High atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, the Stone Monkey King, Sun Wukong, had established a kingdom of unparalleled joy and freedom. Having returned from his years of wandering and study under the Patriarch Subodhi, he possessed the secrets of the Seventy-Two Transformations and the ability to leap thousands of miles on a single somersault cloud. He had even secured the Ruyi Jingu Bang, a magic iron staff that could change its size at his command, from the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. Yet, despite his divine strength and his status as a self-proclaimed 'Great Sage,' the celestial bureaucracy still viewed him as a mere mortal creature subject to the cycles of reincarnation and the cold hand of destiny.
One evening, after a grand banquet where the wine flowed like mountain springs and the monkeys feasted on the finest peaches, Wukong fell into a deep, heavy slumber under the shade of a towering pine tree. While his physical body lay motionless on the mossy ground, his spirit drifted into a hazy twilight. Out of the surrounding mists stepped two figures—the soul-catchers known as the Wu Chang. They carried a summons from the underworld, a warrant for the soul of Sun Wukong. Without a word, they cast a cold iron chain around the Monkey King’s neck and began to drag his spirit away from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, leading him toward the dark boundaries of the earthly realm.
As they traveled, the air grew chilly and the light dimmed to a sickly violet hue. They soon arrived at the gates of a vast, iron-walled city known as Fengdu, the Ghost City. Above the massive gates, characters flickered with a ghostly light, identifying this as the entrance to the Netherworld. It was only then that Sun Wukong fully regained his senses. He looked at the chains around his neck, then at the two grim attendants pulling him along. A realization dawned on him that filled him with an explosive, white-hot rage. He was a practitioner of the Way; he had attained immortality and transcended the five elements. How dare the spirits of the dead attempt to arrest him?
With a sudden roar that shook the foundations of the city walls, Wukong reached into his ear and pulled out a tiny needle, which instantly grew into his massive golden-hooped staff. With one swift movement, he shattered the chains binding him and reduced the two soul-catchers to piles of dust. Not content with merely escaping, Wukong decided to settle the score with the authorities of the underworld. He charged through the Gate of the Ghosts, swinging his staff with such ferocity that the demon guards, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, fled in terror. He marched through the streets of the dead, ignoring the pleas of the wandering ghosts, until he reached the magnificent Hall of Darkness where the Ten Kings of Hell sat in judgment.
Inside the hall, the Ten Kings—led by King Yanluo—were in the middle of reviewing the records of mortal souls when the doors were blasted open. Sun Wukong stepped onto the dais, his eyes glowing like golden lamps and his staff sparking against the stone floor. The Kings of Hell, though powerful deities in their own right, were paralyzed by the sheer chaotic energy radiating from the Monkey King. Wukong demanded to know why they had sent for him, pointing out that he had achieved a level of cultivation that should have removed him from their jurisdiction. The Kings, trembling with fear, claimed there must have been a clerical error in the cosmic ledgers and begged the Great Sage to stay his hand.
'If it is an error, then let us see the proof!' Wukong bellowed. He commanded the judges to bring out the Book of Life and Death. These were not mere books, but an endless library of ledgers containing the names, birth dates, and predetermined death dates of every living being in the universe, categorized by species. A frantic clerk was summoned, who scurried into the archives and returned with several thick volumes bound in black leather. Wukong sat himself down in the judge's seat and began to flip through the pages with frantic speed. He bypassed the records of humans, birds, and beasts until he found the ledger specifically reserved for monkeys.