Pilgrim Sun urged Tripitaka to mount the horse, and the journey resumed. The monkey strode ahead, carrying the luggage on his back. He was naked and limping slightly.
Xuanzang was about to leave the desert and enter an oasis. Ahead awaited the 36 Western kingdoms. How would these distant lands, far removed from Chinese civilization, receive a monk from the Tang Empire?
In Journey to the West, most female spirits or demons capture the Tang Monk because they desire to marry him. Only two exceptions exist: the White Bone Spirit and the Seven Spider Spirits. Both groups sought the Tang Sanzang’s “flesh” (for immortality) and showed no sexual or romantic interest in men.