The stock closing formula of the chaptered novel (章回小說), here in a slightly abbreviated form: rather than naming the persons in suspense, it asks simply how it went "with their lives." The cliff-hanger is well placed — Wukong and Bajie are on their way to the shrine in the shapes of two children, the Numinous King is expected, and the chapter breaks before the demon so much as appears.

The suspension also marks the true beginning of the 通天河 arc rather than its close. Chapter 47 has done the work of establishing the barrier, the village, and the price it pays; the demon's nature, the fight over the sacrifice, and the frozen river that follows all belong to the chapters ahead. What the closing line withholds is not the outcome of a duel but the reader's first sight of the King himself.