Chapter Summaries

Sun Wukong killed two bandits, and Tang Xuanzang scolded him while the group buried the bodies and resumed their journey. They stopped at a manor to seek lodging, but its old master fled inside after seeing Tang Xuanzang’s three disciples.

• Zhu Bajie panicked after Sun Wukong told him he had killed the two bandits and feared the group would split up.
• Tang Xuanzang ordered Zhu Bajie to bury the bandits, then prayed over their graves while Sun Wukong mocked him and defended his actions.
• Sun Wukong jabbed his Ruyi Jingu Bang into the graves and told the dead bandits to blame him in the underworld.
• Tang Xuanzang and his disciples continued down the road and reached a manor as evening approached.
• The old man at the manor doubted Tang Xuanzang’s story, then fled inside after seeing his three disciples.

Tang Xuanzang and his disciples stayed at an old couple’s home, where they learned the old man’s son was a robber. After the son returned with his gang, he discovered the travelers were asleep in the house and announced they were the monks who had killed the robbers’ leaders.

• Tang Xuanzang persuaded the frightened old man to let him and his disciples stay, and the old woman welcomed them inside.
• The old man told Tang Xuanzang that his son was a robber who had gone out and not returned; Tang Xuanzang suspected Sun Wukong had killed him.
• Sun Wukong offered to kill the son, but Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie urged him to leave the family matter alone, and the old man gave them straw to sleep on.
• The old man’s son returned with his gang, and the group demanded food from the old couple.
• The son spotted the white horse and learned that Tang Xuanzang and his disciples were sleeping in the house, then told his gang they were the monks who had killed their leaders.

Tang Xuanzang and his companions escaped the robbers, but Sun Wukong killed many of them and the old man's son, prompting Tang Xuanzang to drive him away. Sun Wukong sought comfort from Bodhisattva Guanyin, who agreed that his killing was wrong but refused to remove the Tightening Incantation.

• The old man secretly helped Tang Xuanzang, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing escape through the back door.
• The robbers caught up with the travelers, and Sun Wukong killed many of them and beheaded the old man's son despite Tang Xuanzang's warning.
• Tang Xuanzang scolded Sun Wukong and sent him away, and Sun Wukong briefly returned before leaving to seek Bodhisattva Guanyin.
• Sun Wukong told Bodhisattva Guanyin that Tang Xuanzang had treated him unfairly, and she explained that killing the bandits had been unkind.
• Sun Wukong asked Bodhisattva Guanyin to remove the Tightening Incantation, but she said she knew no Loosening Incantation.

Sun Wukong returned to Tang Xuanzang after Bodhisattva Guanyin foretold that the monk would soon be injured, but Tang Xuanzang rejected him and Sun Wukong struck him before flying off with the luggage. Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing brought Tang Xuanzang to an old woman's home, where he blamed Sun Wukong for the attack.

• Sun Wukong proposed asking Tathagata to remove the Tightening Headband, and Bodhisattva Guanyin told him Tang Xuanzang would soon be injured and come looking for him.
• Zhu Bajie searched for food, fetched water, and left Sha Wujing to hurry him along while Tang Xuanzang waited hungry and thirsty.
• Sun Wukong offered Tang Xuanzang water, but Tang Xuanzang rejected him, and Sun Wukong struck him and flew away with the luggage.
• Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing found Tang Xuanzang alive, and Tang Xuanzang told them Sun Wukong had attacked him and taken their belongings.
• Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing carried Tang Xuanzang to an old woman's home, where Tang Xuanzang repeated his accusation against Sun Wukong.

Sha Wujing found Sun Wukong at Flower-Fruit Mountain, where he had stolen Tang Xuanzang’s travel permit and claimed he would fetch the scriptures on his own. After Sun Wukong revealed monkey-demon copies of the pilgrims, Sha Wujing sought Bodhisattva Guanyin’s help, and they went together to investigate the Water Curtain Cave.

• Sha Wujing reached Flower-Fruit Mountain and found Sun Wukong reading Tang Xuanzang’s travel permit.
• Sun Wukong refused to return to the pilgrimage and said he would seek the scriptures himself, then showed Sha Wujing monkey-demon copies of the pilgrims.
• Sha Wujing fought his way off the mountain and went to the South Sea to report Sun Wukong’s actions to Bodhisattva Guanyin.
• Sun Wukong, who had been with Bodhisattva Guanyin, was surprised when Sha Wujing attacked him and denied leaving her side.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin agreed to go with Sha Wujing and Sun Wukong to the Water Curtain Cave to determine which Sun Wukong was real.

Sun Wukong and Pilgrim Sun sought help from immortals to determine which one was real, until Tathagata identified the impostor as the Six-Eared Macaque. Sun Wukong returned to Tang Xuanzang, who agreed to take him back, and Zhu Bajie arrived carrying two bundles.

• Sun Wukong and Pilgrim Sun fought at Flower-Fruit Mountain, while Sha Wujing took the luggage back to Tang Xuanzang.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin, the Jade Emperor, and King Dizang with Diting each failed to distinguish the two monkeys.
• Tathagata identified Pilgrim Sun as the Six-Eared Macaque, and Sun Wukong struck him down.
• Tathagata sent Sun Wukong with Bodhisattva Guanyin to rejoin Tang Xuanzang and continue the pilgrimage.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin explained the impostor's identity to Tang Xuanzang, who agreed to take Sun Wukong back.
• Zhu Bajie arrived with two bundles, but he dodged when Sun Wukong hurried to greet him.

After reuniting with Tang Xuanzang, Sun Wukong and his companions reached the Flaming Mountain, where an old man explained that its constant heat blocked the road west. Sun Wukong learned that a Plantain Fan could extinguish the flames, but the old man warned that its holder might refuse to help without a gift.

• Bodhisattva Guanyin told Zhu Bajie that Sun Wukong had killed the fake Tang Xuanzang and fake Zhu Bajie, who had been two monkeys, and Tang Xuanzang took his three disciples back in.
• Tang Xuanzang asked his companions why the weather was so hot, and Zhu Bajie guessed they had reached the Place of Sunset while Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing disagreed.
• Sun Wukong questioned an old man, who identified the place as the Flaming Mountain and explained that its unceasing heat blocked the road to Western Heaven.
• Sun Wukong bought a scalding pastry from a young man, who explained that the immortal lady's Plantain Fan controlled the fire, wind, and rain.
• Sun Wukong said he would borrow the Plantain Fan to put out the fire, but the old man warned that its holder would likely demand a gift.

Sun Wukong went to Emerald Cloud Mountain to borrow Princess Iron Fan’s fan to put out the flames blocking Tang Xuanzang’s journey. After learning she was Red Boy’s mother, he tried to approach her as a relative, but she came out furious and rejected his greeting.

• Sun Wukong learned that the Plantain Fan belonged to the immortal at Emerald Cloud Mountain and immediately flew there to borrow it.
• A woodcutter told Sun Wukong that Princess Iron Fan was Red Boy’s mother, and advised him to ask only for the fan.
• Sun Wukong reached Plantain Cave and asked to borrow the Plantain Fan.
• When Rakshasi learned the visitor was Sun Wukong, she armed herself and went out to confront him.
• Sun Wukong respectfully called Rakshasi his sister-in-law because the Bull Devil King was his sworn brother, but Rakshasi angrily denied the relationship.

Sun Wukong fought Rakshasi after she refused to lend him the Plantain Fan, but she blew him away to Bodhisattva Lingji’s mountain. He explained that Tang Xuanzang’s journey was blocked by the Flaming Mountain, and Lingji said he could help, leaving Sun Wukong puzzled.

• Rakshasi accused Sun Wukong of taking her son Red Boy away, and Sun Wukong promised to bring Red Boy back if she lent him the fan.
• Rakshasi challenged Sun Wukong to let her chop his head, but after he endured her sword strikes, she refused to lend the fan to an outsider.
• Sun Wukong and Rakshasi fought until she waved the Plantain Fan and blew him to Bodhisattva Lingji’s mountain.
• Sun Wukong told Bodhisattva Lingji that Rakshasi had blown him away and that the Flaming Mountain blocked Tang Xuanzang’s journey.
• Bodhisattva Lingji explained the fan’s power and assured Sun Wukong that he could help him cross the Flaming Mountain.

Bodhisattva Lingji gave Sun Wukong a Wind-Fixing Pill, which let him withstand Rakshasi’s Plantain Fan and infiltrate her belly to force her to hand it over. Sun Wukong returned with the fan, and the old man confirmed it was genuine.

• Bodhisattva Lingji gave Sun Wukong the Wind-Fixing Pill and directed him to Rakshasi’s home.
• Sun Wukong fought Rakshasi and stood firm against her Plantain Fan, then slipped into her cave disguised as an insect.
• Sun Wukong entered Rakshasi’s belly through her tea and threatened her with pain until she agreed to lend him the fan.
• Rakshasi brought out the Plantain Fan, and Sun Wukong emerged and took it.
• Sun Wukong rejoined Zhu Bajie, Tang Xuanzang, and Sha Wujing, and the old man confirmed the fan was genuine.

Sun Wukong’s borrowed Plantain Fan made the Flaming Mountain’s fire blaze higher, forcing Tang Xuanzang and his disciples to retreat. The Land God revealed that the fan was fake and that Sun Wukong had caused the mountain’s fire centuries earlier, leaving them needing to find the Bull Devil King for the real fan.

• Sun Wukong told Tang Xuanzang how he had tricked Rakshasi into lending him the Plantain Fan, then tried to use it on the Flaming Mountain, making the flames grow stronger and burning off his fine hairs.
• Tang Xuanzang and his disciples retreated from the fire and debated how they could continue toward the scriptures when the safe routes led away from the west.
• The Land God arrived with food and told Sun Wukong that the fan he held was fake and that he needed to find the Bull Devil King to obtain the real one.
• The Land God explained that Sun Wukong had kicked bricks from Taishang Laojun’s Eight Trigrams Furnace down onto the mountain five hundred years earlier, and revealed that he had once tended the furnace before becoming the Land God.
• Zhu Bajie realized that the Land God had formerly been a Daoist.

Sun Wukong learned that the Bull Devil King was living with Princess Jade Face on Accumulated Thunder Mountain and went to find him, hoping to secure the Plantain Fan. The Bull Devil King did not recognize Sun Wukong, while Ancestor Hongjun revealed that he had deliberately erased the Bull Devil King's memory.

• The Land God told Sun Wukong that the Bull Devil King had left Princess Iron Fan and was living with Princess Jade Face on Accumulated Thunder Mountain.
• Sun Wukong left Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie to guard Tang Xuanzang and flew to the mountain to search for the Bull Devil King.
• Sun Wukong met Princess Jade Face, learned she had taken in the Bull Devil King, and frightened her into fleeing to her cave.
• Princess Jade Face told the Bull Devil King that Sun Wukong had attacked her, and the Bull Devil King went outside to confront him.
• Sun Wukong introduced himself, but the Bull Devil King did not recognize him, and Ancestor Hongjun told Ao Changsheng that he had caused the memory loss.
• Sun Wukong reminded the Bull Devil King that they had become sworn brothers five hundred years earlier.

Sun Wukong tried to persuade the Bull Devil King to help him borrow the Plantain Fan, but the Bull Devil King refused to recognize their friendship and challenged him to a fight. After following the Bull Devil King to an underwater gathering, Sun Wukong stole his Demon Beast and disguised himself as the Bull Devil King to approach Rakshasi.

• The Bull Devil King attacked Sun Wukong despite Sun Wukong explaining what had happened to his son and apologizing for upsetting his wife.
• Sun Wukong asked the Bull Devil King to persuade Rakshasi to lend him the Plantain Fan, and the Bull Devil King attacked him and proposed a three-round challenge.
• Sun Wukong and the Bull Devil King fought without either gaining the upper hand, until a demon summoned the Bull Devil King to a friend's birthday gathering.
• The Bull Devil King left for the gathering, and Sun Wukong followed him in the form of a breeze to a mountain pond and then an underwater tavern.
• Sun Wukong escaped the old dragon's notice, stole the Bull Devil King's Demon Beast, and transformed into the Bull Devil King before arriving at Emerald Cloud Mountain.

Sun Wukong disguised himself as the Bull Devil King and tricked Rakshasi into revealing and handing over the real Plantain Fan. He escaped with the fan, while the Bull Devil King discovered his mount was missing and returned to Plantain Cave, where he found Rakshasi crying.

• Sun Wukong impersonated the Bull Devil King and persuaded Rakshasi to tell him she had given him a fake fan after he had entered her belly and forced her to surrender the treasure.
• Rakshasi revealed that the real Plantain Fan was hidden in her mouth, and Sun Wukong took it after learning the incantation that enlarged it.
• Sun Wukong revealed his true identity and left Plantain Cave carrying the enlarged fan on his shoulder.
• The Bull Devil King learned that Sun Wukong had stolen his mount and said he would retrieve it after eating.
• The Bull Devil King went to Plantain Cave and found Rakshasi shouting and crying, with his Demon Beast hanging below.

Sun Wukong fought the Bull Devil King over the Plantain Fan, and the gods helped capture the demon. After Rakshasi explained how to extinguish the Flaming Mountain, Sun Wukong’s nine waves of the fan brought rain and put out the embers.

• The Bull Devil King transformed into Zhu Bajie, tricked Sun Wukong into handing over the Plantain Fan, and shrank it back to its original size.
• The Bull Devil King and Sun Wukong fought, but the Wind-Fixing Pill kept Sun Wukong from being blown away by the fan.
• Tang Xuanzang sent Zhu Bajie to help Sun Wukong, and Sun Wukong told him to summon the immortals.
• Two Vajras and the gods surrounded the Bull Devil King, who surrendered the Plantain Fan to Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong fanned the Flaming Mountain until it cooled, then waved the fan nine times after Rakshasi explained how to extinguish its embers.
• Rain extinguished the fire, the surrounding people thanked Tang Xuanzang and his disciples, and the Land God returned to the Heavenly Palace.

Sun Wukong, Tang Xuanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing reached the Horse-Racing Kingdom, where they found shackled monks from the Golden Light Temple. The monks said a holy monk from the Great Tang would save them and began describing the kingdom’s troubles, including a strange rain of blood.

• Sun Wukong teased Zhu Bajie about seeing beauties, then identified the distant city as a great kingdom.
• Tang Xuanzang saw shackled monks begging at the city gate and sent Sun Wukong to ask what had happened to them.
• The monks said they came from the Golden Light Temple and led the group there to speak privately.
• At the dilapidated temple, the monks recognized Tang Xuanzang as a holy monk from the Great Tang who had appeared in one of their dreams.
• The monks named the city the Horse-Racing Kingdom and said its king was wicked despite the kingdom’s former prosperity.
• The monks recounted that blood had once rained from the sky, prompting the king to summon Daoists to perform rituals at the temple.

Tang Xuanzang promised to sweep the pagoda and investigate the monks’ false accusation before continuing his journey. While sweeping, Sun Wukong found two monsters at the top and brought them to Tang Xuanzang for questioning.

• Tang Xuanzang listened as the monks explained their plight and decided to report the matter to the king after sweeping the pagoda.
• Sun Wukong removed the monks’ shackles, and Tang Xuanzang ate, bathed, and prepared to sweep the pagoda that night.
• Tang Xuanzang and Sun Wukong swept the pagoda’s floors, and Tang Xuanzang rested on the tenth floor after growing tired.
• Sun Wukong heard voices on the thirteenth floor and found two monsters eating and drinking there.
• Sun Wukong brought the monsters to Tang Xuanzang so he could question them about the stolen treasure.

Sun Wukong learned that the Dragon King’s demons had stolen the pagoda’s treasure, and Tang Xuanzang and Sun Wukong brought the accusation before the king. The king sent imperial guards with Tang Xuanzang to the Golden Light Temple to bring the captured demons to court.

• Wang Laowu confessed that the Dragon King’s son-in-law had stolen the sarira and that Princess Wansheng had taken the Nine-Leaf Lingzhi Herb.
• Sun Wukong stopped Zhu Bajie from killing Wang Laowu and Li Lao'er, and the monks locked the demons up at the Golden Light Temple.
• Tang Xuanzang and Sun Wukong went to court to have Tang Xuanzang’s travel permit certified.
• Tang Xuanzang told the king that the demons who stole the pagoda’s treasure were captured and held at the temple.
• The king sent imperial guards with Tang Xuanzang to the Golden Light Temple to bring the demons before him.

Sun Wukong brought two demons before the king, then agreed to capture the demons who had stolen the king’s treasure. The nine-headed demon confronted him, and Sun Wukong explained that he had come to help the king and the wrongly accused monks.

• Sun Wukong brought the two demons before the king, who questioned them about the stolen treasure and the other demons.
• Tang Xuanzang introduced himself and his disciples to the king, who offered a reward if Sun Wukong captured the remaining demons.
• Sun Wukong sent the two lesser demons back to warn their king that he had arrived and demand the treasure’s return.
• The Dragon King’s son-in-law volunteered to fight Sun Wukong, then challenged him when he appeared.
• Sun Wukong faced the nine-headed demon and defended his right to help the king and clear the Golden Light Temple monks’ names.

Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie fought the Nine-Headed Bug and tried to recover the stolen treasure, but the monster escaped into the river palace. After Sun Wukong killed the old Dragon King, Erlang Shen arrived with the Six Brothers of Mount Mei, and Sun Wukong began asking him for help.

• Sun Wukong fought the prince consort through the night, while Zhu Bajie joined the battle and the monster revealed his true form as a Nine-Headed Bug.
• The Nine-Headed Bug captured Zhu Bajie and took him to the water palace, where Sun Wukong found him tied up and learned that his Nine-Toothed Rake had been taken.
• Sun Wukong used an Invisibility Technique to steal back the Nine-Toothed Rake, and Zhu Bajie charged into the main hall and smashed the rice bowls.
• The prince consort confronted Zhu Bajie, who escaped from the river as the old Dragon King led his troops in pursuit; Sun Wukong killed the old Dragon King with one blow.
• Sun Wukong told Zhu Bajie to return for the treasure and promised to help fight the prince consort, but Lord Erlang Shen arrived with the Six Brothers of Mount Mei before they could act.
• Sun Wukong asked Lord Erlang Shen to help them with their difficult problem.