Chapter Summaries

Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrived at Wuzhuang Temple, where Qingfeng and Mingyue offered Tang Sanzang two Ginseng Fruits, which he mistook for infants and refused. After Bajie told Wukong about the fruit, Wukong entered the garden to steal some, but the first fruit he knocked down vanished into the earth, and the earth god explained how the fruit had to be caught.

• Tang Sanzang questioned Qingfeng and Mingyue about the temple’s worship of Heaven and Earth, then sent Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing to their tasks while he rested.
• Qingfeng and Mingyue served Tang Sanzang tea and offered him two Ginseng Fruits, but he mistook them for children and refused to eat them.
• Bajie overheard the attendants discussing the Ginseng Fruits and persuaded Wukong to steal some from the garden.
• Wukong took the Golden Striker and entered the garden, but the first fruit he knocked down vanished when it struck the ground.
• Wukong summoned the earth god, who explained that Ginseng Fruits had to be caught on a platter lined with silk or they would sink into the earth.

Wukong admitted stealing Ginseng Fruit, then toppled the fruit tree when Qingfeng and Mingyue cursed him. Mingyue brought Ao Tu to Wuzhuang Temple to save the tree while Qingfeng locked Tang Sanzang and his disciples inside, leaving Wukong promising to escape with them.

• Wukong, Sha Wujing, and Bajie divided three stolen Ginseng Fruits, and Qingfeng and Mingyue overheard Bajie complain that he wanted more.
• Qingfeng and Mingyue accused Tang Sanzang and his disciples of stealing the fruit, and Wukong eventually admitted taking three.
• Wukong sent a double to the hall and toppled the Ginseng Fruit Tree with his Golden Cudgel.
• Qingfeng and Mingyue found the tree destroyed, and Mingyue went to fetch Ao Tu, whom he believed could save it.
• Qingfeng locked Tang Sanzang and his disciples inside Wuzhuang Temple, and Tang Sanzang reproached Wukong for making their troubles worse.

Ao Tu arrived at Wuzhuang Temple and challenged Tang Sanzang’s beliefs while offering to revive the fallen Ginseng Fruit Tree in exchange for two children. After nightfall, Wukong freed the imprisoned monks, leaving them ready to escape.

• Qiao'er waited for Ao Tu to return, while her parents told her he had probably gone home.
• Ao Tu entered Wuzhuang Temple, met Qingfeng and Mingyue, and questioned Tang Sanzang and his disciples about the fallen tree.
• Ao Tu described Spirit Mountain as a place of corruption, unsettling Tang Sanzang and prompting Wukong to warn that Ao Tu was a monster in disguise.
• Ao Tu offered to revive the Ginseng Fruit Tree with Three-Lights Divine Water if Qingfeng and Mingyue brought him two children, but they refused to decide before their master returned.
• That night, Wukong used his Golden Cudgel to unlock the doors and free Tang Sanzang and the others.

Wukong and his companions fled Wuzhuang Temple after stealing the ginseng fruit, but Great Immortal Zhenyuan caught them and brought them back to face punishment. Wukong took the lashes meant for Tang Sanzang, while Qingfeng and Mingyue remembered Ao Tu and reported his presence to Zhenyuan.

• Wukong put Qingfeng and Mingyue into a deep sleep, then caught up with Tang Sanzang and hurried west with the others.
• Great Immortal Zhenyuan returned to Wuzhuang Temple, woke Qingfeng and Mingyue, and pursued Tang Sanzang after learning the monks had escaped.
• Great Immortal Zhenyuan disguised himself as a Daoist, confronted the travelers, and captured them with Universe in the Sleeve.
• Great Immortal Zhenyuan ordered his disciples to bind the travelers and flog Wukong after Wukong claimed responsibility for the theft and the fallen Ginseng Fruit Tree.
• Qingfeng and Mingyue told Great Immortal Zhenyuan about Ao Tu, while Tang Sanzang complained to Wukong about being tied up.

Wukong tried to escape Great Immortal Zhenyuan, but was captured with Tang Sanzang and the others. He promised to restore the Ginseng Fruit Tree and left to seek a remedy, while Ao Tu arrived claiming he could heal it, prompting Bajie to expose the tree’s destruction.

• Wukong freed Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing and fled Wuzhuang Temple, but Great Immortal Zhenyuan caught them and brought them back.
• Great Immortal Zhenyuan tried to fry Wukong, who substituted a stone lion that smashed through the cauldron.
• Wukong persuaded Great Immortal Zhenyuan to release Tang Sanzang and the others by promising to revive the Ginseng Fruit Tree within three days, then departed to find a remedy.
• Ao Tu arrived and showed Great Immortal Zhenyuan the Three-Lights Divine Water, saying it could heal immortal trees and spirit seedlings.
• Bajie warned Tang Sanzang that Ao Tu might cure the tree and spoil their chance, then shouted that Wukong had already knocked it down.

Ao Tu stayed at Wuzhuang Temple and advanced his cultivation while Sun Wukong searched the immortal realms for a way to heal the Ginseng Fruit Tree. Wukong found no remedy, but at Mount Luojia he discovered Guanyin Bodhisattva and others refining a small amount of Divine Water.

• Ao Tu joked about eating Bajie, then accepted Great Immortal Zhenyuan’s invitation to stay while the wager with Wukong continued.
• Ao Tu discussed the Dao with Great Immortal Zhenyuan, reached the middle stage of Golden Immortal, and received an offer of a branch from the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
• Wukong visited the three stars at Penglai, who went to Wuzhuang Temple and persuaded Tang Sanzang not to recite the Golden Fillet Tightening Spell while Wukong searched.
• Wukong sought help from the Donghua Emperor at Fangzhang and the Nine Elders at Yingzhou, but neither could heal the spiritual root.
• Wukong reached Mount Luojia and saw Guanyin Bodhisattva, Mucha, Dragon Girl, and heavenly gods refining an incomplete drop of Divine Water.

Wukong sought Guanyin’s help to revive the Ginseng Fruit Tree, then returned to Wuzhuang Temple with Ao Tu, who restored it with divine water. After the feast and the travelers’ departure, Ao Tu flew to White Tiger Ridge, where Qiao’er still waited for him by the river.

• Wukong told Guanyin about toppling Zhenyuan’s tree, but learned her Three-Lights Divine Water would take twenty-nine more days to finish condensing.
• Wukong returned to Wuzhuang Temple and asked Ao Tu to heal the tree, and Ao Tu revived it with the Five-Colored Divine Light and a pool of divine water.
• The restored tree bore twenty-three Ginseng Fruits, and Zhenyuan hosted a feast before becoming sworn brothers with Wukong and Ao Tu.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples left Wuzhuang Temple after several days, and Zhenyuan gave Ao Tu a branch bearing two fruits.
• Qiao’er returned from washing clothes at the still river, and her parents urged her to stop waiting for the young gentleman as Ao Tu descended from the sky.

Ao Tu settled the White Bone Spirit quest, earned rewards, and married Qiao'er while preparing to delay Tang Sanzang on White Tiger Ridge. After telling Qiao'er their marriage was only an act, he tried to leave, but she caught his arm.

• Qiao'er brought food to Ao Tu and heard him promise to propose, introducing Jingjing as his younger sister.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples left the Longevity Mountain region, and Ao Tu received four rewards before starting the Three Battles with the White Bone Spirit quest.
• Ao Tu reviewed the new quest rewards and bought betrothal gifts for Qiao'er.
• Ao Tu told Qiao'er's parents a fabricated story about his family, and the families arranged the marriage.
• Ao Tu and Qiao'er held a simple wedding, but that night he told her he would not take her chastity and planned to send her family away with money.
• As Ao Tu prepared to leave, Qiao'er caught his arm.

Ao Tu and Qiao'er began living as a married couple while Tang Sanzang and his disciples journeyed to White Tiger Ridge. There, Wukong exposed the White Bone Spirit's first disguise, but the evidence left Tang Sanzang convinced that Wukong had killed an innocent woman.

• Qiao'er asked Ao Tu to make their pretense real, and he warned that he would never keep her or reward her for doing so.
• Ao Tu and Qiao'er settled into a peaceful routine together as husband and wife.
• Tang Sanzang's party reached a desolate mountain, and Wukong went to fetch peaches after Tang Sanzang asked for food.
• The White Bone Spirit used a false corpse and posed as a woman bringing food to the pilgrims.
• Bajie welcomed the offered meal, but Wukong returned, recognized the White Bone Spirit, and smashed her false corpse with his staff.
• Tang Sanzang scolded Wukong for killing the apparent woman, and the food and corpse made Wukong's explanation difficult to believe.

Wukong killed the White Bone Spirit’s first disguise, but Tang Sanzang believed Bajie’s accusations and repeatedly threatened to send Wukong away. When Tiger Vanguard appeared disguised as the dead woman’s brother, Wukong struck him and was punished again, though Tang Sanzang ultimately let him stay; Ao Tu then prepared Tiger Vanguard to deceive and extort the group.

• Bajie blamed Wukong for killing an innocent woman, and Tang Sanzang began chanting the Tight-Fillet Spell before relenting after Wukong begged to repay his kindness.
• Tiger Vanguard appeared disguised as the dead woman’s brother and asked Tang Sanzang’s group if they had seen her.
• Bajie’s basket exposed the group’s connection to the woman, and Tang Sanzang admitted Wukong had killed her.
• Wukong recognized Tiger Vanguard as a demon and struck him, prompting Tang Sanzang to chant the spell twenty times and order Wukong to leave.
• Wukong asked Tang Sanzang to remove his Golden Fillet if he was to return home, and Tang Sanzang agreed to forgive him when he could not.
• Ao Tu told the injured Tiger Vanguard to pretend he was crippled so they could extort Tang Sanzang.

Wukong escorted Zhu Zi Kingdom’s envoy to negotiate with Sai Taisui, but the demon’s excessive demands and Consort Jinsheng’s reunion with the envoy left the talks stalled. After months of carrying messages and letters between the consort and the king, Wukong refused to escort another mission, only for the king to remind him that he had promised to cure his affliction and had already dismissed the physician.

• The Zhu Zi Kingdom king sent an envoy, escorted by Wukong, to Xiezhi Cave to negotiate with Sai Taisui.
• Sai Taisui demanded half the kingdom’s wealth and then half its people, while the envoy argued over the ransom and met Consort Jinsheng.
• Consort Jinsheng gave the envoy her phoenix hairpin, and Wukong and Sai Taisui traded angry words before the envoy returned to Zhu Zi Kingdom.
• The king sent the envoy back with golden bracelets for Consort Jinsheng, and she later accepted them and sent a letter to the king through Wukong.
• Wukong refused to escort another negotiation mission and asked the king to stamp the travel pass, but the king reminded him of his promise to treat his affliction and Wukong regretted dismissing the physician.