Chapter Summaries

Xuanzang rejected the Queen’s advances and revealed that he had come to ask for her hand on Ruyi True Immortal’s behalf. The Queen mocked Ruyi True Immortal for his silence and insisted that Xuanzang drink the tea, leaving the tense confrontation unresolved.

• The Queen grew angry when Xuanzang questioned whether she understood his story, then accused monks and Daoists of disguising desire as detachment.
• The Queen declared that she would take what she wanted by force, while Ruyi True Immortal listened in pain and Bajie and Wukong suspected a trick involving wine and tea.
• Xuanzang set down the tea and told the Queen that he had come to ask for her hand in marriage on Ruyi True Immortal’s behalf.
• The Queen’s winecup cracked in her hand as she demanded that Ruyi True Immortal speak for himself, but he managed only one word before freezing.
• The Queen dismissed the proposal and told Xuanzang he had to drink the tea.

The Queen used a supernatural force to make the people in the hall choke and collapse, then offered Xuanzang tea containing a potent aphrodisiac in exchange for sparing them. Xuanzang asked whether drinking it would save the others, and the Queen promised that it would.

• The Queen made the female officials, palace maids, and Grand Tutor collapse as bluish-black lines crept up their throats.
• Bajie tried to rush down to help, but Wukong stopped him and said they should wait for the monster to reveal itself and see what Xuanzang did.
• Xuanzang tried to help a palace maid, but the Queen warned him not to act rashly and declared that everyone in the hall, including herself, would die.
• The Queen told Xuanzang that his tea contained an aphrodisiac and tempted him to drink it, offering to satisfy his desires.
• After the Grand Tutor pleaded with the Queen to spare her people, Xuanzang asked if drinking the tea would save them, and the Queen agreed.

Ruyi True Immortal confronted the Queen about how she had changed, but could not explain what she had been like before. Xuanzang drank the Queen’s drugged tea and pretended to succumb, then trapped them both beneath his Brocade Kasaya.

• Ruyi True Immortal attacked the Queen, who knocked him to the floor without spilling Xuanzang’s tea.
• The Queen asked Ruyi True Immortal what she had been like before, but he faltered, and she slapped him before returning to Xuanzang.
• Xuanzang drank the tea, and the Queen stopped the poison in the female officials from worsening while Wukong explained that she had not cured it.
• Xuanzang acted as though the drug had affected him and asked the Queen to meet him in her own person.
• The Queen embraced Xuanzang and listened to his steady heartbeat, realizing something was wrong.
• Xuanzang opened his Brocade Kasaya and wrapped himself and the Queen inside it.

Xuanzang used the Brocade Kasaya’s Buddhist light to drive the evil presence out of the Queen of Western Liang. As Wukong and Bajie battled the many-armed demoness, she launched a streak of dark light at Wukong.

• The Queen tried to poison and attack Xuanzang, but his five-spirit fortune virtue true qi repelled her.
• Xuanzang wrapped the Queen in the Brocade Kasaya, whose Buddhist light forced the possessing evil from her body.
• The Queen regained her senses as a black shadow sprang from beneath Xuanzang and tried to seize him.
• Wukong struck the shadow with his Golden Cudgel, and Bajie joined him in attacking it with his Nine-Toothed Rake.
• The shadow revealed itself as a many-armed demoness, who fought Wukong and Bajie with several steel forks.
• As Wukong brought his cudgel down on the airborne demoness, she sent a streak of dark light toward him.

Wukong blocked the demoness’s black light with his Phoenix-Winged Purple-Gold Crown, but it struck Bajie and poisoned him. The demoness threatened the women in the hall to force Xuanzang to surrender, but his chanting summoned a golden Buddhist halo.

• The demoness’s black light bounced off Wukong’s crown, then struck Bajie’s snout and left him in severe pain.
• Wukong supported Bajie and demanded that the demoness remove the poison, but she threatened the people inside the hall.
• The demoness restarted the poison’s advance through the women and demanded that Wukong put down his staff and Xuanzang come with her.
• Xuanzang began chanting, and the hall brightened as a golden Buddhist halo formed behind his head.

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.