特來助力 We Come To Lend Our Strength
前後點起七長八短，有百十餘口。一個個賣弄精神，拈槍弄棒，齊告：「大王爺爺，我等奉奶奶內旨，特來助力也。」牛王大喜道：「來得好，來得好。」前后点起七长八短，有百十余口。一个个卖弄精神，拈枪弄棒，齐告：「大王爷爷，我等奉奶奶内旨，特来助力也。」牛王大喜道：「来得好，来得好。」
逐句解 Line by line
They mustered from front and back, of all assorted sizes, upward of a hundred of them.
七長八短, "seven long and eight short", is the phrase for an ill-matched assortment, so 長 takes cháng. This is the third occurrence of the character in these passages and the second at that reading, against the single zhǎng in the verse. 百十餘口 counts them by mouths rather than by heads.
Every one of them showing off his spirit, brandishing spear and flourishing cudgel, they called out together: "Great King and master, we come by our lady's inner command, expressly to lend our strength!"
內旨, "inner command", borrows the language of an imperial consort's edict, which is a joke at the scale of the establishment: the Jade-Faced Princess is issuing decrees from within the household of a cave. 奶奶 is left at full tone; this edition treats 婆婆 and 媽媽 as light in the second syllable, and whether this word joins them is a question for the standing rulings rather than for a note.
The Bull King was delighted. "Well come, well come!"
The doubling is relief rather than command. He has been fighting for a day and a night, has already been driven off the field once, and what arrives is not a plan but numbers. 來得好 takes the light linking de at both sites: the coming is good, not the getting.
The reinforcements are described with visible amusement. 七長八短 is a phrase for an ill-matched assortment, they are counted by mouths rather than heads, and their first act is 賣弄精神 — showing off. Rather more than a hundred of them arrive brandishing weapons and announcing themselves.
特來助力, "we come expressly to lend our strength", is the third appearance of the chapter title's phrase inside this passage alone, and it belongs to somebody different every time. The verse gave the lending of strength to the earth-god; the Princess's order gave it to her outer guard; and here a hundred nameless retainers claim it for themselves. The title credits it to Eight Rules, who is about to be driven off the field.
來得好，來得好 is the Bull King's entire response, and the doubling is relief rather than command. He has been fighting for a day and a night and has already been driven from the field once, and what arrives is not a plan but numbers.