Now, Ao Tu led Tang Seng in dodging and weaving away.
When the little demons saw they could not catch the two of them, they surrounded them instead, then sent one off to report to their king. He reported:
“Great King, those two are terribly good at running! They keep circling the woods, and the brothers can’t seize them!”
The old demon flew into a rage. “A pack of useless trash! You can’t even catch two people? I’ll go take a look myself!”
Outside, when Ao Tu saw a little demon go in, he said to Tang Seng:
“That little demon must have gone to fetch the old demon. I’ll hold them here. You run back first.”
Tang Seng said, “Your Highness, what about you?”
Ao Tu said, “I’m swift on my feet. Once you leave first, it’ll be easier for me to get away.”
Tang Seng said, “But these demons have formed a circle around us. How am I supposed to run out?”
Ao Tu said, “I’m strong. I’ll throw you out. Recite the Six-Syllable Mantra silently, don’t worry about anything else, don’t look back—just run for your life!”
Tang Seng said, “All right!”
Ao Tu grabbed Tang Seng by the clothes and hurled him with all his strength, instantly throwing Tang Seng out.
Tang Seng fell to the ground in a daze from the impact, but he had no time to mind the pain. He hurriedly scrambled up, began reciting the Six-Syllable Mantra, and felt strength rise within his body. His two legs moved as if flying, and he fled straight away.
When the old demon came out, he saw that the little demons had only one person surrounded, and asked:
“Why is there only one?”
The little demons said, “Great King, that monk was thrown flying out by him. He ran terribly fast, too. We were afraid that if we split our forces to chase him, we might let this one escape as well, so we waited for Great King to come and decide what to do.”
Hearing this, the old demon looked at Ao Tu and asked:
“Where are you from, and how did you come to my territory?”
Ao Tu laughed. “If you want to ask my name, announce your own first!”
When the old demon heard this, he said angrily, “Impudent! Take a slash from me first!”
He raised his blade and came charging in.
Ao Tu lifted his hand and produced an utterly ordinary wooden staff, blocking the old demon’s precious saber.
The old demon said, “What tremendous strength. You are certainly no nameless nobody!”
Ao Tu said, “I was born with divine strength!”
The old demon swept his saber across. Saber-shadows flickered, bright as silver; before and behind, blade-light filled the sky.
Ao Tu transformed that wooden staff into three thousand, suspending them across the air and blocking all the blade-light.
The old demon said, “Good, good. You do have some tricks after all. It’s only that your weapon is a little lacking. I wonder which old man you stole it from.”
Ao Tu said, “My wooden staff may show no treasure-light, but it possesses divine powers. It’s far stronger than that rotten blade of yours by who knows how many times!”
The old demon said, “What do you know of my precious saber? This blade was forged from Nine-Heavens Star Silver and tempered by divine fire. With one wave, it stirs the power of the constellations; with one cut, it can grind even a divine body of ten thousand kalpas into dust!”
Ao Tu laughed. “I know, I know. You brought that blade down from heaven, Kui Mulang.”
Kui Mulang was greatly shocked and said:
“How do you know my identity?”
Ao Tu said, “In heaven and on earth, what is there that this seat does not know?”
He raised his hand, and the Binding Dragon Rope was unleashed.
Seeing this, Kui Mulang hurriedly fled backward, but he could not escape at all. In the blink of an eye he was bound and fell to the ground.
Kui Mulang hastily begged for mercy. “Senior, Senior! This little god was ignorant and did not know of Senior’s great arrival. I have offended Senior. Please spare my life!”
Ao Tu said, “I can spare you, but I want you to do one thing for me.”
Kui Mulang said, “Senior, please give your orders. This little god will certainly obey!”
Ao Tu said, “I am no senior, but a demon, known as Great King Lingshan. I intend to seize the throne of Baoxiang Kingdom. In a few days, two people will come to demand the princess from you. Capture the one surnamed Sha, and let the one surnamed Zhu go. Do you understand?”
Kui Mulang said, “Which one is surnamed Zhu, and which one is surnamed Sha? Is there a spirit-portrait? It would help this little god tell them apart accordingly, lest I make a mistake.”
Ao Tu said, “No spirit-portrait is needed. When the time comes, you’ll naturally know.”
Kui Mulang hurriedly said, “Yes, this little god understands, this little god understands!”
Ao Tu then withdrew the Binding Dragon Rope and released Kui Mulang.
Let us leave aside Ao Tu’s arrangements here for now.
As for Sha Seng, he went out of the woods to search for Bajie. He went several dozen li, yet did not see so much as half a village or hamlet.
He stood atop a high mound and looked around. Then he heard someone speaking in the grass. Pushing aside the deep grass to look, he discovered it was Bajie buried inside, talking in his sleep.
Bajie had rooted that patch of deep grass into a pig’s nest, making it exceedingly comfortable, and was sleeping sweetly. Only when Sha Seng seized him by the ear did he finally wake.
Sha Seng said, “Second Senior Brother! Master told you to go seek alms, so why are you sleeping here?”
Bajie woke in a muddle and said, “Brother, what time is it now?”
Sha Seng said, “Get up quickly! It’s already dark. Master said finding a place to stay comes first.”
Still dazed and confused, Bajie carried the alms bowl and dragged his rake, returning straight back with Sha Seng.
When they reached the woods and looked around, their master was gone.
Sha Seng hurriedly asked Tiger Vanguard, “Where are my master and your Highness?”
Tiger Vanguard said, “They went south. They told me to stay here and watch the luggage.”
Sha Seng and Bajie quickly went to search for them.
They had barely taken two steps when they ran into Tang Seng, who came fleeing back in a sorry state.
The two hurriedly went up to meet him and said, “Master, where did you go?”
When Tang Seng saw them, it was as if he had returned from the gates of hell; his whole body went limp.
He had fled all this way with life and death hanging over his head. He had not dared look back, nor dared stop for even a moment. Truly, he was half-dead from exhaustion, as if half his life had been left along the road.
Bajie and Sha Seng hurriedly carried Tang Seng back. Seeing this, Tiger Vanguard brought water for Tang Seng to drink.
Tang Seng was still badly shaken and could barely catch his breath. Haltingly, he said, “To the south… there are demons to the south… making buns!”
Sha Seng said, “Master, what kind of demons?”
Bajie said, “Master, what kind of buns?”
Sha Seng could not help looking at Bajie. “Second Senior Brother, you’re still thinking about eating? Didn’t you hear Master say there are demons?”
Bajie said, “What demons? Master must have misspoken. There must be a household to the south offering alms and steaming buns for us to eat!”
Sha Seng said, “All you know is buns. Can’t you see Master is exhausted to this state?”
Bajie said, “Master must have eaten too much. Just support him and let him walk around a little, and he’ll be fine!”
Only then did Tang Seng barely manage to catch his breath. He opened his mouth and said:
“Wuneng, Wujing, there is a group of demons to the south. They surrounded me and His Highness and wanted to make human-flesh buns. His Highness held them off and let me escape. Hurry and go save him!”
When Bajie and Sha Seng heard this, they hurried south to rescue him.
Halfway there, the two encountered Ao Tu returning.
Sha Seng said, “Your Highness, Master told us to come save you. Why have you come back? Where are the demons?”
Ao Tu said, “When those demons saw that your master had run off, they sent some men to catch him. Seeing there were fewer surrounding me, I took the chance to escape.”
Hearing this, Bajie laughed and said, “That bunch of demons really can’t watch their head and their backside at the same time!”
Ao Tu said, “Enough about me. Where is your vegetarian meal?”
Hearing this, Sha Seng said, “You’ll have to ask Second Senior Brother about that!”
Bajie hemmed and hawed. “Why ask me?”
Sha Seng said, “We told you to go seek alms, but you lazed around and slept. If we don’t ask you, who should we ask?”
Bajie said, “There isn’t a single household for dozens of li around. Didn’t I get tired from walking too?”
Ao Tu said, “Let’s go back first. We’ll speak of it tomorrow.”