As he was sucked into the vase, Wukong discovered that it was far too small for his body. This prompted him to transform himself into a smaller form and sit quietly at the bottom.
Soon, he felt cool air around him. Smiling to himself, he said:
“Those little demons are real liars! How can they claim that anyone entering this jar will soon turn into pus? With such a pleasant chill, I could stay here for seven or eight years.”
The Unexpected Trigger
He spoke thus because he didn’t yet understand how exactly this treasure worked. In fact, as long as the victim remained silent, the temperature stayed low—even if one kept quiet for an entire year. However, the moment one opened one’s mouth, devouring flames would arise and eventually burn the person to ashes.
The Monkey King quickly learned this truth, for no sooner had he spoken than the inside of the vase turned into an impenetrable forest of flames. Fortunately, he was never short of resources. Forming a magical hand sign to ward off fire, he calmly watched as the flames twisted and writhed wildly around him.
Serpents and Dragons
After about half an hour, no fewer than forty snakes appeared and lunged at him with the intent to bite. Far from repelling them, the Monkey King grabbed them with his hands, pulled hard, and snapped each in two.
No sooner had he finished this, when three fire dragons emerged from outside the vase and surrounded him from all sides. Realizing the situation was growing more complicated by the second, he thought anxiously to himself:
“I wouldn’t mind facing anything else, but these dragons are proving harder to defeat than I imagined. If I don’t manage to escape soon, the heat will gradually drain my strength, and I won’t be able to resist any longer. The best thing to do is to enlarge my body and shatter this cursed vase.”
After making a magical gesture with his fingers and chanting the appropriate incantation, Wukong took a deep breath and shouted:
“Transform!”
Instantly, he grew taller—exceeding three meters in height—but the jar expanded with him.
Quickly, the Monkey King transformed himself as small as a seed. Yet, the porcelain clinged like silk
He cried out anxiously:
“Incredible! How can it expand and shrink so easily? What should I do?”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when he felt a sharp pain in his legs. Touching them, he realized with alarm that the heat had softened his limbs.
Panicked, he asked himself:
“What’s happening to me? If my legs fail, I’ll be crippled!”
Feeling utterly disheartened, tears began to stream freely down his cheeks.
The Bodhisattva’s Gift
For a long time, he continued lamenting his fate. Suddenly, he stopped and exclaimed hopefully:
“Now that I think of it, when I passed through the Mountain of the Coiled Snake (Coiled Serpent Mountain), the Bodhisattva Guanyin gave me the Three Life-Saving Hairs. I wonder if I still have them on me?”
He quickly patted his body and found that they were stuck to his nape.
Delighted, he thought again:
“There’s no doubt—it’s these! My hair feels softer. Only these three are so tough—they must have saved my life.”
Wukong plucked them. After exhaling sacred breath onto them, he shouted:
“Transform!”
Instantly, one transformed into a diamond drill, the second into a bamboo pole, and the third into a cotton rope.
He bent the bamboo pole and tied its ends together with the rope, forming what looked like a hunter’s bow. He attached the diamond drill to it, tightened it with all his strength, and aimed it at the bottom of the jar. A loud crack rang out, and light filtered through a small crack.
“This will be enough for me to escape!” he thought joyfully.
Just as he was about to transform again, he felt the interior of the vase drop considerably in temperature. The reason was that, by making a hole in its base, the forces of yin and yang had escaped.
Escape and Revelation
Meanwhile, the monster was drinking happily when suddenly he put down his cup and asked the third demon:
“Do you think Sun Wukong has melted away by now?”
“It’s already been longer than necessary, don’t you think?” replied the third demon.
The eldest demon ordered his minions to bring the jar. The thirty-six little demons immediately went to fetch it, but when they saw how light it had become, they cried out in alarm:
“The vase has become as light as a feather!”
Exclaimed the eldest demon:
“That’s impossible! You all know well that our treasure consists of a perfect balance of yin and yang energies. How could it suddenly lose its weight?”
“If you refuse to believe us, here’s the proof,” replied one of the little demons, picking it up alone and carrying it over to the table.
Consumed by anxiety, the demon removed the lid and peered inside. It wasn’t difficult for him to spot a tiny point of light at the bottom, and he shouted, visibly alarmed:
“It’s empty! He’s escaped!”
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