw the Thousand Flower Cave, with green pines obscuring the beautiful scenery and cypress trees surrounding the celestial dwelling. Green willows swayed along the mountain path, and strange flowers filled the valley, with fragrant orchids encircling the stone house and fragrant grass contrasting with the rocks. The stream babbled, mist swirled, birds sang joyfully in the trees, and deer grazed leisurely. Wukong joyfully walked in, thinking to himself, “This place is truly beautiful!”
However, upon entering the cave, he found not a single person inside; it was so quiet that even the sounds of chickens and dogs were absent. He thought to himself, “The sage must not be home.”
As he ventured further in, he finally spotted a female Taoist sitting on a couch. Look at her appearance: she wore a five-flower brocade hat, a robe woven with gold, phoenix-headed shoes, and a waist adorned with double tassels. Her complexion was like the frost of autumn, and her voice was as delicate as a spring swallow. Wukong felt delighted and hurriedly approached: “Bodhisattva Pi Lan Po, greetings!” The Bodhisattva immediately got up from her couch, pressed her palms together in greeting: “Great Sage, I apologize for not welcoming you properly. Where have you come from?” Wukong curiously asked, “How did you recognize me as the Great Sage so quickly?” The Bodhisattva smiled and replied, “When you caused a ruckus in Heaven back then, it spread throughout the land; who doesn’t know?”
Wukong shook his head: “Good news doesn’t leave the house, but bad news travels far and wide. Now that I have returned to the Buddhist path, you wouldn’t know!” The Bodhisattva said, “When did you return to the Buddhist path? Congratulations! Congratulations!” Wukong hurriedly replied, “I’m here to save my master, Tang Seng. He encountered a Taoist at Huanghua Temple who poisoned him with toxic tea. I fought with that Taoist, and he trapped me with golden light, but I managed to escape using my magical powers. I heard you could dispel his golden light, so I came to seek your guidance.”
Upon hearing this, the Bodhisattva showed a look of confusion: “Who told you this? I haven’t been out for over three hundred years, living in seclusion, and no one knows how you found out.” Wukong proudly replied, “I’m a ghost of the earth; I can gather information from anywhere.” The Bodhisattva sighed, “Well, since you’ve come, I cannot let the good deed of seeking scriptures be extinguished. I will go with you.” Wukong was extremely grateful: “I truly didn’t mean to rush you, but I didn’t know what weapon to bring.” The Bodhisattva answered, “I have a sewing needle that can defeat him.”
Wukong couldn’t help but laugh: “Old Mother misled me; had I known it was a sewing needle, I could have just asked for one from my old self.” The Bodhisattva explained, “Your sewing needle is merely a steel needle; it’s useless. My treasure is neither steel, iron, nor gold; it was forged from the sun’s rays by my son.” Wukong was astonished: “Who is your son?” The Bodhisattva replied, “My son is the Star Lord of the Pleiades.” Wukong was shocked and pointed towards the golden light: “That golden light leads to Huanghua Temple!”
The Bodhisattva then took out a sewing needle from her collar, delicate as an eyebrow, about five or six inches long. With a gentle toss, the golden light was immediately dispelled. Wukong was overjoyed: “Bodhisattva, wonderful! Quickly find the needle!” The Bodhisattva held it in her palm: “Isn’t this it?” Wukong immediately descended from the cloud and entered the temple, finding the Taoist with his eyes closed and unable to move.
Wukong angrily shouted, “You vile monster pretending to be blind!” He was about to strike, but the Bodhisattva stopped him: “Great Sage, don’t hit him; first, check on your master’s condition.”
Wukong walked straight to the guest area in the back and saw, to his dismay, that all three of them were lying on the ground, spitting and foaming at the mouth—a truly pitiful sight! His heart ached, and tears nearly fell: “What should we do? What should we do?” At that moment, the Bodhisattva comforted him: “Great Sage, don’t be sad; I came out today to accumulate some merit. I have detoxification pills; I’ll give you three.” Wukong immediately turned around to bow and express his immense gratitude.
The Bodhisattva took out a tattered paper bag from her sleeve, containing three red pills, and handed them to Wukong: “Quick, put them in their mouths.” Wukong carefully pried open their jaws and fed each of them a pill. Before long, the effects kicked in, and they began to vomit, finally expelling the poison and coming back to life! Zhu Bajie was the first to crawl up, mumbling, “I thought I was going to die!” Tang Seng and Sha Seng also woke up, exclaiming, “I feel so dizzy!” Wukong immediately told them, “You were poisoned by the tea; fortunately, Bodhisattva Pi Lan saved you. Quickly come and thank her!”
Tang Seng quickly adjusted his clothes and expressed his gratitude to the Bodhisattva. Zhu Bajie, however, angrily said, “Senior Brother, where is that Taoist? I need to ask him why he tried to harm us!” Wukong recounted the events, and upon hearing this, Zhu Bajie’s anger flared: “Since this guy is in cahoots with the spider spirits, he must be a demon!” Wukong pointed outside: “He’s out there pretending to be blind.” Zhu Bajie, furious, picked up his rake, preparing to teach the Taoist a lesson, but was stopped by the Bodhisattva: “Calm down, Tianpeng; let me deal with him first.”
Wukong gratefully said, “Thank you, Bodhisattva, but let’s make him reveal his true form so we can see.” The Bodhisattva easily agreed, stepped forward, and pointed at the Taoist, who immediately fell to the ground, revealing his true form—a seven-foot-long giant centipede! The Bodhisattva lifted him with her pinky finger and rode on a cloud straight to the Thousand Flower Cave. Zhu Bajie exclaimed, “This old lady is truly impressive; how did she subdue such a vile creature?”
Wukong laughed heartily: “I asked him what weapon could break his golden light, and he said it was a sewing needle forged by his son from the sun’s rays. When I asked who his son was, he said it was the Star Lord of the Pleiades. I figured the Pleiades is a rooster, so this old lady must be a hen; hens are best at subduing centipedes, which is why she could capture him.” Tang Seng, upon hearing this, repeatedly bowed: “Disciples, quickly pack your things!”
Sha Seng found some rice and prepared a meal, and they all enjoyed a hearty feast. Then they led the horse and carried their burdens, inviting their master to leave. Wukong set fire to the kitchen, instantly turning the temple to ashes, and then they walked on. It was indeed: Tang Seng received his command from Pi Lan, and the nature of the many-eyed monster was resolved. What happens next, we’ll discuss next time!
