Book 8 starts off the morning before a battle. The Chinese and the Muslim Empire have been fighting a war for twenty years. The battle takes place in trenches, basically the same trench warfare of WWI. Artillery showers and poisonous gas attacks were used extensively by both sides. Major Kuo, Bai and Iwa were commanding the troops. Each night they would get together, have a drink, and talk. One night a large artillery shell landed at their quarters, killing Kuo. The shell was a dud so Bai and Iwa escaped with minor injuries. The Muslims have started a huge offensive. As Bai started to head out he is confronted by Kou. Bai thought Kou was dead. Kuo then tells Bai that he is dead, and so is he. He tells Bai that they are in the bardo and Bai wouldn't accept the fact that he is dead. Kuo tells Bai that there is another war, in the bardo, which is far more important. Then Bai wakes up and finds himself in the comm room and tells Iwa alll about it. The Muslims began another assault and Bai and Iwa have evacuated and headed south on trains. They were going to India. They had to get throught Tibet and the Himalayas which was defended by the Muslims. They blasted the Mt. Everest so it isn't the worlds tallest mountain. They wanted the mountain in Afghanistan to be the worlds tallest. Bai was reading The Book of the Dead which he got from Iwa and started to zone out into the bardo. He looked outside and saw many armies of dead men gathered by different faction. He figured out that there was a war in the bardo between the gods. Bai then awakes from his dazed coma and finds the Chinese defenses destroyed at the Himalayas. Soon they met up with Indian generals. The Indians were planning a counter attack and asked the Chinese for support. The Indians were successful at routing the Muslims and then Bai and Iwa found themselves at the ruins of Bodh-Gaya. This is the location of the where the Bodhi tree once stood, where the Buddha had achieved enlightenment. The area was ravaged because of the artillery bombardment of the Muslims.The Kou appears before Bai and hands him a branch of the tree. He tells Bai that they both had past-lives, Kou was admiral Kheim and Bai was Butterfly. Bai doesnt recall anything so Kou tells him the story. (Book 3). Kou tells Bai that they are at the lowest realm of existence and that they failed at life. Bai is scared and wakes up finding Iwa. Iwa then talks to Bai about life, asking if there is an after-life or not. then they met up with the Indian officers and relaxed, they were at peace.