The Monkey King transformed himself into a little demon, began running after the other one, clanging the same pieces of wood and murmuring exactly the same words.
The Wind-Cutter’s Deception
Before reaching his side, he raised his voice and called out:
“Hey you, up ahead! Would you mind waiting for me?”
“Where are you from?” asked the imp, turning his head.
The Monkey King replied with a smile:
“What do you mean, where am I from? Don’t you recognize your own kin?”
“I’m very sorry, but you don’t belong to my family,” answered the little demon.
“Have you gone mad? Just look at me closely,” scolded the Monkey King.
“What can I say? Your face doesn’t ring a bell,” insisted the little demon.
“I know already,” confirmed the Monkey King. “You’ve seen me only a few times because I belong to the kitchen group.”
“No, no! That’s not true! I live in the same cave as the brothers from the kitchen. None of them has such a pointed mouth,” the little demon replied nervously, shaking his head.
The Monkey King thought to himself:
“So that’s it! My snout is too pointed. Well, this is easily fixed.”
Lowering his head casually, he rubbed his mouth and then loudly added:
“What are you talking about? Who has a pointed mouth?”
The defect had completely disappeared, yet the little demon insisted:
“It looks fine now, but just a moment ago it was definitely sharp. How did you change it so quickly? I’m sure you used some trickery! You’re not one of us! If you were, I would have seen you before. This whole thing is getting far too suspicious! Besides, our lords don’t tolerate deception—those assigned to kitchen tend only to kitchen, just like those patrolling the mountain never do anything else. There’s no way they’d entrust patrol duties to someone who starts fires!”
Fortunately, the Monkey King possessed a quick tongue and responded:
“It seems you haven’t heard yet that I’ve been promoted because our masters noticed how well I worked in the kitchen. It was precisely them who asked me to patrol the mountain.”
The Token Test
The little demon conceded:
“All right. There are ten total groups responsible for patrolling up and down the territory, each consisting of forty members of all ages. To prevent confusion regarding rank or identity, our lords have provided us with Identity plates engraved with all these details. Would you mind showing me yours?”
The Monkey King had managed to reproduce only the visible aspects of the little demon—his clothing, behavior, manner of speaking, etc. Since he hadn’t seen any of these plates, he didn’t know exactly what they looked like. But instead of admitting he didn’t have one, he turned the question around and said:
“Listen here. Don’t you think you’re being overly suspicious of me? Of course I have a plate—and brand new, too! Why don’t you show me yours first, and we’ll settle this silly game once and for all?”
Unaware that it was a trap, the little demon reached inside his robe and pulled out a golden lacquered plate.
On its front was engraved an inscription reading: Little Wind-Cutter(Little Wind-Cleaver).
Loudly, the Monkey King said:
“Fine, fine. Button up your shirt and take a look at mine if you’d like.”
As the little demon adjusted his clothes, the Monkey King slightly turned his head sideways, plucked a hair from the tip of his tail, whispered over it while blowing sacred breath onto it, and commanded:
“Transform!”
Instantly, the hair became an exact replica of the plate the little demon had just shown him. The only difference was the inscription. The Monkey King’s read: Chief Wind-Cutter.
As soon as the demon saw it, he frowned suspiciously and asked:
“How can you be called Chief Wind-Cutter when all scouts are uniformly known simply as Wind-Cutters (Wind-Cleavers)?”
Wukong scoffed:
“Promotion demands a new title! By the way, I’m directly in charge of the unit to which you belong.”
Upon hearing this, the imp hastily bowed and stammered hesitantly:
“I hope I haven’t offended you with my doubts, Captain. Please excuse my ignorance.”
The Monkey King forgave him, returning the salute:
“It’s nothing serious. However, I would like each of you to give me a goodwill gift of five taels of silver.”
The imp replied:
“Why the rush, Captain? I’ll give them to you once I connect with the rest of the group, which, as you know, is stationed in the southern part of the mountain range. I believe it would be advisable for all of us to hand over the money together.”
The Monkey King concluded:
“In that case, it would be best if I went with you.”
Shrugging his shoulders, the little demon led the way, while Sun Wukong followed a few steps behind.
Interrogation and Revelation
After traveling several kilometers, they came upon several other patrols. Wukong barked:
“Come here, Wind-Cutters!”
“At your command, Captain!” they responded instantly, bowing their heads with unexpected respect.
“Do you know why our sovereigns sent me here?” asked the Monkey King in the same martial tone as before.
“No,” replied the little demons.
The Monkey King explained:
“As you know, our sovereigns wish to devour Tang Monk, but they are troubled by the immense magical powers of Sun Wukong. They appointed me Chief Wind-Cutter and ordered me simultaneously to conduct an investigation to determine whether there are any outsiders among you.”
“All of us are genuine, Captain!” shouted all the assembled Wind-Cutters in unison.
The Monkey King added:
“In that case, who can tell me what extraordinary powers our sovereigns possess?”
“I can, sir!” answered one of the Wind-Cutters.
The Monkey King concluded:
“Good. List them immediately. If you do it correctly, we’ll know you are authentic. If, however, you make even the slightest mistake, you will be taken before our sovereigns for whatever punishment they deem appropriate.”
Suddenly intimidated, the Little Wind-Cutter stammered:
“The Great Sovereign once swallowed 100,000 heavenly troops!”
“You’re an impostor!” roared the Monkey King upon hearing this.
Terrified, the imp protested:
“I am genuine, Captain! How can you say such a thing?”
The Monkey King replied:
“If you truly were one of us, you wouldn’t have made such a ridiculous claim.”
Defending himself, the imp clarified:
“Once, Queen Mother Wangmu forgot to send him an invitation to the Festival of Immortal Peaches, which enraged him so much that he declared war on Heaven. The Jade Emperor sent a hundred thousand celestial soldiers against him, but rather than intimidating him, our sovereign used his wondrous shape-shifting powers until his mouth grew as large as city gates. Seeing him charge toward them, the celestial warriors panicked and tightly shut the South Gate of Heaven, too afraid to fight. That’s what I meant when I said he once swallowed more than a hundred thousand celestial soldiers in a single gulp.”
Then the Monkey King loudly asked:
“Who can tell me the special abilities of our second sovereign?”
Another Little Wind-Cutter answered:
“He nearly reaches ten meters in height, has phoenix eyes and teeth as long as oars. His nose resembles more that of a dragon. When confronting an opponent, all he needs to do to defeat them is wrap it around their body like a snake. Rest assured that even if they were made of iron or steel, they would perish in the blink of an eye.”
Then he raised his voice again and asked:
“What extraordinary powers does our third sovereign boast?”
Quickly another imp answered:
“In fact, he isn’t a monster of this mortal world, as his name itself suggests: Cloud Mass of Thirty Thousand Kilometers. When he moves, he stirs winds and churns seas. Moreover, he possesses a terrible weapon called the Yin-Yang Twin-Force Bottle(Yin-Yang Vase). Anyone unfortunate enough to fall into it will soon turn into a formless pulp.”
Ruthless Resolution
In this way, Wukong obtained the information he wanted. He leapt from where he sat, brandishing his fearsome iron rod.
In the blink of an eye, the Monkey King crushed the heads of all those unfortunate little demons, reducing them to a bloody, shapeless mass of flesh.
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