Now the Jade Emperor held court the next day, when he saw the Celestial Master Zhang lead the assistant and deputy directors of the Imperial Stable to bow at the foot of the vermilion steps and report, "Your Majesty, the newly appointed Bìmǎwēn, Sun Wukong, disliking the smallness of his office, rebelled and went down from the Heavenly Palace yesterday."

張天師 is the Celestial Master, head of the Zhang line of Daoist patriarchs — Heaven's senior clergyman, here doing the work of a departmental head bringing bad news upstairs. 設朝 takes 朝 as cháo, "to hold court."

Even as he spoke, Heavenly King Virūḍhaka appeared outside the Southern Gate, leading the host of heavenly troops, and also reported, "For reasons unknown, Bìmǎwēn has fled out through the gate of Heaven."

增長天王, the gate commander from the opening scene, reports in turn — which is how a chapter this bureaucratic keeps score. In 不知 the 不 stays bù before the level tone of 知.

Hearing this, the Jade Emperor at once decreed, "Let the two parties of divine officers return each to his post. I shall send heavenly soldiers to seize this fiend."

著 is causative zhuó, "order the two parties to —." 朕 is the imperial "We," a pronoun reserved for the sovereign alone.

From the ranks stepped Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Lǐ and the Third Prince Nezha, who, breaking from their place, reported up, "Your Majesty, unworthy as we are, we beg the command to subdue this monster."

托塔李天王, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Lǐ, and his son 哪吒, Nezha, step forward together; Nezha is still one of the best-known figures in Chinese popular culture. In 降此妖怪 the 降 is xiáng, "to subdue," not jiàng, "to descend" — a distinction this passage will lean on repeatedly. 不才 takes bù.

Greatly pleased, the Jade Emperor at once made Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Lǐ Jìng Grand Marshal Demon-Queller, and the Third Prince Nezha Great Spirit of the Three Altars and the Sea Assembly, and bade them raise an army and descend to the lower world at once.

The commissions, issued on the spot: 李靖 as 降魔大元帥, Grand Marshal Demon-Queller, with 降 again xiáng, and Nezha as 三壇海會大神, Great Spirit of the Three Altars and the Sea Assembly. 為 is wéi, "appoint as." Heaven goes to war the way it does everything else, by paperwork.

Heavenly King Lǐ and Nezha kowtowed their thanks and took their leave, went straight to their own palace, mustered the three armies, marshaled their captains, and set the Mighty-Spirit God as vanguard, the Fish-Belly General to bring up the rear, and the Yakṣa General to urge the troops on.

The order of battle, named down to the rear-guard: 巨靈神, the Mighty-Spirit God, in the van, with the 魚肚將 behind and the 藥叉將 — the Yakṣa General, a Buddhist guardian demon drafted into a Daoist army — chivvying the troops along. 帥 is shuài, "to lead"; 著 is causative zhuó; and the 將 of the generals' titles is jiàng.

In an instant they passed out beyond the Southern Gate and came straight to Flower-Fruit Mountain, where they chose a level, sunlit spot, pitched camp, and gave the order for the Mighty-Spirit God to give challenge.

一霎時 takes yí before the falling tone of 霎; 教 is causative jiào; and 挑戰 takes 挑 as tiǎo — the word for issuing a challenge, still the ordinary modern Chinese for it.

Receiving the order, the Mighty-Spirit God geared himself up, gripped his blossom-bossed axe, and reached the outside of the Water-Curtain Cave.

結束整齊, "geared up and trim." The 宣花斧, the blossom-bossed axe, is the Mighty-Spirit God's signature weapon and will not survive the chapter. 掄著 takes 著 as zhe, the marker that keeps the action running.

There he saw many demons before the little cave mouth — all manner of wolves, serpents, tigers, and leopards — jagged and bristling, swinging spears and waving swords, leaping and brawling and roaring.

狼蟲虎豹, "wolves, serpents, tigers, leopards" — the beast-soldiers of Wukong's mountain, named as a set. 在那裡 is the pointing nà lǐ, "there."

The Mighty-Spirit God bellowed, "You cursed beasts! Be quick and report to Bìmǎwēn: I am a great general of upper Heaven, come by the Jade Emperor's command to subdue him; let him come out at once and submit, and spare you all from ruin."

喝 is hè, to bellow, not hē, to drink. 業畜 (yè chù), "cursed beasts," takes 畜 as chù; the 業 is karma, so the insult is roughly "creatures who earned this." In 受降, "come out and submit," the 降 is again xiáng; 教他 is causative jiào.

The demons rushed about in a panic and carried the report into the cave: "Disaster! Disaster!"

奔奔波波, "scurrying in a flurry" — the comic panic of the beast-soldiers. 奔波 is still the everyday word for rushing about exhaustingly; doubling it up makes it faster and funnier.

The Monkey King asked, "What disaster?"

One short question against all that noise. The contrast in tempo is the joke.

The demons said, "Outside the gate is a heavenly general who calls out the Great Sage's title and says that, by the Jade Emperor's holy command, he has come to subdue you. He bids you come out at once and submit, to spare our lives."

有一員 takes yì before the rising tone of 員; 天將 takes 將 as jiàng; and 受降 is shòu xiáng once more.

Hearing this, the Monkey King ordered, "Fetch me my armor."

教 is causative jiào, "ordered." 披掛 is his battle-harness — armour as a single word, the way English says "kit."

He put on the purple-gold crown, donned the golden mail, stepped into the cloud-treading shoes, took the As-You-Will gold-banded cudgel in hand, led out his host, and drew up his battle array.

The arming of the Monkey King, itemised: 紫金冠 purple-gold crown, 黃金甲 golden mail, 步雲鞋 cloud-treading shoes, and the 如意金箍棒, the As-You-Will gold-banded cudgel. The portrait poem is about to go through the same list again, slowly.

The Mighty-Spirit God opened his eyes wide and looked — truly a fine Monkey King:

真好猴王, "truly a fine Monkey King" — the cue phrase that opens a portrait in seven-syllable lines. Note whose eyes we are about to look through: the enemy's.