Chapter Summaries

Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong reached Eagle Stream Ravine, where Little White Dragon burst from the water and swallowed Tang Sanzang’s horse. Sun Wukong tried to find the dragon with his Fiery Golden Eyes, but a mysterious mist concealed the ravine’s depths.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva followed Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong through the mountains and grew furious when Tang Sanzang proposed avoiding Eagle Stream Ravine.
• Tang Sanzang cautiously approached the ravine, considered ways to cross or go around it, and finally decided to take another route.
• Little White Dragon erupted from the water, swallowed the White Dragon Horse with its saddle and bridle, and vanished back into the ravine.
• Tang Sanzang mourned the loss of his horse while Sun Wukong went to investigate the ravine.
• Sun Wukong used his Fiery Golden Eyes to search beneath the water, but a strange mist blocked his view.

At Eagle Stream Ravine, Tang Sanzang mourned his lost horse while Sun Wukong refused to fight the water demon, and Guanyin Bodhisattva expected her attendants to guide them to Little White Dragon. The attendants arrived to help, but Tang Sanzang recognized Golden Head Attendant and asked Sun Wukong to knock him out of the sky.

• Tang Sanzang argued with Sun Wukong about his lost horse and complained that he could not continue the journey on foot.
• Little White Dragon Ao Lie watched Tang Sanzang’s tantrum from beneath Eagle Stream Ravine and grew irritated with him.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva watched from above, decided Lin Zhu would not interfere, and summoned the deities guarding the Scripture Seeker.
• Golden Head Attendant and the other deities descended at Eagle Stream Ravine, prompting Sun Wukong to accuse them of secretly following him.
• Tang Sanzang recognized Golden Head Attendant and asked Sun Wukong to knock him out of the sky.

Tang Sanzang recognized Golden Head Attendant as the immortal who had watched his two attendants die on Shuangcha Ridge and ordered Sun Wukong to kill him. Sun Wukong pursued the fleeing attendant, while Tang Sanzang reaffirmed his hatred and urged Wukong to leave no one alive.

• Tang Sanzang accused Golden Head Attendant of standing by while demons killed his two attendants on Shuangcha Ridge, then ordered Sun Wukong to avenge them.
• Sun Wukong attacked Golden Head Attendant, who narrowly dodged the Golden Cudgel and called on the other Attendants to split up and flee.
• Tang Sanzang denounced Golden Head Attendant and declared that his dharma name was San Zang, while Sun Wukong praised the name and chased the fleeing attendant.
• Golden Head Attendant urged Tang Sanzang to let go of hatred, prompting Tang Sanzang to order Sun Wukong to kill him and leave no one alive.
• Sun Wukong caught up to Golden Head Attendant and swung the Golden Cudgel at the back of his head, tearing his robe and cutting his skin.

Guanyin Bodhisattva intervened to save Golden Head Attendant from Sun Wukong, then used the Tightening Fillet Spell to punish him for refusing her orders. The spell instead gave Sun Wukong a pleasurable head massage, and he pretended to suffer while Guanyin grew suspicious of his demand that she keep chanting.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva stopped Sun Wukong's Golden Cudgel from striking Golden Head Attendant and ordered him to stop.
• Sun Wukong insulted Guanyin Bodhisattva and refused to obey her.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva chanted the Tightening Fillet Spell, but Sun Wukong felt a soothing massage instead of pain.
• Sun Wukong faked a painful collapse to hide the spell's effects from Guanyin Bodhisattva.
• Sun Wukong blurted out, “Keep chanting!” and Guanyin Bodhisattva began to suspect that something was wrong.

Guanyin Bodhisattva tried to subdue Sun Wukong with the Tightening Fillet Spell, but its massage-like effect made him fall asleep and accidentally expose his enjoyment. When Tang Sanzang accused Golden Head Attendant of letting his brothers die, Guanyin defended him and left Tang Sanzang with a deepening hatred of Western Heaven.

• Sun Wukong pretended to writhe in pain as Guanyin Bodhisattva chanted the Tightening Fillet Spell four times, but he fell asleep from the spell’s soothing massage.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva stopped chanting after checking that Sun Wukong was alive, and Sun Wukong told her to keep going before waking and pretending to beg her to stop.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva accepted Sun Wukong’s apparent submission and questioned him about attacking Golden Head Attendant.
• Tang Sanzang accused Golden Head Attendant of watching demons devour his two attendants on Shuangcha Ridge and demanded that Guanyin Bodhisattva judge him.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva dismissed Tang Sanzang’s accusation, defended Golden Head Attendant, and declared that questioning him meant questioning Western Heaven.
• Tang Sanzang lowered his head without withdrawing his accusation, while his anger and hatred toward Western Heaven grew stronger.

Guanyin Bodhisattva tried to ensure Ao Lie joined Tang Sanzang’s westward journey as his mount, while Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang resisted her arrangement. Ao Lie emerged from Eagle Stream Ravine, angered by Guanyin Bodhisattva’s version of how he had been saved.

• Golden Head Attendant returned to the gods, avoiding Tang Sanzang’s gaze, while Guanyin Bodhisattva dismissed the dispute and Sun Wukong watched her with contempt.
• Sun Wukong told Guanyin Bodhisattva that a white dragon had eaten Tang Sanzang’s horse, and he and Tang Sanzang proposed taking a detour rather than fighting the dragon.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva forbade them to detour and explained that Ao Lie, the West Sea Dragon King’s son, had been placed at Eagle Stream Ravine to become Tang Sanzang’s mount.
• Sun Wukong mocked Guanyin Bodhisattva for arranging a mount that ate Tang Sanzang’s horse, while she argued that an ordinary horse could not complete the journey to Spirit Mountain.
• Ao Lie erupted from Eagle Stream Ravine after hearing Guanyin Bodhisattva claim credit for saving him and omit the person who had truly helped him.

At Eagle Stream Ravine, Ao Lie exposed Guanyin Bodhisattva’s claim that she had saved him, crediting Lin Zhu with rescuing and counseling him instead. Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang also revealed that Lin Zhu had helped them, leaving Guanyin to connect the clues to Lin Zhu.

• Ao Lie burst from the ravine and called Guanyin Bodhisattva shameless for claiming she had arranged his redemption.
• Ao Lie told Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang that Lin Zhu had stopped his rampage, counseled him, and secured his chance to atone, while Guanyin had taken the credit.
• Sun Wukong mocked Guanyin Bodhisattva after hearing Ao Lie’s account, and Guanyin realized she had not done the things Ao Lie described.
• Sun Wukong asked Ao Lie whether Lin Zhu had helped him too, and Tang Sanzang declared that Lin Zhu had saved him and promised to stand behind him.
• Sun Wukong revealed that Lin Zhu had replaced his Tightening Fillet, and Guanyin connected the revelations to Lin Zhu’s influence.

Ao Lie rejected Guanyin Bodhisattva’s plan after learning that Lin Zhu had helped him, then flew away from Eagle Stream Ravine and returned to Lin Zhu. Guanyin caught up and asked Lin Zhu what it would take to spare Little White Dragon.

• Ao Lie recognized that Lin Zhu had given Sun Wukong a fake Tightening Fillet and treated Tang Sanzang as a fellow beneficiary, but Tang Sanzang confronted him for eating his horse.
• Ao Lie accused Guanyin Bodhisattva of stealing Lin Zhu’s name and flew west, leaving Tang Sanzang without a horse and the attendants unsure whether their assignment had failed.
• Sun Wukong teased Tang Sanzang about his missing horse while Guanyin Bodhisattva realized Lin Zhu had disrupted her plans and pursued Ao Lie.
• Guanyin found Ao Lie resting obediently beside Lin Zhu on a mountain, then argued with Little White Dragon over his claim that Lin Zhu’s raised middle finger meant “hand it over.”
• Guanyin asked Lin Zhu what it would take for him to spare Little White Dragon.

Lin Zhu tried to leave Luojia Mountain and rest, but Guanyin Bodhisattva clung to his leg and offered Merit Divine Water to keep Little White Dragon from going with him. Little White Dragon misread Lin Zhu’s confusion as a deliberate scheme and demanded one hundred thousand drops, while Lin Zhu remained baffled by the situation.

• Lin Zhu summoned the God-Slaying Spear, frightened Guanyin Bodhisattva, then put it away and said she could take Little White Dragon if she wanted.
• Little White Dragon followed Lin Zhu and asked to join him at the Ninth Heaven Prison, alarming Guanyin Bodhisattva because he was meant to become White Dragon Horse for the Scripture Seeking journey.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva clung to Lin Zhu’s leg and offered him twenty thousand drops of Merit Divine Water in exchange for making Little White Dragon return to his place.
• Little White Dragon interpreted Lin Zhu’s raised hand as a threat and insisted that Guanyin Bodhisattva offer one hundred thousand drops instead.
• Little White Dragon claimed Lin Zhu had deliberately chosen Luojia Mountain after seeing through Guanyin Bodhisattva’s secret arrangements, while Lin Zhu realized he had landed there only to nap and grew anxious about the misunderstanding.

Little White Dragon’s accusations convinced Guanyin Bodhisattva that Lin Zhu had uncovered her secrets, though Lin Zhu had no idea what was happening. Guanyin Bodhisattva agreed to take them deeper into Luojia Mountain on the condition that Little White Dragon wear something, and the group arrived at Lishe Shrine.

• Little White Dragon claimed Lin Zhu had deliberately chosen Luojia Mountain because he knew Guanyin Bodhisattva’s schemes, and Guanyin Bodhisattva grew alarmed.
• Lin Zhu tried to send Little White Dragon away, but Little White Dragon refused to back down and demanded one hundred thousand drops of Merit Divine Water.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva mistook Lin Zhu’s silence for proof that he had seen through her and agreed to take them along, provided Lin Zhu made Little White Dragon wear something.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva worried that Lin Zhu had discovered her secrets through a spy or some hidden power, while Little White Dragon praised Lin Zhu’s supposed insight.
• The group followed Guanyin Bodhisattva through a bamboo grove to Lishe Shrine, where Little White Dragon said the manor was not a mortal residence.

Lin Zhu accompanied Guanyin Bodhisattva and Little White Dragon to Lishe Shrine, where the Luojia Mountain mountain god exposed Guanyin Bodhisattva’s plan to give Tang Sanzang a magical saddle and bridle. Lin Zhu uncovered that it would erase the wearer’s ties to the Dragon Clan and Heavenly Court and turn them into a Buddhist mount, leaving Guanyin Bodhisattva’s scheme exposed.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva led Lin Zhu and Little White Dragon to Lishe Shrine, where the mountain god saw Lin Zhu and immediately knelt to plead for mercy.
• The mountain god accused Guanyin Bodhisattva of coercing him and forbidding him from reporting her plan to the Heavenly Court.
• At Little White Dragon’s demand, the mountain god revealed himself as the Luojia Mountain mountain god and confessed that Guanyin Bodhisattva had ordered him to give Tang Sanzang something.
• The mountain god presented a saddle and bridle that could seal Dragon Clan aura, sever ties to the Heavenly Court, and convert its wearer into a Buddhist mount.
• Lin Zhu condemned the scheme, Little White Dragon raged at the attempt to subdue him, and Guanyin Bodhisattva realized Lin Zhu had seen through her arrangements.

Little White Dragon exposed Western Heaven’s plan to control him with the Saddle and Bridle, and threatened to bring the Dragon Clan against them. Guanyin Bodhisattva tried to buy Lin Zhu’s help with Merit Divine Water, but Little White Dragon mistook Lin Zhu’s gesture for a demand for one hundred thousand.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva mistook Lin Zhu’s faint smile for proof that he had deliberately orchestrated Little White Dragon’s revelations and called him a pervert.
• Little White Dragon thanked Lin Zhu, then declared that Western Heaven’s Saddle and Bridle Plan had threatened the Dragon Clan and vowed to alert its ancestors.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva panicked and apologized, but Little White Dragon rejected her apology and threatened to expose Western Heaven’s scheme.
• After Lin Zhu remarked that apologies could not replace laws, Guanyin Bodhisattva offered him sixty thousand, then eighty thousand Merit Divine Water to persuade Little White Dragon.
• Lin Zhu waved his hand, and Little White Dragon interpreted the gesture as a demand for one hundred thousand Merit Divine Water, warning Guanyin Bodhisattva not to haggle or face the God-Slaying Spear.

Lin Zhu received one hundred thousand portions of Merit Divine Water from Guanyin Bodhisattva after Little White Dragon’s threats and wild interpretations pushed her into paying. When Guanyin demanded that Lin Zhu make Little White Dragon cooperate, Lin Zhu instead destroyed the saddle meant to bind and alter the dragon, leaving Guanyin furious and her plan in ruins.

• Little White Dragon accused Guanyin Bodhisattva of hiding Merit Divine Water and threatened her with Lin Zhu’s supposed punishments.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva threw Lin Zhu a Jade Gourd containing one hundred thousand portions of Merit Divine Water and told him to make Little White Dragon cooperate.
• Lin Zhu pocketed the water, while Guanyin realized she had spent her entire supply merely to prevent Little White Dragon from complaining to the Dragon Clan.
• When Guanyin demanded that Lin Zhu make Little White Dragon put on the treasure, Lin Zhu turned away, prompting her to accuse him of robbery.
• Lin Zhu took the saddle from the kneeling Luojia Mountain God and crushed it into powder despite Guanyin Bodhisattva’s warning.

Lin Zhu destroyed the saddle and bridle Western Heaven had prepared to control Little White Dragon, while Guanyin Bodhisattva lost the Merit Divine Water she had paid him. After Guanyin prepared to leave, Lin Zhu offered to let Little White Dragon join the Journey to the West as White Dragon Horse.

• Lin Zhu crushed Western Heaven's saddle and bridle into powder, and Little White Dragon pledged his loyalty to Lin Zhu for protecting him.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva accused Lin Zhu of taking her Merit Divine Water without doing the job, but Lin Zhu claimed the payment had been for destroying the treasure.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva turned to leave, deciding to report the disaster to Buddha Tathagata.
• Lin Zhu called after Guanyin Bodhisattva and asked whether she wanted White Dragon Horse to take his place.
• Little White Dragon affirmed that he would follow Lin Zhu's instructions, and Guanyin Bodhisattva happily thanked Lin Zhu for letting him join the Journey to the West.

Lin Zhu secured Little White Dragon’s return to the Journey to the West without restoring the saddle, and Guanyin Bodhisattva accepted the terms while planning to leave the consequences to Tathagata. The group returned to Eagle Stream Ravine with a magical copy of the saddle, where Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong were waiting.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva agreed to proceed without the original saddle after Lin Zhu warned her not to bargain and asked her to ignore his future schemes.
• Lin Zhu reminded Guanyin Bodhisattva that he served the Heavenly Court and warned her to turn a blind eye to his actions during the journey.
• Lin Zhu erased the Luojia Mountain God, sending him to Reincarnation for helping Guanyin Bodhisattva conceal the artifact from the Heavenly Court.
• Little White Dragon thanked Lin Zhu for saving him from Western Heaven’s scheme and promised the Dragon Clan would repay the Heavenly Court’s kindness.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva fashioned a convincing replacement saddle, and the three returned to Eagle Stream Ravine.
• Lin Zhu called out to Tang Sanzang that his horse had arrived, and Tang Sanzang opened his eyes.

Lin Zhu brought White Dragon Horse to Tang Sanzang, but the horse rejected Guanyin Bodhisattva’s claim that Western Heaven had won his allegiance and declared that he followed Lin Zhu’s command. Guanyin then tried to admonish Sun Wukong and give him three Willow Leaf hairs, but Sun Wukong refused.

• Lin Zhu arrived at Eagle Stream Ravine with White Dragon Horse, and Tang Sanzang eagerly welcomed the steed.
• Sun Wukong revealed that White Dragon Horse was the dragon who had eaten Tang Sanzang’s former horse, and Tang Sanzang thanked Lin Zhu for solving his problem.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva descended and began claiming that White Dragon Horse had joined the Buddhist Sect through Western Heaven’s grace.
• White Dragon Horse kicked Tang Sanzang aside and told Guanyin Bodhisattva that he had come west at Lin Zhu’s command, not hers.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva abandoned her claim and reprimanded Sun Wukong for wanting to leave the journey.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva offered Sun Wukong three Willow Leaf hairs, but he bluntly refused them.

Guanyin forced three Life-Saving Hairs onto Sun Wukong, and Lin Zhu recognized that they carried a karmic link to Tathagata. Tang Sanzang clung to Lin Zhu and begged for protection, so Lin Zhu offered him two pills to choose from while Guanyin watched anxiously from above.

• Guanyin planted three Life-Saving Hairs in Sun Wukong despite his attempt to dodge, and he angrily thanked her with sarcasm.
• Lin Zhu perceived a Karma Line extending from Sun Wukong to Spirit Mountain and deduced that Tathagata had arranged the hairs.
• After Guanyin departed, Tang Sanzang grabbed Lin Zhu's leg and complained that she had given him no protection.
• Guanyin watched from the clouds and feared Lin Zhu would give Tang Sanzang a treasure that would disrupt the Journey to the West.
• Lin Zhu took out a red pill and a blue pill and told Tang Sanzang to choose one.

Tang Sanzang reached for Lin Zhu’s Asura Heaven-Destroying Pill, but Guanyin Bodhisattva rushed back to stop him and warned that it could corrupt him. Tang Sanzang defended his wish to survive the journey, and their argument escalated as Guanyin insisted he must endure the trials of the pilgrimage.

• Lin Zhu described the Pillar Pill and the Asura Heaven-Destroying Pill, and Tang Sanzang chose the red pill for its power.
• As Tang Sanzang reached for the pill, Guanyin Bodhisattva descended from the clouds and shouted for him to stop.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva warned Tang Sanzang that the pill’s baleful energy could drive him into the demonic path.
• Tang Sanzang challenged Guanyin Bodhisattva for rebuking him before hearing him and argued that greater strength would help him survive the journey.
• Tang Sanzang questioned why the pilgrimage required him to remain vulnerable to demons, and Guanyin Bodhisattva angrily insisted that he must endure its hardships.

Tang Sanzang challenged Guanyin Bodhisattva over her refusal to let him use the Asura Heaven-Destroying Pill, exposing the gap between Buddhist scripture and the rules governing his journey. Lin Zhu revealed to himself that the red pill was only a powerful laxative, while Guanyin tried to negotiate with him to give Tang Sanzang the blue pill instead.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva warned Tang Sanzang that taking the Asura Heaven-Destroying Pill would corrupt his heart, but Tang cited Buddhist teachings on compassion and equality to challenge her.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva answered Tang Sanzang's arguments only by saying that it could not be done, because his mortal weakness and the planned Eighty-One Tribulations had to be preserved.
• Lin Zhu put away the red pill and reflected that it was merely a potent laxative, not a source of Asura power.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva privately accused Lin Zhu of endangering the westward journey, and Lin Zhu claimed aloud that he had acted out of pity for Tang Sanzang.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva softened her stance and asked Lin Zhu to give Tang Sanzang the blue pill, promising to overlook the red one, while Lin Zhu smiled at her offer.

Lin Zhu gave Tang Sanzang the blue Pillar Pill after Guanyin stopped him from taking the red Asura Heaven-Destroying Pill, while warning him that Western Heaven treated him as a tool. Tang Sanzang accepted the pill, but Guanyin seized it to inspect it before he could swallow it.

• Lin Zhu hid the red pill and urged Tang Sanzang to accept his fate as a Scripture-Seeking chess piece, then gave him the blue Pillar Pill.
• Lin Zhu told Tang Sanzang that his struggle mattered to Western Heaven but that power belonged to its upper ranks, prompting Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong to recognize their exploitation.
• Sun Wukong silently vowed to shatter Western Heaven and destroy the Buddhas who treated living beings as tools.
• Tang Sanzang thanked Lin Zhu, accepted the Pillar Pill, and prepared to swallow it.
• Guanyin stopped Tang Sanzang, took the pill, and carefully inspected it for hidden danger as Tang Sanzang grew bitter and angry.