After instructing celestial guardians to protect Potalaka Palace and ordering the Dragon Maiden of Heavenly Bliss(Celestial Dragoness) to seal its gates, Guanyin Bodhisattva mounted her cloud and swiftly departed from Potalaka Peak.
Summoning the Faithful Disciple
Upon reaching the back side of the mountain, she shouted at the top of her voice:
“Hui An! Where have you gone?”
Hui An was the religious name of Moksa, the second son of Devaraja Li. He was the Bodhisattva’s favorite disciple.
Hui An joined his hands and bowed respectfully before the Bodhisattva, who said:
“Go immediately to the Upper Regions and borrow several of your father’s constellation swords.”
“How many do you need?” asked Hui An.
“All of them,” replied the Bodhisattva.
A Heavenly Errand
Hui An mounted a cloud and, after passing through the South Gate of Heaven, headed toward the Cloud Tower Palace. There he threw himself at his father’s feet, and Devaraja asked him in surprise:
“Can you tell me why I have the honor of this visit?”
Hui An replied:
“Sun Wukong has requested my teacher’s help to defeat a monster, and she in turn has sent me to ask you for the constellation swords.”
Devaraja immediately ordered Nezha to go and retrieve the thirty-six heavenly constellation swords to give to Moksa.
“When you see Mother,” said Moksa to his brother, “please greet her on my behalf.”
“I’m very busy now. When I return with the swords, I’ll personally pay her my respects.”
The two brothers parted quickly.
Blades Transformed, Lotus Forged
Moksa mounted a cloud once more and returned to the Southern Seas.
The Bodhisattva took the swords and flung them high into the air while chanting a spell. Surprisingly, the blades transformed into a lotus with more than a thousand petals.
The Bodhisattva then sat upon it.
Purge Before the Storm
Soon they spotted the peak of a mountain rising in the sky.
From above, the Monkey King said:
“That down there is the mountain where the monster resides.”
The Bodhisattva then descended from her cloud and recited another incantation. In an instant, the gods and spirits dwelling in that remote region appeared before her. All prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling from head to toe and too afraid to lift their eyes.
The Bodhisattva tried to calm them:
“Do not be frightened. I have come to capture the monster that enslaves you, but for that, it is necessary to completely clear the area. Not a single living creature must remain within three hundred miles. Therefore, you must drive the beasts from their dens and the birds from their nests and take them to the highest point of this mountain range. If you fail to do so, they will surely die. So hurry.”
Deluge of Judgment
The gods quickly withdrew and soon returned to report to the Bodhisattva that her orders had been carried out exactly as instructed.
The Bodhisattva concluded:
“In that case, you may all return to your sanctuaries.”
Then she turned the Jade Vase upside down, and instantly a powerful torrent of water gushed forth. It was so mighty that it flooded towering walls and covered the peaks of many mountains. It was as if the sea itself had abandoned its course and the oceans had risen up to leap over the mountain ranges.
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