Journey to the West 81 Cases: Chronicles of the Western Kings (Sifang Pavilion)

In the year 629 AD, during the autumn of the third year of the Zhenguan era, Xuanzang embarked on his journey to the West, secretly crossing the borders of the desert and entering the Western Regions. At this time, the Western Regions were on the eve of a great upheaval not seen in four hundred years. That same year, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, launched a war to annihilate the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. That year, the Khagan of the Western Turks, Tong Yabghu, was torn between war and peace. That year, the states of the Western Regions contended for dominance over the Silk Road amidst the smoke and flames of war. That year, the ancient Persian Empire collapsed in its war against Byzantium, and Byzantium, along with the Western Turks, besieged Baghdad. In the twilight of the Persian Empire, Emperor Khosrow II devised an unfathomable scheme—to send the legendary David’s Jar to Emperor Li Shimin of Tang! Thus, a peak strategic battle that would alter the seventh-century world order began to unfold in the deserts of the Western Regions. In the Western Regions, demons stirred, and the son of Buddha came from the East. This David’s Jar, a fusion of legend, magic, and demonic power, ultimately collided with Xuanzang in the Western Regions! The King of Gaochang, the King of Tokhara, two generations of Persian emperors, and four generations of Turkic Khagans—all the kings of the Western Regions met their demise under the curse of David’s Jar. As this battle between Buddha and demons drew to a close, Xuanzang realized that he had just stepped into an even more terrifying and eerie journey.