Chapter Summaries

Wukong uncovered Yang Meng’s plan to drug the pilgrims and helped save his wife, then fought off the bandits when they attacked for Tang Sanzang’s Kasaya. Tang Sanzang stopped Wukong from killing the defeated robbers, while Ao Tu challenged the pilgrims’ judgment and urged them to consider his role as their bandit chief.

• Wukong questioned Ao Tu, who revealed that he had come to see whether Wukong had truly joined the monks.
• Wukong discovered Yang Meng trying to force his wife to drug the pilgrims, stopped him from suffocating her, and warned Tang Sanzang which dishes were poisoned.
• Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing ate the drugged food, pretended to collapse, and then fought the bandits when they moved to rob and kill the pilgrims.
• The bandits found Tang Sanzang’s Kasaya and prepared to divide it, but Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing defeated them.
• Tang Sanzang stopped Wukong from killing the defeated bandits, and Yang Meng’s father pleaded for his son’s life.
• Ao Tu mocked Wukong’s hesitation and defended his own inaction, asking Tang Sanzang why a bandit chief should persuade his men to become good.

Tang Sanzang spared the bandits and spent months preaching to them and teaching them to earn a living, while Ao Tu advised Six Ears to wait for a falling-out between Tang Sanzang and Wukong. As winter deepened, the bandits asked Tang Sanzang to stay at the inn while they gathered firewood and herbs themselves.

• Wukong proposed handing the bandits over to the authorities, but Tang Sanzang let them go after Yang Meng's parents pleaded for mercy.
• Ao Tu told Six Ears to wait for Tang Sanzang and Wukong to fall out before trying to take Wukong's place.
• Tang Sanzang preached to the bandits, treated Yang Meng's broken leg, and led them into the mountains to gather firewood and medicinal herbs for money.
• After two months, Tang Sanzang believed the bandits had reformed, and the group waited for Yang Meng's leg to heal before resuming their journey.
• As snow deepened near year's end, the bandits asked Tang Sanzang to rest at the inn while they went into the mountains on their own.

The bandits abandoned their promised reform, robbed a traveler, and returned to Yang Meng’s home to feast. Wukong wanted to kill them, but Tang Sanzang stopped him, leaving master and disciple in a heated argument that Ao Tu used to instruct Six Ears.

• The bandits resumed robbing travelers, beat a stonemason, and stole his fifteen taels of silver and belongings before letting him go.
• The bandits bought wine and meat, gave Yang Meng’s son a rattle drum, and feasted with Yang Meng while insulting Tang Sanzang and his disciples.
• Yang Meng’s wife learned about the feast and told Tang Sanzang, who arrived as Wukong smashed the door and prepared to attack the bandits.
• The bandits admitted they had only pretended to kill the traveler, and Tang Sanzang stopped Wukong from striking them.
• Wukong insisted the bandits deserved death, while Tang Sanzang argued they should be handed to the authorities, and Bajie and Sha Wujing tried to intervene.
• Ao Tu told Six Ears that a rift between master and disciple was inevitable and warned him not to act as Wukong did.

Tang Sanzang refused to let Wukong kill the bandits and wavered when Yang Meng and his parents pleaded for mercy. Wukong used the Golden Sarira to make the bandits repent, frustrating Ao Tu and Six Ears’s scheme.

• Wukong yielded to Tang Sanzang’s demand to spare the bandits and sent Bajie to report them to the authorities.
• The bandits turned on Yang Meng when he claimed he had not joined their robberies, and Yang Meng’s parents arrived as Bajie went to report them.
• Yang Meng feigned remorse and pleaded to care for his elderly parents, prompting Tang Sanzang to ask Wukong to delay reporting the bandits.
• Wukong argued with Tang Sanzang, then remembered the Golden Sarira and shone its light on Yang Meng and the bandits, transforming them into sincere penitents.
• Ao Tu realized the Tathagata’s intervention had ruined the scheme, while Six Ears remained calm.

Tang Sanzang allowed the Buddha-Light-converted bandits to go unreported, but Wukong remained troubled by their past crimes. When Yang Meng reverted to evil and attacked his wife, Wukong killed him; the remaining bandits were still plotting to steal the kasaya and flee.

• Tang Sanzang agreed not to report the reformed bandits after Yang Meng's parents pleaded for them, and the pilgrims accepted a vegetarian banquet before planning to resume their journey west.
• Wukong went outside at night, while escaped bandits returned to the inn and stirred Yang Meng's memories of his crimes until the Buddha-Light's influence faded.
• Yang Meng and the bandits planned to steal Wukong's kasaya and escape, and Yang Meng went to take his son while leaving his parents behind.
• Yang Meng struck his wife and threatened her when she tried to stop him from taking their son, then drew a knife as she called for help.
• Wukong smashed into the room and killed Yang Meng with his staff after Yang Meng begged for mercy.

Wukong killed Yang Meng and buried his body with Yang Meng’s wife taking responsibility, while Ao Tu and Six-Eared Macaque chose not to expose him. Thieves tried to steal Tang Sanzang’s Kasaya, and Bajie discovered Wukong burying the corpse just as Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing arrived.

• Wukong killed Yang Meng, and Yang Meng’s wife agreed to conceal the truth and take responsibility for burying him.
• Wukong buried Yang Meng in the vegetable patch while Ao Tu and Six-Eared Macaque watched; Six-Eared Macaque refused to inform on him.
• Three thieves entered Tang Sanzang’s room to steal the Kasaya, but Sha Wujing caught one and Bajie pursued the other two.
• Bajie found the fleeing thieves beside Wukong as he buried Yang Meng, then saw the bloody remains in the pit despite Wukong’s attempts to hide them.
• Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing arrived while Bajie questioned Wukong about the body.

Wukong killed Yang Meng and refused to show remorse, while Tang Sanzang condemned his actions and tried to honor the dead. After Yang Meng's soul resisted Tang Sanzang's scripture, Wukong destroyed the grave mound and challenged his master to use the Tightening-Fillet Spell.

• Bajie and Sha Wujing bound the two thieves, who confessed that Yang Meng had planned to steal from the household with them.
• Wukong revealed that he had beaten Yang Meng to death, and Tang Sanzang rebuked him while Wukong admitted fault without arguing.
• Tang Sanzang recited scripture over Yang Meng's remains, but Ao Tu noticed the soul resisted the delivering power and collected it for later examination.
• Wukong refused to bow to Yang Meng and argued with Tang Sanzang, then interrupted Yang Meng's wife's attempt to explain the truth.
• Wukong struck apart the grave mound, immobilized Yang Meng's mother when she tried to protect it, and told Tang Sanzang to recite the Tightening-Fillet Spell.

Wukong clashed with Tang Sanzang over killing Yang Meng and destroying his grave, then left for Spirit Mountain to demand that Tathagata Buddha explain why the Sarira had failed to redeem the bandits. He reached the Buddhist hall and was welcomed by Dragon-Subduing Arhat and Tiger-Taming Arhat.

• Tang Sanzang woke after fainting and rebuked Wukong for killing Yang Meng and flattening his grave mound, while Wukong insisted the bandits deserved death.
• Wukong told Bajie to leave the captured bandits tied up for Tang Sanzang to handle, then decided to ask Tathagata Buddha whether the Sarira’s failure was part of a test.
• Wukong departed for Spirit Mountain, leaving Bajie and Sha Wujing to protect Tang Sanzang and the captives.
• Bajie told Tang Sanzang where Wukong had gone and suggested Buddha might have arranged a test.
• Wukong shouted that Buddhist teachings did not work, evaded the Four Great Guardian Kings, and entered the hall with Dragon-Subduing Arhat and Tiger-Taming Arhat.

Wukong sought Tathagata Buddha's help after killing a robber and falling out with Tang Sanzang, and learned that demons had been blamed for their discord. Mahamayuri Bodhisattva captured Six-Eared Macaque while Ao Tu escaped, but as the Bodhisattva moved to kill the macaque, a blazing sun and three-legged golden crow appeared.

• Wukong told Tathagata Buddha that the Holy Buddha Sarira had failed to reform the robbers and that his actions had caused a rift with Tang Sanzang.
• Tathagata Buddha revealed that two demons had caused discord between Wukong and Tang Sanzang, and ordered Mahamayuri Bodhisattva to help subdue them.
• Mahamayuri Bodhisattva told Wukong he would kill the demons and robbers, and they traveled together to the inn.
• Ao Tu sensed their arrival and escaped as a rainbow, while Mahamayuri Bodhisattva captured Six-Eared Macaque in his true form.
• Six-Eared Macaque said he had planned to trouble Wukong but changed his mind out of pity, as Mahamayuri Bodhisattva prepared to kill him.
• A great sun appeared with a three-legged golden crow seated at its center.

Ao Tu evaded Mahamayuri Bodhisattva in a battle that brought a second sun into the sky, while Tang Sanzang and his disciples sheltered at the inn. Mahamayuri Bodhisattva agreed to stop fighting, but Ao Tu seized Six-Eared Macaque and escaped, leaving the others to hear how he had been tricked.

• Ao Tu appeared as a second sun, and Mahamayuri Bodhisattva pursued him across the sky while Tang Sanzang and his disciples took shelter from the heat.
• Tang Sanzang asked Wukong to rescue the robbers, but Wukong refused and Bajie pretended to suffer heatstroke, so Sha Wujing brought the bound robbers into the inn.
• Wukong opened another stable and led the White Dragon Horse into the inn, while the robbers entered and asked for water that Bajie had already drunk.
• Mahamayuri Bodhisattva warned Ao Tu that two suns were harming living beings, and the pair agreed to stop fighting and descend together.
• Ao Tu attacked Mahamayuri Bodhisattva during their descent, seized Six-Eared Macaque, and fled as a rainbow.
• Mahamayuri Bodhisattva descended to the inn and told Tang Sanzang, Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing how Ao Tu had deceived him.

Mahamayuri Bodhisattva took the bandits to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, while Ao Tu and Six-Eared Macaque escaped and settled near Tang Sanzang’s route. Ao Tu disguised himself as a monk and entered a poor family’s hut, where he learned the family’s hardship and offered to treat the injured son.

• Mahamayuri Bodhisattva took the bandits away, ate them on the way to the Netherworld, and delivered their souls to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who suppressed them with vow power.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples set out west again after Wukong said the bandits seemed to be sent to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
• Ao Tu escaped with Six-Eared Macaque, whose arms were broken, and directed him to establish a cave abode near a thatched hut and recruit lesser demons.
• After Six-Eared Macaque left, Ao Tu transformed into a monk and asked the old granny at the hut for food and water.
• Ao Tu learned that the old granny’s son had been injured by bandits and that the family was struggling to survive, then offered to treat him.

Ao Tu treated a poor stonemason’s rotting leg by giving his family a Buddha statue and instructing them to offer their food. He then joined Six-Eared Macaque and the lesser demons to establish a cave dwelling, naming it Flower-Fruit Mountain and Water Curtain Cave.

• Ao Tu told the stonemason that the dead flesh in his leg had rotted away, then gave Old Granny a Buddha statue and promised that sincere worship would bring a chance of healing.
• Ao Tu told the family to offer four wild-greens cakes to Buddha each day, then transformed into the Peacock Great Wisdom King Bodhisattva to convince them.
• Ao Tu flew to the mountain, where Six-Eared Macaque had gathered several newly transformed lesser demons, and approved them before they began building a cave dwelling.
• Ao Tu directed the wild boar spirit and frog spirit to build a Prison Cave and a back-door escape route while they argued about eating people.
• Ao Tu named the mountain Flower-Fruit Mountain and the cave Water Curtain Cave because a monkey lived there.

Ao Tu built up Flower-Fruit Mountain, cared for its demons, and strengthened them with sun and moon essence before Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrived. Wukong confronted Six-Eared Macaque over the stolen name and appearance, but was left speechless when the demons proudly presented their mountain’s fruits.

• Ao Tu established Water Curtain Cave, organized the demons, and secretly left food for the Stonecutter's Wife.
• Ao Tu refined moonlight and sunlight into drops that healed and empowered the demons, then shared more with Six-Eared Macaque.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples reached Flower-Fruit Mountain, where the little demons captured them and claimed their Great King was the Handsome Monkey King.
• Wukong learned the mountain’s name and confronted Six-Eared Macaque, accusing him of copying Wukong’s appearance and usurping his banner.
• Six-Eared Macaque challenged Wukong to compare their Flower-Fruit Mountains, and the little demons presented their gathered fruit and flowers.
• Wukong stood rooted in place as Six-Eared Macaque asked which mountain was real and which was fake.

Wukong confronted Six-Eared Macaque at a false Flower-Fruit Mountain, but Ao Tu joined the fight and captured the Tang Monk and his companions. The captives were locked in Prison Cave, where Ao Tu revealed he had seized them for their divine connections rather than to eat them.

• Six-Eared Macaque challenged Wukong’s attachment to Flower-Fruit Mountain, and Bajie helped Wukong regain his resolve.
• Wukong and Six-Eared Macaque fought evenly until Ao Tu emerged from Water Curtain Cave and attacked Bajie and Sha Wujing.
• Ao Tu struck Wukong down with Six-Eared Macaque’s help, then knocked the Tang Monk from his horse and captured the White Dragon Horse.
• Ao Tu defeated the revealed guardian gods, captured everyone, and locked them in Prison Cave.
• Ao Tu told the demons that the captives were divine officials and should not be eaten, while the Tang Monk pleaded to be released.

Ao Tu challenged Tang Sanzang’s faith in the Buddha’s claim that he had plotted against the pilgrims, while Tang Sanzang’s injured leg left him suffering in the Prison Cave. Wukong sought help identifying the three-legged crow, and, guided by the Taiyin Star Lord, set out with Ao Tu to investigate the sun.

• Ao Tu questioned Tang Sanzang about why he believed the Buddha’s claim that Ao Tu had plotted against them, but Tang Sanzang could not explain why Ao Tu had captured them without harming them.
• Tang Sanzang collapsed from a leg and hip injury, and the others could find neither a healer nor medicine in the Prison Cave.
• Wukong went to the Flower Realm, where Ao Tu shared immortal wine, gave him a healing pill for Tang Sanzang, and offered him immortal brocade.
• The Taiyin Star Lord suggested the three-legged crow might be connected to the Taiyang Star Lord or newly nurtured by the sun, and urged Ao Tu to accompany Wukong.
• Wukong and Ao Tu agreed to investigate the sun while Tang Sanzang remained captive.

Wukong and Ao Tu investigated whether the Three-Legged Crow came from the Sun Star, but found no evidence that it was born there or belonged to the Heavenly Realm. Wukong secured the Twenty-Eight Mansions to block the demon’s escape and went to the Netherworld to recruit the Great Peacock Wisdom King Bodhisattva.

• Wukong and Ao Tu visited the Sun Star Lord, who denied that the Three-Legged Crow came from his palace and agreed to take them into the Sun Star.
• The Sun Star Lord opened a path into the Sun Star, where Wukong and Ao Tu searched for signs of life having been born there.
• Ao Tu secretly entered the Sun Star’s interior, absorbed its solar power, and returned without revealing what he had done.
• After the search turned up nothing, Wukong reported to the Jade Emperor, who ordered an investigation and permitted Wukong to choose divine generals to assist him.
• Wukong requested the Twenty-Eight Mansions to block the demon’s escape routes and then went to the Netherworld to seek the Great Peacock Wisdom King Bodhisattva.

Wukong joined Mahamayuri Bodhisattva and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s forces to attack Ao Tu’s cave, where Ao Tu sent his followers away before facing the attackers. After Ao Tu was struck down and surrounded, he transformed through a vast withered tree into a blazing Golden Crow whose divine light destroyed the Netherworld forces.

• Wukong brought Mahamayuri Bodhisattva and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Ghost Messengers, Asura Generals, and Ghost Soldiers to attack Ao Tu’s cave.
• Ao Tu told his Little Demons to flee west to seek refuge with the Mighty Bull Demon King, then emerged with Six-Eared Macaque to face Wukong and Mahamayuri Bodhisattva.
• Wukong fought Six-Eared Macaque while Ao Tu fought Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, evading his attacks as the Twenty-Eight Mansions watched from above.
• Four Asura Generals struck Ao Tu when he emerged from his rainbow transformation, and Mahamayuri Bodhisattva knocked him to the ground.
• As the Netherworld forces surrounded Ao Tu, a towering withered tree rose beneath him, and he became a Golden Crow within a great sun.
• Ao Tu’s solar divine light burned the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Messengers to ashes and destroyed the Asura Generals who tried to escape.

Ao Tu fought Mahamayuri Bodhisattva with the Sun's divine light and stellar power, but Mahamayuri repeatedly broke through his attacks. After summoning the stars with the formation flag and realizing he still could not win, Ao Tu prepared to detonate himself.

• Ao Tu unleashed the Sun's divine light at Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, whose Five-Colored Light blocked it and whose azure light counterattacked.
• Ao Tu used the Great Celestial Cycle Formation Diagram to combine solar and stellar power into Seven-Colored Divine Light, and the stellar deities eventually secretly assisted him.
• Mahamayuri severed the Seven-Colored Divine Light, the stellar power, and the divine fire, then pressed Ao Tu to surrender.
• Ao Tu called for Six-Eared Macaque to leave, and Six-Eared Macaque broke off his fight with Wukong and fled.
• Ao Tu raised the formation flag of the Great Formation of Stars of the Celestial Cycle, summoning countless stars but managing to control only a small portion of their power.
• Mahamayuri dismissed Ao Tu's final attack, and Ao Tu, unable to win and with Six-Eared Macaque gone, decided to detonate himself.

A mysterious woman helped Ao Tu use the formation flags to stall Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, then reversed events and restored the fighters to the moment before Ao Tu’s self-detonation. While Wukong and Ao Tu resumed their pursuits, Bajie and Sha Wujing freed Tang Sanzang from the Prison Cave and met the stonemason’s wife, who offered them shelter and medicine.

• A mysterious woman stopped Ao Tu from detonating himself, split the formation flag into sun, moon, and star flags, and joined him in battling Mahamayuri Bodhisattva across the void.
• The woman guided Ao Tu in using the sun and moon to send everyone back to an earlier moment, then vanished as the formation flag returned to its original form.
• Ao Tu and Six Ears fled again, pursued by Mahamayuri Bodhisattva and Wukong, while the star officials pretended they had not seen the woman.
• Wild Boar Spirit and Frog Spirit tried to flee the Prison Cave and dropped the key, which Bajie reached by squeezing his snout between the bars with help from Sha Wujing and the others.
• Bajie carried the injured Tang Sanzang out through the cave’s back entrance with Sha Wujing, and the stonemason’s wife invited them to her home and offered medicine for Tang Sanzang’s leg.

Bajie and Sha Wujing brought the injured Tang Sanzang to the stonecutter’s home, where the family welcomed and treated him. The stonecutter revealed that robbers had crippled his leg, and Bajie recognized them as the band they had encountered earlier.

• The Stonecutter's Wife led Bajie, Tang Sanzang, and Sha Wujing to her home, where Old Granny first mistook the disciples for monsters before letting them in.
• The stonecutter made room for Tang Sanzang and explained that his own leg had been ruined after robbers attacked him.
• Old Granny examined Tang Sanzang’s swollen leg, found it resembled the stonecutter’s injury, and bound herbs around it.
• The stonecutter said Tang Sanzang’s pain meant his flesh was still alive and could heal, while his own leg could no longer be saved.
• The stonecutter explained that the robbers had spared his life because they feared a monk’s magical powers, and Bajie recognized them as the band from the inn.