Three hundred years after the successful pilgrimage to retrieve the scriptures, Tang Sanzang passes away, Sha Wujing dies in battle, and Sun Wukong remains imprisoned beneath Mount Wuzhi. Zhu Bajie is bestowed the title 'Purified Altar Envoy'—but in reality, he's forced into a filthy, humiliating job: cleaning up after the gods, devouring their cold, leftover meals on his knees—day after day, for three centuries.
