Chapter Summaries

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.

Jade Flute recounted how Pipa created the Daughter Kingdom and confronted Ruyi True Immortal over the child he had caused her to lose. He revealed that she demanded Ruyi give his life and restore the Abortion Spring, leaving Jade Flute convinced that she was no longer Pipa.

• Jade Flute said Pipa had created the Mother-Child River and a kingdom where women could bear children without men.
• Pipa rejected Ruyi True Immortal's offer to bring her home, said she loved someone else, and demanded his life.
• Pipa led Ruyi and Jade Flute to the ruined Abortion Spring and explained that she had destroyed it and killed women who came seeking its water.
• Pipa blamed Ruyi for the loss of her child and ordered him to pour his pure yang power into the well to make a new Abortion Spring.
• Jade Flute stopped Ruyi and told him that the woman before them was not Pipa.

Jade Flute recounted how Pipa forced Ruyi True Immortal to sustain a spring with his life and poisoned Jade Flute to keep them both on Mount Jieyang. He explained that Pipa made Ruyi sell the spring water under humiliating rules, then repeatedly took away every payment.

• Jade Flute recalled that Pipa told Ruyi she would die unless he dissolved his true yang, and Ruyi agreed after she promised he could save her.
• Jade Flute blamed himself for being unable to protect Ruyi or Pipa, but Sha Wujing comforted him and Wukong asked about the spring.
• Jade Flute explained that Ruyi's true yang became spring water, draining his life as the well and barren mountain were restored.
• Pipa poisoned Jade Flute and threatened that he and she would die unless Ruyi stayed on Mount Jieyang.
• Pipa forced Ruyi to sell water for specified payments, then repeatedly took everything they received, tormenting him.

Jade Flute recounted how Ruyi became obsessed with the spring and how Pipa returned with a letter before the Great Sage arrived. Wukong deduced that the Wind and Moon Demon needed Ruyi to replenish the land’s yang energy, leaving the group to consider why the original Abortion Spring had been destroyed.

• Jade Flute explained that Ruyi grew forgetful and volatile, but insisted that Pipa was still Pipa despite her changed identity.
• Jade Flute said Pipa returned happily with a letter from Eldest Martial Uncle, told Ruyi that her beloved would soon arrive, and left after Ruyi demanded to know where Eldest Martial Aunt and Red Boy were.
• Wukong reasoned that the Wind and Moon Demon had destroyed the original Abortion Spring, then lured Ruyi to create a replacement after something went wrong.
• Wukong concluded that the spring’s Pure Yang Water sustained the Kingdom of Women and that the Wind and Moon Demon needed Ruyi to keep replenishing its yang energy.

Wukong’s guess led Guanyin to explain how Pipa’s longing for a child, her obsession, and the aura of calamity drove her toward becoming the Wind and Moon Demon. The chapter ended with Guanyin revealing that even taking Pipa to Spirit Mountain had not been enough to eradicate her demonic seed.

• Wukong guessed that the Abortion Spring and Fetus-Reflecting Spring complemented each other, then asked Guanyin to explain their origins and Pipa’s transformation.
• Guanyin confirmed Wukong’s guess and said that more than three hundred years earlier, she had arranged for Pingala’s soul to enter Rakshasa Woman’s womb so she could bear Red Boy.
• Guanyin explained that Pipa visited Rakshasa Woman, learned how Red Boy had been conceived, and believed devout prayer might let her have a child with Ruyi.
• Guanyin said she repeatedly tried to guide Pipa, but Pipa rejected her advice and mistook Guanyin’s true form for an impostor.
• Guanyin revealed that the calamity caused Pipa’s false dream of having a daughter and the sinister evil in her womb; after Jade Flute dispelled it, Pipa believed Ruyi had killed her child and her mind collapsed.
• Guanyin said Pipa was nearing the demonic path, attacked her, and was taken to Spirit Mountain, but the Great Kalpa and Pipa’s demonic seed proved difficult to overcome.

Guanyin explained how Pipa’s demonic affliction worsened on Spirit Mountain and why Golden Cicada Child took it upon himself to care for her. As Pipa recovered and began confusing him with someone from her memories, the Ullambana Assembly arrived, and Guanyin revealed that trusting him to look after Pipa had been her second mistake.

• Guanyin said Pipa’s resentment toward her strengthened Pipa’s demonic nature, so Guanyin could not stay beside her.
• Guanyin explained that Pipa’s tribulation aura prevented other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from intervening without becoming entangled in her karma.
• Guanyin recalled asking Golden Cicada Child, who was already bound to the tribulation, to look after Pipa, and he volunteered.
• Golden Cicada Child patiently recited scriptures for Pipa, helping her calm down and recover, but her memories began to merge with him.
• Guanyin said Golden Cicada Child recognized Pipa’s mistaken feelings but kept his distance, and Wukong realized the Ullambana Assembly had brought his time on Spirit Mountain to an end.

Guanyin explained how Pipa became the Wind and Moon Demon after Golden Cicana Child was banished, and how the World-Honored One’s attempt to save her led him to suffer her karmic poison. The group learned that the demon arose from collective resentment and that even a Buddha could not escape the karma incurred by intervening.

• Guanyin told Wukong that Pipa’s defenses collapsed when Golden Cicana Child was banished, allowing the demon to possess her after she rejected the World-Honored One’s attempt to separate them.
• Guanyin revealed that the demon stung the World-Honored One with Horse-Stopping Poison, causing him pain he could scarcely endure.
• Guanyin explained that the Wind and Moon Demon was a Karmic Demon formed from collective resentment and that it fed on hatred by reopening people’s wounds.
• Bajie questioned why the demon targeted women, and Guanyin clarified that anyone’s suffering could form karma the demon might exploit.
• Guanyin said the World-Honored One accepted Pipa’s strike to release some of her hatred and protect the last fragment of her true spirit, but saving her made him bear the resulting karma.

Guanyin explained how the Wind and Moon Demon escaped capture and revealed that Western Liang stood on the ruins of the Rakshasa Kingdom. She began describing the Rakshasa women’s kingdom and its deadly customs, leaving Wukong and his companions to learn more about the land’s origins.

• Guanyin said the Vajras pursued the Wind and Moon Demon but lost her trail when her Demonic Aura mingled with the Great Kalpa’s energy.
• Guanyin explained that she had found Pipa but could not enter the land, while the demon later opened the gateway to draw in Xuanzang and the other Tribulation-Bound Ones.
• Wukong asked why the demon had targeted Western Liang, and Guanyin revealed that the kingdom was built on the ruins of the Rakshasa Kingdom.
• Guanyin recounted how the male Rakshasas died in battle, leaving the women to establish the Rakshasa Woman Kingdom.
• Guanyin said the Rakshasa women lured men into their city with luxury before eventually eating those they no longer wanted, and Bajie shuddered at the thought.

Guanyin recounted how the demon exploited Lodikalang’s desperation over the Rakshasa Tribe’s extinction and gained control of her. She revealed that the demon returned with Lodikalang to the kingdom and promised the Rakshasa women a way to make their tribe last forever.

• Guanyin explained that the Rakshasa Tribe could no longer produce descendants and that its women’s efforts to save their bloodline had all failed.
• Guanyin revealed that Queen Lodikalang was Princess Iron Fan’s older sister and had sought Iron Fan’s help to save their tribe.
• The demon hid at Iron Fan’s home while recovering from injuries and learned about the Rakshasa women’s plight when Lodikalang arrived.
• The demon exploited Lodikalang’s desperation, took control of her, and followed her back to the kingdom of Rakshasa women.
• Lodikalang summoned the remaining Rakshasa women and claimed she had found a way for their tribe to exist forever by ensuring they would never die.

Guanyin explained how a demon deceived the Rakshasa women into believing their dead would return, using their false hope and repeated despair to grow stronger. The deception left the women trapped in a cycle of death, while Wukong and the others learned the demon’s true motive.

• Bajie guessed that the demon had found a way to keep dead Rakshasa souls in the kingdom and return them through new births, but Wukong questioned how that explained the Abortion Spring.
• Xuanzang and Guanyin revealed that the demon never intended to save the Rakshasa race and sought to feed on their resentment, suffering, and obsession.
• Guanyin explained that Lodikalang claimed the demon’s power could conceal the city from outside cultivators, then told the women to throw their dead into a well and drink river water so their souls could return through childbirth.
• When a dying Rakshasa woman was thrown into the well, Lodikalang gave birth to an illusory baby girl bearing the dead woman’s aura, convincing the others that the plan worked.
• The women kept throwing their dead into the well and drinking the river water, while demonic energy caused false pregnancies and eventual deaths; Lodikalang prolonged their belief by saying the souls needed more time.
• Wukong and Guanyin concluded that the demon fed on the Rakshasa women’s recurring hope and despair, growing stronger as their hopes shattered.

Guanyin explained how a demon’s scheme to intensify the Rakshasa Women’s resentment was disrupted when a woman gave birth to an ordinary child and recovered. She revealed that the trapped dead and the living women’s shared obsessions, transformed by the Great Kalpa’s influence, had turned the well into the Fetus-Reflecting Spring.

• Guanyin explained that the demon planned to make the Rakshasa Women blame Lodikalang and fill her with overwhelming resentment.
• A Rakshasa Woman saw two reflections in the well, then gave birth to an ordinary baby girl with no Rakshasa blood or memories of the dead.
• Guanyin said the woman’s illness was cured and the demonic aura in her abdomen dispersed after the birth.
• Guanyin explained that the dead Rakshasa Women were trapped in the well and gradually came to believe they could return, while the living women hoped to give birth.
• Guanyin revealed that the living and dead women’s entwined obsessions and resentment became extreme yin power under the Great Kalpa, transforming the well into the Fetus-Reflecting Spring.