Lin Du, a low-level corporate drudge at an internet company, dies at his desk after working overtime for 72 hours straight. The client’s 58th round of revisions is still glowing on his computer screen.
When he opens his eyes again, he’s bald, wearing a kasaya, with the White Dragon Horse beside him and a crowd of monks kneeling behind him, calling him “Holy Monk.”
Lin Du: ??????
Fine, he’s transmigrated into Tang Sanzang. At least he doesn’t have to go to work anymore.
Then he sees the disciples the Buddha has assigned him:
First disciple: Sun Wukong. Criminal record: caused havoc in Heaven, beat up every celestial soldier and general, stole peaches, pills, and immortal wine, and treated the Heavenly Court like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Just released after a five-hundred-year sentence, and currently out on parole.
Second disciple: Yang Jian. Criminal record: split open Mount Hua to save his mother, openly defied the celestial laws, and spent years giving the Heavenly Court the cold shoulder despite being the Jade Emperor’s own nephew. His uncle sent him on the pilgrimage under the pretext of “gaining grassroots experience.”
Third disciple: Nezha. Criminal record: carved off his flesh to return it to his father and cut his bones to return them to his mother, publicly severing ties with his birth family in front of all of Chen Tang Pass. His life philosophy: “With the pagoda, you’re my dad. Without it, I wouldn’t even call you my grandson.” Li Jing practically cried as he foisted him on the group. His entrance: he crashes down from the sky on Wind-Fire Wheels, blasting a crater into Tang Sanzang’s camp, then climbs out and says, “Hey, I didn’t hit anyone, did I? Sorry, the brakes are broken.”
Tang Sanzang wants to quit on the spot.
But before he can finish writing his resignation, the demons arrive, the Heavenly Court arrives, the Buddha’s schemes arrive, and every problem in the Three Realms comes knocking. And the three defiant troublemakers at his side are each more impossible than the last:
Fighting demons is just a side gig. Taking on the Heavenly Court is business as usual. Getting on the Buddha’s nerves is part of the daily routine.
And Tang Sanzang? He’s the most deeply hidden lunatic in the whole group.
Nice, very good-looking, very funny