“Times have changed,” said the Heavenly Teacher Xu Jingyang. “As the saying goes, everything can always be beaten by something. Would you dare to disobey an imperial edict? Choose some heavenly generals according to your illustrious judgement and don't waste time: it could be disastrous.

“In that case,” said Monkey, “I am very grateful to His Majesty for his kindness, and I would not dare disobey his commands. Besides, I don't want to have made this journey for nothing. So please ask the Jade Emperor to send Heavenly King Li the Pagoda-carrier and Prince Nezha. They have demon-subduing weapons, so let's see what happens if they go down to earth and fight that fiend. If they can catch him I'll be in luck, and if they can't we'll have to think again.”

The Heavenly Teacher reported this to the Jade Emperor, who ordered Heavenly King Li and his son Prince Nezha to take their heavenly troops to Help Monkey. The Heavenly King obediently went to see Monkey, who said to the Heavenly Teacher, “I am extremely grateful to the Jade Emperor for sending the Heavenly King. There is another request I would like you to pass on. I would like two thunder gods to stand in the clouds while the Heavenly King is fighting the demon and kill him by throwing thunder splinters at his head. This would be a very good method.”

“Splendid, splendid,” said the Heavenly Teacher, and he reported this request to the Jade Emperor, who then ordered the Office of the Nine Heavens to send the thunder gods Deng Hua and Zhang Fan to help Heavenly King Li capture the demon. They then went out through the Southern Gate of Heaven with the Heavenly King and the Great Sage.

They were soon there. “This is Mount Jindou,” said Monkey, “and the Jindou Cave is in it. I would like you gentlemen to decide which of you is going to be the first to challenge the demon to battle.” The Heavenly King brought his cloud to a stop and encamped his troops under the Southern slopes of the mountain.

“As you know, Great Sage,” he said, “my boy Nezha has put down the demons in ninety-six different caves, is very good at transformation, and always carries his demon-subduing weapons around with him. He should go into battle first.”

“That's right,” said Monkey. “I'll take him with me.”

The prince summoned up his martial prowess, leapt to the mountaintop with the Great Sage, and went straight to the entrance to the cave, where they found the doors tightly closed and not an evil spirit to be seen by the rock-face. “Vicious fiend,” shouted Monkey, going up to the doors, “open up at once and give me back my master.”

When the little devils guarding the doors saw this they hurried back to report, “Your Majesty, Sun the Novice has a little boy with him and he's challenging you to battle outside the doors.”

“I've got his gold-banded cudgel,” the demon king said, “and he'd find it hard to fight me empty-handed, so I suppose he must have found some reinforcements. Fetch my weapons!” He then went outside to look, brandishing his spear. The little boy was a pure and remarkable sight, and full of strength and vigor. Indeed:

His face was like the moon when it is full,

Red lips, a square-cut mouth, and silver teeth.

His eye shot lightning from their fearsome pupils;

Over his broad and fine-hued brow were tufts of hair.

His sash danced in the wind like tongues of flame;

A silken gown gleamed golden in the sun.

Bright rings held a bronze mirror at his chest,

And precious armor set off well his warrior's boots.

Tiny in body, but mighty in his voice,

Terrible Nezha, protector of the faith.

“You're Heavenly King Li's third son, Prince Nezha,” said the demon with a smile. “Why have you come shouting at my door?”

“Because you have made trouble, vicious fiend, by harming the holy monk from the East. I'm here to arrest you at the command of the Jade Emperor.”

“I'm sure Sun Wukong must have asked you here,” said the demon king in a great fury. “Yes, I'm the demon who's got the holy monk. I wonder what fighting skills you've got, little boy, if you dare to talk such nonsense. Stay where you are and see how you like my spear.”

The prince met the thrust at once with his demon-beheading sword. Once the two of them had come to blows the battle began. Monkey rushed round the mountain shouting, “Where are the thunder gods? Hurry up and strike the fiend with your thunder splinters to help the prince subdue him.”

The thunder gods Deng and Zhang stepped at once on their clouds and were just about to strike when Prince Nezha used magic to give himself three heads and six arms that wielded six weapons with which he hacked at the monster. The demon king then gave himself three heads and six arms too, holding three long spears with which he parried them. The prince next used his demon-subduing dharma power and threw his six weapons up into the air. What were the six weapons? The demon-beheading sword, the demon-hacking cutlass, the demon-binding rope, the demon-quelling pestle, the embroidered ball and the fire-wheel.

Nezha shouted “Change!” and each one of them became ten, each ten a hundred, each hundred a thousand, and each thousand ten thousand of the same weapons that flew at the demon like a hailstorm. The demon king was not afraid in the least. Bringing out his gleaming white ring he threw it into the air with a shout of “Catch them!” and as it came whistling down it trapped all the six different kinds of weapons, so terrifying Nezha that he fled for his life empty-handed. The demon king returned to his cave in triumph.

When the two thunder gods saw this from up in the sky they smiled to themselves and said, “It's a good thing we realized how things were going and didn't throw our thunder splinters. If he'd caught them too we'd never have dared report back to the Heavenly Honoured Ones.” The pair of them landed their clouds and went with the prince to the Southern slope of the mountain.

“The demon king really has got enormous powers,” they told Heavenly King Li.

“The wretched demon's magic powers are nothing much,” said Monkey with a laugh, “apart from that terrible ring. I wonder what sort of treasure it is and why it can catch everything when it's thrown into the air.”

“You don't have a shred of humanity in you, Great Sage,” said Nezha angrily. “We're thoroughly upset after being beaten, and all for your sake too. What have you got to laugh about?”

“You may be upset, but what makes you imagine I'm not?” Monkey replied. “I'm at my wit's end, and as I can't cry about it, laughing's the only thing I can do.”

“How are we going to bring all this to an end?” the Heavenly King asked.

“You lot can make whatever plans you like,” said Monkey, “but we can only capture him with what his ring can't catch.”

“The best things his ring can't catch are water and fire,” said Heavenly King Li. “As the saying goes, water and fire show no mercy.”

“You're right,” Monkey replied. “Sit still here while I go up to Heaven again.”

“What for?” the two thunder gods asked.

“This time I won't bother with a memorial to the Jade Emperor,” said Brother Monkey. “I'll go straight in through the Southern Gate of Heaven to the Palace of Crimson Splendor to ask Yinghuo, the Star Lord of Fire, to come here and start a fire that will burn the demon and perhaps even reduce his ring to ashes so that we can capture him. Then you can have your weapons back and return to Heaven and my master can be saved.”

The prince was greatly cheered up to hear this. “Please don't lose any time, Great Sage,” he said, “and get back as soon as you can. We'll wait here.”

Monkey set his auspicious light going again and went straight back to the Southern Gate of Heaven, where Virupaksa and the four generals met him and asked, “Why are you back again, Great Sage?”