灵YaoBound Lore中文

Journey to the West · Chapter 99 ledger

Eighty-one trials.
Not eighty-one demons.

A bilingual, source-checked list of all 81 Journey to the West tribulations, explaining why they are not 81 demon battles and how the final trial completes the count.

The direct answer

Chapter 99 counts a life of ordeal, then discovers it is still one short.

The novel does not present 81 equal-sized adventures or 81 monsters. Its ledger breaks some arcs into several tests and includes hardships that have no demon at all: Tripitaka’s endangered infancy, recruiting disciples, illness, marriage pressure, imprisonment, and even shedding his mortal body.

The poem in chapter 99 names only 80. Guanyin reads it, invokes the completion of nine times nine, and orders one more hardship. The white turtle’s act at Heaven-Reaching River becomes the missing 81st.

The complete ledger

Nine groups of nine, with the original Chinese labels preserved.

01

Trials 1–9

  1. 01
    Golden Cicada is demoted金蝉遭贬
  2. 02
    Nearly killed at birth出胎几杀
  3. 03
    Cast into the river at one month old满月抛江
  4. 04
    Finding his kin and avenging the wrong寻亲报冤
  5. 05
    Meeting a tiger outside the city出城逢虎
  6. 06
    The attendant is lost and the monk falls into a pit折从落坑
  7. 07
    The ordeal at Double-Fork Ridge双叉岭上
  8. 08
    The ordeal at Two-Worlds Mountain两界山头
  9. 09
    Replacing the horse at the steep ravine陡涧换马
02

Trials 10–18

  1. 10
    The night fire夜被火烧
  2. 11
    Losing the cassock失却袈裟
  3. 12
    Recruiting Zhu Bajie收降八戒
  4. 13
    Blocked by the Yellow Wind monster黄风怪阻
  5. 14
    Seeking help from Lingji请求灵吉
  6. 15
    Unable to cross the Flowing Sands流沙难渡
  7. 16
    Recruiting Sha Wujing收得沙僧
  8. 17
    The Four Sages appear in disguise四圣显化
  9. 18
    The ordeal at Five Villages Abbey五庄观中
03

Trials 19–27

  1. 19
    Struggling to revive the ginseng tree难活人参
  2. 20
    Banishment of the Mind Monkey贬退心猿
  3. 21
    Separated in Black Pine Forest黑松林失散
  4. 22
    Delivering the letter in Baoxiang Kingdom宝象国捎书
  5. 23
    Transformed into a tiger in the throne hall金銮殿变虎
  6. 24
    Meeting demons at Level-Top Mountain平顶山逢魔
  7. 25
    Suspended in Lotus Cave莲花洞高悬
  8. 26
    Rescuing the king of Wuji乌鸡国救主
  9. 27
    Transformed by the demon被魔化身
04

Trials 28–36

  1. 28
    Meeting the monster at Mount Hao号山逢怪
  2. 29
    The holy monk is swept away风摄圣僧
  3. 30
    The Mind Monkey is harmed心猿遭害
  4. 31
    Inviting a sage to subdue the demon请圣降妖
  5. 32
    Sunk in the Black River黑河沉没
  6. 33
    Moving the carts in Chechi Kingdom搬运车迟
  7. 34
    The great contest of victory and defeat大赌输赢
  8. 35
    Expelling the Daoists and restoring the monks祛道兴僧
  9. 36
    The road blocked by great waters路逢大水
05

Trials 37–45

  1. 37
    Falling into the Heaven-Reaching River身落天河
  2. 38
    The fish basket appears鱼篮现身
  3. 39
    Meeting the monster at Mount Dou兜山遇怪
  4. 40
    All the gods of heaven fail to subdue it普天神难伏
  5. 41
    Asking the Buddha for the creature’s origin问佛根源
  6. 42
    Poisoned after drinking the water吃水遭毒
  7. 43
    Pressed into marriage in Western Liang西梁国留婚
  8. 44
    Suffering in Pipa Cave琵琶洞受苦
  9. 45
    The Mind Monkey is banished again再贬心猿
06

Trials 46–54

  1. 46
    Unable to distinguish the macaque难辨猕猴
  2. 47
    The road blocked by Flaming Mountain路阻火焰山
  3. 48
    Seeking the Plantain Fan求取芭蕉扇
  4. 49
    Binding the Demon King收缚魔王
  5. 50
    Sweeping the pagoda in Jisai Kingdom赛城扫塔
  6. 51
    Recovering the treasure and saving the monks取宝救僧
  7. 52
    Composing verse at Bramble Ridge棘林吟咏
  8. 53
    The disaster at Little Thunderclap小雷音遇难
  9. 54
    The celestial gods are trapped诸天神遭困
07

Trials 55–63

  1. 55
    Blocked by the filth of Persimmon Alley稀柿衕秽阻
  2. 56
    Practising medicine in Zhuzi Kingdom朱紫国行医
  3. 57
    Healing the ailing king拯救疲癃
  4. 58
    Subduing the demon and retrieving the queen降妖取后
  5. 59
    Confounded by the seven passions七情迷没
  6. 60
    Injured by the Many-Eyed demon多目遭伤
  7. 61
    The road blocked at Lion-Camel路阻狮驼
  8. 62
    The three monsters reveal their forms怪分三色
  9. 63
    Disaster inside the city城里遇灾
08

Trials 64–72

  1. 64
    Asking the Buddha to collect the demons请佛收魔
  2. 65
    Saving the children of Bhiksu Kingdom比丘救子
  3. 66
    Distinguishing truth from deception辨认真邪
  4. 67
    Rescuing the creature in the pine forest松林救怪
  5. 68
    Falling ill in the monks’ quarters僧房卧病
  6. 69
    Trapped in Bottomless Cave无底洞遭困
  7. 70
    The ordeal in the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom灭法国难行
  8. 71
    Meeting the demon at Hidden-Mist Mountain隐雾山遇魔
  9. 72
    Seeking rain for Fengxian Prefecture凤仙郡求雨
09

Trials 73–81

  1. 73
    The weapons are stolen失落兵器
  2. 74
    The celebration of the recovered rake会庆钉钯
  3. 75
    The ordeal at Bamboo-Joint Mountain竹节山遭难
  4. 76
    Suffering in Xuanying Cave玄英洞受苦
  5. 77
    Pursuing and capturing the rhinoceros kings赶捉犀牛
  6. 78
    The marriage proposal in Tianzhu天竺招婚
  7. 79
    Imprisoned in Tongtai Prefecture铜台府监禁
  8. 80
    Shedding the mortal body at Cloud-Crossing Ferry凌云渡脱胎
  9. 81
    Cast into Heaven-Reaching River (editorial label)通天河落水（说明性标题）

How number 81 is made

The final trial is not waiting on the road. It is ordered after the journey appears complete.

80

The ledger ends at liberation

Number 80 is shedding the mortal body at Cloud-Crossing Ferry. By ordinary narrative logic, the pilgrims have reached the Buddha, received the scriptures, and finished.

9×9

Form requires one more ordeal

Guanyin does not reinterpret the existing 80. She orders the guardians to create one more, making the sacred arithmetic visible inside the plot.

81

A forgotten promise completes the count

Tripitaka admits he forgot to ask the Buddha about the turtle’s future. The turtle throws everyone into the river; the scriptures are soaked and partly damaged. Completion arrives through an unresolved obligation.

Frequently asked questions

Are the 81 tribulations 81 demon battles?

No. Chapter 99 counts events from Tripitaka’s previous-life demotion and endangered childhood alongside recruitment, illness, imprisonment, temptation, requests for help, and monster encounters. One story arc can also produce several numbered trials.

Why does the written list stop at number 80?

Guanyin reads the ledger and notices that one trial is missing. The pilgrims are dropped at Heaven-Reaching River, where the white turtle throws them and the scriptures into the water after Tripitaka admits forgetting a promise. That event completes number 81.

Why exactly 81?

The chapter explicitly invokes nine times nine returning to completion. Eighty-one is therefore a number of fulfilled religious ordeal, and the narrative deliberately creates a final hardship to complete it.

Are the 81 tribulations the same as 81 chapters?

No. The novel has 100 chapters. A single arc can be counted as multiple trials, while a trial can span chapters. The ledger in chapter 99 is a retrospective spiritual accounting, not an alternate table of contents.

Primary-text evidence

The count, the missing trial, and the river incident all appear in chapter 99.

The first 80 labels follow the public Chinese text. Number 81 uses an editorial label because the chapter narrates the event after the numbered poem instead of adding one more named line to the ledger.

Published and source-checked: July 2026.

From the number to YaoBound

YaoBound borrows the pressure of a completed count—not the fiction that every hardship is one monster.

The game’s hundred-floor Demon-Subduing Tower and post-pilgrimage world are original systems. This guide keeps the classic’s 81-trial ledger separate, so adaptation can echo the number without rewriting what the source actually counts.

Compare the 25 major demon encounters →Browse all lore guides →See YaoBound’s game systems →