It is said that Bajie recuperated for two days, then went again to subdue the demon.
On Ao Tu’s side, each day he scattered a handful of red sand, suppressing Sun Wukong’s physical body and primordial spirit so that he could not escape.
When Bajie arrived, Ao Tu had Tiger Vanguard watch over the formation for the time being, while he transformed into Tiger Vanguard’s likeness and went out to meet the challenge.
Bajie held his rake and shouted:
“You man-eating evil tiger, who knows how many sins you’ve committed! Today your Grandpa Pig has come to rid the world of you monster!”
Ao Tu said, “Well, well, you pig spirit. Last time I beat you till you fled in panic, and today you’ve come again to throw your life away. Are you trying to stuff this great king to death?”
Bajie said, “Don’t boast! Last time I was unprepared. Take my rake!”
As he spoke, he struck with his rake.
Ao Tu raised his blade to meet it. Metal clashed against metal, sparks flying in all directions.
Bajie exclaimed in surprise, “How has a beast like you gained so much strength?”
Ao Tu laughed. “It’s you, pig spirit, whose strength is lacking. Watch me chop off your pig trotters and stew them for dinner!”
Bajie flew into a rage and raised his rake to strike again.
Ao Tu fought with him, holding back, and after more than thirty exchanges, neither side had prevailed.
Bajie grew fierce. With one swing of his rake, he raked wildly in every direction.
Ao Tu put away his blade, took out a long spear, and sent out a sharp beam of golden light.
Seeing this, Bajie hurriedly raised his rake to block it.
Who would have thought that the golden light was far more powerful than before? Even though Bajie blocked it with his rake, he was still shaken and sent flying, his hands and feet going numb.
Bajie said, “You sly evil tiger! So you were holding back before! As the saying goes, pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger—but today you’re turning it around and trying to eat this Old Pig!”
Ao Tu said, “You pig spirit do have some strength, to actually block my golden light!”
Bajie said, “You still haven’t seen what your Grandpa Pig can really do!”
With that, he raised his rake and charged again.
They fought for dozens more rounds. Bajie felt that this evil tiger’s martial skill was about equal to his own; only that golden light was somewhat formidable. Thus he transformed into his true form and charged about wildly, trampling the forest floor until it collapsed and overturning great trees by their roots.
Ao Tu said angrily, “You pig spirit, how dare you damage my mountain forest!”
He raised his long spear and released over a hundred sharp beams of golden light.
Bajie dodged some and took others, suffering many wounds before being forced to disperse his true form.
Seeing this, Ao Tu pretended to be panting heavily and said:
“You pig spirit, you actually didn’t die. You do have some ability! Today we shall withdraw for now. Once I’ve had my meal, I’ll fight you again.”
Bajie knew that the tiger spirit had run out of strength and had half a mind to keep fighting him, but he also feared the fellow was treacherous and still had strength hidden away. In the end, they each withdrew.
After Bajie returned, he recuperated for two days, then came again to fight.
Ao Tu still came out to accept the challenge.
Each time, Bajie felt he was only a little short of defeating Ao Tu, yet he could never beat him.
More than ten days passed in this way. Seeing that Bajie still had not subdued the demon, Tang Seng grew somewhat anxious and could not help saying, “Bajie, since you cannot subdue that demon, why not go invite the Bodhisattva over?”
Bajie said, “That’s fine too. It’s just, Master, my cloud isn’t as fast as Senior Brother’s. Wait here and don’t be anxious.”
Tang Seng said, “Your master is not anxious. Go quickly!”
Bajie then mounted a cloud and hurried toward the Southern Sea.
When Tiger Vanguard saw Bajie depart on a cloud, he immediately reported it to Ao Tu. Ao Tu guessed that Bajie was going to seek help, so he mounted a cloud to catch up and, with a shake of his body, transformed into Sun Wukong’s appearance.
He wore a phoenix-wing purple-gold crown on his head, golden chainmail armor on his body, and lotus-silk cloud-stepping shoes on his feet. In his hand he even held a package of exquisite gifts as he swept past Bajie on his cloud.
Seeing him, Bajie rubbed his eyes and hurriedly called, “Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”
Ao Tu stopped his cloud, looked at Bajie, and said, “Worthy brother, why are you here?”
Bajie said, “Senior Brother, where did you go? You don’t know how bitterly I’ve suffered after you left!”
Ao Tu said, “Didn’t I leave behind a written silk note saying I was going home for a visit?”
Bajie said, “Then why didn’t you tell Master in person?”
Ao Tu laughed. “If I’d said it to his face, would Master have granted me leave?”
Bajie said, “Then where are you going now?”
Ao Tu said, “To attend my nephew’s birthday banquet.”
Bajie said, “Since when do you have a nephew?”
Ao Tu said, “He’s the son of the Great Strength Bull Demon King, the one who became my sworn brother back then!”
Only then did Bajie understand. He complained:
“You have it easy, going off to attend a banquet! Meanwhile I’ve been humiliated by that demon!”
Ao Tu asked, “What happened? Quickly, tell me.”
Bajie then recounted how he had fought bitterly against the evil tiger these past few days. He also lifted his clothes, revealing many injuries, and his garments were badly damaged as well.
Ao Tu said, “Worthy brother, you’ve suffered. This time it was your elder brother’s fault, causing you to endure so much hardship. How about this: don’t go looking for the Bodhisattva. The road to the Southern Sea is long and very arduous. If Master is left there alone and gets captured by the demon, what then? You should go back and protect Master. Once I return from the banquet, I’ll go rid us of that evil tiger.”
Bajie pushed out his snout and muttered, “Senior Brother, if we can solve it ourselves and avoid begging others, that would be best! I just don’t know when you’ll return from this trip.”
Ao Tu said, “Six or seven days at the earliest, a dozen or so at most.”
Bajie said, “You’re just attending a banquet. Why so long?”
Ao Tu said, “I was pressed under Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years and haven’t kept in touch for ages. When old friends catch up, shouldn’t I stay a few more days?”
As Ao Tu spoke, he picked up that box of gifts, patted Bajie on the shoulder, and said:
“This is the gift I prepared for the Bull Demon King. Take it and give it to Master. Tell him not to be angry, and to allow me a few more days of leave.”
Bajie accepted the gift. Feeling that it had some weight to it, his face showed a hint of delight.
Ao Tu then took a pearl from his robe and said:
“I went to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace for tea the day before yesterday and casually took this. Worthy brother, you’ve worked very hard subduing the demon, and even your clothes are ruined. Take this as a bit of private money to buy new clothes, and let it count as your elder brother’s apology to you!”
Bajie accepted the pearl and said joyfully:
“Senior Brother, why are you so good to me? This Old Pig is almost not used to it!”
Ao Tu said, “When have I ever treated you badly? When I return from the banquet, I’ll bring you some food and wine too. I only ask that you put in a few good words for me before Master, and tell him not to recite the Tight-Fillet Spell.”
Bajie patted his chest and said, “Senior Brother, don’t worry. With this Old Pig around, I guarantee you’ll be fine!”
Bajie carried the gifts, stuffed the pearl into his ear and hid it well, then went back in high spirits.
When he saw Tang Seng, Bajie explained the ins and outs to him. He did not dare say that Sun Wukong had gone to seek out the Bull Demon King, only saying that Sun Wukong had a sworn brother he had not contacted in many years, and that he had gone to visit relatives and would return in a dozen days or so.
He also took out Sun Wukong’s gift and said many good words on his behalf.
Though Tang Seng still felt some resentment in his heart, Bajie managed to coax him past it.
Only, he still felt that a dozen days was too long and would delay their journey to retrieve the scriptures.
Bajie persuaded him, saying that even if he went to seek the Bodhisattva, the round trip would take no little time, and besides, always seeking the Bodhisattva would make them seem useless.
After hearing this, Tang Seng felt there was some reason to it and could only wait slowly.
At that time, Sun Wukong was still trapped within the formation. Every day, Ao Tu threw in a handful of red sand, leaving Sun Wukong unable to move.
In this way, another seven or eight days passed. Tang Seng looked out every day, watching for when Sun Wukong would return, and gradually grew somewhat impatient.
Bajie once again said many good words, and Tang Seng barely endured it.
Another seven or eight days passed. By now, the one-month deadline Sun Wukong had left on the cloth had arrived, yet Sun Wukong still had not returned.
Tang Seng could no longer endure it and said:
“That vile beast must truly be wild and untamable, unwilling to return!”
As he spoke, he was about to recite the Tight-Fillet Spell.
Bajie hurriedly tried to persuade him with kind words, only saying that Senior Brother might have encountered some matter and been delayed for a couple of days. After much pleading and persuasion, he got Tang Seng to extend the deadline by another two days.
Two more days passed, and Sun Wukong still had not returned.
Tang Seng would no longer listen to any dissuasion and directly began reciting the Tight-Fillet Spell.
Within the Red Sand Formation, Ao Tu was grabbing a handful of red sand as usual and scattering it down. At that moment, golden light suddenly emerged from Sun Wukong’s head—the Tight-Fillet Spell had taken effect.
Sun Wukong’s soul, originally bewildered by the red sand, was instantly awakened by the pain.
Ao Tu had struck Sun Wukong with red sand for more than thirty days without breaking his steel sinews and iron bones. Yet now, the moment Tang Seng recited the spell, Sun Wukong was instantly squeezed until his ears turned red and his face flushed, his eyes swelling and his head dizzy.
Sun Wukong somersaulted and tugged at the golden fillet, his eyes reddening. The pain was unbearable, a hundred times more agonizing than the red sand within the Red Sand Formation.
Outside, Tang Seng recited it five times, then stopped and said, “If that vile beast does not return tomorrow, I shall recite it twenty more times!”
Within the Red Sand Formation, Sun Wukong finally returned to normal. There was no sense of time within the formation, so he did not know why Tang Seng had recited the Tight-Fillet Spell, but he knew he had to get out of this formation as soon as possible.
It was just that he truly could not break through this formation.
In the midst of utter helplessness, he suddenly remembered that at Eagle Sorrow Stream on Snake Coil Mountain, the Bodhisattva had once bestowed upon him three life-saving hairs.