When San Zang and his disciples come to an impassable river, they take shelter in a small village, which has been ruthlessly tormented by the Ling Gan Demon, a vicious underwater creature who demands sacrifices of the most horrifying nature. The Ling Gan Demon first appeared in the village during the great drought decades earlier and brought much needed rain to the village. Afterwards, the village began to worship the demon, thinking it was a Taoist deity. The following spring, the demon brought so much rain it caused a flood that inundated the village. The villagers fled to the peak of a mountain, where the demon appeared and told them their village would only survive if they made a horrific annual offering to him: the sacrifice of one of the village's young children. At first the villagers refused, but the demon brutally killed anyone who betrayed him, so they were left with no choice.

Sun Wu Kong and Zhu Bajie fight the Ling Gan Demon and his minions, driving him from the shrine and deep into the cold black recesses of the river. Then the Demon hatches a plan to cause a tremendous snowstorm that will paralyze the village and freeze the river. When the strom arrives, San Zang decides to cross the river by walking across the frozen surface. Halfway across, the ice collapses, and San Zang is captured by Ling Gan. Now, it will take the concentrated efforts of Wu Kong, Bajie, Wu Jing, and their allies to save their kidnapped master, liberate the village, free the lost souls, and continue the journey to the West.