Recaps

Xuanzang and his companions returned to the Chechi Kingdom, where the ruler begged forgiveness and promised to endorse Xuanzang’s travel pass. When village elders arrived to request rain from the National Preceptor, Xuanzang asked to handle their petition himself.

• The ruler of the Chechi Kingdom and his officials knelt to welcome Xuanzang, who turned their attention to the five hundred monks and asked whether the ruler regretted his actions or merely feared him.
• The ruler struggled to answer Xuanzang’s challenge, then invited him and his companions into the city and promised to seal his travel pass.
• In the palace hall, Xuanzang waited silently as the ruler and officials grew uneasy, while the five hundred monks chanted sutras.
• A palace attendant announced that village elders had come to ask the National Preceptor to pray for rain after a rainless spring.
• Xuanzang asked the ruler for permission to handle the elders’ petition himself.

Xuanzang had the Three Powers summon rain in the Chechi Kingdom, and the downpour led the ruler to promise to restore Buddhism. Having seen how quickly the people turned from them, the Three Powers accepted their punishment and left the palace.

• Xuanzang asked Hu Li and his two brothers to summon rain while the ruler and village elders watched.
• Hu Li gathered Daoist ritual implements, and the Three Powers began their rite before the hall.
• Clouds gathered and rain fell, prompting the people to praise Xuanzang and the ruler to vow to rebuild monasteries.
• Xuanzang asked the Three Powers if they had seen clearly, and they thanked him and Wukong for enlightening them.
• The Three Powers said their punishment was not complete and departed through the crowd without being recognized.

Xuanzang confronted the king of the Chechi Kingdom after rain fell, revealing that the three former National Preceptors had summoned it. He challenged the court to govern responsibly rather than rely on supernatural powers, leaving the king and officials unable to answer.

• The king promised to restore Buddhism and punish the Daoists, while Xuanzang watched the rain and ignored the court's praise.
• Xuanzang told the king that Hu Li, Lu Li, and Yang Li—the three former National Preceptors—had prayed for rain.
• The Grand Preceptor called the three Daoists demonic and urged Xuanzang to spread Buddhism, but Xuanzang refused to teach rainmaking.
• Xuanzang questioned the king and officials about their reliance on rainmaking instead of maintaining irrigation, reservoirs, and granaries.
• Xuanzang asked whether the court would condemn him if he failed to summon rain, then challenged the king and officials by asking what use they were if they relied on supernatural powers to govern.

Xuanzang revealed that Chechi Kingdom’s rain and prosperity had been bought with the deaths of persecuted monks and innocent people, whose vengeful spirits now haunted the kingdom. Though Xuanzang refused to ask the dead for forgiveness, the five hundred monks pleaded for him to save the living, and he began to tell them a story.

• Xuanzang told the king, officials, and village elders that their favorable weather had been purchased with the lives of imprisoned and abused monks and commoners.
• Xuanzang explained that the victims’ unresolved resentment had turned most of their souls into Vengeful Ghosts wandering Chechi Kingdom.
• An official and others panicked, admitting they had followed orders, while the king and the assembled people begged Xuanzang to save the kingdom.
• Xuanzang refused to persuade the dead to forgive their persecutors, saying he could do nothing now that retribution had come.
• The five hundred monks asked Xuanzang to protect the kingdom’s innocent people, and he agreed to tell them a story.

Xuanzang recounted how the Yuezhi king relied on a physician, a minister, and Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha before ordering five hundred criminals blinded and abandoned in the mountains. Ashvaghosha went with them, and after days of suffering asked whether they had realized their wrongdoing or merely feared death; the men grabbed his robe as they begged for help.

• Xuanzang told the hall how King Chandana Kanishka accepted counsel from Charaka, Mojara, and Ashvaghosha to care for his health, kingdom, and conduct.
• After five hundred evildoers terrorized the Yuezhi Kingdom, the king ordered their eyes gouged out and their bodies abandoned in the mountains despite Charaka and Mojara's counsel.
• Ashvaghosha asked the king to let him accompany the blinded men into the wilderness, and the king agreed.
• The five hundred men cursed, suffered injuries, fought over food, and eventually begged for mercy while Ashvaghosha watched in silence.
• Ashvaghosha asked the men whether they had realized they were wrong or only that they were going to die, and they lunged toward him and clutched his robe.

Xuanzang recounted how Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha saved five hundred villains while teaching them to repent, and how the King of the Yuezhi held them accountable while allowing them to atone. He used the story to warn the Ruler of Chechi Kingdom against replacing persecution of Buddhists with persecution of Taoists, leaving the ruler to choose whether to follow a just path.

• Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha questioned the five hundred blind villains, endured their attacks, and sustained them with blood that became sweet milk.
• Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha taught the villains the Dharma until they began to repent, and his milk restored their sight.
• Xuanzang told the Ruler of Chechi Kingdom how the King of the Yuezhi ordered restitution, punishment, and labor according to each villain's crimes.
• Xuanzang warned the ruler that turning against Taoists in favor of Buddhism would repeat his earlier wrongdoing under a different name.
• Xuanzang urged the ruler to use law, punishment, teaching, and care as needed, then left him to decide whether to follow that path.

The Ruler of Chechi Kingdom began taking responsibility for the kingdom’s abuses by writing an edict and recording the names of those who had died or suffered under forced labor. As the monks’ testimonies eased the spirits’ resentment, Sha Wujing argued that the ruler’s first act of remorse could inspire others to change.

• Wukong urged the Ruler of Chechi Kingdom to confess the kingdom’s wrongs, restore justice, and stop relying blindly on gods or immortals.
• The Ruler of Chechi Kingdom wrote an edict admitting his failures and ordering investigations into those harmed over the past twenty years.
• An elderly monk told the ruler that the edict must include the names of the dead, and the monks began recounting them as the Grand Tutor wrote each one down.
• As the names were recorded through the night, the black vapor around the watching spirits gradually faded.
• Bajie doubted the officials and people would change after Xuanzang and the travelers left, but Sha Wujing said small acts of kindness and repentance could inspire more people.

The Ruler of Chechi Kingdom issued sweeping edicts to investigate abuses and began making amends to the monks and the dead. As Xuanzang and his companions departed, Wukong encouraged Shanbao to stand up for the oppressed and gave him a hair to summon help.

• The Ruler of Chechi Kingdom ordered officials to identify the dead, restore temple lands, compensate families, review wrongful convictions, and repair neglected public works.
• The Ruler knelt to apologize to the five hundred monks, and Xuanzang told him that admitting wrongdoing was only the beginning of making things right.
• The next morning, Chechi Kingdom posted the Ruler's proclamations, and Xuanzang and his companions departed without waiting for a royal send-off.
• Shanbao asked Wukong if he could become like him, and Wukong urged him to study, cultivate, and stand against those who bullied the weak.
• Wukong gave Shanbao one of his hairs and told him to call for the Great Sage Equal to Heaven if he faced trouble he could not handle.
• Shanbao promised to cultivate diligently and help people in danger as Wukong and the others continued down the road.

Xuanzang and his companions traveled through Chechi Kingdom, investigating wrongful cases and helping communities as the ruler’s edict exposed widespread abuses. As monks and Daoists began working together to settle the kingdom’s troubles, Wukong asked Xuanzang whether their growing involvement had gone too far.

• Xuanzang stopped along the road to hear pleas from commoners and helped investigate wrongful convictions, while Wukong checked reports of ghosts and demons.
• Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Little White Dragon helped villagers repair waterways and dig wells, and Little White Dragon asked Bajie questions about ordinary people’s lives.
• Wukong saw a Daoist and a novice monk sharing a meal and bickering like companions.
• Chechi Kingdom’s ruler registered Daoists and called for monks to work alongside them, capturing ghosts, delivering their souls, and helping authorities provide restitution.
• Wukong gave hairs to Daoists, monks, and petitioners so they could call on him for protection.
• That night, Wukong asked Xuanzang whether they were doing too much by getting involved in so many cases and slowing their journey.

Wukong questioned Xuanzang’s role in Chechi Kingdom’s suffering and confessed that his deeper unease came from Xuanzang seeming too perfect and unreal. He wondered whether their pilgrimage and companions were only a dream beneath Five Elements Mountain, leaving Xuanzang silent as he voiced his doubts.

• Wukong challenged Xuanzang’s decision to help Chechi Kingdom, and Xuanzang explained that he could only do what lay within his reach while leaving the kingdom’s fate to its people and rulers.
• Wukong told Xuanzang that he and the other disciples would follow him anywhere, but worried that Xuanzang had never faced a trial or found his path as they had.
• Wukong described how Bajie, Little White, Sha Wujing, and A-Hu had changed, then asked what Xuanzang’s own path and flaws were.
• Wukong questioned whether Xuanzang was truly human, wondered whose awakened wisdom he carried, and asked whether he might be a fake who had already made the pilgrimage.
• Wukong wondered if the journey and his companions were only a dream beneath Five Elements Mountain, and feared they could instead be as cruel and broken as his imagined alternatives.

Xuanzang explained prajna and emptiness to Wukong, reassuring him that their journey remained real even if it was like a dream. Wukong found comfort in his master and companions’ presence but ended the chapter by asking Xuanzang who he really was.

• Xuanzang explained that prajna meant seeing clearly and described how form and emptiness arose through causes and conditions.
• Xuanzang summoned the Wisdom Sword Buddha Wheel and used its light to reveal the robe’s parts dispersing and coming together again without destroying it.
• Xuanzang told Wukong that dreams and their journey were both real experiences shaped by causes and connections.
• Bajie, Little White Dragon, Sha Wujing, and A-Hu woke, and Wukong saw that his companions were still with him.
• Wukong asked Xuanzang who he really was.

Xuanzang told Wukong and the others about an ordinary monk who pursued Buddhist knowledge, traveled west against great hardship, and returned home to translate scriptures. He revealed that the monk’s life had been his own dream before he awoke in this world.

• After the Heavenly Dao warned Xuanzang not to speak, he decided to tell Wukong a story about an ordinary man.
• Xuanzang recounted how the man became a monk as a child, studied Buddhist teachings, and secretly left his country to seek the Dharma in the west.
• The man nearly died crossing the desert but survived, continued his journey, and spent years studying and debating at the birthplace of Buddhist Dharma.
• After more than seventeen years away, the man returned home with scriptures and devoted the rest of his life to translating them.
• Xuanzang told Wukong that the man’s story had been his own dream before he awoke in this world.

Xuanzang’s suppressed memories returned in a painful vision after he refused the Tribulation Master’s counsel, but he told his worried disciples he was fine and continued the journey. Months later, the group reached the rugged outskirts of Chechi Kingdom as autumn set in, with Bajie complaining about the lack of food and lodging.

• The Tribulation Master warned Xuanzang that the great tribulation would change and that his body’s old memories would no longer be suppressed.
• Xuanzang collapsed as memories of river water, a woman, and the name Jiang Liuer overwhelmed him, then woke and told Wukong and the others he had only dreamed.
• Wukong and the others kept watch through the night, and Xuanzang continued traveling and reassuring them that he was all right.
• The group traveled through increasingly remote mountains over the following months until autumn arrived and they neared the border of Chechi Kingdom.
• Bajie complained that the road was difficult and they had no food or place to stay, while Wukong, Little White Dragon, and Bajie argued about whether they needed a rest.

Xuanzang and his companions reached the vast Tongtian River and found it was eight hundred li across. When Xuanzang echoed Bajie's complaint about being trapped, the others grew suspicious, and Wukong demanded to know who Xuanzang really was.

• Wukong scolded Bajie for refusing to help Sha Wujing carry his load as the group traveled by moonlight.
• The pilgrims reached a deep, raging river, and Bajie tested its depth by throwing in a stone.
• Wukong surveyed the river from his Somersault Cloud and estimated it was seven or eight hundred li wide.
• Sha Wujing spotted a moss-covered stele identifying the river as the Tongtian River and stating that it was eight hundred li across.
• Xuanzang wondered aloud how they could cross, prompting Wukong, Bajie, Little White Dragon, Sha Wujing, and A-Hu to turn suspiciously toward him.
• Wukong stepped in front of Xuanzang and asked who he really was.

Xuanzang reassured his disciples that he was still himself, though old thoughts had resurfaced as part of a destined trial. He asked them to treat him as himself if he later acted unlike himself, then left them to figure out how to help him pass the trial.

• Xuanzang confirmed his identity, and Bajie tested him by asking whether he loved him best; Xuanzang said he loved all his disciples equally.
• Wukong examined Xuanzang and suspected a spiritual affliction, but Xuanzang insisted he had not gone mad or been possessed and called the ordeal his destined trial.
• Xuanzang asked his disciples to treat any future strange words or actions as his own, then explained that the trial belonged to all of them and that they might help him through it.
• Bajie, Little White Dragon, and Wukong argued over the nature of the trial until Wukong demanded that Xuanzang explain what they should do.
• Xuanzang said the other version of him was also their master and told them to work it out themselves, then tapped Wukong on the forehead with the Bitter Bamboo Ruler.

Xuanzang calmed Wukong after he lashed out at his fellow disciples, then became distressed while looking at the Tongtian River. Bajie rallied the group to seek food and shelter, and they reached a quiet village beside the river.

• Xuanzang struck Wukong with the Bitter Bamboo Ruler and told him to steady himself because his anger was unsettling the others.
• Bajie, Little White Dragon, Sha Wujing, and A-Hu reassured Wukong and showed that they were not frightened or angry with him.
• Xuanzang gazed at the Tongtian River and lamented the difficult journey, so Bajie distracted him by suggesting they find food, lodging, and a ferry crossing.
• The disciples followed the sound of drums and cymbals through wet reeds, with Wukong leading the way and Bajie reassuring Xuanzang.
• The group reached a quiet riverside village, and Xuanzang welcomed the prospect of sheltering and sleeping beneath human eaves.

Sanzang asked an old man for lodging, then brought Wukong and the others into the courtyard despite the host’s fear of their appearances. The group entered a hall where monks were chanting beside a funeral banner, and Bajie asked what scripture they were reciting.

• Sanzang told his disciples to wait while he went alone to ask the old man for lodging.
• The old man doubted Sanzang’s story but invited him and his disciples inside after hearing that they had traveled from the Great Tang.
• Wukong and the others frightened the old man, who shouted that monsters had arrived.
• Sanzang calmed the old man, ordered A-Hu to hide outside, and led the group into the hall.
• Bajie asked a monk what scripture the monks were chanting.

Wukong challenged Sanzang’s scolding after Bajie’s question sent the monks fleeing, arguing that the frightened monks might be impostors. The group waited for a meal at the old man’s house, where master and disciples sat in mutual silence and hostility.

• Bajie’s question frightened the monks into fleeing the hall, leaving the ritual objects scattered.
• Sanzang scolded his disciples for frightening the old man and disrupting the Buddhist service, but Wukong defended Bajie and questioned whether the monks were genuine.
• The old man tried to smooth things over, but his servants saw Wukong and the others and fled in panic, shouting that they were demons.
• Wukong lit the lamps and sat with Bajie and Sha Wujing, while Little White Dragon stood watch and none of them acknowledged Sanzang.
• The old man returned with tea and invited Sanzang to sit, then went to hurry the meal; the five sat in silence, each unable to bear the others.

Wukong and his companions were welcomed by two old hosts and served a vegetarian meal, while Little White Dragon took food outside for A-Hu. When Sanzang reprimanded Bajie for eating too much, Wukong challenged his reading of the meal-giving precepts, leaving Sanzang speechless.

• The older host was frightened by Wukong and the others until his brother explained they were monks, and they greeted the hosts courteously.
• The hosts arranged a meal for the travelers, and Little White Dragon took flatbreads and soup outside to share with A-Hu.
• Bajie gulped down bowls of rice and noodles while the servant lads watched in amazement.
• Sanzang urged Bajie to eat less, but Wukong encouraged him and told the host Bajie would repay the food with work.
• Wukong questioned Sanzang about the scriptures on accepting food, then cited a precept that left the hall silent.

Wukong and the others reflected on how they had mistreated Sanzang, then learned that the Chen brothers’ gathering was a Preemptive Funeral Fast. The brothers began explaining their fear after Wukong described the Tongtian River, and Bajie wondered whether Great King Linggan was its River God.

• Sha Wujing told Wukong, Bajie, and Little White Dragon that they had forgotten Sanzang’s teachings and were acting as they had before meeting him.
• The Chen brothers returned and identified themselves as Chen Qing and Chen Cheng of Chen Family Village in Yuanhui County, Chechi Kingdom.
• Wukong asked about the earlier fast, and Chen Cheng revealed that it was a Preemptive Funeral Fast.
• Chen Qing asked whether the travelers had seen anything near the Tongtian River, and Wukong said they had only seen its stone tablet.
• Chen Qing said the Great King Linggan Temple stood about a mile from the tablet, and Bajie speculated that its namesake might be the River God.

Wukong and his companions learned that Great King Linggan demanded children from Chen Family Village as yearly sacrifices in exchange for rain, and that Chen Cheng and Chen Qing were preparing to surrender their only children. Wukong questioned why the monster insisted on their own children and exact birth details, and the group began to suspect the Chen family’s surname held the answer.

• Chen Cheng revealed that Great King Linggan sent rain and auspicious clouds but demanded little boys and girls as sacrifices each year.
• Chen Cheng and Chen Qing explained that their eight-year-old daughter One Tael of Gold and seven-year-old son Chen Guanbao were due to be sacrificed that night.
• Wukong asked why the wealthy families could not buy substitute children, and Chen Cheng said the Great King knew their household details and would accept only their own children.
• Bajie and Little White Dragon wondered whether the sacrifice involved bloodlines, but the Chen brothers said their ancestors were ordinary people.
• Bajie realized the Great King might be targeting people surnamed Chen, and Wukong closed his eyes before suddenly laughing.

Wukong learned why Chen Cheng and Chen Qing stayed in their village and agreed to examine their children before deciding how to help. Meanwhile, Sanzang confronted Xuanzang in a mirror about their different journeys and choices, and Xuanzang firmly answered that Sanzang would not be like him if he had a choice.

• Chen Cheng and Chen Qing explained that their ancestral graves, fields, and clansmen kept them from leaving Chen Family Village, then begged Wukong to save their children.
• Wukong agreed to examine the old men's son and daughter.
• Sanzang spoke with Xuanzang in a bronze mirror, arguing that his disciples had become too dependent on their master and needed to face a trial without him.
• Sanzang described his fear, helplessness, and belief that he had been forced to play the role desired by the gods and Buddhas.
• Xuanzang apologized for judging Sanzang's path and acknowledged the real dangers and lack of control he had faced.
• When Sanzang asked whether he would have acted the same way in Xuanzang's world, Xuanzang answered, "No!"

Xuanzang challenged Sanzang’s claim that he had no control over his life, recalling the dangers and hardships he had faced on his own journey west. The chapter ended with Xuanzang asking Sanzang whether he would undertake that journey and offering to make a wager.

• Xuanzang told Sanzang that his former companions had used the same reasons to turn back from the journey west.
• Xuanzang showed Sanzang memories of crossing the desert, resisting calls to turn back, enduring snow, and finally reaching a Buddhist temple.
• Xuanzang admitted that he had felt fear, hunger, thirst, and the prospect of death, but said he kept going to seek the true Dharma.
• Xuanzang accused Sanzang of surrendering his heart and choosing to treat his submission as predestined, while Sanzang protested that he was only mortal.
• Xuanzang asked whether Sanzang would make the journey knowing its hardships, and Sanzang closed the mirror as Xuanzang proposed a wager.

Wukong and Bajie agreed to take the places of Guan Bao'er and One Tael of Gold as offerings to the Great King. After transforming into the children, they prepared to be carried to the temple while Sha Wujing and Little White Dragon stayed behind to guard the others.

• Wukong transformed into an exact copy of Guan Bao'er and offered to take his place as the sacrifice.
• Chen Qing agreed to Wukong's plan, while Wukong reassured him that he would survive being eaten.
• Bajie transformed into One Tael of Gold and asked Chen Cheng to prepare more rice for his return.
• Wukong told Chen Qing and Chen Cheng to hide the real children, then sent Sha Wujing and Little White Dragon to guard A-Hu and Tang Sanzang.
• Wukong and Bajie settled into red-lacquered trays as villagers gathered outside and called for the boy and girl to be brought out.

Wukong and Bajie disguised themselves as children and were carried in a village procession to Linggan Temple as annual sacrifices for Great King Linggan. After the villagers left, the two waited in the silent temple, but the demon had not appeared by the end of the chapter.

• Chen Qing and Chen Cheng watched as the disguised Wukong and Bajie were carried from the Chen family home on offering trays.
• Villagers led a torchlit procession through Chen Family Village, where incense smoke from every household drifted toward the outskirts.
• At Linggan Temple, the steward questioned Chen Qing about the children and ordered the trays carried inside.
• The villagers prayed to Great King Linggan, offered the children and livestock, burned paper horses, and returned home.
• Wukong and Bajie waited beside the spirit tablet as the incense burned out, but Great King Linggan did not come.