Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

A quiet riverside village is disrupted by a strange aquatic menace. The villagers lash out as the lone demon hunter tries to defend them. The creature reveals its monstrous form, then sheds the disguise to become a man as it is beached.

Sanzang unpacks a book of nursery rhymes and sings to the demon. The onlookers grow unsettled by this gentleness as the demon attacks. Miss Duan arrives and captures the beast, turning it into a puppet.

Sanzang argues for a humane path to demons, while Miss Duan scoffs at sentimentality. Master Nameless reinforces a humanist philosophy that guides Sanzang. The tension foreshadows a deeper conflict about mercy versus vengeance.

A pig demon in disguise kills a couple at an empty restaurant. Sanzang later returns to find the place filled with the living corpses and a sinister nine-toothed rake. Duan captures the pig demon again, turning it into a puppet.

Duan's attraction toward Sanzang seems like love, but he rejects romantic entanglements to stay focused on his quest. Master Nameless hints at a radical solution to tame the Monkey King. The dynamic between them grows tense as their goals diverge.

A gang that has captured Duan targets Sanzang, leading to Sanzang being imprisoned after refusing Duan's advances. The pig demon resurfaces and injures Duan, while rival demon-hunters close in. Duan shatters Sanzang's nursery rhyme book and leaves him to carry on alone.

Days pass before Sanzang discovers a hidden cave beneath a lotus garden where the Monkey King has been trapped for five hundred years. The imprisoned trickster urges Sanzang to bait the demon with a dancer. Duan volunteers to perform as the dancer, and the Monkey King subdues the pig demon, allowing puppets to pass from danger to possibility.

Duan offers her golden ring as an engagement token to Sanzang, who declines. She returns the nursery rhyme book, reassembled imperfectly since she is illiterate.

The Monkey King uses a ruse to lure Sanzang into unlocking his prison, and chaos erupts as the demon bursts free. The avenger rips hair from Sanzang's head in a wrathful display as the Monkey King asserts his power.

Three rival demon hunters surge forward, but the Monkey King kills them with effortless ease. Duan returns to defend Sanzang, yet the Monkey King mortally wounds her.

In a moment of vulnerability, Sanzang confesses love for Duan, but the Monkey King's rage remains uncontrollable and he vaporizes her body. The moment marks a turning point in Sanzang's resolve.

Sanzang studies the nursery rhyme book again and realizes Duan has rewoven its words into the Buddha Sutra. He calls upon Buddha for aid, and a divine palm defeats the Monkey King. The golden ring seals the victory by binding the Monkey King.

With suffering transformed into enlightenment, Sanzang is sent toward India to seek the Buddhist sutras of Leiyin Temple. The Water Demon, Pig Demon, and Monkey King are humbled and transformed into three humans who accompany him on the journey. A final image shows Duan haunting his memory as they trek into the desert.