The trio enter Hell and successfully bypass the first gate to the levels of Feng-tu by impersonating an official inspector with his retinue, made possible by the Neo-Confucians having taken over the running of the place. Number Ten Ox's look in the mirror reveals this to be his first human incarnation. Moon Boy, however, is the most recent on an attempt to reform a seriously evil soul. Li also discovers that the Laughing prince has yet to arrive in Hell. Eventually, they trick their way out of Hell, arriving back in the garden where they started, with the location of the apple.