With astonishing speed, the Monkey King pulled the golden-banded iron rod from behind his ear, gave it a slight shake, and immediately it expanded to the thickness of a rice bowl.
Without hesitation, he launched a mighty blow at the Taoist’s face. The Taoist dodged to one side, swiftly drawing his sword and counterattacking with a dangerously fierce slash.
Ensnaring the Monkey in a cocoon
The noise of battle soon alerted the spider spirits, who rushed to defend their brother, shouting:
“Save your strength! We’ll take care of capturing this fool!”
Unfazed in the least, the girls loosened their robes, exposing their abdomens. An incredible number of cords began emerging from their navels trying to ensnare the Monkey King in a cocoon.
Realizing the situation was turning against him, he performed a somersault and freed himself from the snare.
Wukong soared above the temple. Below, the glowing threads wove a vast web, engulfing the Yellow Flower Temple until it vanished from sight, as if it had never existed.
Breaking the Web
Wukong plucked seventy hairs from his tail, exhaled immortal breath upon them, and shouted:
“Transform!”
Instantly, they became seventy miniature clones.
He morphed his rod into seventy tridents, leading the clones to shred the giant silk cocoon.
Shouting battle cries and exerting themselves fully, they possessed such energy that in no time they managed to tear open the cocoon, each pulling out more than five kilograms of spider silk.
In this way, seven spiders as large as wine barrels were revealed, trembling in surrender:
“Please, spare our lives!”
But the seventy little Wukongs paid no heed to their pleas for mercy and flipped them onto their backs, refusing to let them escape.
At once, Wukong intervened to stop them from killing the spiders, saying:
“Do not kill them yet. If they wish to live, they must restore my brothers first.”
The spiders cried out, turning their heads toward where the Taoist was hiding:
“Save us! Do what they say! We have no desire to die like this!”
The Taoist replied, stepping out from his hiding place:
“Why should I care? I’m truly sorry, but I cannot save you. I’ve decided to eat Monk Tang, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“If you don’t return my master,” roared the Monkey King, beside himself with rage, “you will share the same fate as your sisters!”
Hardly had he finished speaking when he shook the trident in his hands slightly, transforming it back into the fearsome iron rod. Swinging it with both hands, he brought it down forcefully on the spiders, instantly crushing them into a bloody mess.
He then shook his tail, retrieved all the transformed hairs, and pursued the Taoist.
Hundred-Eyed Demon’s Fury
Furious over the sudden deaths of his sisters, the Taoist unsheathed his sword and faced his pursuer.
The Taoist bravely resisted the Great Sage’s first fifty attacks. After that, however, his strength began to wane, until suddenly it abandoned him entirely. He tore off his sash and started unfastening his robe.
Mockingly, the Monkey King exclaimed:
“My dear son! What good will it do you to strip naked when you’ve already lost all your strength?”
The Taoist said nothing. He raised his arms, and more than a thousand eyes appeared at the level of his ribs, beginning to shoot terrifying beams of light.
Startled, Wukong tried to flee, but found himself unable to take even a single step forward or backward. All he could do was spin around helplessly, as though trapped in a prison of light. To make matters worse, the heat grew increasingly unbearable. Panicked, he tried to break free from the prison of radiant rays by leaping upward, but the beams were so solid that he fell back to the ground on his back, leaving his head sore from the impact.
The temperature became even more unbearable, and he muttered to himself:
“I can’t move in any direction. What else can I do if even flying upward is impossible? Well, there’s only one path left: underground. Let’s see how this works out.”
Without further thought, he recited an incantation, gave his body a slight shake, and transformed into a pangolin—also known as an anteater.
Hardening his head as much as he could, the Monkey King burrowed through the earth, tunneling more than twenty miles away from the Taoist before deciding to surface.
The Mourning Woman’s Guidance
After resuming his normal form, he felt fatigue seize his muscles. His whole body ached, and tears welled up in his eyes.
At the height of his sorrow, he heard someone weeping. Curious, he stood up, wiped away his tears, and made his way toward the source of the sobbing. Soon enough, he discovered a woman dressed in mourning clothes. In her left hand she held a bowl filled with cold rice porridge, and in her right, some spirit money.
Wukong respectfully bowed and asked:
“May I ask why you are crying like this?”
The woman explained, her eyes swollen from weeping:
“My husband had an argument with the master of the Yellow Flower Temple over the purchase of some bamboo poles, and in revenge, the Taoist poisoned him with a cup of deadly tea. He was always loving and kind to me. That’s why I’m now heading to his grave to burn these spirit money for his soul.”
The Monkey King lowered his head and replied:
“Bodhisattva. My name is Sun Wukong, and I am the eldest disciple of Tripitaka, younger brother of the Great Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, whose empire spans all the Eastern Lands. While passing by the Yellow Flower Temple on our journey to the Western Paradise, we decided to rest the horse and entered to greet the Taoist. We never expected him to be a monster who had sworn brotherhood with seven spiders whose lair lies not far from here. In retaliation, he served us poisoned tea—luckily, I refused to drink it. My three brothers remain trapped within the temple, along with the horse.”
The woman said:
“I didn’t know you too were suffering. This is, in fact, the Hundred-Eyed Demon, also known as the Monster of Many Pupils. However, there is an immortal who might be able to help you defeat the Taoist.”
Bowing respectfully, the Monkey King pleaded:
“Who is she, madam? Please tell me the name of this immortal so I can go see her at once. If I can convince her to come here, I will not only save my master but also avenge your husband.”
The woman replied:
“Listen carefully. A thousand kilometers from here rises a mountain called Purple Cloud Mountain. Within it lies the Thousand Flowers Cave, where dwells an immortal named Pralamba. Only she is capable of defeating this Many-Pupiled Monster.”
“Where exactly is this mountain? You haven’t yet told me the direction I should follow,” the Monkey King asked again.
“Just keep heading south,” the woman answered, pointing with her finger.
But when Wukong turned his head again, she had vanished like mist.
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