Journey to the West: The Holy Monk Returns to Familiar Grounds, Only to Find Himself a Demon

[Journey to the West / Retracing Old Steps / Chaos and Karma / Buddhist Cultivation / Supernatural Tales / Dark Suspense]

On the day he became a Buddha, thunder split the auspicious clouds above Spirit Mountain.

The Buddha said, “Not a single scripture you brought back was ever passed on to the lands east of the Great Tang.”

Nineteen years of painstaking translation had all come to nothing.

More horrifying still, the vengeful spirits he had freed when he destroyed an ancient temple at Lion Camel Ridge had followed him like a shadow for nineteen years, becoming a demonic double with his exact appearance.

Jin Chanzi attained Buddhahood, only to be told that his virtue was lacking and his karma unresolved.

Leaving his true form behind, he returned to the old route west in a mortal body.

He had lost his maxed-out cultivation. All he had was an iron staff, a miniature Five Elements Formation, a copied technique called Imitation Magic, and a survival manual called Thirty-Six Stratagems.

The old road was already unrecognizable.

The plants on Five Elements Mountain were scorched and withered. Liu Family Village stood empty. Temple statues lay toppled, and bloody footprints appeared out of nowhere.

A monkey-shaped figure challenged him in Wukong's voice: “Why did you leave for nineteen years?”

The black relic in his arms suddenly grew scorching hot. The monkey's shadow vanished, leaving only a stench that filled the room.

Guanyin warned him: Don't look back. Every time you do, you lose a little more of your human form.

A fox spirit from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio blocks his way, while the White Bone Spirit is reborn as a teahouse owner.

Underworld officers mix up souls, and heavenly maidens put him to the test.

Creatures from the Classic of Mountains and Seas emerge, and remnants of the primeval world awaken.

At every stop, beauty traps, monster schemes, and karmic trials test this reincarnated holy monk with greed, anger, delusion, and hatred.

He no longer relies on his disciples for protection. Instead, he uses his copying technique to steal the monsters' skills.

He traps enemies and breaks through predicaments with the Five Elements Formation, and scrapes by using the Thirty-Six Stratagems.

Warmth and terror intertwine on this journey. He completes his merit through the many flavors of human life, then returns to Spirit Mountain to ask the Buddha:

“What is a true Buddha?”