“It's the same every year,” the monks replied. “The wind blows up before the third watch. Everybody gets out of the way as they know that it is the Lord Buddhas bringing down blessings.”

“I am one who thinks of, invokes and worships Buddhas,” the Tang Priest said. “If the Buddhas are honoring us with their presence on this festive occasion it would be wonderful to be able to worship them.” He rejected the monks' repeated urgings to go back, and a little later the forms of three Buddhas appeared in the wind and approached the lamps. The Tang Priest was so excited that he ran to the top of the lamp bridge and threw himself down worship.

Brother Monkey rushed forward in alarm to drag him to his feet and say, “They're no good, Master. I'm sure they're evil.” Before the words were even out of his mouth the lamps all went out as with a great whoosh the Tang Priest was swept up by the wind. It was terrible! Who knew what evil monsters from what cave in what mountain had been posing as Buddhas to watch the golden lamps?

Pig and Friar Sand were thrown into such panic that they rushed all about, searching and calling for their master. “Brothers,” called Monkey, “no use shouting here. The master's bliss has turned to disaster. He's been carried off by evil spirits.”

“How can you tell that, my lord,” the appalled monks asked.

“You're just a bunch of mortals,” Monkey replied with a grin, “so you haven't realized what's been happening all these years. The evil spirits have fooled you into thinking they're true Buddhas coming down to accept the offerings of lamps. The Buddhas that appeared when the wind blew just now were three evil spirits. My master didn't realize who they were, so he went up on the top of the bridge to worship them. They covered up all the lights and carried him off together with the oil in the lamps. As I was a bit too late the three of them got away by wind.”

“Brother,” said Friar Sand, “Whatever are we to do?”

“Not a moment to lose,” said Monkey. “You two go back the monastery with the monks and look after the horse and the luggage. I'm going after them while this wind's still blowing.”

The splendid Great Sage then shot up by his somersault cloud into mid air, picked up the stench of the wind and headed Northeast in pursuit, carrying on till all of a sudden the wind dropped at dawn. A great mountain could be seen, a most steep, towering and splendid mountain:

Many a foothill and ravine,

Twisting and bending streams.

Creepers hang from the beetling precipice,

Pine and cypress rise from the lonely rock.

Cranes cry in the morning mists,

Wild geese call among the clouds at dawn.

Jutting peaks like a row of halberds,

Jagged crags of interlocking rocks.

The summits rise to eighty thousand feet,

And sheer-walled ridges make a thousand angles.

Wild flowers and noble trees all flourish with the spring;

Cuckoo and oriole respond to the scenery with song.

Majestic beauty,

Towering grandeur,

Steep, grotesque crags hard to climb.

One will stay there long in silence:

All that can be heard are tigers and leopards breathing.

River deer and white deer wander around;

Jade-coloured hares and gray wolves come and go.

The stream in the deep ravine will flow for a million miles;

Twisting torrents splash loud against the rocks.

While the Great Sage was on the top of a scar looking for his way he saw four people coming from the Western slopes driving three goats and all shouting, “New Year.” Monkey's fiery eyes with their golden pupils flashed as he took a closer look to see that they were the four Duty Gods of the year, the month, the day and the hour in disguise.

The Great Sage then pulled out his iron cudgel, shook it till it was as thick as a ricebowl and about twelve feet long and sprang down from the cliff with a shout of, “Where are you skulking off to like that, trying to hide your faces?”

When the four Duty Gods realized that he had rumbled them they at once turned back into their normal selves, kowtowed beside the path and said, “Forgive us, Great Sage, forgive us.”

“Just because I haven't had any jobs for you recently you thought I was getting lax and so you've all become very casual,” Monkey said. “You didn't even greet me. It's outrageous! Why aren't you giving my master your secret protection? Where are you going?”

“Because your master somewhat forgot his dhyana nature and was so eager to enjoy himself in the Clouds of Compassion Monastery in Jinping Prefecture,” the Duty Gods said, “he met with evil at the height of splendor, his joy turned to disaster, and he was captured by the evil spirits. The Defenders of the Faith are looking after him at the moment. We realized that you would be coming after him this very night, Great Sage, and we came here to report to you in case you did not know the mountains and forests here.”

“If you were here to report,” said Brother Monkey, “why did you disguise your identities, why were you driving three goats, and what were you shouting and yelling for?”

“The three goats were for luck at the beginning of the year.

They are to drive away the evil that's obstructing your master.”

Monkey had been absolutely determined to beat them, but on hearing this explanation he let them off and put his cudgel away as his fury turned to delight. “Are there evil spirits on this mountain?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “yes. This mountain is called Green Dragon Mountain and there's a cave in it called the Dark Essence Cave where three evil spirits live. The oldest is called King Cold-avoider, the second is called King Heat-avoider and the third is called King Dust-avoider. They've lived here for a thousand years and have been fond of refined butter oil since they were children. Ever since they became spirits some years ago they've been pretending to be Buddhas to trick the officials and people of Jinping into setting out those golden lamps full of the refined butter oil that they take in their Buddha guises in the middle of every first month. When they saw your master this time they realized that he was a holy monk and carried him off to the cave too. Any day now they'll slice off his flesh to fry in the refined butter. You must use your skills to save him as soon as possible.”

On hearing this Monkey dismissed the four Duty Gods with a shout and went round the mountain looking for the cave. Within a mile or two he saw a rock face by a gill, at the foot of which was a stone building with a pair of stone doors that stood ajar. Beside the doors was a stone tablet on which was inscribed

GREEN DRAGON MOUNTAIN

DARK ESSENCE CAVE

Not daring to go in uninvited, Monkey stopped and called, “Give me my master back at once, monster.” With a great noise the doors burst wide open, and out rushed a crowd of bull-headed demons who glared as they asked, “Who are you, yelling here like that?”

“I'm the senior disciple of the holy monk Tang Sanzang who's come from Great Tang in the East to fetch scriptures,” Monkey replied. “He was looking at the lanterns in Jinping along our way when your chief demons carried him off here. Give him back at once if you want me to spare your lives. If you don't I'll turn our den upside-down and turn all you demons into just pus and blood.”

As soon as the junior demons heard this they rushed inside to report, “Disaster, Your Majesties, disaster!” The three old evil spirits had taken Sanzang into the depths of the cave and with no further ado were telling their underlings to strip him and wash him with water from the torrent. They were just about to have him sliced and diced into tiny pieces to fry in the refined butter when they heard the report of disaster from outside. The oldest demon king asked with some alarm what had happened.