Sun Wukong, along with Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng, stepped out of the city and immediately ran into a group of demons. Just look at them—these demons were a bunch of mixed-breed lions! Leading the pack was a yellow lion spirit, flanked by a lion with a lion-like face and another with a trunk, while to the right were a white lion and a fox-like lion. At the back were a monkey lion and a snow lion, and right in the middle was a nine-headed lion. Beside them stood a green-faced monster holding a beautifully embroidered banner, with two red flags waving nearby. The scene was quite lively!
Seeing this, Bajie immediately shouted, “You thieving monsters! What are you doing here?” The yellow lion spirit gritted its teeth in anger, “You bald head! Yesterday, I was outnumbered three to one by you guys. Today, I won’t let you off so easily! You burned my lair and hurt my family—our grudge runs deep! Today, I’ll make you pay!” Hearing this, Bajie raised his rake and charged forward. The two clashed, but before they could determine a winner, the monkey lion and snow lion rushed in to help.
At that moment, Sha Seng quickly pulled out his demon-subduing staff to support Bajie, but then the other four demons—lion-like, white lion, trunked lion, and fox-like—swarmed in, and chaos erupted. Sun Wukong swung his golden staff, fending off the attacks from the demons. The lion-like used a club, the white lion wielded a copper hammer, the trunked lion had a steel spear, and the fox-like brandished a battle axe. Seven lion spirits and three monks were locked in a fierce battle, creating quite a ruckus!
After a fierce fight, night fell before they knew it. Bajie was out of breath, his legs feeling like noodles. Suddenly, the snow lion and monkey lion shouted, “Where do you think you’re going?” Bajie didn’t dodge in time and got hit with a stick, collapsing to the ground, crying out, “Enough! Enough!” The two demons immediately dragged Bajie away to meet the nine-headed lion, reporting, “Grandfather, we’ve captured one!” Not long after, Sha Seng was also defeated, and the demons closed in around him.
At this moment, Sha Seng had a brilliant idea. He plucked a hair, chewed it up, and shouted “Transform!” Instantly, he turned into hundreds of little Sha Senges, surrounding the white lion, lion-like, trunked lion, fox-like, and golden-haired lion. Sha Seng charged forward, fiercely attacking, and finally captured the lion-like and white lion by nightfall, but the fox-like and trunked lions escaped. The golden-haired lion returned to report to the old demon, who, upon hearing that two lions were lost, immediately ordered, “Bind Zhu Bajie, but don’t harm him! Make him return the lions to me. If he dares to play tricks, kill him!”
That night, the demons rested quietly outside the city, not mentioning the matter again.
The next day, Sun Wukong brought the captured lion spirits to the city’s edge. As soon as the old king saw them, he ordered the gates to open, sending out twenty or thirty soldiers to bind the lion spirits and carry them into the city. Sun Wukong put away his magical hair and, along with Sha Seng, climbed up to the city tower to meet Tang Seng. Tang Seng looked worried and said, “This is serious! We still don’t know what’s happening with Wuneng!”
Sun Wukong laughed and replied, “No worries! We’ve captured these two demons; they won’t dare to harm Wuneng. Once we bind them, we can exchange them for Bajie tomorrow.” The three young princes looked at Sun Wukong with immense admiration and bowed, saying, “Master, you showed such skill in your previous duel, and now you’ve transformed into so many! What incredible power you have!”
Sun Wukong chuckled, “I have 84,000 hairs, capable of transforming one into ten, ten into a hundred, and so on—my transformations are endless!” The young princes, hearing this, immediately worshipped him and prepared a lavish vegetarian feast. They all enjoyed a hearty meal on the city tower, where lanterns hung high, and the sound of drums and gongs filled the air, creating a lively atmosphere!
As dawn broke, the old demon summoned the yellow lion spirit and began plotting, “Today, you must capture that traveler and Sha Seng well. I will quietly fly up to the city tower to capture his master and the old king’s son, then take them to the Nine Curves Cave. We’ll wait for your victory before proceeding!” Upon hearing this, the yellow lion spirit immediately gathered the monkey lion, snow lion, trunked lion, and fox-like lion, each arming themselves and preparing to head towards the city gate, creating a tense atmosphere!
On this side, Sun Wukong and Sha Seng had already jumped down from the city wall, shouting loudly, “Thieving monsters! Return my junior brother Bajie to me, or I’ll smash you to pieces!” The demons completely ignored them and surged forward. Sun Wukong and Sha Seng exerted all their strength to block the five lion spirits. This fight was much more intense than yesterday’s, with howling winds, swirling black mist, flying stones, and even ghosts would be frightened. Various weapons clashed in the air, creating a murderous atmosphere, as if they wanted to swallow Sun Wukong and Sha Seng whole.
At that moment, the old demon quietly flew up on a black cloud to the city tower. Shaking his head, he scared the officials and guards on the tower, causing them to flee down the city. Taking advantage of this, he opened his mouth and swallowed Tang Seng and the old king’s son. Guess what? He had nine heads, each with a mouth—one mouth held Tang Seng, another held Bajie, while the other mouths held the old king and the three princes. He managed to capture six people in one go!
Seeing their ancestor victorious, the five little lion spirits were greatly encouraged. Sun Wukong, hearing the commotion from the city, realized they had fallen into the old demon’s trap and quickly warned Sha Seng to be cautious. Suddenly, he had a clever idea. He plucked a hair from his body, chewed it up, and spat it out, instantly transforming into hundreds of little Sun Wukongs, all charging forward. They managed to knock down the monkey lion, capture the snow lion, and catch the trunked lion, even toppling the fox-like lion, while the yellow lion spirit was killed. Seeing this, the remaining demons fled in panic.
The officials on the tower quickly opened the gates, bound the five lion spirits, and brought them into the city. Just as everyone was busy dealing with the demons, the princess ran over, crying and pleading with Sun Wukong, “Divine Master, what will happen to my prince and your master? What will become of this lonely city?” Sun Wukong comforted her, saying, “Don’t worry! I’ve captured seven lion spirits, and that old demon won’t dare to harm you. Tomorrow morning, Sha Seng and I will go to the mountains to capture the old demon and return your four princes.” Upon hearing this, the princess immediately knelt down with her ladies, thanking him, “Please ensure the safety of the prince and the king!” After bowing, they tearfully returned to the palace.
Sun Wukong instructed the officials, “Skin the dead yellow lion spirit, and securely lock up the six living lion spirits. Prepare some vegetarian meals; we’ll eat and then rest. Don’t worry, you’ll all be safe.”
The next day, Sun Wukong took to the clouds with Sha Seng and soon arrived at the peak of Zizhu Mountain. Looking around, they marveled at the height of the mountain! The peaks were steep and rugged, with deep valleys and flowing streams, and fragrant flowers blooming on the cliffs. Looking back at the mountains, ancient paths wound around, truly a breathtaking sight, like a fairyland. Green birds chirped in the trees, yellow birds whispered on the branches, spring brought blooming peaches and plums, summer saw lush willows, autumn spread golden flowers, and winter danced with white snow. The beauty of the four seasons was truly intoxicating!
That day, while Sun Wukong and Sha Seng admired the scenery at the mountain top, they suddenly spotted a little green-faced demon holding a short stick, running towards the valley like a startled bird. Sun Wukong shouted, “Where do you think you’re going? Old Sun is here!” The little demon, frightened, tumbled down the slope. The two chased after it for a few steps but found a cave ahead with its door tightly shut, marked “Nine Curves Cave of the Ten Thousand Spirits Bamboo Mountain.” It turned out the little demon had run into this cave.
Once inside, the little demon quickly closed the door and hurriedly reported to the old demon, “Grandpa, two monks have come outside!” The old demon felt a bit uneasy and asked, “Has your king and the other demons arrived?” The little demon shook its head, “I didn’t see them; it was just the two monks enjoying the scenery on the mountain, and I ran away as soon as I saw them.” Hearing this, the old demon lowered his head in silence, suddenly shedding tears and murmuring to himself, “How pitiful, my yellow lion son is dead, and the others have been captured by the monks. How can I take revenge?”
Meanwhile, Bajie, tied up, overheard the old demon’s words and felt secretly pleased, thinking, “Master, don’t worry! My senior brother has already captured the monsters and will definitely come to rescue us!” The old demon, however, ignored this and commanded the little demon, “Keep a close watch; I will go out and capture those two monks and punish them severely!” After saying this, he swung the cave door wide open and charged out. Seeing this, Sun Wukong immediately blocked the entrance with his iron rod, while Sha Seng raised his precious staff, ready to attack.
The old demon shook his head, and all eight heads opened their mouths simultaneously, gently swallowing Sun Wukong and Sha Seng. He commanded, “Quick, bring the ropes!” The crafty little demons immediately brought ropes and tightly bound the two of them. The old demon smugly said, “You mischievous monkey, you captured seven of my descendants, so I’ll capture you, the monk, and the princes for revenge!” The little demons raised their willow sticks, preparing to give Sun Wukong a beating.
Sun Wukong felt quite amused, thinking that the willow sticks felt like mere tickles against his body, and he didn’t care at all. However, Bajie, Tang Seng, and the princes nearby were horrified and extremely worried. After a while, the willow sticks broke, and the sky began to darken. The old demon called for a stop: “Little ones, light the lamps and eat. I’ll go take a nap in the Jinyun Nest, then we’ll continue.” The little demons lit the lamps and resumed hitting Sun Wukong with the willow sticks, the sound resembling the beating of gongs. Gradually, everyone grew tired and started dozing off.
At that moment, Sun Wukong used his evasion technique to shrink his body and easily slipped out of the ropes. He shook off his hair, tidied his clothes, took out his staff, which grew thick and long, and said to the three little demons, “You’ve hit me so many times; now it’s my turn!” With that, he struck lightly, and the three little demons instantly turned into meat patties. Sun Wukong then freed Sha Seng, while Bajie shouted anxiously, “Brother, my hands and feet are swollen! Hurry and save me!”
This shout startled the old demon. Upon hearing it, he quickly got up and asked, “Who is freeing themselves?” Sun Wukong, hearing this, hurriedly blew out the lamp, disregarding Sha Seng, and smashed through several doors to escape. The old demon called from the hall, “Little ones, why is there no light? Has someone escaped?” After calling several times with no response, he lit a lamp and saw the ground covered in bloody meat patties. The old king, Tang Seng, and Bajie were all there, but Sun Wukong and Sha Seng were nowhere to be found.
The old demon hurriedly searched around and found Sha Seng still stuck in the corridor, grabbing him and tying him up again. When he looked for Sun Wukong, he saw that several doors had been smashed, and realizing that Sun Wukong had escaped, he didn’t pursue him. Instead, he busied himself with repairing the broken doors to protect his territory.
Meanwhile, Sun Wukong had exited the Nine Curves Cave and was riding on a cloud straight to Yuhua Prefecture. As soon as he reached the city wall, the Earth God and City God came out to greet him like honored guests. Sun Wukong, puzzled, asked, “Why did you only come today?” The City God quickly explained, “We knew you were coming, but since a wise king was hosting a banquet, we didn’t dare disturb you. We heard that the prince encountered monsters, so we specifically came to welcome you.”
Just as they were chatting excitedly, the golden-headed Jie Di and the six heavenly generals brought in a land god, who knelt before Sun Wukong and respectfully said, “Great Sage, we’ve captured this land ghost.” Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong felt somewhat displeased, saying, “You’re not protecting my master on Bamboo Mountain, and you come here instead?” The heavenly general quickly explained, “Great Sage, that monster captured the Rolling Curtain General. We thought he was powerful, so we brought the land god from Bamboo Mountain here to ask for your help in saving the master and the wise king.”
The land god trembled and said, “That old demon came to Bamboo Mountain two years ago. The Nine Curves Cave is the lair of six lions. When those six lions saw the old demon, they all bowed to him as their ancestor. This ancestor is a nine-headed lion named Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng. To defeat him, we need to go to the East Extreme Miao Yan Palace to invite his master.” Sun Wukong’s eyes lit up upon hearing this: “The East Extreme Miao Yan Palace is the territory of the Taiyi Savior!”
Thus, Sun Wukong instructed Jie Di and the land god to hurry back to protect his master and the princes while leaving the City God to guard the city. The gods complied and busily went about their tasks. Sun Wukong leaped into the air, riding on his somersault cloud, and traveled through the night. By the time he reached the hour of the tiger, he happened upon the Heavenly King Guangmu and a group of heavenly soldiers, who all stopped and respectfully asked, “Great Sage, where are you headed?” Sun Wukong politely replied, “I’m going to Miao Yan Palace.”
The Heavenly King, curious, asked, “Why are you going east instead of west?” Sun Wukong replied earnestly, “I went to Yuhua Prefecture, where the prince invited us to be his masters, but we encountered a group of lion monsters. I heard that the Taiyi Savior in Miao Yan Palace is the master of these lions, so I came to seek his help!” The Heavenly King nodded, “I see! Then you should hurry!” The heavenly soldiers all stepped aside, and Sun Wukong swiftly entered the East Heaven Gate.
Before long, he arrived at Miao Yan Palace, and the sight before him was breathtaking: colorful clouds swirled around, and purple mist rose from the east. As soon as the celestial boy at the palace gate saw Sun Wukong, he hurried to report, “Grandpa, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven has arrived!” Upon hearing this, the Taiyi Savior immediately sent guards to welcome him.
When Sun Wukong saw the deity, he respectfully bowed, and the deity returned the gesture, saying, “Great Sage, it’s been years since we last met. I’ve heard about your journey to the West for scriptures. You must be nearing the completion of your mission, right?” Sun Wukong shook his head, “Not yet, but it’s almost done. Recently, while protecting Tang Seng to Yuhua Prefecture, the prince invited us to teach martial arts, but we encountered lion monsters who stole our divine weapons, and I ended up being captured by a golden-haired lion.”
Upon hearing this, the deity immediately ordered the celestial generals to find the lions. When the lion servant was awakened, he begged for mercy in fear, “Spare me! I was wrong!” The deity asked, “Why didn’t you follow the rules and let the nine-headed lion escape?” The lion servant looked aggrieved, “I saw a bottle of wine in the Ganlu Hall and couldn’t resist stealing a drink. I ended up so drunk that I lost consciousness, which allowed the lion to escape.” The deity laughed, “That wine was sent by the Supreme Old Lord; drinking it will make you drunk for three days. Get up quickly and come with me and the Great Sage to catch the lions!”
Thus, the deity, Sun Wukong, and the lion servant rode on clouds straight to Bamboo Mountain. Upon their arrival, the Five Directions Jie Di, the Six Ding and Six Jia, along with the land gods, all knelt down to welcome them. Sun Wukong, concerned, asked, “How have you been protecting? My master is alright, right?” The gods quickly shook their heads, “The monster is asleep and hasn’t made a move.” The deity smiled and said, “My Yuan Sheng is also a spiritual being with many years of cultivation. His shout can shake the Three Realms, so he definitely won’t harm anyone. Great Sage, you provoke him at the entrance to draw him out, and I’ll take care of him.”
Sun Wukong, hearing this, felt delighted. He immediately brandished his iron rod, jumped to the cave entrance, and began shouting loudly, “You wicked monster, quickly return the people!” After calling a few times with no response, Sun Wukong grew anxious and directly struck into the cave with his rod, cursing continuously. The old demon finally woke up, furious, and shouted, “You thieving monkey, wait for me!” Sun Wukong laughed heartily, standing at the cliff’s edge, “Do you dare to be so rude? Do you know your master is here?”
Upon hearing this, the old demon immediately fell to the ground, panicking. At that moment, the lion servant rushed over, grabbed the old demon by the hair, and hit him a few times, scolding, “You beast, how dare you steal? You’ve made me suffer!” The old demon didn’t dare to resist and could only lower his head and admit his wrongdoing. After tiring from the beating, the lion servant stopped, placed a brocade on the old demon, and the deity mounted it, commanding, “Let’s go!” The lion servant let out a long howl, riding on colorful clouds straight to Miao Yan Palace.
Sun Wukong looked at them gratefully from the air, then entered the cave to rescue the King of Yuhua first, followed by Tang Seng, Bajie, Sha Seng, and the three princes. They searched through the cave and slowly led everyone out. Bajie gathered some dry wood, piled it up, and set fire to the Nine Curves Cave, turning it into a charred ruin! Sun Wukong then freed the gods, instructed the land gods to guard the area, and had Bajie and Sha Seng each use their magic to carry the king and his sons back to the prefecture, while he assisted Tang Seng.
Before long, they returned to the prefecture as night fell. The queen and officials came to welcome them, laying out a sumptuous feast for everyone to enjoy. Teacher Chang rested in the Baofa Pavilion, while the princes returned to their palace, and the night passed without incident.
The next day, the king ordered a grand vegetarian banquet to thank all the officials. Sun Wukong summoned a butcher and had all six live lions killed, even skinning the yellow lion, and the meat was distributed for everyone to enjoy. The prince was very pleased and ordered one lion to be kept in the palace, another for the officials like the Chancellor, while the remaining five were chopped into small pieces and given to the soldiers and citizens of the prefecture to taste, also to scare them a little.
Families throughout the prefecture discussed this matter. The blacksmiths were busy forging weapons, and when they saw Sun Wukong approach, they all knelt down, saying, “Grandpa, our weapons are ready!” Sun Wukong asked, “How much do they weigh?” The blacksmiths replied, “The Golden-Hooped Rod weighs a thousand pounds, and the Nine-Toothed Rake and the Demon-Subduing Staff each weigh eight hundred pounds.” Sun Wukong nodded, “Not bad.” He then called the three princes to come out, each holding their weapons.
The young prince said to the old king, “Father, the weapons are finally ready today.” The old king sighed, “These weapons nearly cost us our lives.” The young prince continued, “Thanks to the divine master’s magic, we were saved from the evil, truly bringing peace and tranquility!” The old king and his son gratefully rewarded the craftsmen and then went to the Baofa Pavilion to express their gratitude to Sun Wukong.
As it happened, Tang Seng noticed the time was getting late and quickly said to the Great Sage and the others, “Hurry and teach the princes martial arts; we can’t delay our journey!” So, they took turns teaching weapon techniques in the courtyard of the palace. In just a few days, the three princes became skilled like little martial arts experts, able to attack and defend with ease, mastering all seventy-two techniques—truly, each one was a martial arts master.
This was no exaggeration; the princes had particularly strong spirits, and with Sun Wukong having imparted his divine power to them from the start, the thousand-pound rod and eight-hundred-pound rake felt as light as chopsticks to them. Compared to their previous training, it was like night and day! There was a poem to prove it: “Thanks to the good fortune of meeting the divine master, who taught us martial arts to face the monster lions. Clearing away the evil secures the nation, uniting as one to stabilize the borders.” This poem was well-written and very fitting!
The princes were immensely grateful and decided to hold a grand banquet to thank their masters for their teachings. They even prepared a large platter of gold and silver to express their appreciation. Sun Wukong laughed heartily upon seeing it, saying, “Quick, take it back! We monks don’t need these!” Bajie chimed in, “I wouldn’t dare accept gold and silver, but my clothes were torn by the lions. A new outfit would be a thoughtful gesture.” Upon hearing this, the princes immediately called for the tailor to make clothes, requesting several rolls of blue, red, and brown silk to create new garments for the three masters.
The three happily donned their new clothes, packed their belongings, and prepared to set off. Upon reaching the city, they found the area outside bustling with excitement. The streets were filled with people praising them as if they were Arhats descending or living Buddhas arriving. The sounds of drums and flags waving created a festive atmosphere, almost like a New Year celebration. Every household was burning incense, and colorful lanterns hung at their doors, creating a lively scene.
This group was finally ready to leave the west side of the city, thinking about going to Mount Ling to escape the worldly disturbances and focus on Buddhism. But who knew how far Mount Ling was or when they would arrive? That will have to wait for next time!
