Chapter Summaries

Sha Wujing followed a voice to the Buddha hall and discovered that the stone bodhisattva had gained sentience after a monk recited beside it. The stone mistook Sha Wujing's scripture book for its own aura and asked him to help it give people pieces of its skin again.

• Sha Wujing entered the mist-filled Buddha hall and stopped himself from striking the stone statue when it revealed that it was a sentient stone.
• The stone explained that a bald monk had recited beside it for three days, making it aware of itself.
• The stone sensed the same aura in Sha Wujing and the holy monk who had arrived with him, and Sha Wujing showed it his scripture book of wishes.
• The stone described how people once received flakes of its skin in answer to their prayers, then tried to break it apart for more.
• The stone said a hairy man had stopped the people from smashing it, and a king in a yellow robe later had it wrapped in shiny material and moved to the hall.
• The stone asked Sha Wujing to give it some of his skin or remove its shiny covering so it could give people pieces of itself again.

Sha Wujing dreamed that a stone asked him for help, then woke as Xuanzang encountered the ghost of the Wuji Kingdom Ruler. The ruler recounted how his sworn brother murdered him and hid his body in a well.

• In a dream, Sha Wujing promised to ask Xuanzang and his senior brothers for help with the stone, then woke before he could return.
• Xuanzang opened the meditation chamber door and found the drenched, weeping ghost of the Wuji Kingdom Ruler.
• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler explained that a Daoist had ended a devastating drought after obtaining a fragment from the stone bodhisattva.
• The ruler said he and the Daoist became sworn brothers, but three years later the Daoist pushed him into a well and concealed him beneath a slab and a banana tree.

Xuanzang questioned the Wuji Kingdom Ruler’s account of being murdered and replaced, uncovering contradictions in how the ghost had reached him and what he feared. After the king tried and failed to attack him, Xuanzang asked whether he was willing to tell the truth.

• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler told Xuanzang that a Daoist had murdered him, taken his place, and seized his kingdom, then begged Xuanzang to defeat the demon.
• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler said a night-roaming god had brought him from the well and directed him to Xuanzang because of Sun Wukong’s demon-slaying abilities.
• Xuanzang questioned how the ghost had escaped the well, why he had not been reincarnated, and why the Daoist had spent two years beside him before killing him.
• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler accused Xuanzang of cowardice and lunged at his throat, but his hands stopped short and could not touch him.
• Xuanzang discussed fear, death, and the king’s lost throne until the Wuji Kingdom Ruler lowered his hands and Xuanzang asked if he would now tell the truth.

Xuanzang heard the dead king of the Wuji Kingdom’s account and promised to investigate the king’s death, then accepted the White Jade Gui as proof for questioning the crown prince. After waking, Xuanzang learned that the Stone Bodhisattva had come alive and spoken to Sha Wujing.

• The king of the Wuji Kingdom explained that he had been trapped as a ghost for three years and did not know why the Demonic Daoist had wronged him.
• Xuanzang apologized for judging the king too hastily and promised to uncover the truth about his death.
• The king told Xuanzang about his sixteen-year-old crown prince and gave him the White Jade Gui to establish his identity.
• The king said the Stone Bodhisattva had trapped him until Xuanzang arrived, then departed after promising to heed Xuanzang’s counsel.
• Xuanzang awoke to Sha Wujing reporting that the Stone Bodhisattva had spoken to him, and Bajie joked that it should have called Wukong instead.

Sha Wujing described how the Stone Bodhisattva granted wishes and asked for help, while Little White Dragon warned that such stones spent their own essence and could twist wishes. Xuanzang revealed that the ghost of the Wuji Kingdom’s king had asked him to avenge his murder, leaving the disciples to investigate the impostor who had stolen the throne.

• Bajie tried to approach Wukong, but Little White Dragon kicked him and told him to keep quiet.
• Sha Wujing explained that the Stone Bodhisattva had granted wishes by shedding flakes of its skin and had asked him for help after being sealed in gold leaf.
• Little White Dragon explained that wish-granting stones used their essence, twisted wishes unpredictably, and could grant wicked requests.
• Xuanzang told his disciples that the ghost of the Wuji Kingdom’s king had said a Daoist pushed him into a well, took his appearance, and seized his kingdom three years earlier.
• Xuanzang said a Night Patrol God had brought the king’s ghost to the Stone Bodhisattva’s pedestal, where he waited for them to right the wrong, and showed the disciples the white jade gui the ghost had left him.

Xuanzang sent Wukong and Bajie to the underworld to investigate why the king of Wuji Kingdom had not been reincarnated, and asked Little White Dragon to fetch a wishing stone. He also told Sha Wujing to expound the scriptures with him the next day, while Little White Dragon returned to the West Sea and reunited awkwardly with his father, Ao Run.

• Xuanzang sent Wukong and Bajie to investigate the king of Wuji Kingdom's delayed reincarnation in the underworld, and asked Little White Dragon to fetch a wishing stone.
• Xuanzang told Sha Wujing he would expound the scriptures with him the next day and urged him to consider what to say about helping the Stone Bodhisattva.
• Little White Dragon traveled to the West Sea and told Ao Run that the pilgrimage was going well and that his master had asked for a wishing stone.
• Ao Run gave Little White Dragon a wishing stone, then told him to cultivate diligently and do well before sending him away.
• Prime Minister Turtle remarked that Ao Run could have kept his son to talk, and Ao Run angrily threw his bamboo slips at him.

Wukong and Bajie visited the Netherworld to investigate why the Wuji Kingdom Ruler’s ghost had not been collected or reincarnated. The records showed his name was missing, and King Yama explained the possible reasons as the Kings of Hell argued over whether to help.

• Wukong and Bajie arrived at the Ghost Gate, where frightened ghost officers fled before one agreed to announce them at the Hall of Senluo.
• Judge Cui escorted Wukong and Bajie to the Ten Yama Kings, who welcomed them cautiously.
• Bajie explained that the Wuji Kingdom Ruler’s ghost had told Sanzang he was murdered three years earlier and asked why the Netherworld had not collected him.
• A judge found that the Wuji Kingdom Ruler’s name was missing from the Netherworld register, prompting Wukong to threaten the Kings of Hell.
• King Yama said a missing name meant the soul had either vanished or was about to become an immortal or a buddha, and Wukong and Bajie left.
• King Qin Guang criticized King Yama for speaking too freely, while King Yama defended doing his duty without fear.

Wukong and Bajie decided to investigate the dead king’s body in Wuji Kingdom’s imperial garden, while A-Hu helped Sha Wujing settle his mind and focus on teaching the Heart Sutra. Wukong and Bajie entered the sealed garden at night, where Wukong suddenly cried out.

• Wukong told Bajie they would follow Xuanzang’s instructions rather than any higher power’s scheme, and they set out to find the dead king’s corpse.
• A-Hu cleared Sha Wujing’s other scriptures from the table and prompted him to teach from the Heart Sutra, calming his agitation as Xuanzang watched.
• Wukong and Bajie reached Wuji Kingdom’s capital at the fourth watch and sneaked over the city wall toward the imperial garden.
• Wukong opened the garden’s sealed gate, and he and Bajie joked about their skills as thieves.
• Wukong crossed the threshold and suddenly shouted, startling Bajie.

Wukong and Bajie found the buried well in Wuji Kingdom’s imperial garden, where Bajie discovered a Crystal Palace and recovered the preserved corpse of the king. Wukong and Bajie carried the body toward Baolin Temple, hoping it could be brought back to life.

• Wukong and Bajie searched the overgrown garden and found the well beneath a banana tree.
• Bajie dove into the well and discovered a Crystal Palace, where the well’s Dragon King welcomed him.
• The well’s Dragon King showed Bajie the king of Wuji Kingdom’s corpse, preserved for three years with an Appearance-Preserving Pearl.
• Bajie carried the corpse out of the well and told Wukong that the Dragon King said the king might return from death.
• Wukong used a gust of wind to carry himself, Bajie, and the corpse toward Baolin Temple.

Wukong and Bajie returned the Wuji Kingdom king’s preserved body to Baolin Temple, and Little White Dragon brought back the Wish-Granting Stone. Wukong and Sha Wujing found the king’s yin spirit beneath the Stone Bodhisattva and set out to restore him to life, promising to return and free the trapped stone.

• Bajie explained that the king’s name had been erased from the Book of Life and Death, then received Xuanzang’s praise for recovering his body.
• Little White Dragon returned with the Wish-Granting Stone, while Bajie proudly told him that he and Wukong had already brought back the king’s corpse.
• Xuanzang asked Wukong to revive the king, and Wukong said the king’s yin spirit had left his intact body and needed to be returned.
• Wukong brought Sha Wujing to Mahavira Hall, where Sha spoke with the Stone Bodhisattva and learned that someone was beneath its pedestal.
• The Stone Bodhisattva released the king’s yin spirit, and Wukong gathered it up and left with Sha Wujing, promising to return and free the stone.

Sun Wukong revived the Wuji Kingdom Ruler, who thanked Xuanzang and his disciples but hesitated when asked whether he would reclaim his throne without fear. Monk Official Yongde recognized the king and began attending to him, while Xuanzang asked whether the scripture lecture arrangements were ready.

• Sun Wukong returned the Wuji Kingdom Ruler's soul to his body and revived him with immortal qi.
• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler thanked Xuanzang and his disciples, then grew silent when Xuanzang reminded him of their dream conversation about ruling again.
• Little White Dragon opened the door, and Monk Official Yongde recognized the revived king and ordered clean clothes and hot water.
• Monk Official Yongde dressed and attended to the Wuji Kingdom Ruler while Xuanzang and the disciples ate breakfast.
• Xuanzang asked Monk Official Yongde whether the arrangements for the scripture lecture had been made.

The king of the Wuji Kingdom chose to attend Xuanzang’s scripture assembly, despite Yongde’s attempts to keep him hidden. As Xuanzang and his companions reached the crowded platform, Yongde secretly arranged to summon County Lieutenant Tan to investigate them.

• The king of the Wuji Kingdom told Xuanzang he wished to hear the scriptures, and Xuanzang agreed to let him attend.
• Wukong challenged Yongde’s attempt to hide the king, and Yongde reluctantly allowed him to go to the assembly.
• Yongde ordered Jingyuan to prepare a secluded room and sent Jingyin to tell County Lieutenant Tan that Xuanzang was a sinister monk who had coerced the temple.
• Xuanzang invited Sha Wujing to open the assembly, and Sha Wujing solemnly agreed.
• Xuanzang and his companions arrived at the crowded square, where Yongde welcomed Xuanzang and invited him onto the platform.

Xuanzang opened the Dharma assembly at Baolin Temple and invited Sha Wujing to give the first sutra lecture. Sha Wujing explained how carrying villagers’ wishes had taught him not to fear blame, then revealed that making a friend at the temple had made him afraid.

• Yongde led the monks and assembly through the welcoming rites as Xuanzang ascended the Lion Throne.
• Xuanzang greeted the gathering and announced that his fourth disciple, Sha Wujing, would lecture on the scriptures he upheld and the practice he had realized.
• Wukong and Bajie placed the ruler of the Wuji Kingdom in the front row despite Yongde’s plan to keep him in a side room.
• Sha Wujing ascended the platform, introduced the Heart Sutra and his notes as the texts he knew best, and recited a passage about having no hindrance or fear.
• Sha Wujing explained that he carried villagers’ wishes as a way to guide them toward goodness and said he was not afraid if their wishes failed or they blamed him.
• Sha Wujing said that he had begun to feel afraid at Baolin Temple because he had made a friend there.

Sha Wujing preached about how anxiety over gain and loss becomes a hindrance, drawing on the story of the Wish-Granting Stone and his own worries about fulfilling people’s wishes. After his sermon won the crowd’s silence and Xuanzang’s approval, an unannounced ruler appeared and challenged whether Xuanzang deserved to be called a holy monk.

• Sha Wujing explained that a stone called the Stone Bodhisattva had harmed itself trying to grant every prayer, and said its plight made him recognize his own anxiety about failing the people whose wishes he had collected.
• Sha Wujing described hindrances as anxieties over gain and loss, then revealed the Wish-Granting Stone and warned that each wish carried a corresponding price.
• Sha Wujing connected greed, fear, and hatred to the crowd’s struggles, then shared his understanding of purity and his second senior brother’s advice to focus on one’s own work.
• Sha Wujing finished his sermon and bowed to the audience, while Xuanzang watched with warm approval.
• An unknown man in an ocher-yellow robe appeared among the crowd, was recognized with reverence, and walked to the Dharma platform.
• The man praised Sha Wujing’s sermon but told Xuanzang that it alone did not merit the title of holy monk.

A mysterious man challenged Xuanzang to a debate on the Way and told a story about two monks whose opposing teachings on afflictions led to radically different fates. He left Xuanzang facing the question of whether greed, hatred, and delusion were themselves Bodhi.

• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler and the others realized the man before Xuanzang was a powerful being, and Wukong and Bajie recognized him as the true tribulation.
• The man asked Xuanzang to debate the Way, then began a story about Xigen, who taught that all dharmas, including greed, hatred, and delusion, were free of hindrance.
• The man recounted how Shengyi condemned Xigen’s teachings but could not explain where greed existed when questioned by one of Xigen’s lay disciples.
• Xigen taught that greed, hatred, and delusion were equal to the Way, while Shengyi’s slander of the Dharma led to hell, countless lifetimes of misfortune, and repeated failures in cultivation.
• The man challenged Xuanzang to explain how his teachings about purity and reducing afflictions differed from Shengyi’s, then asked whether afflictions themselves were Bodhi.

Xuanzang answered a man who challenged his teachings, arguing that Shengyi’s and Xigen’s teachings were not ultimately distinct but that hatred and denial of conventional truth led to suffering. He recounted the Buddha’s questioning of Ananda about the mind and concluded that afflictions could be transformed into bodhi, then asked the man whether he agreed.

• Xuanzang told the man that Shengyi’s and Xigen’s teachings were both right within ultimate reality, and that Shengyi fell into Hell because he cultivated hatred and slandered another path.
• Xuanzang recounted how the Buddha challenged Ananda’s successive claims about where the mind resided, showing that it was neither within, outside, between, nor nowhere at all.
• Xuanzang explained that beings mistook deluded thoughts for the true mind, giving rise to the three poisons, karma, and suffering.
• Xuanzang compared afflictions and bodhi to waves and still water, saying that suchness followed defiled or pure conditions.
• Xuanzang said transforming afflictions constituted bodhi and asked the man whether he agreed; the man laughed heartily.

Xuanzang recognized the Wuji Kingdom Ruler as Manjushri Bodhisattva, who revealed that he had staged the kingdom trial to test the pilgrims and ruler. The ruler rejected his explanation and angrily confronted him over the three years he had spent suffering in the well.

• Xuanzang identified the disguised ruler as Manjushri Bodhisattva, who revealed his true form before the assembly.
• Manjushri explained that he had planned to blame the ordeal on his Lion-Scaled King if no one recognized him, but Xuanzang had exposed him first.
• Manjushri said Xuanzang and his companions had passed the test, while the other participants had mixed results or failed.
• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler renounced his throne and asked to become a monk, but Wukong urged him to return to his kingdom.
• Manjushri said the ruler's charity had earned him a chance to become a Golden-Bodied Arhat, and the ruler angrily demanded to know how tormenting him in the well counted as guidance.

Manjushri revealed that the Wuji Kingdom Ruler had once ordered him submerged in the Imperial Water River after rejecting his warning about the drought. He showed how the Wish-Granting Stone caused the kingdom’s suffering and left the ruler confronted with the memory of the monk’s death.

• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler accused Manjushri of impersonating him and taking his kingdom, and Manjushri revealed that he had once visited as a wandering monk.
• Manjushri explained that the kingdom’s drought began after people’s conflicting wishes exhausted the Wish-Granting Stone’s power and brought punishment from the Heavenly Dao.
• Manjushri showed that he had prayed and recited scriptures beneath the stone, which imprinted his form into its awareness.
• A water mirror showed the wandering monk questioning the Wuji Kingdom Ruler about his priorities during the drought, and the ruler ordered guards to bind him and submerge him for three days and nights.
• The water mirror showed the monk sinking into the Imperial Water River and dissolving into golden light as the Wuji Kingdom Ruler staggered in shock.

Bodhisattva Manjushri revealed how he had tested the Wuji Kingdom Ruler three times and explained how the ruler’s greed and resentment had kept him from understanding the Way. After declaring the ruler a fool, Manjushri raised his flaming sword to strike him.

• Manjushri showed the ruler how, during the drought, he had driven away the monk who urged the people to flee and find water elsewhere.
• Manjushri revealed that the ruler had vowed to bear any price for rain, and that the Daoist had used the Stone Bodhisattva’s fragment to bring rain before Manjushri ended the drought at its root.
• Manjushri explained that the ruler had repaid his vow through three years in a well and that Manjushri had later governed the kingdom and stayed with him to teach him.
• Manjushri said he had arranged for Xuanzang and his disciples to restore the ruler to life, but the ruler’s hatred and resentment spoiled his chance to awaken.
• Manjushri called the ruler a fool, dispersed the water mirror, and drew his flaming sword to strike the ruler’s head.

The Wuji Kingdom Ruler overcame his fear and vowed to rule justly, earning the common folk’s renewed loyalty. As Manjushri departed, Xuanzang offered to use his remaining wish for the little stone, and Sha Wujing went to ask what it wanted.

• Manjushri tested the Wuji Kingdom Ruler, who said he feared failing the common folk and vowed to restore the people’s lives and govern properly.
• The Wuji Kingdom Ruler knelt before the people to ask for another chance, and the crowd knelt and praised him.
• Manjushri praised the ruler and said he would return to guide him, while Xuanzang, Wukong, Bajie, and Little White Dragon rejoiced.
• Sha Wujing asked Manjushri about the little stone, and Xuanzang offered to make it a wish with his remaining chance.
• Sha Wujing hurried to the Stone Bodhisattva and asked what wish it wanted.