原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
萬中選千 Ten Thousand Down To Sixteen
三怪道：「如今把滿洞群妖點將起來，萬中選千，千中選百，百中選十六個，又選三十個。」老怪道：「怎麼既要十六，又要三十？」三怪道：「如今把满洞群妖点将起来，万中选千，千中选百，百中选十六个，又选三十个。」老怪道：「怎么既要十六，又要三十？」
逐句解 Line by line
三怪道：「如今把滿洞群妖點將起來，萬中選千，千中選百，百中選十六個，又選三十個。」
三怪道：「如今把满洞群妖点将起来，万中选千，千中选百，百中选十六个，又选三十个。」
The third fiend said: "Now muster every demon in the cave. Out of ten thousand pick a thousand, out of the thousand pick a hundred, out of the hundred pick sixteen; and then pick thirty more."
把 reads bǎ and 將 jiāng, carrying the verb along. The four 中 characters here all read zhōng — out of, from among.
老怪道：「怎麼既要十六，又要三十？」
老怪道：「怎么既要十六，又要三十？」
The old fiend said: "Why sixteen and then thirty as well?"
既要 — since you want, given that you want.
The selection is described as a funnel — ten thousand to a thousand to a hundred to sixteen — and the rhythm of the sentence does the narrowing for you. It is a boast about quality dressed as arithmetic: these will be the best sixteen creatures in the mountain.
The eldest's question is the one the reader has too. Why two separate groups, of sixteen and thirty? The third fiend has designed something with parts, and the explanation is being withheld for a beat so that the plan can be revealed as a plan rather than a list.