Now, Sun Wukong went up to the Southern Heavenly Gate and saw the Heavenly King Guangmu. He said:
“I have business and seek an audience with the Jade Emperor.”
Outside the Lingxiao Hall, the four great Celestial Masters—Zhang Daoling, Ge Xianweng, Xu Jingyang, and Qiu Hongji—came to receive him. Together they bowed and said:
“Great Sage, if you are not protecting Tang Seng on his journey west to fetch the scriptures, why have you come here?”
Wukong said, “Difficult! Difficult! The road is long and demons abound. We have not yet traveled even a third of the way, and already we have been blocked at Huangfeng Ridge. We encountered two demons there: one wields wind, the other wields fire. I, Old Sun, invited Bodhisattvas and Dragon Kings alike, yet none could overcome them; instead, Bajie was lost inside as well. I have come especially to seek the Jade Emperor, to ask him to issue a decree and dispatch troops to subdue and exterminate the demons.”
Celestial Master Xu said, “You monkey, in the past you had the ability to wreak havoc in the Heavenly Palace. How is it that now you cannot even subdue two demons?”
Wukong said, “Truly difficult! Truly difficult!”
Celestial Master Zhang said, “Very well. We need only report it for him.”
Wukong said, “Many thanks! Many thanks!”
The four Celestial Masters reported to the Lingxiao Hall and led him before the jade steps.
Wukong made a grand salute toward the throne and recounted the matter of Huangfeng Ridge, saying:
“These demons are exceedingly fierce. Even Bodhisattva Lingji could not subdue them. I, Old Sun, thought they might not be earthly demons, but perhaps baleful stars from Heaven. I ask the Jade Emperor to issue a decree and investigate.”
When the Jade Emperor, Heavenly Venerable, heard the report, he immediately issued a decree:
“Investigate the stars and constellations of all the heavens, and the divine kings of every mansion, to see whether any have longed for the mortal world and descended below.”
Wukong added, “That demon has dragon horns and golden scales. First check whether Kang Jinlong is still in the palace!”
The immortal official received the decree. First he checked the divine kings and officials at the four Heavenly Gates; next he checked all the greater and lesser perfected beings within the Three Enclosures; then he checked the thunder generals, the Thirty-three Heavens, the Twenty-eight Mansions, the Sun, the Moon, and all the stars of the sky. None had longed for the mortal world and descended below.
The immortal official returned and reported to the Jade Emperor, “All the stars and constellations in the heavens, and all the divine generals of every quarter, are present. None have longed for the mortal world and descended below.”
Hearing this, the Jade Emperor said, “Though no immortal or god from Heaven has gone down to the mortal realm, it is still earthly demons causing chaos. Let Sun Wukong select several heavenly generals and descend to capture the demons.”
Deeply grateful for the imperial favor, Wukong chose Li the Heavenly King and his son to capture the Yellow Wind Monster, and also chose the Lord of Water Virtue to extinguish the demonic fire. Leading a host of heavenly soldiers, he went straight down through the Southern Heavenly Gate.
After being delayed in Heaven for a long while, by the time Wukong brought them back to Huangfeng Ridge, more than half a month had already passed.
Anxious at heart, Wukong pointed at the mountain and said, “This is the demons’ cave!”
When Third Prince Nezha heard this, he took out his Universe Ring and was about to smash the mountain apart.
Wukong hurriedly stopped him and said, “My master is still inside. Allow me to go down and challenge them first; then you can come subdue them.”
Wukong went down and cried:
“Wretched monster, come out quickly! Release my master, my junior brother, and Bodhisattva Lingji!”
Inside Yellow Wind Cave, a lesser demon hurriedly reported:
“Great King, that Sun Wukong has come again!”
The Great Sage Yellow Wind said angrily, “This monkey never ends! This time I will capture him for certain!”
Ao Tu said, “Worthy brother, go on. I will stand by and support you!”
The Great Sage Yellow Wind agreed, put on his armor, took up his steel fork, and leapt out the door.
“Wretched monkey, have you come to die again?”
Wukong said, “Demon, look who that is.”
The Great Sage Yellow Wind raised his head and saw a young boy flying through the air, delicate and pretty as a girl, yet with an arrogant expression.
Behold him:
A jade-like face and lovely features, round as the full moon; vermilion lips and a square mouth revealing silver teeth.
Embroidered sashes danced in the wind, flying like colored flames; a brocade robe shone in the sun, scattering golden blossoms.
It was none other than Third Prince Nezha.
The Great Sage Yellow Wind was greatly startled and was just about to summon the wind when Li the Heavenly King shone his precious pagoda upon him, holding him fast so that for a time he could not move. Nezha drew out his Red Armillary Sash, intending to bind the demon and deliver him under decree.
Seeing this, Ao Tu flew out and fanned three times, breaking the precious pagoda’s restraint and the Red Armillary Sash.
The Great Sage Yellow Wind immediately summoned the wind. The wind fed the fire, and raging flames soared ten thousand zhang into the sky.
Wukong cried urgently, “Lord of Water Virtue, release water! Quickly, release water!”
The Lord of Water Virtue cast his spell, pouring down a thousand zhang of clear waves. Their gurgling roar shook the valleys, and their surging force flooded the heavens.
Who would have thought that the fire did not fear water? The more it burned, the fiercer it grew, and instead it followed the water and burned upward.
On this side, the Great Sage Yellow Wind blew his wind, blowing so hard that Sun Wukong, Nezha, and Li the Heavenly King could not open their eyes, could not keep their footing, and could not hold their clouds.
Ao Tu fanned the flames from the side, spreading fire across the whole sky. Even Nezha’s hair and temples were burned into disarray, and he fled in defeat with his hair loose and wild. Li Jing shielded his precious pagoda with one hand, afraid it would be damaged by the fire, and also retreated all the way.
The Lord of Water Virtue was slow to escape and was burned down from the clouds, then captured and taken into the cave.
Seeing that things were going badly, Sun Wukong had long since departed with a somersault cloud, earlier than anyone else.
When he saw Nezha and Li the Heavenly King following after him, Sun Wukong laughed and said, “Third Prince, in your present state, you look even more like a little girl!”
Nezha said hatefully, “You wretched monkey! We have lost soldiers and generals all to save your master, yet you mock us here!”
Li Jing said, “Alas! That demon possesses such vast divine powers. What are we to do?”
Nezha thought of something and said, “Father, did you see the precious fan in that demon’s hand?”
Li Jing said, “I was standing far away and did not see it.”
Nezha said, “I saw that precious fan looked extremely similar to the treasure of my senior uncle, Qingxu Daode Zhenjun. Could it be that one of his disciples stole the precious fan and came here to become a demon?”
When Sun Wukong heard this, he hurriedly said, “Do you mean Qingxu Daode Zhenjun of Ziyang Cave on Qingfeng Mountain?”
Nezha said, “Exactly.”
Sun Wukong said, “I, Old Sun, will go invite him at once.”
With that, he vaulted onto a cloud and left.
A moment later, he turned back again, grabbed Nezha, and said, “I must ask Third Prince to come with me as well, so you can make the introduction.”
Before long, Wukong and Nezha arrived at Ziyang Cave on Qingfeng Mountain. Through Nezha’s introduction, they met Qingxu Daode Zhenjun.
After hearing what Nezha said, Qingxu Daode Zhenjun raised his hand and summoned out the precious fan. “No one from my cave has gone down the mountain, nor has the precious fan been stolen. I suspect my martial nephew saw wrongly.”
Sun Wukong and Nezha could only return helplessly.
Back at Huangfeng Ridge, after their discussion yielded no result, the Heavenly King said, “If we wish to win, we can only first take his treasure. There is no other way.” As he spoke, he looked at Wukong.
Wukong said, “No need to dress it up as ‘take.’ Just call it stealing. I, Old Sun, am going!”
Wukong leapt down, transformed into a fly, and slipped into the cave.
He saw that within the cave, demons large and small were dancing and singing, lined up on both sides. The great demon sat high upon the platform, with muntjac meat and deer legs set before him, eating with relish. The second demon sat not far away, with wine, fruit, and delicacies laid out, leisurely enjoying them.
Looking carefully, Wukong saw no trace of the precious fan at the second demon’s waist, hands, bosom, or neck.
Wukong found a corner, transformed into a lesser demon, walked forward, and poured wine for the second demon, probing as he said, “Second Great King, you are truly amazing! With just a light wave of that precious fan, you sent Sun Wukong and all the heavenly generals fleeing!”
Hearing this, Ao Tu raised his head and looked at the lesser demon. Some suspicion arose in his heart, though he could not see anything wrong.
Sun Wukong’s art of transformation was simply impossible for ordinary people to distinguish. Previously, Ao Tu had recognized Sun Wukong because Sun Wukong had transformed into a mosquito and landed on Tang Seng’s bald head to bite him, making it extremely obvious.
However, though he could not tell true from false, Ao Tu still felt deeply suspicious. After all, he had only recently come to Yellow Wind Cave. Apart from Tiger Vanguard, whom he was fairly familiar with, the ordinary lesser demons were not so close to him and would not suddenly come over to pour him wine and strike up a conversation.
After thinking for a moment, Ao Tu patted the lesser demon on the shoulder and said softly, “You cannot say that. Our elder brother deserves credit too, wouldn’t you say?”
Sun Wukong did not know it was a trap and agreed, “Of course, of course!”
Ao Tu laughed. He was certain now: this lesser demon was Sun Wukong in disguise.
When he and the Yellow Wind Monster had sworn brotherhood, he was the elder brother, while the Yellow Wind Monster was the younger brother.
It was only because he was a guest in the cave and had not truly joined Yellow Wind Cave that the cave master remained the Yellow Wind Monster. Naturally, the lesser demons called the Yellow Wind Monster Great King, but they did not know what to call him.
Ao Tu had no sobriquet. Calling him Second Great King was wrong; calling him Great Great Great King sounded needlessly wordy; calling him guest made him seem far too distant.
Thus Ao Tu lowered his own status and had the lesser demons call him Second Great King to avoid trouble.
Sun Wukong did not know this detail and exposed himself.