Su Xiaoli, a modern history student, transmigrates to the world of Journey to the West because of a family heirloom: a jade pendant carved with a nine-tailed fox. She accidentally gets caught up in the pilgrimage west. Though she has no strength to speak of, her foreknowledge of the story and modern knowledge help her escape danger time and again amid demons and monsters. In Tang Monk’s eyes, she gradually changes from “an orphan blessed with a connection to Buddha” into an indispensable member of the pilgrimage team.
As the journey west deepens, Su Xiaoli discovers that the pendant conceals the ancient secrets of the Fox Clan: she is, in fact, the inheritor of the bloodline of the ancient Fox Emperor. This identity makes her the focus of a power struggle between Heaven, the sacred mountain of Ling, and the demon tribes, while her relationships with Wukong, Bajie, Shaseng, and the others grow increasingly complicated. Bringing a modern mindset into collision with the rules of a world of gods and demons, she challenges the prejudice that “those who are not of our kind must have different hearts” with the belief that “all living beings are equal.” And after uncovering the truth of how the Fox Emperor was betrayed by the Tathagata, she faces the ultimate choice: protect her companions or overturn Heaven’s mandate.
