Chapter 15: The Little Demon Who Sought Death

A few days ago, a little demon threw himself into the Heifeng He beneath Heifeng Shan and drowned. Yi Shi had often heard other demons say that some demons would throw themselves in to rescue little demons who had leapt into the water to end their lives, and after hauling the suicidal little demon ashore, the rescuer would be so exhausted that he himself drowned instead — and for that he was regarded by everyone as a kind of hero. Yi Shi felt this was a splendid way for an ordinary life to be elevated, so he trained hard morning and evening, and at last learned to swim.

Ever since he learned to swim, Yi Shi had been loitering around the Heifeng He, hoping some poor soul would jump into the water so he could throw himself in without a thought for his own safety, drag the fellow out, and bring his own dull, tasteless life to a glorious end. But from the day he arrived at the Heifeng He, half a year passed without a single soul throwing himself in. All Yi Shi could do each day was lounge by the river, bored out of his mind, basking in the sun and dozing; spring went and autumn came, and he could not say how many more days had slipped by.

One day, Yi Shi was basking in the sun, lost in a pleasant dream, when he dimly heard a voice not far off cry: "Oh no, a little pig demon has fallen into the river!" A jolt shot through Yi Shi's whole body; he sat up with a carp-like bound and hurriedly looked out over the water, and sure enough, a little pig demon was struggling in the river. Yi Shi was so moved that hot tears welled up in his eyes — the moment he had been waiting to show his stuff had finally come! He plunged into the river with a great splash, swam swiftly toward the little pig demon, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Little friend, don't be afraid, Uncle is coming to save you right now!"

Yi Shi swam for all he was worth; just as he was about to reach the little pig demon's side, a giant turtle suddenly rose to the surface of the river, took the drowning little demon onto its back, and in the blink of an eye carried the little demon back to the bank. The crowd of demons on the shore cheered and leapt for joy, all giving the giant turtle a thumbs-up and asking about its background. It turned out the giant turtle had only recently come here to cultivate, and had happened upon the drowning little demon. The demons were all overjoyed, and said: "With you here, we need never fear another little demon slipping into the water again." The demons cheered for the giant turtle, lost in their delight — who among them spared a thought for Yi Shi out in the middle of the river?

Yi Shi drifted leisurely to the bank, peeled off his soaking clothes, wrung out great fistfuls of water, gazed at the giant turtle surrounded by the cheering demons, and sighed helplessly: "Sigh, looks like the road of throwing myself into the water to save someone and dying for it is a dead end. I'll have to think of another glorious way to die."

Yi Shi had also heard others say that deep in Heifeng Lin there lived a savage snake demon, who often made a meal of the little demons that came and went foraging in Heifeng Lin — no one knew how many of his own kind he had eaten. But the snake demon was far too powerful; in the whole Heifeng Lin area, not a single demon was a match for him. Yi Shi thought: "Why not team up with the demons who want to enter Heifeng Lin and go in together? If we run into the snake demon, I'll throw myself in front of them and hold him off while they run. That way, I'll be eaten by the snake spirit for the sake of saving the other little demons. That, at least, would be a death well-spent."

And so, day after day, Yi Shi went in and out of Heifeng Lin shoulder to shoulder with the little demons foraging there — but whether they were just very lucky, or the snake demon was hibernating, he never once appeared before them. Just as at the Heishuihe, Yi Shi drifted through each day half-heartedly, living alongside the little demons who went into the forest to forage.

Just as he was about to give up and try another plan, the snake demon suddenly appeared before them at last. Yi Shi charged to the front, shielding the other demons behind him, and shouted: "Run! I'll hold him off!"

Before the words had even faded, the snake demon had already lunged at him. Yi Shi closed his eyes with a smile, ready to welcome the glorious death that belonged to him. A long while passed, yet he felt no pain on his body. Yi Shi opened his eyes and looked around, only to find the snake demon had long since vanished without a trace. Puzzled, he asked his companions: "Where's the snake demon?"

A little bear demon said: "I've already chased him off. I invented a special weapon against snakes — it's called realgar wine. I didn't expect it to really work. I just splashed the wine at the snake and it ran."

The other little demons all praised the little bear demon in turn: "You're amazing! From now on we'll never have to fear the snake demon again!" The demons cheered and lifted the little bear demon high above their heads — who would spare a thought for Yi Shi standing off to one side?

Yi Shi left Heifeng Lin and began once more to ponder ways to seek death. He recalled that other demons had told him the Black Bear Demon up on Heifeng Shan treated his underling little demons with extreme harshness, and the little demons all dared to be angry but not to speak out. If he went to challenge that Black Bear Demon and died at his hands, it would be better than dying in some deep mountain forest where no one would ever know. With this thought, he picked up his battered old wood-chopping cleaver, headed straight for the Heifeng Dong at the peak of Heifeng Shan, and shouted at the top of his lungs that he wanted to duel the Black Bear Demon. But after yelling for a long while, he heard not a single reply. Yi Shi asked the little demons around about where the Black Wind King had gone. A little demon said: "Don't you know? That Black Bear Demon stole Tang Seng's kasaya, and Sun Xingzhe called in Guanyin Pusa to subdue him and take him away. Let me tell you, that Sun Wukong is really something — worthy of being the Great Sage Equal to Heaven who wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace! The fact that we little demons have regained our freedom is all thanks to him!"

The little demon chatted on, his face alight with the splendor of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, while Yi Shi stood rooted to the spot, at a loss. In that moment, Yi Shi seemed at last to understand: "So the only one who still thinks he's alive is himself. A useless failure like me — to everyone else, I must already be dead. So death, that thing, has been by my side like the wind ever since I was born; I simply never noticed it. And to think I've been working so hard to seek death — looking back now, it's downright laughable…"

(End of chapter)