Recaps

After returning from the underworld, Xuanzang and Wukong reunited with their companions at the Blackwater River. Prince Mo Ang opened a path through the river, and the group set out across it after the Northern Sea Dragon King’s punishment was settled.

• Taibai Jinxing and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva departed, and Ao Shun thanked Xuanzang before returning to the Northern Sea.
• Xuanzang called Wukong away from the Kings of Hell, and Diting transported them back to the Blackwater River.
• Bajie, Sha Wujing, Little White Dragon, and A-Hu welcomed Xuanzang and Wukong, and Wukong explained that Ao Shun would serve three hundred years in the sea eye.
• Prince Mo Ang arrived with the Blackwater River God’s divine seal and offered to help the group cross safely.
• Mo Ang parted the river, and Xuanzang and his companions began crossing while Bajie complained about their lack of rest.

Xuanzang and his disciples continued their long journey, passing the time with contests as Little White Dragon tried to prove he could cook. The chapter left him guarding a pot of brown rice and insisting he would succeed this time.

• Xuanzang and his disciples traveled through increasingly empty lands, preaching to lesser demons and recording them with the local earth gods.
• Wukong, Bajie, Little White Dragon, and Sha Wujing began holding daily contests, with Xuanzang acting as their judge.
• The disciples competed in tests of balance, sleeping, silence, and scripture copying, taking turns winning.
• Little White Dragon lost a cooking contest to Bajie after Xuanzang tasted his porridge and said his cooking needed improvement.
• Little White Dragon began cooking another meal alone, while Bajie teased him and he insisted he would not mess up again.

Little White Dragon successfully cooked porridge for Xuanzang, earned his praise, and made Bajie honor their bet. The pilgrims then reached a city where Wukong discovered monks being forced to haul building materials uphill under two Daoist priests’ orders.

• Little White Dragon served Xuanzang wild greens porridge, and Xuanzang praised his cooking.
• Bajie conceded their bet after Wukong and Sha Wujing insisted he keep his word.
• The disciples shared the porridge and continued their journey the next morning.
• Wukong flew ahead after hearing a loud uproar and spotted a city beside a steep ridge.
• Wukong saw exhausted monks hauling carts uphill while two young Daoist priests ordered them to hurry.

Wukong disguised himself as a wandering Daoist to investigate the abuse of monks in Chechi Kingdom. After learning that three demon spirits had won royal favor by bringing rain, he discovered that the monks were forced to labor for the Daoist order under threat of whipping.

• Wukong saw monks struggling under hemp ropes and decided to save them before returning to his master.
• Wukong transformed into a Wandering Daoist and approached two young Daoists, asking about the city and its hospitality toward Daoists.
• The young Daoists told Wukong that Chechi Kingdom cherished the Dao and named their masters Great Immortal Huli, Deer Power Immortal, and Great Immortal Yang Li.
• The young Daoists explained that their masters had brought rain during a drought and earned the king's favor.
• The young Daoists said the king had destroyed Buddhist temples, confiscated the monks' ordination certificates, and made the monks serve the Daoist order.
• The young Daoists revealed that they inspected the monks at work and whipped anyone they caught slacking.

Wukong pretended to search for a missing uncle so the two Daoists would let him inspect the monks forced to haul carts. He learned that the Chechi Kingdom’s persecution of monks had trapped the surviving laborers in a misery they could neither escape nor die from.

• Wukong claimed his missing uncle might be among the monks and persuaded the Blue-Robed Daoist and Green-Robed Daoist to let him search the sandbank.
• The monks mistook Wukong for an overseer and begged him to save them, but he scolded them for acting without dignity.
• The monks’ elder explained that the king persecuted Buddhists after three immortals gained his favor, and that decrees and rewards for informants made escape nearly impossible.
• The elder told Wukong that thousands of monks had been captured, while the five hundred survivors could neither escape nor kill themselves, and endured hunger and exposure.

Wukong met the imprisoned monks and learned they had survived by clinging to Taibai Jinxing’s promise that he would rescue them. He revealed himself to Shanbao, freed the monks, and enlarged his Dharma Form to challenge their tormentors in the city.

• Wukong questioned the monks about the immortals and buddhas who kept them alive, and learned Taibai Jinxing had promised they would be rescued by the Great Sage Equal to Heaven Sun Wukong.
• Shanbao defended his faith in Wukong and refused to leave the beach, even when the old monk offered to have Wukong claim him as kin.
• Wukong asked Shanbao if he wanted to see the Great Sage, then revealed his golden armor and identified himself.
• Wukong’s golden light snapped the ropes and shackles binding the monks, and Shanbao recited the verse describing the Great Sage.
• Wukong expanded into a vast Dharma Form, declared himself the Holy Monk’s eldest disciple, and challenged the heretical charlatans and the king to face him.

Wukong confronted the Chechi Kingdom over its persecution of the monks, terrifying the king and summoning the attention of the three National Preceptors. Great Immortal Huli claimed the brothers had been wrongly blamed and asked Wukong to hear their side.

• Wukong's towering Dharma Form appeared outside the Chechi Kingdom and demanded that the king answer for persecuting the monks.
• The king saw Wukong, panicked, and ordered his attendants to summon the three National Preceptors.
• The oppressed monks watched Wukong in astonishment, while Shanbao celebrated that the Great Sage had come to save them.
• Great Immortal Huli, Deer Power Immortal, and Great Immortal Yang Li flew out to confront Wukong.
• Wukong identified himself as Sun Wukong and rebuked the National Preceptors for their arrogance.
• Great Immortal Huli greeted Wukong and insisted that the brothers had been deceived and wrongly blamed for the monks' suffering.

Wukong listened as the three demons defended their persecution of the monks, then challenged their claims of a conflict between Buddhism and Daoism. He condemned them for abandoning the Dao and asked whether they had ever wondered why the five hundred monks could not die.

• Great Immortal Huli explained that the former ruler favored Buddhists, while the monks failed to bring rain during a drought and the three demons saved the kingdom with Daoist rites.
• Yang Li and Deer Power Immortal defended the demons’ treatment of the monks and declared they would fight rather than disgrace their Daoist Order.
• Wukong laughed at the demons’ account and questioned who had taught them that Buddhism and Daoism were in conflict.
• Wukong invoked his ties to heavenly and Buddhist figures, argued that the Dao did not contend, and accused the demons of bringing disgrace upon the Three Pure Ones.
• Wukong asked the demons why the five hundred monks could not die and whether they had ever tried to find out.

Wukong rebuked the three immortals for exploiting the Chechi Kingdom and mistaking the Dao for a struggle over offerings, power, and prestige. He left them speechless by condemning their abuse of mortals and their claim to represent the Daoist Order.

• Wukong revealed that the monks had survived repeated attempts to die because divine beings, including the Six Ding and Six Jia and Taibai Jinxing, had secretly protected them.
• Yang Li defended the immortals’ fight for incense, resources, and survival, insisting that the Great Dao meant contention.
• Wukong recalled his old Daoist teacher’s instruction that the sage’s way was to act without contending, and explained that heaven and earth followed this principle.
• Wukong acknowledged that the immortals’ rainmaking had helped the kingdom but condemned their flattery of the king, oppression of the monks, and pursuit of Daoist prestige.
• Wukong accused the immortals of relying on supernatural powers rather than cultivating the Dao, and challenged them to see whether anyone cared about the Three Pure Ones’ statues if they were put in a latrine.

Wukong urged Great Immortal Huli, Deer Power Immortal, and Immortal Yang Li to abandon their defiance and return to helping the people, but they rejected his counsel and challenged him to fight. He easily defeated them while sparing their lives, leaving them bloodied and still trying to resist.

• Wukong criticized the three immortals for their conduct and recited teachings urging them to turn back.
• Great Immortal Huli rejected Wukong’s counsel, defended their struggle for power, and declared that the three would fight him to the death.
• Wukong drew the As-You-Will Golden Cudgel and invited the three immortals to attack.
• Great Immortal Huli’s broadsword snapped against Wukong, Deer Power Immortal’s sword energy dissolved, and Immortal Yang Li’s freezing breath could not reach him.
• Wukong struck the three immortals with the Golden Cudgel, shattered their combined shield, and knocked them into craters without seriously injuring them.
• Wukong told the bloodied immortals to stop resisting and called them stupid rather than evil.

Wukong bound Hu Li, Deer Power, and Yang Li and forced them to pull the monks’ cart toward the city while Shanbao rode with him. Meanwhile, Bajie and Little White Dragon rushed to help Wukong, then found the danger had passed and encountered the approaching cart and monks.

• Wukong tied Hu Li, Deer Power, and Yang Li with ropes and pulled them from the pit.
• Wukong made the three immortals harness themselves to the monks’ cart and ordered them to fetch Xuanzang from the highway.
• Shanbao joined Wukong on the cart as the monks followed across Overridge Pass.
• Xuanzang, Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Little White Dragon waited for Wukong, then saw his enormous Dharma Form appear in the distance.
• Xuanzang sent Bajie and Little White Dragon to help Wukong, but they found the commotion had ended.
• Bajie and Little White Dragon continued along the highway and saw Wukong’s cart approaching with the monks.

Wukong explained that the Three-Power Immortals had enslaved the monks of Chechi Kingdom and made them pull his cart. Xuanzang reunited with the monks, but three Shangqing Daoists arrived before the group decided what to do next.

• Wukong stopped his cart, which the Three-Power Immortals were pulling, and explained to Bajie and Little White Dragon that he had captured them after they mistreated the kingdom's monks.
• Wukong told Bajie that the immortals had forced the monks into labor, and Bajie angrily rebuked the three Daoists.
• Little White Dragon brought Xuanzang and Sha Wujing to Wukong, and Xuanzang greeted the gaunt monks, who recognized him as the Holy Monk from the Great Tang.
• Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong of Shangqing descended from the hillside and greeted Xuanzang, Wukong, and the others.

The Three Mao Perfected Lords arrived and revealed that the three great immortals were Mao Zhong’s pupils. Mao Zhong left the pilgrims to confront and punish them for abusing their power and disgracing their teachings.

• Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong introduced themselves to Xuanzang and his companions as the Three Mao Perfected Lords.
• Bajie explained that the brothers were Maoshan Shangqing patriarchs and described their standing and teachings.
• Mao Zhong revealed that Huli, Deer Power Immortal, and Yang Li had studied under him and had left Maoshan to live among mortals.
• Mao Zhong kicked the three pupils repeatedly as they knelt and pulled the cart.
• Mao Zhong berated the three for oppressing monks, abusing their authority, and challenging Wukong, while they kowtowed and admitted their guilt.

Mao Zhong ordered the three immortals to atone by freeing the monks’ ghosts, rebuilding temples, and serving the survivors. Mao Ying then revealed that the three Mao brothers had come by Yuanshi Tianzun’s decree to face Xuanzang’s party in three contests of magic.

• Mao Zhong told the three immortals to find the dead monks listed in Mao Ying’s jade register and help them reincarnate.
• Mao Zhong ordered the immortals to rebuild the temples, serve as attendants, heal the surviving monks, and dedicate their earned merit to them.
• Wukong suspected the three perfected lords had come for more than disciplining their disciples, and Bajie agreed their arrival seemed unusual.
• Mao Ying apologized to Xuanzang and his companions, then said the brothers had come by Yuanshi Tianzun’s decree.
• Mao Ying announced that the brothers would settle Tianzun’s karmic debt and face Xuanzang’s party in three contests of magic.

The Great Mao Lord explained that Yuanshi Tianzun had ordered three magical contests to settle the karma caused when Wukong and Bajie blocked the entrance to his sanctuary. Xuanzang accepted responsibility for the dispute, but Wukong eagerly approved the contest before the terms were settled.

• Wukong and Bajie challenged the Three Mao Lords' claim that their contest was required to settle karma owed to Yuanshi Tianzun.
• The Great Mao Lord traced the karma to Wukong and Bajie blocking the entrance to the Heavenly Venerable's sanctuary at Shangqing Heaven.
• The Great Mao Lord explained that Yuanshi Tianzun had instructed Dao Lord Zhenyuan to arrange a beating, but Zhenyuan forgot the message during his tribulation.
• Xuanzang accepted responsibility because he had directed Wukong and Bajie to Shangqing Heaven and asked how the debt would be settled.
• The Great Mao Lord proposed three magical contests, with Xuanzang as judge and a beating for Wukong and Bajie if the Three Mao Lords won.
• The Great Mao Lord presented a bamboo Ruler forged for the contest, and Xuanzang objected that he should bear any punishment before Wukong enthusiastically approved.

Sun Wukong and his fellow disciples accepted a three-round contest of magic against the Three Mao Perfected Lords, with Xuanzang appointed as judge. After Taibai Jinxing announced the rules before Guanyin and the gathered witnesses, Wukong objected that his side deserved a reward if they won.

• Sun Wukong, Bajie, Little White Dragon, and Sha Wujing stood together to protect Xuanzang and accepted the contest and its punishment.
• Taibai Jinxing arrived in formal attire and told Wukong to wait because the affair had become a major event.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared, drawing reverence from the gathered monks.
• Taibai Jinxing read Haotian's decree: the Three Mao Perfected Lords would face Xuanzang's disciples in three contests, with Xuanzang judging and the first side to win two rounds prevailing.
• Wukong protested that the rules offered punishment for losing but no reward for winning, and demanded a change.

Wukong demanded that the pilgrimage party receive the Bitter Bamboo Ruler if they won, and the heavenly authority accepted his condition before the contest began. The first round was set as a discussion between Wukong and Mao Ying about the karma of life and death.

• Wukong refused to compete unless the ruler Tianzun had bestowed on Mao Ying went to Xuanzang if the pilgrimage party won, and Bajie, Little White Dragon, and Sha Wujing backed him.
• A voice from the heavens agreed to Wukong's condition and decreed that all four disciples would be punished if they lost.
• Taibai Jinxing announced the best-of-three contest and brought the spectators and contestants into an array-disc arena.
• Taibai Jinxing named the first round the Director of Fate Match, pairing Sun Wukong with Mao Ying.
• Mao Ying proposed that he and Wukong discuss the karma of life and death rather than compete in divine powers or combat.

Mao Ying showed Wukong the suffering of the monkeys whose names he had erased from the Book of Life and Death. Wukong found Flower-Fruit Mountain devastated and learned that only a little over a thousand of his people remained, leaving him to confront the cost of the immortality he had given them.

• Mao Ying explained that the monkeys could still die but could not enter reincarnation, then invited Wukong into his art.
• Wukong appeared on a desolate Flower-Fruit Mountain and was greeted by a group of starving, frightened monkeys.
• The monkeys told Wukong that Erlang's fire, hunger, and hunters had reduced their once numerous population to about a thousand.
• Wukong went to Water Curtain Cave and met Marshals Ma and Liu and Generals Beng and Ba.
• Wukong silently faced the suffering of his remaining monkeys and recognized the consequences of erasing their death records.

After returning to Flower-Fruit Mountain, Wukong learned that hunters had been taking monkeys from the mountain every day and subdued a force of more than a thousand. He spared them for the moment and demanded to know why they had come, learning that their sovereign had sent them to seek immortality.

• Wukong asked Marshal Ma how often hunters came to Flower-Fruit Mountain and learned that they hunted there every day.
• Wukong sensed the hunters approaching, sent the monkeys deeper into Water Curtain Cave, and used a gale to disable and bring the hunters before the cave.
• The monkeys cheered and urged Wukong to kill the hunters, but he stopped them and questioned one man about the monkeys they had killed.
• Wukong demanded to know why the men had captured his monkey children and grandchildren, and an older hunter said their sovereign had sent them to seek immortality.

Wukong learned that the kingdom had captured Flower-Fruit Mountain’s monkeys to eat them, believing their flesh granted longevity. He spared the hunters, took responsibility for his descendants’ suffering, and began comforting them with a story.

• A hunter explained that the king had ordered the capture of monkeys after rumors spread that eating them prolonged life.
• General Beng and the monkeys demanded revenge, but Wukong said their suffering was his fault and told them to wait.
• Wukong revealed that he had erased the monkeys’ names from the Book of Life and Death, and warned that eating them brought vengeful ghosts and an early death.
• Wukong spared the humans and ordered them to tell their king that no one could enter Flower-Fruit Mountain or capture another monkey.
• As the monkeys wept, Wukong comforted a little monkey and said he would tell them a story.

Wukong explained why he had let his enemies go by telling the monkeys a story from Xuanzang about a Macaque King who sacrificed himself to save his troop during a drought. He revealed that the king came back to life, while Xuanzang watched with a frown and closed his eyes.

• Wukong gathered the monkeys and generals to hear a story about the Buddha, as told by Xuanzang.
• Wukong described how a Macaque King led his starving troop into a forbidden garden to find food.
• When the garden guards surrounded them, the Macaque King took responsibility and made a vine bridge so the monkeys could escape across a river.
• The Macaque King held on while all five hundred monkeys climbed over him, then fell to his death after his arms broke.
• Wukong told the monkeys that the Macaque King later came back to life, while Xuanzang watched the scene and closed his eyes.

Wukong stopped himself from killing the hunters and led the monkeys in reciting a sutra, causing their spirits to depart Cinder Mountain. Mao Ying revealed that the monkeys had died years earlier and remained trapped in a cycle of slaughter; although Wukong freed their souls, they still could not reincarnate.

• Wukong recalled his master's lesson that vengeance could perpetuate violence and promised the monkeys he would find them a way out.
• Wukong admitted he had failed to give the monkeys good lives, and they reassured him that they did not blame him.
• Wukong led the troop in reciting a sutra as golden light appeared across the mountain and the monkeys turned into points of light.
• The monkeys' light dispersed, leaving Wukong alone on Cinder Mountain.
• Mao Ying explained that the monkeys had died three years earlier and their souls had been trapped in an endless cycle, and said Wukong had freed them but not resolved the knot preventing their reincarnation.

Wukong learned that the monkey kind could not reincarnate because he had erased their names from the Register of Life and Death. He traded away his title, heavenly and immortal registers, and earned merit to restore their names, then returned the Jade Register to Great Mao Lord Mao Ying.

• Great Mao Lord Mao Ying told Wukong that no one could restore the erased names without a way to rewrite the monkey kind’s fates.
• Wukong pleaded with Heaven to restore the monkeys and offered his life, but received no response at first.
• Heaven revealed that the Tribulation Master had exchanged merit for a chance to restore the monkey lineage if Wukong surrendered his title, registers, and Journey to the West merit.
• Wukong accepted the exchange, and the Heavenly Dao removed his title, status, and merit while restoring the monkey kind’s names to the Jade Register.
• Wukong carried the Jade Register back to Water Curtain Cave and gave it to Great Mao Lord Mao Ying, who conceded the round; Wukong said he had not won.

After Wukong broke the karma fate game by making amends, Xuanzang judged the first round a draw and announced that he would no longer serve as judge. He then offered to enter the contest himself, but Yuanshi Tianzun objected and urged him to stay out of the field.

• Mao Ying acknowledged that the contest’s outcome depended on the judges as Flower-Fruit Mountain vanished and the white jade arena returned.
• Bajie, Little White Dragon, Sha Wujing, and Shanbao celebrated Wukong, while Taibai Jinxing and Guanyin Bodhisattva offered opposing judgments about who had won.
• Xuanzang praised Wukong for breaking the game, thanked Mao Ying, and ruled the round a draw because he had intervened.
• Xuanzang relinquished his role as judge and said he would take the field in person in the remaining rounds.
• Yuanshi Tianzun objected to changing the contest rules, accepted Xuanzang’s partiality, and insisted that he not compete himself.

Xuanzang accepted Guanyin Bodhisattva’s advice to let his disciples face the contest without his help, and the second round began with Zhu Wuneng facing Mao Gu. Mao Gu explained that the Mind-Seeing Trial required Zhu Wuneng to identify and test the person in Yellowstone Town who had an affinity for immortality.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva persuaded Xuanzang to stay out of the contest and trust his disciples, and Xuanzang returned to the stands.
• Taibai Jinxing announced that the first round ended in a draw and introduced the Mind-Seeing Trial.
• Taibai Jinxing named Mao Gu and Zhu Wuneng as the second-round contestants, and Zhu Wuneng entered the arena after receiving encouragement from his companions and Xuanzang.
• Mao Gu revealed Yellowstone Town on a glowing curtain and explained that Zhu Wuneng had to find the person with an affinity for immortality among its more than fourteen hundred residents.