Recaps

Sun Wukong was imprisoned beneath Five Elements Mountain, where Nezha protected his monkeys and later shared news of the planned scripture journey. After centuries passed, Jiang Liu'er emerged as a gifted monk and won the contest to become the scripture pilgrim.

• Erlang Shen captured Sun Wukong, but after the Jade Emperor’s punishments failed, Taishang Laojun placed him in the Eight Trigrams Furnace, where he refined his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils before escaping and rampaging through the Heavenly Court.
• Buddha Tathagata challenged Sun Wukong to fly beyond the reach of his palm, exposed that Wukong had never left it, then suppressed him beneath Five Elements Mountain with the Jade Emperor’s and Taishang Laojun’s seals.
• Nezha secretly told the Hou patriarch that Sun Wukong was imprisoned, protected the monkeys from a leopard spirit and a two-headed lion, and gave the patriarch a Law Treasure and a talisman to defend them.
• Nezha visited Sun Wukong with food and wine, told him he had protected the monkeys, and recounted Heavenly Court news, including the planned scripture pilgrimage and Bodhisattva Guanyin’s offer to free Wukong if he became the pilgrim’s disciple.
• Sun Wukong read Bodhisattva Guanyin’s letter and understood that his freedom depended on protecting the future scripture pilgrim, while Nezha departed after spending three days with him.
• After more than four hundred and eighty years, Jiang Liu'er was raised in a temple, mastered Buddhist teachings and martial skills, and rescued a traveler from a wild boar and wolves.
• Emperor Taizong of Tang held a Buddhist debate to choose a scripture pilgrim, and Jiang Liu'er won and agreed to give a public lecture.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin brought the kasaya and monk’s staff to the lecture route and quoted a passing monk five thousand taels for each treasure.

Tang Xuanzang freed Sun Wukong from Five Elements Mountain and continued west with him and Ao Lie. At the temple, the old monk’s theft of Tang Xuanzang’s kasaya led Sun Wukong to Black Wind Mountain, while the Black Bear Spirit attacked Tang Xuanzang.

• Bodhisattva Guanyin gave Xuanzang a kasaya and monk's staff, then revealed the Mahayana Dharma and prompted Tang Xuanzang to volunteer for the journey west.
• Tang Xuanzang freed Sun Wukong from Five Elements Mountain, and Sun Wukong agreed to protect him on the pilgrimage.
• Tang Xuanzang and Sun Wukong traveled west, where Tang Xuanzang killed a tiger, cured A Qing, and made Sun Wukong clothes from the tiger’s skin.
• At Eagle Grief Ravine, a white dragon swallowed the White Dragon Horse, then agreed to carry Tang Xuanzang and became his disciple as Ao Lie.
• At a temple, the old monk coveted Tang Xuanzang’s kasaya, borrowed it from Sun Wukong, and claimed a black bear had stolen it.
• Sun Wukong flew to Black Wind Mountain and fought the Black Wind King, who refused to return the kasaya and retreated into Black Wind Cave.
• The Black Bear Spirit attacked the old monk at the temple, but Tang Xuanzang broke apart its black wind and urged it to return the kasaya and join the Buddhist Order.
• The Black Bear Spirit seized Tang Xuanzang by the throat just as Sun Wukong arrived.

Sun Wukong and Tang Xuanzang gained Zhu Bajie as a disciple, then rescued Tang Xuanzang from the Yellow Wind Monster and continued west. The group reached the frozen Tongtian River and began crossing while a figure beneath the ice plotted to seize Tang Xuanzang.

• Sun Wukong and Ao Lie subdued the Black Bear Spirit, and Guanyin took the bear away while Sun Wukong recovered Tang Xuanzang’s kasaya.
• Sun Wukong rescued Gao Cuilan from Zhu Ganglie, defeated him, and learned that Guanyin had sent him to join Tang Xuanzang’s pilgrimage.
• Tang Xuanzang accepted Zhu Ganglie as his disciple and named him Zhu Bajie, then the group left Old Gao Village with Ao Lie.
• At a town terrorized by the Yellow Wind Monster, Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie fought the demon while his leopard spirit captured Tang Xuanzang.
• With Ao Lie’s rain weakening the Obsidian’s sandstorm, Sun Wukong defeated the Yellow Wind Monster and brought him back to town as Tang Xuanzang reunited with the group.
• The disciples reached the frozen Tongtian River, and Tang Xuanzang chose Sun Wukong’s plan to cross over the ice rather than take a long detour.
• As the group crossed, a figure beneath the ice blamed Sun Wukong for damaging his cave and planned to break through and seize Tang Xuanzang.
• Zhu Bajie argued with Ao Lie over his past, but Tang Xuanzang stopped the fight and the group continued across the ice.

Sun Wukong and his companions crossed the Flowing Sand River after Sha Wujing joined them, then faced a series of tests and the White Bone Spirit. After the Old Yellow-Robed Demon captured Tang Xuanzang and transformed him into a tiger, Zhu Bajie brought Sun Wukong back to help, and they reached the demon’s pagoda.

• Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie fought the sand men while Little White Dragon searched the Flowing Sand River for Tang Xuanzang, but the shadow demon wounded Little White Dragon and captured Zhu Bajie.
• Tang Xuanzang broke free and confronted the demon, and Bodhisattva Guanyin revealed that he was Sha Wujing, who was meant to join the pilgrimage.
• Muzha made a boat from Sha Wujing’s nine skulls and a treasure gourd, and Sha Wujing ferried Tang Xuanzang and the others across the river.
• At Jia’s house, Zhu Bajie tried to marry one of her daughters, but the women disappeared after binding him, and Sun Wukong later freed him.
• Sun Wukong stole Zhenyuanzi’s ginseng fruit and damaged the Ginseng Fruit Tree, then brought Bodhisattva Guanyin to revive it before the pilgrims continued west.
• The White Bone Spirit repeatedly disguised herself to deceive Tang Xuanzang, but Sun Wukong saw through her disguises, killed her, and later returned to find Flower-Fruit Mountain burned and its monkeys slaughtered or captured.
• Tang Xuanzang wandered into the Old Yellow-Robed Monster’s cave, where Baihuaxiu freed him and gave him a letter to deliver to her parents in the Kingdom of Precious Images.
• The Old Yellow-Robed Monster tricked the king into turning Tang Xuanzang into a tiger, while Little White Dragon failed to defeat the demon and Zhu Bajie returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain to summon Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong agreed to help, traveled with Zhu Bajie to the pagoda near the Kingdom of Precious Images, and seized two children outside as a demon patrolman went to report him to the princess.