Summary of the Journey to the West Novel

Updated: 15/4/2024

Contents

• Introduction
• Summary
  1. Chapter 1
     [...]
     Chapter 100
• Conclusion
• Notes

Introduction

The 100-chapter Journey to the West novel is an exciting but challenging read for anyone. To simplify this, here I present a super brief, yet complete, summary outlining the main events occurring in each chapter of the novel. This summary hopes to provide insight to Journey to the West for those new to the story, cannot access the full novel, or are simply not bothered to read the full 100 chapters. Everything in this summary is listed in bullet points, by chapter, in chronological order. ​I guarantee that it'll be a fun read to help guide you through this epic novel.

For those interested in reading the full 100-chapter novel, free PDF versions in various language translations, including English, can be accessed for free on the Journey to the West Research blog, archived by Jim R. McClanahan here:
Archive #42 – PDFs of Journey to the West Translations​

Additionally, you can find the original text in simplified Chinese for free here:
杀杀中文笔记 - 西游记 (Journey to the West; Monkey King)​
and in traditional Chinese for free here:
中國哲學書電子化計劃《西遊記》

All images used below (except for chapter 9 [1]) are illustrations credited to Chen Huiguan (1935-, 陈惠冠).

Novel Summary

Chapter 1

• A stone egg on Flower-Fruit Mountain (huaguo shan, 花果山) is conceived by Heaven and Earth and gives birth to a divine monkey.
• The monkey befriends a clan of primates and quickly gains the title of Handsome Monkey King (meihou wang, 美猴王).
• One day, the Monkey King learns that everyone is fated to die. Monkey did not like the idea of dying, and was determined to find a way to escape it. He leaves his home to search for a sage master who may teach him the secret to immortality [src. 1].
• After 10 years of searching, Monkey arrives at a mountain cave, where he finds a sage named Patriarch Subodhi (xuputi zushi, 须菩提祖师). Subodhi accepts Monkey as a student and bestows him the religious name "Sun Wukong (孙悟空)".

[Src. 1] Monkey sets off across the oceans to find a sagacious education

Chapter 2

[Src. 2] Patriarch Subodhi passes on to Monkey the secret formulas of the immortals

• One day, during an upsetting class, Subodhi hit Monkey three times on the head, which Monkey was able to understand that it was secret code, and visited him that night on the third watch [2].
• Subodhi, pleased at Monkey's intelligence, agrees to pass on the formula to immortality to him [src. 2].  He also teaches him a range of magical powers, including the 72 Earthly-Fiend Transformations (qishi'er disha bianhua, 七十二地煞变化) and the Somersault Cloud (jindou yun, 筋斗云). 
• One day, Monkey was showing off his new abilities to his classmates, and was thus expelled for his arrogance when Subodhi saw the act.
• Monkey returns to Flower-Fruit Mountain via clouds. He learns of a monster named the Demon King of Havoc (hunshi mowang, 混世魔王) who had been terrorising his monkeys. He easily kills the demon king with his new powers.

Chapter 3

• Monkey travels to the nearby Kingdom of Aolai (aolai guo, 傲来国) and steals a bunch of weapons for his monkey subjects to use. He organises his monkeys into army troops and begins military drills for them to be able to defend themselves.
• Monkey figured that he needed a weapon for himself too, so he decided to seek one from the Dragon King of the East Sea. Monkey equips his legendary Gold-Banded Staff of Miraculous Will (ruyi jingu bang, 如意金箍棒).
• In the underworld, Monkey wreaks havoc and removes his own name from the Register of Life and Death (shengsi bu, 生死簿), so that his soul would not be managed by anyone [src. 3].
• The Dragon Kings and Kings of Hell report Monkey's actions to the Jade Emperor (yudi, 玉帝). Venus the Gold Star (taibai jinxing, 太白金星) invites Monkey to live in Heaven, where an eye can be kept on him from future trouble.

[Src. 3] Monkey disturbs the underworld and removes his name from the registers

Chapter 4

[Src. 4] Monkey duels Prince Nezha in the first battle against Heaven

• Monkey is appointed in Heaven to be a horse-keeper titled "Bimawen [3] (弼马温)". After learning that his rank was insultingly low, he returns to Flower-Fruit Mountain in anger. He proclaims himself the "Great Sage Equalling Heaven (qitian dasheng, 齐天大圣)", in rebellion against Heaven.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li (tuota li tianwang, 托塔李天王) leads an army of celestial soldiers to arrest Monkey. Monkey easily defeats the best of these warriors, including the Mighty-Spirit God (juling shen, 巨灵神) and Prince Nezha (哪吒) [src. 4].
• The Jade Emperor sends Venus to invite Monkey to Heaven again. This time to take the position of "Great Sage Equalling Heaven".

Chapter 5

• Monkey is assigned to guard of the Immortal-Peach Garden (pantao yuan, 蟠桃园). Naturally, being a monkey, he could not help himself but devoured all the peaches in the orchard.
• Monkey is mad when he learns from a group of immortal maidens that he had not been invited to the upcoming Immortal-Peach Banquet (pantao yan, 蟠桃宴). He goes there anyway and begins to eat everything before the banquet has even begun [src. 5]. He proceeds to drink all the imperial wine and consumes all the golden elixir, before realising his heinous wrongdoings and returns to Flower-Fruit Mountain.
• The Jade Emperor, in fury, deploys an force of 100,000 celestial soldiers to arrest Monkey. Monkey and his army beat them all, and they are forced to withdraw.

[Src. 5] Monkey consumes all the imperial wine from the heavenly banquet

Chapter 6

[Src. 6] Monkey is hit by Laozi's Diamond Cutter during his battle with Erlang

• Bodhisattva Guanyin (guanyin pusa, 观音菩萨) arrives at the celestial palace and sends down her disciple Hui'an (惠岸) to battle Monkey, which turned out unsuccessful.
• As a final resort, Guanyin recommends the Jade Emperor to dispatch God Erlang (erlang shen, 二郎神), Heaven's strongest general, to arrest Monkey.
• Monkey and Erlang duel for many days, with fights of both combat and magic, with Erlang proving himself to be more than a match for Monkey.
• Supreme Exalted Lord Lao (taishang laojun, 太上老君) throws down his magical Diamond Cutter (jingang zhuo, 金刚琢) hoop, which hits Monkey's head and knocks him down [src. 6]. Monkey is finally defeated and arrested.

Chapter 7

• Monkey is sentenced to be executed on heavenly offences. However, none of the divine methods of execution could harm him at all, due to his extremely durable diamond body.
• Monkey is sentenced to be cremated in Laozi's Eight-Trigram Furnace (bagua lu, 八卦炉) instead, but he manages to hide in a safe corner and escape when the furnace was opened [src. 7].
• Upon his escape, he wreaks his famous havoc in Heaven, destroying everything in his way to the Jade Emperor's throne.
• The Tathagata [8] Buddha [9] (rulai fo, 如来佛) arrives to sort out the situation. He challenges Monkey to a bet that if Monkey could somersault out of his palm, he could assume the throne of Heaven. Monkey accepts this challenge, but fails.
• Tathagata turns his hand into the Five-Elements Mountain  (wuxing shan, 五行山),  crushing Monkey underneath. A magic seal is stuck on the top of the mountain, to trap the Monkey King as he serves imprisonment for his sins.

[Src. 7] Monkey escapes from the furnace and wreaks havoc in Heaven

Chapter 8

[Src. 8] Guanyin and her disciple encounter Pigsy, who submits to their religion

• 500 years later, the Tathagata Buddha wishes to have a set of Buddhist sutras delivered to the Land of the East, the empire of the Tang dynasty in China.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin is given the task to search for the right person in the Tang empire to take on a pilgrimage and collect the sutras at Spirit Mountain (lingshan, 灵山).
• On her way to the Land of the East, Guanyin encounters a sand demon, pig monster [src. 8], white dragon and the imprisoned Monkey, who were all divine beings banished from Heaven. She converts them all to Buddhism and instructs them to wait for the scripture pilgrim and protect him on his journey, to rectify their past crimes.

Chapter 9

• A national academic champion named Chen Guangrui (陈光蕊) marries a lady named Yin Wenjiao (殷温娇). On a boat trip to his new post as an official, Chen is murdered by bandit Liu Hong (刘洪), who kidnaps Yin to be his wife.
• Yin later gives birth to Chen's son, who she is forced to send away in a basket floating on a river to protect him from being killed by Liu. She also tucks a letter recounting her tragic story for whoever finds the baby. 
• The baby is discovered and taken in by the priests of a Buddhist temple. They raise the baby as a monk and give him the name Xuanzang (玄奘).
• When he was old enough, Xuanzang is told the truth of his parents' fate, which he vows to avenge. He files an imperial report on Liu Hong and the soldiers have Liu arrested. Liu is then executed and his heart was offered as a sacrificial item for Xuanzang's father [src. 9]. Xuanzang returns to life as a Buddhist monk.

[Src. 9] Tripitaka and imperial officials sacrifice Liu Hong to avenge his father

Chapter 10

[Src. 10] The Dragon King of Jing River is executed

• The Dragon King of Jing River (jinghe longwang, 泾河龙王) makes a bet with a fortune teller on the time and amount of rain for the next day. 
• The Dragon King is shocked when he receives a decree from the Jade Emperor ordering the exact amount of rain at the exact time that the fortune teller had predicted.
• To win his bet, the Dragon King slightly alters the time and rain. This, however, was a heavenly imperial offence and the Dragon King was sentenced to be executed by the human prime minister.
• The Dragon King visits the human emperor, Taizong [4] of Tang (唐太宗), and begs him to save his life and prevent his prime minister from executing him. Taizong gives him his word.
• The next day, the Dragon King is executed by the Prime Minister in his dream while playing chess [src. 10]. In the underworld, the Jing River Dragon King was mad at Taizong for betraying his word.

Chapter 11

• The Dragon King of Jing River files a lawsuit in the underworld against Taizong. Emperor Taizong  allegedly dies from illness and is sent to the underworld [src. 11].
• The Kings of Hell realise that the Dragon King's death was not Taizong's fault. Taizong is given another 20 years to live in the human world. He promises to send the Kings of Hell some pumpkins as fruit offerings in gratitude. 
• Back alive, Taizong asks for someone to sacrifice themselves so that they could go down to the underworld and deliver his pumpkins to the Kings of Hell. He does receive one volunteer, who was happy to kill himself, deliver the pumpkins and was able to reunite with his wife in the afterlife.

[Src. 11] Taizong is taken into the underworld by two ghostly spirits

Chapter 12

[Src. 12] Tripitaka and Taizong become sworn brothers

• To promote Buddhism and help reincarnate the souls of those who've died a wrongful death, Taizong sets up a grand mass. Xuanzang is selected as the head priest for this ceremony.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin has just arrived at Chang'an (长安) on her search for the scripture pilgrim. She and her disciple, Hui'an, are in disguise as monks selling a cassock and priestly staff.
• When Xuanzang offers to purchase these two items, the Bodhisattva gifts it to him for free. She also informs him of a set of true sutras located at Spirit Mountain. Xuanzang volunteers to take a journey for them.
• For his courage and determination, Emperor Taizong swears brotherhood with Xuanzang, who takes the new name "Tripitaka Tang (tang sanzang, 唐三藏)" [src. 12]. Tripitaka sets off from Chang'an and begins his journey west.

Chapter 13

• Tripitaka and his companions sent by the emperor fall into a pit at Double-Fork Ridge (shuangcha ling, 双叉岭). They are captured by three demon kings: a tiger, bear and ox demons [src. 13].
• The two companions are cooked and eaten by the demons. Tripitaka is left to be for another meal.
• Suddenly, Venus appears and saves Tripitaka by leading him out of the demons' lair. He assures Tripitaka that he will soon recruit powerful disciples who are capable of protecting him on his journey.
• Tripitaka later encounters a big mountain cat, and is saved by a hunter named Liu Boqin (刘伯钦). Liu invites Tripitaka to stay overnight at his home.

[Src. 13] Tripitaka and his two companions, tied up by the three demon kings of Double-Fork Ridge

Chapter 14

[Src. 14] Monkey experiences the headband mantra for the first time

• Tripitaka is escorted by Liu Boqin to Five-Elements Mountain, where he finds Monkey underneath. Monkey explains everything Guanyin has instructed him, to become Tripitaka's disciple.
• Tripitaka frees Monkey by climbing the mountain and lifting the Buddha's seal that pinned the mountain down. He gives his new disciple the Buddhist name "Pilgrim Sun (sun xingzhe, 孙行者)".
• Monkey kills a group of bandits later on, and after a lecture on compassion from Tripitaka, he leaves in irritation.
• Guanyin gifts Tripitaka a golden headband and teaches him the Tightening-Headband Mantra (jingu zhou, 紧箍咒) as a method of controlling Monkey with pain [src. 14]. Monkey is tricked into wearing the headband when he returns, which becomes impossible to take off. He now devotedly submits to Tripitaka as his master.

Chapter 15

• A dragon appears at Eagle-Grief Stream (yingchou jian, 鹰愁涧) and swallows Tripitaka's white horse [src. 15].
• Monkey goes to find the dragon and the two fight fiercely for a long time, but the dragon keeps disappearing into the stream to escape. Bodhisattva Guanyin arrives to sort everything out.
• Guanyin transforms the dragon into the iconic White Dragon Horse (bailongma, 白龙马) and explains that only a supernatural creature could make the enduring journey west; a normal horse wouldn't survive.
• Monkey is gifted three powerful magical life-saving hairs by Guanyin to help him in life-threatening situations in the future.
• Monkey and Tripitaka come across a shrine set up by a Buddhist deity, who gives them a magnificent saddle and bridle set to rein their new divine horse.

[Src. 15] Monkey protects Tripitaka from the dragon, which takes their horse instead

Chapter 16

[Src. 16] Monkey shows off Tripitaka's exquisite cassock to the monks out of competitiveness

• Monkey and Tripitaka arrive at Guanyin Hall (guanyin yuan, 观音院). The greedy monks of the temple ask if Tripitaka has brought any treasures from the East for them to appreciate.
• Monkey shows off Tripitaka's precious cassock, which gains the monks' avaricious interest [src. 16]. The monks plot to steal the cassock that night by setting fire to the two pilgrims' bedroom to kill them.
• Monkey manages to protect Tripitaka from the fire by borrowing a Fire-Repelling Cover (bihuo zhao, 避火罩) from Heaven. To teach the sinful monks a lesson, Monkey spreads the fire with wind, burning down the entire Guanyin Hall.
• The light of the blaze attracts a local black bear demon, who arrives at Guanyin Hall with intent to save the fire. However, he finds the stunning cassock and decides to steal it away instead.

Chapter 17

• Monkey finds the Black Wind Monster (heifeng guai, 黑风怪) talking to his friends about a precious Buddhist cassock he had stolen. He jumps down and kills one of the monster's friends.
• Monkey and Black Wind duel for many hours. Black Wind keeps coming up with excuses to withdraw from the battle.
• Monkey finds Guanyin to help him out. He kills the Black Wind Monster's other friend, who Guanyin then transfigures into. Monkey turns himself into an elixir pill for the plan.
• When Black Bear swallows the specious elixir, Monkey hits and kick around in his stomach. Guanyin retrieves the cassock and throws a golden headband onto Black Wind's head. The great pain from the headband forces the monster to submit [src. 17]. He is given a job as a guard at Guanyin's mountain.

[Src. 17] Monkey flies out of Black Wind's mouth after he surrenders to Guanyin

Chapter 18

[Src. 18] Monkey, in disguise as the squire's daughter, teases the pig monster

• Monkey and Tripitaka come to Old Gao Village (gao laozhuang, 高老庄), where they meet a young man travelling to find a demon-subduing master. Monkey volunteers for the job and the two of them are admitted into Squire Gao's home.
• Squire Gao explains that the monster was originally his son-in-law, who was very hardworking but had a huge appetite. Over time, the son-in-law accidentally revealed his true form as a pig monster to the family's horror. The monster had then kidnapped the squire's daughter and locked her up in a house at the back of the mansion.
• Monkey breaks into the back house and swiftly rescues the squire's daughter out. He then assumes her appearance as a trap to bait the monster [src. 18]. When the pig monster arrives at night, Monkey reveals his true identity, causing the monster to flee in panic.

Chapter 19

• Monkey chases the pig monster all the way to his mountain cave, where the monster grabs his weapon for battle [src. 19]. He and Monkey fight through the whole night.
• The pig monster later submits when he hears Monkey mention a monk on a journey for sutras in the West. He explains that Guanyin had told him to wait here for a scripture pilgrim to come by, so that he could become his disciple on the journey. Monkey ties Pigsy up before bringing him back to Old Gao Village.
• Tripitaka accepts Pigsy as his disciple and gives him the new Buddhist name "Zhu Eight-Rules (zhu bajie, 猪八戒)".
• The three pilgrims later come across the Crow-Nest Buddhist Master (wuchao chanshi, 乌巢禅师), who imparts to Tripitaka the Heart Sutra (xinjing, 心经).

[Src. 19] Pigsy is unable to even harm Monkey in their battle

Chapter 20

[Src. 20] The Tiger Vanguard distracts Monkey and Pigsy before kidnapping Tripitaka

• At Yellow-Wind Ridge (huangfeng ling, 黄风岭), the pilgrims encounter the Tiger Vanguard (hu xianfeng, 虎先锋). Monkey and Pigsy fend off the tiger who runs away.
• As Monkey and Pigsy chase him, the Tiger Vanguard comes up with a plan and strips his skin as a decoy to distract the two, while his true form goes and kidnaps Tripitaka to present to his king [src. 20].
• Monkey and Pigsy soon realise that they've been tricked and notice that their master is gone. Monkey was able to locate the demons' cave, where he fights the Tiger Vanguard again. The tiger was unable to hold out the fight and attempts to flee. He is then killed with one strike of Pigsy's rake.

Chapter 21

• The Yellow Wind Monster (huangfeng guai, 黄风怪) comes out to battle Monkey. The demon king is able to blow out Divine Wind of Samadhi [5] (三昧神风, sanmei shenfeng), which was impossible for Monkey to withstand and even blinds him [src. 21].
• Monkey and Pigsy are greeted by a Guardian of the Law (hujiao jialan, 护教伽蓝) disguised as an old man. He lets them stay at his house and heals Monkey's eyes.
• Monkey sneaks into Yellow Wind's cave and overhears him revealing that the only person who could defeat his Samadhi Wind is Bodhisattva Lingi (lingji pusa, 灵吉菩萨), and that was exactly who Monkey immediately flies off to find.
• Lingji turns the Yellow Wind Monster back to his original form, a yellow-furred rodent, which he takes away.

[Src. 21] The demon king conjures a storm with his divine yellow wind

Chapter 22

[Src. 22] Monkey spectates as Pigsy and Sandy battle fiercely

• Reaching Flowing-Sand River (liusha he, 流沙河), the pilgrims ponder how they could cross the wide waters when a sand demon appears to attack them.
• Pigsy and the demon duel for many rounds, but the demon keeps retreating into the river when Monkey tries to intervene [src. 22].
• Guanyin's disciple, Hui'an, arrives to resolve the issue. He calls out the sand demon and informs him that his master, the scripture pilgrim, was here.
• Tripitaka takes in Sandy as his disciple and gives him the Buddhist name "Sha Monk (sha heshang, 沙和尚)".
• Hui'an provides a vessel made from a calabash gourd and Sandy's nine-skull neck chain for the pilgrims to cross the river.

Chapter 23

• Bodhisattvas Guanyin, Manjusri (wenshu, 文殊), Samantabhadra (puxian, 普贤) and the Old Mother of Mount Li (lishan laomu, 黎山老母) transform into a family of women to test the purity of the pilgrims' minds.
• When the pilgrims arrive at their house, the mother proposes for the pilgrims to marry her three daughters, and everything the family owns would become theirs. Tripitaka declines the offer, and the pilgrims are then kicked out for their insolence.
• Pigsy later returns to the house and asks the mother to allow him to marry her daughters. The mother happily agrees and suggests a few games to decide which daughter Pigsy could marry.
• Pigsy's lust had breached the Buddhist conduct. For this sin, the Bodhisattvas have him tied hanging on a tree overnight to teach him a lesson.

[Src. 23] A blindfolded Pigsy attempts to grab one of the daughters to marry

Chapter 24

[Src. 24] Monkey sneakily picks Ginseng Fruits off the tree

• The pilgrims arrive at Five Villages Abbey (wuzhuang guan, 五庄观). The Daoist lads, who were looking after the abbey while their master was away, present to Tripitaka two Ginseng Fruits (renshen guo, 人参果), a baby-shaped fruit that grants immortality when consumed. Believing that the fruits were newborn babies because of their appearance, Tripitaka rejects them in horror.
• The Daoist lads eat the two fruits themselves, and are overheard by Pigsy. Pigsy tells Monkey of the rare fruits in the abbey and asks him to steal some for them to have a taste.
• Monkey sneaks into the garden and picks three Ginseng Fruits [src. 24]. He returns and shares them with Pigsy and Sandy.

Chapter 25

• The Daoist lads of the abbey heatedly scold the pilgrims for stealing their fruit. Out of anger, Monkey uproots the entire Ginseng Fruit tree.
• Monkey casts a few sleeping bugs on the Daoist lads, who fall into a deep sleep. The pilgrims sneak away from the abbey.
• When Great Immortal Zhenyuan (zhenyuan daxian, 镇元大仙) [6], the master of the abbey, discovers that his divine tree has been destroyed, he pursues and captures all four pilgrims with his magical sleeve [src. 25].
• The four pilgrims are tied up and were to be beaten by a whip. Monkey owns up to all his offences and volunteers to take all the whipping.
• That night, Monkey helps the pilgrims escape, but the powerful Zhenyuan captures them again with his sleeve.

[Src. 25] Zhenyuan captures the pilgrims and horse with his magical sleeve

Chapter 26

[Src. 26] Tripitaka and the Three Stars watch as Guanyin attempts to revive the tree

• Monkey promises Zhenyuan that he could revive the Ginseng fruit tree. He is given three days to find a cure.
• Monkey first visits the Three Stars (sanxing, 三星) [7], but they said that they had no ability of any sort to cure the Ginseng tree. All they could do was visit Zhenyuan and comfort his temper in case Monkey fails to find a cure.
• After three days of no luck from the deities in Heaven or the seas, Monkey decides to beg Guanyin for help to revive the tree. Guanyin scolds Monkey for his actions, but agrees to help.
• Guanyin revives the Ginseng tree with a drop of sweet dew from her vase [src. 26]. To celebrate the revival of his prized tree, Zhenyuan holds a Ginseng fruit banquet to thank Monkey and Guanyin. 

Chapter 27

• The Cadaver Demon (shimo, 尸魔) [8] has heard that eating Tripitaka's flesh would grant immortality. In an attempt to catch Tripitaka, she transforms into a young lady to approach him.
• Waith his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils (huoyan jinjing, 火眼金睛), Monkey is able to see through her disguise and hits her with his staff [src. 27]. She uses the same trick another two times, transforming into an old woman and old man, before Monkey ultimately kills her on the third attempt with the help of local deities. She reveals her true identity to be "Lady White Bone (baigu furen, 白骨夫人)".
• Tripitaka believes that Monkey had been murdering innocent people, and banishes him away.

[Src. 27] Monkey attacks the White Bone Demon, disguised as a young lady to fool Tripitaka

Chapter 28

[Src. 28] Tripitaka is captured by the demons of the pagoda demon lair

• Monkey returns home to Flower-Fruit Mountain and kills a band of hunters who have been terrorising his monkey subjects.
• Back to the journey, Pigsy goes off to beg for alms. He had been gone for a really long time before Sandy is asked to look for him.
• During the time his disciples were gone, Tripitaka takes a walk into the forest. he notices a shining golden pagoda in the distance and proceeds towards it.
• It was only after he had entered the pagoda did Tripitaka realise it was a demon's lair. He is detained by the Yellow-Robed Monster (huangpao guai, 黄袍怪) and his minions [src. 28].
• Pigsy and Sandy find that their master has disappeared, and determined that he had been taken by the demons of the pagoda. They engage in a battle with Yellow Robe ​for Tripitaka's release.

Chapter 29

• Whilst tied up in the monster's lair, Tripitaka meets a lady, who was really the princess of the nearby Precious-Image Kingdom [9] (baoxiang guo, 宝象国) that Yellow Robe had kidnapped to be his wife [src. 29]. 
• The Princess offers to free Tripitaka if he would deliver a letter to her father, the King of Precious-Image Kingdom. She was able to persuade her husband Yellow Robe to let Tripitaka go, which he reluctantly agrees to.
• The pilgrims arrive at Precious-Image Kingdom to have their travel rescript certified. Tripitaka also hands the Princess's letter to the King, who learns the truth of his daughter's disappearance.
• On request of the King, Pigsy and Sandy return to fight the Yellow-Robed Monster, demanding the release of the princess. Pigsy gets tired during the battle and takes a short rest. While he was gone, Sandy is captured.

[Src. 29] A tied-up Tripitaka meets the monster's wife, the princess of Precious-Image Kingdom

Chapter 30

[Src. 30] Tripitaka is turned into a tiger by the Yellow-Robed Demon, disguised as a young man

• The Yellow-Robed Monster enters Precious-Image Kingdom claiming to be the King's son-in-law.
• The demon tells the King that Tripitaka was really a tiger who had kidnapped the princess and became a demon, now posing as a monk journeying for scriptures.
• The demon amplifies this tale by using magic to transform Tripitaka into a tiger [src. 30]. The undiscerning king believed all this and has the tiger lock up in a cage.
• The White Dragon Horse transforms into a palace maid, in an attempt to assassinate the demon. However, a fight breaks out between them and White Dragon is injured.
• White Dragon begs Pigsy to go to Flower-Fruit Mountain and ask for big brother Monkey back to save their master.

Chapter 31

• Pigsy travels to Flower-Fruit Mountain and asks Monkey to return to their master. To stir up Monkey's rage, Pigsy adds to the story saying the demon had insulted Monkey and taunted him behind his back [src. 31]. Monkey, triggered, agrees to beat up this demon.
• Monkey helps the princess escape from the monster's cave. When Yellow Robe returns home, Monkey reveals himself and the two of them duel before Yellow Robe flees.
• Monkey deduces that Yellow Robe must be some sort of celestial being. He flies up to Heaven to investigate and learns that Yellow Robe was really a celestial star constellation.
• Monkey escorts the princess back to Precious-Image Kingdom. He transforms Tripitaka back to his original form and is accepted back as a disciple.

[Src. 31] Pigsy persuades Monkey to return to rescue master

Chapter 32

[Src. 32] Pigsy skeptical that the insect is just another one of Monkey's tricks on him

• The pilgrims are warned by a woodcutter about two powerful demon kings: Great Kings Golden Horn (jinjiao, 金角) and Silver Horn (yinjiao, 银角), living in the mountain that they intend to pass. The demon kings have also been waiting for the pilgrims.
• ​Monkey makes Pigsy patrol the mountain to scan for dangers. Lazy Pigsy tries to take a nap and lie about his reporting, but Monkey had followed him, disguised with transformations and exposed his dishonesty [src. 32].
• Pigsy, now promising to do his task properly, encounters Great King Silver Horn on his way to catch the pilgrims. Unfortunately, he was outnumbered and was then captured by the demons.

Chapter 33

• The rest of the pilgrims come across Silver Horn in disguise as an injured Daoist priest. Tripitaka feels pity for him and asks Monkey to carry him on his back. Monkey easily sees that the Daoist was really a demon, but agrees anyway.
• Silver Horn, on Monkey's back, summons three large spiritual mountains to crush Monkey underneath. The demon later goes off to capture Tripitaka and Sandy in one go [src. 33].
• With help from local deities, Monkey is freed from under the mountains. He encounters two demon minions of Golden and Silver Horn, who were sent to suck Monkey inside their magical treasures: the Red Gourd (hong hulu, 红葫芦) and Jade Vase (yu jingping, 玉净瓶), which were powerful weapons for storing people. Monkey tricks the treasures from the minions and keeps them himself.

[Src. 33] Silver Horn seizes Tripitaka and Sandy, who was unable to beat him in a fight

Chapter 34

[Src. 34] Silver Horn sucks Monkey inside his magical gourd

• Golden and Silver Horn sends two minions to invite their old mother to feast on Tripitaka's flesh. Monkey kills the demons' mother and steals her treasure, the Binding-Gold Rope (huangjin sheng, 幌金绳), a magical weapon for binding people.
• Monkey goes to the demon kings' cave, where Silver Horn shows up for battle. Monkey tries out the Binding-Gold Rope on his opponent, but Silver Horn knew a counter-spell to loosen the rope, and ties Monkey up with it instead.
• Monkey easily escapes from the ropes in the cave. He goes out to call for battle again. This time, Silver Horn uses the Red Gourd to suck Monkey inside, where he would be melted [sr. 34].
• Monkey finds an opportunity to trick the demons to letting him escape from the gourd. He steals the treasure gourd and leaves the cave.

Chapter 35

• Silver Horn comes out to fight Monkey a third time. This time, Monkey uses the Red Gourd and has Silver Horn stored inside. 
• In grief of his brother's loss, Golden Horn grabs his Plantain Fan (bajiao shan, 芭蕉扇) to duel Monkey. The fan conjures flames of fierce fire, which forces Monkey to retreat [src. 35].
• While Golden Horn was resting in his cave, Monkey sneaks inside and steals the Plantain Fan along with the Jade Vase. The hopeless Golden Horn seeks reinforcements from his uncle, Fox the Seventh (hu a'qi, 狐阿七). Fox is killed by Pigsy, and Golden Horn is sucked inside the Jade Vase.
• Supreme Exalted Lord Lao arrives at the scene and explains that the demon kings were really two of his disciples. He revives them both and takes them away, along with his treasures.

[Src. 35] Monkey flees from the ferocious flames of Golden Horn's Plantain Fan

Chapter 36

[Src. 36] Monkey intimidates the monks of the monastery with his divine weapon

• The pilgrims come to a broken-down Buddhist temple named Precious-Grove Monastery (baolin si, 宝林寺). Tripitaka goes into the monastery to ask the priests for a lodging overnight, but was rejected because of his poor looks [10].
• Monkey is offended at this behaviour and enters the monastery to confront the priests. He takes out his Gold-Banded Staff and demonstrates its formidable powers [src. 36].
• Terrified, the monks of the monastery agree to invite the pilgrims inside, providing them with food and shelter. Tripitaka enjoys the comfort and revises sutra books that night, under the view of a bright full moon.

Chapter 37

• Tripitaka dreams of a man claiming to be the King of the nearby Black-Rooster Kingdom (wuji guo, 乌鸡国). He informs Tripitaka of his unjust death caused by an evil Daoist who had drowned him in a well and assumed his visage to take the throne. He also gives Tripitaka a white jade tablet as proof of his royal identity [src. 37].
• The next morning, Tripitaka tells his disciples of the dream he had, which turned out to be real when he sees the jade tablet. Monkey spots the dead King's son, the Prince of Black-Rooster, hunting in the woods nearby. He transforms into a rabbit and lures the Prince to the monastery.
• Tripitaka and Monkey tell the Prince the truth of how his real father had died and the current king being a fake. Tripitaka presents the jade token to validate his story.

[Src. 37] The ghost of the King visits Tripitaka in a vivid dream and asks for a favour

Chapter 38

[Src. 38] The Dragon King of the well shows Pigsy the corpse of the dead King

• The Prince returns to the palace to find his mother. After a chat about the unusual behaviour of the king these past years, they could confirm that he was an impostor.
• Monkey and Pigsy enter the imperial garden to try and save the drowned king from the well. Pigsy is sent down to search of the King's corpse. He is surprised to find a dragon palace with a dragon king in the well [src. 38].
• Due to the dragon king's use of a Feature-Preserving Pearl (dingyan zhu, 定颜朱), the dead king's appearance has not deteriorated at all. Pigsy grabs the King's body and returns to the well's surface. Monkey is now directed by Tripitaka to bring the King back to life.

Chapter 39

• Monkey visits Supreme Exalted Lord Lao and borrows a Soul-Restoring Elixir (huanhun dan, 还魂丹) to revive the King.
• Now alive, the real King confronts the impostor in the palace at Black-Rooster Kingdom. The demon attempts to escape, but is obstructed by Monkey.
• The demon changes into an identical form of Tripitaka, so alike that even Monkey's Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils could not tell them apart [src. 39]. The only method to distinguish the two masters is by reciting the Tightening-Headband Mantra. The demon is unable to recite this spell and is exposed.
• Just as Monkey was about to finish off the demon, Bodhisattva Manjusri arrives to stop him. The Bodhisattva explains that the demon was actually his Green-Haired Lion (qingmao shizu, 青毛狮子) who he takes away.

[Src. 39] Even Monkey is unable to distinguish the real and fake Tripitaka's

Chapter 40

[Src. 40] Red Boy's true form flees when Monkey attempts to kill him

• Approaching Roaring Mountain (haoshan, 号山), the pilgrims hear a cry of help. They follow the call and find a child tied from a tree. Monkey identifies that the child is a demon playing a trick.
• Monkey offers to carry the child home on his back. Just as Monkey attempts to hurl the child to his death, the demon's true spirit flees [src. 40].
  
• The demon summons a demonic wind and abducts Tripitaka to his cave.
• After questioning the local deities, Monkey learns that the demon child is named Red Boy (hong hai'er, 红孩儿) and is the son of the Bull Demon King (niu mowang, 牛魔王), Monkey's sworn brother in the past.

Chapter 41

• Monkey and Pigsy arrive at Red Boy's cave and  demands him to release their master. Red Boy refuses and battles them instead.
• Red Boy displays his powers by blowing out mouthfuls of True Fire of Samadhi (sanmei zhenhuo, 三昧真火). Monkey and Pigsy both retreat when they are confronted by this [src. 41].
• Monkey seeks water reinforcements from the dragon kings to help him extinguish Red Boy's fire. However, normal rainwater is unable to counter the Samadhi Fire. Monkey nearly dies from all the smoke and flames. He is knocked out cold when he falls into a nearby stream and receives a shock from the cold water.
• Pigsy resuscitates Monkey, who asks him to find Guanyin to subdue the demon. Red Boy changes into the figure of Guanyin to fool Pigsy and captures him.

[Src. 41] Pigsy flees as Red Boy attacks Monkey with deadly Samadhi Fire

Chapter 42

[Src. 42] Monkey watches as Guanyin traps Red Boy with knives on her lotus seat

• Red Boy sends out a group of minions to invite his father, the Bull Demon King, to a feast of Tripitaka's flesh. Monkey transforms into the Bull Demon King and is admitted into the demon's cave.
• Red Boy grows suspicious of the specious Bull's behaviour, and exposes Monkey to be an impostor. With no other plan, Monkey flies to Guanyin to ask for help.
• Guanyin tricks Red Boy into sitting on her lotus platform, which turns into a throne of knives and stabs his legs [src. 42]. Guanyin throws on five golden bands around Red Boy's head, wrists and feet. She recites a mantra which caused Red boy great pain. Red Boy finally surrenders and submits to Guanyin as his master.

Chapter 43

• ​At Black-Water River (heishui he, 黑水河), the Alligator Dragon (tuolong, 鼍龙) pretends to be a boatman to take the pilgrims across the river. In the middle of the river, he catches Tripitaka and Pigsy, before diving into the waters [src. 43].
• Sandy enters the river to find the demon and battles him. The fight resulted in a draw.
• Monkey intercepts a letter from the Alligator, inviting his uncle, the Dragon King of the West Sea (xihai longwang, 西海龙王) to a feast of Tripitaka and Pigsy. 
• Monkey interrogates the Dragon King of the West Sea, who in anger of his nephew's imbecility, dispatches his son, Prince Mo'ang (摩昂), to arrest the demon. Mo'ang succeeds. Tripitaka and Pigsy are rescued.

[Src. 43] The Alligator Dragon captures Tripitaka and Pigsy in a cage

Chapter 44

[Src. 44] The three disciples, disguised as gods, steal all the Daoists' food offerings to eat

• Upon reaching Cart-Slow Kingdom (chechi guo, 车迟国), the pilgrims notice a large group of Buddhist monks forced to do hard labour. Monkey goes to investigate.
• The monks tell Monkey that Cart-Slow Kingdom was once in drought, and when three Daoist priests were able to summon rain, the King converted to Daoism and appointed the three Daoists as state preceptors. The evil Daoist preceptors have imprisoned all monks and use them for slave labour. Monkey assures the monks that he could help them and frees them all.
• That night, Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy snuck into the state preceptors' abbey, and transformed into the figures of a trio of gods [11], they begin to eat up all the esteemed food offerings meant for the gods [src. 44]. The Daoist preceptors hear of this fuss and come to investigate.

Chapter 45

• The Daoist preceptors believe the specious god statues were real gods who have manifested their spirits. The Daoists beg the gods to gift them some holy water and golden elixir, which the statues agree to.
• The three disciples supply their own "holy water" by urinating into jugs for the Daoists. They reveal their identities after the Daoists had drank it, before flying away in amusement.
• At Cart-Slow Kingdom, the three Daoist state preceptors report the pilgrims for breaking into their abbey and stealing their food. To settle the dispute, the King orders a contest of summoning rain between the pilgrims and the Daoists.
• While the Daoists were performing their summoning rituals, Monkey secretly travels to Heaven and commands the weather gods to help him instead of the Daoists [src. 45]. With Monkey's control over the weather gods, the pilgrims win this contest.

[Src. 45] Monkey interacts with the weather gods, preventing them from helping the Daoists

Chapter 46

[Src. 46] Monkey competes in the head-chopping contest

• The Daoists refuse to give in and continue to arrange contests to play against the pilgrims. Tripitaka is challenged to a meditation contest and game of guessing items inside a cabinet. With Monkey's help of secretly sabotaging the Daoists' moves, the pilgrims wins both games easily.
• The Daoists now begin to wage life-threatening contests, which include chopping off heads, cutting open abdomens and bathing in boiling oil.
  
• Monkey volunteers to participate wins each challenge, while the Daoists lose their lives underway. As they die, the three Daoist state preceptors are revealed to be a tiger, deer and goat demons.

Chapter 47

• The pilgrims come to Heaven-Reaching River (tongtian he, 通天河), a river too wide to cross or even see the other bank. The pilgrims spend a night at a village on the banks of the river. 
• The villagers tell the pilgrims about the Great King of Numinous Power (linggan dawang, 灵感大王), a powerful demon lord who blesses the village with wind and rain. However, the demon king has an evil appetite, and demands a sacrifice of a virgin boy and girl to him once a year.
• Monkey and Pigsy offer to help the villagers rid the demon. They each transform into the figures of a infant boy and girl to be offered as a sacrifice inside Numinous Power's temple, in a plot to catch the demon [src. 47].

[Src. 47] Monkey and Pigsy transform into children in a plan to thwart the demon

Chapter 48

[Src. 48] Monkey is the first to flee when the pilgrims fall into the demon's breaking ice trap

• The Great King of Numinous Power appears at the temple for his annual feast. Monkey and Pigsy are already there, waiting for him. After a cute argument with the demon, Monkey and Pigsy rush to attack him. The demon king escapes.
• The demon king learns from his subjects who Monkey really is and his master whose flesh can grant immortality if eaten. Numinous Power wishes to catch Tripitaka, and freezes the entire surface of Heaven-Reaching River as a trap.
• While the pilgrims tread on the ice to cross the river, the demons underwater break the ice, causing Tripitaka to fall in and be caught [src. 48]. Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy manage to save themselves.

Chapter 49

• Pigsy and Sandy enter the river to wage battle with Numinous Power. They lure the demon onto the riverbank, where Monkey was waiting to attack. The demon retreats back into the river in terror of Monkey's powers, refusing to come out.
• Monkey has no choice but to find Guanyin for help. Guanyin throws a purple-bamboo basket into Heaven-Reaching River and retrieves it soon after, with a goldfish inside.  She explains that the demon was really her pet goldfish, who cultivated his powers by listening to her sutras. The demon is subdued.
• The Great White Turtle (dabai yuan, 大白鼋) offers to take the pilgrims across the wide river to thank them for getting rid of the demon [src. 49]. The turtle also requests Tripitaka to ask the Buddha for him about when he would be able to shed his shell and attain human form for his cultivations.

[Src. 49] The pilgrims are ferried across the wide river by the Great White Turtle

Chapter 50

[Src. 50] Monkey's Gold-Banded Staff is seized by the Bovine monster's magic hoop

• Monkey is told to go off to beg for alms. Unsure about the safety of his master and brothers, Monkey draws a magical ring on the ground with the power to protect anyone inside. He instructs them to not step outside of the ring until he returns.
• While Monkey is away, the others decide to just continue westward, ignorant of Monkey's instructions. They mistakenly enter a house that turned out to be the disguised lair of Great King Single-Horned Bovine (dujiao si dawang, 独角兕大王), and are all tied up.
• Monkey learns from the local earth deity that his master and brothers have been captured by the Bovine monster. Monkey finds and fights the demon. The demon king takes out a magical hoop, which sucks up Monkey's staff, taking it away [src. 50].

Chapter 51

• Monkey travels up to Heaven to request for celestial reinforcements in aid of defeating the demon king. 
• Prince Nezha is the first to be deployed for battle. He and the Bovine King duel for some time before his weapons, too, were all engulfed by the demon's magical hoop.
• Various fire and water gods were then commanded to exterminate the demon with magic. Once again, even the celestial fire and water forces were no match for the demon king's hoop, which simply apprehends the gods' equipment [src. 51].
• Monkey turns into a fly and sneaks into the demon's cave. He claims back his Gold-Banded Staff and escapes when he is discovered by the demons.

[Src. 51] The celestial fire department's efforts are extinguished by the demon's hoop

Chapter 52

[Src. 52] The Eighteen Arhats attempt to subdue the Bovine monster with their cinnabar sand

• Monkey wages a second battle with the Bovine monster, but once again his staff is confiscated by the demon's magical hoop.
• With no other options, Monkey asks for help from the Tathagata Buddha. Tathagata sends the Eighteen Arhats (shiba luohan, 十八罗汉) to entrap the demon with golden cinnabar sand (jin dansha, 金丹砂) [src. 52]. However, the sand was outmatched by the demon's magic, and they were sucked away by the hoop, too.
• The Arhats tells Monkey that Tathagata had suggested he sees Supreme Exalted Lord Lao for help. Monkey visits Laozi who then realises that his Green Buffalo (qingniu, 青牛) is missing and must have became the demon.
• Laozi follows Monkey to subdue the Buffalo demon. The demon surrenders when he sees his master. Laozi also takes back the powerful magic hoop, which turns out to be his Diamond Cutter.

Chapter 53

• Upon reaching the territories of the Kingdom of Women (nü'er guo, 女儿国), Tripitaka and Pigsy accidentally drink water from the Child-Mother River (zimu he, 子母河), which causes them to become pregnant [src. 53]. Monkey is informed by locals to collect abortion water from the True Immortal of Miracles (ruyi zhenxian, 如意真仙) to terminate the pregnancies.
• The True Immortal recognises Monkey as the one who destroyed his nephew, Red Boy, and refuses to hand over any abortion water at all costs.
• Monkey cooks up a plan with Sandy to steal the abortion water. Monkey distracts the Immortal by challenging him to a fight, while Sandy collects the water and brings it back to his master and brother for them to empty their bowels.

[Src. 53] Monkey and Sandy escorts a pregnant Tripitaka and Pigsy to stay at a house

Chapter 54

[Src. 54] The Queen of the Women Kingdom invites Tripitaka to ride in her carriage

• The pilgrims arrive at the capital of the Kingdom of Women. The Queen of the Women Kingdom falls in love with Tripitaka and wishes to marry him. Monkey devises a plan to escape this ordeal and tells Tripitaka to agree to the Queen's proposal in order to not anger her.
• After the wedding banquet, the Queen certifies their travel rescript and allows Tripitaka's disciples to pass through the kingdom and continue their journey. Tripitaka requests to see his disciples off as a farewell.
• Tripitaka and the Queen ride in a carriage to see the three disciples off [src. 54]. Once they reach the border of the kingdom, Tripitaka leaves with his disciples, to the Queen's great shock and dismay. Just as they were about to set off, a mysterious woman appears and abducts Tripitaka.

Chapter 55

• Monkey gives pursuit to the demonic woman to her mountain cave. He sneaks inside and witnesses the demoness attempting to seduce Tripitaka, who resists all her efforts.
• Monkey and the demon and they engage in a battle. She pulls out her deadly tail and stings Monkey on the head [src. 55]. Monkey retreats in great pain. Pigsy gets stung later on, too.
• Monkey is advised by Guanyin to see Star Officer Krttika [12]  (maori xingguan, 昴日星官) to assist them in defeating the demon. The Star Officer reverts to his original form, a giant rooster, and crows loudly. The demon could not bear the sound of the crow and dies, revealing herself to be a scorpion demon.

[Src. 55] The scorpion demon stings Monkey on the head

Chapter 56

[Src. 56] Monkey beats the bandits to death with his staff

• Tripitaka is caught by a gang of bandits who tie him to a tree. With a sudden urge of violence, Monkey kills two of the bandits. Tripitaka gives him a strict lecture.
• The pilgrims stay overnight at the home of an old couple, who turns out to be the parents of one of the bandits. The old man and his wife explain to the pilgrims that their son is rebellious and cruel, even beating his own parents at times.
• When the bandits catch sight of the pilgrims staying at the house, they come after them as the pilgrims run away. Monkey uses his staff and kill all the bandits [src. 56], and beheads the unfilial son entirely. Tripitaka is horrified at Monkey's actions, and recites the Tightening-Headband Mantra. He banishes Monkey from the group again.

Chapter 57

• Monkey goes to find Bodhisattva Guanyin who he stays with temporarily.
• Pigsy leaves the pilgrims to collect water, but take a lazy nap like usual. After a long time, Sandy goes to look for him. While they were gone, another Monkey returns to Tripitaka, beats him up and steals the pilgrims' luggage [src. 57].
• When Tripitaka gains consciousness, he tells his two disciples what had happened. Sandy travels to Flower-Fruit Mountain to take back the luggage from "Monkey". He is unable to beat that Monkey and reports the incident to Guanyin.
• At Guanyin's place, Sandy sees another Monkey. He informs Guanyin about there being one at Flower-Fruit Mountain, too. Monkey and Sandy travel together to Flower-Fruit Mountain to see the truth of the confusion for themselves.

[Src. 57] The fake Monkey strikes Tripitaka with his staff before taking the luggage

Chapter 58

[Src. 58] The real and fake Monkeys battle each other at Flower-Fruit Mountain

• Arriving at Flower-Fruit Mountain, Monkey confronts the other "Monkey", his impostor. The real and fake Monkeys duel for many days, both were completely on par with each other in strength and abilities [src. 58].
• The two Monkeys battled their way across Heaven and Earth. Nobody, not even Guanyin, Tripitaka or Heavenly King Li's Demon-Reflecting Mirror (zhaoyao jing, 照妖镜) could distinguish them in any way. The closest was when the creature Truth-Hearing (diting, 谛听) from the underworld managed to discern the fake Monkey, but was unable to reveal him.
• Eventually the two Monkeys make their way to the Tathagata Buddha. Tathagata identifies the fake Monkey to be the Six-Eared Macaque (liu'er mihou, 六耳猕猴). In frustration, Monkey kills the Macaque before returning to Tripitaka.

Chapter 59

• The pilgrims' road is obstructed by the Mountain of Flames (huoyan shan, 火焰山). Monkey visits Princess Iron Fan (tieshan gongzhu, 铁扇公主) to borrow her Plantain Fan to put out the mountain's flames for safe passing.
• Princess Iron Fan is outraged at Monkey for the fate of her son, Red Boy, and fights Monkey. She uses her powerful magical fan and fans Monkey to thousands of miles away [src. 59].
• Monkey soon returns and enters Iron Fan's stomach, bringing pain to her from her insides. She has no choice but agrees to lend Monkey the fan, but hands over a fake one. This is Monkey's first bait for the Plantain Fan.
• The fan that the Princess handed over had no effect whatsoever in extinguishing the Mountain of Flames, and so Monkey concluded it as a fake.

[Src. 59] Princess Iron Fan fans Monkey away with her powerful Plantain Fan

Chapter 60

[Src. 60] Monkey watches as Bull rides off to attend a party

• Monkey decides to borrow the fan through his connection with Princess Iron Fan's husband, the Bull Demon King. However, Bull  was also furious at Monkey and the two of them begin a duel.
• The pair are interrupted by a messenger, sent to invite the Bull Demon King to a party. Bull accepts the invitation and aborts the duel for now. He travels to the party on his Water-Repelling Golden-Eyed Beast (bishui jinjing shou, 避水金睛兽) [src. 60].
• While Bull was at the party, Monkey steals his Golden-Eyed Beast and assumes Bulls' appearance. He uses this disguise to enter Iron Fan's home and tricks the fan from her. This is Monkey's second bait for the Plantain Fan.
• When the real Bull Demon King learns that their fan had been stolen, he hurries tohase after Monkey.

Chapter 61

• To seize back his fan with minimal effort, Bull transforms into Pigsy, to whom Monkey unsuspectingly hands the Plantain Fan over.
• Mad that he had been tricked, Monkey engages Bull in a great battle, of both transformation skills and physical combat. The two are shown to be dead equals.
• The great battle went on for a long time. Pigsy joined in later on to help Monkey. Heavenly King Li, Nezha and the celestial soldiers even arrived at the scene to help subdue the Bull demon.
• In the end, Bull was defeated. He and Iron Fan surrendered their Plantain Fan. This is Monkey's third and final bait for the fan.
• Monkey uses the magical fan and extinguishes the mountain's flames forever [src. 61]. The pilgrims can now safely cross the mountain and continue their journey.

[Src. 61] Monkey uses the Plantain Fan to put out the mountain's flames

Chapter 62

[Src. 62] Monkey spies on two demon minions in the pagoda talking about the stolen sarira

• At the Kingdom of Sacrifice (jisai guo, 祭赛国), the pilgrims notice that all the Buddhist monks there were treated very harshly. They learn that it was because the kingdom's most precious treasure, a Buddhist sarira (shelizi, 舍利子), had gone missing from the royal pagoda, and the King accused the monks for theft. The monks begs Tripitaka to save them.
• That night, Tripitaka and Monkey go to sweep the pagoda. Monkey hears voices coming from upstairs and investigates [src. 62]. It turned out to be two demon minions sent as scouts by the All-Saints Dragon King (wansheng longwang, 万圣龙王), whose son-in-law had stolen the precious sarira.
• Monkey effortlessly ties up the two minions and takes them to the Kingdom of Sacrifice to confess the truth to the King.​

Chapter 63

• Monkey and Pigsy travel to the demon's lair at Emerald-Wave Lagoon (bibo tan, 碧波潭). They demand the return of the sarira.
• The All-Saints Dragon King's son-in-law, the Nine-Headed Beast (jiutou chong, 九头虫), emerges and challenges Monkey and Pigsy. With the combined strength of Monkey and Pigsy, Nine Heads could not hold up for long [src. 63]. The monster soon retreats.
• Monkey and Pigsy happen to stumble across God Erlang and his brothers, who were passing by. Monkey asks them for quick hand to defeat the Nine-Headed Beast. 
• Pigsy lures Nine Heads out of the water for Erlang to make his move. Erlang shoots at the monster with his bow and his dog jumps to bite off one of the monster's heads. Nine Heads (now eight) flees in fear, never to be seen again. The sarira is returned safely to the kingdom.

[Src. 63] Monkey and Pigsy battle the Nine-Headed Beast

Chapter 64

[Src. 64] The tree spirits introduce Tripitaka to the Apricot Immortal

• At the Ridge of Brambles (jingji ling, 荆棘岭), an old man claiming to be the local earth deity abducts Tripitaka.
• The old man introduces himself as Squire Ten-Eight [13] (shiba gong, 十八公). He invites Tripitaka to sit with him and three other elderly men, where they discuss poetry and philosophy of Buddhism and Daoism.
• Later on, a maiden named the Apricot Immortal (xing xian, 杏仙) walks in and attempts to seduce Tripitaka [src. 64]. Tripitaka is angered at their trick, but his disciples arrive just in time.
• Tripitaka recounts his experience to his disciples. The old men have transformed back into their original forms, revealing to be tree spirits. The trees are each uprooted and killed by Pigsy, as Monkey explains to prevent them from causing further trouble in the future.

Chapter 65

• The pilgrims come across the Little Thunder-Clap Monastery (xiao leiyin si, 小雷音寺). Tripitaka insists on worshipping the Buddha inside despite Monkey's urges that it was a demon's trap.
• Inside the monastery, Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy kneel down to worship the Buddha, who Monkey recognised as a demon. The demon king, who calls himself Aged Buddha Yellow-Brows (huangmei laofo, 黄眉老佛), throws down a pair of golden cymbals, which has Monkey confined inside [src. 65]. Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy are tied up.
• With the help from the 28 Constellations (ershiba xingxiu, 二十八星宿), Monkey was able to escape from the cymbals. Yellow Brows throws up his Human-Seed Bag (renzhong dai, 人种袋), which wrapped Monkey and the 28 Constellations inside.

[Src. 65] The demon, pretending to be a Buddha, traps Monkey inside the golden cymbals

Chapter 66

[Src. 66] Monkey pays respects to Maitreya and asks for help to subdue the demon

• Monkey manages to escape and immediately seeks help from other celestial forces. However, the demon simply takes out his Human-Seed Bag and captures all the celestial warriors inside.
• Monkey later comes across Buddha Maitreya [14] (mile fo, 弥勒佛), who offers to help him subdue Yellow Brows [src. 66]. Maitreya explains that Yellow Brows used to be a servant of his, who stole his treasures and became a demon king.
• Monkey lures Yellow Brows to a watermelon field, where he transforms into a watermelon intended to be eaten by the demon. Once swallowed by the demon, Monkey was able to bring pain to him inside his stomach. Yellow Brows surrenders and submits to Maitreya.

Chapter 67

• The Tuoluo Village (tuoluo zhuang, 驼罗庄) is being terrorised by a demon who has been ruining the lives of the people. Monkey agrees to help them rid the monster.
• That night, the demon arrives at the village, hovering in the air. Monkey and Pigsy fly up to meet and duel him. Unable to withstand both of them, the demon flees back to his home.
• Monkey and Pigsy chase the demon to Seven-Extremes Mountain (qijue shan, 七绝山), where they find the demon in its original form, a giant red python [src. 67]. The python demon swallows Monkey whole to which Monkey kills it from its inside.
• Pigsy changes into a giant boar and digs through an alley of rotten persimmons to make a path accessible to cross Seven-Extremes Mountain.

[Src. 67] Pigsy watches as the python swallows Monkey

Chapter 68

[Src. 68] Monkey examines the King's pulse from a distance through the use of three strings

• The pilgrims arrive at Scarlet-Purple Kingdom (zhuzi guo, 朱紫国). Monkey sends Pigsy off to buy some cooking ingredients, where he later catches Pigsy sleeping on the job again.
• A royal proclamation was stuck on a wall nearby, offering huge rewards for whoever could successfully cure the King's illness. Monkey sneakily peels off this document and slips it into Pigsy's shirt.
• Now that the proclamation is in Pigsy's possession, he was compelled by the royal guards to treat the King. Pigsy pins the blame on Monkey, who volunteers to heal the King.
• ​At the palace, Monkey conjures three long golden strings, which he asks to be tied to the sick King's wrists for him to listen to his pulse in order to identify the illness from a distance [src. 68].

Chapter 69

• From simply listening to the pulse from the King’s left and right wrists, Monkey was able to identify his illness of severe anxiety and melancholia. ​
  
• The royal court was amazed at Monkey’s divine medical skills, and the King requests him to prescribe medicine to cure this sickness.
• Monkey makes use of a variety of peculiar ingredients to invent a pill, which he calls the Elixir of Black Gold (wujin dan, 乌金丹) [src. 69]. The pill is successful in healing the King.
• The King explains to Monkey that his illness originated three years ago, when his Lady of Golden-Sage Palace (jinshenggong niangniang, 金圣宫娘娘) was kidnapped by a demon king named Jupiter’s Rival (sai taisui, 赛太岁).​ Monkey agrees to help him rescue the Lady back.

[Src. 69] Monkey holds up his finished Elixir of Black Gold

Chapter 70

[Src.70] Monkey accidentally sets off the smoke and fire from the magical bells

• Monkey kills a demon messenger, who was a minion serving under Jupiter's Rival. Monkey transforms into the minion's appearance to enter the demon's cave.
• He finds the Lady of Golden-Sage Palace inside and introduces himself and his mission of rescuing her.
• Monkey learns that the demon king possesses a treasure, named the Purple-Gold Bells (zijin ling, 紫金铃), which can release deadly smoke, fire and sand. The Lady helps Monkey trick the demon for the bells.
• Monkey was curious to try the bells out when he gets his hands on them, but he was ignorant of its power and accidentally sets it off [src. 70]. Monkey drops the bells and flees empty-handed in panic.

Chapter 71

• Monkey returns back to Jupiter's Rival's cave, where he transforms into a servant girl. With this disguise, Monkey was able to swap the demon's Purple-Gold Bells with a fake inanimate set. He then challenges the demon king to a fight outside.
• Monkey and Jupiter's Rival duel for many rounds, before the demon gets tired and resorts to his treasure bells. However, he pulls out the fake ones and could not get them to activate. With the real Purple-Gold Bells, Monkey releases the deadly smoke, fire and sand, encircling the demon king in a terrific blaze [src. 71].
• Bodhisattva Guanyin appears and eradicates the blaze. Guanyin explains that the demon was actually her steed, the Golden-Haired Hou [15] (jinmao hou, 金毛犼), which she takes back. Monkey escorts the Lady of Golden-Sage Palace back to Scarlet-Purple Kingdom.

[Src. 71] Guanyin appears just in time to prevent her pet Hou from perishing

Chapter 72

[Src. 72] Tripitaka approaches a house in the woods to beg for alms

• Tripitaka goes to beg for alms at a nearby household [src. 72]. The houseowners, who were actually female demons, detain Tripitaka to eat him.
• When Tripitaka doesn't return, Monkey senses that he's in trouble and is informed by the local earth deity of seven female demons living at the nearby Coiled-Silk Cave (pansi dong, 盘丝洞), and they bathe every day at a local spring.
• Pigsy volunteers to take care of the demons, and tries to join in while they were bathing. The demons defend themselves by shooting silk threads from their navels, which tripped Pigsy over and tied him up.
• After the demons leave the spring, Pigsy managed to free himself and return to Monkey and Sandy. The three of them go to Coiled-Silk Cave, where Monkey swiftly takes out all the demon minions, and rescue their master.

Chapter 73

• The seven female demons flee to their senior Daoist brother, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord (baiyan mojun, 百眼魔君) and informs him of their adversity, pleading him to avenge them.
  
• The pilgrims are drugged when they arrive at the Daoist's abbey. Monkey brutally kills the seven demon sisters, who reveal their true forms as giant spiders.
  
• The Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord picks up a fight. He exposes the hundreds of eyes on his ribs, which emit beams of strong golden light and traps Monkey inside [src. 73].
• Defeated, Monkey is told by a passing saint that only the Dame Pralamba (pilanpo, 毗蓝婆) can defeat the demon's golden beams. Monkey flies off to find this dame.
• Pralamba uses a divine needle to dispel the Demon Lord's golden beams. He is revealed to be a centipede demon, which Pralamba tames and takes away.

[Src. 73] The Many-Eyed Monster attacks Monkey with his golden rays

Chapter 74

[Src. 74] Monkey, in disguise as a scouting minion, tells stories to the minions outside the demons' cave

• Monkey notices a group of demon minions patrolling the mountain at Lion-Camel Ridge (shituo ling, 狮驼岭). He disguises himself as a senior minion and questions them. The minions tell him everything about their three kings and their mission to eat Tripitaka and tackle Monkey.
• After receiving the information he needed, Monkey kills the minions and takes the appearance of one of them. He heads towards the demons' cave to investigate further.
• Outside the cave, he meets another group of minions. Monkey decides to have some fun by telling the minions horrific stories about Monkey's powers, exaggerating everything to scare them [src. 74]. The frightened minions run away, allowing Monkey to enter the cave freely.

Chapter 75

• Still in disguise as a demon minion, Monkey enters the cave and meets face-to-face with the three kings: a Lion, Elephant and Roc [16] demons.
• Monkey conjures up a fly, which the two elder demon kings believe to be Monkey infiltrating the cave, and begin to panic. While giggling at his prank, Monkey accidentally showed his true face. The Roc King's sharp eyes notice this, and has Monkey detained.
• Monkey is thrown into the Roc's treasure Yin-Yang Twin-Energy Vase (yinyang erqi ping, 阴阳二气瓶) to be melted, but he was able to make good use of the life-saving hairs gifted by Guanyin. He changes the hairs into a diamond drill, which he uses to make a hole and escape.
• Monkey brings along Pigsy to help him battle the demon kings. Unfortunately, Monkey is swallowed whole by the Lion King, and Pigsy retreats in terror.

[Src. 75] Monkey drills a hole to escape the treasure vase

Chapter 76

[Src. 76] The Elephant King incarcerates Pigsy with his dragon-like trunk

• In the Lion's stomach, Monkey kicked and jumped around, causing great pain to the demon's insides. The Lion King surrenders to Monkey, to which Monkey responds by exiting Lion's body.
• The Elephant King, however, does not give in and demands a battle. Pigsy is sent to fight him, but couldn't hold up for long and was captured [src. 76].
• On Tripitaka's command, Monkey went to rescue Pigsy, and the agitated Elephant King fought them again. This time, Monkey defeats the Elephant, who surrenders and offers  to escort the pilgrims across the mountain.
• However, the Roc King obstructs their trip, and the three demon kings attack. While his three disciples were fending off the demon kings, Tripitaka is kidnapped by the demon minions.

Chapter 77

• The three demon kings were too strong for the three disciples who lose the battle, with the Roc King even outmatching Monkey. The pilgrims are placed into a steamer to be cooked for a feast.
• In the middle of the night, Monkey easily escapes from the steamer, frees the other pilgrims and they try to escape. When the demon kings notice this, they quickly gave chase, resulting in the pilgrims being captured again. Only Monkey managed to flee in time.
• Monkey sees that he has no choice but to seek the Tathagata Buddha to help him subdue the powerful demons.
• Upon the Buddha's appearance, the Lion and Elephant Kings submit immediately, turning out to be the steeds of two Bodhisattvas. The Roc is subdued by Tathagata [src. 77].

[Src. 77] Monkey thanks Tathagata and the Buddhist deities for helping him subdue the demons

Chapter 78

[Src. 78] Monkey, in Tripitaka's guise, being led by royal guards to be sacrificed

• Arriving at the Kingdom of Bhiksu [17] (biqiu guo, 比丘国), the pilgrims notice that there were hundreds of cages with children inside on the streets. 
• They learn that years ago, a Daoist priest presented his beautiful daughter to the King of Bhiksu, which had him spellbound. The King soon became terribly sick, and the Daoist said that the hearts of 1,111 children could make an elixir to cure him, and that was why the King ordered all those children to be caged to be sacrificed.
• Monkey collects all the caged children to be looked after safely by local deities.
  
• The Daoist tells the King that Tripitaka's single heart would be more effective than the thousand hearts of the lost children. Monkey takes his master's appearance to replace him in the sacrifice [src. 78].

Chapter 79

• Monkey, still transformed as Tripitaka, takes a knife and cuts open his chest, to which a pile of hearts roll out [src. 79]. He searches through each one, but could not find the black heart that the Daoist wanted.
• Monkey changes back to his original form. The Daoist recognised him as the Great Sage and flees in fear with his daughter. It was then that the King learnt his wife and father-in-law were, in fact, demons.
• Monkey brings Pigsy along to hunt for the demons. They learn about the demons' hideout from the local earth deity and begin to attack.
• The Star of Longevity (shouxing, 寿星) arrives in time to stop Monkey from killing the demon Daoist, who turns out to be his steed, a white deer. Monkey kills the Daoist's daughter, revealed to be a vixen. The caged children are returned to their families.

[Src. 79] Monkey, in Tripitaka's appearance, cuts his chest to reveal his many hearts

Chapter 80

[Src. 80] Tripitaka encounters the lady tied to a tree

• While resting in a pine forest, Tripitaka asks Monkey to go beg for alms. While Monkey was gone, Tripitaka hears a voice calling for help and goes to investigate.
• Tripitaka finds a young woman buried waist-down in the ground and tied to a tree [src. 80]. Monkey returns in time and identifies her as a demon luring victims. He urges Tripitaka to just ignore her and move on.
• Despite Monkey's protests, Tripitaka orders Pigsy to untie the girl and dig her out. They bring the demon girl along to take her back home.
• The pilgrims and the girl come to a Buddhist monastery, where they ask for a lodging to stay.

Chapter 81

• During the pilgrims' stay at the monastery, they hear reports about a demon who had been eating the monks there recently.
• Monkey decides to look into the situation and turns into a young monk that night. The demon girl sees the monk and attempts to seduce him [src. 81]. Irritated, Monkey attacks and the girl fights back.
  
• The demon girl turned her slipper into her form, as a decoy to distract Monkey. Her true self flies back to the monastery and abducts Tripitaka to her mountain cave.
• Monkey is informed by local deities that that demon comes from the Bottomless Cave (wudi dong, 无底洞). Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy and the horse travel by cloud there to save their master.

[Src. 81] The demon girl attempts to entice a young monk, who was really a disguised Monkey

Chapter 82

[Src. 82] Monkey, transformed as a hawk, disrupts the demon's wedding setup

• The disciples learn from two demon maidens that their mistress has made plans to marry Tripitaka.
• Monkey transforms into a fly to enter the cave and check on his master. He lands in the demon's cup of wine, counting on her to drink him so he can enter her stomach, but she notices the bug in her drink and flicks it away.
• Monkey then turns into a hawk  and destroys the tables, food, drinks, decorations, everything that the demon had set up for the wedding [src. 82].
• Monkey comes up a new plan and transfigures into a peach, which Tripitaka presents to the demon to eat. Once inside the demon's stomach, Monkey causes her great pain, forcing her to release Tripitaka from the cave.

Chapter 83

• As soon as Monkey leaves the demon's mouth, he tries to attack the demon and they lock in a battle. Pigsy and Sandy also join in to assist Monkey.
• The demon uses the decoy trick with her slipper again, to distract the three disciples while she returns and kidnaps Tripitaka again.
• While searching through the Bottomless Cave for his master, Monkey stumbles upon two plaques that the demon worships. These two plaques bear the names of her adopted father and brother, Heavenly King Li, and Prince Nezha. Monkey flies up to Heaven to file a complaint on them.
• Nezha tells Monkey that the demon was really a golden-nosed white-haired rat (jinbi baimao laoshu, 金鼻白毛老鼠). He and his troops follow Monkey to the Bottomless Cave and successfully arrest the demon to rescue Tripitaka [src. 83].

[Src. 83] Tripitaka is saved when Nezha arrests the rat demon for her unruliness

Chapter 84

[Src. 84] The King of Dharma-Destroying and his subjects find that they have gone bald

• The King of Dharma-Destroying Kingdom (miefa guo, 灭法国) has made a vow to kill 10,000 Buddhist monks, and has finished off 9,996 as of the moment the four pilgrims reach the kingdom.
• Being monks, the pilgrims knew that they would not be admitted into the kingdom, so they change their clothes and put on hats to disguise themselves. The pilgrims find an inn, where they hide by sleeping in a wooden trunk.
• That night, the inn is broken into by bandits, who steal the trunk with the pilgrims inside, thinking it was treasure. The bandits flee when royal guards arrive, and the trunk is seized to the palace.
• While everyone in the palace was asleep, Monkey hatched a plan, where he conjured up hundreds of razor blades and had them shave of all the hair of everyone in the palace. The King, Queen, guards and maidens have all gone bald to look like monks [src. 84]. 

Chapter 85

• Fearing that the shaved heads were Heaven's punishments for his crime, the King promises to honour all Buddhist monks. The pilgrims had their travel rescript certified and passed the kingdom safely.
• The pilgrims reach a mountain, where Pigsy engages a demon, the Great King of South Mountain (nanshan dawang, 南山大王), in combat. The demon loses and retreats.
• A demon minion suggests a plan to his king [src. 85], involving transforming three decoy forms of the demon king to lure the three disciples away from their master, while the real king would appear later to capture Tripitaka.
• The demons succeed in this plan and Tripitaka is tied up in their cave, waiting to be eaten. His three disciples are in agitation when they realise they have been fooled.

[Src. 85] The demon king and a minion, devising a stratagem to catch Tripitaka

Chapter 86

[Src. 86] Monkey and Pigsy battle with the leopard demon's army

• ​Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy arrive at the demon's cave where they demand the release of their master. The demons throw out a human head to them and say that they have already eaten him.
• Believing it to be real, Monkey knocks down the cave door in rage, where the startled demons all come out to battle. Monkey clones himself into hundreds, and starts to wipe out the demon army [src. 86]. The demon king flees in defeat.
• Monkey sneaks into the demon's cave through its back door. He is overjoyed to learn that Tripitaka is still alive and casts a sleeping spell on the demons.
• Monkey rescues Tripitaka from the cave. He and Pigsy set the cave on fire and kill the demon king, who turned out to be a spotted leopard demon.

Chapter 87

• The people of Phoenix-Immortal Prefecture (fengxian jun, 凤仙郡) have suffered a horrible drought for three years. Monkey travels up to Heaven to look into the problem.
• The gods explain that the drought was a punishment for the prefect of the place, who had greatly disrespected Heaven in the past. The Jade Emperor had set up three items: a rice mountain, a flour mountain and a golden lock. The rice and flour must be nibbled by a chicken and dog, and the lock to be burnt through by a small flame [src. 87], before rain can be permitted again.
• Monkey returns to the prefecture and encourages the prefect to convert to Buddhism and worship Heaven. The prefect concurs.
• The Jade Emperor's items automatically disappear due to the prefect's sincerity, and the prefecture is granted a long yearned torrent of rain.

[Src. 87] Monkey surveys the Jade Emperor's three impossible items

Chapter 88

[Src. 88] The Yellow-Lion Demon discovers the three divine weapons

• The pilgrims arrive at Jade-Flower Province (yuhua zhou, 玉华州) and are admitted inside by the Grand Prince. His sons, the three young princes, see the three disciples as monsters, and challenges them to a fight.
• Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy put on a brilliant display to demonstrate their combat skills and magical powers. The three princes were in admiration and submit to them as their martial arts masters.
• Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy lend their weapons to a local blacksmith as models so that lighter replicas can be forged for their new students to use.
• The divinity of the three precious weapons attract the Yellow-Lion Demon (huangshi jing, 黄狮精) that night to the city [src. 88]. He notices the three weapons to be great treasures and steals them away.

Chapter 89

• Monkey hears from two demon minions that the Yellow-Lion Demon was having a party to celebrate his acquisition of three divine treasures.
• Monkey and Pigsy transform into two minions and Sandy disguises himself as an animal trader to provide meat for the party.
• When the three of them are admitted into the demon's cave, they immediately rush to grab their weapons when they see them. The entire cave of demons are beaten up by the three disciples.
• Yellow Lion flees to his grandfather, the Primal Sage of Ninefold Numina (jiuling yuansheng, 九灵元圣), for help to avenge him [src. 89]. The Primal Sage leads a troop of other lion warriors and an army of minions to attack Jade-Flower Province.

[Src. 89] The Yellow-Lion Demon pays a call to his grandfather for help

Chapter 90

[Src. 90] The nine-headed lion is subdued by his owners

• Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy battle the army of lion demons. The army was too much for them, and Pigsy gets captured.
• The Primal Sage changes to his original form, a giant nine-headed lion. He seizes Tripitaka, the Grand Prince, and the three young princes with his mouths.
• Monkey and Sandy challenges the Primal Sage to a duel. The Primal Sage overpowers the two and they become captured too.
• That night, Monkey escapes from the demon's cave. Local deities advise him to find the lion's master, the Celestial Worthy [18] of Supreme Unity (taiyi tianzun, 太乙天尊).
• The Celestial Worthy arrives with his lion-tamer to the Primal Sage's cave. The demon submits when he sees his master and reverts to being the nine-headed lion steed [src. 90].

Chapter 91

• At Gold-Level Prefecture (jinping fu, 金平府), the pilgrims attend the annual Lantern Festival.
• At midnight, the figures of three Buddhas appear in the sky, which everyone bows down to worship [src. 91]. Monkey recognises them to be fakes and flies up to attack, but not before the demons notice Tripitaka. They abduct him and leave.
• Monkey chases the demons to their mountain cave. He fights with the whole demon army, but is unable to beat them and retreats. He was able to identify the three kings to be three rhinoceros demons.
• Monkey returns to Pigsy and Sandy and gathers them to assist him in fighting the demons.

[Src. 91] Tripitaka bows to three Buddhas, whom Monkey recognises to be demon impostors

Chapter 92

[Src. 92] Monkey and the Wood Stars hunt down the rhino demons

• The three disciples battle the three demons, but Pigsy and Sandy are beaten and caught.
• Monkey seeks reinforcements from the Heavenly Palace. He is advised to seek help from the Four Wood Creature Stars (si muqinxing, 四木禽星) [19], which the Jade Emperor approves to deploy.
• Monkey and the Four Wood Stars return to the demons' mountain cave and call for battle. When the rhinoceros demons see their arch-rivals, the Four Wood Stars, they immediately run.
• The three rhinoceros demons flee all the way to the West Sea [src. 92]. They are obstructed by Prince Mo'ang's army and are soon detained by the Four Wood Creature Stars.
• The three rhinos are brought back to Gold-Level Prefecture and later executed.

Chapter 93

• The pilgrims come to a Buddhist monastery and are welcomed inside by the priests. They hear a weeping sound from inside one of the temple's rooms, and learn from the priests that it was a young lady, who claimed to be the Princess of India. The priests have kept her there until the truth is worked out for her to return to her parents.
• The next day, the pilgrims enter the city walls of India. They see a horde of people, crowding for the Princess to throw an embroidered ball to decide her husband.
• During the event, the Princess deliberately tosses the embroidered ball at Tripitaka, who was passing by and accidentally caught it [src. 93]. He was now to be the Princess's spouse, to which Monkey suggested he play along so that he could determine whether the Princess is real or a demon impostor.

[Src. 93] The Princess of India throws the decisive embroidered ball at Tripitaka amongst the crowd

Chapter 94

[Src. 94] The Princess requests her father King to dismiss the three disciples away

• The pilgrims are invited into the palace for a meal before the wedding. Monkey discusses his plan with Tripitaka, for him to blindly agree to the marriage so that Monkey can investigate further on and hopefully catch the princess if she really is a demon.
• The King goes to visit his daughter before the wedding banquet. She asks him to send Tripitaka's three hideous disciples out of the city for her to not be harmed by fright during the wedding [src. 94].
  
• The King certifies the pilgrims' travel rescript and send the three disciples on their way, while Tripitaka remains in the palace for the wedding. Monkey instructs Pigsy and Sandy to stay on the outskirts of the city, while he transforms into a bee and returns to Tripitaka's side.

Chapter 95

• Tripitaka goes to the inner palace with Monkey hidden in his hat as a bee. The Princess enters the palace later on, where Monkey could now confirm her to be a demon.
• Monkey reveals himself and rushes to attack the fake Princess. The Princess attempts to fend off Monkey's blows, but was unable to, and flees.
• Monkey pursues the demon to the mountain and locates her. He was about to finish her off before hearing a voice that was stopping him.
• The Star Lord of Supreme Yin [20] (taiyin xingjun, 太阴星君) and other lunar goddesses have come to subdue the demon, who was really the Jade Rabbit [src. 95]. The real Princess of India is returned to her parents in the palace.

[Src. 95] Deities from the Moon arrive to take back their Jade Rabbit

Chapter 96

[Src. 96] The pilgrims arrive at the residence of Squire Kou

• The pilgrims come to the residence of Squire Kou (kou yuanwai, 寇员外), a wealthy man who is passionate about donating alms to Buddhist monks [src. 96]. He had made a vow to feed 10,000 monks, and has already reached the number of 9,996 when the four pilgrims arrive. 
• While staying at Squire Kou's place, the pilgrims were presented with lavish vegetarian meals, which they were happy to accept and enjoy.
• Three days later, Tripitaka decided it was time to get going on the journey, and the pilgrims get ready to set off. As a celebration for completing his goal of 10,000 monks, the squire prepared a vibrant parade to merrily send the pilgrims on their way.

Chapter 97

• That night, Squire Kou's home is robbed by a gang of bandits and he gets murdered by them. Kou's wife was wrathful that their efforts to cater the pilgrims had gone to waste and brought them this tragedy. She falsely frames the pilgrims to local authorities for the crimes.
• The pilgrims encounter the bandits who had robbed Squire Kou. Monkey forces them to drop the treasures they've stolen and spares their lives [src. 97]. The pilgrims decide to return the goods back to the Squire Kou's house. 
  
• On their way back, the pilgrims are arrested by local authorities for their alleged theft and murder.
• Monkey easily escapes and travels around, posing as various deities and spirits to inform people about the truth of the situation. He also travels down to the underworld to bring Squire Kou back to life.
• Squire Kou, alive again, confirms the truth about everything. The pilgrims are freed.

[Src. 97] Monkey forces the bandits to leave behind the goods they had stolen

Chapter 98

[Src. 98] The four pilgrims bow to the Buddha upon their arrival at Spirit Mountain

• After a long and perilous journey, the pilgrims finally reach the base of Spirit Mountain. They need to cross a gorge, named the Cloud-Transcending Ferry (lingyun du, 凌云渡), with a river beneath, to reach the Buddha's Great Thunder-Clap Monastery (da leiyin si, 大雷音寺).
• They are ferried by a bottomless boat. Tripitaka falls into the river, but is pulled back up. The river had shed his mortal stock, and he was now able to become an immortal.
• The pilgrims come before the Tathagata Buddha [src. 98]. They are escorted to the library and are given a set of sutras.
• As the pilgrims were on their way back, a hand suddenly appears from the sky and rips open the sutras. The pilgrims then discover that they were blank and wordless the whole time.
• The pilgrims return to the Tathagata Buddha, who orders the true sutras with text to be granted to the pilgrims, but not before Tripitaka hands over his golden alms bowl as a token of gratitude.

Chapter 99

• The pilgrims are dismissed to return to the Land of the East via clouds. However, Guanyin realises that they were one ordeal short of completing the sacred number of 81 tribulations, and orders them to be dropped off at Heaven-Reaching River.
• The Great White Turtle offers to take the pilgrims across the wide river again. Nearing the other bank, the turtle asks Tripitaka if he remembered his promise to ask the Buddha about his cultivations and future. Tripitaka admits that he forgot, and the angry turtle dunks the pilgrims into the river. The three disciples quickly save Tripitaka and save the sutras. 
• Suddenly, a storm arose of lightning, thunder, fog and strong wind. It turned out to be invisible ghosts who tried to snatch the sutras, but were deterred by Monkey.
• The soaked sutras were laid to dry on a boulder [src. 99]. For the rest of the day, the pilgrims stay at a village on the eastern bank, which they had once saved during their journey.

[Src. 99] The pilgrims leave the sutras to be dried under the sun

Chapter 100

[Src. 100] The pilgrims leave the Land of the East to become saints in the Western Heaven

• The pilgrims are flown back to the Land of the East. Emperor Taizong comes out personally to welcome Tripitaka back. The pilgrims were all treated well with good meals, and enjoyed their stay at the imperial palace.
• As a token of gratitude for his imperial brother's profound merit, Taizong authors a composition, titled “Preface to the Sacred Teachings (shengjiaoxu, 圣教序) [21]", as a synopsis to Buddhism and outlining Tripitaka's accomplishments.
• Tripitaka was asked to recite the new true sutras in a grand mass, and copies of the sacred texts were made.
• The Buddhist deities led the pilgrims back for an audience with the Tathagata Buddha [src. 100]. Tathagata thanks the pilgrims for completing the mission and bestows them all saintly positions in the Buddhist pantheon. Tripitaka and Monkey even attain Buddhahood for their merit.

Conclusion

Here ends The Journey to the West.

[Src. 101] Wu & Yu (2012) The Journey to the West, vol. 4, ch. 100, p. 386

- Notes

[1] except for chapter 9
​The omission of the ninth chapter from Chen's set of illustrations is due to the fact that it did not exist in the original 1952 publication of the novel; the chapter was added in years later. 
For more info, please see:
The Mysterious Ninth Chapter and Sun Wukong’s Links to Chinese Opera

[2] watch​ (更)
In ancient China, night time was divided into five periods, each known as a "watch". These five watches, from first to fifth, correspond with the times of 19:00-21:00, 21:00-23:00, 23:00-1:00, 1:00-3:00 and 3:00-5:00, respectively.

[3] Bimawen (弼马温)
​Literal meaning (Chinese): to assist horse temperament.
The title "Bimawen" is actually a Chinese pun and a taunt towards Monkey. This phrase is a homophonic play on the Chinese phrase bi mawen (避马瘟, lit: avoid the horse plague). In ancient Chinese medical doctrine, it was believed that the urine of a female monkey could be used as a cure for horse diseases, and essentially horse plague. The use of this pun is to insult Monkey to be a woman, which offends his masculinity.
English translations of Bimawen in the past have all revolved around the concept of "Protector of the Horses" or "Keeper of the Horses". Anthony C. Yu (2012) currently has the most accurate translation for Bimawen. He translates it as "BanHorsePlague". However, since none of these names really has the same flavour to the punny phrase, I have simply kept the original.

[4] Taizong​ (太宗)
​Literal meaning (Chinese): supreme ancestor.
Taizong is a common reigning title that the second emperor of a Chinese dynasty assumes. This corresponds to the reigning title of the first emperor of a dynasty, which is "Gaozu (高祖, lit: high ancestor)".

[5] Samadhi (समाधी, 三昧)
Literal meaning (Sanskrit): to establish complete consciousness.
In the context of ​Journey to the West​, Samadhi is a term used to describe things of full cultivation, associated with the idea of "定 (fixity/arrest/preservation)".

[6] Zhenyuan (镇元)
Literal meaning (Chinese): one who suppresses his origin.
Also known as: Lord Equalling the World (yushitong jun, 与世同君).
Master Zhenyuan is the patriarch of all Earth immortals. He is one of the highest ranking and most powerful Daoist deities.

[7] Three Stars (三星)
​The Three Stars are three popular deities in Daoist folklore, which represent the three features of "blessing (fu, 福)", "fortune (lu, 禄)" and "longevity (shou, 寿)".

[8] Cadaver Demon (尸魔)
​"Cadaver Demon" is the recorded name of the more famously known White Bone Demon (baigu jing, 白骨精) in the original novel. The text has never called her "White Bone Demon".

[9] Precious-Image Kingdom (宝象国)
The Chinese name Baoxiang 宝象 can be translated as either Precious-Image or Precious-Elephant; both meanings have strong Buddhist associations. I have chosen to use the former simply because the ​Journey to the West novel describes the setting of the place to be really beautiful, and its scenery is sure to be outstanding. Hence, I adapt this name because of the kingdom's "precious image".

[10] poor looks
​The reason for the poor looks is because, as a travelling monk who has left home, Tripitaka is to dress humbly. During the journey, he usually wears an old, patched monk's robe (commonly brown) and a straw hat. This is in contrast with the more iconic look of Tripitaka from the classic 1986 ​Journey to the West TV show, where he is inaccurately portrayed with a kasaya cassock and Vairocana hat on at all times.

[11] ​trio of gods
​The trio referenced are the Three Pure Ones (sanqing, 三清, a.k.a. Three Purities), the Daoist trinity. The three deities are: Celestial Worthy of Primal Beginning (yuanshi tianzun, 元始天尊), Celestial Worthy of Spiritual Treasures (lingbao tianzun, 灵宝天尊) and Celestial Worthy of the Way and Virtue (daode tianzun, 道德天尊; this is Laozi (老子), commonly known in Journey to the West​ as Supreme Exalted Lord Lao).

[12] Krttika (कृत्तिका, 昴日)
Literal meaning (Chinese): rising sun.
Krttika is one of the 28 Nakshatra of Hindu cosmology. The corresponding Chinese constellation is Mao (昴), one of the 28 Lodges or Mansions. Krttika and Mao both represent the star constellation of Pleiades. The Chinese literal translation, "rising sun", reflects the true form of the respective star official, whose true form is a rooster, an animal known for alerting sunrises.

[13] Squire Ten-Eight (十八公)
Literal meaning (Chinese): squire number eighteen.
The reason why I translated shiba 十八 to "ten-eight" rather than the literal "eighteen" is because the name of the character Squire Ten-Eight is a pun of the Chinese written language. The character is later revealed in the chapter to be the sprit of a pine tree. When combined ideographically, his name results in the character for pine (song, 松). i.e. 十 (ten) + 八 (eight) = 木 (wood); 木 (wood) + 公 (squire) = 松 (pine)!

[14] Maitreya (मैत्रेय, 弥勒)
Literal meaning (Sanskrit): friendliness.
The Buddha Maitreya is more commonly known in China as the monk Budai (布袋, lit: cloth bag - this is a reference to a bag that he is normally depicted carrying around, likely the same Human-Seed Bag that makes an appearance in Journey to the West), the Fat Buddha (pangfo, 胖佛), or to many English speakers: the Laughing Buddha (xiaofo, 笑佛). In some sources, he is considered as a Bodhisattva rather than a Buddha.

[15] ​Hou (犼)
​Also known as: Denglong (蹬龙, lit: transcending dragon).
The Hou is a protection creature in Chinese mythology, portrayed here in Journey to the West to be the steed of Bodhisattva Guanyin. A common belief of the Hou's appearance consists of features from ten animals: deer horns, camel head, cat ears, shrimp eyes, donkey mouth, lion hair, snake neck, Shen (蜃, clam-monster) belly, koi (grass carp) scales, eagle front claws and tiger back paws. Other sources state that the Hou is a Mongolian wolf-dragon, whose head is used as a common design in roof architecture.

[16] Roc
​The Roc is a giant legendary bird of prey in Arabian folklore, with its name originating from the Arabic word ruk (رخ). It is the closest English translation to the mythical Chinese condor-like raptor called "Peng (鹏)". Another mythical bird similar to the Roc and Peng is the Garuda from Hindu culture.

[17] Bhiksu (भिक्षु, 比丘)
Also known as: Bhikku (भिक्खु).
​Literal meaning (Pali): one who lives by alms.
Bhiksu are simply male Buddhist monks. Female Buddhist nuns are called "bhiksuni".

[18] ​Celestial Worthy (天尊)
Also translated as: Lord of Heaven.
Celestial Worthy is the highest rank in the Daoist pantheon. Most of the highest-ranking Daoist deities (e.g. Supreme Exalted Lord Lao) hold this title. It is the Daoist equivalent of Buddha (fozu, 佛祖, lit: Buddhist patriarch) in Buddhism.

[19] Four Wood Creature Stars (四木禽星)
These four creatures are just personified representatives for the star constellations they stand for, which all share the element of wood. These constellations and their creature symbols are: Citra (jiao, 角) the flood-dragon (jiao, 蛟), Uttara-Ashadha (dou, 斗) the Xie (獬, mythical Chinese unicorn), Revati (kui, 奎) the wolf and Punarvasu (jing, 井) the wild-dog.

[20] Supreme Yin (太阴)
The Supreme Yin is the Chinese name referring to the Moon, which is said to be the largest body of Yin (dark) energy. This is opposed to the Supreme Yang (taiyang, 太阳), which refers to the Sun, of Yang (light) energy.

[21] Preface to the Sacred Teachings​ (圣教序)
Also translated as: Preface to the Holy Religion (Anthony C. Yu, 2012)
This composition was historically authored by Emperor Taizong of Tang (598-649 AD) in 648 AD, in gratitude and celebration of the priest Xuanzang's (602-664 AD) achievements in translating Buddhist sutras he had retrieved. The composition was transcribed by renowned Tang calligrapher Chu Suiliang (596-658 AD, 褚遂良) and inscribed into two stone steles by Wan Wenshao (?-? AD, 万文韶). The steles stand at the Great Wild Goose Pagoda (dayan ta, 大雁塔), located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China.