Crowned in a golden body, surrounded by the chanting of Buddhist hymns, the Fighting Buddha returns to his place as one hundred thousand heavenly gods celebrate.
But when those fiery golden eyes close, memories surge back like a tide
The White Bone Demon changed form three times, always appearing when his resolve wavered.
Guanyin descended through the clouds again and again, revealing herself whenever the master and his disciples were about to part ways.
Even the pain of the headband curse seemed to come at precisely the moment someone chose to recite it...
The eighty-one trials were no calamity. They were a trap.
Every demon had powerful backers; every hardship was arranged.
The pilgrimage for scriptures was nothing but a carefully staged ordeal.
Enlightenment was merely a crown meant to tame the most defiant spirit of all.
He had leapt from a stone egg on Flower-Fruit Mountain, believing the whole world was his to roam.
Who could have guessed that he had been caught in a scheme from the moment he was born?
Now that he knows the truth, how could he bow again?
Better to retrace his steps, journeying from Spirit Mountain back to Flower-Fruit Mountain, smashing old causes and consequences along the way, and asking once more:
“Who decided this fate?”
“Does this true scripture save all living beings, or the one moving the pieces?”
