Recaps

Xuanzang recited a Buddhist prayer that revealed the shadows clinging to the people in the hall and drove them out with golden light. The shadows vanished, but the light continued beyond the hall’s threshold.

• Xuanzang recited the first lines of the prayer, and the Queen saw shadows strangling and merging into the officials around her.
• Xuanzang’s second line dissolved more than half the shadows, though those already buried inside their hosts remained.
• Xuanzang’s third line forced the remaining shadows out of the officials’ bodies, and they fled toward the doors.
• Xuanzang’s final line made the golden halo blaze and dissolved every shadow in the hall.
• The Queen watched as the golden light continued spreading beyond the threshold.

Wukong discovered a vast shadow controlling the demoness, while Xuanzang recognized the gray daylight over the palace as a false sun. The demoness called it Wind and Moon and explained that its spell kept people from waking, as the shadow’s influence continued to threaten the hall.

• Bajie recovered enough to speak and picked up his Nine-Toothed Rake while Wukong watched the demoness.
• Wukong saw a huge black shadow gripping the demoness and realized it controlled her movements.
• Xuanzang watched the sky as the shadow pulled black threads upward, causing a gray sun to rise over the palace.
• The shadow plunged into the demoness, and black threads surged toward the hall but stopped at Xuanzang’s golden light.
• Xuanzang said the sun was false, and the demoness called it Wind and Moon, saying it drew people into a spell that made them unwilling to wake.

Black threads from the gray sun controlled the women of Western Liang and drove them toward the Royal Palace, where Wukong and the others struggled to hold them back. The crowd stopped and demanded that Xuanzang hand over the unconscious Ruyi True Immortal.

• Black threads descended from the gray sun and compelled women throughout the city to leave their homes and walk toward the Royal Palace.
• Sha Wujing, Little White Dragon, and A-Hu saw the crowds streaming past Yingyang Posthouse and hurried to the palace, where they found people packed inside and outside the gates.
• Wukong repeatedly used his Immobilization Spell to stop the crowd, but the black threads forced the women to move again.
• Little White Dragon, Sha Wujing, and A-Hu joined Wukong and Bajie as the crowd abruptly stopped and stared toward the great hall.
• The crowd spoke in unison, offered to let Xuanzang leave, and demanded that he hand over the unconscious Ruyi True Immortal.

The demoness explained why she had created a dream realm without men, condemning the ways women were made to wait, endure, and take blame. Xuanzang warned that a dream no one could wake from was no longer a dream, but the demoness dismissed his ability to understand women’s suffering.

• Wukong asked why the demoness wanted Ruyi True Immortal, and she called him her faithless lover.
• The demoness described how women were expected to endure mistreatment and wait for men who broke their promises.
• As the demoness raised her three-pronged fork, the gray light softened the women’s expressions while their black threads remained attached.
• The demoness said she had created a place without men, where women could live as they wished and would no longer have to wait or bear blame.
• Xuanzang told the demoness that a dream people could not wake from was no longer a dream, and she replied that a man could not understand women’s pain.

Wukong challenged the Wind and Moon Demon’s claim that she protected the women, calling her dream another cage, while the women insisted they did not want to wake. As the demon revealed that she could not be destroyed while anyone remained alive, Xuanzang began explaining the hardships women endured, ending with the tenth affliction: never being free.

• Wukong accused the Wind and Moon Demon of controlling the women through a dream and demanded to know whether they had chosen it.
• The women below the staircase repeatedly said they did not want to wake, and the Wind and Moon Demon declared herself their protector, born from their pain.
• Wukong, Bajie, Little White Dragon, A-Hu, and Sha Wujing confronted the Wind and Moon Demon, who said she could not be destroyed while even one person remained alive.
• Xuanzang addressed the Wind and Moon Demon and described the Buddha’s teachings on women’s three hindrances and ten afflictions.
• Xuanzang began listing the ten afflictions, concluding with the tenth: never being free.

Xuanzang answered the Wind and Moon Demon's accusation that Buddhist teachings offered women no true equality by telling the story of the Dragon Maiden becoming a Buddha. The demon rejected the story because the Dragon Maiden had to transform into a man, and Xuanzang revealed that he had not finished telling it.

• The Wind and Moon Demon challenged Xuanzang, asking why the Buddha had seen women's suffering but no one had saved them and arguing that women could never become Buddhas.
• Xuanzang asked Wukong and Bajie about the unfinished story of the Dragon Maiden and invited the women below to listen.
• Xuanzang recounted how the eight-year-old Dragon Maiden offered the Buddha a precious pearl, then transformed into a male and attained enlightenment.
• The Wind and Moon Demon mocked the tale, arguing that it offered women equality only if they changed their bodies or waited for another lifetime.
• Xuanzang gently told the Wind and Moon Demon that he had not finished the story.

Xuanzang’s companions fought the Wind and Moon Demon while black threads from the gray sun drove a crowd of women up the stairway. As the battle intensified and Bajie and A-Hu struggled to hold back the crowd without hurting them, Xuanzang sent Sha Wujing forward.

• The Wind and Moon Demon used her trident and the gray sun’s black threads to drive the frozen crowd toward Wukong, who tried to stop them with the Immobilization Spell.
• Little White Dragon attacked the Wind and Moon Demon, but she deflected his spear with black threads and taunted him until his attacks grew more impatient.
• Bajie urged Wukong to aid Little White Dragon, and Wukong joined the aerial fight with his Golden Cudgel.
• Bajie and A-Hu combined black wind and golden wings to push back the crowd, then stopped when the gusts began toppling the elderly and children.
• Xuanzang patted Sha Wujing and told him to go.

Sha Wujing used the Demon-Subduing Treasure Staff to hold back the controlled women while Wukong, Bajie, A-Hu, and Little White Dragon fought the Wind and Moon Demon. As Xuanzang began telling the Queen a story, the Wind and Moon Demon tried to reach him but the pilgrims stopped her.

• Xuanzang told Sha Wujing to use the Demon-Subduing Treasure Staff as the Central Palace, and Sha Wujing’s magic held the controlled women at the hall entrance.
• Bajie and A-Hu joined Wukong and Little White Dragon against the Wind and Moon Demon after Bajie called out Little White Dragon for letting her taunts disrupt his fighting.
• The Wind and Moon Demon wounded A-Hu with a hidden dark projectile, but Little White Dragon intercepted it and forced it back.
• The four pilgrims attacked together, prompting the Wind and Moon Demon to release the black threads and drive them back.
• Xuanzang asked the Queen whether she remembered his story about celestial maidens scattering flowers, and the Wind and Moon Demon charged toward him.
• Wukong, Little White Dragon, Bajie, and A-Hu blocked the Wind and Moon Demon while Wukong said Xuanzang was in the middle of a story.

Wukong and the others kept the Wind and Moon Demon from reaching the hall while Xuanzang recounted how a heavenly maiden taught Shariputra that male and female forms had no fixed nature. The Demon rejected his teaching and defended her rule over the women, but Xuanzang answered that they were still not their own masters as the hall’s golden light receded.

• Wukong, the Silver Spear, Bajie, and A-Hu blocked the Wind and Moon Demon from reaching the long stairway.
• Xuanzang told the Queen and the crowd how a heavenly maiden explained that Shariputra’s attachment to distinctions made celestial flowers cling to him.
• Xuanzang recounted how the heavenly maiden exchanged forms with Shariputra to show that all phenomena lacked a fixed male or female nature.
• The Wind and Moon Demon attacked Xuanzang and Bajie while Wukong and the others intercepted her dark energy.
• The Wind and Moon Demon argued that the women under her rule were safer and freer from men and abusers.
• Xuanzang told the Wind and Moon Demon that the women were still not their own masters, and the golden light in the hall receded.

Xuanzang used a silver Buddhist wheel to loosen the Wind and Moon Demon's control over the sleeping women and challenged her claim that imprisoning them was salvation. As the threads turned silver and slipped from her grasp, he argued that freedom meant allowing each woman to choose for herself.

• Xuanzang invoked a mantra and formed a silver Buddhist wheel that spread its light across the staircase and the black threads.
• The Wind and Moon Demon tried to tighten her control, but the threads softened and several women began to stir.
• Xuanzang asked whether the demon would release the women if they wished to wake or leave, and she insisted they could not manage without her protection.
• Xuanzang argued that freedom required letting the women decide whether to stay, leave, wake, or sleep.
• Xuanzang condemned the demon's hatred and discrimination, saying that true salvation meant helping the women gain the strength to break their own chains.

Xuanzang and the fighters faced the Wind and Moon Demon's attempt to trap the Royal Palace beneath a vast web woven from the Gray Sun's threads. As Sha Wujing struggled to hold the web back and the others became entangled, Xuanzang began answering why no one had saved the suffering women.

• Xuanzang's silver Buddhist wheel purified the black threads tethering the women and drew the transformed silver strands upward.
• The Wind and Moon Demon summoned a gigantic scorpion shadow and wove the Gray Sun's black threads together with the silver threads into a web.
• Wukong, Little White Dragon, Bajie, and A-Hu tried to break free of four advancing curtains of netting, but the threads repaired themselves and entangled them.
• Sha Wujing used the Black and White Mountains and Wu Earth energy to halt the descending web briefly, while Xuanzang refused to retreat.
• The Wind and Moon Demon declared that she would capture the women, and Xuanzang told her that someone did save them.

Xuanzang’s chanting freed the people of the Royal Palace from the Wind and Moon Demon’s poison and control, while his companions broke through its demonic net. As Xuanzang’s silver and golden Buddha wheels merged into a Glazed Wheel, he pointed it at the Gray Sun, which began to melt.

• Xuanzang’s healing chant made the poisoned people vomit black water, weakening the net’s hold so Bajie, Little White Dragon, A-Hu, and Sha Wujing broke free.
• Xuanzang’s next chant awakened the controlled women, and the Queen calmed them as they saw Xuanzang saving them.
• Xuanzang turned the demonic net into five-colored light and chanted to free everyone from demonic snares, opening cracks through the net.
• Wukong and his companions attacked the splitting net until it shattered into five-colored radiance.
• Xuanzang combined the White Silver Buddha Wheel, the Golden Buddha Wheel, and the scattered radiance into a Glazed Wheel, then pointed it at the Gray Sun, which melted.

Xuanzang destroyed the Wind and Moon Demon and used the Nectar Buddha Wheel to revive the demoness. The demoness awoke in the Ruyi True Immortal’s arms and recognized him.

• Xuanzang said the women had chosen to wake and watched as the Wind and Moon Demon disintegrated.
• The Heavenly Dao granted Xuanzang the Sun and Moon Pure Lapis Lazuli Buddha Wheel, which could restore those changed by foreign powers.
• A-Hu caught the falling demoness, and the Ruyi True Immortal rushed over and took her into his arms.
• Xuanzang used the Nectar Buddha Wheel to revive the demoness.
• The demoness opened her eyes, touched the Ruyi True Immortal’s face, and called him by name.

After the Wind and Moon Demon was destroyed, Pipa briefly returned to clarity but continued to fade. Guanyin revealed that Pipa had died long ago and agreed to let her stay for one more day.

• The Queen recovered from a sudden pain in her chest and ordered officials to help the injured and send the people home.
• Pipa woke in Ruyi True Immortal's arms, recognized him, and basked in the dawn sunlight before beginning to fade again.
• Xuanzang used falling nectar to keep Pipa from dissipating, but Guanyin arrived and told him to stop.
• Guanyin explained that Pipa had died long ago and could not be saved after the demon they had become one with was destroyed.
• Ruyi True Immortal pleaded for more time, and Guanyin agreed to let Pipa stay one more day.

After Guanyin restored Pipa, Ruyi True Immortal asked her to marry him, and she accepted despite saying he had asked too late. The Queen agreed to prepare a wedding hall, and Ruyi sent Wukong to Mount Jieyang to bring his disciple to the wedding.

• Guanyin used water from the Jade Pure Water Vase to restore Pipa, who thanked her.
• Ruyi True Immortal asked Pipa whether she was still willing to marry him, and she questioned why he had waited so long.
• Ruyi said he would accept her refusal, and Pipa eventually took his hand again and agreed to marry him.
• Xuanzang asked the Queen to prepare a wedding hall, and she agreed to oversee the preparations.
• Ruyi asked Wukong to fetch his disciple from Mount Jieyang and tell him that Ruyi was getting married that day.

After Wukong left, Pipa and Ruyi True Immortal joined the Queen and the others in restoring the Wedding Hall for their wedding. Xuanzang agreed to officiate despite the precepts, and the chapter ended with Pipa preparing to change while Ruyi True Immortal went to get ready next door.

• Pipa insisted on visiting the Wedding Hall, and Ruyi True Immortal supported her as she walked there with the others.
• The Queen explained that the hall had been prepared for her wedding to Xuanzang, and Pipa helped direct the repairs and decorations.
• Little White Dragon, A-Hu, Sha Wujing, Bajie, and the palace attendants restored the Wedding Hall while Xuanzang and Guanyin discussed whether he could officiate.
• Xuanzang said he would accept responsibility for helping the couple despite the precepts, and Guanyin approved his reasoning.
• The Queen led Pipa and A-Hu to prepare her hair and makeup, while Bajie persuaded Ruyi True Immortal to change out of his torn, bloodstained clothes next door.

As Pipa and Ruyi True Immortal prepared for their wedding in neighboring rooms, they stayed in touch through the wall while their companions struggled to find fitting red clothes. At Mount Jieyang, Wukong told the old Taoist that his master was getting married and brought him along with an Ancient Zither and an old wooden box.

• Pipa and Ruyi True Immortal answered each other through the wall as attendants helped them prepare for the wedding.
• Bajie and Sha Wujing tried to make Ruyi True Immortal's damaged red robe usable while Little White Dragon kept his hair in place.
• Pipa rejected the ill-fitting wedding clothes, and Ruyi True Immortal told her not to wear anything uncomfortable.
• Wukong returned to Mount Jieyang and told the old Taoist that Ruyi True Immortal was getting married and had sent for him.
• The old Taoist collected an Ancient Zither and an old wooden box, then asked Wukong to fly carefully as they set off.

Wukong brought Jade Flute back to the palace, where he reunited with Pipa and returned their old wedding clothes. Pipa and Ruyi True Immortal dressed for their wedding, and Wukong agreed to stand as Ruyi True Immortal’s elder before the ceremony began.

• Wukong returned with Jade Flute, and Pipa recognized him as her senior brother.
• Ruyi True Immortal opened the wooden chest and showed Pipa the Phoenix Crown, Phoenix Shawl, and Wedding Robe they had kept for years.
• Pipa and Ruyi True Immortal put on their old wedding clothes while the others prepared for the ceremony.
• Ruyi True Immortal asked Wukong to stand in for his absent elder brother, and Wukong accepted.
• Jade Flute announced that the auspicious hour had arrived and called the bride and groom to take their places.

Xuanzang officiated Ruyi True Immortal and Pipa’s wedding, urging them to cherish their bond and share their thoughts with each other. After completing the rites and drinking their wedding wine, the couple headed to the bridal chamber, where Pipa asked the tearful Jade Flute to smile.

• Xuanzang counseled Ruyi True Immortal and Pipa to cherish their marriage, communicate, and accept that bonds could eventually end.
• Ruyi True Immortal and Pipa completed the wedding rites, and Wukong warned Ruyi True Immortal not to do anything foolish.
• Ruyi True Immortal and Pipa exchanged affectionate words, drank wedding wine, and accepted congratulations from the guests.
• Jade Flute escorted the couple toward the bridal chamber, and Pipa teased him for crying and urged him to smile.

Jade Flute returned the Ruyi Golden Hook to Ruyi True Immortal and went back to the wedding feast, where he explained how he and Pipa had gained human forms. He revealed that Pipa had later fallen in love with their master and asked to marry him.

• Ruyi True Immortal gave Jade Flute the repaired Ruyi Golden Hook and told him to return to Mount Jieyang to cultivate.
• Pipa thanked Jade Flute before she and Ruyi True Immortal entered their wedding room.
• Jade Flute returned to the feast and told the guests that Ruyi True Immortal had used a Creation Pill to transform him into a human.
• Jade Flute explained that Ruyi True Immortal chose Pipa for the remaining Creation Pill rather than risk transforming his beloved zither.
• Jade Flute said Pipa later confessed that she had fallen in love with Ruyi True Immortal and wanted to marry him.

Jade Flute told Bajie, Wukong, and the others how Pipa’s persistence led his master to marry her, and how the two gradually grew accustomed to life together. He ended by revealing that everything changed when his eldest martial uncle sent word that his wife had given birth to a child.

• Jade Flute explained that Pipa kept pursuing his master despite repeated refusals and traveled widely before returning still in love with him.
• Jade Flute said his master agreed to marry Pipa so she might discover that her desire was not what she imagined and finally let it go.
• Pipa prepared wedding clothes, but she and his master never held a wedding ceremony; she was content simply to call him her husband and stay beside him.
• Jade Flute recounted that his master gradually grew accustomed to Pipa, told her where he was going, sent word when delayed, and played the zither for her.
• Jade Flute revealed that his eldest martial uncle sent a letter announcing that his wife had given birth to a child.

Jade Flute recounted how Pipa’s wish for a child drove her and Master apart, until she left and Master realized he could not let her go. When Master and Jade Flute finally found her, Pipa had become a nun at the Immortals-Gathering Convent.

• Jade Flute said Pipa began wanting a child after visiting their eldest martial aunt’s baby, but Master panicked because he believed their relationship was making her more attached to him.
• Master avoided Pipa and refused to discuss having a child, while Pipa grew increasingly desperate and eventually went mad after something Master said to her.
• Pipa left without telling anyone, and Master forbade Jade Flute from searching for her because he thought she had finally let go.
• Master later regretted not looking for Pipa, realizing he too could no longer let go, and he took Jade Flute to search for her.
• Jade Flute used the faint connection between them to find Pipa, who had shaved her head and become a nun at the Immortals-Gathering Convent.

Jade Flute recounted how Pipa became a nun and prayed for a child, convinced that Guanyin would grant her wish despite being unable to bear children. When Pipa dreamed she was pregnant and developed Dream-Ghost Intercourse Syndrome, Xuanzang realized his pure yang cultivation could cure her, but she refused treatment, believing he meant to harm their child.

• Jade Flute explained that Pipa built the Immortals-Gathering Convent and prayed to Guanyin for a child and a reunion with Xuanzang.
• Jade Flute revealed that Xuanzang had told Pipa she could not have children because she and Jade Flute had been transformed from objects.
• Pipa refused to return with Xuanzang and continued praying, while Xuanzang stayed beside her at the convent.
• Pipa told Xuanzang that Guanyin had answered her prayers after dreaming that she and Xuanzang had a daughter, and her belly began to swell.
• Jade Flute said he and Xuanzang discovered Pipa had Dream-Ghost Intercourse Syndrome, which Xuanzang could cure with his pure yang power.
• Pipa rejected Xuanzang's diagnosis and would not let him near her, accusing him of wanting to harm their child.

Jade Flute recounted how Pipa mistook the sinister yin energy inside her for a growing child, and how Master and the others deceived her to treat her. Pipa passed out during the painful process, still believing she would give birth to a daughter and share a good life with Master.

• Jade Flute said Pipa shut herself inside the Immortals-Gathering Convent, refusing food and help because she believed Master had lied about their child.
• As Pipa weakened, Master played his zither outside the convent every day, and she eventually let them in after Jade Flute promised they would help care for the child.
• Master secretly put pure yang power into water and, with Jade Flute's help, persuaded Pipa to drink it as medicine for the child.
• As the sinister yin energy dissolved, Pipa suffered severe pain but believed she was going into labor, while Master told her the child would arrive soon.
• Pipa asked whether Master was happy, and he said he was; she smiled, spoke of their future daughter and their life together, then passed out from the pain.

Jade Flute recounted how Ruyi True Immortal’s treatment led Pipa to believe he had killed their unborn daughter, after which she attacked them and disappeared. Years later, Jade Flute and Ruyi True Immortal followed her presence to the Western Liang Women's Kingdom, where they found the Mother-Child River and then Pipa.

• Jade Flute told the Queen that Pipa woke after her illness was cured, learned there had been no baby, and accused Ruyi True Immortal of killing their daughter.
• Pipa attacked Ruyi True Immortal and Jade Flute, but Ruyi True Immortal chose to treat Jade Flute instead of pursuing her.
• Ruyi True Immortal searched for Pipa for years after she vanished, and her presence reappeared a few years before the events of the chapter.
• Jade Flute and Ruyi True Immortal followed Pipa’s presence to the Western Liang Women's Kingdom and discovered sinister yin energy in the Mother-Child River.
• Jade Flute said they later found Pipa.