真是不妄 The Star Spoke Truly
這大聖心中暗喜道：「李長庚之言，真是不妄，真是不妄。」原來這擺列的有些路數：二百五十名作一大隊伍。他只見有四十名雜彩長旗，迎風亂舞，就知有萬名人馬。这大圣心中暗喜道：「李长庚之言，真是不妄，真是不妄。」原来这摆列的有些路数：二百五十名作一大队伍。他只见有四十名杂彩长旗，迎风乱舞，就知有万名人马。
逐句解 Line by line
The Great Sage was privately delighted. "What Li Changgeng said was no idle word — no idle word at all."
長庚 takes 長 as cháng — the star name, not the zhǎng of seniority. 不妄 is not reckless, not made up — no idle word. And 暗喜 is privately pleased, which is a strange reaction to an army. He is pleased because the intelligence has checked out.
It turned out this array had a system to it: two hundred and fifty men made one large company.
路數 is the way a thing is laid out, its method — and it is exactly the word for spotting a pattern. 二百五十名作一大隊伍 is an establishment figure, and the demons have a table of organisation.
Seeing only forty long banners of mixed colours fluttering in the wind, he knew there were ten thousand men and horses.
長旗 has 長 as cháng, long — the physical extent band. The arithmetic is the point: forty banners at two hundred and fifty to a company gives ten thousand, and Pilgrim has done it at a glance.
Pilgrim's first reaction to an army of ten thousand is pleasure that his source was reliable. That is not bravado; it is the reflex of somebody who has been checking a report all afternoon.
Then he counts, and the way he counts is the most professional thing he does in the chapter. He does not try to see the men. He counts the banners, because he has worked out the establishment behind them.
Forty flags, two hundred and fifty to a company, ten thousand men — and the sum is not written out for us. The novel simply reports that he knew.