Journey 043: Family Drama
Sun Wukong tells the villain who abducted his master that long-lost relatives were visiting, but demon boy is nonplussed.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 43 of Journey to the West.
Last time, the pilgrims were crossing yet another mountain when yet another hard-luck case in need of rescue presented himself. This time, it was a 7-year-old boy hanging from a tree who said he had been left there by bandits. San Zang took pity on him and freed him, and then told Sun Wukong to carry the boy. Sun Wukong did what he always did when tasked with carrying people of unknown origins — he killed the passenger. But just, a wild gale whipped up, and by the time it died down, San Zang had vanished.
So yeah, that was no boy. That was a demon, albeit a boy demon. Some years back, he had heard the news that there was a sage monk from the Tang kingdom who was heading West for scriptures, and that this guy was the 10th incarnation of Golden Cicada, the second disciple of Buddha, so eating a piece of his flesh would make you immortal. Demon boy was eagerly awaiting the pilgrims’ arrival on his mountain. When they finally showed up, he was spying on them in the air in the form of a red cloud, which set off Wukong’s red alert. Seeing the three fierce-looking disciples surrounding San Zang at the drop of a hat, the demon decided to use guile instead, so he turned himself into the boy in distress. And while Sun Wukong was carrying him, the demon sensed that Wukong was harboring thoughts of committing a little pedicide, so he quickly flew into the air, leaving behind a fake mortal coil for Wukong to rip apart.
As he watched Wukong go to town on his doppelganger, demon boy couldn’t help but be irate. He thought to himself, “This monkey is too vicious. Even if I was a demon intent on harming your master, I haven’t even made a move yet, so why did you tear me apart like this?!”
Well, but he WAS a demon intent on doing harm to San Zang, so demon boy then cast his wind spell and made off with San Zang in the chaos.
After the wind subsided, the three disciples gathered and noticed that their master was gone. God this is getting old, and we’re not even half way through the novel yet.
Anyway, after the disciples did their usual thing of “Did you see where master went?” “No, did you?”, Sun Wukong said, “Brothers, let’s just break up the band!”
“Right, right!” Zhu Bajie agreed. “Let’s break up now and each go our separate ways. The road West is endless; when would we ever make it there?!”
But Sha Zeng was so taken aback that he felt his body go numb. He asked Wukong, “Brother, what are you saying? We had committed offenses in our prior days. Thankfully, the Bodhisattva Guanyin counseled us and brought us into the Buddhist school. We all agreed to protect the Tang monk to go West to see the Buddha and fetch scripture, so as to atone for our offenses. How can we talk about disbanding after coming this far? We must not go against the Bodhisattva’s compassion or damage our own virtues. Otherwise people would laugh at us for having no persistence.”
“Brother, you’re right,” Wukong said. “But master refuses to listen. My fiery golden eyes can tell good from evil. This wind just now was created by that boy who was hanging from the tree. I recognized that he was a demon, but you didn’t, and neither did master. He thought the boy was a good person, so he told me to carry him. I tried to deal with the demon, and he tried to crush me with magic. So I tore him to pieces. But he must have used magic to slip away and created that wind to abduct master. Master always refuses to listen to me. That’s why I am disheartened and said we should disband. But given your sincerity, I am not sure what to do. Bajie, what do you think?”
Zhu Bajie now backtracked as well. “I misspoke just now. Honestly, we shouldn’t disband. Brother, there’s no choice except to do as brother Sha says. Let’s go find that demon and save master.”
So Wukong perked up and said, “Brothers, let’s stay united in purpose. Get the luggage and the horse, and let’s go up the mountain to find that demon and save our master.”
So the three of them searched all around in a 20-some-mile radius, but found nothing, not even birds or animals. Wukong got impatient, so he flew to the top of a peak, shouted, “Change!”, and sprouted three heads and six arms, wielding three golden rods. He now started smashing everything in sight, which prompted Bajie to say to Sha Zeng, “Oh crap! Brother Sun is letting off steam because we can’t find master.”
After this went on for a while, a group of shabby looking local mountain and earth spirits showed up, all dressed in rags and tatters, with no seats to their pants or legs to their trousers. They kneeled in front of the peak and paid their respects to Wukong.
“How come there are so many of you here?” Wukong asked.
“Great Sage,” the local spirits said, “this mountain is called the 600-Mile Drill-Point Mountain. For every 10 miles, there is a mountain spirit and an earth spirit. So there are 30 of each in all. We found out yesterday that you had arrived. But we couldn’t gather all of our numbers on short notice, hence our belated welcome. Please forgive us.”
“I’ll spare you for now,” Wukong said. Answer me this: How many demons are there on this mountain?”
“Oh granddaddy, just the one demon is enough to plunge us into poverty and deny us of offerings or incense. None of us can clothe or feed ourselves. How many more demons can we stand?!”
“Does that demon live on the front side or back side of the mountain?”
“Neither. There is a ravine in the center of this mountain, called the Dead Pine Ravine. Next to the ravine is a cave, called the Fire Cloud Cave. There’s a demon lord there. He is very powerful and often forces us to do manual labor for him. And his lackeys often hit us up for money.”
“But y’all are gods from the spirit world. How would you have money?” Wukong asked.
“Exactly. So all we can do is catch some game and present them as gifts. If we don’t offer gifts, then he would come tear down our temples and rip away our clothes, and we would know no peace! Please, Great Sage, rid us of this demon and save all those who reside on this mountain.”
Wukong now asked, “Since he often forces you to work in his cave, do you know that demon’s name?”
“You might actually know him,” the local spirits said. “He is the son of the Bull Demon King by Lady Rakshasi. He once cultivated his Dao for 300 years on the Flaming Mountain, refining the True Fire of Samadhi. He also has great magical powers. The Bull Demon King sent him here to watch over this mountain. His baby name is Red Boy, and his nickname is the Holy Infant King.”
When he heard that, Wukong’s mood brightened. He dismissed the local spirits, returned to his normal number of heads and arms, and leaped down from the peak to rejoin his brothers. He told them, “Don’t worry anymore. Master will be fine. This demon is related to me.”
Zhu Bajie laughed, “Brother, stop telling tall tales. You resided on the Eastern Continent, while this is the Western Continent. They are far apart and separated by rivers and mountains, not to mention two oceans. How can he be related to you?”
“That group of people just now were the local earth and mountain spirits,” Wukong explained. “I asked them the backstory on the demon. They said he’s the son of the Bull Demon King and Lady Rakshasi, called Red Boy and nicknamed the Holy Infant King. Five hundred years ago, I traveled the world and met heroes across the land. That Bull Demon King was one of my seven sworn brothers, and I called him Big Brother. Since this demon is his son, then when you work through my connections with his father, I’m his uncle. How would he dare to harm my master? Let’s go find him.”
Sha Zeng chuckled, “Brother, as the saying goes, ‘If you don’t visit for three years, you’re not really related anymore.’ You haven’t seen them for five or six hundred years, and you haven’t had a drink with him or invited him over for holidays. Why would he consider you family?”
“How can you think that way of people?” Wukong said. “As the saying goes, ‘Like a single leaf of duckweed drifting back to the great sea, among people, how could we not meet again somewhere?’ Even if he doesn’t treat me like family, I figure he at least wouldn’t harm master. We don’t need him to treat us to a feast, just return our master.”
So the three disciples followed the main road and headed deeper into the mountain. They traveled for about 40 miles and saw a pine forest up ahead. Within the forest there was a stream flowing along a twisting ravine. The stream’s water was pure and green, and at its head was a stone bridge that connected to a cave.
“Brothers, look!” Wukong said. “That jagged rock face must be where the demon lives. Let’s figure out which of you will stay to watch the luggage and horse, and which of you will come with me to tame that demon.”
Bajie piped up, “Brother, I have no patience for sitting. I’ll go with you.”
So they left Sha Zeng in charge of the luggage and horse, and then Wukong and Bajie grabbed their weapons and headed toward the cave. They saw a stone tablet by the door bearing the words, “Fire-Cloud Cave of Dead Pine Ravine on Mount Hao (4).” Out in front of the cave, a group of demon lackeys were playing around with weapons.
Wukong shouted, “You little ones, go tell your leader right now that if he returns my master, the Tang Monk, at once, then I will spare the creatures of this cave. If he dares to utter half a no, I will topple your mountain and flatten your cave!”
The lackeys hurriedly dashed back into the cave, shut the door, and reported to their leader, the Red Boy. Now, Red Boy had been busy prepping his meal. After he captured San Zang, he had his prisoner stripped, hog-tied, and bound up in the back of the cave while his lackeys washed him to prepare him for steaming. But meal prep was interrupted by word that trouble was knocking on his door. So Red Boy came out from the back and asked what’s up. The lackeys told him that a hairy-faced monk that looked like the God of Thunder, and a long-snout, big-ear monk were outside, demanding their master back and making threats.
Red Boy chuckled, “That must be Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. This is 50 miles away from where I abducted their master. How did they find their way here? Alright, little ones, push our carts out!”
So a few lackeys pushed five small carts out the front door. When Bajie saw this, he said to Wukong, “Brother, that demon must be afraid of us, so they’re prepping their carts and getting ready to move.”
“That can’t be,” Wukon said. “Let’s see where they put those carts.”
The lackeys arranged the carts in the pattern of the five elements — gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. Then, they told Red Boy all was ready. Red Boy then had the lackeys in charge of his weapon bring out a long Fire Tip Spear. Red Boy took the spear and walked out bare foot, clad in only a brocade battle skirt.
Wukong and Bajie sized him up. His face was white as if he was wearing powder. His lips were crimson. His temples coiled like blue clouds, and his eyebrows were split like a newborn moon. His battle skirt was embroidered with coiling dragons and phoenixes, and he brandished a spear.
“Who is making a ruckus outside my house?!” Red Boy shouted.
Wukong stepped forward and laughed, “Good nephew, drop the act! Earlier today, you fooled my master by pretending to be a sickly child hanging from a tree branch on the side of the road. I carried you out of the goodness of my heart, but you summoned a wind and abducted my master. You think I don’t recognize you in this getup? Hurry up and send out my master. Don’t insult your relative. Otherwise when your father finds out, he might think I was bullying you. That wouldn’t look good.”
Red Boy, however, scoffed angrily, “You crazy monkey! How could I be related to you? You’re spewing a mouthful of nonsense! I’m no nephew of yours!”
“Oh kiddo. You don’t know it, but back in the day, way before you were born, your father and I were brothers.”
“Monkey, that’s total bull! Who the hell are you? How can you be brothers with my father?!”
“You don’t understand. I am that Sun Wukong who caused a ruckus in heaven 500 years ago. Before I went up to heaven, I traveled all over the four continents. At that time, I made it a point to visit all the heroes. Your father is the Bull Demon King, known as the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven. He was our big brother. There was also a Flood Dragon Demon King, called the Great Sage Who Subdues the Sea. He was second. Third was the Roc Demon King, known as the Great Sage Who Roils Heaven. Fourth was the Lion Camel Demon King, called the Great Sage Who Moves Mountains. No. 5 was the Macaque Spirit King, the Great Sage Who Commands the Winds. No. 6 was the Marmoset Spirit King, the Great Sage Who Drives the Gods. I was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. Because of my small stature, I was No. 7. When the seven of us were hanging out, you weren’t even born yet.”
But Red Boy refused to believe him, and instead stabbed at him with the spear. Wukong quickly dodged the thrust, raised his rod, and cursed, “You little beast! Show some respect to your elders! Take this!”
And so the two now leaped into the air and started going at it. After 20 exchanges, even though there wasn’t a winner, Wukong was clearly on the offensive. Watching this, Zhu Bajie thought to himself, “If that monkey lures that demon into a mistake and smacks him down, then I wouldn’t have a chance to get a piece of the credit.”
So he now hoisted his rake and flew into the sky as well. He swung his rake at Red Boy’s head. Red Boy was intimidated and quickly fell back. Wukong and Bajie gave chase. When they arrived back at the cave entrance, they saw Red Boy standing on the cart in the center, holding his spear in one hand, while making a fist with the other. As he saw his foes approach, Red Boy now punched his own nose twice.
Zhu Bajie laughed, “You scoundrel. Have you no shame? Are you breaking your own nose and making it bleed so you can give yourself a bloody face and go somewhere to accuse us of beating you up?”
But Red Boy now uttered an incantation, and then breathed fire from his mouth and smoke from his nose. In the blink of an eye, a blaze ignited, and all five carts caught on fire. Red Boy breathed out a few more sprays of flames, and a roaring fire and thick smoke now engulfed the area in front of the cave, blocking out heaven and earth.
“Brother, this is trouble!” Bajie said in a panic. “This fire is going to roast me alive. He’s going to put some seasoning on me and eat me! Let’s get out of here!”
And so he ditched Sun Wukong and ran back across the ravine. Wukong, meanwhile, uttered a fire-repellent spell and charged into the flames in search of Red Boy. Seeing him come through the fire, Red Boy breathed out a few more mouthfuls of fire, even more intense than before. This proved to be too much even for Wukong. He couldn’t even see the road in front of him, so he had no choice but to leap out of the fire and fly away. Once Red Boy was certain Wukong was gone, he retrieved his fire carts and led his lackeys back inside his cave, shutting the door behind them and throwing a feast to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Sun Wukong landed back on the other side of the ravine. There, he heard Bajie and Sha Zeng talking inside the pine forest. Wukong went to them and chided Bajie, “You dum-dum! You fled in fear of the demon’s fire and left me by myself. What if something had happened to me?!”
Bajie laughed, “Brother, that demon called you out. You really don’t know which way the wind is blowing. As the ancients said, ‘Those who recognize the times are called heroes.’ That demon refused to recognize you as his relative, and yet you insisted. And then when you were fighting, he unleashed that vicious fire, and yet you refused to flee and tried to keep fighting!”
“How were that demon’s fighting skills compared to mine?” Wukong asked.
“He’s no match for you,” Bajie said.
“And his skills with the spear?”
“Also not your equal,” Bajie said. “I saw he was faltering, so I went to lend you a hand. But who knew he would retreat and then start that fire.”
“See? You shouldn’t have come,” Wukong said. “If I had fought him for a few more exchanges, I would’ve landed a blow.”
While the two of them were arguing, Sha Zeng leaned against a pine tree and almost doubled over laughing. Wukong asked him, “Brother, what are you laughing about? Do you have some skill that can capture that demon and break his fire? If so, that would be to the benefit of all of us. As the saying goes, ‘Many hairs make a ball.’ If you can capture that demon and save master, then you would have done a great service.”
“Oh I have no skills, and I can’t tame that demon,” Sha Zeng said. “I was just laughing at how worked up you two are.”
“What do you mean?”
“That demon can’t beat you in a fight. He just has the aid of his fire power. If you listen to me and counter his magic according to the five elements, it wouldn’t be difficult at all.”
Wukong laughed and agreed, “Brother, you’re quite right. In our haste, we forgot about that. According to the logic of the elements, we should counter fire with water. If we go find some magic water to put out that demonic fire, we can save master.”
“Exactly,” Sha Zeng said. “Let’s not delay.”
“Ok, you two stay here, but don’t fight him. Let me go to the East Sea to borrow some forces and water from the dragon king, so we can extinguish the demonic fire and capture that insolent demon.”
“Brother, go without worry. We’ll hold the fort,” Bajie said.
So Sun Wukong somersaulted into the air and flew to the East Sea. He cast a water-parting spell and dived in. He ran into a Yaksha spirit who was patrolling the seas. The Yaksha quickly reported to the Dragon King of the East Sea, Ao (4) Guang (3), in the Water Crystal Palace. The dragon king went out with his family and troops to welcome Wukong and invited him into the palace.
Once they sat down, Wukong recounted the trouble he was having and said, “We figured that water can extinguish fire, so I’m here to ask you for some water. Give me a heavy rain to douse the demonic flames and save the Tang monk.”
“Great Sage, you’re mistaken,” the dragon king said. “If you want rain, you shouldn’t be asking me.”
“You’re the dragon king of the seas. You’re in charge of rain. If not you, then who should I be asking?”
“Although I’m in charge of the rain, I dare not proceed on my own. I must have a decree from the Jade Emperor, instructing me on where, when, and how much. I also need the official documents to mobilize the Thunder God, the Lightning Mother, the Wind God, and the Cloud Acolyte. As the saying goes, ‘A dragon can’t move without clouds.’ ”
“Oh I don’t need wind, cloud, thunder, or lightning; I just need some rain water to put out the fire,” Wukong said.
“Great Sage, even if you don’t need those things, I alone am not enough to help you. How about I gather my brothers to lend you a hand?”
“Where are your brothers?”
“They’re the dragon kings of the South, North, and West Seas.”
“If I have to visit all three of those other seas, I might as well go to heaven to ask the Jade Emperor for a decree,” Wukong chuckled.
“No need for you to go anywhere. I’ll sound my drums and gongs, and my brothers will come here.”
Wukong agreed, so the dragon king Ao Guang had his men beat the drums and ring the gongs. Soon, the other three dragon kings showed up and asked what’s up. Ao Guang told them Sun Wukong was there to ask for some rain to beat a demon. After they paid their respects and Wukong brought them all up to speed, the dragon kings set off with their armies.
Sun Wukong led them back to Dead Pine Ravine and told them, “This is the demon’s lair. You all stay in the air and conceal yourselves for now. Let me go fight that demon. If I beat him, then you don’t need to intervene. But if I lose to them, there’s also no need to intervene. But if he starts a fire, on my signal, make it rain.”
Wukong then descended into the pine forest and found Zhu Bajie and Sha Zeng. He told them, “I’ve brought the dragon kings. It might be a huge downpour. You two must take care and not let the luggage get drenched. I’ll go fight that demon.”
Wukong now leaped across the ravine, went to the cave, and demanded that Red Boy come out. When the lackeys reported this to Red Boy, he roared with laughter. “That monkey must not have been harmed by the fire, so he’s come back. Alright, this time, I will not spare him. I must scorch his skin and flesh!”
So he grabbed his spear and told his lackeys to push out the fire carts like before. He went outside and asked Wukong why he was back, and Wukong was like, uhh, for my master.
“You monkey!” Red Boy scoffed. “You are so stubborn. That Tang monkey may be your master, but he’s going to be my meal. You still think you can get him back? Dream on!”
Wukong was irate and attacked with his golden rod. Red Boy hoisted his spear and they went at it again. They fought for 20 exchanges again, and Red Boy, seeing that he wasn’t going to win in a fight, again punched himself in the nose twice and started spraying fire. As the flames spread, Wukong shouted, “Where are the dragon kings?!”
Up in the sky, Ao Guang and his brothers started spraying water from their mouths. A heavy rain now poured from the heavens.
Down it pours—loose and sweeping,
then thick and heavy.
Loose and sweeping,
like stars falling from the edge of the sky;
thick and heavy,
like overturned waves crashing at the mouth of the sea.
At first the drops were no bigger than fists;
soon after, it was as if vats were dumped and basins overturned.
The flood soaks the ground till it shines duck-head green;
high mountains are washed into Buddha-head blue.
From ravines the water flies like jade for a thousand yards;
in mountain streams the waves surge like ten thousand strands of silver.
At the three-forked crossroads all is filled to the brim;
in the nine-bending creek the waters gradually level out.
This is when Tang Monk meets calamity and a divine dragon comes to aid—
tipping over the Milky River itself,
pouring it down upon the world below.
And yet, despite the poetic deluge, the flames did not recede in the slightest. As it turns out, the dragon kings’ rain could only put out mortal fires. But Red Boy’s fire was a sacred magical flame, impervious to this rain. In fact, it got stronger, as if the rain water was actually oil.
Wukong now cast a fire-repellent spell again and charged into the flames to find Red Boy. But he ran smack dab into a stream of smoke from Red Boy’s mouth. Remember that, owing his time roasting in Laozi’s cauldron, Wukong had developed fiery golden eyes that were powerful but also came with the Achille’s heel of being sensitive to smoke. His eyes watered up, and Wukong had no choice but to turn and fly away.
While Red Boy went back into his cave, Wukong was engulfed in flames and smoke. He had no choice but to plunge into the ravine to try to put out the fire. While the flames went out, the combination of the heat of the fire and the cold of the water left Wukong lifeless.
Seeing this from the air, the dragon kings hurriedly stopped the rain and shouted to the other two disciples, “Grand Marshal of the Celestial Stream, Curtain-Raising Captain! Stop hiding in the woods! Go find your brother!”
Bajie and Sha Zeng heard this and rushed out from the forest with horse and luggage in tow. They searched along the ravine and saw a body floating down from the head of the stream. Sha Zeng leaped into the water and carried Wukong back on to the bank. Wukong was curled up stiffly, soaked through, cold all over, and showing no signs of life.
To find out the fate of Sun Wukong, and his captured master, 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
- “Ravines” by Elphnt (from YouTube audio library)