After leaving the last village, the pilgrims had barely traveled half a day when they reached a towering, jagged mountain. A fierce gale suddenly roared through the valley. Tripitaka cried out in alarm:
“Wukong! The wind is rising!”
“So what?” retorted Wukong. “Are you scared of the sky’s breath? Wind blows in all seasons—no need to fear!”
Bajie tugged Wukong’s sleeve anxiously. “This wind’s too strong! Let’s take shelter until it calms!”
“Quiet!” snapped Wukong. “Let me catch and sniff this wind.”
The Monkey King dodged the gust’s head, seized its tail, and inhaled deeply. “You’re right. This wind reeks of tiger or demon. Nothing good awaits.”
Before he finished speaking, a striped tiger leaped from the mountainside.
The Tiger Demon’s Ambush
Tang Monk, terrified, tumbled off his horse. Bajie dropped the luggage, grabbed his rake, and charged at the beast, shouting:
“Cursed creature! Where do you think you’re going?” He struck a mighty blow at its head.
The monster swiped at Bajie with its claws, but the pig dodged. Meanwhile, Wukong helped Tripitaka up, saying:
“Stay here, Master. I’ll aid Bajie in subduing this fiend so we can move on swiftly!”
The Monster’s Trickery
Cornered, the monster resorted to the cicada’s molting trick. It collapsed, transformed back into a tiger, then reared on its hind legs. With a ghastly screech, it tore its own chest open with its left paw, shedding its tiger skin like a shell. The bare-skinned demon hurled the pelt onto a rock, then vanished into a whirlwind. Seizing Tang Sanzang—who chanted the Heart Sutra in panic—it dragged him up the mountain.
A Frantic Pursuit
The Monkey King and Piggy Bajie did not falter and quickened their pace, determined to finish the monster off once and for all.
Wukong and Bajie sprinted after the fleeing wind. At the cliff’s base, they found the tiger’s crumpled form. Wukong hurled his staff with full force, but it bounced off the rock and returned. Bajie’s rake met the same fate.
“We’ve been tricked!” Wukong growled. “It shed its skin as a decoy and escaped!”
Racing back, they discovered the Tang Monk was gone—the demon had vanished into the wilderness, leaving only echoes of its mocking wind.
Thus began another desperate chase to rescue their master.
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