變作包袱 Disguised as a Bundle
好行者，咬著牙，忍著疼，捻著鐵棒，走過澗，到那火雲洞前，叫聲：「潑怪！」那把門的小妖又急入裡報：「孫行者又在門首叫哩。」那妖王傳令叫拿。那夥小妖槍刀簇擁，齊聲吶喊，即開門，都道：「拿住，拿住。」行者果然疲倦，不敢相迎，將身鑽在路傍，念個咒語，叫：「變！」即變做一個銷金包袱。小妖看見取了進去，報道：「大王，孫行者怕了，只見說一聲『拿』字，慌得把包袱丟下，走了。」好行者，咬着牙，忍着疼，捻着铁棒，走过涧，到那火云洞前，叫声：「泼怪！」那把门的小妖又急入里报：「孙行者又在门首叫哩。」那妖王传令叫拿。那伙小妖枪刀簇拥，齐声呐喊，即开门，都道：「拿住，拿住。」行者果然疲倦，不敢相迎，将身钻在路傍，念个咒语，叫：「变！」即变做一个销金包袱。小妖看见取了进去，报道：「大王，孙行者怕了，只见说一声『拿』字，慌得把包袱丢下，走了。」
逐句解 Line by line
Fine Pilgrim! Gritting his teeth, enduring the pain, gripping his iron cudgel, he crossed the torrent, came before the Fire-Cloud Cave, and called out: ‘Insolent monster!’
好行者, "Fine Pilgrim!", is the narrator's cheer for a piece of action about to begin. Then three things done at once, all with the same marker showing them going on together: teeth gritted, pain endured, cudgel gripped. That middle one is unusual. The novel does not often say that Wukong is in pain.
The little imp at the gate hurried in again to report: ‘Sun the Pilgrim is at the door calling again.’
The imps report, for the third time in the chapter, that Sun the Pilgrim is at the door. By now the repetition is doing comic work on its own.
The demon king gave the order to seize him.
The demon does not come out this time. He sends the staff -- a small mark of how the situation has changed since the first challenge, when he armed personally and walked out to look at his visitors.
That band of imps thronged out with spears and blades, shouting all together, opened the gate, and cried: ‘Seize him, seize him!’
Out they come with spears and blades, shouting. This is exactly what Wukong wanted: he has no intention of fighting any of them.
The Pilgrim, being indeed worn out, dared not face them; he slipped his body beside the road, recited a spell, and called: ‘Change!’
果然疲倦, indeed worn out -- the narrator confirming what Sha suspected. So he does not face them. He slips to the side of the road and works a change instead. The Great Sage avoiding a fight with a handful of imps is the clearest measure of what this chapter has done to him.
And at once he became a gold-embroidered bundle.
And he becomes a bundle. 銷金 means worked with gold thread, so it looks expensive -- which is the bait.
The imps, seeing it, took it in and reported: ‘Great King, Sun the Pilgrim took fright — at the mere word “seize,” he panicked, dropped his bundle, and fled.’
The imps' report is the funny part: he was so frightened by the word "seize" that he dropped his luggage and ran. They have invented a whole cowardly narrative and it is entirely satisfying to them, which is precisely why it works.
Too battered to fight, Wukong falls back on what he is actually best at. He shouts at the gate to draw the imps out, slips aside, and turns himself into a gold-worked bundle lying in the road.
The stratagem depends on the enemy telling themselves a flattering story, and they oblige immediately: the Great Sage panicked at a single word and dropped his bags. They are so pleased with this that nobody thinks to wonder why a fleeing immortal would leave anything behind.
It is worth noting what the chapter has reduced him to and what it has not. He cannot take on a squad of imps with spears. He can still walk into a fortress by being carried through the door.