General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty II (唐朝诡事录之西行)

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty II: To the West (唐朝诡事录之西行) is a 2024 Chinese costume mystery and fantasy anthology detective series, the second installment of the Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty franchise. Produced for the streaming platform iQiyi, it runs 40 episodes and follows the detective duo Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming as they travel west from Chang'an solving a sequence of strange criminal cases set in the year 712.¹

Key fact	Detail
Original title	唐朝诡事录之西行 (Tang Chao Gui Shi Lu zhi Xixing)¹
Broadcast	iQiyi, premiered July 18, 2024; 40 episodes²^•¹
Director and writer	Chief director Bai Shan (柏杉); original story and screenplay Wei Fenghua (魏风华)³
Source material	Wei Fenghua's 2013 novel Tang Chao Gui Shi Lu, which draws on the Tang dynasty miscellany Youyang Zazu by Duan Chengshi⁴
Main cast	Yang Xuwen (Lu Lingfeng), Yang Zhigang (Su Wuming), Gao Siwen (Pei Xijun), Chen Chuang (Fei Jishi), Sun Xuening (Yingtao)¹
Structure	Eight unit cases: Xiangmobian, Wuzuo zhi Si, Fengxue Mojia Dian, Qianzhong Du, Tongtianxi, Yunding Zui, Shangxianfang de Laixin, Gongyangren⁵
Reception	Douban opening score 8.1, later rising to 8.3; iQiyi in-platform heat value passed 10,000⁶

Spoilers

Premise and structure

The story is set in 712, when Emperor Ruizong changed the era name to Yanhe. The Tang empire remains outwardly prosperous, but hidden factions stir beneath the surface and strange cases multiply among the people. Lu Lingfeng, deputy minister of the Dali Temple (the supreme court), and Su Wuming, an official of the Qianling, again face a series of supernatural-seeming mysteries on their westward journey.¹

The five-member "Tang mystery detective squad" of Lu Lingfeng, Su Wuming, Pei Xijun, Fei Jishi, and Yingtao returns from the first season. The team departs Chang'an and travels west, encountering a chain of bizarre crimes while the story explores loyalty to the state and human nature.⁷ The season uses what critics describe as a "pearl-chain" structure: a continuous main storyline linking eight largely independent unit cases, with Western Regions flavor adding atmosphere and visual impact.⁴

The eight cases run from the "demon-slaying mural murder case" in Chang'an to a final case centered on the donors of the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, tracing the team's demotion and westward journey.⁸ Screenwriter Wei Fenghua described the season's essence as "a western legend, a suspense version of Journey to the West."²

Place in the franchise

The first season, Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, aired on iQiyi in 2022 and became a word-of-mouth hit, topping charts on several platforms for about a month despite little marketing.³^•¹⁵ The second season was widely discussed as a rare sequel that surpassed its predecessor in ratings and reach.⁸

The franchise continued. A third season, Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty III: To Chang'an (唐朝诡事录之长安), aired on November 8, 2025, opening to high scores; it recalls the detective squad to Chang'an under the pretext of escorting golden peaches from the state of Kang.¹⁶

Origins and production

The franchise began with Wei Fenghua's reading notes on Tang dynasty zhiguai (records of the strange) and chuanqi tales. In 2017, while working with his mentor, the director Guo Jingyu, on another drama, Wei had written the source book, which at the time had no continuous protagonists, only scattered stories. Guo suggested adapting it for television and asked Wei to create two leads who could "reach the court above and touch the common people below," producing the civil-military pairing of Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng.⁸

The series was officially announced on April 12, 2023, when production company GHY Culture & Media (长信传媒) revealed a "wolf greed and tiger gaze" concept poster and the start of filming.³ Shooting began at Hengdian shortly afterward, with Bai Shan as chief director and the returning leads Yang Xuwen, Yang Zhigang, Gao Siwen, and Chen Chuang.⁹ The core cast of the first season returned, joined by new cast members including Yu Yi, Chapman To (车保罗), and Tang Jingmei.³

Wei Fenghua researched Tang history for years and drew on sources including the Youyang Zazu, Bowu Zhi, Duyi Zhi, and Wenqi Lu, so that much of the series' strange material comes from fragments left by Tang writers.⁸^•⁴ He said that in this season he paid more attention to the circumstances of ordinary people at the bottom of Tang society, and to female characters and the spirit of chivalry drawn from Tang tales.¹⁰

Reception

The season premiered on July 18, 2024, and quickly became a summer hit. Its Douban opening score of 8.1, based on nearly 28,000 user ratings with 40.9 percent five-star reviews, was widely reported, and the score later climbed to 8.3.²^•⁶ The iQiyi heat value, the platform's popularity metric, approached 10,000 within a week of launch and later passed it, and the show topped daily rankings on multiple platforms.⁷^•⁶ According to China Film News, the series ranked third among 2024 domestic dramas by rating and reached number one in 11 overseas countries and regions.¹¹

Commentary highlighted several strengths. Reviewers praised the production design, cinematography, and fight choreography as improved over the first season, and noted the series' "listening" relationship with its audience: the production adopted many viewer suggestions, and fans promoted the show themselves.²^•¹² Director Bai Shan said that after viewers found the first season's chief villain too easy to guess, the second season was written to be harder to predict, and that the season aimed at three "news": new stories, new perspectives, and new faces.⁶

Critics also identified weaknesses. The Paper's review argued that detection itself remains the franchise's shortcoming, with investigative logic sometimes rushed or muddled even as the atmosphere, ensemble acting, and action sequences carried the show.¹²^•¹³ The Xiangmobian case, built around a Buddhist temple mural, reflects late-Tang popular devotion and the manipulation of believers by cults, while Wuzuo zhi Si examines the low status of the coroner (仵作) profession in Tang society.⁷^•¹⁴

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026