Recaps

After his brothers were exposed and failed to defeat Ao Tu, Sun Wukong persuaded Tang Sanzang to wager the Brocade Kasaya, but the robe could not withstand Ao Tu’s attack. Wukong then challenged Ao Tu to a contest of supernatural arts, and Ao Tu summoned Primordial Beginning Yuqing Divine Thunder as the contest began.

• Ao Tu recognized Sha Wujing as the Curtain-Rolling General, and Sun Wukong proposed wagering Tang Sanzang’s Brocade Kasaya.
• Tang Sanzang reluctantly agreed to the wager after Sun Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing urged him to continue competing.
• Ao Tu’s Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe blocked Sun Wukong’s strike, and Sun Wukong stepped in to protect Tang Sanzang from Ao Tu’s counterattack.
• Sun Wukong refused to admit defeat and challenged Ao Tu to compete in supernatural abilities and immortal arts.
• Sun Wukong attacked Ao Tu in midair, but the robe repelled his cudgel, and Ao Tu summoned Primordial Beginning Yuqing Divine Thunder.

Wukong survived Ao Tu’s Divine Thunder but lost their wager and was forced to worship the Three Pure Ones with Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing. Seeking a way to resume the scripture journey, Wukong went to Heaven to recommend someone for an official post, and the chapter ended as he addressed Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor.

• Ao Tu’s Divine Thunder left Wukong badly injured, but Bajie forced the smoke from his lungs and woke him.
• Ao Tu sent Wukong to recover at Zhiyuan Monastery, where Alu cared for him until his injuries healed.
• Wukong, Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing worshipped the Three Pure Ones, and Tang Sanzang admitted Buddhist arts were inferior to Daoist arts under the wager.
• Wukong asked Ao Tu to let them leave before completing the required 1,111 days of worship, but Ao Tu refused.
• Wukong left a false body at the monastery and went to Heaven, where Nezha told him the Queen Mother of the West needed a steward for her Flower Realm.
• Wukong entered Lingxiao Hall and told Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor that he had come to recommend a talented man for an official post.

Wukong persuaded Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor to summon Ao Tu to Heaven for an immortal appointment. After bidding farewell to the King of Chechi Kingdom and his disciples, Ao Tu ascended with Wukong, but the Growth Heavenly King stopped them at the gate until Wukong led the way.

• Wukong recommended Perfected One Taixi to Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor, who issued an edict and sent Wukong to invite him to Heaven.
• Wukong presented the edict, Immortal Tablet, and Golden Seal to Ao Tu, who accepted and gathered his disciples, the State Preceptors, and the King of Chechi Kingdom to say farewell.
• Ao Tu entrusted the Alchemy Furnace and a Furnace-Guarding Method to Alu, instructed him to watch over Tang Sanzang and his disciples, and encouraged his other disciples to continue cultivating.
• Ao Tu comforted the Little Princess, called her Moy-er, and promised to protect her from reincarnation if she completed her cultivation.
• Ao Tu ascended to Heaven with Wukong and the immortal officials; the Growth Heavenly King barred their way until Wukong led them through.
• Outside Lingxiao Palace, Wukong went in to announce Ao Tu, while Nezha laughed at Wukong's embarrassed manner.

Ao Tu received an appointment as Perfected Lord Taixi and took charge of the Flower Realm, where he reunited with Jiangzhu without revealing their connection. Wukong arrived to discuss Ao Tu’s disciple, but the chapter ended before he explained what had happened.

• Nezha noticed Ao Tu’s worried reaction when he said he was gravely wounded, but Ao Tu concealed his identity and entered the hall for his appointment.
• The Jade Emperor appointed Ao Tu Perfected Lord Taixi to oversee the Flower Realm, crediting Wukong’s recommendation and granting him gifts and a palace.
• Ao Tu led the immortals into the Flower Realm using the Taiji Talisman Seal, and Zhang and Lu restored the palace and named it Taixi Flower Realm.
• Ao Tu spotted Jiangzhu among the immortals but did not acknowledge her, then assigned her to brew tea when Wukong arrived.
• Wukong began telling Ao Tu that his disciple was too rigid, but the chapter ended before he finished.

After Wukong returned from heaven, he urged Tang Sanzang to leave Chechi Kingdom before completing their promised period of bowing, but Alu stopped them at the monastery gates. Alu challenged Tang Sanzang over breaking his word and demanded written proof that he was leaving by choice, leaving the travelers unable to depart quietly.

• Alu accepted repayment of Zhiyuan Monastery’s principal, returned the interest, built a hall for the Buddha statue True Buddha Taixi, aided the poor, and attracted many new novices.
• Wukong told Tang Sanzang that Perfected One Taixi had ascended to heaven and persuaded him to leave before completing the promised one thousand one hundred and eleven days of bowing.
• Wukong admitted to Sha Wujing that he had lied about telling Alu of their departure and planned for the group to slip away at dawn.
• Alu and the monastery’s monks and novices blocked the gates, then led Tang Sanzang into the main hall and questioned him about breaking his promise after only sixty days.
• Wukong claimed he was responsible for leaving, but Alu demanded that Tang Sanzang write a statement confirming he was breaking his promise rather than being released by the monastery.

Wukong sought Ao Tu’s help to release Tang Sanzang and his disciples from their punishment, and Ao Tu proposed a new contest between Buddhism and Daoism. Ao Tu gave Wukong letters to help arrange it, leaving Wukong to carry out the plan.

• Alu insisted that Tang Sanzang either write down his broken pledge or keep the betrayal in his heart, and refused to accept Wukong’s claims without a message from his master.
• Wukong visited Ao Tu in the Taixi Flower Realm and asked him to void the wager, but Ao Tu said the punishment had become a public matter in the Buddhism and Daoism Conflict.
• Ao Tu proposed that Buddhist monks compete against the Three Imperial Preceptors using Buddhist methods, with a Buddhist victory canceling the punishment and establishing a Buddhist lineage in Chechi Kingdom.
• Ao Tu wrote letters for the Three Imperial Preceptors and Alu, while revealing his identity as Jiangzhu’s benefactor and accepting her help.
• Ao Tu handed the letters to Wukong, who hurried off to put the new contest plan into motion.

Wukong arranged a new contest between Buddhist and Daoist disciples in Chechi Kingdom and obtained Tathagata Buddha’s approval to bring Buddhist teachings there. Kasyapa arrived at Zhiyuan Monastery to choose a sincere disciple, but found that its monks studied Daoist practices, leaving only the people in the meditation chamber to consider.

• Wukong returned to Chechi Kingdom, told Tang Sanzang what had happened, and secured Alu’s and Great Immortal Huli’s agreement to hold another contest.
• Wukong went to Spirit Mountain and persuaded Tathagata Buddha to support the contest and provide a Buddhist scripture.
• Tathagata Buddha sent Kasyapa with the Treatise on the True Dharma and instructed him to find a sincere disciple in Chechi Kingdom.
• Kasyapa arrived at Zhiyuan Monastery and examined over two hundred monks, but the six promising novices all studied Daoist texts and practices.
• Alu explained that the monks studied Daoist methods to sustain the monastery while remaining devoted to Buddha, then said only those in the meditation chamber had not practiced Daoist methods.

Kasyapa transmitted Buddhist scripture to three elderly monks at Zhiyuan Monastery, but they performed poorly against the Daoist disciples in the renewed contest. Alu offered his alchemy furnace to prove his devotion to Buddhism, and Kasyapa accepted him as a sincere disciple.

• Kasyapa selected the old abbot and two other elderly monks to receive the true scripture, then sentenced Alu to copy Buddhist texts for seven days for his past conduct as abbot.
• Wukong arranged a contest between three Buddhist disciples and disciples of Great Immortal Huli and his companions to take place one month later.
• The elderly monks struggled to cultivate, and the first monk failed to summon rain before collapsing from heatstroke.
• The old abbot lost the second contest when Deer Power Immortal's disciple defeated him with the Art of Moving Mountains, and Kasyapa stopped the third contest by making the final monk collapse with a headache.
• Alu told Wukong that Perfected One Taixi had instructed him to seek Buddhist teachings, and Wukong recommended him to Kasyapa.
• Kasyapa questioned Alu's Buddhist devotion, and Alu offered his alchemy furnace as proof, convincing Kasyapa to accept him.

Alu received the Buddhist scripture and helped Kasyapa spread Buddhism in Chechi Kingdom before Kasyapa returned to Spirit Mountain. Ao Tu organized the Flower Realm, then attended a Star-Contemplation Assembly where the Star Lords offered him their support.

• Kasyapa gave Alu the Treatise on the True Dharma, and Wukong used his Golden Cudgel to keep the old abbot and two monks confined.
• The Buddhist Sect won the next contest, and Kasyapa remained in Chechi Kingdom to spread Buddhism through Alu and a series of Sacred Signs.
• Alu returned the scripture to Kasyapa, then arranged a portrait of him transmitting the Dharma; Kasyapa praised Alu and departed for Spirit Mountain.
• Ao Tu assigned the immortals to offices in the Flower Realm, planted the Bitter Bamboo by the Immortal Spring, and told Jiangzhu to tend it.
• Taibai Jinxing and Little Alligator Dragon invited Ao Tu to Douniu Palace, where he and the Star Lords pretended to meet anew and discussed anything but the stars.
• As Ao Tu left the assembly, the Star Lords urged him to seek their help if he ever faced trouble.

Ao Tu received rewards for obstructing the Pilgrim and began studying alchemy, but his attempt to refine a Second-Turn Golden Elixir failed. After Golden Horn persuaded him to deliver two scriptures to Taishang Laojun, Ao Tu reached Herb Fields number 6,212 and found Lord Lao waiting for someone with a very particular carrying pole.

• Ao Tu collected his rewards, used xirang to enrich his Herb Fields, and reviewed the rewards available in the Tongtian River quest.
• Ao Tu studied a Three-Turn Golden Elixir, successfully made a First-Turn Golden Elixir, then failed while refining it into a Second-Turn Golden Elixir.
• Golden Horn asked Ao Tu to deliver the Elixir Classic and the Artifact Classic to Taishang Laojun at Herb Fields number 6,212, and Ao Tu agreed.
• Ao Tu accidentally saw the open scriptures on his journey and later arrived at number 6,212, where he found Lord Lao tending his Herb Fields.
• Lord Lao asked Ao Tu to carry water and manure with a pole weighing thirteen thousand five hundred jin that could change size and had bands on both ends, but Ao Tu said he did not have one.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples reached the Tongtian River, an eight-hundred-li-wide river with no ferries in sight, and took shelter in a ruined temple. There, Bajie startled a filthy child out from beneath an altar table, and the group gave him food.

• Tang Sanzang and his disciples heard the river and found the Tongtian River, whose tablet said it stretched eight hundred li across.
• Wukong searched the banks from the air but found no ferries, so the group headed for a nearby temple to seek shelter.
• The disciples discovered the temple was ruined, and Bajie tried to move an altar table to block the doorway from the wind.
• A small dark figure darted out from beneath the altar table, frightening Bajie before Wukong found a thin, dirty child hiding in the temple.
• Tang Sanzang asked Bajie to feed the child, and Bajie gave him dry rations while explaining that the dirt helped protect him from the cold.

Tang Sanzang and his companions learned that Little Shitou had been hidden in a ruined temple to protect him from the monsters of the Tongtian River. They discovered that the new river monster, Great King Pingyou, demanded thirteen children in exchange for thirteen years of good weather and the return of children eaten by the former monster.

• Tang Sanzang and his companions questioned Little Shitou, but he refused to leave the ruined temple because he feared the man-eating demons outside.
• Wukong followed a man from the temple to Chen Family Village and overheard him and his wife mourning that Little Shitou might have been eaten.
• The next morning, Tang Sanzang and his disciples took Little Shitou toward Chen Family Village, where villagers recognized him and called for the village head.
• The villagers had offered children to Great King Linggan for thirteen years, until Great King Pingyou arrived and ate him.
• Great King Pingyou demanded thirteen boys and girls to recover from his injuries, promising thirteen years of favorable weather and to revive the twenty-six children Great King Linggan had eaten.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples brought Little Shitou home and learned why Chen Si had hidden him in a ruined temple. Chen Si revealed that a monster named Great King Linggan demanded a boy and a girl from Chen Family Village each year, leaving Wukong ready to confront it.

• Bajie carried Little Shitou to Chen Family Village while Tang Sanzang asked about the hardship that had made his parents hide him.
• Little Shitou reunited with Chen Si and his wife, who had believed he was dead and were burning paper money for him.
• Chen Si and his wife mistook Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Wukong for monsters before the travelers explained who they were.
• Tang Sanzang asked Chen Si why he had hidden his son, and Wukong promised to help with the family's trouble.
• Chen Si explained that Great King Linggan had come to the village thirteen years earlier and demanded one boy and one girl each year in exchange for protecting the people.

Wukong learned that Great King Pingyou had replaced Great King Linggan and demanded thirteen children as sacrifices, then promised Chen Si’s family and the villagers that he would stop the monster. He confronted deputy village head Chen Qing and revealed his true form after Chen Qing mocked him.

• Chen Si told Wukong that Great King Pingyou had eaten Great King Linggan and demanded thirteen children to heal his wounds.
• Chen Si explained that he had hidden his son Shitou, delaying the village’s drawing of lots for the sacrifice.
• Wukong promised to capture Great King Pingyou and prevent further sacrifices.
• Chen Qing led villagers to Chen Si’s home to seize Shitou, and Wukong went outside disguised as a little monk.
• Chen Qing mocked Wukong and threatened to drive him away, so Wukong revealed his true form.

Wukong revealed himself to the villagers, who attacked him until he easily scattered them and frightened them into begging for mercy. After Chen Qing and other villagers pleaded with Tang Sanzang’s group to stop interfering with the sacrifices, Wukong learned that their own children had been sacrificed in earlier years, and Chen Qing challenged the idea that those deaths had been for nothing.

• Wukong revealed his true form, and Chen Qing urged the villagers to attack him despite his offer to subdue the river monster.
• Wukong shook off the villagers, broke their weapons, and threatened them until Tang Sanzang intervened and persuaded him to spare them.
• Chen Qing identified Tang Sanzang as a monk from the Great Tang and admitted that the villagers were gathering children for the monster’s sacrifice.
• Chen Si explained that Chen Qing’s family had lost children to the sacrifices, and Wukong apologized for accusing him of doing evil.
• Chen Qing and about twenty villagers knelt and begged Tang Sanzang’s group not to interfere, explaining that their children had been sacrificed for the village’s safety.
• Wukong accused the families of trying to sacrifice others’ children in hopes of reviving their own, and Chen Qing tearfully asked whether his children had died for nothing.

Wukong challenged the villagers’ faith in Great King Pingyou and flew to the Tongtian River to investigate the monster. Tang Sanzang stayed with the villagers while Bajie joined Wukong to lure the monster out.

• Two villagers dragged Little Shitou away, and Sha Wujing stopped them from carrying him off.
• Tang Sanzang recognized that the village was divided into four groups, each with different reasons for supporting or opposing the sacrifice.
• Wukong warned the villagers that Great King Pingyou might be deceiving them, and the villagers described seeing him in different forms when he rescued them.
• Wukong flew to the Tongtian River to confront the monster, while Tang Sanzang asked Bajie to help him.
• Chen Qing agreed to let Little Shitou go for now and invited Tang Sanzang to his home.
• At the river, Wukong asked Bajie to scout underwater and lure the monster up so he could catch it.

Ao Tu extracted a child’s true spirit from Great King Linggan while keeping the goldfish alive. Tiger Vanguard fought Bajie at the underwater mansion, then forced him back with a ringing attack until Wukong intervened; Tiger Vanguard retreated, leaving Wukong and Bajie without a way to lure him onto shore.

• Ao Tu used the Soul-Scattering Gourd to extract an intact fragment of a child’s true spirit from Great King Linggan without killing him.
• Tiger Vanguard led aquatic soldiers out to fight Bajie after Ao Tu ordered him to stay in the water and watch for Wukong.
• Bajie fought Tiger Vanguard and his troops, but Tiger Vanguard rang his horn against his hammer and weakened Bajie with the sound.
• Wukong struck Tiger Vanguard into the water, splitting his hands and driving him back to the underwater mansion.
• Wukong and Bajie called for Tiger Vanguard to come out, but he stayed inside, so they returned without drawing him onto the bank.

Wukong tried to learn how to draw Great King Pingyou out and discovered that villagers had mixed feelings about the demon. A woman revealed that a mysterious black wind had saved her family’s house from a fire, leaving Wukong with a possible clue to the demon’s movements.

• Wukong and Bajie returned to Chen Qing’s house and described their fight with the demon, upsetting Chen Qing and Chen Cheng by calling Great King Pingyou evil.
• Chen Qing hosted Tang Sanzang and his disciples but refused to reveal when Great King Pingyou came ashore.
• Wukong decided to question the villagers about the demon while Bajie ate the meal and took the others’ steamed buns.
• Wukong asked Chen Family Village residents about Great King Pingyou, but their reactions varied and he found no way to lure the demon out.
• A woman offered to help Wukong, and after her husband reluctantly yielded, she said a black wind had extinguished a fire at their home two months earlier.

Wukong struggled with the villagers’ plan to lure out the monster, then suspected a family had deliberately started a fire in Chen Family Village’s ancestral hall. Tiger Vanguard extinguished the blaze, but Wukong let him leave, and the family’s scheme was exposed.

• Wukong returned to Tang Sanzang without revealing the family’s plan, while wondering why the monster helped villagers despite demanding children to eat.
• A fire erupted on all sides of Chen Family Village’s ancestral hall, and the villagers rushed to fight it.
• Wukong recognized the family he had spoken with and suspected they had set the fire, while Tang Sanzang asked him to use magic to stop it.
• Tiger Vanguard arrived and extinguished the fire with demonic wind, and the villagers mistook him for Great King Pingyou.
• Wukong did not attack Tiger Vanguard, and the family revealed they had set the ancestral hall alight to lure him out before Tang Sanzang and his disciples left.

Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing fought Tiger Vanguard after a couple revealed they had lured him out, but Chen Qing’s false warning let the wounded monster escape. After the pilgrims left, Chen Qing gathered the villagers and went after the couple who had set fire to the ancestral hall.

• The woman revealed that she and her husband had lured Tiger Vanguard out, prompting Bajie and Sha Wujing to attack him.
• Tiger Vanguard charged at the couple, and Wukong intervened to protect Tang Sanzang before joining Bajie and Sha Wujing in the fight.
• Bajie wounded Tiger Vanguard and Sha Wujing severed one of his tails, but Chen Qing cried that another monster was coming, giving Tiger Vanguard a chance to flee.
• Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing found no sign of the supposed monster, and Wukong covered for Chen Qing’s lie.
• After Tang Sanzang left, Chen Qing gathered the villagers and set out to find the couple who had gone home.

The household that set fire to Chen Family Village’s ancestral hall was caught, and the woman blamed Sun for ordering the arson. Chen Qing kept the family alive for the night and confronted Tang Sanzang the next morning, leaving the accusation unresolved.

• The fleeing couple and their child were caught by villagers and brought before Chen Qing, who ordered them burned for destroying the ancestral hall.
• The woman claimed Sun had told them to set the fire, so Chen Qing halted the execution and led villagers to check whether Tang Sanzang and his disciples had fled.
• Finding Tang Sanzang, his disciples, and the white horse still at Chen Qing’s residence, the villagers locked up the family until morning.
• Chen Qing prepared breakfast for Tang Sanzang, then accused him of repaying hospitality with enmity by secretly ordering the ancestral hall burned.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples confronted the couple who had framed him, and Wukong secretly revived them after they attempted suicide. The travelers settled in Chen Family Village and prepared to cross the Tongtian River, while Ao Tu plotted to return the revived Little Guan Bao as they were about to leave.

• Chen Qing brought Tang Sanzang and his disciples before the villagers, where the couple admitted framing Tang Sanzang and begged for their child's life.
• The husband killed himself, and the woman tried to do the same; Tang Sanzang asked Chen Qing to spare their son, who agreed to take the child as a slave.
• Wukong stopped the Wuchang Ghost from collecting the husband's soul and secretly healed both parents, while the Duty Officer of Merit and the Five Directional Guardians recorded their offenses.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples settled in Chen Family Village, and Chen Qing arranged for a boat to take them across the river.
• Ao Tu played with the revived Little Guan Bao and planned to return him to Chen Family Village as Tang Sanzang and his disciples were about to depart.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples waited in Chen Family Village for a merchant ship to cross the Tongtian River, while Chen Qing prepared offerings for Great King Pingyou. During the riverbank rites, Tiger Vanguard returned with the resurrected Little Guan Bao, leaving the villagers astonished and hopeful.

• Tang Sanzang agreed to wait for a sturdy merchant ship after Chen Qing warned him about crossing the Tongtian River in small boats.
• Chen Qing explained that he still honored Great King Pingyou for avenging his family and saving the village, so Tang Sanzang sent Wukong to watch over the sacrifice.
• Wukong persuaded Bajie to follow him and secretly take the offerings for themselves rather than let them be thrown into the river.
• Ao Tu sent the wounded Tiger Vanguard to the riverbank with the resurrected Little Guan Bao and instructed him to keep up appearances as a gravely injured monster.
• Tiger Vanguard returned on White Softshell Turtle's back and gave Little Guan Bao to Chen Qing, telling him the child had been brought back to life in repayment for his kindness.
• The villagers recognized Little Guan Bao and reacted with disbelief and hope.

After Tiger Vanguard abandoned the villagers’ sacrifices and returned to the river, the families whose children remained missing blamed Tang Sanzang and blocked the pilgrims from leaving. Tang Sanzang promised to help, and Wukong went to the Netherworld to ask King Yama how the dead children might be rescued.

• Tiger Vanguard told the villagers he had lost his magical power and needed five hundred years to recover, then left with the White Softshell Turtle.
• Chen Qing brought Little Guan Bao home, and Tang Sanzang celebrated the boy’s rescue before Wukong and Bajie warned him that more than twenty families’ children were still missing.
• After a merchant ship arrived, villagers blocked Tang Sanzang and his disciples from leaving and demanded that he return their children.
• Tang Sanzang promised to help rescue the children, and Wukong decided to investigate their deaths in the Netherworld.
• Wukong obtained the children’s birth dates and hours, reached the Hall of Senluo, and was greeted by the Ten Kings of Hell.

Wukong investigated the missing souls of the sacrificed children and learned Diting knew the truth but would not reveal it. He discovered Ao Tu in the Aquatic Palace and challenged him over the sacrifices and the child he had revived, leaving them poised to fight.

• Wukong asked the Ten Kings of Hell to find the souls of the twenty-five sacrificed children, but their summons failed.
• Wukong visited Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, where Diting said he knew where the souls had gone but could not speak without disturbing cause and effect.
• Wukong returned to Chen Family Village, told Tang Sanzang and the others that the monster was suspicious, and took Bajie to investigate the Aquatic Palace.
• Wukong found Ao Tu in the palace and recognized him as the Blood Sea King, but Ao Tu exposed and expelled Wukong from his disguise.
• Wukong accused Ao Tu of taking the children and reviving the village head’s son, while Ao Tu denied holding the souls and refused to reveal his secret art.
• When Wukong threatened to use force, Ao Tu summoned his treasure.