Recaps

Sun Wukong rescued the children taken by the immortals and accompanied Tang Xuanzang to the royal court in disguise. After the king endorsed Tang Xuanzang’s travel permit, Sun Wukong identified the royal preceptor as a monster and learned that the king was gravely ill and relied on the preceptor’s medicine.

• Sun Wukong had the immortals hide the children, then told Tang Xuanzang they had all been rescued.
• Tang Xuanzang went to the royal court to have his travel permit endorsed while Sun Wukong disguised himself as an insect and hid on his hat.
• The king endorsed Tang Xuanzang’s travel permit, and the royal preceptor argued that Daoism reigned supreme and urged Tang Xuanzang to stay.
• Sun Wukong told Tang Xuanzang that the royal preceptor was a monster and that the king had been affected by Yao Qi.
• Sun Wukong entered the palace and heard an official report that the children had disappeared in the cold wind; the king said he was gravely ill and depended on the royal preceptor’s medicine.

The imperial preceptor persuaded the foolish king to capture Tang Xuanzang and use his heart as medicine, so Sun Wukong switched appearances with his master and let himself be taken. At court, Sun Wukong offered to give the king his black heart and cut open his chest, terrifying the officials.

• The imperial preceptor convinced the foolish king that Tang Xuanzang's heart could cure his illness, and the king ordered the city gates closed and the inn surrounded.
• Sun Wukong warned Tang Xuanzang, Sha Wujing, and Zhu Bajie about the plot, then used a mud mask to make Tang Xuanzang look like himself while disguising himself as Tang Xuanzang.
• When the imperial guards entered the inn, Sun Wukong claimed to be Tang Xuanzang and went with them to the palace.
• The foolish king asked Sun Wukong to serve as the final ingredient in his medicine, and the imperial preceptor demanded his black heart.
• Sun Wukong cut open his chest to show his beating heart, leaving the court officials pale with fright.

Sun Wukong exposed the imperial preceptor as a fiend and rescued Tang Xuanzang from suspicion, while the fiend escaped with the queen. The king told Sun Wukong that the fiend had come from Huaqing Village, but his account of how he accepted the fiend’s daughter as his queen left Sun Wukong scolding him.

• Sun Wukong revealed his true identity, fought the imperial preceptor, and watched the fiend escape with the queen.
• Sun Wukong and the officials searched the palace and found the king hiding, then the king learned that the imperial preceptor had been a fiend.
• The king summoned Tang Xuanzang and his disciples from the relay station, and Sun Wukong cleaned the mud from Tang Xuanzang’s face at court.
• Sun Wukong asked where the fiend lived, and the king named Huaqing Village and explained how he had taken the fiend’s daughter as his queen.
• The king began describing how he later fell ill, while Sun Wukong rebuked him for chasing women.

Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie tracked the demon from the Bhikkhu Kingdom to Huaqing Cave and defeated him. The Immortal Elder of the South Pole captured the fleeing demon and revealed that it was his missing mount.

• Sun Wukong explained that he had hidden the children, then took Zhu Bajie to hunt the demon after Zhu Bajie ate his fill.
• The Land God of Willow Grove Slope told Sun Wukong how to open Huaqing Cave, where Sun Wukong found the old monster and fought him.
• Zhu Bajie struck the poplar tree with his rake, then joined Sun Wukong in driving the old monster from the cave and chasing him east.
• The Immortal Elder of the South Pole appeared, captured the demon, and asked Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie to spare him.
• The Immortal Elder of the South Pole revealed that the demon was his missing mount.

Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie exposed the old demon as the Immortal Elder of the South Pole’s white deer and destroyed the demons’ lair at Huaqing Cave, though the white fox spirit escaped. They brought the fox and the deer to the palace, where the king learned the truth, and the Immortal Elder explained how his mount had fled to the mortal world.

• At Sun Wukong’s request, the old demon revealed himself as a white deer, and the Immortal Elder of the South Pole reclaimed his mount and walking stick.
• A white fox fled, and Zhu Bajie returned with her severed tail, but Sun Wukong warned that she might still harm people; the two argued over who should pursue her.
• Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie drove the demons from Huaqing Cave and burned their dwelling, while the white fox watched and escaped.
• Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie caught the fox and brought her, the white deer, and the Immortal Elder of the South Pole to the palace, where Sun Wukong revealed the truth to the king.
• The king thanked Tang Xuanzang and his disciples and hosted a meal, where the Immortal Elder explained that his white deer had escaped while he played chess with Emperor Donghua.

After the king’s celebration, Sun Wukong reunited the Bhikkhu Kingdom’s stolen children with their families, and Tang Xuanzang and his disciples continued their journey west. They reached a beautiful mountain forest, where Tang Xuanzang grew uneasy as they approached another great forest.

• At the banquet, the Immortal Elder of the South Pole gave the king three red dates to ease his ailments and promised Zhu Bajie some on another visit.
• Tang Xuanzang refused the king’s travel money, and Sun Wukong advised the king to restrain his lust and act in ways that benefited him.
• The immortals returned the stolen children, and Sun Wukong helped the city’s households reclaim them.
• The residents celebrated Tang Xuanzang and his disciples, hosted them for a month, and watched them depart the Bhikkhu Kingdom.
• On the road west, Tang Xuanzang worried about demons in the mountains, while Sun Wukong led the group along a path through the scenic cliffs.
• As the pilgrims reached another great forest, Tang Xuanzang grew frightened and turned to Sun Wukong.

Tang Xuanzang encountered a woman bound to a tree and believed her tale that bandits had captured her, while Sun Wukong spotted black Qi revealing a demon's presence. The chapter ended with Sun Wukong stopping Zhu Bajie from freeing the woman.

• Tang Xuanzang asked Sun Wukong to find food after the group rested in the forest, and Sun Wukong noticed auspicious clouds above his master.
• Sun Wukong spotted black Qi rising through the trees and suspected a demon was nearby.
• Tang Xuanzang found a woman tied to a tree, listened to her story about being captured by bandits, and called Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing to help her.
• Zhu Bajie moved to untie the woman, but Sun Wukong saw the black Qi cover the auspicious light and rushed back to his master.
• Sun Wukong grabbed Zhu Bajie by the ear and threw him to the ground before he could free the woman.

Sun Wukong warned Tang Xuanzang that the woman tied in the woods was a monster, but Tang Xuanzang eventually insisted on rescuing her. After they freed her, Sun Wukong questioned how she had survived without food or water and warned that she could not keep pace with them.

• Sun Wukong told Tang Xuanzang and Zhu Bajie that the woman was a monster, and Tang Xuanzang agreed to leave her tied up.
• The monster used magic to make Tang Xuanzang hear her calling, so he ordered Sun Wukong to rescue her.
• When Sun Wukong refused, Tang Xuanzang went back with Zhu Bajie, who dug the woman out and untied her.
• Sun Wukong mocked Tang Xuanzang for rescuing a pretty woman and pointed out that she showed no signs of having gone without food or water.
• Tang Xuanzang insisted the woman would travel with them, while Sun Wukong warned that she could not keep pace and might be attacked by wild beasts.

Tang Xuanzang and his disciples escorted a demon-disguised woman to a monastery and sought shelter for the night. Tang Xuanzang met the monastery’s monks and explained that he was traveling from the Great Tang to the Western Heaven to obtain scriptures.

• Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Tang Xuanzang argued over who should help the woman, then Tang Xuanzang decided they would walk with her to find her home.
• The group followed the woman to a monastery as evening fell, and Tang Xuanzang went ahead to ask for lodging.
• Tang Xuanzang entered the ruined courtyard and fell when a monk struck the bronze bell, then learned the monk had only been trying to calm his fear of intruders.
• The incense-tending monk explained that bandits used the ruined buildings while the monks lived in a separate, well-kept courtyard.
• A fat monk greeted Tang Xuanzang familiarly, and Tang Xuanzang told the monks he was traveling from the Great Tang to the Western Heaven to obtain scriptures.

Tang Xuanzang and his disciples stayed overnight at a monastery with the woman they had rescued. The next morning, Tang Xuanzang was too ill to rise, leaving Sun Wukong worried about what had happened to him.

• Tang Xuanzang reunited with Sun Wukong, Sha Wujing, and Zhu Bajie at the monastery, where the monks were startled by their appearances.
• The monks served everyone food and arranged a straw bed behind the main hall for the rescued woman.
• Tang Xuanzang told his disciples to rest, and Sun Wukong stayed awake to protect him.
• At daybreak, Sun Wukong tried to wake Tang Xuanzang so they could leave, but Tang Xuanzang said his head was spinning and aching and his whole body hurt.

Tang Xuanzang fell ill and stayed at the temple with his disciples, then worried about a female benefactor and tried to write to Tang Xuanzong to find a replacement for the pilgrimage. Sun Wukong reassured him that he would recover soon, but after going to fetch him water, Sun Wukong found the temple monks weeping and demanded to know why.

• Zhu Bajie guessed Tang Xuanzang had upset his stomach, but Tang Xuanzang blamed his headache on going outside without a hat in the wind.
• Sun Wukong and the other disciples cared for Tang Xuanzang for three days until he sat up and asked about the female benefactor.
• Tang Xuanzang asked Sun Wukong for writing supplies so he could tell Tang Xuanzong to find someone else to seek the scriptures.
• Sun Wukong laughed off Tang Xuanzang's fears and told Zhu Bajie that Tang Xuanzang would recover after one more day.
• Tang Xuanzang asked for water, and Sun Wukong found the temple monks weeping in the kitchen and demanded an explanation.

Sun Wukong learned that a monster had been killing monks at the monastery and resolved to catch it. After Tang Xuanzang recovered enough to eat, he insisted on continuing the journey, but agreed to let Sun Wukong confront the monster once he learned it had eaten six young monks.

• A young monk told Sun Wukong that a monster had eaten two monks, and Sun Wukong volunteered to get rid of it.
• Sun Wukong boasted of his past victories to reassure the frightened monks, then brought water to Tang Xuanzang, who drank it and quickly felt better.
• Tang Xuanzang ate a little food and urged the group to leave, but Sun Wukong told him to recover first and proposed catching the monster that night.
• Tang Xuanzang tried to dissuade Sun Wukong from fighting until Sun Wukong explained that the monster had eaten six young monks.
• Tang Xuanzang allowed Sun Wukong to go after the monster and urged him to be careful.

Sun Wukong disguised himself as a young monk to confront the demoness, but she outwitted him and abducted Tang Xuanzang. After striking Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing in anger, Sun Wukong agreed to search for his master, and the monks pleaded with him not to leave.

• Sun Wukong disguised himself as a young monk and waited in the Buddhist hall for the demoness.
• The demoness lured Sun Wukong toward the back courtyard, where he revealed himself and fought her.
• The demoness turned her shoes into decoys and escaped after seizing Tang Xuanzang.
• Sun Wukong struck Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing in anger, then agreed to search for Tang Xuanzang with them.
• At daybreak, Sun Wukong told the monks that Tang Xuanzang had vanished, and they begged the group not to leave.

Sun Wukong learned from the mountain god and land god that a demon had taken Tang Xuanzang to the Bottomless Cave, so he and his companions traveled south to rescue him. After Zhu Bajie went to search for the cave entrance, two female demons beat him for calling them demons, and he returned to Sun Wukong with a bruised head.

• Zhu Bajie ate with the monks before Sun Wukong revealed that the woman who had captured Tang Xuanzang was a demon.
• Sun Wukong searched the forest and questioned the mountain god and land god, who told him the demon had taken Tang Xuanzang south to the Bottomless Cave.
• Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the White Dragon Horse traveled south and reached the mountain where the cave was located.
• Sun Wukong sent Zhu Bajie down the mountain to find a cave entrance while he and Sha Wujing waited.
• Zhu Bajie found two female demons at a well, called them demons, and fled back to Sun Wukong after they struck him with a pillar.

Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing learned that a demon had captured Tang Xuanzang and planned to marry him. They found the Bottomless Cave and identified a hole in a nearby rock as its likely entrance.

• Sun Wukong told Zhu Bajie to approach the demons politely and ask what they knew.
• Zhu Bajie disguised himself as a monk and learned that the demons' old madam had captured Tang Xuanzang and planned to marry him that night.
• Zhu Bajie panicked and proposed dividing the luggage, but Sun Wukong stopped him and made a plan to follow the demons toward the cave.
• After the demons disappeared, Sun Wukong used his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils to find a sign for the Bottomless Cave on a cliff.
• Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing searched nearby and spotted a large hole in a rock that Zhu Bajie identified as the cave entrance.

Sun Wukong entered the monster’s cave and found Tang Xuanzang, then proposed killing the monster from inside her belly while Tang Xuanzang tried to resist the monster’s advances. The monster led Tang Xuanzang to a flower pavilion, while Sun Wukong watched from hiding.

• Sun Wukong sent Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing to guard the cave entrance, then descended inside to investigate.
• Sun Wukong turned into a fly and overheard the monster say she planned to eat with Tang Xuanzang and marry him.
• Sun Wukong found Tang Xuanzang in a hidden room and learned that he had forgotten the way out of the cave.
• Sun Wukong proposed turning into a bug and killing the monster from inside her belly, and Tang Xuanzang eventually agreed to follow his plan.
• The monster called for Tang Xuanzang, helped him out of the room, and led him to a flower pavilion as Sun Wukong watched in hiding.

Sun Wukong tried to find a way to rescue Tang Xuanzang from the demon who insisted on marrying him. The chapter ended with Sun Wukong telling Tang Xuanzang to lure the demon into the garden so he could transform into a peach and enter her stomach.

• Tang Xuanzang reluctantly drank the wine the demon offered as wedding wine, while Sun Wukong secretly watched in disguise.
• The demon mistook Sun Wukong for an insect and flicked him away, so he transformed into an eagle and scattered the food before flying out.
• The demon decided to prepare another feast and have heaven and earth witness her marriage to Tang Xuanzang.
• Sun Wukong met Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing outside the cave, told them Tang Xuanzang was eating but still needed rescuing, and returned inside in fly form.
• Sun Wukong reassured Tang Xuanzang and told him to lead the demon to a peach tree, where Sun Wukong would disguise himself as a peach for her to eat.

Sun Wukong disguised himself as a red peach and entered the demoness's belly, where he attacked her from within. The demoness sent Tang Xuanzang out on her back under Sun Wukong's threat.

• Sun Wukong told Tang Xuanzang to offer the demoness a red peach, then stayed close as Tang Xuanzang asked her to walk with him in the garden.
• Sun Wukong transformed into a red peach, and Tang Xuanzang exchanged peaches with the demoness so she swallowed Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong revealed himself inside the demoness and beat her until she collapsed, then rested when he thought she was dead.
• The demoness revived and told her lesser demons that Sun Wukong was in her belly and ordered them to send Tang Xuanzang away.
• Sun Wukong threatened the lesser demons from inside the demoness, so she carried Tang Xuanzang on her back.

Sun Wukong escaped from the monster’s belly and, with Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing’s help, killed her, but she returned in another body and abducted Tang Xuanzang again. Sun Wukong found a tablet bearing Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li’s name and decided to summon him, leaving Zhu Bajie unsure whether he needed reinforcements.

• The monster released Tang Xuanzang, and Sun Wukong escaped from her belly using the Ruyi Jingu Bang as a nail to keep her from biting him.
• Sun Wukong fought the monster until Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing joined in, and together they helped him strike her dead.
• The Land God warned Sun Wukong that the monster had several lives, while the monster possessed a little demon and vowed to capture Tang Xuanzang again.
• The monster returned in a dust-like rush and snatched Tang Xuanzang, prompting Sun Wukong to chase her to her cave.
• Sun Wukong found a tablet naming Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li and told Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing that he would call Li to take his daughter back.

Sun Wukong went to Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li for help with the monster who had captured his master, but Li angrily attacked him before Nezha explained that the monster was Li’s forgotten daughter, Lady Earth Flow. Sun Wukong demanded that Li accompany him to the Jade Emperor, then agreed to let the matter go at Taibai Jinxing’s request.

• Sun Wukong asked Taibai Jinxing to take him to Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li so Li could help subdue the monster.
• Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li became angry at Sun Wukong, and Taibai Jinxing told him that Sun Wukong had reported his daughter’s crimes to the Jade Emperor.
• Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li tore up the imperial edict and attacked Sun Wukong, but Nezha arrived and stopped him.
• Nezha reminded Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li that the monster was his daughter, Lady Earth Flow, formerly known as Rat Spirit and Half Guanyin.
• Sun Wukong demanded that Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li go with him to see the Jade Emperor, but after Taibai Jinxing pleaded for him, Sun Wukong agreed to drop the matter.

Sun Wukong and Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li captured the rat demon and rescued Tang Xuanzang before the pilgrims continued west. Bodhisattva Guanyin warned them about the Dharma-Exterminating Kingdom, leaving them to decide how to face its threat to monks.

• Taibai Jinxing reminded Sun Wukong that time passed differently in heaven, and Sun Wukong hurried Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li down to the mortal world.
• Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li and Third Prince Nezha confronted the rat demon in her cave, and Sun Wukong helped take her into custody.
• Third Prince Nezha apologized to Tang Xuanzang, while the White Dragon Horse recoiled at the sight of his red braided cord; the heavenly party then returned to the Heavenly Court with the rat demon.
• On the road, an old man and child warned Tang Xuanzang that the Dharma-Exterminating Kingdom’s king had nearly completed his vow to kill ten thousand monks.
• Sun Wukong recognized the old man as Bodhisattva Guanyin, who departed after warning them, and Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing asked how they could safely proceed.

Sun Wukong scouted the Dharma-Exterminating Kingdom and devised a plan to disguise Tang Xuanzang and his companions as ordinary travelers so they could pass through. He left them preparing to enter the city under false names as horse traders, with Sun Wukong offering to conjure silver for their lodging.

• Sun Wukong entered an inn to gather information and stole clothes and headscarves after turning into a mouse.
• Sun Wukong returned to Tang Xuanzang and said they could pass through the kingdom only if they stopped appearing as monks.
• Sun Wukong proposed that the group wear ordinary clothes and enter the city as horse traders, claiming others would follow later to book rooms.
• Sun Wukong assigned them the names Tang Yi, Zhu Er, Sha San, and Sun Si, and told them to let him speak first.
• Tang Xuanzang worried about paying for lodging, and Sun Wukong said he would turn pebbles into silver.

Sun Wukong brought Tang Xuanzang and the others to Widow Zhao’s Inn, where he posed as a horse trader and chose the most expensive lodging. When the innkeeper ordered a feast with meat, Tang Xuanzang worried because the travelers could not eat it, and Sun Wukong called her upstairs to intervene.

• Sun Wukong avoided the commotion at another inn and led Tang Xuanzang and the others to Widow Zhao’s Inn.
• Sun Wukong invented names and claimed that their companions were bringing hundreds of horses to sell.
• Widow Zhao described her three prices, and Sun Wukong chose the highest-priced lodging despite Zhu Bajie wanting the cheap option.
• Widow Zhao ordered the servants to slaughter animals and prepare a feast, alarming Tang Xuanzang.
• Sun Wukong promised to handle the problem and called Proprietor Zhao upstairs.

Sun Wukong and his companions ate a vegetarian meal at the old woman's lodging and searched for a dark, windless place to sleep so their shaved heads would not be seen. They climbed into a large wardrobe, where Sun Wukong suddenly roared.

• Sun Wukong asked the old woman to serve vegetarian food instead of killing animals, and he and the others ate and drank.
• Sun Wukong told the old woman to call off the women she had invited, saying they could return the next day after their brothers arrived.
• Tang Xuanzang warned Sun Wukong that sleeping upstairs might reveal their shaved heads, so Sun Wukong asked the old woman for a darker place to sleep.
• The old woman's daughter suggested they sleep inside a large wardrobe, and the old woman offered it to Sun Wukong.
• Zhu Bajie climbed into the wardrobe first, Sha Wujing helped Tang Xuanzang inside, and Sun Wukong suddenly roared.

Sun Wukong and the others were carried away inside a wardrobe by robbers, then captured by soldiers and taken to the palace. Sun Wukong escaped during the night and shaved the heads of the king, queen, and palace officials, leaving the court panicked before dawn.

• Sun Wukong had the old woman lock him, Tang Xuanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing inside a wardrobe beside the White Dragon Horse.
• Inn servants allied with robbers, who stole the wardrobe and horse, but soldiers chased them and brought both to the palace.
• Sun Wukong reassured Tang Xuanzang, escaped through a hole in the wardrobe, and shaved the heads of the king, queen, and palace officials with a monkey hair turned into a razor.
• The king and queen woke to find themselves bald, and the king realized the change might be punishment for his plan to kill monks.
• The officials arrived before dawn, all bald, eager to tell the king what had happened.