Journey 007: Crossover Clashes

Sun Wukong proves to be such a handful that heaven has to go get a hero from another novel to take him on.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 7 of Journey to the West.

Last time, after giving the army of heaven a royal beatdown, Sun Wukong got his wish as the Jade Emperor consented to give him the title Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. But then the Jade Emperor just couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided to actually put Sun Wukong in charge of something. And what’s worse, he put the monkey king in charge of a peach orchard. That’s what I call being set up to fail, and Sun Wukong promptly did so, at least in his official duty of making sure nothing happened to the peaches. But he didn’t stop at just gobbling up peaches while on the job. When he found out he had been left off the guest list for the fancy party that the Jade Emperor’s wife was throwing, Sun Wukong decided to crash the party ahead of time, eat all the food, drink all the wine, and swallow all the immortality pills that he found lying around the home of the founder of Daoism.

All this done, Sun Wukong decided that he maybe just possibly had overstayed his welcome in heaven a little bit, so he decided to go back down to Flower and Fruit Mountain instead. When he arrived, he saw his monkeys and demon friends running military drills like usual. 

“Hey little ones, I’m back!” Wukong shouted.

All the demons laid down their arms, kneeled, and said, “Great Sage, how could you bear to abandon us for so long?”

“Oh it wasn’t THAT long,” Wukong said.

Once he went inside his cave, his four senior monkey generals came to greet him and asked, “Great Sage, what position did you get during your century in heaven?”

“What do you mean a century?” Wukong laughed. “I clearly remember just being there for about half a year.”

The monkeys reminded him that a day in heaven is like a year down below, so it sure was a good thing that you struck all our names from the registries in the Underworld so that we’re all still alive. 

“I was glad that this time the Jade Emperor really did seem to show me favor,” Wukong told them. “He really granted me the title ‘Great Sage, Equal to Heaven.’ He built me a home, and assigned attendants to serve me. Then, later on, when he saw that I had nothing to do, he put me in charge of his Immortal Peach Orchard. Recently, his wife was throwing a Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches but didn’t invite me. So instead of waiting for an invitation, I went and crashed the party and stole all the food and wine. Then, on my way out, I stumbled upon Lao Zi’s palace and ate all his elixir pills. I was afraid the Jade Emperor would punish me, so I left heaven.”

All the demons were delighted to hear his story. They then welcomed him back with wine and fruits. But Wukong took one sip of their homebrew and spat it out.

“This is no good, no good,” he said.

Two of his senior monkeys said, “Great Sage, you got used to celestial wine and food in heaven, so of course our simple mountain brew isn’t up to your standards. But as the saying goes, ‘No matter if it’s tasty or not, it’s still the water of your home.’ ”

“That’s right, and ‘No matter whether we’re related or not, you’re family,’ ” Wukong replied. When I was crashing the party, I saw many jugs of celestial wine. You all haven’t had a taste yet. Let me go steal a few bottles so that you can all drink half a cup and you will all be immortal.”

I mean, they were already immortal, again thanks to your shenanigans in the Underworld. But given that Sun Wukong himself has obtained immortality by four or five different means already, I guess it’s only fair for his lackeys to have a backup eternal life insurance policy as well. So Wukong flew back up to heaven, made himself invisible, and snuck back to the scene of the party. All the staff that he had previously put to sleep with his magic were still out. He tucked a jar of wine under each arm, and carried another jar in each hand, and flew back to Flower and Fruit Mountain, whereupon his monkeys held a Festival of Celestial Wine, and each of them indulged in a few cups of the heavenly brew.

Meanwhile, in the Immortal Peach Orchard, the seven fairies who had been sent by the Golden Mother to pick peaches for her festival were still frozen in place by Wukong’s magic. It took most of a day before that spell wore off. Once they could move again, they rushed back to the Golden Mother and told her, “The Great Sage cast a spell to keep us frozen in place. That’s why we’re late getting back.”

“How many peaches did you all pick?” she asked them.

“Just two baskets of small peaches and three baskets of medium peaches. There isn’t a single large peach in the orchard in the back. The Great Sage must have eaten them all. When we were looking for large peaches, he suddenly appeared and threatened to hit us. Then he asked who had been invited to the festival. We told him the guest list for past festivals, and then he froze us and disappeared to who knows where. We only now came to.”

The Golden Mother now rushed to see her husband, the Jade Emperor, to tell him about this travesty. As they were talking, the attendants and brewers who were setting up the festival rushed in and said, “Someone crashed the festival. They drank all the wine and ate all the food.”

Before they were done lodging their complaint, word came that Lao Zi was outside. The Jade Emperor and the Golden Mother went out to greet him, and Lao Zi told them, “I had been making golden elixir pills in my palace, but someone stole them.”

And a moment later, the attendants assigned to Sun Wukong’s residence rushed in and said, “The Great Sage ignored his duties and went out touring yesterday and hasn’t come back yet. We don’t know where he went.”

As the Jade Emperor was slowly connecting the dots, the Barefoot Immortal showed up and said, “I was on my way to attend the festival yesterday when I ran into the Great Sage. He told me that I should go to the Hall of Perfect Light first for a rehearsal of ceremonies before attending the festival. I did as he said, but when I got to the Hall of Perfect Light, there was no one there! So I rushed here.”

The Jade Emperor was stunned. “That scoundrel dared to forge orders from me? Hurry, have the Divine Inspector find out where he went!”

Said inspector made the rounds, took careful notes, and came back to report, “The Great Sage was the one who caused all this havoc,” which … umm … great powers of deduction there, buddy. He then basically rehashed everything everyone else had already told the Jade Emperor, and the Jade Emperor was irate. He summoned the Four Heavenly Kings, Li Jing and Nezha, and a whole gaggle of other gods in the celestial bureaucracy. He commanded them to lead 100,000 troops to go capture Sun Wukong.

Riding on a yellow gale and purple haze that blocked out the sky, this immense host descended upon Flower and Fruit Mountain. They set up camp and completely surrounded the mountain, laying out 18 sets of cosmic nets to keep anyone from escaping. 

Then, they sent out their first combatants, the Nine Luminaries. These guys corresponded to major celestial bodies like the sun, moon, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and so forth. They went to the Water Curtain Cave and shouted to the monkeys playing outside, “Little demons! Where is your Great Sage? We are gods sent from heaven to bring that rebel to heel! Tell him to surrender now. If he resists, you all will die with him!”

The demon lackeys hurriedly reported this to Sun Wukong, who was in the midst of feasting with his four senior monkey generals and the demon leaders of the 72 caves on the mountain. When he got word of the challenge, he laughed it off and said, “As the saying goes, ‘If you have wine today, get drunk today; Mind not the troubles in front of your door!’ ”

So he and his friends kept drinking. Moments later, however, another gaggle of lackeys rushed in and said, “Those nine vicious gods are cursing you in the most profane way outside!”

Wukong laughed it off again. “Just ignore them. As the saying goes, ‘Let us seek today’s pleasure in poetry and wine, and cease asking when we may achieve glory or fame.’ ”

But he hadn’t even finished talking when another group of lackeys came in and said, “Those nine gods have broken our doors and are charging in!”

NOW Sun Wukong was pissed. “How dare those puny gods be so rude?! I wasn’t going to nitpick with them, but now they’re coming in to pick on me?!”

He ordered his vanguard generals, the unicorn demon kings, to lead the 72 demon leaders out for battle. He and his four monkey generals followed right behind. They stormed out, but were met by the Nine Luminaries at the head of the steel bridge leading into the cave.

Just as the two sides were squabbling, Sun Wukong showed up and shouted, “Make way!” Wielding his golden rod, he charged out and attacked. The Nine Luminaries hurriedly fell back outside before regrouping. They then said to Wukong, “You damn stable monkey! You’ve committed the most egregious offenses. You stole peaches, and then stole wine and crashed the festival. And you stole Lao Zi’s pills. And then you stole more wine and brought it back here. You’ve committed crime upon crime. Don’t you realize that?!”

Wukong laughed and said, “Yup, guilty as charged, but what are YOU going to do about it?”

“We have come here with a mighty host with orders to apprehend you. Surrender at once so that these other creatures won’t have to die. Otherwise, we will flatten your mountain and turn your cave upside down!”

Wukong flew into a rage. “What powers do you puny gods have? How dare you boast? Stand still and taste my rod!”

The Nine Luminaries charged and surrounded him, but Wukong was like, oh please. He raised his rod and easily fought all nine of them off. Exhausted, the Nine Luminaries fell back, dragging their weapons behind them and reporting to Li Jing, “That monkey king really is quite fierce. We’re no match for him.”

Li Jing now sent out the Four Heavenly Kings, along with the spirits of the 28 constellations. This crew charged forward and were met by Sun Wukong, the unicorn demon kings, the four senior monkey generals, and the demon leaders of the 72 caves. The two sides scrummed from morning till dusk, and it didn’t end well for Sun Wukong’s side. The unicorn demon king and the 72 demon leaders were all captured by the gods. Only the four senior monkey generals escaped, hiding deep in the bottom of the Water Curtain Cave. 

Meanwhile, Sun Wukong was up in the sky, single-handedly fighting against the Four Heavenly Kings, Li Jing, and Nezha. As the fight dragged on until night, Wukong decided to even out the numbers a bit. He plucked off a tuft of hair, chewed it up, sprayed it out, and turned them into thousands of copies of himself, all wielding golden rods. This proved to be too much, and his foes fell back.

Victorious in his fight, Wukong returned to the cave. But there, he was greeted by his four monkey generals, who welcomed him with three wails and three laughs. 

“Why are you all crying AND laughing?” he asked.

The four senior monkeys said, “While you were fighting, the demon leaders of the 72 caves, plus the unicorn demon kings, were all captured by the gods. We alone managed to escape. That’s why we cried. But you came back uninjured and victorious. That’s why we laughed.”

“Victory and defeat are common in war,” Wukong told them. “As the ancients said, ‘If you kill 10,000 enemies, you will lose 3,000 of your own.’ Besides, the ones who were captured were all other animals. We haven’t lost a single monkey, so why worry? Even though I used a little duplication magic to fight them off, they’re still camped out at the foot of our mountain. We must be on guard. Let’s eat a good meal and get some sleep. Come morning, watch me use my powers to capture these gods so as to avenge our own casualties.”

So the monkeys drank some wine and went to bed. Meanwhile, the celestial army regrouped. They had prisoners aplenty, but not a single monkey among them. They returned to camp, rewarded the soldiers, and told everyone to be on guard as they awaited another battle come morning.

While both sides braced for another coming clash, let’s go back up to heaven, where the Jade Emperor received a special visitor. This was the Bodhisattva Guanyin of the South Sea. Now, we’ve actually met a version of this character back in Investiture of the Gods. But back then, she was a Daoist, and she was a he. In that novel, one of the members of the Chan Sect’s class of 12 was named Merciful Navigation. According to that novel, apparently after the events in Investiture of the Gods, Merciful Navigation changed religion, and by the time we got to the Journey to the West, he had become a female Bodhisattva named Guanyin. 

A Bodhisattva is someone who has made a commitment to becoming a Buddha and has also received a confirmation from a living Buddha that they will become one. The Bodhisattva Guanyin apparently has many manifestations, including both male and female forms. Though in Chinese mythology, Guanyin is typically portrayed as female, and she is essentially a goddess of compassion and mercy. 

So this Guanyin was a VIP in the world of immortals and gods, so she was on the guest list for that festival of peaches that the Golden Mother was throwing. So Guanyin set out for the party, accompanied by her senior disciple, who just so happened to Muzha, the middle of Li Jing and an elder brother to Nezha. And of course we met him too in Investiture of the Gods.

When they arrived at the Jade Pool, however, they were greeted with a total mess. All the food, wine, and decor were in disarray, and the few other immortals who present were standing around talking amongst themselves in great agitation. After greeting her, the other immortals brought Guanyin up to speed on what happened to their party. 

“Since there is no more party, you all should come with me to go see the Jade Emperor,” she said.

So they all went to the Hall of Perfect Light, where they were greeted by a whole other gaggle of gods and immortals. They told her that the Jade Emperor was restless because his massive celestial army had not been able to bring Sun Wukong to heel.

“I would like to see the Jade Emperor,” Guanyin said. “Please announce me.”

A short while later, she was invited in, so she entered and saw the Jade Emperor with his queen the Golden Mother, and Lao Zi. They greeted each other and sat down, and then Guanyin asked knowingly, “What happened to the peach festival?”

“It’s been a huge celebration every year,” the Jade Emperor said. “But this year a demon monkey crashed the party.”

“Where did this demon monkey come from?” Guanyin asked.

“He was born from a boulder on Flower and Fruit Mountain near the kingdom of Aolai (4,2) on the Eastern Continent. When he was born, his eyes shot golden light that pierced the heavens. We didn’t pay him any mind at the time, but then he cultivated his Dao and became a demon and attained great powers and immortality. Both the Dragon King and the King of Death lodged complaints. I wanted to apprehend him, but Venus convinced me to exercise compassion and recruit him to heaven instead. So I invited him here and appointed him as supervisor of the stables. But he spat on that post for being too low and rebelled. I sent Li Jing and Nezha to arrest him, and then I granted him amnesty, summoned him here again, and bestowed upon him the title of Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. It was an empty title with no responsibilities. Because he had nothing to do, he spent all day going here and there. I was afraid he would stir up trouble, so I put him in charge of the peach orchard. But he disobeyed the rules and ate all the peaches. Then when it was time for the festival, because he isn’t on the payroll, he didn’t get an invitation. So he tricked Barefoot Immortal into going to the wrong place, assumed his form, and crashed the party, eating all the food and drinking all the wine. He then stole Lao Zi’s immortality pills, and stole some more wine for the monkeys on his mountain. I was really irritated, so I sent 100,000 celestial troops to capture him. But they haven’t reported back in a day, and I don’t know how they’re faring.”

After hearing the full story, Guanyin said to her disciple Muzha, “You should go to Flower and Fruit Mountain at once to see how the army is faring. And lend them a hand if you should encounter the enemy. Be sure to report back.”

So Muzha picked up a steel staff and flew down to Flower and Fruit Mountain. It was dawn, and he saw that the celestial army had completely surrounded the mountain. Muzha announced himself and requested an audience with the commander, aka, his father Li Jing. He was soon summoned in, so he entered and paid his respects.

“My child, why are you here?” Li Jing asked.

“I was accompanying the Bodhisattva Guanyin to the peach festival. She saw that the place had been ransacked, so she went to see the Jade Emperor. He told her that you had gone to the mortal realm to tame a demon monkey and had not reported back in a day. So she sent me here to find out the situation.”

Li Jing told him, “We pitched camp yesterday and sent the Nine Luminaries to go fight, but that monkey was too powerful and they retreated. Then I personally led the troops to fight him, and he also came out with his forces. Our soldiers scrummed with them until late. He used some duplication magic and fought us off. We only managed to capture some demon wolves, tigers, leopards, and such, not a single demon monkey. We haven’t gone to fight him yet today.”

Just then, word came that Sun Wukong and a bunch of his monkeys were outside challenging for battle. Muzha now said, “Father, when Guanyin sent me here, she instructed me to lend a hand if the opportunity arose. I’m willing to go meet this Great Sage!”

“My son, you’ve been studying under Guanyin all these years, so you must have some powers,” Li Jing said. “But be careful.”

So Muzha went out with his steel staff and shouted, “Which one is the Great Sage?”

Wukong answered and asked for his name. When Muzha introduced himself as a disciple of Guanyin, Wukong said, “What are you doing here instead of staying in the South Sea and working on your cultivation?”

“My master sent me to assess the situation. But seeing how unruly you are, I have come to capture you.”

“How dare you boast?! Stay and taste my rod!” Wukong shot back as he attacked. Muzha showed no sign of fear and countered with his own staff. The two of them now squared off on the mountain. After about 60 exchanges, however, Muzha was starting to falter. So he turned and fled, and Wukong led his monkeys back to their cave. 

Back at the celestial army’s camp, Muzha met up with his father, brother, and other gods. As he tried to catch his breath, he lamented, “What a Great Sage indeed! He really is powerful! I was not a match for him!”

This made Li Jing even more troubled. He now wrote up a request for reinforcements and sent Muzha and another officer back to heaven to ask for help. When they returned to heaven, Guanyin asked Muzha how things went. He told her the situation, and she looked down in silent contemplation.

Meanwhile, the Jade Emperor read the petition from Li Jing and scoffed, “How much skill can one demon monkey have, that he can fend off 100,000 celestial troops? And now Li Jing is asking for reinforcements, but where can I find more help?!”

Guanyin now piped up, “Have no worries, your highness. I would like to recommend a god that can capture this monkey.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s your nephew, the god Erlang (4,2),” Guanyin said. By the way, this Erlang is just another name for Yang Jian, one of the key characters from Investiture of the Gods. But since he’s never referred to as Yang Jian in Journey to the West, I’m going to call him Erlang from here on out. 

“He is currently based at the mouth of the Guan (4) River, where his temple enjoys regular offerings from mortals. He once slew six demons, has six sworn brothers from Osmanthus Mountain and 1,200 minor gods in his service, and possessed great powers. But he can only be requested, not summoned. You must issue a decree asking him for help. Then you can capture the monkey.”

The Jade Emperor promptly did as she suggested and sent a god to deliver the message. The courier took to the air and soon arrived at Erlang’s temple. The demon magistrates guarding the door announced him, and Erlang and his sworn brothers came out to receive the edict. It said:

“The demon monkey from Flower and Fruit Mountain, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, stole peaches, wine, and immortality pills from the palace and crashed the peach festival. We have sent 100,000 celestial troops and 18 sets of cosmic nets to capture him, but have yet to succeed. So I am asking you, good nephew, and your sworn brothers to go to Flower and Fruit Mountain to help eliminate this rebel. When you succeed, you will be handsomely rewarded.”

Erlang was delighted by this assignment. He sent the envoy back and told him that he would go help at once. He then gathered his six sworn brothers, mobilized his troops, brought along his hunting hound and eagle, as well as his bow and arrows. Riding on a strong gale, they crossed the East Sea in the blink of an eye and arrived at Flower and Fruit Mountain. They were greeted by the cosmic nets that surrounded the mountain and kept everything in and out.

“Listen up, you gods who are controlling the cosmic nets,”Erlang shouted. “I am the god Erlang, here by command of the Jade Emperor to capture the demon monkey. Open up the camp gate for me.”

The message had made its way into the camp, and moments later, Li Jing and the Four Heavenly Kings came out to welcome Erlang. When he inquired how the battle was going, they brought him up to speed.

“Now that I’m here, I will engage him in a contest of transformations,” Erlang said with a smile. “You all just keep the cosmic nets tight on all sides except the top. Let me face off against him. If I lose to him, there’s no need for you all to intervene. My sworn brothers will get my back. And if I beat him, you don’t need to come help apprehend him either. My brothers will do the job. But Commander Li, please stand in the sky with a Demon Reflecting Mirror. I worry that if he loses, he’s going to try to flee. Then I’d need the mirror to reveal his whereabouts.”

So everyone snapped to, and Erlang led his entourage and went to challenge for battle. When he approached the Water Curtain Cave, he saw an army of monkeys, lined up in a neat dragon-shaped formation. In the center stood a tall flagpole, with a banner that said, “Great Sage, Equal to Heaven.” 

“That damn demon!” Erlang scoffed. “How can he claim to be equal to heaven?”

When the monkeys saw Erlang, they hurriedly reported to Wukong, who came out with golden rod in hand to have a look. He saw this young man with exquisite features and an uncommon air, wielding a three-tipped saber, and wearing a Flying Phoenix headdress, a suit of yellow armor, golden boots, and a jade belt. 

Wukong chuckled, flashed his golden rod, and shouted, “Who are you, young man, that you would dare to come here to challenge me?”

“You must be blind to not recognize me!” Erlang shot back. “I am the Jade Emperor’s nephew Erlang, the King of Illustrious Grace and Spirit. I have come on the Jade Emperor’s command to capture you rebel. Yet you still don’t know any better!”

“Ah, I remember now,” Wukong laughed. “The Jade Emperor’s sister once snuck down to earth, married a mortal man named Yang, and gave birth to a son. That son later split open a mountain with his ax to save her. Would that be you? Look kid, I could insult you, but I have no grudge against you. I could hit you with my rod, but then you’d be dead and what a pity that would be. Just go on back and tell the Four Heavenly Kings to come face me.”

Erlang was infuriated at that slight. “Damn monkey!” he cursed. “Don’t be rude! Taste my blade!”

As he spoke, he raised his saber and attacked. Wukong dodged his swing and started to fight back, and the two engaged in a fierce battle. To see how this showdown will end, tune in to the next episode of the Chinese Lore Podcast. Thanks for listening!

Music in This Episode

• “Luỹ Tre Xanh Ngát Đầu Làng (Guzheng) – Vietnam BGM” by VPRODMUSIC_Asia_BGM
• “Dark Toys” by SYBS (from YouTube audio library)
• “Ravines” by Elphnt (from YouTube audio library)