Recaps

After Erlang Shen captured Sun Wukong, Taishang Laojun put him in the Eight Trigrams Furnace to refine him. Sun Wukong emerged with Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, rampaged through the Heavenly Palace, and faced the Jade Emperor as Taishang Laojun secretly sent a letter to Buddha Tathagata.

• Erlang Shen used the Heavenly Hound and the heavenly soldiers to capture Sun Wukong and bring him before the Jade Emperor.
• After the Jade Emperor’s torturers failed to hurt Sun Wukong, Taishang Laojun took him to Tushita Palace and proposed refining him in the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
• Sun Wukong jumped into the furnace and hid in the Xun position for forty-nine days, refining his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils.
• When Taishang Laojun’s subordinate opened the furnace, Sun Wukong escaped with his Ruyi Jingu Bang and began wreaking havoc in the Heavenly Palace.
• The Jade Emperor sent for Buddha Tathagata and confronted Sun Wukong, while Taishang Laojun watched from the shadows and dispatched a letter to Buddha Tathagata.

Grand Pure One Laozi sent Buddha Tathagata a signal to carry out Ancestor Hongjun’s plan, while the Jade Emperor separately asked him for help against Sun Wukong. By the time Buddha Tathagata reached the Heavenly Court, Sun Wukong had defeated the Jade Emperor and destroyed the Hall of Numinous Treasure, and the Jade Emperor began explaining what had happened.

• Grand Pure One Laozi sent Buddha Tathagata a letter saying it was time to act on Ancestor Hongjun’s plan to strengthen Buddhism in the west.
• The Jade Emperor sent Buddha Tathagata a separate letter asking for aid against Sun Wukong, and Buddha Tathagata hurried to the Heavenly Court.
• Sun Wukong knocked the Jade Emperor unconscious with the Jingu Bang, then demolished the Hall of Numinous Treasure and headed toward the Great Hall of Complete Clarity.
• Buddha Tathagata found the Hall of Numinous Treasure in ruins and helped the Jade Emperor up.
• The Jade Emperor told Buddha Tathagata that Sun Wukong had resisted the Heavenly Court’s punishments and that Taishang Laojun had proposed throwing him into the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

After Sun Wukong escaped the Eight Trigrams Furnace and wrecked the Heavenly Court, Buddha Tathagata confronted him at the ruined Great Hall of Complete Clarity. Rather than fight immediately, Tathagata proposed a wager: Wukong would try to escape from his palm in one somersault, with the loser owing the winner an agreed consequence.

• The Jade Emperor told Buddha Tathagata that Sun Wukong had escaped, beaten him unconscious, and was still causing destruction somewhere in the Heavenly Court.
• Buddha Tathagata followed the sounds of destruction to the Great Hall of Complete Clarity, where Sun Wukong was smashing its ruins.
• Sun Wukong mocked Tathagata and boasted of his abilities, including his Somersault Cloud, which could travel 108,000 li in one leap.
• Buddha Tathagata challenged Sun Wukong to wager whether one somersault could carry him beyond the reach of Tathagata's palm.
• Tathagata promised to leave Wukong alone if he won, while Wukong would owe him one reasonable condition if he lost.
• Sun Wukong considered the wager safer than fighting Tathagata while weakened from his battle with the Jade Emperor.

Sun Wukong accepted Buddha Tathagata’s wager and used his Somersault Cloud to escape his grasp, believing he had reached the end of heaven. He returned to demand that Buddha Tathagata leave the Heavenly Court, but Buddha Tathagata was furious about what Sun Wukong had done in his palm.

• Sun Wukong accepted Buddha Tathagata’s terms and began the contest by flying west on his Somersault Cloud.
• Sun Wukong used the Law Seals to accelerate his cloud and leave Buddha Tathagata’s palm behind.
• Sun Wukong mistook Buddha Tathagata’s fingers for pillars at heaven’s edge, wrote his name on one, and relieved himself at another.
• Sun Wukong returned to the Heavenly Court and declared that he had won, demanding that Buddha Tathagata leave.
• Buddha Tathagata slapped Sun Wukong and angrily confronted him, while Sun Wukong drew his Jingu Bang and wondered what he had done.

Sun Wukong learned that his escape from Buddha Tathagata’s palm had been an illusion and agreed to help him someday, but refused to wait at his side. When Sun Wukong tried to leave, Buddha Tathagata trapped him beneath the Five Elements Mountain and scrubbed his palm clean.

• Buddha Tathagata showed Sun Wukong the writing and filth on his palm, and explained that Sun Wukong had been flying inside it all along.
• Sun Wukong accepted that he had lost and mocked Buddha Tathagata, then agreed to help with a future favor while insisting he would wait at Flower-Fruit Mountain.
• Buddha Tathagata confirmed Sun Wukong’s promise but asked what he planned to do, and Sun Wukong said he would return to his mountain rather than attack the Heavenly Court.
• When Sun Wukong tried to leave through the Southern Heavenly Gate, Buddha Tathagata struck him beneath the Five Elements Mountain.
• Buddha Tathagata went to the Heavenly River and spent more than half a shichen washing the smell from his palm.

Buddha Tathagata told the Jade Emperor that Sun Wukong had been suppressed beneath the Five Elements Mountain, and the Jade Emperor held a banquet to celebrate. When Sun Wukong began shaking the mountain, Buddha Tathagata and Taishang Laojun provided slips that stopped it, leaving Sun Wukong trapped and the Heavenly Court celebrating.

• Buddha Tathagata told the Jade Emperor that he had suppressed Sun Wukong in the mortal world.
• The Jade Emperor had the Hall of Numinous Treasure repaired and arranged a banquet to celebrate Sun Wukong's suppression.
• Sun Wukong struggled beneath the Five Elements Mountain, causing a tremendous noise and shaking the mountain.
• Buddha Tathagata gave the Jade Emperor a slip with six golden characters, and Taishang Laojun supplied another slip as a precaution.
• A messenger hung both slips on the Five Elements Mountain, and Sun Wukong could no longer shake it.
• The messenger reported the result, and the Jade Emperor thanked Buddha Tathagata and Taishang Laojun before beginning the celebration.

After Sun Wukong was imprisoned beneath Five Elements Mountain, Nezha mourned his friend and went to Water Curtain Cave to reassure the monkeys. He told them Sun Wukong had left to seek greater strength and would probably return someday.

• The Jade Emperor named the celebration banquet the Heaven-Pacifying Assembly, and Buddha Tathagata returned to Thunderclap Monastery after the feast.
• The Heavenly Court repaired the damage Sun Wukong had caused, while Nezha secretly grieved for his imprisoned friend and looked after the monkeys at Water Curtain Cave.
• At the assembly, Nezha drank heavily to hide his sorrow, then sobered up at home and decided to visit Sun Wukong.
• Nezha found Heavenly Court watchers at Five Elements Mountain, so he went instead to Flower-Fruit Mountain and was welcomed by the monkeys.
• Nezha told the monkeys that Sun Wukong had gone on a journey to improve his strength and had asked Nezha to look after them.

Nezha visited Water Curtain Cave and gave the monkeys immortal brews, then privately told the old patriarch that Sun Wukong had been trapped beneath Five Elements Mountain. Nezha promised to protect the clan, and the chapter ended with the monkeys welcoming him back with food and aged Hundred Fragrance Wine.

• Nezha gave the little monkeys immortal brews, and the old patriarch ordered them to prepare food and Hundred Fragrance Wine for him.
• Nezha took the old patriarch aside and revealed that Sun Wukong had been defeated and trapped beneath a mountain watched by the Jade Emperor’s people.
• Nezha explained that he had lied to the monkeys to prevent them from trying to rescue Sun Wukong and getting killed.
• Nezha gave the old patriarch paper talismans to summon him if the clan faced danger and promised to help with other problems.
• Nezha reminded the old patriarch to keep Sun Wukong’s imprisonment secret, then returned to Water Curtain Cave, where the monkeys showed him their feast and aged wine.

Nezha befriended the monkeys at the Water Curtain Cave and promised to protect them while Sun Wukong was away. When a leopard demon tried to seize their home, the old patriarch burned one of Nezha’s talismans, and Nezha sensed the call for help.

• Nezha promised to visit the monkeys often and defend them, then shared their food and Hundred Fragrance Wine.
• Nezha visited the Water Curtain Cave every few days, bringing immortal wine and drinking with the monkeys.
• A leopard demon discovered the cave and, after learning Sun Wukong had been gone for years, decided to claim it for himself.
• The leopard demon entered the cave at dawn and threatened to kill the monkeys unless they left.
• The old patriarch burned a talisman Nezha had given him, and Nezha sensed that the monkeys needed help.

Nezha rushed to the Water Curtain Cave and fought a leopard spirit who was threatening the little monkeys. After the leopard repeatedly attacked them despite Nezha's warnings, Nezha defeated him and decided to kill him to keep the monkeys safe.

• Nezha arrived at the Water Curtain Cave and kicked the leopard spirit away from the little monkeys.
• The leopard spirit declared that he wanted to claim the cave, but Nezha warned him to leave and promised to protect the monkeys.
• The leopard spirit attacked a little monkey, and Nezha stopped him and sent him crashing into a wall.
• After the leopard spirit attacked again, Nezha punched him out of the cave and badly injured him.
• The leopard spirit begged Nezha for mercy, but Nezha said he had to die so he could not threaten the little monkeys again.

Nezha killed the leopard spirit that threatened the Water Curtain Cave and promised the monkeys he would help if they were ever in danger. More than a century later, a two-headed lion attacked the cave, and the old patriarch burned Nezha’s talismans to summon him.

• The leopard spirit threw dirt at Nezha and fled, but Nezha struck him with his Fire Arrow Spear and burned him to ashes.
• The old patriarch checked that Nezha was unharmed, and Nezha assured the monkeys that the leopard spirit was dead and told them to burn his talismans if they needed help.
• Nezha declined the old patriarch’s offer to stay and left the Water Curtain Cave on an auspicious cloud.
• For decades, demons avoided the Water Curtain Cave, remembering how swiftly Nezha had killed the leopard spirit.
• More than a hundred and twenty years later, a mutant two-headed lion attacked the little monkeys, and the old patriarch burned three talismans to summon Nezha.
• Nezha sensed that something had happened at the Water Curtain Cave again.

Nezha rushed to Water Curtain Cave after receiving three talisman signals and killed a two-headed lion that was attacking the monkeys. He warned the watching demons against invading, leaving them to reconsider their plans.

• Nezha sensed three talismans burn and hurried to Water Curtain Cave on his Wind Fire Wheels.
• Nezha found a two-headed lion attacking the little monkeys and ordered it to stop, but it ignored him.
• Nezha drove the lion out of the cave and battered it through the sky before smashing one of its heads.
• Nezha impaled the wounded lion with his Fire Arrow Spear and burned it to ashes with Samadhi True Fire.
• Nezha threatened the watching demons, who had been considering invading Water Curtain Cave, and they compared his strength with their own.

Nezha drove off the demons threatening the Water Curtain Cave and gave the monkey troop a Law Treasure to defend themselves until he could arrive. The old patriarch gave him long-buried Hundred-Fragrance Wine, and Nezha explained how to use the treasure.

• Nezha warned the demons on Flower-Fruit Mountain not to encroach on the Water Curtain Cave, and the fox demon said the two-headed lion had been a violent tyrant who had suffered Qi Deviation.
• Nezha let the demons go with a warning and returned to the Water Curtain Cave, where the little monkeys thanked him for protecting them.
• The little monkeys offered Nezha Hundred-Fragrance Wine, and he drank it happily.
• Nezha gave the old patriarch a Law Treasure and a talisman, instructing him to use the talisman to summon Nezha and the treasure to hold off enemies.
• The old patriarch gave Nezha wine buried for more than two hundred years and thanked him for looking after the monkeys.
• Nezha explained that the patriarch could command the treasure to repel enemies by placing it before him and asking it to do so.

Nezha left Flower-Fruit Mountain after giving the Hou tribe a Law Treasure for protection, then hurried to Five Elements Mountain to visit Sun Wukong. He found no sign of the Jade Emperor’s watchers, but as he neared Sun Wukong, he realized he had brought only wine and nothing else.

• Nezha taught the old patriarch how to use the Law Treasure and promised to protect the Hou tribe until Sun Wukong returned.
• Nezha accepted the tribe’s aged passionfruit wine, said goodbye, and left Water Curtain Cave.
• Nezha remembered his friendship with Sun Wukong and decided to visit him after more than two hundred years apart.
• Nezha rushed to Five Elements Mountain and used his Divine Sense to confirm that the Jade Emperor’s two watchers were gone.
• Nezha approached Sun Wukong with the wine, then realized he had brought nothing else for their visit.

Nezha prepared food and wine to take to Sun Wukong, who had been trapped beneath Five Elements Mountain for over 200 years. At a restaurant, he was confronted by thugs and began fighting them.

• Nezha went to a nearby marketplace and ordered nine portions of the restaurant’s best food and wine to bring to Sun Wukong.
• Nezha paid the waiter with nine gold nuggets and sat down to wait for the food.
• Several thugs surrounded Nezha and demanded that he hand over his money.
• Nezha warned the thugs to leave and threatened to kill them, but they mocked him.
• Nezha snapped off one thug’s finger, then caught another thug’s punch and violently bent his arm backward.

Nezha killed four thugs who attacked him in a restaurant, then reassured the frightened waiter and waited for his food. Nearly an hour later, the waiter and several helpers arrived carrying enormous food boxes.

• Nezha broke one thug's arm, then killed the two remaining attackers when they rushed him.
• Nezha killed the two injured thugs as they tried to flee, and the onlookers cheered him for ridding the town of them.
• Nezha asked the waiter to clear the bodies and offered gold to pay for the restaurant damage, but the waiter refused.
• Nezha reassured the frightened waiter, who said the dishes would take just under an hour to prepare.
• After most of an hour passed, the waiter and four helpers brought enormous food boxes to Nezha.

Nezha brought food to Sun Wukong at Five Elements Mountain and reunited with him after confirming the watching immortals were gone. When Nezha asked how Sun Wukong had endured more than two hundred years of imprisonment, Sun Wukong broke down in tears over his loneliness.

• Nezha collected nine packed servings from a restaurant and carried them away on his Fire Arrow Spear.
• Nezha hurried to Five Elements Mountain, where he found Sun Wukong asleep beneath it with only his head exposed.
• Nezha woke Sun Wukong with the aroma of roast chicken, and Sun Wukong began eating eagerly.
• Sun Wukong recognized Nezha as Ou Ba and worried the two immortals watching him might put Nezha in danger.
• Nezha reassured Sun Wukong that the immortals had left and that he had searched the area before coming.
• When Nezha asked how Sun Wukong had fared during his imprisonment, Sun Wukong stopped eating and cried from loneliness.

Sun Wukong’s nightmares about his old home and the little monkeys drove him to cultivate for decades, and Nezha’s visit reassured him that Flower-Fruit Mountain was safe. Sun Wukong then asked Nezha for news from the Heavenly Court, leaving Nezha to choose an amusing story to tell.

• Sun Wukong dreamed that the Dragon King of the East Sea flooded Flower-Fruit Mountain and harmed the little monkeys, then woke and worried about their safety.
• Sun Wukong gave up trying to sleep and entered seclusion, cultivating for several decades before dreaming of his time in the Heavenly Court.
• Nezha visited Sun Wukong, waited for him to finish crying and eating, and told him he had protected the little monkeys for years.
• Nezha explained that he had defeated a leopard spirit and a two-headed lion that threatened the Water Curtain Cave, and showed Sun Wukong the hundred-fragrance wine the monkeys had given him.
• Sun Wukong asked Nezha what had happened in the Heavenly Court during his two hundred years of confinement and requested an amusing story.

Nezha entertained Sun Wukong with stories of immortals who suffered humiliating consequences after mishaps and disputes. He began recounting a banquet brawl between Gonggong and Zhurong, which filled the hall with warm water vapor, and the story remained unfinished.

• Nezha told Sun Wukong that Marshal Tianpeng was banished and reborn as a piglet after a false accusation that he had molested Fairy Chang'e.
• Sun Wukong laughed at Marshal Tianpeng's fate and recalled how arrogant he had been in the Heavenly Court.
• Nezha told Sun Wukong that the Curtain-Raising General was banished after knocking off the Jade Emperor's crown and breaking Queen Mother Niangniang's glazed cup.
• Nezha began describing how Gonggong and Zhurong fought at a banquet, escalating from physical scuffling to attacks using Law Power.
• Gonggong's water attack collided with Zhurong's fire, filling the banquet hall with warm water vapor that the immortals could not clear fast enough.

Nezha told Sun Wukong about the Heavenly Court’s biggest upheaval in two hundred years and Buddha Tathagata’s plan to send a monk to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. Curious about the plan’s details, Sun Wukong began reading a letter from Muzha.

• Nezha recounted how water vapor from two people whitened the skin of Jidu Star Lord, the Jade Emperor, and others at a banquet.
• Sun Wukong asked Nezha about major events in the Heavenly Court, and Nezha described the six leaders who divided the Heavenly River’s 300,000 naval troops after Marshal Tianpeng’s banishment.
• The Jade Emperor appointed a new commander, but the six leaders resisted him and continued to manage their armies together, leaving the troops wary of the Jade Emperor.
• Nezha said Muzha had told him that Buddha Tathagata planned for a monk from Great Tang to retrieve Buddhist scriptures and had entrusted Bodhisattva Guanyin with a Brocade Kasaya and a Nine-Ringed Monk’s Spade for the monk.
• Nezha handed Sun Wukong Muzha’s letter, and Sun Wukong opened it and skipped ahead to read about Tathagata’s decision.

Nezha recounted how Bodhisattva Guanyin recruited demons to protect the scripture pilgrim, while Sun Wukong listened and judged Tathagata’s plan. Nezha ended his account by spotting Sun Wukong beneath the mountain where he had been imprisoned.

• Sun Wukong criticized Tathagata for offering Tightening Headbands and incantations to recruit demon bodyguards for the scripture pilgrim.
• Nezha described how Bodhisattva Guanyin and he traveled east, where Sha Wujing agreed to become the pilgrim’s disciple after revealing his former role in the Heavenly Court.
• Nezha recounted how a wild boar demon revealed he was Marshal Tianpeng, and Bodhisattva Guanyin gave him the Dharma name Zhu Wuneng after he agreed to protect the pilgrim.
• Nezha said Bodhisattva Guanyin secured the Jade Emperor’s pardon for Ao Lie, the punished third prince of the West Sea Dragon King.
• Nezha and Bodhisattva Guanyin encountered a mountain marked with Buddha Tathagata’s Six-Syllable Mantra and Taishang Laojun’s warning, where Nezha recognized Sun Wukong below it.

Sun Wukong read Bodhisattva Guanyin’s letter and learned he could earn his freedom by protecting a future scripture pilgrim. The letter confirmed a fortune-teller’s prediction that Sun Wukong would escape his restraints after several hundred years.

• Sun Wukong read Muzha’s letter to Nezha, while Nezha had stopped reading before its final lines inviting him to Chang'an.
• Nezha pointed out that Muzha’s letter mentioned a separate letter Bodhisattva Guanyin had left beneath Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong found and read Bodhisattva Guanyin’s letter, which said he could be freed if he became a future scripture pilgrim’s disciple and protected him on his journey.
• Sun Wukong recalled how Zhang San, a fortune-teller, had predicted he would regain his freedom in a few hundred years.
• Sun Wukong realized Bodhisattva Guanyin’s letter had revealed the dawn of his freedom.

Sun Wukong and Nezha reunited beneath Five Elements Mountain before Nezha left, and Sun Wukong continued waiting for the scripture seeker as centuries passed. In the Great Tang, the temple-raised Jiang Liu'er became a gifted monk and martial artist, and the chapter leaves him fighting a wild boar to save a passerby.

• Nezha shared food and wine with Sun Wukong for three days, promised they would meet again after Sun Wukong was freed, and then departed.
• Sun Wukong continued cultivating while imprisoned, and more than four hundred and eighty years passed.
• A temple abbot found an infant in a wooden basin drifting downriver, adopted him, and named him Jiang Liu'er.
• Jiang Liu'er mastered Buddhist teachings, martial arts, and the temple's magic manual, becoming the temple's strongest and most learned monk.
• Jiang Liu'er encountered a passerby trapped in a tree by a wild boar, wounded the boar with his axe, and threw his clothing over its face when it charged.

Jiang Liu'er killed a boar and rescued a frightened traveler, who took the carcass for his hungry family. As they crossed the forest after dark, wolves attacked; Jiang Liu'er killed one and drove the other away.

• Jiang Liu'er killed the boar that had chased the traveler and persuaded him to climb down from a tree.
• The traveler asked for the boar's carcass, and Jiang Liu'er agreed; the traveler hoisted it onto his shoulder and followed him.
• Night fell as Jiang Liu'er and the traveler hurried through the forest toward the temple.
• When two wolves attacked, the traveler threw the boar's carcass at them and climbed a tree.
• Jiang Liu'er killed one wolf with his axe, and the other fled.

Jiang Liu'er rescued a man from a boar and wolves, and the man's praise spread word of Jiang Liu'er's abilities throughout the town. After Jiang Liu'er won the Great Tang's Buddhist debate contest and prepared to lecture, Bodhisattva Guanyin appeared on the route with the kasaya and monk's staff, offering them for sale.

• Jiang Liu'er saved a man from a wild boar and two wolves, then explained his late return to the temple abbot.
• The rescued man praised Jiang Liu'er around town, spreading news of his Buddhist knowledge and martial skills.
• Emperor Taizong of Tang announced a nationwide Buddhist debate to choose someone to retrieve the Sanzang True Scriptures, and the abbot took Jiang Liu'er to compete.
• Jiang Liu'er won the contest and agreed to give a public lecture on Buddhist teachings.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin brought the kasaya and monk's staff to the lecture route, then quoted a passing monk five thousand taels for each treasure.