諸神護唐 The Tide Turns
他們在那山坡前戰經八九個回合，八戒漸漸不濟將來，釘鈀難舉，氣力不加。你道如何這等戰他不過？當時初相戰鬥，有那護法諸神，為唐僧在洞，暗助八戒、沙僧，故僅得個手平；此時諸神都在寶象國護定唐僧，所以二人難敵。他们在那山坡前战经八九个回合，八戒渐渐不济将来，钉钯难举，气力不加。你道如何这等战他不过？当时初相战斗，有那护法诸神，为唐僧在洞，暗助八戒、沙僧，故仅得个手平；此时诸神都在宝象国护定唐僧，所以二人难敌。
逐句解 Line by line
They fought before that mountain slope through some eight or nine bouts, and Eight Rules little by little began to fail: his nail-rake grew hard to lift, and his strength would not answer.
Count the bouts, because the novel is counting them for you. The first fight, back at the start of the chapter, ran 三十回合, thirty bouts, to a draw; this one is failing at 八九個回合, eight or nine. Same demon, same rake, under a third of the endurance. 漸漸不濟將來 uses 將 (jiāng) to mark a state coming on gradually; 釘鈀難舉 (難 = nán) is "the rake grew hard to lift"; 氣力不加 is "his strength would not come."
Now, why should they be so unable to prevail against him?
The storyteller stops the fight to take a question from the room — 你道, "you may ask" — exactly as he did in the chapter's opening passage. The two questions bracket the chapter, and they have the same answer.
At their first encounter, there had been the guardian gods of the Law, who, because Tripitaka was in the cave, had secretly aided Eight Rules and Sha Monk — and so they had won only a draw; but now those gods were all at Baoxiang, guarding Tripitaka fast, and therefore the two could not match him.
And here is the bookkeeping. 護法諸神 are the guardian gods of the Dharma, the same roll called at the start of the chapter. Their orders are to protect Tripitaka: so when he was captive in the cave they were at the cave, quietly holding the fight to 個手平, a draw, and now that he is safe at Baoxiang they are at Baoxiang, and the two disciples are fighting on their own for the first time. 初相 (相 = xiāng) 戰鬥 is the first encounter; 為 is wèi, "because"; 僅得 takes 得 as dé, to obtain; 都 is dōu; 二人難敵 (難 = nán) is "the two could not match him." The escort followed the protected party, which is what escorts do, and nobody thought to check.
The reversal is explained by one of the novel's quiet pieces of supernatural bookkeeping. When Eight Rules and Sha Monk first fought the Yellow-Robe Ogre they managed a draw, and the narrator now discloses why: the invisible guardian deities of the Dharma were present, secretly lending a hand, precisely because Tripitaka was captive in that cave and needed protecting. Their help, invisible even to the fighters, was what held the demon to a stand-off.
The same rule now works against the disciples. The gods attend the endangered master, and the master is no longer in the cave but safe in a palace, surrounded by the very deities who used to be propping up his disciples — so the escort is there, and on this mountaintop the two monks are alone for the first time. The point is more than a convenience of plot. It measures the disciples' unaided strength against a formidable demon and finds it short, preparing the reader for the rout to come and, past that, for the recognition that this adversary will not be beaten without the one companion the party has thrown away.