Chapter Summaries

Xuanzang explained to Golden Cicada Child how teachings of emptiness and consciousness-only served as complementary remedies for different attachments, and Golden Cicada Child agreed. Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared as Fish-Basket Guanyin and greeted Golden Cicada Child.

• Xuanzang compared his consciousness-only teachings with Golden Cicada Child’s teachings of emptiness, describing them as different paths toward the same end.
• Xuanzang explained how to counter attachment to external things and observe afflictions arising within, calling Buddhist teachings medicine suited to each illness.
• Golden Cicada Child agreed with Xuanzang, and the carp in Xuanzang’s hands rose into the sky and took on brilliant gold-and-red coloring.
• A voice called, “Let the dead go; let the living stay,” as a purple bamboo basket descended on a silken cord.
• The carp swam into the basket, and Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared as Fish-Basket Guanyin and greeted Golden Cicada Child.

Guanyin explained how she had protected Golden Cicada Child through his reincarnations and why the remains of his first nine lives were in the Flowing Sand River. She revealed that the trial had transformed her Dharma Form into a Heart Demon fused with Golden Cicada Child’s fixation, and the carp in her basket suddenly took human form.

• Guanyin told Wukong and the others that her true body could not enter the mindscape, then reassured them that the other Xuanzang had not simply faded away.
• Guanyin recounted how Golden Cicada Child had asked for a tenth life shaped by a dream that would teach him fear, helplessness, love, and the desire to return home.
• Guanyin revealed that she had found the remains of Golden Cicada Child’s first nine reincarnations in the Flowing Sand River, and each spirit had asked her to deliver Golden Cicada Child before fading away.
• Guanyin explained that she had wrapped Golden Cicada Child’s thinning true spirit and fixation in part of her Dharma Form, then volunteered to take responsibility for the great tribulation.
• Guanyin said the trial had become a site of tribulation where the disciples could enter Xuanzang’s outwardly manifested mindscape, and that her Dharma Form had become a Heart Demon fused with Golden Cicada Child’s fixation.
• The golden-red carp leaped from Guanyin’s Purple Bamboo Basket and took human form.

Great King Linggan revealed himself as Guanyin’s heart demon and tried to provoke Wukong and the others into losing control. Golden Cicada Child struck Linggan with a beam from his brow, leaving Sanzang in his place as Linggan vanished.

• Great King Linggan returned and claimed that outsiders could not destroy a heart demon, while Guanyin remained silent.
• Bajie realized Linggan’s name connected him to Guanyin’s title, then he and Little White Dragon began arguing under Linggan’s influence.
• Xuanzang stopped Wukong from striking and used the Bitter Bamboo Ruler to bring Bajie and Little White Dragon back to their senses.
• Great King Linggan accused Xuanzang of ruining his plan and claimed Jiang Liuer was already gone.
• Golden Cicada Child chanted over Linggan and sent a beam from his brow into him, causing Linggan to vanish and leaving Sanzang behind.

Sanzang confronted the heart demon and reflected on the dream that had shaped his life, making peace with his companions and thanking them for their help. He chose to dissipate alongside the demon, but Xuanzang refused his request.

• Sha Wujing saved Sanzang from the black shadow, and Sanzang asked why Wujing was willing to save him.
• Sanzang thanked Guanyin for giving him a dream in which his family was reunited, and apologized to Wukong, Bajie, and Little White Dragon for his earlier behavior.
• Sanzang told Bajie and Little White Dragon to examine themselves and not rely on Wukong to keep them on the right path.
• Sanzang thanked Golden Cicada Child and said that choosing this ending for himself brought him joy.
• Sanzang recognized that his fears and resentments had been a dream and asked Xuanzang to let him dissipate with the heart demon.
• Xuanzang refused Sanzang's request.

Xuanzang confronted Sanzang over his plan to dissolve himself, arguing that accepting his attachments and continuing forward was true cultivation. Sanzang chose to join the others and asked to enter Xuanzang’s dream to walk the road Xuanzang had once traveled.

• Xuanzang challenged Sanzang’s claim that dissolving himself would end the dream, calling it self-annihilation and self-deception.
• Xuanzang’s Unimpeded Luminous Buddha Wheel engulfed the dark shadow in white flames as he urged Sanzang to accept his attachments rather than pretend to let them go.
• Nine phantoms of the Pilgrims beneath the Flowing Sand River appeared, and Xuanzang told Sanzang that an obsession was not necessarily a heart demon and that they could carry their attachments forward.
• Xuanzang and the nine phantoms pinned the dark shadow beneath their feet until it shrank into a black-and-white seed and sank into the ground.
• Sanzang admitted he was afraid and worried he would burden everyone, but Xuanzang told him they were all carrying their own obsessions and still had to keep moving forward.
• Sanzang declared that Jiang Liuer would go with them, then asked to enter Xuanzang’s dream and walk Xuanzang’s former road; Xuanzang agreed, and Sanzang took their hands.

After Golden Cicada Child passed the Brocade Kasaya to Xuanzang, he faded into the Bodhi Tree, leaving Wukong distraught. Xuanzang revealed that Golden Cicada Child would attain the Dao and reunite with Wukong when the tree bore fruit.

• Guanyin thanked Xuanzang for subduing the Heart Demon and rescuing her companions, then collected Sanzang in her Purple Bamboo Basket.
• Golden Cicada Child gave Xuanzang the Brocade Kasaya and told Wukong he had no regrets about their time together.
• Golden Cicada Child dissolved into motes of light that entered the Bodhi Tree, and Wukong wept beneath it.
• Xuanzang manifested four Buddhist halos beneath the tree and named the manifestation golden cicada bodhi.
• Xuanzang told Wukong that the Bodhi Tree would bear fruit when Golden Cicada Child attained the Dao, allowing them to meet again, and Wukong cursed him for scaring him.

Wukong reunited with his companions in the mindscape and reassured the Bodhi Tree that he would not face the journey alone. After Guanyin departed, Xuanzang and the others bid farewell to the tree and returned to the bank of the Tongtian River.

• Wukong told the Bodhi Tree he was no longer walking alone, then chased Bajie and played with their companions.
• Xuanzang told Guanyin that traveling with companions had changed him and that he could no longer make the journey alone.
• Guanyin departed after warning Xuanzang to listen to advice and not be so obstinate.
• Xuanzang and his companions bowed farewell to the Bodhi Tree, which receded into the Blood-Red Mole on his forehead.
• The mindscape vanished, returning Xuanzang and the others to the bank of the Tongtian River, where Bajie sneezed from the cold.

Xuanzang and his disciples reunited with A-Hu beside the Tongtian River and prepared to continue their journey. A colossal old turtle then surfaced and announced that Guanyin Bodhisattva had sent him to ferry them across.

• Wukong teased Bajie about being cold, and the disciples found A-Hu guarding their luggage beside the river.
• A-Hu recognized Xuanzang, rushed to him, and warmed him as Xuanzang stroked his head.
• Sha Wujing gave Xuanzang and Bajie thick clothes, while Wukong, Little White Dragon, and Xuanzang joked about Bajie's ill-fitting outfit.
• Xuanzang told his disciples it was time to set off, but a huge wave rose from the Tongtian River and put them on guard.
• An enormous old turtle emerged, recognized Xuanzang and his companions, and said he had come by Guanyin Bodhisattva's decree to ferry them across.

Old Tortoise explained his connection to Guanyin and offered to ferry Xuanzang and his companions across the Tongtian River. After Wukong and Xuanzang accepted, the group boarded the tortoise’s shell and set off toward the far bank.

• Old Tortoise told Bajie that he was a white tortoise who cultivated in the Tongtian River and had come at Guanyin’s urging.
• Old Tortoise explained that his ancestor had served Guanyin, and that Guanyin had told him to ferry Xuanzang and his companions.
• Xuanzang accepted Old Tortoise’s offer, and Wukong stopped Bajie from questioning him further.
• Wukong, Xuanzang, A-Hu, Bajie, Little White Dragon, and Sha Wujing boarded Old Tortoise’s shell, which steadied under their weight.
• Old Tortoise carried the group across the Tongtian River as Xuanzang invoked the Buddha’s name.

As Old Tortoise carried Xuanzang and his disciples across the Tongtian River, he asked Xuanzang how long he would live and when he could take human form. Xuanzang foretold that Old Tortoise would die upon reaching shore, and Wukong forced the terrified tortoise to continue.

• Wukong and Bajie bantered about their past journeys and the size of the Celestial River as Old Tortoise carried them onward.
• Old Tortoise praised the chance to serve as Xuanzang's mount, but Xuanzang explained that A-Hu was his disciple, not his mount.
• At the center of the Tongtian River, Old Tortoise asked Xuanzang how much longer he would live and when he could shed his shell and take human form.
• Xuanzang told Old Tortoise that he would die upon reaching shore and that he would die because of them.
• Old Tortoise froze in fear, but Wukong threatened him with the Golden Cudgel until he resumed swimming toward shore.

The old turtle carried Xuanzang and his companions toward shore, terrified by Xuanzang’s prediction that he would die when they arrived. When the turtle admitted he regretted asking about his fate, Xuanzang began telling him a story about a prince who insisted on learning his future.

• The old turtle asked Xuanzang whether he could avoid dying by not going ashore, but Xuanzang reaffirmed that he would die upon reaching land.
• Bajie and Wukong urged the old turtle to accept his fate as they continued across the river, leaving him increasingly frightened.
• Near the shore, Xuanzang asked the old turtle whether he regretted learning his fate, and the turtle said he regretted leaving home, seeking opportunity, and asking.
• Xuanzang began a story about a prince who wanted to know his future, and Buddha initially warned him that knowing would bring sorrow.
• After the prince repeatedly insisted, Buddha granted him the ability to see his destined fate.

Xuanzang told Old Tortoise a prince’s tale about how knowing his future caused him endless suffering, then used it to explain how fear of death had made Old Tortoise suffer before ever reaching shore. Xuanzang and his disciples left, while Old Tortoise remained in the river, still unable to decide whether to step onto land.

• Xuanzang told how a prince learned he would die at fifteen, became consumed by fear, and died on his fifteenth birthday despite his precautions.
• After the prince’s death, his consciousness passed through a cypress, a sheep, and chives before he was reborn as the queen’s child.
• The prince dreamed of suffering through that cycle, then refused the Buddha’s offer to know his future and chose to cultivate in the present.
• Xuanzang and his disciples crossed from Old Tortoise’s back to the bank, leaving Old Tortoise in the river.
• Xuanzang explained that Old Tortoise had been suffering by counting down his life and said it could choose whether to go ashore.
• Old Tortoise stared at the shore but did not move as Xuanzang and his disciples departed.

As the group left the Tongtian River, Bajie and Sha Wujing questioned whether abandoning the Old Tortoise was right, while Wukong defended Xuanzang’s decision to let him choose his own path. Little White Dragon suggested that helping further might harm the Old Tortoise, then revealed that he might belong to the Dragon Tribe.

• Bajie wondered whether the Old Tortoise would come ashore and worried that Xuanzang’s advice had made him more afraid.
• Wukong said the Old Tortoise’s fear of death was the real shell keeping him from changing, and argued that the choice was his to make.
• Sha Wujing said the group should help the Old Tortoise rather than leave him confused and afraid.
• Little White Dragon said everyone’s views could be right, but the group did not know the Old Tortoise’s circumstances, and further help might harm him.
• Little White Dragon said the Old Tortoise was not an ordinary member of the Aquatic Tribe and agreed with Wukong that he might belong to the Dragon Tribe.

Little White Dragon explained that the Tongtian River tortoise descended from Ao Fish, a rejected son of the Ancestral Dragon and the Divine Ao. He revealed that Xuanzang had given the tortoise a chance to undergo the deadly dragon transformation tribulation, leaving the tortoise to decide whether to risk his life at the riverbank Dragon Gate.

• Bajie questioned whether the tortoise could belong to Bixi's lineage, and Little White Dragon explained that the Ancestral Dragon and the Divine Ao had another son named Ao Fish.
• Little White Dragon said the Divine Ao rejected Ao Fish for his fish body and that Ao Fish's descendants spread widely, taking forms including tortoises.
• Little White Dragon connected the tortoise to Ao Fish's bloodline and explained that awakened Divine Ao and dragon bloodlines prevented him from transforming into human form.
• Little White Dragon explained that the tortoise could become a dragon-tortoise by surviving the dragon transformation tribulation and crossing the Dragon Gate.
• Little White Dragon revealed that Xuanzang had made the Tongtian River shore the tortoise's Dragon Gate, but the tortoise had to choose and face the deadly trial alone.

Xuanzang asked A-Hu to explain his view of the Old Tortoise’s situation. A-Hu argued that the Old Tortoise already knew about his dragon inheritance but was greedily seeking certainty without accepting risk, leaving the group to consider his reasoning.

• Xuanzang prompted A-Hu to speak, and A-Hu revealed that he could talk, leaving Bajie shocked that he had been the last to find out.
• A-Hu explained that he had not deliberately hidden his speech and that Little White Dragon had helped him learn to speak for longer.
• A-Hu reasoned that the Old Tortoise likely knew about his Ao Fish ancestry and the dragon transformation tribulation but had avoided mentioning it to Xuanzang.
• A-Hu said the Old Tortoise wanted to learn his lifespan and when he would become human so he could avoid danger and guarantee success without taking risks.
• Sha Wujing agreed with A-Hu, and Wukong praised his spiritual insight.

A-Hu explained why Old Tortoise’s search for certainty was greed rather than ordinary caution, and why Xuanzang left him with no guarantees. He also clarified that reaching the bank of the Tongtian River was only the first step of the Dragon Gate tribulation, leaving the group with a clearer understanding of what Old Tortoise had to face.

• Bajie argued that Old Tortoise was cautious because he feared death while still wanting to advance, and A-Hu agreed that caution itself was not wrong.
• A-Hu explained that Old Tortoise wanted a guarantee from the Buddha and trusted only what he believed the Buddha could promise, while Little White Dragon said Old Tortoise should have asked how to prepare rather than whether he would succeed.
• Sha Wujing wondered whether asking the Buddha would help, and A-Hu warned that a promised answer could become a shackle instead of a comfort.
• A-Hu told Little White Dragon that reaching the bank of the Tongtian River was only the first step of the Dragon Gate tribulation, and Little White Dragon acknowledged he had oversimplified it.
• A-Hu explained that Xuanzang had left to make Old Tortoise face the absence of any guarantee and abandon his excuses so he could take the first step.

A-Hu explained that his cultivation path involved discerning and removing distracting thoughts while helping others take their first steps. Xuanzang described the path as one of choice and action, urging everyone to accept the consequences of what they cast aside and keep moving forward.

• A-Hu recited a poem about pruning away tangled branches, and Sha Wujing praised it as guidance that had once helped him explain scripture.
• Wukong asked A-Hu how to distinguish which thoughts to remove and how to help others without overstepping.
• A-Hu said his path was to help others when he could, while recognizing that discerning and removing distracting thoughts was difficult.
• Wukong said A-Hu's path was a compassionate form of guardianship and asked Xuanzang whether it was closest to his own.
• Xuanzang said A-Hu's path depended on choice and action, and explained that people should accept their choices without regret and keep moving forward.

Xuanzang and his disciples reflected on choosing their own paths as they continued west through the snow. A careless joke hurt A-Hu, and the group made up before Bajie’s attempt to clear the trail ended with his jacket torn open.

• Xuanzang taught his disciples to assess the path before them and choose without clinging to rigid principles, then said Softshell Turtle had to decide how to walk on his own.
• Bajie and Little White Dragon joked about A-Hu’s place among the disciples, but Bajie’s remark about A-Hu not yet becoming a formal disciple made A-Hu withdraw.
• Bajie and Little White Dragon apologized, and Wukong punched each of them once for taking their teasing too far.
• Xuanzang offered to give A-Hu a Dharma name, but A-Hu declined, and the master and disciples set out west again.
• Bajie swept snow off the path with his Rake to make walking easier, then tore his jacket on a rock, prompting Sha Wujing to shout in alarm.

Bajie tore Xuanzang’s thick jacket, and Sha Wujing mourned the damage until Bajie promised to mend it. The group continued through the freezing mountains together, leaving their quarrel behind as they pressed onward.

• Bajie tore Xuanzang’s jacket, and Sha Wujing lamented that it could not be repaired with magic.
• Bajie promised to sew the jacket when they reached a house, while Little White Dragon teased him about boasting.
• A-Hu stopped Bajie and Little White Dragon’s bickering and urged everyone to keep moving so Xuanzang would not get cold.
• Xuanzang said that with his companions around him, he could not feel cold, and the group continued along the snowy path.
• As the mountains closed in, Bajie joked about being hungry, Sha Wujing teased him, and the group laughed before pressing onward.

Wukong’s party found a secluded courtyard in the snowy mountains, but Wukong sensed danger and made a warm ice shelter while he investigated. Unable to summon the mountain and earth gods, he left to seek food after warning everyone to stay inside his protective circle; a tempting food aroma soon reached the hut.

• Bajie spotted a courtyard and urged the party to seek food there, but Wukong sensed sinister clouds and foul air around it.
• Little White Dragon built an ice shelter, and the party rested inside while A-Hu warmed the hut.
• Wukong failed to summon the mountain god and earth god, then decided to seek food and drew a protective circle around the hut.
• Wukong warned Xuanzang, Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Little White Dragon not to leave the circle or trust what they heard, then flew away.
• A delicious aroma drifted toward the ice hut, and Bajie recognized the smell of food.