硬著膽 Fetch Out The Drugged Wine
老魔聽說，雖說不怕，卻也心驚，只得硬著膽叫：「兄弟們，莫怕。把我那藥酒拿來，等我吃幾鍾下去，把猴兒藥殺了罷。」老魔听说，虽说不怕，却也心惊，只得硬着胆叫：「兄弟们，莫怕。把我那药酒拿来，等我吃几钟下去，把猴儿药杀了罢。」
逐句解 Line by line
Hearing this, the old fiend said he was not afraid, but his heart shook all the same, and he could only stiffen his gall and call out, "Brothers — do not be afraid."
硬著膽 takes the light zhe — hardening the gall and keeping it hard. The gall is where this book sites courage, and the phrase is still what Chinese says for screwing up one's nerve. He is telling the others not to be frightened because he is.
"Fetch out that drugged wine of mine, and let me drink a few cups of it down and poison the monkey to death."
猴兒 keeps 兒 at full weight as ér. And note the possessive: 我那藥酒, that drugged wine of mine — the cave keeps poisoned liquor in stock, alongside the bottle in the store-room.
The plan is the same shape as the salt water and fails the same way. Both are attempts to treat the contents of his own stomach as something he can act on from outside, and both require him to swallow something unpleasant first.
雖說不怕，卻也心驚 is the narrator refusing to let the boast stand. The demon says he is not afraid in the same sentence that reports his heart shaking, and then has to stiffen his nerve before he can address the room. Every chief in this cave has now been shown saying one thing and feeling another.