Tripitaka's Journey to Obtain Scriptures: The Kingdom of Women - Chapter 1

Chapter One: Golden Cicada’s Reincarnation
I woke up with a start in a downpour.

The sharp pain at the back of my head felt like fire burning, and broken sobs reached my ears. I struggled to open my eyes and saw a face stained with tears. The young woman’s hair was disheveled, her pomegranate-red wedding dress blackened with bloodstains. She was pressing a piece of cloth against the wound on my forehead.

“Royal… Royal Brother?” she stammered, the golden bells on her wrist jingling faintly.

My heart pounded furiously in my chest. I stared at the vermillion mole at the corner of her eye, and the scene of parting with the Queen of the Kingdom of Women on my previous journey to obtain scriptures suddenly flooded my mind. My fingertips touched a cold object at my waist. I pulled it out to see it was half of a broken jade pendant—the very mark of the Golden Cicada’s reincarnation, which should have been suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years.

“Are you… Anuo?” As the words left my mouth, I realized my slip. The young woman before me clearly resembled the Queen of the Kingdom of Women, but in my memory, she was clearly called…

Chaotic footsteps echoed from outside the hall, mixed with the metallic clang of armor. The young woman abruptly pushed me into a secret compartment behind the bed curtains. A gilded armor plate scraped my wrist, leaving a red mark on my skin.

“Royal Brother, remember, no matter what you see, don’t make a sound.” She pressed a golden hairpin into my palm. Its cold touch stung an old wound on my palm. “Wait for the bell at midnight…”

A thunderous crash interrupted her words. I curled up in the cramped secret compartment, peeking through a carved gap to see the hall doors kicked open with immense force. The coiled dragon patterns on the dark armor flickered in and out of view in the lightning. The person leading removed their taotie helmet, revealing a hideous saber scar on their left cheek.

“Queen of the Kingdom of Women, I advise you to hand over the Phoenix Seal, and this marshal might leave your body intact.” Sha Wujing’s voice, laden with a腥 stench, came closer, the tip of his rake pressed against the young woman’s pale neck.

My temples throbbed. Memories from my past life surged like a tide. In the Quick Sand River, Sha Wujing still wore nine skull heads around his neck, but now the inner lining of his armor was embroidered with dark red talismans.

“The Holy Monk… he’s just a passing monk…” The young woman’s voice trembled.

“Heh, passing by?” Sha Wujing sneered. “Then why does your bedchamber have a secret letter from the Wheel-Turning King? And why is the golden hairpin you’re hiding, the Buddha’s sarira from the Western Pure Land?”

“Stop it!” The Queen shrieked. “That’s… that’s a Buddhist treasure brought by Tripitaka…”

I felt a chill all over inside the secret compartment. I looked down at the golden hairpin in my hand—this was clearly the clearance document that Guanyin Bodhisattva bestowed upon me. When did it become a Buddha’s sarira?

Sha Wujing suddenly lunged, his rake stabbing directly at the Queen’s chest. At that critical moment, a golden light suddenly flew out from behind the bed curtains, striking Sha Wujing’s wrist. The rake clanged to the ground, and the Queen seized the opportunity to roll to my hiding spot, gripping my arm tightly.

“Tripitaka… run!” Her voice was tearful. “The Royal Guards are enchanted, the entire palace is an illusion!”

I helped her rush out of the secret compartment, and the scene in the main hall twisted and deformed before my eyes. The gilded pillars turned into white bones, the pearl curtains became wriggling maggots, and even the “Nishang Yuyi Painting” hanging on the wall was oozing blood.

“This is…” I felt a chill throughout my body. Horrifying images flashed through my mind, memories I’d never had in my past life—the white bones at the bottom of the Quick Sand River, the talismans on the Five Elements Mountain, and the never-healing Buddha light in the palm of the Tathagata…

Sha Wujing shook off the golden light on his arm, his face filled with shock: “The Golden Cicada’s Samadhi True Fire? Impossible! You clearly…”

Before he could finish, a horn sounded outside the hall. The Queen pulled me towards the balcony. The flames in the city soared into the sky, and the female soldiers scattered like headless flies. She trembled as she took half of a Phoenix Seal from her bosom: “Holy Monk, this Phoenix Seal is a pair; when combined, it can break the Kingdom of Women’s thousand-year curse. You and I had a predestined relationship in our past lives, and our reunion as mortals in this life might be the Buddha’s arrangement…”

I clutched the golden hairpin in my hand, feeling a strange warmth emanating from it. Sha Wujing’s figure had already appeared outside the hall door, holding a dripping demon-subduing staff in his hand: “Hand over the Phoenix Seal, or I’ll ******* the Royal City!”

Under the moonlight, the Queen placed the Phoenix Seal into my hand, her eyes shimmering with tears: “Holy Monk, do you remember the Child-and-Mother River outside the Kingdom of Women’s city? That river water can make one forget past and present lives, but it also hides the karmic ties of our love…”

A bold thought suddenly flashed in my heart: Reborn in this life, I am no longer the Tripitaka who sought scriptures for the sake of seeking scriptures. If the source of all this conspiracy is within Buddhism, then I will defy heaven, even if it means disobeying the Tathagata’s will!

“Your Majesty, please step back.” I said, joining my hands and connecting the golden hairpin with the Phoenix Seal. Instantly, a dazzling golden light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire chaotic night sky.

The memories of the reborn Golden Cicada surged into my mind like a flood—I was not the scripture seeker, but a pawn in the game between the Tathagata and the Wheel-Turning King. And my true mission was to sever this thousand-year cycle of karma!

Sha Wujing’s staff struck towards me, but it turned into powder the moment it touched my body. I raised my hand to catch the falling fragments, and under the moonlight, I clearly saw the runes on them—that wasn’t a demon-subduing talisman, but a “Soul-Devouring Worm” secretly cultivated by the Wheel-Turning King!

“So that’s it…” I whispered. The truth behind every tribulation on the journey to obtain scriptures in my past life finally became clear at this moment.

Chapter Two: Past Lives Like Dreams
The golden light dispersed, and I stood in the center of the palace, holding the now combined Phoenix Seal in my hand. It was no longer just cold metal, but subtly warm in my palm like a living thing, seemingly transmitting memories from a thousand years ago.

“This… this is impossible!” Sha Wujing’s face was contorted with rage, and he retreated repeatedly. “Golden Cicada has long since converted to Buddhism, his six senses purified, how can he still retain memories of his past life!”

I looked down at my own hands; faint golden meridians seemed to flow beneath the skin. That wasn’t Buddha’s light, but the sealed golden body bloodline I possessed in my previous life as the Golden Cicada, sealed by the Tathagata. For five hundred years of the journey to obtain scriptures, and countless incarnations through reincarnation, I was merely a pawn in the Buddha’s hand, all for this very moment.

“Junior Brother Sha,” I gently called, watching his pupils suddenly constrict. “The karmic ties between us are far more complex than you imagine.”

Urgent footsteps came from outside the hall. Several female soldiers had been controlled by Sha Wujing’s demon soldiers. The Queen stood in front of me. Her golden hairpin was broken at some point, but her bright eyes remained firm: “Royal Brother, I know you have many questions, but the lives of tens of thousands of citizens in the Royal City are in danger, we don’t have time to reminisce.”

She pulled me towards the balcony. The entire Kingdom of Women was already engulfed in a sea of flames. What shocked me even more was that the faces of these so-called “demon soldiers” actually had the same golden meridians as mine—they were all controlled reincarnations of the Golden Cicada!

“The Western Pure Land has fallen, and the Tathagata Buddha is controlled by the Wheel-Turning King,” the Queen whispered in my ear. “Five hundred years ago, the Tathagata made a deal with the Wheel-Turning King to obtain the Immortal Spring of the Kingdom of Women. And you, in every life, were a sacrifice in their plan!”

I trembled all over. Memories of being expelled from the Great Tang and suffering ninety-nine hardships flashed back in my mind. Those trials, which I considered cultivation, were all part of a conspiracy to pave the way for this day!

An anomaly suddenly appeared in the sky; nine blood moons slowly rose. Sha Wujing roared towards the sky, his body beginning to swell and deform, transforming into a hundred-zhang-tall demon god’s golden body: “Golden Cicada, you finally remembered! But it’s already too late. After tonight, the entire Three Realms will surrender to the Wheel-Turning King!”

“Stop it!” I violently threw the Phoenix Seal into the sky. It transformed into a golden light that shot straight into the clouds. “In this life, I, Tripitaka, seek not to obtain scriptures, nor to become a Buddha, but only to sever this thousand-year karma!”

The Phoenix Seal cut through the night sky, leaving a golden streak of light. The controlled female soldiers on the city wall suddenly stopped fighting, clutching their heads and kneeling in pain. Sha Wujing saw this scene, his face filled with horror: “No! You actually learned the ‘Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra’? This is impossible!”

The Queen pulled me as we leaped from the balcony, her dress fluttering like a butterfly in the wind: “The ‘Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra’ is the true inheritance of the Buddha, not a weapon to suppress demons, but compassion to awaken the human heart. Royal Brother, this is your true mission!”

We rushed into a secret chamber beneath the Royal Palace. The walls were covered with ancient talismans. The Queen took out a golden scroll: “This is the ‘Sutra of Reincarnation’ you left in your previous life, which records the method to break reincarnation. In every life, you will leave a karmic tie in the Kingdom of Women; that is your undying obsession, and also the key to unlocking reincarnation.”

Outside the secret chamber, the roars of the demon soldiers grew closer. The Queen put the scroll into my hand: “Royal Brother, we are fated to meet again in this life, but there may be no next life. If you can break reincarnation, remember to come and see my reincarnation; I will wait for you by the Bridge of Helplessness…”

I hugged her tightly, feeling the warmth emanating from her body. At this moment, I was no longer the timid and hesitant Holy Monk, but the Golden Cicada determined to defy fate: “I will definitely seek you in the next life, I will not break my promise.”

The floor of the secret chamber suddenly collapsed, and we hid the scroll in our bosom as we fell into a dark tunnel. Sha Wujing’s angry roars and the sound of the palace collapsing came from behind us, while the nine blood moons above our heads slowly rose, foreshadowing the end of the thousand-year cycle of reincarnation…

Chapter Three: Scars of Reincarnation
Darkness enveloped us like thick ink, and faint sounds of flowing water echoed from the end of the tunnel. The Queen held my hand tightly; I could feel her fingertips trembling slightly, but she never let go. The Golden Cicada’s memories were incredibly clear at this moment—this was no ordinary secret passage, but a hidden path leading to the bottom of the Child-and-Mother River, where I had left an obsession five hundred years ago.

“Watch out!” The Queen suddenly pulled me to the side. Decayed wooden boards fell from above, hitting the stone steps and raising choking dust. She shielded my head, and the pomegranate-red hairpin in her hair brushed against my jaw, its temperature chillingly real.

Eerie phosphorescence floated in the water—countless translucent fragments of scriptures. I reached out to touch them, and a burning pain immediately shot through my fingertips. Those Sanskrit runes awakened in my bloodline, and sealed memories from my past life flooded back like a tide—the Child-and-Mother River water could indeed cleanse memories, but at the cost of having one’s soul devoured by the Wheel-Turning King.

“Look at those scriptures!” The Queen suddenly pointed to the depths of the flowing water. In the dark blue river water, huge talismans twisted like living snakes, with a beating heart embedded at each turn: “Those are the soul artifacts imprisoning generations of Golden Cicadas; your past life…”

A sharp pain struck, and I knelt to the ground, a metallic taste welling in my throat. In the illusion, I saw myself kneeling outside the city of the Kingdom of Women again and again, each time in different dynastic attire, yet always with the same piety and timidity. In the last life, I was bleeding profusely, bound by my own Golden Hoop Incantation, walking towards death under the gaze of the scripture-seeking team.

“Royal Brother!” The Queen’s voice pulled me back to reality. She tore a crimson strip of fabric from her skirt to wipe the corners of my mouth. The crimson dye diffused in the water, actually forming blooming red lotuses—which were, according to legend, the rare Western Region flowers that could temporarily resist the Wheel-Turning King’s magic!

The river channel suddenly narrowed, and the undercurrent swept us towards a bronze door embedded in the rock wall. The door knocker was shaped like a two-headed snake, its eyes inlaid with dull cat’s eye stones. The Queen stroked the carvings on the snake’s body, then suddenly revealed a sorrowful smile: “It really is your work from a past life. This password lock requires blood to recognize its master…”

She bit her fingertip, and a drop of blood fell onto the snake’s forehead. The bronze door slowly opened with a grating sound that grated on my teeth, and a smell of mold mixed with a sweet, cloying fragrance wafted out. This wasn’t an ordinary secret chamber, but a barrier woven from ten thousand and eight thousand peacock feathers, each feather reflecting different memory fragments.

I seemed to see the scene of my first encounter with the Queen in the Royal Garden in a past life—at that time, she was not yet the high and mighty Queen, nor was I the Holy Monk burdened with a heavy mission. We were just two travelers who met by chance, sipping tea and discussing poetry amidst a garden full of peonies.

“Watch out!” The Queen suddenly pushed me away. A poisoned arrow grazed my ear and lodged into the peacock feather wall behind me. Several dark figures flashed in the shadows. They wore Nuo opera masks and held curved sabers engraved with talismans.

“Soul-Devouring Demons!” The Queen’s face changed drastically. “They are not humans, but puppets whose souls have been extracted!”

I formed hand seals, and the Golden Cicada’s bloodline within me began to boil. The puppets’ movements suddenly slowed, as if being pulled by an invisible force. It was the “Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra”! Although incomplete, it was enough for me to temporarily wield the dormant power in this body.

However, more puppets surged out from behind the peacock feather wall. Black fibrous matter, not blood, flowed from their wounds, and when it fell to the ground, it turned into distorted curses. The Queen suddenly pulled me into the air. In the splashing runes, I saw the same golden meridians as mine appearing on the back of her neck.

“I should have told you earlier…” She spun in mid-air, her golden phoenix-embroidered sleeves tracing a brilliant arc. “My past life was a female attendant before the Buddha who cared for you for a hundred years. That cup of tea you spilled, that tea leaf you gave me…”

The sound of a curved saber tearing through the air came, and the Queen spun to avoid it, her hairpin falling to the ground. I grabbed the blade with my bare hands, blood dripping from between my fingers onto the ground, actually burning black marks on the peacock feather wall. This wasn’t human blood!

The puppets suddenly froze, and confused expressions appeared in their hollow eye sockets. Seizing the opportunity, I hugged the Queen and rolled behind the bronze altar. In her ear, I whispered, “I will not forget the memories of this life. Even if I reincarnate a thousand times, I will find you.”

The stone coffin in the center of the altar suddenly opened. Inside lay not a corpse, but the complete golden body of Tripitaka! That was my body after nirvana, with a serene face and a vermillion mole between my eyebrows like blood.

“So that’s it…” The Queen’s voice echoed in my ear, her warm breath caressing my ear, tinged with determination. “They don’t want the Phoenix Seal, but your golden body! The Wheel-Turning King wants to recast his Buddha body with your body to achieve true immortality!”

Chapter Four: Golden Body Calamity
The golden body in the stone coffin suddenly emitted a golden light, and my fingertips trembled uncontrollably. That familiar body—long fingers, a smooth forehead, a vermillion mole between the eyebrows—was identical to mine. The Queen’s cold fingers suddenly gripped my wrist, and the fragments of the golden hairpin in her palm were deeply embedded in my bloodline.

“Don’t look into his eyes!” The Queen pressed me down onto the altar, her bloodstained pomegranate-red skirt fanned out like petals. “The Wheel-Turning King refined him with the Nine Netherworld Fire for thirty-three years; that body no longer holds the Holy Monk’s soul…”

The bronze altar began to vibrate, and the sound of a wooden fish came from deep within the stone coffin. Each sound of the wooden fish was like a heavy hammer striking my sea of consciousness. I saw countless versions of myself reincarnating on the journey to obtain scriptures—bewitched by the White Bone Demon, stabbed by the Queen of the Kingdom of Women, burned by the Red Boy’s Samadhi True Fire… All these memories pointed to the golden body in the stone coffin; those pains and joys were all traps!

The Soul-Devouring Demons let out ear-splitting shrieks, their rotting claws tearing open the peacock feather wall. The Queen spun and pulled out the demon-subduing staff from my waist. This weapon, which should have been in Sun Wukong’s hand, actually turned into a green flame in her hand: “The last three pages of the ‘Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra’ were torn off by the Tathagata, but you know the incantations!”

I bit my tongue, and the taste of blood mixed with the golden glow of the hairpin fragments condensed in my throat. Five hundred years ago in the Royal Garden of the Kingdom of Women, the Queen had taught me to identify Western Region script. Now those incantations moved like living snakes in my memory. When the first syllable burst from my lips, the golden body in the stone coffin suddenly opened its eyes.

“Golden Cicada…” A hoarse voice exploded directly in my mind. “You’ve finally returned…”

The Soul-Devouring Demons all knelt down, and what flickered in their eye sockets was no longer soul fire, but tiny golden Sanskrit runes. The Queen’s green flame suddenly dimmed. Only then did I realize that those Sanskrit runes were devouring her life force. Three hundred years ago at Lingyun Ferry, she personally sewed a kasaya for me, and hidden in the stitches was the Wheel-Turning King’s tracking spell!

“Stop chanting!” The Queen suddenly pulled me, rolling backward. A poisoned crossbow bolt grazed my temple and lodged into the stone coffin. The nine-petal golden lotus on the coffin lid began to spin, and the Wheel-Turning King’s illusory figure flickered in and out among the lotuses—that was not the majestic Dharma appearance of a Buddha, but a violent face riddled with bloodshot eyes.

The bronze altar collapsed with a roar, and we fell into an underground dark river. The icy river water instantly soaked our clothes. The Queen’s golden phoenix hairpin scattered in the flowing water, and the gilded tip of the hairpin pierced my finger. Drops of blood fell onto the river surface, actually turning into burning red lotuses, illuminating the white bones accumulated at the bottom of the river—those were the remains of countless reincarnated Golden Cicadas from past generations!

“Grab those Buddha bones!” The Queen’s voice was shattered by the rapids, her long hair缠绕 around my arm like black silk. The dark river water suddenly turned blood red. Only then did I clearly see that the pile of white bones at the bottom of the river was filled with demon-subduing staffs. Each staff head was carved with the same gatha: “All sentient beings saved, then Bodhi attained.”

Sha Wujing’s roar came from above, and the torchlight of the demon soldiers illuminated the river surface. The Queen suddenly pushed me onto a floating Buddha bone, while she herself was swept into a swirling undercurrent by the rapids. I desperately reached out to grab her, but only caught half a bloodstained pomegranate petal—it was an ornament from her skirt!

Just as she was about to be swept away, the Queen suddenly turned, her bloodstained lips curving into a beautiful yet sorrowful arc. She poured her last bit of power into the broken golden hairpin. That broken hairpin transformed into a golden light that shot straight at the Wheel-Turning King’s illusory figure: “Royal Brother, if there’s a next life, I won’t be your Queen again… I want to be the demon who forces you to break your vows!”

The moment the golden hairpin pierced the Wheel-Turning King’s illusory figure, the entire dark river suddenly froze. I floated on the ice, watching the Queen gradually sink into the vortex. Small golden bubbles emerged from her mouth, and each bubble reflected scenes from our past lives—the days and nights suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain, the twilight embraces on the city wall of the Kingdom of Women, crying together…

The Wheel-Turning King’s roar echoed through the Nine Netherworlds: “Golden Cicada! You dare to destroy my physical body!”

The ice surface suddenly cracked into myriad fissures, and countless hands stretched out from underground. These were mutated forms of Soul-Devouring Demons, their fingertips having sucker-like mouths. I sat cross-legged on the ice, forming a perfect mudra that no one had ever cultivated—this was the forbidden art recorded at the end of the “Sutra of Reincarnation,” using one’s own golden body as fuel to burn away a thousand years of karma!

Dark red flames began to burn from my fingertips. The Wheel-Turning King’s illusory figure twisted and turned to ash in the flames. As the flames were about to engulf my entire body, the last thing I saw was the Queen’s bluish-purple lips. She was swimming towards me, and the golden phoenix eyes on her broken hairpin reflected the last bit of light…

Chapter Five: Nirvana Rebirth
Dark red karma fire ignited around me, yet it was strangely cold instead of hot. The demonic claws reaching out from underground turned to dust the moment they touched the flames. And in the reflection of the flames, I saw the Queen under the ice layer, entangled in a black mist. Her body was becoming transparent, and the ruby fragments from her golden phoenix hairpin scattered like tears of blood.

“No!” I roared, and the flames suddenly surged, burning a hole in the ice surface. The black mist let out an ear-splitting shriek; it was the voice of the Wheel-Turning King’s true form: “You’ve finally awakened, Golden Cicada. Too late, unfortunately. The karma fire you released by burning your golden body is precisely the key to opening the door of reincarnation!”

The ice layer shattered with a crash, and I leaped into the depths of the dark river. The Queen’s figure flickered in and out of view in the water; her gauze dress had faded to gray, but only the broken golden hairpin in her hair still shimmered with a faint golden light. When I grabbed her wrist, a strange sensation came from my fingertips—her body was becoming transparent like glass.

“Royal Brother…” Her voice was as soft as a sigh from underwater. “I finally understand why in every reincarnation, I always meet you in the Royal Garden… Because our promise from a past life was to wait a thousand years for someone to break this eternal game of chess…”

Her body began to disintegrate, transforming into countless golden specks of light. I trembled all over. This was the Wheel-Turning King’s most vicious curse—stripping the soul from memory, preventing lovers from even recognizing each other in reincarnation! Karma fire raged through my meridians. I bit my tongue and sprayed essence blood onto the Queen’s heart, and the Western Region red lotus mark suddenly bloomed.

“The last page of the ‘Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra’ was hidden in our bloodlines all along,” the Queen’s body began to reassemble, and tiny golden lotuses grew in her hair. “The戒疤 you bore for the scripture seeker all those years were the keys to unlocking Buddhist forbidden arts!”

The ice river suddenly boiled, and nine chains of black iron shot out from the bottom of the water. At the end of the chains were the Wheel-Turning King’s nine heads. Each head corresponded to a type of hellish torture, but the central Buddha head wore a compassionate smile: “What a pair of foolish lovers. Golden Cicada, do you know that in this grand drama of reincarnation, even the Tathagata Buddha was a participant, watching without speaking?”

The karma fire climbed along the chains, and the Wheel-Turning King let out painful howls. The Queen seized the opportunity to infuse all her spiritual power into my glabella. I saw her memories flash by like a revolving lantern—it turned out she wasn’t reincarnating for the first time; her previous life was a green lotus lamp before the Tathagata, and unwilling to see me suffer, she secretly descended to the mortal realm and reincarnated in the Kingdom of Women.

“So that’s it…” I trembled all over, finally understanding why in every reincarnation, I would always fall in love with her at first sight. This was not a coincidence, but the continuation of past karmic ties.

The Wheel-Turning King’s nine heads laughed simultaneously: “Foolish lovers! Even if you know the truth, what then? Tonight you are doomed to die!” Saying this, he opened his enormous mouth and spewed out endless black mist.

Just then, the golden hairpin on my chest suddenly emitted a dazzling light. That broken hairpin, repaired by the Queen, transformed into a golden sword, its blade inscribed with love poems I had written for her in my past life. So this was the true demon-subduing staff, personally forged by the Tathagata Buddha, but stolen by the Wheel-Turning King and hidden in the Kingdom of Women as a treasure!

“Three thousand years…” The Wheel-Turning King showed an expression of horror for the first time. “You actually found it!”

I held the golden sword, and the karma fire within me resonated with the golden sword. At this moment, I was no longer the timid and hesitant Holy Monk, but the Golden Cicada who had truly comprehended the true meaning of the “Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra.” With a long roar, I swung my sword at the Wheel-Turning King.

The clang of metal was deafening, and the Wheel-Turning King’s nine heads simultaneously spewed blood. Just as victory and defeat were about to be decided, I suddenly saw the Queen’s body dissipating; her soul had been completely stripped away by the Wheel-Turning King’s curse!

“No!” I roared, abandoning all Buddhist taboos, and poured all my cultivation into the golden sword. This one sword severed reincarnation, severed karma, and also severed my thousand-year bond with Buddhism.

The Wheel-Turning King let out a final, unwilling roar of rage, his body transforming into countless fragments. However, the moment the Wheel-Turning King dissipated, the Queen’s figure also completely vanished. I embraced the empty air, tears streaming from my eyes.

At this moment, the golden hairpin suddenly transformed into a stream of light and merged into my glabella. A warm force surged into my body, and I saw the Queen’s soul, enveloped in golden light, slowly flying towards me.

“Royal Brother…” Her voice was as gentle as ever. “In the next life, we’ll meet again.”

Instantly, golden light illuminated the heavens and earth. I held the Queen’s soul and slowly closed my eyes. In this life, we could finally break free from the fate of reincarnation and walk towards true freedom.

Chapter Six: Reincarnated Reunion
The moment I opened my eyes, the scent of sandalwood and scriptures rushed towards me. I stared blankly at the canopy above, embroidered with nine-petal lotuses. The moment my fingertips touched the gilded bed beneath me, a strange memory suddenly flooded in—Chang’an in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Daci’en Temple, the ninety-eighth reincarnation.

“The Holy Monk is finally awake.” A familiar clear, cold female voice came from outside the window, with the high-pitched tone characteristic of eunuchs. “His Majesty has been waiting in the Hall of Eternal Life for an hour.”

I suddenly sat up, and the prayer beads on my wrist suddenly snapped, scattering one hundred and eight bodhi beads across the floor. The face reflected in the bronze mirror was young and handsome, yet completely different from the Xuanzang in my memory. The vermillion mole at the corner of the man’s eye in the mirror was crimson like blood, just like the ruby on the golden hairpin in the Queen of the Kingdom of Women’s hair.

The white marble steps of the Hall of Eternal Life shone brightly under the sun. As I knelt beneath the imperial dais, and saw the figure on the nine-dragon gilded couch, a wild neigh suddenly escaped my throat—the emperor, leaning against the gilded curtains, was pressing a bloodstained dagger against her throat.

“Don’t come any closer!” she shrieked, but the golden bells on her wrist betrayed the truth of her trembling. “In this ninety-eighth reincarnation, I will never be deceived by you again. That day at Lingyun Ferry, you clearly pushed me into the River of Oblivion…”

I froze in place, memories of past and present lives flashing like a revolving lantern. On the last night in the Kingdom of Women, she personally stabbed a poisoned dagger into my chest. And now, the cold glint of the dagger reflected the gatha I had personally carved on the stone tablet in the Royal Garden five hundred years ago: “Love’s tribulation unbroken, Bodhi unproven.”

“Your Majesty’s swordsmanship has improved,” I said with a soft laugh, picking up the dagger that had rolled to my feet and holding it in my hand. “Back at Lingyun Ferry, you stabbed an inch off, leading to a soul-shattering end. This one sword… you need to stab it into the heart to make it truly satisfying.”

The gilded curtains were abruptly pulled open, and the emperor stepped barefoot onto the white marble tiles. Her eyes were bloodshot, much like the fading peonies in the Royal Garden when we first met: “Tripitaka, the thing I regret most in this life is believing your phrase, ‘If there’s a next life’.”

Daggers clashed, sparking fire, and we tumbled together onto the Persian rug. The golden bells on her wrist tangled with my prayer beads. Amidst their jingling, I smelled the familiar pomegranate blossom fragrance in her hair. This scent had lingered through every desperate night on the journey to obtain scriptures, but now it carried the stench of charred flesh—the soul-devouring curse within her had begun to act up.

“Look closely, I am no longer the Queen you are looking for,” her bloodstained lips twisted into a cruel smile, and the nine-headed snake mark of the Wheel-Turning King actually appeared on her neck. “For five hundred years, I have reincarnated ninety-seven times, each time seeking revenge on you…”

I suddenly remembered the Buddhist scripture’s description of “Avici Hell.” When the soul-devouring curse devours its host, memories burn the soul like molten lava. The pain she was struggling with at this moment must have been the taste of having my heart gouged and bones removed in every life in my past life. The prayer beads on my wrist suddenly emitted a faint glow—the fragmented “Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra” was resonating!

“Then let me accompany you to hell!” I pressed the prayer beads to her chest, and the Samadhi True Fire burned the parasitic worm along with the scriptures. She let out a non-human shriek, her fingernails leaving bloody marks on my back. In a daze, I saw the tearful eyes from the city wall of the Kingdom of Women appearing in her eyes, saw her smiling face putting a wreath on me in the Royal Garden, saw her trembling fingertips when she pushed me off the boat at Lingyun Ferry…

The nine-headed snake mark shattered inch by inch in the blazing flames. When the last wisp of black smoke dissipated, the body in my arms had transformed into specks of golden light. And these golden lights danced, outlining familiar contours—it was her at eighteen, her at twenty-eight, her at one hundred… All the Queens from all reincarnations gazed at me at this moment, the vermillion mole at the corner of their eyes as vivid as ever.

“Royal Brother…” Thousands of voices overlapped into a whisper. “This life… it’s my turn to seek you…”

Chapter Seven: Karmic Reincarnation
The golden light dispersed, and silence filled the Hall of Eternal Life. I stared blankly at my empty arms, my fingertips still retaining the lingering warmth of her. Urgent footsteps came from outside the hall, and eunuchs filed in, but no one dared approach the mess on the floor.

“Holy Monk… Your Majesty, she…” The old eunuch leading them stammered, unsure how to phrase his words.

I slowly stood up. The prayer beads on my wrist had somehow re-strung themselves, and a golden pattern appeared on each bodhi bead, like the karmic threads of past and present lives. Sandalwood smoke curled in the hall, but it couldn’t mask the lingering scent of pomegranate blossom in the air—the imprint left by her soul.

“Where is Your Majesty?” I asked, my voice hoarse, unlike my own.

The old eunuch looked troubled: “Reporting to the Holy Monk, Your Majesty… she suddenly vomited blood just now. The imperial physicians said… they said Your Majesty was already critically ill, I’m afraid…”

Before he finished, I already understood. Five hundred years of the reincarnation curse, the devouring by the soul-devouring parasite, had already ravaged her soul, leaving it riddled with holes. Even if I used the “Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra” to burn away the Wheel-Turning King’s mark, I couldn’t reverse these five hundred years of karmic power.

“Prepare the horses.” I picked up the bloodstained dagger from the ground; it was her last obsession in life. “To Lingyun Ferry.”

The autumn rain in Chang’an came suddenly. As I galloped out of the city gate, the outline of Lingyun Ferry was faintly visible through the rain curtain. A thousand years ago, I embarked on the Ferry of Tribulation here, unaware that this farewell would be five hundred years of karmic entanglement. Raindrops dampened my temples, and in a trance, I saw her standing at the ferry, her pomegranate-red dress fluttering in the wind, looking as she did when we first met.

“Royal Brother…” A familiar voice came from the rain curtain. I abruptly pulled the reins, only to see the ferry empty of people, only rainwater collecting into a stream, winding its way into the distance.

“Your Majesty!” I dismounted, calling her name in the rain, my voice echoing through the valley. Suddenly, the stream at my feet rippled, and a drop of crimson water surfaced, transforming into a fragment of a golden hairpin—the very one that had broken that year.

I reached out to scoop it, but my fingertips touched something cold. Looking down, I saw a faded red string, with two copper coins strung on its knot—one Kaiyuan Tongbao, and one coin from a small Western Region kingdom. These were precisely the lucky charms we bought together at the market in the Kingdom of Women that year.

“So you always…” I clutched the red string, tears mixing with the rain as they fell. Five hundred years of reincarnation, she had never forgotten me, even when her memories in every life were completely devoured by the soul-devouring parasite, she still secretly carried this lucky charm with her.

On the Ferry of Tribulation at Lingyun Ferry, the boatman was long gone. I stepped onto the deck, and the boat suddenly groaned, dark red river water seeping from its bottom. The rain grew heavier, and the ferry began to slowly sink, just like the scene five hundred years ago when she pushed me off the boat.

“This time, let me ferry you,” I sat cross-legged in the center of the boat, forming hand seals, and the Golden Cicada’s bloodline within me boiled again. Samadhi True Fire ignited from my fingertips, flowing through my meridians and spreading throughout my body. The ferry gradually turned to ash in the firelight, and I stood in mid-air, gazing at the faint outline of the Kingdom of Women in the rain curtain in the distance.

“Royal Brother…” Another call came, this time close at hand. I spun around, seeing her standing in the rain, her pomegranate-red dress spotless, the vermillion mole at the corner of her eye as vibrant as ever. On her wrist, golden bells jingled crisply.

“This is impossible…” I trembled as I reached out to touch her, but my hand passed through her body, only grasping a handful of cold rainwater.

She smiled faintly, raising her hand to catch a falling phoenix tree leaf: “Royal Brother, in this life, I am no longer the Queen of the Kingdom of Women, and you are no longer the Holy Monk. How about we… become a normal couple?”

Before she finished speaking, her body began to become transparent, like a reflection in water. I knew this was her last wisp of lingering soul, an illusion she had condensed with her obsession over five hundred years. I reached out to try and hold her, but only grasped emptiness.

“Your Majesty!” I chased after her dissipating direction, but only saw a blood moon rising from the clouds. Under the moonlight, the remnants of the Ferry of Tribulation transformed into specks of golden light, gathering into a complete golden hairpin, slowly falling into my palm.

On the golden hairpin, a new copper coin had appeared—our token for this life.

Chapter Eight: This Life’s Promise
The blood moon set in the west, and the last dewdrops of the morning condensed on the glazed tiles of the Hall of Eternal Life. I stood before the hall, holding the fully repaired golden hairpin in my hand. The clinking of the copper coins resonated, like a thousand-year-old unchanging promise.

“Holy Monk, His Majesty’s last will has been drafted,” the old eunuch held up a silk scroll with both hands, his forehead pressed against the bluestone slab. “She… she commanded that all the rare treasures she collected throughout her life from the Western Regions be gifted to the Holy Monk, as…”

“As a betrothal gift for the next life.” I took the silk scroll, my fingertips touching the familiar vermillion seal—her favorite pomegranate red. Unfurling it, I saw thirty-eight items listed in dense rows: pebbles from by Lingyun Ferry, peony seeds from the Royal Garden of the Kingdom of Women, and even the torn rag from my cassock that I had left on the Five Elements Mountain.

The bronze bell in the corner of the hall suddenly chimed, startling me and making the silk scroll in my hand fall. The golden hairpin slipped from my sleeve, tracing a golden line in the sunlight, landing precisely on the words “Five Elements Mountain” on the silk scroll. In a trance, I seemed to see her standing outside the hall, the golden bells in her hair gently swaying, her eyebrows and eyes as bright as when we first met.

“I told you…” A soft laugh came from the void. I sharply turned my head, only to see a red-clad girl standing under a bodhi tree. She had her back to me, the golden bells on her wrist identical to those in my memory: “Five hundred years ago, you endured all tribulations. Today, it’s my turn… no, it’s my turn to wait for you.”

The girl turned, the vermillion mole at the corner of her eye crimson like blood, but no longer retaining its former majesty. She wore the simplest lotus root-colored silk dress, with only a wooden hairpin in her hair, and held a bulging bundle in her arms—the very one I had lost on the Five Elements Mountain.

“This bun has your favorite sesame filling,” she walked forward and pressed the bundle into my arms, her fingertips slightly cool. “This time, I’ll go first. Remember, the Ferry of Tribulation… needs two people to row it together.”

I remembered the tears in her eyes five hundred years ago by Lingyun Ferry when she pushed me off the boat. It turned out she had long known this was the curse of reincarnation, yet she still leaped into the River of Oblivion without hesitation, just to seek me out once.

“This time, I won’t leave you behind again.” I held her hand, the warmth in my palm so real it brought tears to my eyes.

But she suddenly coughed violently, and specks of golden light leaked from between her fingers—the residual poison of the soul-devouring parasite was still corroding her soul. I quickly circulated my cultivation to heal her, but found that the Golden Cicada’s bloodline within me was rapidly dissipating.

“Fool,” she held my cultivating hand. “Do you know that karmic reincarnation is the most fair? You saved all sentient beings, but only failed yourself.”

Before she finished speaking, a great golden light suddenly erupted around me. All the prayer beads on my wrist shattered, transforming into specks of golden light that merged into her body. The residual poison of the soul-devouring parasite was cleansed, but my body began to become transparent.

“No!” She frantically reached for my sleeve, but only grasped a wisp of golden light. “Royal Brother!”

“Remember, the Ferry of Tribulation…” I tried to gaze into her eyes, completing the sentence I had left unfinished in my past life, “needs two people to row it together.”

Before the last wisp of golden light dissipated, I saw her press the golden hairpin into her mouth. Instantly, her pupils transformed into brilliant golden lotuses, completely merging with my memories—it turned out this was the true last chapter of the “Great Solar Tathagata Heart Sutra”: attaining enlightenment through love, ending reincarnation.

The bells of Chang’an suddenly chimed. I stood in the clouds, gazing at the Hall of Eternal Life in the distance. The red-clad girl stood before the hall, clutching the faded red string in her hand, the golden bells on her wrist jingling. She looked up at the sky, a smile on her lips, but tears shimmering in her eyes.

I knew that this life’s reincarnation had ended. In the next life, we would reunite in a teahouse in Chang’an, and she would smile and ask me: “Sir, would you like a bowl of sesame-filled buns?”

And I would reply: “My lady, may I borrow a copper coin? I want to buy the golden bells on your wrist.”

Chapter Nine: Teahouse Reunion
The autumn mist of Chang’an was like gauze. I stood before the teahouse at the corner of West Market Street, the copper bells on the eaves gently chiming in the wind. The teahouse was called “A Leaf Boat,” its signboard somewhat faded, yet it inexplicably reminded me of the Ferry of Tribulation at Lingyun Ferry.

“Sir, what can I do for you?” The waiter enthusiastically greeted me, wiping a wooden table with a rag in his hand, but a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes—this man, dressed in plain cloth, had a gaze that seemed to flow with golden light.

“Please bring a bowl of sesame-filled buns,” I casually found a seat by the window. Outside the window was the bustling West Market.

The waiter went to do as I asked. I rubbed my sleeve cuff, where a faded copper coin was hidden. The smile of the red-clad girl I saw in my dream last night was still clear; she seemed to be holding the same copper coin in her hand. The teahouse door curtain was blown by the wind. I looked up and saw a red-clad figure standing across the street.

She wore a veiled hat, a simple and elegant silk dress, and the golden bells on her wrist glittered in the sunlight. Even across the crowd, I could recognize that familiar gait—it was deliberately slowed, yet it couldn’t hide the brightness of the vermillion mole at the corner of her eye.

The copper bell chimed softly, and the waiter walked over with steaming hot buns: “Sir, your sesame-filled buns.”

I nodded in thanks, but saw that the red figure had already pushed open the door and entered. There weren’t many customers in the teahouse. She stood by the door, looked around, and her gaze finally landed on me. At that moment, time seemed to freeze.

“My lady, would you like a bowl of sesame-filled buns?” I heard myself speak, my voice hoarse beyond recognition.

She slowly removed her veiled hat, revealing a face identical to the one in my memories. The vermillion mole at the corner of her eye was crimson like blood, and the wooden hairpin in her hair was simple and plain, exactly as in my dream. Her lips curved slightly, but her eyes held complex emotions I couldn’t understand: “Sir, you jest. I… am just passing by.”

The bun in my hand suddenly became scalding hot, the steam blurring my vision. Five hundred years of reincarnation memories flashed back in my mind—the Golden Imperial Palace of the Kingdom of Women, the Ferry of Tribulation at Lingyun Ferry, the red string knot on the Five Elements Mountain… It turned out those weren’t dreams, but imprints carved deep in my soul.

“Do you recognize this copper coin?” I took the faded copper coin from my sleeve and placed it on the table.

Her gaze fell on the copper coin, and her fingers trembled slightly. Only then did I realize that one of the golden bells on her wrist was missing, and that empty space could perfectly fit my copper coin.

“This is…” Just as she spoke, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the teahouse.

The waiter rushed in anxiously: “This is bad! Someone’s causing trouble across the street!”

I instinctively stood up, but saw the red-clad girl hurrying out. Her steps were urgent, and the golden bells on her wrist resonated with my copper coin, producing a crisp sound. I unhesitatingly chased after her.

On the street, several thugs were surrounding an elderly street performer. The red-clad girl stood in front of the elder, her voice clear and cold: “In broad daylight, are you bullying people too much?”

“Oh, where did this little lady come from to meddle in other people’s business?” The leading thug sneered as he stepped forward.

I clenched my fist, the Golden Cicada’s bloodline boiling within me. However, the anticipated golden light did not appear. I found myself to be just an ordinary person, unable to even fight those thugs. Just then, the red-clad girl suddenly pulled a wooden hairpin from her hair. With a flick of her wrist, the wooden hairpin transformed into a golden light, repelling the thugs.

“Ferry of Tribulation…” I murmured, finally understanding why her golden bells were missing one—that copper coin was her magical artifact.

The thugs fled in a hurry, but the girl suddenly staggered and leaned against the wall, the golden bells on her wrist emitting an ear-splitting wail. I supported her trembling body. She looked up at me, her eyes actually shimmering with tears: “Royal Brother, in these five hundred years of reincarnation, have you ever regretted it?”

I held her hand tightly, feeling each other’s warmth: “In this life, I will never let go again.”

She suddenly took out a faded red string knot from her bosom. Three copper coins were strung on the knot—precisely our tokens from three lives and three reincarnations. The red string suddenly transformed into golden light, enveloping us. In a trance, I saw the streets and alleys of Chang’an transform into a sky full of stars, and we stood under the bodhi tree, watching a new cycle of reincarnation begin.

Amidst the curling tea aroma, the waiter’s alarmed voice came: “Sir? Sir, are you alright?”

I opened my eyes and found myself still sitting in the teahouse, the buns in front of me long since cold. And on the opposite seat, no one was there, only that faded copper coin, gleaming in the sunlight.

Outside the window, a red-clad figure walked by with an umbrella, the golden bells on her wrist jingling crisply. I chased out the door, only to see that red figure gradually disappear into the misty rain at the end of the rain-soaked alley.

I knew that this life’s promise had been fulfilled. And where would we reunite in the next reincarnation?

Chapter Ten: The Final Chapter of Reincarnation
Deep in the rain-soaked alley, the red figure had vanished without a trace. I stood still, holding the faded copper coin. The rain curtain from the eaves was like pearls, and in a trance, I couldn’t distinguish whether what I had just seen was real or an illusion. The copper coin in my palm felt hot, vaguely reflecting the direction of Chang’an’s underground currents—winding east from the corner of West Market Street, passing through the Vermillion Bird Gate of the Imperial City, and reaching the mountain gate of Daci’en Temple.

“Has the benefactor lost their way?” A hoarse inquiry suddenly came from beside me. I turned to see a hunched old monk holding an oil-paper umbrella in the rain. The nine-petal lotus embroidered on his monk’s robe had faded to gray. His withered fingers rubbed prayer beads, each bodhi bead carved with tiny Sanskrit script.

My head jolted. This string of prayer beads was clearly a gift Xuanzang had personally given to the Queen of the Kingdom of Women that year.

“Master, do you recognize this copper coin?” I held out the copper coin. Rainwater dripped from between my fingers, forming a small puddle in the concave part of the coin.

The old monk took the copper coin, and his cloudy eyes suddenly gleamed. He tremblingly pressed the copper coin to his chest, and his entire body swayed like a flickering candle in the wind: “Five hundred… five hundred years have passed…” The broken prayer beads slipped from his fingers, echoing hollowly on the bluestone slab. “That child has finally waited for the welcoming person.”

“What welcoming?” I grabbed the old monk’s wrist. A burning pain shot through his pulse—it wasn’t a person’s pulse at all, but a rhythm like the movement of stars.

The old monk suddenly laughed up at the sky, his laughter shaking the rain curtain. His withered face began to peel away, revealing a young and handsome face beneath: “Golden Cicada, you finally came.”

My blood instantly froze. This face was identical to the Buddha’s face in the murals of Daci’en Temple in my memories. The rain curtain parted around him, revealing the majestic Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the background. Copper bells hung from the eaves of each story of the pagoda. They were now ringing without wind, making a sound identical to the golden bells on the red-clad girl’s wrist.

“Come with me,” he pulled open his monk’s robe, revealing a hideous scar on his chest—the mark of being pierced by the Golden-Band Cudgel. Golden blood slowly flowed from the wound, forming a glowing stream on the ground. “When the Tathagata mended the heavens with five-colored stones back then, the three Buddha sariras that leaked out are waiting for you at the bottom of the pagoda.”

As we entered Daci’en Temple, twilight had already tinged the flying eaves. The copper lock of the sutra repository opened by itself without wind, and the stairs creaked underfoot. The old monk’s figure gradually blurred in the shadows, only his voice echoing within the pagoda: “Each sarira corresponds to one life of reincarnation. The day they are all collected is when karma ends.”

Deep in the underground palace, the bronze lamp tree suddenly ignited. In the flickering firelight, three sariras floated on lotus pedestals, emitting a soft golden light. The topmost sarira clearly reflected the red-clad girl wiping sweat from my face in the teahouse; the middle one was her expression, wanting to speak but hesitating, by Lingyun Ferry; the bottommost one…

“Little mouth!” The old monk’s warning came too late. The underground palace suddenly vibrated violently, and black mist surged from cracks in the walls. The black mist condensed into Sha Wujing’s face, and his nine heads simultaneously opened their enormous bloody mouths: “Golden Cicada, do you think collecting the sariras will allow you to escape reincarnation?”

I instinctively shielded the sariras with my arm, but saw those black mists scream upon touching the golden light. The most fragile third sarira suddenly flew towards my mouth, passing through my chest as if through flowing water. In the intense pain, I saw myself dissipate into golden light, and the red-clad girl’s voice came from all directions:

“In this life, it’s my turn to seek you.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on a couch in West Market. Above my head was the familiar blue cloth canopy, with twin lotuses embroidered on the corners. A red-clad figure stood beside me, wiping my forehead with a damp cloth.

“You’ve finally woken up,” her eyes were tearful, the golden bells on her wrist gently jingling. “That bowl of sesame-filled buns has waited for you for five hundred years.”

I held the hand she extended, its warmth real and comforting. From outside the window came the waiter’s shouts, the laughter of tea customers, and the faint chime of bells in the distance.

In this life, there were no Buddhist precepts, no heavenly decrees, no reincarnation curses. Only the autumn sun of Chang’an, the mundane life of West Market, and the everyday life of a normal couple.

“Sir, your buns are getting cold,” the waiter’s voice came from outside the door, identical to five hundred years ago.

She smiled and stood up, the wooden hairpin in her hair gently swaying: “I’ll go warm your buns for you.” As she turned, the golden bells on her wrist and the faded copper coin by the bedhead simultaneously emitted a crisp sound.

I rubbed the red string knot under my pillow, and suddenly understood: the so-called perfection, was simply finally being able to grow old slowly with you, in a mortal body.