Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Foreword.

I want the sky to never again cover my eyes; the earth, never again bury my heart. I want every living creature to understand me perfectly; I want all the gods to scatter, like smoke in the wind.

One.

The four came to a stop before a dense forest. Once again, there was no more road ahead.

"Wukong, I'm hungry. Go get some food." Tang sat ostentatiously down on a rock, and said.

"I'm busy. You’ve got legs, haven’t you? Go get some yourself." said Wukong, leaning on his staff.

"Busy? Doing what?"

"Don't you think the clouds at sunset are really beautiful?" replied Wukong, eyes on the horizon, "I have to take a look at them every day, to be able to continue walking west."

"You can look at them as you are getting food - just try not to walk into anything."

"When I'm watching the sunset, I don't do anything else!"

"Sun Wukong, you can't do this, you can't bully the baldie. If he starves to death, we'd never get to the Western Paradise; if we never get to the Western Paradise, the curses we bear will never be lifted," said Zhu Bajie.

"Fuck off, pig-head, who asked you?"

"What'd you say? Who're you calling a pig?"

"Not a pig, a pig's head." Wukong snickered through his teeth.

"You wanna say that again??" Bajie lifted his rake and charged.

"Shut the fuck up, I'm sleeping!! Get the fuck out of here, if you’re gonna fight!" Friar Sand roared.

The three thugs glared at each other.

"Fight all you like! The more of you die, the better!" Tang stood up, "You can all be masters - I'll go get food for all of you, how about that? Maybe a passing demon will gobble me up, then you can all cry your hearts out."

"Go on, there's a lady demon waiting for you!" Wukong called after Tang.

"Hehehehe…" The three monsters snickered.

"Don't think I won't!" Tang turned to shake his fist at them, then patted down himself, straightened his robes, and began to walk towards the forest. On his first step, skritch - his robes caught on something.

"Hahahaha…" The three monsters rolled on the ground in laughter, quite forgetting to fight.

This was a purple wood, and all around, strange plants grew in an ever-present, indigo mist. The deeper one walked, the wetter the ground and darker the canopy, until finally, the branches and leaves completely covered the sky, and Tang was completely lost.

"Wonderful! What lively, what unique living beings!" Tang said happily.

"Thank you!" said a voice.

Tang turned and saw a tree; set into its purple trunk were two blinking eyes.

"Amazing, I see a demon! I love such supernatural beings - what a wonder life is! Let me feel you, you spirit of the earth." Tang reached out, joyfully rubbing the trunk.

The trunk was covered with purple sap, and felt slippery-wet and silk-smooth.

The tree relaxed into the stroking, and allowed its thousands of draping branches to wave about in pleasure.

"Ahh… No one has touched me for several tens of thousands of years! It used to be… perhaps a few thousand years ago, that a tribe of monkeys played on me, but since then they have disappeared. Back then, I did not yet have eyes, and only felt so many moving creatures all around me, talking, singing… I couldn't see, and couldn't move, but I was happy. I have finally grown my eyes now, but I'm not sure where they’ve all gotten to…"

"They're dead." said Tang.

"Dead? What is dead?"

"Death means you cannot see anything, cannot hear or feel or think anything, like the time before you were born."

"No! Don't want death. And I don't want to be alone."

"You will live for a long time yet. You don't have hands, or legs - you'll grow those later."

"I spent a hundred thousand years growing eyes - I cannot bear such waiting anymore! I want to feel the others around me right now, feel you, the very smell of your body intoxicates me!"

"It has been a while since I last bathed. By the way, if you don't have a mouth, how are you talking?"

"I use this." The tree waved a branch in front of Tang.

On it hung a human mouth.

"That's not yours."

"Correct. I found it. Three hundred years ago, a man was eaten here, and this is what was left of him. I used my sap to keep it fresh, then spent another dozen years to grow a branch and pick it up."

"That's not right, you know. It seems you have become opportunistic. If it's not yours, you should return it to where it's from."

"Don't you want to know why that man was eaten?"

"Because he met you?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, Tang realized his feet have been tangled by vines for some time.

Behind him came a snuffling noise, and hot air the smell of rotten flesh blasted at his neck, but he found that he could not turn around.

"Leave his hands for me. I like those hands," said the tree.

"Taking other demons' leftovers! If I were you I'd hang myself for shame," said Tang.

"If I had a neck, I'd consider it."

A pair of claws rested on Tang's shoulders.

The tree said: "Wait, I wish to say one last thing to him. He is the first to talk to me after I got this mouth. I'm very curious what the psychology is like for a person about to be eaten."

"Don't you prattle on at me!" yelled Tang, "the sooner I die, the sooner I reincarnate! I'm not scared! …do you really want to hear my last words?"

The tree nodded its branches.

"All right." Tang took a deep breath: "HEEEEEEEEEAAAAAALLLLPPP!"

"The master's calling for help again," said the pig.

"Ignore him, he's always like that. Tireless." Wukong had finished watching the sunset, and was now gnawing on a bone.

Bajie stared at him. "What are you eating?"

"Pork."

"All right, you little-" The pig threw himself at the monkey.

"Yeah." Friar Sand turned over in his sleep. "Chop… Chop him up…" And fell back into a deep slumber.

"You have called seventeen times. I only permitted one sentence." The tree stared at Tang. "Why are you leaking water?"

"Grandpa Tree, I'm really scared. I'm still young, I'm barely twenty years old."

"You have your limbs and your senses at only twenty. I've lived hundreds of thousands of years and only have a pair of eyes. How is that fair?"

"To become human you must reincarnate several hundred times, so altogether I’ve waited about as much time as you. Please let me live a few more years, or better yet, centuries."

"If I release you, you will leave me, and I will be left alone. No."

"I won't leave, I swear by my eldest disciple Sun Wukong that I'll stay until your death. And can whatever's behind me stop licking me? I'm rather dirty, you know."

"Sun Wukong? I've heard of that name somewhere… Never mind, you said you have disciples?"

"Yes. My second disciple Zhu Bajie is very plump."

"Then keep shouting."

"The master has called for the one hundred and thirty-forth time. You still won't go and shut him up?"

"Call me uncle first."

"Never! Hey! Take your foot off my back if you dare and let’s go another round!"

"No, huh? Then you bring this on yourself…"

Bang, bang, crash. #%!!*@%!

"Ahh - Ahem,” Tang coughed between his screams, “Um, can I get a drink of water before I get back to yelling?"

"They're not coming. Maybe they've run away."

"Wait, I think hear a sound like a pig getting slaughtered," said the creature behind Tang.

"Oh yeah, that'll be them,” said Tang.

"Whatever. I'll eat you first and then go look for them."

"No no no, don't do that, why don't we sit down and talk about philosophy - how about I give you a riddle? What is a lotus before it's a lotus?"

"Ahh!" Both the tree and the creature gave a sudden scream, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Huh?" said Tang, "What happened to you? Sorry if my riddle was a little too hard."

"A lotus before it's a lotus is still a lotus." A girl's voice said.

Tang turned around, and saw a girl smirking at him. She had long flowing hair and shimmering clothes woven from the finest silver grass.

"You're really pretty, lady!" said Tang.

"It seems you are a lustful monk."

"Oh, no! It’s just that, a monk must not lie."

"If you weren't bald, I imagine girls would like you."

"I've always thought it makes me look rather dashing."

"Such a slippery tongue! How will you ever learn the Way?"

"The Way which I study is different; Everyone else studies the Minor Scriptures, I study the Greater Scriptures; they learn about emptiness, I learn about fulfillment."

"Greater Scriptures? Ha, never heard of them."

"Because I haven't made them up yet."

"I've only heard of the Golden Cicada who doubted the Minor Scriptures, and wanted to comprehend everything all by himself. He ended up going astray, and falling to the mortal world."

"That's dumb of him."

The girl was suddenly angry. "What right do you have to talk about him like that?! He has enough wisdom in his little finger to reveal the very Heaven’s secrets; you are only a common mortal who begs demons for your life!"

"Because I want to live, and I cannot bury the desire in my heart; in the same manner, I delight in your beauty - how then can I say that all is empty?"

"You are a simple mortal; you cannot see that the perceptions of all things are but illusions."

"Even sows have beauty and ugliness - there is no need to feel ashamed of yourself."

"You have already broken the Ban of Hostility! Incessant talk of nonsense; unclean heart and mind - how can you possibly be a monk?"

"I was raised in a temple, so luck of the draw, I suppose."

"You are not worthy of discussing Buddhism. When I heard your riddle, I thought you had some depth of understanding, and so came to your aid - now I see that I have saved an ignorant fool. Leave my sight!"

"Ha, that was not well said, madam. It is said 'life and death are the will of Heaven' - if I were a wise monk of deep understanding, the Buddha would naturally protect me - why would ever I require your fussing?"

"Infuriating, bald -"

The girl turned suddenly about and the pretty face was immediately twisted and frightening: "If you are such an unimportant mortal, then I should devour you!"

Tang sighed. "Why is it that demons always have so much to say before they eat me?"

In the blink of an eye, a figure streaked through the air.

It was, of course, Sun Wukong.

The moment the girl's wrist was caught, she felt a suffocating force flooding her body; it was an unassailable will power, paralyzing her every muscle. With a soft sigh, she gave up the fight, and fell to the ground.

Wukong studied the demon girl. "Well, egg-head, you attract lady demons like dung attracts flies; using you as bait seems to be working marvellously well - I'll have collected enough merit points very soon… Why is it that the demons that fall for you become uglier by the day?"

"Good heavens and amitabha! You’re saying this beautiful lady is ugly?" said Tang.

"Beau- Beauti- Look at her, she's nearing my level… Is that your preference or something?"

"Ah, though appearances be ever-shifting, the heart remains a clear mirror. How can your monkey's eyes distinguish beauty from ugliness?"

"Pfft. Just because I have cataracts and moderate astigmatism, in addition to teary eyes in strong wind and direct sunlight - only because I'd been underground for too long! - How dare you mock me for my disabilities? Piss me off and I’ll teach you a lesson with my staff. Now, let me finish off your little lady first."

Wukong lifted his Gold-Tipped Staff.

The girl stirred, and opened her eyes to Wukong raising his staff.

"Sun Wukong… You are Sun Wukong!"

She suddenly clutched his legs to her chest. "Is it you? Is it really you? I'm not dreaming?"

She lifted an extremely ugly face to fix it with deep emotion on Wukong, tears actually spilling from her eyes.

Sun Wukong felt his whole body shudder, like all his organs had jerked, and thought, what magic was this, that prevented him from using even an ounce of his strength?

The girl was still talking: "You've come; it's too wonderful - is it another dream? But I am satisfied. I've stayed here for so many years, hoping one day you would appear before me - you are free - are you finally free? I knew this day would come, no one can imprison you, never… I'm so happy… so happy…"

She had become inarticulate with sobs.

Wukong coalesced his power, and gave a shout. The girl flew through the air, and rammed into a tree, cracking a trunk large enough for two people to wrap their arms around clean into two.

"Ha, you incorrigible demon, do you think this is any use on me? Crying? Crying won't do a thing for you - I kill people as soon as I look at them."

"You… you don't recognize me… True, now that I look like this, you cannot recognize me… but I was cursed by the Jade Emperor, and cannot change back… I am…"

The girl suddenly screamed, and blood poured from her mouth. She fell writhing to the ground.

Tang gave a sigh of pity: "Are you cursed as well to prevent you from saying who you are?"

The girl clawed at the earth, clearly in terrible pain.

"Don't buy into her act, egg-head. I've met plenty of demons - they'll use any trick they can. Get out of the way and let me finish her,” said Wukong.

"I'm not stopping you, go on... why aren't you finishing her?"

"…You're not the boss of me. I don't kill when you order me to."

"Tsk tsk and amitabha. A thousand difficulties forge an undying will." Tang straightened his shredded robes, and strolled towards the edge of the forest. "You two take your time, I'll not impose myself. I'll take a walk in this beautiful wood, and hope to meet a flower demon…"

He paused beside the remains of the trunk of the old tree, and gave a deep sigh: “‘Don't want to die, and don't want to be alone.’ Have you lived hundreds of thousands of years only for this day?"

Tang left. Wukong hopped on a tree branch, and swung around while the girl convulsed and moaned on the ground. After a long time, the girl slowly recovered.

Wukong: "It’s not that I pity you or anything, I just don't kill anyone who can't defend themselves as a rule. You're good now, right? Bring it on."

He was still swinging languidly on a thick vine, looking more like he was preparing for an afternoon nap than a battle.

The girl's face was very pale, but as she watched Wukong, a trace of laughter came to her mouth, still red with blood.

"You haven't changed. You used to be… just like this… Do you remember the time we first met? You were lying on a tree branch then too, on the branch of a Heavenly peach tree…"

"What the... I've met a delusional demon. Lady, I've never seen you before in my life, nor have I ever seen any Heavenly peach trees. Why don't you make a random move, so I can kill you with one counter move instead of wasting time?"

"You still can't remember who I am? Have… have you forgotten everything?"

"Old lady, stop going on about your life story, you've got the wrong person. I was only released from the Five Dungeons Mountain five years ago, and all I want to do is to kill a few extra demons so the guys in Heaven can clear my old charges - maybe even give me a job as a minor earth spirit or something… When have I ever met you?"

"What are you talking about? Five Dungeons? Shouldn't it be the Five Elements Mountain? As for your charges… You know what crimes you've committed, do you really expect Heaven to forget it all just for killing a few demons?

"What are you talking about? I was a monkey demon from Flower Fruit Mountain, punished in the Five Dungeons for being disrespectful to the Jade Emperor. Now the Emperor himself has pardoned me, on the condition that I perform those three tasks… I remember the past perfectly clearly - where do you come into it? Why the hell am I even talking to you about this?"

The girl's expression was full of shock and suspicion.

"How could… Unless… They want you to complete three tasks? What three tasks?"

"Persistent, aren't you? Well, I guess you can die with your curiosity satisfied. The first task is to get the egg-head to the Western Paradise. The second is to kill the four Demon Kings…"

"The Four Kings!?"

"Yeah, you know, the Great Sage Leveling Heaven, Demon Bull King; the Great Sage Clouding Heaven, Demon Hawk King; the Great Sage Overlooking Heaven, the Macaque King; and another one, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the Handsome Monkey King -

"Ha! The - the Monkey King?"

" - Yeah, you know him? - The third task they said they'll tell me after I've done the first two. Are you crying again?"

The girl had lowered her head, murmuring: "Yes, he has forgotten everything, forgotten you…" Her tears fell into the earth beneath her.

Wukong hopped down from the tree with a sigh. "You look so miserable, it would probably be a good thing for me to finish you. In your next life, try to be a wild flower or something growing on a cliff, and sway around in the wind a bit - wouldn't that be better than a demon that lived too long to keep its memories straight?"

The girl lifted her face through the pain: "I do not remember wrongly. I will remember everything, remember it forever… I could never have guessed that after five hundred years of waiting for you, I would die by your hand. None of us ever did escape the centre of his palm."

Wukong lifted his staff…

"Before I die, I wish to ask you one thing,” said the one beneath the staff.

"Is it true that after you forget everything, there will be no more pain?"

"……”

Wukong held the staff in the air.

"Argh!" He swung his staff to the side, clearing all the trees in a fan-shaped space of over ten yards in radius.

"A demon with dementia, no point in killing…" He muttered, walking away without a single look back.

Not seeing the girl as she stretched her hand towards him, too weak to shout, her eyes full of sadness.

As he walked, he thought he heard the sound of ocean waves. But he was in a forest, surrounded by trees.

"Five hundred years ago," he thought, "Where was I?"

At that thought, he had a sudden headache. He shook his head to clear it, and felt better.

"Weird. How come I suddenly don't feel like killing anymore?"

Chapter Text

Two.

Tang and the other two disciples were eating fruit in front of the campfire.

Sun Wukong walked slowly out of the woods.

Tang looked up.

"You're back? Take a seat."

Wukong said nothing. He sat down and stared into the fire.

"Eh, what's wrong with the monkey today?" said the pig, "He looks like he's been knocked on the head. Haha… hahaha…"

He laughed until tears came out of his eyes before he realized no one else was laughing.

"Not good." said Sand.

"What's not good?" asked Bajie.

"I don't know, but I feel nervous all of a sudden." said Sand.

"It’s fine, everything's fine. What will come, will come." Tang said, watching Wukong carefully, "Isn't that right, monkey?"

Wukong's face was hidden in the shadows.

"I didn't kill her." he said.

"I knew you couldn't bear to kill such a pretty girl." said Tang.

"Ah! Pretty women! No wonder the monkey stayed for so long! And you too, monk! What have you guys been d-"

Sand kicked Bajie.

"What are you kicking me for? You think they're acting weird? Big deal, what do you want me to do about it? When have they ever acted NOT weird?" The pig yelled.

"She told me everything." said Sun Wukong.

"Oh?" said Tang.

"She told me who I am, and who all of us are."

"Oh?" said Tang.

"Oh?" said the pig, "Did she tell you I'm not actually a pig ahahaha… hahaha…"

Sun Wukong sprang to his feet. The pig was still rolling on the floor with laughter.

Wukong pointed his staff staight at Tang: "Since I now know who you are, I am bound to kill you."

"Oh." said Tang, "Who am I? Could you tell me before you kill me?"

Wukong leaped, and his staff landed directly on Tang's head. Blood spurted, and Tang fell to the ground.

Wukong roared with laughter: "Sun Wukong, you've committed another crime against Heaven!"

He threw back his head and bellowed at the sky: "I've killed him! What now?? COME AND GET ME!"

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck, accompanied by an enormous roll of thunder. The entire woods caught fire.

Wukong laughed carelessly. "Ha! Missed me! Aim for this!" He pointed at his own forehead. "Come on! Are you scared? I DARE YOU!"

The dancing firelight twisted his face frightfully.

Low rumbles of thunder sounded, but no more lightning struck. The thunder was like the panting of an enormous beast in the face of an even greater opponent, fading away with each rumble.

Wukong seemed to sense something, suddenly. He leaped and disappeared into the sky.

Friar Sand looked up at the sky, then looked down at the ground. Tang's body laid on the ground, and had begun to burn. Bajie was still laughing.

"Hey. Stop laughing. Tang's dead."

"Dead is good, dead is good, let's divide up the luggage shall we, ahahaha… hahaha…"

The pig kept on laughing, tears streaming down his face.

The cause…

General Tian Peng had watched it all since the first day the moon rose into the sky.

He watched as she collected the countless dust particles of the world, and from them carefully select the silver ones; only one in five billion billion particles are of that colour. She patiently sorted through each one, and Tian Peng stood beside her and watched. She did not talk while she was worked, for fear of her breath blowing away the dust, and so Tian Peng did not talk. When hurried travelers of the sky rushed by, Tian Peng would spread his great wings to protect her from the wind.

So she worked for eighty thousand years; so Tian Peng stood silently beside her for eighty thousand years, never saying a word, or even seeing her face, as she only ever faced the pile of dust she sorted. Yet Tian Peng was happy, for there was someone he could silently watch, someone who needed him, though only once every few thousand years. It was still better than living alone in the dark, in the Heavenly river - much, much better.

And so, ten billion billion silver particles were selected. One day, she lifted her hand and ten billion billion particles all flew into the sky, and in the ancient darkness, there were suddenly clouds of glowing silver light.

"It's beautiful!" Tian Peng could not help but shout. She gently put a hand to Tian Peng's mouth.

"Shh. Don't scare them." she whispered, her eyes filled with love. Tian Peng was light-headed, though she directed her gaze not at him but at the silver fairies; he was dizzy with the thought that there could be such love in the world, such magical creations. To have such a thing to love, he thought, must be wonderful.

The second time she lifted her hand, the clouds of silver dust began to spin, surrounding where she and Tian Peng stood; they spun faster and faster, until they became an enormous silver ring. Tian Peng was almost fainting from this fantastic view; he stumbled and leaned against her slightly. She did not push him away, but held him, gently.

"Careful," she said, still quietly.

That single word was the most beautiful music Tian Peng had heard in eighty thousand years.

The third time she lifted her hand, the glowing ring began to spiral into the center, becoming billions of silver threads flowing towards the very middle of the ring, where a small silver core was becoming clearer and clearer.

"What is attracting them?" asked Tian Peng.

"Me." she said.

"…"

"Us." she smiled. Her finger lightly touched his face.

Tian Peng felt the silver river flow into his veins with that touch, and he could bear it no longer. He pulled her into his arms.

He kissed her, deeply, the kiss matured by eighty thousand years.

When it was over, she slipped out of his arms, looked across the sky and gasped.

"Oh, no!"

While she was kissed her concentration on her power had lapsed, and now, though the silver core has been created, several billion particles were still scattered around the Heavenly river.

She covered her face and cried.

"I've worked on it for so long, and I still failed, in the end."

Tian Peng gently put his arm around her.

"Don't cry. There is no creation that is perfect in the world, but sometimes imperfection is more beautiful. Look."

She lifted her head, and saw that the Heavenly river now flowed with twinkling silver stars.

The Heavenly river used to be dark, but now you have turned it into silver, so let us then call it the "Milky Way", and this silver core, we can call it…"

"Use my name. We can call it Yue - ‘the Moon’."

"The Moon… yes. Does that mean we can say, the lovers are bathed in the light of the moon?"

"…"

Bathed in the moonlight, the lovers stood, arms tight around each other.

"Zhu Bajie! You're drooling; can you suck it up a bit? It's nearly at my feet." the White Dragon said.

"Damn you, horse, you woke me up."

"Are your eyes drooling too or are you actually capable of crying?"

"What are talking about? Me, crying? Pfft. The egg-head is dead, off to the West all by himself, and I don't have to deal with it all any more. I couldn't be happier. I was dreaming about my pretty wife at Gao Village."

"You keep saying you have a wife there, but I've never even heard of the village. Besides, who would fall for a pig, unless… is she also a…"

"Shut up! You can call me a pig, but don't you say a word against her!"

"You actually are a pig, though."

"I can dream, can't I?"

A shadow fell on them.

Zhu Bajie looked up.

"Heyyy, monkey, what are you doing back here? Aren't you on the run? Bitch-face Sand is already off to report you, hahaha…"

Sun Wukong continued to glare at him coldly.

"Where's the Master?"

"Here to make sure he's dead? He's over there, I was about to bury him tomorrow according to Buddhist tradition… hahahaha… you know, I think I'm getting more humorous by the minute."

"Dead?! Who did it? How did it happen?"

"Who did it? Don't tell me you've got amnesia, that won't get past the jury you know, hahahaha…"

"Perhaps I have forgotten something."

"Yeah, yeah, I've forgotten everything too please stop making me laugh please hahahaha…"

Sun Wukong surged suddenly forward and held the pig snout shut.

"Make just one more sound..."

Bajie's eyes widened, his mouth swelled, then he swallowed his laugh with a gulp.

One minute later…

"So that's what happened. Obviously, someone pretending to be me killed the egg-head. How dare they."

"I totally believe it was someone pretending to be you, so long as you don't kill me for being a witness, haha - ahem."

"By killing the monk, he is clearly trying to stop me reaching the West. And how dare he transform into my shape!"

"Well, I'd rather he had transformed into me, too, but maybe my handsome features were too much for him to handle hehehe."

"Stop laughing! Only the monk can gain us entrance into the Western Paradise, isn't that what the Goddess said? Now great, he's dead, and the curses on us will never be lifted."

"That's alright. What's the difference between being a pig and an immortal anyway? Perhaps the pig is just a little bit happier? Hahahahaha…"

"Well, I can't stand it! I’ll never be free with this ring around my head."

"Freedom? Whoa did I hear that? Everybody look there's a monkey here and he's talking about freedom!"

"Piss off!" Wukong aimed a kick at the pig, which the pig dodged with a back flip.

"Did you really think you could touch me, monkey? Did you really think you were a hero out to save the world? Guanyin and the Emperor are playing with you like a circus monkey - oh whoops, I forgot you actually are a monkey hahahaha…"

"Pig!"

"Monkey!"

"Pork!"

"Monkey brains!"

"Pig intestines!"

"Monkey butt!"

…

One moment Zhu Bajie was shouting, the next he was suddenly screaming at the sky:

"Why?! What the hell is this all for…"

"Nooo…" he was suddenly inarticulate with sobs.

That night, a blue moon came out. The whole Milky Way full of stars shined silently on a sobbing pig.

Chapter Text

Three.

…I am a ghost, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing, until, eventually, I do not know if I actually feel anything, or if I am merely acting. Many people are watching me, and they are applauding me, but I am very lonely. I live in my own imagination; I imagine a world both simple and complicated. In my world, there are only demons and immortals. There are no humans, and none of the frivolities of humanity, but there are impossible, fantastic things. Yet had I truly lived there, I would be lonely still, for I am human.

These thoughts belong to the monk Tang, or perhaps Sun Wukong, or Zhu Bajie, or Friar Sand, or the demoness who now sits on a tree branch. They are all human, so they all think like this, though they do not look human, and perhaps that is the source of their pain.

The cause…

Swirling, pure white clouds fill the world, and yet they are insubstantial. They are like sunshine - all the light and colour of the world come from the sun, yet the sun itself is white.

She still likes to watch the sun as it rises and sets, when all four fire dragons are singing to the slow, low tune of the long horns atop the bell tower, pulling the Dawn Star's golden carriage in a great arc across the sky.

Each sunset, the Violet Maiden would lift her silken sleeve and place a thin veil over the golden crown of the Dawn Star, to protect him from dust and sand. But what dust can be found in the heavens? Of course the Dawn Star knew her plan was to have all the clouds at sunset be given a violet sheen. So he always good-naturedly accepted. When this secret was out, the Dawn Star's carriage became constantly draped with sheer silk scarves of every colour, some even tied around the necks of the fire dragons. And so the clouds at sunset took on a myriad of different hues.

The Dawn Star received quite a lot of scarves every day, and these he would hang on his twin pine trees; if you looked far enough east, and high above the clouds, you would see them, so tall and wide that they seemed to reach the sky, with silk scarves of all colours draped on their branches, fluttering in the wind.

After the carriage of the Dawn Star had disappeared into the distance, the bell tower would chime three times again, and Tian Peng, the keeper of the Heavenly river, would open the great dam of the Milky Way, and out would flow not water, but billions and billions of particles of silver dust. They are too light to remain settled, and so floated all throughout the Heavenly temples, and the immortals would walk among the stars. Then Tian Peng would wait by the mouth of the river, and everyone would know who he was waiting for. Soon a silver boat glided in from the edge of the sky. The Moon Goddess, in the company of Tian Peng, was like a playful little girl, pulling him by the hand, sitting beside him on the boat, talking, as they drifted west.

"Ayao, are you peeking at the them again? Jealous much?"

"No!"

"No? But your face is as red as the sky at sunset," laughed Heavenly maiden Ayu.

"I…"

"All right, I'll stop. The Heavenly Mother said that the Peach Banquet is soon to take place and that it is time for us to pick the peaches from her Garden."

"Is it time again? Feels like we just had one. Nine thousand years pass so quickly."

"Where are you going?" asked Violet, "the Peach Garden?"

"Yes, Violet, come along!" the maidens chorused.

"No thanks, I want to stay here a while longer."

"Oh, of course, we forgot. You don't do anything else when you watch the sunset!"

The maidens left, chatting and giggling.

"Did you hear? There's a new guard at the Garden."

"Oh yes. It's um, wind… Windy."

"Don't be silly, Windy was discharged like three thousand years ago. The one after him was um, Wu… Well, Wu something."

"I don't think that's it at all."

"Well, whoever he is, we'll probably be done without even meeting him - it's like that every time, isn't it?"

They had arrived at the Peach Garden.

"Hm. Are we here in the wrong season? None of the peaches are ripe yet!"

"They are hardly grown! Only a few small green ones on each tree!"

"Has the Heavenly Mother mistaken the time?"

"Don't say that, how could the Mother be wrong? Have you forgotten the time when she said that the Wintersweet should bloom in the summer, and she still bloomed in the winter instead?"

"Oh, don't talk about it, it scares me to think of it!"

Ayao circled through the woods and finally saw a big, ripe peach, right where she could reach.

"I've found a big one!" she called, grinning, as she reached for it.

Her nightmare of a thousand years began there.

Ayao still clearly remembered the scene: a monkey appeared in place of the peach on the tree; he laid back on the branch, head propped on an elbow, and watched her smugly.

"But I don't taste good at all, miss."

That was the first thing he said to her.

Now Ayao sat in the ever-dark Forest of Ten Thousand Creatures, on the very branch that Sun Wukong had sat on moments ago. When she closed her eyes, everything flashed before them.

"I don't taste good at all, miss…"

"Old lady, you've got the wrong person…"

Ayao screwed her eyes tight; tears flowed down her face, which was as wrinkled as old, dried tree bark.

The other end of the forest.

"Sun Wukong, do you really want to be an immortal that much?" asked Zhu Bajie.

"Yeah! I was born a lowly creature, always a mere monkey demon that everyone looks down on! I'll show them all! …What are you laughing for?"

"What's wrong with laughing?"

"Stop it, stop! I've already vomited everything up when you were crying! I can't watch you laugh anymore, somebody save me from this…"

"You are scared of people laughing at you…"

"No! No, no, no! What do you mean? Who have I ever been afraid of? I've never been scared!"

"You're scared of Guanyin scared of the Emperor…"

"Shut up! I'm not scared…"

"You're scared of the immortal Erlang and even his dog!"

"I’m NOT!"

"You're scared of dying scared when people ignore you scared you're not human scared that people think you're scared…"

"Shut. Your. Mouth. I'm not scared not scared not scared ARGHHHH…"

Sun Wukong leaped into the air and brought his staff down on a boulder.

Boom, a deafening explosion rang out; when the dust cleared, a deep crater had appeared in the earth.

Sun Wukong stood at the crater's center, covered in dust, breathing heavily, still muttering:

"Not scared, not scared, not scared…"

"Just look at how freaked out you are…"

"Oh, shut the fuck up."

Suddenly, both of them stopped talking.

They had both heard something.

In the silence of the night, a faint howling could be heard, full of pain and misery.

"What was that?! Sounds like some wild beast," said Sun Wukong.

"I think it sounds like sobbing," said Zhu Bajie.

"A wild beast crying perhaps. It's like a bear who just lost his dad!"

"Just because you don't have a dad doesn't mean you should wish it on everyone else, you know."

"If I don't kick your ass right now, then my name isn't Sun-"

They were almost on top of each other, when the pig said:

"Shh…"

The voice was very clear now, it was shouting a name, drawn out, over and over again.

"Sun… Wu… Kong… Sun… Wu… Kong… Nooo…"

"Is that a ghost sent to get me?" said Sun Wukong in alarm.

"Is that your voice trembling? Whoa, you look pale, like you're about to die."

Sun Wukong stared all around, one hand firmly around the pig's neck.

"Ack, even if you're scared, you don't… hem… have to… hug me so tightly…"

"If I'm about to die, I'm taking you with me."

"It's probably Master's spirit come to haunt you."

"Spirit? Got it!"

With a flick of Wukong's wrist, Zhu Bajie flew into the air.

"I'll make a trip to the Underworld and find the baldie's ghost. Then we can get back on the road!"

"Hem, hem… hahaha…” Bajie coughed upon being released, then started laughing.

"You're doing it again!"

"Lives we spend to purge our sins, purge our sins for lives to spend."

"Are you taking up the baldie's habit of making up rhymes?"

"The master's body is already burnt up, there's about half of it left over there."

"Well, we'll just have to make do, maybe get a few extra parts from somewhere. You stay here and watch the luggage and the body, I'll be back in about fifteen years, tops."

With a leap, Sun Wukong had disappeared into the distance.

"But Friar Sand has already left… " Zhu Bajie muttered, "Does that mean I have to carry the luggage from now on?"

"Good timing." said the White Dragon. She only ever talks in front of Zhu Bajie, and only he knows her secret.

"I need to go home for a visit, too."

"Go on, go on. If the monkey can manage to get the monk's spirit back, I'll change my name to Sun."

After the White Dragon left, Zhu Bajie walked, alone, into the woods, to where the strange noise had emanated from.

"Ayao. How are you?" he spoke to the darkness.

A long pause. Then -

"Who are you? How do you know my old name?"

"I?" replied Zhu Bajie, "I am you. I am one who would rather bear the pain than forget the past."

Chapter Text

Four.

This was a place of endless darkness. In the dark, only faint, transparent shapes could be seen sinking slowly down from above, being sucked into a great pit below.

Sun Wukong tried to take a deep breath, and found that there was no air to breathe in.

Here, there was no hunger, no temperature, no pain, no feeling at all.

But Wukong could feel, because he was still alive. He felt something that wasn't the cold creep into him.

The souls floated all around like jellyfish, and in their soft, transparent bodies, strange, insect-like things were ricocheting around.

"What are those?"

"We are desires!" the insects cried in shrill, whiny voices, "Let us go! We don't want to be exterminated!"

Wukong shuddered as he realized that the reply came from things inside his own body.

He checked himself over, hurriedly. At least he wasn't transparent.

Upon entering the pit, his feet touched ground. In front of him, a gigantic monster with countless legs was dragging his horns through thousands of souls at a time, removing the bugs and throwing them into a sea of lava.

"Nooo... Nooo… Save meee…" a cacophony of countless tiny voices screamed unceasingly.

Desires of all shapes and sizes fell like snowflakes.

One of the long horns extended in front of Wukong; on it was one of the monster’s eyes. It blinked.

Wukong started and leaped aside.

A shrill voice: "Save me! Save me!"

It was a small, pink insect, caught on the horn, fluttering in panic.

What difference would it make, Sun Wukong thought．

But he still flew over, and lifted the bug from the horn.

"Thank you! Thank you! How can I repay you?"

"Don't worry about it. Besides, what can you do? You're tiny."

"I can be small and I can be great; sometimes I’m fragile, yet sometimes I’m strong enough to defeat anything."

"Oh yeah? Who're you?"

"My name is… Someone's coming! Let me ride this one out."

In a blink, the bug had dived into Wukong's body.

"Oh the heavens save me! Can it be?" someone shouted wildly.

Sun Wukong lifted his gaze, and saw a man - or rather a ghost - clad in an officer's clothes, fallen over in fright.

Wukong walked over: "What's with you?"

"Holy smokes!" the ghost scrambled to stand up, "I'm scared! I'm so scared!"

"But you're a ghost. Do ghosts get scared?"

"Ghosts are insubstantial, and fear all things solid and bright, even so much as a spark of sunlight. Not to mention you, the Great Sa - "

"I'm not the great anything, I'm Sun Wukong. And I'm looking for someone - well, his ghost."

"You…" the creature was still staring at Wukong warily, "Oh yes, you've forgotten… thank heavens, thank heavens…"

"What?"

The ghost did not reply, and instead led Wukong for what seemed to be thousands of miles in the dark, deep underground.

They came to a sheer cliff. Beyond it was only endless nothingness.

The ghost brought Wukong to the very edge: "On matters of life and death, nothing escapes the Earthly Buddha. You may ask him."

"Where's he? Why can't I see him?"

"Do you know where this is?"

"Looks like the end of the Earth."

"Exactly. Ahead, there is no longer any ground. Mortals who arrive here cannot travel one step further, and can only fall into bottomless void. Hence, this place is named the Empty Mountain."

"Cool."

"To see the Earthly Buddha, you must go through here."

"How?"

"Jump, of course. Whether or not you reach the bottom will depend on you."

"Ha! Think you can kid me around? Even if there is a bottom, suppose I fall non-stop for a few centuries - wouldn't I get bored to death on the way? Let me test it out first… Dammit, there isn't so much as a pebble in this place!"

"All depends on you. A man who knows the Way, will reach the Other Side. This drop, to a man with the Knowledge, is a flight up, and the darkness, light."

"Oh, wow, that sounds truly incredible… You first!" Without warning, Wukong kicked the ghost off the cliff.

"Ahhh! Noooo…" The ghost dropped like a stone.

Wukong leaned over the edge. "Are you rising up? See any light?"

"Fucking monkey, you better…" The voice shrank and faded away.

"Ha! Jump off, my tail. Do I look stupid?"

Wukong turned around to find that he was alone in the endless darkness.

"Is there no direction in this place?"

"Of course there is." said a voice in the dark.

"Who was that? And can everybody stop randomly speaking up like that?"

"There are two directions in this place: up, and down."

"Yeah? So you actually have to jump to find the Earthly Buddha?" Wukong stared all around, seeing nothing.

"Not exactly. Without true understanding, a journey of a thousand miles is all for nothing; With it, the Western Paradise is at one's feet."

"Woah, so deep. About as useful as letting out gas."

"You want answers, but you do not have a receptive heart. How, then, can I teach you?"

"Teach me? Who the fuck do you think you are? Show yourself!"

"I am right before you."

"Where? You’re about as visible as a black bull in a black field. Flash me a grin, will you?"

A sudden brightness appeared before Wukong's eyes. Before the cliff, two large regions of white had appeared, both many miles across, and within each of the white regions, was a great circular region of darkness. Within the darkness, a figure was visible. It was the reflection of Wukong himself.

Wukong looked the apparition up and down.

"Ohhh, a pair of eyes, I see! That all you've got?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"How should I know? Where's your face? What are you looking at, with your goldfish eyes?"

"You have no idea the size I can grow to with my power! Ha ha ha… I, am the -"

"I don't care! What's that got to do with me?"

"I… Well, I'm telling you anyway: I, am - "

"Dontcaredontcaredontcare…"

"Listen, you - you monkey-"

"Getting pissed off, are we? Still want to teach me?"

"Shut up! I'm the King of the Underworld."

"…"

"Humph. Cat got your tongue, monkey? Don't you want to find your master? I can help you, you insolent creature!"

"…"

"To tell the truth, his ghost never even came to this place. Which means that he has either become an immortal and risen to the heavens, or he has too much he cannot let go in the mortal world, and his spirit still wanders there."

Without a word, Wukong turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Since he's not here, I'll look elsewhere."

"You're going just like that?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Wukong said lightly, without pausing on his way out.

"What did you say?"

"Thanks, thanks! Are you deaf?"

 "Did you hear that? He said thanks! Sun Wukong, said thanks! Sun Wukong said thanks to me! Hahaha… oh, that feels fucking good."

"Hahahaha…" Countless voices suddenly began laughing all around. Sun Wukong realized at once that there were actually thousands of ghosts surrounding him, invisible in the dark.

"Hahaha… is this what the great Sun Wukong has become?"

"Isn't he cute, now?"

"Look at him, all quiet - what're you looking at, huh?"

"Hahahaha…"

"HAHAHAHA…"

Sun Wukong was starting to realize that something was wrong. Why was he so calm?

He actually wanted to be angry, but he only felt utterly empty. He seemed to have nothing to fuel his anger with.

So he just walked, slowly, among the echoing laughter.

What are they laughing at? He thought.

What should I do now?

Wukong walked away into the darkness.

The King of the Underworld heaved a great sigh of relief. "Thank heavens, he's finally gone. All right, at ease, everyone!"

Suddenly, a flood of ghost-soldiers emerged from every corner of the Underworld, hundreds and thousands of them, like ants scurrying from a disturbed anthill. All of them were armed.

"Bravo, my King," chuckled one ghost, "Scared off the Great Sage Equaling himself!" It was the ghost that Wukong had pushed over the cliff.

"Well, Advisor, I must confess, I was pretty freaked out, too. I mean, what if he'd actually gotten mad?" The King of the Underworld, having removed his illusions, now appears to be a short, portly fellow.

"Looks like Guanyin's idea really worked."

"Yeah, he's just a tame dog, now - all bark and no bite!"

"Hahahaha…"

"Hahahaha… …ack."

In unison they choked on their laughter, jaws dropping open.

They were both staring at the same point ahead.

The thousands of ghost-soldiers turned to stare as well.

In the dark, a figure was walking towards them.

He walked quite slowly, but every step seemed to shake the Underworld.

Sun Wukong!

"Hello, little ghosts of the Underworld. We meet again." said Wukong, "What's so funny, you guys? Keep laughing. Go on."

Every ghost clapped a hand tightly over their own mouth.

"Who was it that laughed the loudest?"

Hundreds of thousands of fingers lifted and pointed at the King of the Underworld.

The King of the Underworld paled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Advisor pointing at him. He glared at the Advisor, who quickly shrank his hand back.

"You! Get over here, and get your behind ready for two hundred of the best." Wukong twitched his staff.

"Spare me Great Sage no need to take it so seriously Great Sage it was just my little joke!"

"Two hundred on the ass… or one on the head."

"…"

Wukong's face suddenly twisted: "Very funny, all of you, very funny!"

In a flash, before the King of the Underworld could move a muscle, Wukong had leapt forward, and seized him by the scruff of the neck.

"Off with you!" With a swing of Wukong's arm, the King of the Underworld was tossed high into the air like a large pillow, arcing over the heads of the ghost army, and ramming into the tip of the Empty Mountain.

"Charge! Everybody, charge!" the Advisor bellowed.

Hundreds of thousands of ghosts rushed forward with shrill battle cries.

"Come, come, bring it on!" With a wild laugh, Wukong leapt into the crowd. At once, ghosts began flying into the air.

Chapter Text

Five.

The White Dragon of the Eastern Sea sneaked quietly into the Dragon Palace. The Eastern Dragon King was nodding on his throne. No one else was around.

She stepped silently over, and wrapped her arms around him.

A single tear fell on the Dragon King's face.

The Dragon King opened his eyes.

"My child! Is it really you?"  He hugged the White Dragon to his chest, tears brimming his old eyes. "Have you finally decided to come home?"

"Father, he's dead. Sun Wukong killed him." the White Dragon sobbed, "I watched him die, and couldn't do anything."

"Child, why do you do this to yourself? You could have been married to a prince in the heavens, but you choose to carry a mortal on an endless journey!"

"You don't understand, Father. You will never understand."

"No matter what, Father will not let you leave the Palace this time."

"You can't stop me. I believe he is still somewhere in the world, and I will find him. Father, I may have longer journeys yet in the future - please look after yourself!"

"My silly child! My heart is with you. Every hardship you endure is a knife in my chest!"

"I'm sorry, Father. But I believe in him, believe in the dream he believes. Nothing can stop him in achieving that dream."

"Him! Him! He is all you talk about! If you are determined to leave, why come back at all?"

"I need to borrow your Pearl. With its magic, I can protect his body, until I find his soul.

The Dragon King sighed. "Have I ever been able to refuse you anything, child? But Heaven has issued orders, no one is to help those four."

"Father, who are they, and what have they done to offend Heaven?"

"I do not know who the monk Tang may be, that he can inspire you so. But Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing - they are all… do not make me say it!"

"All right. I won't ask."

"Child, if Heaven should know that you are helping them, your entire family in the sea will not escape the penalty of death!"

"I understand, Father. I will be careful."

A fish swam in to report. "Sire! A monkey requests a meeting. He said his name is Sun."

"Go, child!" The Dragon King said hurriedly, "take the Pearl, and above all, be careful!"

"Goodbye, Father!" the White Dragon bowed out with tears in her eyes.

Sun Wukong burst into the room out of impatience, and found himself facing a girl, clad all in white, on her way out. As she passed, her gaze flickered up at him, then she lowered her head and walked past him hurriedly.

Have I met her somewhere before? Wukong wondered.

The entire dragon palace was empty but for the Dragon King and Sun Wukong. All the other fish had been sent away - this was a meeting Heaven must not find out about.

"What brings the Great Sage here?" asked the old King.

"Nothing much. Just need to borrow that Incorruptible Pearl of yours."

"W-What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? Don't you trust me? I always return what I borrow."

"I am well aware of how principled the Great Sage is. And is the Gold-Tipped Staff still working well for you?"

"How did you know I have it? It seems like I was born with it in my ear!"

"You truly do not remember the past?" the Dragon King chuckled bitterly, "A travesty! That such greatness can be so reduced."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing… How did the monk Tang die?"

"You heard about that? Some fucker transformed into my shape and killed the egg-head, no doubt in an attempt to stop me from reaching the West. He's still in this world somewhere, of course. The baldie, I mean. I have to find him now, and who knows how long that’s going to take!"

"Unfortunate creature!"

"No need to pity me, I'm simply destined for running errands. Now how about that Pearl?"

"It… well… It's lost."

"Lost? You can just say if you don't want to lend it to me, you know. What do you expect me to do? Eat you?"

"You just might." the Dragon King murmured.

"Whatever, cheapskate. Well, let His Hairlessness rot, then. The pig's body is still good, Tang can share it, I suppose. I'm off."

The Dragon King watched Sun Wukong's faint sillouette disappear rapidly into the distance, mouth slightly agape.

"He left, just like that?"

He shook his head, turned, and yelled in shock.

Sun Wukong stood behind him.

"You slimy old worm, you gave the Pearl to your daughter! I'll finish her off first!" Wukong snarled.

"No, Great Sage!" the Dragon King clutched Wukong's sleeve desperately, "She's gone back to help your Master! Do anything you like to this old Dragon, but do not hurt my daughter! She, too, has only good intentions for the traveling monk!"

"Good intentions? I hate good intentions! How many have died, because of good intentions? I'd sooner wake her to her folly with a good knock on the head!"

"No, Great Sage! I'm begging you!"

The Dragon King was kneeling on the ground, still refusing to loosen his grip on Wukong's sleeve.

"Let go!"

"Promise me you will spare my daughter!"

"Ha! When have I spared anyone?"

With a swing of his arm, he threw the Dragon King back, and drew out the Gold-Tipped Staff.

"Yours, huh? Old Sun has not forgotten. Today I'll end you with it, and I shall owe you no more!"

Bam!

A dark red mist began to spread, slowly, in the blue sea water.

The cause.

Ten years ago.

Endlessly, the blue-green sea stretched on.

On stretched the green-blue sea, endlessly.

"Is there anything else here at all, besides sea water?" The Dragon Princess pouted.

"I want to take a look outside." And anything the Princess wanted, the Princess got.

So she transformed herself into a golden carp, and left the Dragon Palace!

Of course she didn't tell her Father. She was grown up. If she wanted to sneak out of the Palace, then she would.

She swam and swam, for three nights and days. And still, all around her was the endless blueness.

 "Am I there yet? Hey, you there - how far are we from the shore?" She had stopped a fish swimming alongside her.

 "You dare talk to me like this!? I'm a shark!" said the other fish.

"I always talk like this. What are you going to do, bite me? Ha! You wouldn't dare!"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm me, of course."

She swam away, laughing, leaving the shark looking befuddled. "Why can't I bite her? She's just a carp!"

On she swam, for three more days.

"This is such a bore. But I'm probably very near the shore now."

"The shore! Ha, we are miles away! At your speed, you'll die of old age before you get there!" Laughed a sword fish zipping past.

"Oh, you're horrible! Take that, and that, and that!" she pounded him with her small fins bunched like fists.

"Humph. I was only telling the truth. What a terrible temper. Probably will never get a husband." the sword fish swam away with a flick of its tail.

"I won't have it! I shall transform, right now!"

The water around her began to vibrate. Waves, aglow with magic, rippled from her position and swept through the ocean. As the rippling waves reached a crescendo, a spherical vacuum formed around her, burning with light that lit up the very depths of the sea!

"Look out! The sun fell into the sea!" a nearby school of fish shouted in unison.

A column of water rose high, high into the air. Then, suddenly, it collapsed into countless dew drops of water, and for a moment, suspended between the sky and the glassy sea below was a galaxy of shimmering golden stars!

Faint at first in the brilliance, but growing ever clearer, was the silhouette of the White Dragon's true form.

She was the colour of pure white jade and the shape of gently rolling clouds.

"Oooh…" said the fish. "Aaah…"

"This is the best moment of my life!" the seaweed and coral exclaimed happily.

"Ahh! I'm scared of heights!" yelled the fish that were brought into the air by the churning water.

With a flick of her tail, the White Dragon waved the water droplets to them, encasing each one in a shimmering liquid bubble.

"Wow! We're flying!" promptly cried the previously panicking fish.

"I want to fly too!" shouted an excited young fish in the sea.

"Don't be silly. Fish can't fly." snapped his harried-looking mother.

The White Dragon grinned. She really was very lucky to be a dragon, to be free to roam in the sky or the depths of the sea as she liked. Funny how she never realized that, until she saw these common fish. That the ability to cross boundaries, was quite nice.

In mere minutes, she could see land through the clouds beneath her.

She couldn't just fly down there in her true form, of course.

She morphed back into a fish, and slipped into the ocean near the shore.

And chose a direction in which to swim.

Do we always arrive at the same place, whatever path we choose?

Chapter Text

Six.

The White Dragon could see the world above the water - a strange, wonderful world, with creatures called “humans”, walking about along the shore. What were they doing? They were wearing different clothes, and a range of different expressions, from happy to woeful. She longed to know what they were thinking.

She suddenly had a strong desire to get to know a human. To understand his heart.

So she swam along the bank of the river, examining every human along the shore.

It was then that she saw him.

The very moment she laid eyes on him, she was captivated.

Why? She wasn’t sure. Was it his handsome features? His exceptional bald head? Ah yes, it was his eyes.

He was sight-seeing on the shore of the river, and he looked at everything around him with something in his eyes that was different from everyone else.

That gaze, was like… like the sun - warm and happy. Whether he was looking at a blade of grass, or willows growing across the river, or the busy people on the street, his eyes were always admiring, serenading...

“Hey, monk! What are you staring at a girl for? Creep!” a woman snapped.

Monk? He was called “monk”? Why do they rebuke him? Was it not nice to have such gentle eyes looking at you? Surely that was nothing to be angry about.

But the monk was not angry. He replied with a smile: “I look not at you, but at flowers. Flowers reflect in the water, making colours where there’s none."

“Crazy monk!” everyone sneered.

The White Dragon didn't understand humans. On the shore, the butcher was glaring at a customer trying to select a boar head; the boar head on the rack was glaring at the butcher. In the street, a scholar walked with his head bowed, sighing miserably; a woman in an upstairs window was batting her eyes, unnoticed by the scholar. In a restaurant, a customer and the waiter were arguing over a fly in a bowl; outside, two warriors were getting into a sword fight over an argument about who had walked into whom.

If they all looked at the world the way the monk did, they would surely find all of this very amusing.

The White Dragon was suddenly very eager to let the monk take a look at her. Would his eyes light up with delight? After all, her current form was that of a very rare, pure gold carp. The monk would surely be impressed.

She found herself swimming towards the shore…

Suddenly, something tightened around her. Then, with a splash, she had been lifted out of the water!

"Everyone! Look what I caught! A golden carp! A pure gold carp!" a fisherman shouted.

The White Dragon was embarrassed and furious. She had been caught by a mere mortal! And displayed for the masses to see! She wanted to transform, but her powers are diminished outside of the water.

Everyone was staring at her. The White Dragon tried to close her eyes in embarrassment, but found that fish have no eyelids.

In her panic, she looked towards the monk.

How infuriating! Everyone was looking this way, but not him. He was still smiling vaguely at the river water.

“I’ll buy it from you for ten coppers!" someone in the crowd shouted.

“This is a rare delicacy! You might not see one again all your life!” the fisherman prompted encouragingly.

“Eleven coppers!” someone else offered.

“Twelve coppers!"

The White Dragon struggled furiously in the net, almost succumbing to chewing at the cords. Fools! Humans are all ignorant fools! Do they have no respect for the beautiful and precious things in the world?

It was then, that a voice said: “Amitabha. Sir, we must not eat that fish..."

“Eh? What are you talking about, monk?” demanded the fisherman.

It was him! The White Dragon stopped struggling.

The monk was still smiling. “That’s no carp, sir -"

Does he recognize me for what I am? The White Dragon held her breath.

“ - It’s a shell-less turtle!” finished the monk.

The White Dragon almost keeled over, for a moment there.

“What did you say? A shell-less…? Haha, idiot!” the fisherman roared with laughter.

The whole crowd burst into laughter, too.

“Really! On my monk’s honour, it has four legs."

“Four legs? Ahahaha! Where? I don’t see them! Hahaha…”

“I’ve seen this type of fish before, they really have four little legs. It’s just that, normally, they keep them tucked in. Here, allow me to show you... riiight there…"

Starting to look uncertain, the fisherman held out the carp for the monk.

The monk snatched the carp, stuffed it in his robe, and bolted.

"Wha-?" The fisherman's eyes widened in realization, "The monk's stealing the fish! Someone get him! The monk's stealing the fish!"

With astonishing speed, the monk sprinted all the way to the city gates, and out.

Haha, and that, my friends, is the famous story of the young Tripitaka compassionately saving the golden carp. Let us continue.

The White Dragon, tucked in the monk's arms, could see nothing, and could only hear the monk panting as he ran, and smell the sweaty scent of his young man's body. She felt strange, like she was growing tipsy with wine.

The monk had finally stopped. With a splash, the White Dragon was in water again. She swam about in a quick turn, and discovered that she was in a large porcelain urn.

The monk slumped beside the tank, panting.

The monk was a kind man, the White Dragon thought, wagging her fish tail.

Now the monk had stood up again, leaning over the tank and gazing at her. He was muttering something.

"... Shall I have it boiled or fried?"

The White Dragon almost fell to the bottom of the tank - he was going to cook her too?!

"Got you!" the monk laughed, and reached down and tickled her.

I knew you wouldn't, the White Dragon thought. Where the monk's hand touched her, she felt a strange shiver along her fish's body, and quickly ducked away.

Did the monk know she could understand him? She wondered.

No, he didn't. He was speaking to the flowers planted outside the cottage now.

"Have you all been good while I was gone? Have the ants bothered you? I had a talk with them yesterday, so they should be fine. No need to spit at them if you see them again."

What a funny monk, the White Dragon thought. He looked like he was perhaps eighteen or nineteen, but sometimes, he still acted like a child.

"Tang! Master Tianyang from the People's Guild Temple of Hong Province is here to debate with Master Fa'ming in the great hall - come and see!"

"Coming!"

Before the monk Tang left, he turned and told her: "Stay here by yourself for a bit. I'll take you home when I'm back. Don't let Brother Shi and his cat see you!"

Got it. The White Dragon thought. I'll be right behind you, anyway.

Tang ran out, leaving the room empty.

A streak of golden light flew from the water tank, and the water splashed to the floor.

The White Dragon stood in the room. There was not enough water for her to change into a dragon, so she had taken the form of a human.

She was now an impossibly beautiful young woman, clad all in white.

Actually, the White Dragon frequently took this form back in the Palace; all dragons are born with a natural human form.

She carefully peeked out from the hut. She was in a small cottage within a spacious temple built in the mountains. From a great hall in the distance, she could hear the hum of collective human voices. Nearby, all was quiet. It seemed everybody was at the debate.

She grinned.

It was time to observe the life of Tang the Human!

She transformed into a pure white nightingale, and flew to the great hall, landing in one of the windows. Here in the mountains, the most common bird was the sparrow - but that was much too mundane for her.

A great array of monks sat on the floor of the hall. At the very centre, two elderly monks stood. One held a walking stick and a sack, and seemed to be a visiting nomad. The other, naturally, was the resident Abbot of the temple.

"Master Fa’ming, I have long heard of the thriving Buddhist wisdom of Golden Peak Temple, and arrived here today to beg for your teachings," said the old monk with the walking stick.

"Master Tianyang is too kind."

"Why is that?" Tianyang barked suddenly, "Do you not dare accept praise?"

Master Fa’ming looked startled for a moment, before he realized that the debate had begun. He smiled and calmly replied: "I dare accept but dare not relinquish."

"Release it!"

"My hands are empty. What is there to release?"

"Then what are you holding?"

"The heart knows the truth."

The two shot questions and answers at each other like arrows, and all around them the monks whispered fervent discussions.

"Do you understand any of it?"

"Not a word!"

"This is quite beyond my depth!"

"Such incredible wisdom!"

The White Dragon searched the crowd for Tang, only to find him standing among his peers, and looking right back at her.

The White Dragon's heart skipped a beat, and felt herself blush, before remembering that she was a bird, and that no one could see a blush under her feathers.

Tang merely smiled at her.

Does he recognize me? The White Dragon wondered. Impossible! He was only a mortal; he couldn't possibly have any power to see through her magic.

The two monks had reached a critical point in their debate, and were both concentrating so hard that steam was rising from the tops of their heads.

"What is Zen?" asked Tianyang.

"It is." replied Fa’ming.

"What is the True Dharma Eye?"

"It isn't."

"What is Emptiness?"

"A question."

"Is it?"

"Isn't it?"

"Is it??"

"Ah-"

Fa’ming had stumbled. Tianyang roared with laughter. "Is that all you've got?"

"I... Ah..." Fa’ming had turned a deep red, and all the monks around them started speaking at once.

"The Golden Peak Temple seems to have an undeserved reputation. Despite all my travels, I have not met a true Master! Pity! Pity... ” laughed Tianyang above the cacophony of the crowd.

"Hahaha..."

A single voice in the crowd was laughing too.

Everyone turned around. It was Tang.

Tianyang stared at Tang.

"Does the young Master find this old monk funny?"

"Hm?" said Tang, "Oh, no, I was watching a couple of rabbits fighting, just up that tree outside in the yard. It was quite funny, so I laughed."

"Nonsense. There are no rabbits in trees."

"So what was in the trees?" asked Tang.

Tianyang paused, stumped. He looked Tang up and down, examining him anew.

"You hide great talents behind your young age, Master Tang!"

"What?" cried one of the monks in the crowd, "But he is the laziest of us all! He never even listens in lectures."

"Be silent!" Fa’ming quieted the other monk, and said to Tang, "Tang, if you have something to say, you may say it."

"It's really nothing." Tang smiled. "I really did see some rabbits just now. I also saw a white nightingale that can blush."

Huh? The White Dragon almost fell off the window ledge.

"The young Master is being reticent! Then I shall speak first," said Tianyang.

"Please do."

"What is the Buddha?"

Tang looked up, and down, and outside the door...

"Have you lost something? Quick! Think of a reply!" cried Fa’ming.

"He has already replied." chuckled Tianyang, "He means to say, 'the Buddha is in all things'. Very impressive, young Master."

Tang smiled.

"I'll ask you another question, the one that Fa’ming could not answer. What is Emptiness?"

"Broken." said Tang without hesitation.

"Is it?"

"Nope."

"If it isn't, then why did you answer?" Tianyang snapped, "Little whelp!"

"If it isn't, then why did you ask?" Tang shot back, "Old fart!"

The two glared at each other. Everyone else watched, frozen in shock.

After a long silence, Tianyang gave a great sigh.

"You are quite right, young Master. I have lost."

Tang was immediately the talk of the temple.

After Tianyang left, all crowded closer to Tang, asking him for explanations.

"That last attack of Tianyang came very quickly and viciously! How did you manage to parry it? What is the true meaning behind the phrase, 'old fart'?"

Tang rubbed his bald head, grinning.

"It wasn't much. He said my answer was wrong, and that I was a little kid who should be beat up. I said, so what if I get it wrong? If you beat me up, I can beat you up back, old man. And since he saw I was young, he realized he probably can't win in a fight. So he surrendered."

A sizeable section of the crowd fell over.

"Tang, you are clearly immensely talented. From now on, I would like you to live and study directly with me. I will teach you all that I know," said Fa’ming.

Tang rubbed his head and said: "Actually, I think it's pretty nice in the cottage where I live. I can grow flowers and look at the sky. I can't memorize all those scriptures."

"If you do not put in the effort to study, how will you one day become worthy of my position and legacy?" smiled Fa’ming.

All the monks nearby looked at Tang with envy - the Abbot was clearly indicating that Tang would be his chosen successor.

But Tang said: "What I want to learn, you cannot teach me."

The crowd of monks collectively drew a breath in shock. Fa’ming, too, stumbled back, looking shaken.

"What is it that you wish to learn?" asked Fa’ming with forced calm.

Tang tilted back his head, looking up at the clouds changing shape in the sky, and spoke.

"I want the sky to never again cover my eyes; the earth, never again bury my heart. I want every living creature to understand me perfectly; I want all the gods to scatter, like smoke in the wind."

Those words were like a flash of lightning across a cloudless sky.

In the Western Paradise, Buddha Rulai had been meditating when he suddenly opened his eyes with a gasped, "No!"

The Goddess of Mercy, Bodhisattva Guanyin stepped forward.

"What is it, Master?"

Said the Lord Buddha:

"It's him. He's back."

Chapter Text

Seven.

Tang returned to the hut.

The carp was still in the tank. 

"Why, the ground is wet! It was you being naughty, wasn't it?" Tang smiled at the White Dragon.

The White Dragon wiggled her tail and smiled back. She realized that she was actually content to be a fish if it meant she could stay by his side.

Since the day Tang fought with Tianyang, and refused Fa'ming's teachings, he seemed to become more and more isolated within the temple. All the monks merely gave him an uncomfortable smile when they neared him, Fa'ming no longer paid him any attention, and when it came time for lectures, no one called for him to attend. When all were in the great hall reciting, Tang would sweep leaves by himself in the empty courtyard, returning every fallen leaf to the roots of the trees. Or else he would lie on the ground by himself. It might appear to others that he was sleeping, but the White Dragon knew that he was watching the sky, and sometimes he would do it for hours.

At night, he would return to the shabby hut where he lived alone, and do some writing by the faint light of an oil lamp.

He became more and more withdrawn, and spoke less and less with the White Dragon and the plants. His smile, which had been as bright and clear as the sky, slowly faded, and as time passed, something else began to creep onto his brow. He no longer swept the courtyard or watched the sky, and instead only sat there, thinking... thinking...

He was very troubled, the White Dragon knew. He must have something that he could not figure out. But she did not know what he was thinking. Perversely, the longer she lived with him, the less she was able to understand his innermost thoughts. What could be in a human's heart? The White Dragon swore to get to the truth of it. Sometimes when he wrote by the light of the lamp, she would leap above the water in the tank. Tang used to always smile a little at her when she did that, but now, he did not acknowledge her at all.

He no longer spoke of taking her back home, nor did she want him to.

One day, several monks sat down beneath a tree for a discussion.

One monk, whose name was Xuansheng, said: "In my opinion, the Buddha is like the great tree before the terrace; though it has tens of thousands of branches, all branches stem from the same root."

Another by the name of Xuanqi spoke: "I, too, have a comparison to make. In my opinion, the Buddha is like the ancient well in the courtyard; from time to time, one can see oneself reflected within."

The surrounding monks chorused: "The two senior brothers speak most elegantly, revealing the vital truths of Buddhism."

The two senior monks looked quite satisfied with themselves, but then saw Tang sitting alone, without acknowledging them at all.

Xuanqi called to him: "Tang, what do you think of our discussion?"

Without even turning his head, Tang answered with a chuckle: "If it were up to me, I'd cut down the tree, and bury the well, just so you would perish the thought."

Xuansheng and Xuanqi leaped to their feet: "You vicious monk! Are you envious that we have unraveled arcane truths?"

Tang laughed heartily: "If you've genuinely unraveled truths, why do you speak of trees and wells?"

"Hmph. What do you think the Buddha is, then?"

"What Buddha? Where? Can you snare one and show it to me?" retorted Tang.

"You mundane creature... The Buddha is in the heart, it cannot be snared."

"If Buddha is in your heart, then why talk about it? You may as well be letting out gas!"

Xuanqi was infuriated, and snarled: "You animal! You speak unclean words and smear the Buddhist scriptures! No wonder the Buddha had you float here on the river, an orphan without a name or parents!"

At these words, Tang paled, his face turning as white as paper.

Xuanqi knew he had misspoke, and everyone quickly scattered.

Tang was the only one left in the courtyard.

The wind blew a few dried leaves to his feet. Above the horizon, a lonely goose gave a few somber calls, stark against the backdrop of the blood-red sunset in the west.

"Who... who made me? And what for?" Tang spoke as if in a trance, "Why bring me here, then leave me without directions... Why? Why??"

He lifted his head and cried out to the sky, but it remained grave and silent. A tear slipped past the corner of his lips.

Tang returned to the cottage. The White Dragon was in the room snooping through his books. When she saw he had returned, with a twist of her body, she transformed back into a carp in the urn.

Tang stood blankly in the room for a long moment. Suddenly, he began to pack.

The White Dragon watched as he picked up a bundle, then walked over to the urn.

"Come, I'll take you home," said Tang.

Tang had decided to leave the temple, and Fa'ming could not stop him. Fa'ming only sighed: "You are alone and without family in this world, so remember to keep the Buddha in your thoughts, and pray to him often for protection."

"Master, I've always wondered... if everything that exists all came from nothing, then this stubborn love that all living things share, where does it come from? And if everything that exists shall ultimately end in nothingness, what is the point of all the vicissitudes people experience in the mortal world?"

"Well... to be honest with you, if I could answer these questions, I would not be so assiduously meditating for all these years."

“Goodbye, Master. I must start on a long journey."

Replied Fa'ming: "I understand. Take good care."

The Master improvised a poem and spoke it aloud: "Speak of the way, the way cannot be described. Ask your heart, the heart will receive no questions. Awaken, and between the sky and the earth, the Void will be there to be found."

"I will always remember your words."

Tang knelt and bowed to Master Fa'ming three times in parting. Then he stood and, cradling the golden carp in an alms bowl full of water, he turned and left.

All of creation seemed quiet and grave. There was the rustle of endless falling leaves, the wind, the rippling of the grass and branches, the waves, birdsong... the world seemed suddenly full of all kinds of sounds, as if countless voices are in susurrus, but when one tried to listen more closely, there seemed to be no sound at all.

Here, at this moment, a great journey began.

Tang stood at the bank of a great river, holding the alms bowl: "This is where I came from, all those years ago."

White fog drifted over the river; a gust of wind tossed his clothes about. He seemed to be speaking to himself as much as to the White Dragon.

"All living beings are sacred, whether it be a single tree or a single blade of grass. You have your own home, and your own life to live in freedom. I can't keep you any longer. Go on, now."

He released the golden carp into the river. The fish did a few about-turns in the water but did not leave.

"Are you a creature of loyalty, too? I appreciate the thought. Now, go on," said Tang.

The White Dragon suddenly felt she was about to cry. For so many days, she had not spoken one word, and only listened to the monk talk, watched the monk read, sweep up; watched his brow furrow deeply when he thought, watched his expression turn peaceful when he slept. She felt she could no longer be without these things. There was no one like this in the Dragon Palace, no one like this in all of the cubic miles of the great Eastern Sea. In the whole wide world, there was but one such person.

Must she truly leave him like this?

“Fate governs all meetings. When it deems that we part, we should not try to struggle against it. I am headed far away, beyond the horizon. You cannot follow me there. Go on."

The White Dragon has the sudden, impetuous urge to reveal her true form, tell the monk everything, and then accompany him to the ends of the Earth.

But in the end, she did not. She turned her head and swam with the river towards the sea.

In the water, a shimmering pearl of a teardrop sank slowly to the depths.

Everything must eventually fade to nothing, leaving only memories. But are memories real or mere illusions? They cannot be touched or seen, yet they are so deeply etched within our hearts. 

These thoughts belong to the White Dragon, or perhaps Zhu Bajie, or perhaps Ayao, or perhaps everyone. At the bottom of the deep, rushing waters of Eagle’s Sorrow Ravine, the White Dragon had known that it was time rather than water that was flowing soundlessly past her. Her recollections remained both timeless and vivid, and she remembered everything as if it had all happened eons ago.

“The sea is red, the Dragon Palace is dark. I’ll discard my body, discard my flesh, so that the Heavenly Emperor shall get nothing.”

“Everything he wants, I shall cast aside. I shall keep only my soul, pure and clean, for the one I love.”

Strangely, her thoughts were most clearly recorded in memory during the very moment when she drew the edge of her sword across her neck. The White Dragon had watched her blood spread slowly and beautifully in the seawater, and seen her father’s ancient face, shaking and streaked with tears. She had heard no sound and felt no pain; one thought had flickered in her mind: “It turns out that a lifetime is very brief, and it turns out that when you discover what you love, you must give up everything in its pursuit. Because life could end at any moment, and destiny is an ocean; when you are free to swim, you must swim with abandon towards that which you love, because you never know when the riptide will come and tear away all dreams and all hope.”

Ten years later, the present day.

The White Dragon held the Incorruptible Pearl in her mouth and swam against the current. She swam towards the distant, shimmering daylight at the surface of the sea; she swam and swam…

Chapter Text

Eight.

The present day, the Heavenly Palace.

Sun Wukong arrived at the Heavenly Court with a single somersault.

The sights here had a familiar quality to them, but Wukong decided that that must just be a feeling. He did not remember ever having been here.

And yet he seemed to know his way around, navigating meandering corridors, bridges, and steps of carved jade as if by instinct, until he arrived at a particular place.

“Where am I? And how are there peach trees here?”

Clouds drifted over, swirling around him like a clingy admirer. Sun Wukong slowed his footsteps. He was lost; he had never been lost before on the journey west, because he never knew where he was going. Here, he was truly lost, because he felt he could almost, but not quite, recognize the sights before his eyes.

“But I’ve never been here before. Perhaps I’ve seen this place in a dream.”

That maiden in violet who stood at the edge of the clouds, had he seen her in a dream as well?

“Miss! I mean, honoured benefactress, how’d I get to the Miraculous Hall of Clouds from here, please?”

The maiden was startled and turned to look at him, staring fixedly at him without speaking. Her eyes were astonishingly beautiful, and her gaze was strange and bright.

“You…” After a long moment, it was all she managed to say.

“The benefactress does not know me. I’m Sun Wukong. This is my first time up here in Heaven, so I don’t know my way around.”

“You, you don’t recognize…” murmured the maiden, lowering her head. Then suddenly she seemed to fill with hope. Lifting her face and smiling, she said: “Who am I?”

Watching her smile, Sun Wukong thought immediately of when he was young and slept in the trees, of the feeling of the warm, spring breeze caressing his face.

Strange. He hadn’t thought about the past for a long time. Before now, he had thought that all his memories were flat and without emotions, like words on a page.

“You’re asking me who you are?” Wukong laughed. Here in Heaven, even his temperament seemed to have improved.

The maiden stopped smiling and only stared at Wukong. After a moment, she said: “I am the Violet Maiden.”

Sun Wukong felt his heart shudder; he felt as if a door had opened in his mind, but behind that door, nothing was there.

“Yeah?” He grinned.

The maiden broke out into a grin, too, “Yeah.”

“Yeah.” Wukong continued to smile.

The maiden turned away abruptly to gaze at the horizon. She turned back after a long moment, expression grave again. “Who are you?”

“I’m Sun Wukong!”

“Nonsense, you are not!” The maiden was suddenly angry, resentment filling her gaze, “You are not him! Why did you come here? You should never have come!”

Wukong had killed countless demons, but at this moment he felt this woman before him was stranger than them all, and he was at a loss.

“What, are you panicking? Look at me!” cried the Violet Maiden.

But when Wukong lifted his gaze to look at her, she immediately turned her face away.

“Lady.” Sun Wukong was becoming impatient, “I don’t care what your, uh, problem is. I just wanted directions to the Miraculous Hall of Clouds.”

“Why... Why go there… Don’t go, I told you five hundred years ago not to go…” The immortal lowered her head, muttering to herself, seemingly lost and uncertain.

“Hey!” Sun Wukong shouted, “You know, if this were the mortal world, I’d have killed you two hundred times over. So you’re an immortal, big deal! You can’t act like this when I’m just asking for directions!”

“Where do you want to go… where?” Her head was still lowered, and her body was trembling like she was doing her utmost to suppress something within her.

“The Miraculous Hall of Clooouds! ” He bellowed in her ear.

Without looking up at Wukong, she lifted one hand to point at somewhere in the distance. The clouds and mist parted where she pointed, and Wukong finally saw the great celestial Hall, with countless levels and terraces, and many rare, magical beasts flying around it, churning the surrounding clouds. The creatures were huge but were dwarfed by the Hall, and looked like dragonflies next to a great mountain. The clouds around the Hall seemed to take on a rainbow of different colors and emanate a luminous, auspicious glow.

“Looks like a nice place. I wouldn’t mind living there for a while.”

“All these years, all these long years...” The maiden murmured to the clouds at her feet.

“Are all the women in the Heavenly Palace like this?” Wukong stood to leave, then paused. “What are you doing here by yourself, at the edge of the heavens?”

“Why would you ask me what I’m doing?” The maiden suddenly lifted her head, gazing intently at Wukong.

Wukong turned his face away. “Because I wanted to know what you’re doing!” He watched the distant clouds as he spoke, thinking, why the hell can’t I look at her? 

“Why is it that they don’t want to know, but you do?” said the immortal, a kind of anticipation in her eyes.

“They? Who’s they?”

The maiden sighed. “You should go. I’m waiting for someone.”

“Oh.” Wukong turned and flew away, disappearing into the mist.

The maiden returned to staring out at the endless sea of clouds. “I know he will come. I know he will.”

A booming voice rang out in the Miraculous Hall of Clouds. “Sun Wukong! We have registered your arrival! Enter and prostrate yourself, do not tarry!” 

The Jade Emperor couldn’t help but tense up the moment Wukong stepped into the Hall.

“Fear not, stay calm.” Lao Tzu leaned close and murmured into the Emperor’s ear. “I have stationed one hundred thousand soldiers behind the Hall, all of them highly skilled. Besides, he does not remember anything anymore.”

The Jade Emperor appeared heartened by Lao Tzu's words and straightened. He spoke sharply, though rather haltingly: “S-Sun Wukong! What business do you have here?”

“You are the Jade Emperor? Back when I was alone in the darkness, it was you who sent someone to tell me that I can only redeem myself by completing three tasks?”

“Yes, uh, that’s right!” The Jade Emperor answered, glaring at Lao Tzu in accusation out of the corner of his eye. This is all your doing, he thought.

Lao Tzu pretended not to notice.

Sun Wukong continued: “But now the one to retrieve the scriptures has been killed. I’ve been looking for the egg-head’s spirit, but the King of the Underworld said he isn’t down there. So I’m forced to check around here, see if he’s come around for tea or something.”

“Sun Wukong!” Lao Tzu barked, “We know you murdered the monk Tang!”

“Nonsense. Where’s the proof?”

“We have a witness! Bring him.”

“Briiing the witness...” The order was called out solemnly by harbingers of the court.

The summoned one stepped out from behind a pillar.

Wukong stared, eyes widening: “Sand?! You’ve grown a pair! You’re setting me up!”

“Set you up? I watched you kill the Master with my own eyes. Do you dare deny it?”

“Bullshit! Why would I kill him?”

“You conspired with Shuang’er, a demoness of the Forest of The Thousand Creatures to murder our Master!”

“Shuang’er? The ugly one? Ha, how are you coming up with this stuff?”

“I stationed Sand at your side to monitor the lot of you,” declared Lao Tzu, “I knew your wild temper might erupt again, you incorrigible wretch. I have confidence in every word he says!”

“You have confidence? I’m guilty of the monk’s murder based on your confidence? Haha, how absurd!”

“Not merely that. You have also invaded the Underworld, injured the Nether King, destroyed four hundred and one thousand ghostly soldiers, and immediately following that, stole into the Dragon Palace and killed Aoguang, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea…”

Wukong’s jaw dropped. “I’ve been to all those places, but I never did any of those things!”

“You still dare deny it! Someone arrest him, arrest Sun Wukong!” barked Lao Tzu.

“Who dares to take me on?” Sun Wukong brandished his staff.

None of the Heavenly generals ventured to step forward, of course.

Then a voice rang out: “I shall take you!”

Sand stepped into the center of the Hall.

“Excellent timing - I’ve just decided to kill you!” Wukong retorted.

The two were at once embroiled in a vicious battle.

In their everyday life on the journey, Wukong had never seen Sand fight, so Wukong never considered Sand much of a threat. Only now did Wukong realize that Sand had been hiding the extent of his abilities, biding his time.

But even so, within the vicinity of twenty rounds, Wukong got the upper hand. He dodged an attack, lightning quick, and struck from Sand’s right, his staff swinging directly at Sand’s back. Sand had lost his balance when he struck empty, and haphazardly thrust his own zen staff behind himself to block.

The Gold-Tipped Staff slammed directly into the zen staff, warping the zen staff with the force of the blow, bending it until the blow landed on Sand’s back and sent Sand flying.

Wukong rushed forward to strike again when he felt something tighten on his head.

“No!” He screamed.

An unrelenting pain seemed to split his skull and burrow into his brain, and he fell out of the air onto the ground.

Sand climbed to his feet, and threw a vicious kick, sending Wukong flying into a great pillar, crashing into it with a heavy thud that shook the entire Hall. All the immortal soldiers stationed in the vicinity dived for cover.

Wukong kicked off the floor to twist himself around as soon as he landed. Even as he propelled himself up, the waves of pain threatened to slice him into pieces. He fell to one knee, leaning heavily on his Gold-Tipped Staff, driving the Staff a foot deep into the ground in his agony.

“Nice… strike... very... nice...” Wukong snarled through gritted teeth.

“So what if I strike you? You’re thinking of killing me, but since you are not targeting a demon, the circlet around your head will stop you. Still think you can fight me?” Sand swung his staff again. Wukong rolled out of the way and swept the ground with his own staff. But the pain greatly slowed Wukong, and Sand leaped into the air, dodging the sweep. With a mid-air flip, Sand brought his zen staff down.

Boom. Light and flame exploded in the celestial Hall. The jade tiles of the floor shattered and broken chips flew out into the distance. The blow Wukong took would have been fatal for perhaps anyone else. The smoke cleared, revealing Wukong’s burning, furious eyes, refusing to close, refusing to die.

Heavenly soldiers swarmed him, forming a pile with Wukong at the core.

Like a madman, Sun Wukong dashed and crashed against the surrounding enemies. He snarled and bellowed with each move, but each swing of his staff was wild, without any form whatsoever. He was mindlessly striking anything he could. 

Finally, the Heavenly soldiers backed away, surrounding a circle of no-man’s land around Wukong, in which he swung the Gold-Tipped Staff in a demented frenzy.

He could not stop. If he stopped he would lose. It was unbearable to lose.

He’d rather fight to the death.

His field of view was getting darker and darker; until he couldn’t see anything anymore. In his mind, there was only pain. Pain, and his very last mote of will, exhorting him to fight.

Sand, the Jade Emperor, Lao Tzu, the Giant Immortal, and all the generals of the armies of Heaven, all watched Sun Wukong from beyond the circle.

They were merciless hunters, waiting for the trapped beast to bleed itself dry.

Pain, such pain. Grinding down into your bones, into your very soul. Chains! Lancing through the shoulder blades. What of that… what of that… I can still stand! Hahahaha…

Lightning strikes… pulverizing the flesh. What of that… what of that… I can still laugh a careless, howling laugh! HAHAHAHA…

But this kind of pain transcends my body, piercing it through. The pain is in my blood, in my veins… I cannot laugh, I cannot stand, I do not even have myself, myself.

“You cannot pry it off, you cannot break it open, because it is not a physical thing. It is a bondage of your innermost self,” says Tang, “I can't remove it for you because I can't find where it is. Someone planted the constriction within your heart. I swear I’m not reciting any curse. Do you still want to kill us?”

“Don’t lie to me you fucking monk… why is it… when I think about killing you… my head… hurts… Can’t I even think about it?? I’m only thinking ab- AAARGHHHHH…

“Give up the desires in your heart, and you will know peace. Relinquish every selfish, distracting thought. Do not doubt, never doubt." Tang looks up to the sky in thought, “The only thing that can save you is to believe.”

“No! Nooo! I have to kill you, kill you all!! I can… think… I have to think… I… ” And then there is nothing to know, nothing to remember. When I wake I’m calm and quiet, a mindless fool.

“Master, I’ve picked the fruit you asked for.”

“Mhm.”

The look the monk gives me is strange. And the pig is giggling as he watches me. A good part of his left cheek is swollen - who did that? Brother Sand is standing to one side, so angry that he’s shaking. The shitty bowl he’s been working on for months has been broken again. Who did that? Who would be so pointless as to disturb the peace?

“Master, I’ll scout ahead and see if there are any villages.”

“Mhm.”

“Who knows when it’ll happen again.” The pig snickers.

“One of these days I’m gonna kill him… kill him…” Sand grinds out, furious. Who does he want to kill?

I don’t know. I’m thinking about nothing at all. Nothing.

But my consciousness always reawakens a little each night.

I open my eyes, and everyone is gathered around me, staring.

“Did I talk in my sleep again?”

“Yeah,” says the pig, “You said: ‘Demon monkey! Thou shalt not escape the mountain formed from my hand!’ Heh heh heh.”

Tang glares hard at Bajie - the master is irritated for some reason. The pig is still laughing at his own joke.

I’m certain that’s not what I said, but they never tell me the truth. My dreams are the only place where I can think, but when I wake I always find that I've forgotten everything. Never can I remember what I thought about. Trying to think when I’m awake leads only to a world of pain.

Sand is shaking again; what could scare him like that?

“Who knows when it’ll happen again,” giggles the pig. “Heh heh heh.”

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers surrounded the celestial Hall like a great swarm of locusts. The great battle had disturbed all the immortals of the nine levels of Heaven, and they all stood in the clouds, a good distance from the fight, deep in discussion.

“It’s been ages since the Heavenly Palace’s been disturbed like this.”

“Indeed, not since the Great Havoc in Heaven.”

“Who was it this time?”

“I think it’s Sun Wukong again.”

“Sun Wukong? That can’t be. He’s not so easily defeated!”

“Shh... The Violet Maiden’s right over there...”

The immortals muttered among themselves; Violet stood at the edge of the clouds, watching the celestial Hall being thoroughly surrounded. Her face was calm, without a hint of joy or sorrow.

Chapter Text

Nine.

The cause.

Five hundred years ago.

“Did you know? Heaven is a desert,” said Violet, “It is built and carved of beautiful things, but when those things become part of the Heavenly Palace, they are stripped of their souls. Did you know that?”

Nobody answered - because nobody was there beside her at all.

She wouldn’t be saying these things if there were people there. She would be smiling - smiling as she regarded the world, smiling as she conversed. Smiling, always, the same faint smile. Then the vibrant colors of the evening sky would fade and die, the heavens would no longer be clear and bright, and the dark curtains would draw closed and hide the mortals of the world below from her gaze. She would finally be left alone, standing at the edge of the clouds as the air got colder. No one would call her back; no one would notice her at all. It was then that she would begin to talk.

“Did you know? They call me 'The Violet Maiden who is forever smiling.' But nobody remains smiling forever - unless they are a statue or a fool.”

She spoke very earnestly, gazing into the endless darkness. Did she imagine one day telling these things to another person? Was she waiting for the day someone would stand beside her and listen to everything she had to say?

“Just listen. Don’t interrupt me. I will tell you everything. Don’t laugh condescendingly like Immortal Erlang, don’t gently argue like Tian Peng. That’s what they would do, so I’m not telling them; I’m telling you instead because you, you, would just listen... in this whole world, only you would just...”

She continued to speak determinedly, while all around her the infinite nothingness seemed to freeze solid in the cold of the night.

Today Violet stood for a long time at the edge of the sky. When she felt the cold and isolation seep into her body, she turned back, traveling quickly, desiring to get home to the Sunset Palace and her warm bed.

Why was the Peach Garden so bright? It should have no stars to light it.

Sounds were coming from within - at this hour? It sounded like a woman crying.

Didn’t Ayao and a few others visit the Garden today?

Violet flew closer to take a look. Above the garden, several bright stars were suspended in the air - the most beautiful stars of the heavens. But it was not permitted to rearrange the constellations without permission - who would dare...?

In the garden a girl was sobbing her heart out; it was indeed Ayao. And who was that hopping and scrambling around her - was that a monkey?

“Miss, are you going to stop crying anytime soon? I was only joking around.”

The girl sobs: “No! You ate all our peaches... and froze us all with an immobilizing spell too... *sobs* I’m going to tell the Heavenly Mother!”

“You do that! I’m not scared of her - I’m more worried you won't leave. It’s been hours, you know... What the - it’s like you’re overflowing! Help! Hey kid, old Sun’s getting pretty tired, the Garden’s closing for the day - you’re welcome back tomorrow! Would you mind crying outside? I can’t get any rest with you crying like that...”

“*Sobbing* No! Give us back the peaches!”

“Don’t be so stingy - it’s just a few peaches. Back at Flower Fruit Mountain, I can get you about ten baskets!”

“*Sobs* You ate more than ten baskets...”

“Fine! Twenty baskets... A hundred baskets! A thousand baskets? That’s ridiculous, are you trying to shake me down?”

“*Sobbing* I don’t want your crummy mortal peaches! I failed to pick the banquet peaches... when I return the Heavenly Mother’s going to give me such a beating... WAAHHHHAAA....” Ayao felt sorrier for herself the more she thought about it and began howling in earnest.

“If she beats you, you can beat her up back. If she’s stronger, try biting. It’s nothing to cry over.”

Ayao’s face drained of colour: “You... who are you? How dare you say such things?”

“I’m Sun Wukong.”

Ayao stopped crying abruptly. She stared at him, stunned.

Sun Wukong, the nightmare of the Heavenly Court.

He was frequently named in the bloodiest of war stories. During the years of battle between immortals and demons, when the stink of blood polluted the heavens, “Sun Wukong” was always associated with the humiliating defeat of the Court. His name hovered like a dark cloud above every Heavenly General.

Because no one could ever defeat him.

Because only a few of the very elite of Heaven, like Nezha, could cross weapons with him and survive.

Legend says he ate ten thousand people every day.

Legend says he was as tall as a mountain.

Legend says that all living things perished wherever he walked.

He was standing right before Ayao.

Ayao remained stunned for a moment, then let out a piercing scream and ran away.

Sun Wukong: “What’s with that girl? Is there something wrong with my name?”

Violet strode out of the peach woods, chuckling: “Who among us hasn’t heard of the might of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?”

Wukong turned to regard her. “But you don’t seem afraid of me.”

“Why should I fear you?”

Wukong thought for a long moment. “True. Why fear me? If all the immortals of Heaven thought as you do, then I wouldn’t need to be here planting trees all the livelong day.”

“The trees are doing very well. I suppose you are learned in the art of gardening?”

“Pfft… The art of gardening? What’s that? All I know is that there are few things with spirit in Heaven; the peach trees in the Garden are one of them, the horses in the Imperial Stable are another, and I must treat them as my friends.

“Trees and horses are your friends, but not one of the gods in Heaven have spirit?”

“Ha! If they did, they wouldn’t have been able to learn ‘the Way’ and wouldn’t be gods.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that argument.”

“My master told me that to become a god, one must first abandon all dreams and desires - and I thought to myself, what’s the difference between that and being a corpse?”

“Hm, to be an immortal is to live in a state without joy or sorrow. You wouldn’t understand. Who is your master?”

“He said I’m not to mention his name.”

“There are few who are capable of producing a student like you - powerful beyond measure yet without any understanding of the Way. One could easily make a deduction.”

“Oh yeah? Give it a shot.”

“Within the Three Realms of the universe, the most powerful and learned all dwell in the Heavenly Realm. The first among them is Buddha Rulai of the Western Paradise - you are, of course, not his student.”

“I wouldn’t care to be.”

“The second most powerful would be the second eldest disciple of the Buddha, the Golden Cicada. But he questioned the Buddha’s teachings, created his own philosophy, and dared to attempt to surpass the Buddha himself. The Buddha had him lose control of his powers. His spirit fell to the mortal world and was lost there. You are not likely to be his student either.”

“I don’t even know who that is.”

“The third on the list is the unaffiliated immortal, Patriarch Bodhi. He is in fact one of the patriarchs of Buddhism, but unlike the Buddha, he teaches one to live in the present rather than focus on future incarnations. He lives in a hidden place out in the sea. He is said to accept disciples based only on talent, and not morality or character. He accepts very few disciples, and even fewer graduate to roam the world freely. Excepting these three, no one else possesses the power to produce a student like you. As for who among them is your master… I imagine I don’t need to be any more explicit.”

“…………”

Violet sighed. “It’s a pity Bodhi only taught you spells, but not the philosophy of the Way. I suppose he decided it cannot be taught, that you must make your realizations on your own. I imagine he also feared that you would go astray, and banned you from naming him to avoid trouble.”

“Not so.” said Wukong, “Master said that he did not teach me what I wanted to learn - to be undying and indestructible - so I could not claim to be his student. He said the one who could teach me was my true master, and that he was in the mortal world. I was to go out and seek him. I always figured the old man probably didn’t know how to teach me, so he made up some story and sent me away.”

“……”

“You should head home, miss. Your parents’ll be upset you’re hanging out with someone like me.”

“I don’t have parents. I was born from the violet clouds of sunsets.”

“That so?” Wukong grabbed a peach and bit into it hard. “Unfortunate parentless creature.”

“Are you referring to me??”

“To myself. Happy?” Wukong hopped onto another tree branch with one somersault, and laid down again, “Now be off. I don’t have the spare time to keep you amused.”

“Can I come and hang out later?”

“No! There’s nothing fun to do with a girl. Besides, aren’t you scared I’d eat you?”

Violet smiled and disappeared into the clouds.

Sun Wukong lay on the branch, yawned about a hundred times, and still could not fall asleep.

“This is too boring … I’m going to find someone to fight!”

With a leap, he somersaulted over the wall of the Garden. He saw that Violet was still there, sitting at the edge of the clouds. She was gazing out into the distance in a deep reverie.

“Hey buddy, are you lost? Forgot your way home? Would you mind squatting somewhere else? Right now you could be mistaken for a purple dog guarding my door.”

Violet stood up slowly, turning to look at him.

“Normally, not one person would bother to talk to me even if I sat here for ten thousand years.”

“Oh yeah? S’pose I should have minded my own business. I’m off.” With a leap, Wukong disappeared into the distance.

“Hey, this place’s pretty nice. It sparkles. Kind of like the Eastern Sea by the Flower Fruit Mountain.” 

Sun Wukong mused aloud to himself as he beheld the Heavenly River.

“Let me catch a few shiny things for the little ones to play with back home.”

He began to flail his hands around in the river, disturbing the silver stars within.

“Stop that at once!” cried a voice.

Wukong looked up and saw a young man standing before him, tall and strong, with a handsome face, and a pair of wings flared behind him.

“And here I thought there are only bearded old men in Heaven,” Wukong observed.

“The appearance of the immortals of Heaven are determined at will. If one is youthful in one’s heart, one would naturally appear young. I am Tian Peng, the Guardian of the Heavenly River; the silver stars in this river were arranged carefully through millions of years of effort - please do not move them out of place!”

“Ha! Old Sun despises all those cumbersome rules. Since it’s forbidden to touch them, I’ll have to insist on giving them a tweak!” 

It would have been better had Tian Peng not spoken: at his words Wukong raised his staff and began to twist and twirl it, disrupting the river and sending the stars in every direction.

“Stop!” Tian Peng bellowed and rushed forward. With one move, Tian Peng reached up and managed to catch Wukong’s staff directly in one hand.

“There are few in the world who can grab hold of my weapon like that. Haha, I've been itching for someone to fight - seems like that’ll be you!”

Sun Wukong shook his staff free, and the two began to battle.

As they fought, a whirlpool appeared in the middle of the river; it grew bigger and bigger until the entire river threatened to overflow.

Tian Peng was filled with fury and desperation as the river of stars was stirred into utter disarray. He was reluctant to disturb the stars any further even as he fought. Taking advantage of his distraction, Wukong felled him with a low sweep of one leg. Before Tian Peng could get up, the Gold-Tipped Staff was already at his throat.

“You surrender?” Sun Wukong grinned at him.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! You’ve completely ruined their arrangement! Ruined the work of eons of painstaking effort!”

“What are you talking about - it’s just a few silver specks. Is it worth such hysterics? You're like a girl.”

“That’s the last straw!!” Tian Peng knocked the Gold-Tipped Staff aside and leaped at Wukong once more.

He was fighting in a fit of rage, with no strategy whatsoever. In a few bouts, Wukong had him on the ground again.

“Still wanna fight?”

“Yes!!” 

And so they continued, for seventy-two times in a row.

“Never met anyone so stubborn,” Wukong panted, “If you get up again this time, consider me impressed!”

“I’ll stand if it’s the last thing I do…” Tian Peng gritted as he forced his body to move.

“There’s no need for that, you know. We’re just sparring. Just admit you lost - you’re acting like we’re enemies here.”

“You ruined my most beloved possession… you destroyed my home… I won’t let you go free!”

“How is this place destroyed - is it not livable anymore? Yeah, it’s a bit messy, but it’s still a thousand times more luxurious than my Water Curtain Cave back home, you petty bastard.”

“You don’t understand... You don’t know what it means to love; what it means to take care of something!”

“What are you on about - and would you hurry up? I think I’m missing lunch watching you get up.”

A maiden dressed all in white floated in from the edge of the heavens and landed in the middle of the river. She cried out at the sight of Tian Peng and ran to him, hugging him close.

“How did this happen? What happened to you?” Tears welled in the maiden’s eyes; her heart ached for Tian Peng.

“It’s nothing, Yue.” Tian Peng forced a smile despite his pain, though the blood leaking from the corner of his lips belied his words. He looked to Wukong: “He ruined the constellations you created - I won’t let him get away with it!” 

“Don’t be silly, what does it matter if the stars are a bit out of place?”

“But… you spent so many years making them… this is your life's work and it was all destroyed in a day! I’m so useless, useless! ” Tian Peng was so stricken he tried to bang his head on the ground.

Yue caught his face in her hands before he could. “My silly darling, I created the Milky Way and constellations for you alone. I carefully arranged each star so you can enjoy their beauty. Who do you think it is that I most care about?”

Tian Peng smiled, a smile deep from his heart, and leaned into Yue’s embrace like a child. Yue stroked his head, her tears soaking his hair.

Sun Wukong felt strange inside at the sight. “I’m still here, you know!”

They ignored him. Wherever Wukong went, people around him were either scared witless or completely obsequious. This was the first time he didn’t seem to matter at all.

“They don’t care about me! They see only each other!”

Perhaps everybody is born believing themselves the center of the universe, and they begin to grow up the day they discover they are not.

“Leave, monkey. I don’t hate you anymore,” said Tian Peng.

“Hmph. I don’t believe you. When I hate someone I remember them for the rest of my life. You just let go of your feelings on a dime - that’s some ridiculous speed.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” said Tian Peng.

“I dare you to say that one more time! I know seventy-two different transformations and countless spells and magic like the back of my hand - what can't I understand?”

“This must be the Great Sage Equaling Heaven,” said Yue, “I heard that you were born from a stone. I imagine that a person born of flesh thinks differently than you do. I think you could be missing some of the usual inner complexity.”

“Are you calling me simple?”

“Just that you are different from the rest of us.” said Tian Peng, “Humans are born incomplete. They are born knowing something within is missing, and anxious to find it. They then spend their entire lives searching. Immortals are just the same, only they calm themselves by excising their desire for what is missing. I may be wrong, but it truly seems you don’t have this need - perhaps because the universe created you already complete. Maybe one day you will understand. The day when you find… that your soul has a reflection of its own.”

“Don’t get it… I hate these riddles! Master was full of them too, back in the day. You’re all fucking with old Sun…” Wukong turned and left the riverbank, muttering to himself. He didn’t fly; instead, he walked slowly away.

Yue watched Wukong's silhouette as he left. “He seems rather like…”

“Like…?” prompted Tian Peng.

“I don’t know. Never mind, leave him be.”

Sun Wukong returned to the Peach Garden and found Violet still standing at the edge of the clouds.

“You’ve stood here for a whole day now. What’re you looking at?” Wukong could not help but ask.

“Why are you asking me?” asked Violet.

“How should I know, I just did! Just my luck today - I keep running into all these weird people saying weird stuff! Must be an inauspicious day for travel.” 

“Why does nobody else ever ask me what I’m looking at, but you did?”

“I can’t take this anymore! I’m born this way, all right? I ask questions before I think!”

“Do you care about me?”

“Why would I care about you? You’re not special - back at Flower Fruit Mountain, if I walked past so much as a dog I would greet it!”

“You are indeed different from the others.”

“No shit. I have fur.”

“I stand here all the time, but in thousands of years only you have asked me what I’m doing.”

“But I truly wanted to know what you’re doing!”

“Why is it that they don’t want to know, but you do?”

“Why are you asking me why - if I knew why don’t you think I’d tell you why??”

“Because you think. Because you have a soul,” said Violet.

Sun Wukong was silent again, struck by her words.

Chapter Text

Ten.

“Throughout Heaven and Earth, what alone is honored above all?” asked Tang, quizzing his disciples.

“Monkeys!” said Wukong.

“No - pigs!” said Bajie.

“You are both wrong. The answer is: I am.” said Tang, “When the Buddha was born, he pointed one hand at the sky, the other at the ground, and said so.”

“The Buddha said you are?” asked Bajie.

“No. The Buddha said: ‘I am.’”

“So... the Buddha alone is...?” 

“No, not ‘the Buddha is,’ ‘I am.’”

“The monk’s touched in the head. Ignore him,” said Wukong.

“I get it!” said the pig, “The Buddha is - you are - I am. I am...” 

“... a pig? Well, there goes another one. The pig’s lost it, too.”

“If I were there at the time, I would have smashed him to a pulp with my zen staff before he said a word, just to shut you all up, you annoying fucks,” growled Sand, his mood foul.

The other three stared at Sand, but he only yawned and fell asleep again.

It was another dawn in Heaven. Violet arrived at the Peach Garden.

She found Wukong lying on a low tree branch, fast asleep.

One of his hands was trembling.

Violet approached him, debating whether she should wake him.

All of a sudden, Wukong leaped to his feet. Before Violet could cry out in shock, his hand was gripping her wrist, and his Gold-Tipped Staff was swinging down towards her head.

It stopped just short of coming in contact with her hair. The heavy wave of pressure preceding the aborted blow felt like it might drive Violet into the ground.

Wukong stared at her, finally seeing her. “It’s you? When I’m sleeping, don’t come up to me without making any noise like that.”

“You seem… tense. Were you having a nightmare?”

“…No.”

“I just had a dream too, but it was a wonderful dream.”

“Good for you.” Wukong back-flipped back onto the tree branch. 

“I very much wanted to tell someone about it, but none of the immortals wanted to hear it.”

“Neither do I.” Wukong leaned back on his branch, closed his eyes, and began to go back to sleep.

“Tell me, Wukong, what’s it like on Flower Fruit Mountain?” asked Violet.

Wukong opened his eyes. He stared at the sky above and thought for a long moment. “Flower Fruit Mountain? It’s beautiful. Yeah… beautiful.”

“How is it beautiful, specifically?” asked Violet, “Is it that, during the summer, the entire mountain would be abloom with violet hibiscus flowers?”

“The flowers are red.”

“Right, exactly! And when autumn comes, fallen leaves would cover the ground like a soft carpet, yet the woods would remain verdant, and deer would leap in the grasslands at the foot of the mountain. And when you look up, the golden sunlight would spread all over your face like a warm blanket, and in the sky, which is blue and clear like a sapphire, you’ll see cranes and geese stretch their wings…”

“How’re you…”

“…and during winter, snow would blanket the mountain and its woods, everything would be peaceful and otherworldly, and glittering ice crystals would cover every tree so that the entire woods would appear as if carved from jade. And in a hole in a great tree, a squirrel would fall asleep to the sound of the whistling wind and falling snow, dreaming a dream about the coming year…”

“Hmph. The sound of snow falling, is it? As if you’ve lived there yourself.”

“This was all in my dream - it’s what I always dream about! A garden of infinite beauty in which I live as a squirrel!” Violet was filled with excitement, carried away by her imagination.

“A squirrel, ha. Can you climb trees? Show me, will you!”

“Perhaps it was my past life? Every time I wake from this dream I think to myself, such a place must exist somewhere! And now I know it’s true, it does! Wukong, Flower Fruit Mountain is so beautiful - why would you ever come to Heaven?”

“I think Heaven’s pretty nice. There’s the moon, the stars, no wild beasts, and no need to forage for food every day.”

“But don’t you think it’s far too lonely here, too barren? Don’t you want to go back to Flower Fruit Mountain?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Take me with you for a visit when you next go back!”

“Ha! Take you back? To Flower Fruit Mountain?”

“I just want to see it, just once. After I’ve gotten my wish I’ll return to the Palace.”

“You really want to go?”

“Uh-huh,” Violet nodded earnestly.

“You’ll get your chance,” said Wukong.

Then with a somersault, he leaped away.

“What’s with him?” Violet muttered, a bit put out, as she turned and left.

The sea sparkled with silver light under the full moon. A stone monkey stood on a cliff edge high above the water, looking out at the sea.

Is this what the world is like? It looks limitless as far as the eye can see, yet here I am, unable to take even one more step to explore it.

“Sun Wukong!” someone shouted.

“Who was that? Who calls me? Wait - I’ve only just been born, so how do I have a name? I must be dreaming...”

The stone monkey turned around; behind him was only impenetrable darkness.

“Who calls me? Are you calling for me? Who is it?!”

On the lonely island beneath the moon, the stone monkey yelled hoarsely into the night.

Sun Wukong opened his eyes and instantly remembered who he was, where he was, and that his staff was still in his ear. The last thought calmed him. It was far too quiet at night in Heaven; it had the perverse effect of making his heart pound anxiously in his chest.

Flower Fruit Mountain… Do I still want to go back to that place even now? He thought to himself.

“Violet, why have you been associating with that demon monkey lately?” asked Immortal Erlang, “He’s a monster who kills without batting an eye.”

“I think… he’s only somewhat aloof, that’s all - he’s not nearly as horrible as the legends say.”

“You haven’t seen him when he is evil and feral. The Court battled the demon clans for many years; during that time countless soldiers died at his hand. I’ve fought him myself many times; I know firsthand just how dangerous that demon is. Most don’t even dare approach the Garden - and yet you visit frequently.”

“I just wanted him to take me to Flower Fruit Mountain for a visit.”

“Flower Fruit Mountain! Why would you want to go there?”

“Just to take a look. Sun Wukong said it’s beautiful there.”

“…You truly wish to see Flower Fruit Mountain?” Immortal Erlang thought for a moment, “Very well, I’ll let you have a look.”

“Yes, please!” cried Violet in delighted surprise.

The great war chariot of the gods rumbled slowly towards the Earth. 

“Why is the chariot built like this? With such heavy armor and spikes all over?” asked Violet, “It looks like a monster.” 

“You’ll understand soon enough.” Immortal Erlang’s gaze remained fixed on what was ahead; his expression was very grave.

Violet realized suddenly that she had seen that exact expression before - on Wukong’s face when he was startled awake from his dreams.

It was fear. They were both profoundly afraid of something.

After they descended through a thick layer of black clouds, the blue-green continent below finally came into view.

“You can dismount now. We’re here,” said Immortal Erlang once the chariot had stopped.

The moment Violet stepped out, the horrible stench of blood and decay assaulted her senses.

Before her there was a group of charred black mountains; black because all the mountain soil had been burnt into ash. The trees that used to grow on the mountains had been reduced to charcoal, the remaining dead branches reaching out from the ground like twisted claws. Heavy black smog encompassed everything so no hint of the sun was visible even during the day. It was a graveyard seemingly void of life - except for a flock of strange birds shrieking as they flew, their cries like the wail of tormented ghosts.

“This is Flower Fruit Mountain,” said Immortal Erlang, “the place you yearned to see.”

“I don’t believe it! It can’t be! How could Flower Fruit Mountain be like this?” cried Violet.

“And why can’t Flower Fruit Mountain be exactly this?” Immortal Erlang kicked a stone on the ground, flipping it over. Violet read the words inscribed on it:

Flower Fruit Mountain, a Blessed Land

Water Curtain Cave, a Hidden Paradise

“The monkey lied to you, didn’t he? Hmph. Think about it - how could a place infested with demons have any beautiful sights to speak of? Would demons be found in a garden? Only the Heavenly Realm of immortals can harbour spectacular views.

Violet was silent.

“You have your wish now. Shall we go?”

“…I’d like to stay a while longer.”

“I advise you not to stay too long - this place is overrun with demons. It’s not a place for a Heavenly Maiden such as yourself.”

“I’ve never left the celestial realm before. I didn’t know this was what the Earth was like.”

“It’s not like this everywhere. In places that respect and venerate the gods, there are good conditions - good weather, and all manner of creatures living in peace. You could visit one of those places sometime. Just don’t see the demon monkey anymore, after we return.”

“So it wasn’t Flower Fruit Mountain in my dreams?” Violet murmured numbly to herself.

“Very well… follow me and I’ll give you a proper look at this place.”

Immortal Erlang and Violet flew over the peaks of Flower Fruit Mountain.

“What are those birds? I’ve never seen anything like them before,” said Violet.

“Those? They are the spirits of demons who were slain in the war between demons and immortals. They cannot enter the Underworld, and so can never reincarnate. Instead, they gather here as these birds, doomed to wander and cry for eternity.”

“I see. Are there no living things here anymore?”

Immortal Erlang scoffed. “Certainly there are.”

He turned away and disappeared briefly, flying back after a moment with a wild goose in his hand.

“There are geese here?” asked Violet.

“As if. I got it elsewhere to use as bait. Watch.” 

Immortal Erlang squeezed until blood burst from the goose and dripped onto the ground below.

At once, the ground began to churn and bubble, and countless demons crawled out of the dirt. They lifted their heads and fixed their gaze on the immortals, making savage, howling noises.

Immortal Erlang threw the dead goose to the ground, and at once the demons pounced on the carcass, piling on top of it, forming a small mountain of crawling bodies. Some of them tore and bit at each other in their fight for food; the ones who fall are immediately overwhelmed by other demons, and torn apart…

Violet watched the sight before her frozen in horror.

A few days later, the Heavenly Peach Garden.

“I went to Flower Fruit Mountain.” said Violet.

“Oh. How was it. Did you have fun.” said Wukong, without a trace of mirth on his face.

“I saw everything.”

“Oh.”

“Why did you lie to me?”

“If that’s what you’re calling it... I guess I did lie.” said Wukong.

“I won’t be coming here anymore.”

“Great.”

“Do you enjoy living like this - alone in the Garden, talking to trees?”

“Anything’s better than before.”

“And your years of battle with Heaven, what was it all for?”

“I thought… that certain things can be changed by force. Then I realized that to resist is to pointlessly prolong suffering. So I accepted a position as an immortal.”

“But in the eyes of the immortals, you’re still a demon.”

“Immortals… demons… what’s the difference, really?”

“Immortals... do not harbor the greed and wickedness that demons do in their hearts.”

“Is that so? If the gods are not wicked, why do they destroy anyone who shows them the slightest disrespect? If the gods feel no greed, why must they keep the destiny of all living things on Earth clutched in their hands?”

“……”

“Why did I become an immortal? Because at least that way, I thought, my life would not be in the hands of someone else!” Wukong began to raise his voice in his agitation.

“But those demons back on Earth… you abandoned them.”

“I was wrong from the start. Demons don’t need to be saved. If you try to make them human… you end up destroying them.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“All I want is to save myself now.” A strange smile twisted Wukong’s lips.

“I thought you were different from all those gods, those buddhas and immortals...”

“I was, once.”

“But now you’re just like them, floating around in the clouds, expressionless, purposeless. I used to admire and envy you because you had a soul. But you threw it away just to become an immortal!” Violet gave a derisive laugh.

“At least now I’ll no longer suffer.” Wukong began to ram his head repeatedly into a tree trunk as he spoke. “Look at that, I can barely feel the pain anymore! Isn’t it wonderful?”

“What is suffering? Why do you fear it so much?”

Wukong’s gaze was suddenly feral. He grabbed Violet and growled at her: “When you dreamed you were a squirrel, did you ever hear a sound like this: a terrible howling, the kind of howl you give when you’re watching your own legs being ripped off?”

“What are you saying? Let me go!” cried Violet, shocked and afraid.

“Are you scared? Try this: did you ever hear a crunching noise, the sound of the predator of your kind gnawing on a bone? The creature in its jaws isn’t dead yet, you can hear that creature struggling, and the next one to be eaten alive could be you! Such noises - the howling, the crunch - would seep into your dreams - would you still be able to have a nice dream about the coming year then? You could be killed at any moment, you might not even live to see tomorrow!!”

“Let me go, you’re scary like this!”

“You sleep in the trees, but you don’t dare rest for a second. You’re constantly listening for unusual noises; you’re terrified that at any moment you might open your eyes to great bloody jaws closing around you! Your body is prepared at all times to spring up and run for your life!

“Every night crawls by like this; it’s ages before the light of dawn shines on you again, and you would think thank you, thank you, I’ve lived to see another day - and in celebration of the day you earned you spend it jumping around to your heart’s content, screaming with abandon, stuffing your face with any food you can get your hands on... but soon the night comes again, and you haven’t even made a single friend yet - and you would say to yourself: I’ve had enough!!

“But you must live, you can’t help but want to live - you’re scared to live, but more scared to die… You don’t even know why you’re living like this every day… Oh ho, now you know… now you know why I prefer to be an immortal.” Wukong uttered everything without pause, and when he finished, his grip loosened like he was letting go of a great burden, releasing Violet finally. 

“…But you’ve become… mighty and powerful since then…”

“No use! When I was young my greatest wish was to defeat the bigger monkey who always stole my food and beat me up. When I could finally beat him I realized he’d become elderly. But I still kicked the shit out of him because that’s life and he had it coming.

“When I defeated all the monkeys in the troop I became their king; I learned all that meant was that it was my duty to stand at the tree tops and watch for tigers, bears, and leopards, and yell when I spot them… Do you know what it’s like to be chased by a leopard? I ran so hard and fast I could barely breathe… ack… ” Wukong coughed, clutching his throat, face twisted in misery, “Damn it, I thought I forgot all that long ago...”

“Keep going! I’m listening,” Violet seized Wukong by his clothes and shook him.

“I didn’t want it… I didn’t want to watch my kind celebrate madly in the day only to die in the night. I wished the sun would never set and still the evening glow vanished bit by bit before my eyes. I didn’t understand how other creatures could be content with their lot in life. One day I thought, has anyone ever escaped this? Has anyone…? So I went out to sea to train and learn new abilities…

“When I learned the seventy-two transformations I asked my master if that meant I would never have to be afraid again, and that old bastard just shook his head and laughed; I wanted to punch the smirk off his face. Later when I returned home I discovered that I’d done it: nothing could harm me anymore. I was out of my mind with joy... But it didn’t last. One day…”

Wukong paused, his eyes fixed ahead at something only he could see, and Violet saw something indescribable in his gaze - a combination of terror and absolute hatred.

“Why… Why must there be gods in this world? Why must the lives and deaths of every creature in the world be under their control?!” Wukong gritted out.

“Because everything in the world was created by the gods?”

“But I was not! I sprang fully formed out of a rock; I was created by the sky and the earth - by the universe itself! No one has the right to control my life and destiny - not that old despot in the Underworld, not the Jade Emperor in Heaven!”

“And so… so you destroyed the Underworld?”

Wukong gave a strange, hollow laugh. It sounded more like a sob. “I crossed out the pages of the Ledger of Life and Death, deleting the names of all creatures from across the nine continents. From then on all creatures in the world were freed from death, and would live forever. The world was teeming with life. I thought I could relax then and live without worry or care, but how could I have known…”

“What?”

“The immortals have a name for the things they can’t control: they call them demons!”

Violet shuddered in the shock of revelation at Wukong’s words. When she listened to immortals speak of demons, she had always assumed they were discussing monsters who were nothing but evil; she had not realized this was the meaning of the word.

Wukong continued: “It turns out immortals won’t stand for a single living thing in the world to be master of themselves…”

He stopped there, was lost in thought for a moment, then turned to leave.

Violet pulled him back: “And after that, the hundred years of war began between immortals and demons? The Heavenly Court gave you a post as an immortal because they failed to kill you? But those demons…”

“You saw for yourself. You saw it. Though Heaven agreed not to slaughter them, Flower Fruit Mountain had long been destroyed by the flames of war. Nothing grows there anymore. It’s just another hell on earth, now.”

“But how could you just leave them all there??”

“My greatest mistake was to give them eternal life. I can’t save them. I suppose you’ve seen the strange birds that fly above the Mountain.

“If I were to continue to fight, one day, that would be my fate as well…”

Violet lowered her head and said nothing more. When she finally looked up again, Wukong had gone.

Chapter Text

Eleven.

Wukong somersaulted from the Peach Garden and landed in the grand courtyard outside the celestial Hall. 

“Finally lost that annoying girl! How is she so irritating?”

“Sun Wukong? You’re him, aren’t you, you’re Sun Wukong!” cried a voice.

“Who’s that? Who calls me?”

Wukong looked closer and saw that the speaker was a severed head hanging on a pillar.

“Who are you?”

“I was an old demon from Red Pine Mountain, beheaded and hung here for rebellion against the celestial emperor. I never imagined I would meet the Handsome Monkey King himself! I’ve long revered your name; I often heard stories of you trouncing the Heavenly battalions - fucking fantastic!! I want to be just like you.”

“And so now all you’ve got left is your head.”

“No matter, no matter, I’m not afraid. So long as you’re unafraid, I won’t be either. I still have eyes; I can still glare at the bastards.”

“They’ll dig your eyes out.”

“Then I’ll curse them with my mouth!”

“They’d sew it shut.”

“Then… then that’d be a bit tricky, but I can always think - so long as I live, they won’t stop me from thinking what I want.”

“That’s true… Surely no one can prevent me from thinking?” Wukong murmured thoughtfully to himself.

“Monkey King-”

“I’m not the Monkey King, I’m the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!”

“Anything you say. Great hero, are you here to destroy this palace?” The eyes in the head shone as it spoke, “It’s a pity I don’t have limbs anymore, or I’d be sure to help you!”

“Don’t call me a hero! I’m the Great Sage Equaling Heaven! You… talk too much, die already.” Wukong threw aside the demon’s head and left.

When Wukong returned to the Garden, he heard voices in conversation.

“Violet, you should not be dallying here so much - you ought to return to your usual place.” It was the voice of the Giant Immortal.

“I can be here if I like. You’ve no right to tell me to leave.”

“What good could come of you hanging around that demon monkey…”

“Hold your tongue! You are not worthy to speak of him. He is indeed a monkey - and he’s a thousand times better than you.”

“Ha ha ha… hem hem what did you say? Care to repeat it? Could it be that you’ve caught feelings for that monkey? Hahahaha!”

Violet flushed scarlet with anger, her chest heaving.

Suddenly she smiled: “That’s right, I do love him. What of it?”

“You? In love with a monkey? Hahahaha… Ahhh hahahaha… hem. ”

The Giant Immortal stopped laughing abruptly. He had spotted Wukong walking towards them.

“Keep talking. Go on…” drawled Wukong, toying with the staff in his hand.

“I’m going to go take a look at the moon.” The Giant Immortal turned hurriedly to leave.

“I’ll send you there!” Wukong tapped the end of the staff right on the Immortal’s backside, sending him shooting into the distance.

“Gahhh…” The Giant Immortal’s voice faded as he shot away, “Right on the butt again…”

“Hahahaha…” Wukong laughed so hard he had to prop himself up on his staff.

When he was done he realized Violet was watching him.

“What’re you looking at?”

“I’ve long heard of the reputation of the Handsome Monkey King; Glad to finally meet him today. I’m truly very happy.”

“Don’t call me the Monkey King, I’m the Great Sage! And it’s not like it’s the first time you met me, what are you talking about?”

“I hope to see you often, Monkey King. I often hear of your stories - you’re my hero, truly.” Violet grinned, her face shining with delight. She took a few steps to leave, then turned and added: “To think there’s such a person… How wonderful.”

Wukong remained silent for a long time after she walked away.

Stolen stars glittered above the Garden during the night.

“Tell me more stories about you. About Flower Fruit Mountain. About… about your travels.” said Violet, gazing up at the leaves at the tree tops.

“I thought you could dream it up.” Wukong was laid back on a tree branch, watching the sky.

“The dreams are too nebulous. I can’t ever get close to beautiful dreams like that… if I try to touch anything, the dream slips away, and I awake. And then I have nothing.”

“That’s a good thing. Reality is… it isn’t good. It… hurts you.”

“I’ve never seen anything truly real. The entire Heavenly Palace is all conjured with magic. …Tell me a story, please. A story about you.”

“…About me? I got nothing.”

“But what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about the past?”

“No! Nothing in my past’s worth dwelling on.”

“No, I know you’re thinking about something. I forbid you to think about it alone. I want to think with you.”

“What the - can inner thoughts be a communal experience? Just think whatever you like by yourself.”

Wukong rolled over and ignored her. He closed his eyes and saw the silver sea of his dreams again.

“I’m thinking… thinking about the endless sea.” The one who spoke was Violet. “What are you thinking about?”

“…Drowning.”

“I’m imagining… drifting across the ocean, under the night sky full of stars…”

“…cold and hungry.”

“I reach land and… Ooh! A world I’ve never seen before, where so many things are brand new to me…”

“Whatever you do, don’t get poached.”

“I’m at a mountain now… Bodhi Mountain.”

“Are you sure that’s the name?”

“That’s not important, anyway it’s a mountain. There are gnarled vines and ancient trees, rare flowers and herbs, the sound of birdsong and tumbling spring water. A crisp, cold breeze blows from deep within labyrinthine ravines, carrying with it the faint echoes of a song…” Violet's eyes glittered as she immersed herself in her imagined world.

“Are you dreaming? Can you actually fall asleep with your eyes open?”

“I… see you…”

“…Look little girl, do you have to sit here and babble at me all day? Can’t you pester someone else for a change?!” Wukong sat up and yelled.

Violet was silent for a long moment. 

“Will you listen to me talk?” she asked suddenly.

“Been doing that this whole time, haven’t I?”

“Did you know that Heaven is a desert?” she said, “It was built and carved from beautiful things but when those things became part of the Heavenly Palace, they were stripped of their souls. Did you know that?”

“What…?”

“Did you know they call me ‘the Violet Maiden who is forever smiling?’ But nobody smiles all the time - unless they are a statue or a fool. Did you know that?”

“…Yeah.”

“Just listen, just like this. Don’t interrupt me. I’ll tell you everything. Don’t laugh condescendingly like Erlang, don’t gently argue like Tian Peng. That’s what they would do, which is why I’m only telling you. Because you would just listen quietly like this… in this whole world, only you would… Can you please not hop around everywhere like that??”

“I can’t - if I stay still I fall asleep. Old Sun was born like this.”

“Fine. Forget I asked.” Violet tossed her head and stood to leave.

“All right all right - I’ll stop.” Wukong pulled her back, and leaned back onto thin air, “Just go on...”

Violet continued once more.

“Perhaps… in everybody’s heart, there is a Palace... and a patch of darkness… In the depth of the darkness, there is a body of water, reflecting their innermost self back at them - that is the home of their soul. When one decides to become an immortal they must discard all this, and make that water surface blank, empty. Immersed in nothingness, one becomes a god. But to feel such hollow emptiness inside… Do you know what that’s like? Do you…”

Her voice trailed off.

Wukong had fallen asleep, still floating in mid-air.

She watched as he slept for a moment, then continued: “You wouldn’t understand; you must never understand. But my heart is no longer empty, now. Thank you.”

Wukong slept very deeply and had a dream.

He was walking in darkness; he walked and walked seemingly endlessly until a lake appeared before him. He went to the edge, and the water surface began to ripple. It showed him a beautiful meadow. Something dashed across the surface, too fast to make out. “Hey there little rock, are you in a daze again? Haha…”

Violet had not visited the Peach Garden for many days, and she was nowhere to be found anywhere in Heaven. Wukong milled around aimlessly, visiting all the immortals in their homes and generally being a nuisance, before giving up with a sigh and returning to the Garden.

“Nobody here’s any fun. That girl can stand alone on a cloud for a whole year at a time. Will old Sun resort to that one day? Will that be me?”

“Monkey King, are you there?” Violet’s excited voice rang throughout the Garden.

Wukong leaped from the trees: “Don’t call me the Monkey King! I’m the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!”

Violet turned to him: “The Great Sage? Do you like that name?”

She pulled out a package wrapped in silk. “This is for you.”

“Is it some tasty treats for old Sun?” Wukong snatched it eagerly and tore it open - and froze at the sight of the contents.

Golden armour, red cloak, rose-gold crown tipped with two long phoenix feathers.

Exactly what he wore back when he was the Monkey King, battling the Heavenly soldiers on Flower Fruit Mountain.

“I traveled to every corner of the world: I wrought gold from the reflection of the slanting sun on the Eastern Sea, and extracted bright red dye from the bloody sweat of the Immortal Dragons of Kunlun Mountain. I pulled thousands of miles of thread from the light rays of the sun and the moon and wove brocade from clouds of all colours from different layers of the sky. I stitched them all together to make this. 

“What do you think? Does it resemble what you wore back in the day?” Violet held the armour up to Wukong, watching him eagerly.

“Put them on, let me see how you look in them, go on…”

Wukong stroked one hand gently over the cloak in silence. After a moment, he suddenly swiped his arm and sent the cloak and armour scattering away from him.

“What did you bring me those for?!” He roared, “I don’t need them anymore - I’m already the Great Sage Equaling Heaven; I don’t need to fight! And why’d you have to make them so… fuck, look at this scarf, it’s actually purple… don’t tell me you made it from the violet clouds of the sunset or something, it’s ugly as hell!”

Wukong turned away after he spoke, and wouldn’t look at her.

Violet stood without moving a muscle for a long time. Finally she bent and picked up each piece of armour, folded them carefully, and hugged them to her chest.

She walked slowly out of the Peach Garden.

She went to the edge of the clouds, still clutching the armour to herself. Tears slid down her cheeks.

With a flick of her wrists, she let go and cast them down from the sky.

The red cloak unfurled as it fell; it trailed behind the rest of the armour, a bright flicker of colour against the white clouds before it all disappeared from view.

One day, Wukong circled Heaven about a dozen times and didn't encounter a single being.

“Where is everybody?” He burst out.

A servant boy timidly walked over from his cloud.

“Today is the day of the great Heavenly Peach Banquet. All the gods are gathered in the Miraculous Hall of Clouds to attend the feast.”

“Why wasn’t I told about it?”

“Us lesser immortals are not permitted to attend.”

“Lesser immortals?” Wukong gave a contemptuous laugh, “They forgot all about old Sun! They actually forgot!”

The servant boy saw the dangerous look in Wukong’s eyes and disappeared into his cloud again.

Wukong flew directly towards the Miraculous Hall of Clouds.

For this was the day. This day had come at last.

When he flew by the Sunset Palace, he saw Violet leaning against a banister just outside. 

“They didn’t invite you either? Come on, let’s go get us some drinks!”

Violet shook her head. “Why do we have to go quarrel over it? I’ve always liked watching the sunset from here. During these moments nothing else bothers me. Why don’t you stay here and watch with me?”

“Wait till I’m back - I can’t take this one lying down.” Barely after he’d finished speaking, Wukong had flown far into the distance.

Violet gave a great sigh. “Why… Why the hurry?” She gazed in the direction he disappeared to. “The sunset doesn’t last long. The night will come soon and then the glorious colours will be gone.

“But since you asked me to wait, I’ll wait.” 

Nine thousand years had passed in the blink of an eye. It was the day of the Peach Banquet once again.

Chapter Text

Twelve.

Nine thousand years had passed in a blink... it was the day of the Peach Banquet once again.

The great Miraculous Hall.

“Who was it?! Who picked such — tiny peaches??!!” The Heavenly Mother’s sentences ended with a stuttering pause followed by an erupting, piercing scream.

Ayao was dragged before the Mother.

The Heavenly Mother gave her a cold smile, then burst from her chair like a storm and ground the peach into Ayao’s face, roaring: “Are you deliberately trying to — embarrass me? Huh?!”

“Yes, madam! I mean no, not at all… spare me great Mother please… ”

“Did you eat it all — yourself??”

“No - no of course not?”

“I despise — liars! Drag her out and cast her down to the Mortal Realm!!”

“No, no please…” Tears poured down Ayao’s face; she kowtowed again and again until her forehead bled, staining the jade floor tiles red.

Bodhisattva Guanyin scowled slightly.

The Heavenly Mother noticed immediately. Her voice at once became honey-sweet and gentle. “Great One, was I a little too…? The truth is… I’m a very — agreeable person once you get to know me…”

“It’s not that. The floor's dirty,” said Guanyin.

“Drag that little wretch out and — feed her to the dogs!!!” The Heavenly Mother screamed at the top of her lungs.

Crack. The wine cup on Lao Tzu’s table shattered. All the immortals looked deeply pained, but none dared to cover their ears.

Yue also tightened her brow.

The Heavenly Mother spotted it again. She strode over to the Moon Goddess, putting on a simpering smile: “Do you have any questions, my dear?”

The Mother’s face reminded Yue of an old, wrinkled orange, and Yue could not help but smile as well.

The Heavenly Mother lifted her nose in the air, pleased.

But then Yue stepped out from her place and knelt before the Mother. 

“I beseech the Heavenly Mother to spare Ayao.”

The Heavenly Mother’s face turned the ashen color of iron. That’s not an exaggeration: it was solid teal-grey.

She turned to the rest of the gathered immortals. “Did any of you hear her — say anything? ”

No one uttered a word.

Lao Tzu piped up: “I believe the Moon Goddess was saying…”

The Heavenly Mother glared daggers at him; Lao Tzu’s hat began to smoke. 

He hurried to finish: “I heard her say: ‘The Great Mother is wise and virtuous; I pray for the Mother to be blessed with eternal youth.’”

The Heavenly Mother smiled, satisfied. “Come, let us all sample — this wine.”

Lao Tzu whipped off his burning hat and stamped on it.

All the assembled gods smiled, following the Mother’s example.

Ayao was dragged out; the immortals returned to toasting each other and feasting. Only Yue remained kneeling in the middle of the Hall - no one had given her permission to stand back up.

Yue was close to tears.

It was then that someone else stood up. 

He walked to Yue in the middle of the great Hall, and helped her up.

The conversation and laughter in the Hall were once again choked into silence like a duck being strangled mid-quack.

The one who had gotten up was Tian Peng.

He spoke quietly to Yue as he helped her, while she gazed lovingly back at him. They smiled affectionately at each other. Then they walked out of the Hall a step at a time, their attention lingering on only each other as if there was no one else in the Hall.

“Don’t you dare take — one step outside!!” The Heavenly Mother roared.

It was as if the two did not hear her; they left the great Hall in each other’s arms.

A high buzzing noise grew louder and louder in the otherwise silent Hall.

“Where’s the mosquito?” asked the Giant Immortal. The Far-Seeing Heavenly King, seated beside him, quickly stopped the Giant Immortal's mouth with a peach.

The buzzing sound was coming from the Heavenly Mother - she was so angry that she was shaking at an audible frequency.

Just as the doors of the Hall swung shut, they were kicked wide open again with a bang.

Ayao stood at the door.

The Heavenly Mother stared at her, stunned. 

The gathered immortals all looked to the door as a figure stepped out from behind Ayao.

Sun Wukong!

“Old Sun was the one who ate the peaches. What of it?” drawled Wukong, “Fetch me a chair. And then slaughter your dogs and serve them to the girl.”

A muscle began jumping on the Heavenly Mother’s face.

“Get him his — chair.” She gritted out between clenched teeth.

A small stool was brought out and placed in a corner of the Hall.

Wukong sent it flying with a kick.

“Sun Wukong! Is this — an insurrection??”

“Hey, I just wanted a decent place to sit. Since you’re unwilling to provide…” Wukong waved a hand.

All the assembled immortals ducked reflexively.

The Heavenly Mother’s throne hovered through the air and over the heads of the immortals, landing neatly next to Wukong.

He made a show of sitting down in it, then stood again as something occurred to him: “But of course, the injured young lady should have the seat.”

He nudged the throne towards Ayao.

Ayao’s face was ashen - as if the throne were an electric chair for her execution.

“Have a seat Ayao… why don’t you — sit down.” The Heavenly Mother forced a smile as she spoke, revealing two clenched rows of teeth.

“Does anyone else hear an old bird squawking?” Wukong looked all around himself exaggeratedly.

The colour of the Heavenly Mother’s face changed from white to red, then from red to black.

“Whoa, what’s that thing changing colour over there?” said Wukong, “Looks like a giant potato.”

“Pfffft…” Ayao could no longer resist, and a snort burst from her.

Once the dam had broken, it seemed she could not stop, and she descended into great peals of laughter: “G-giant potato… giant potato changing colours hahahaha… changing colours… hahahaha… the Heavenly Mother’s a giant potato…”

She laughed so hard she fell to the floor, thumping the jade tiles with her fists, tears streaming down her face. Her words became muffled as she buried her head in her arms and sobbed with laughter.

Even Wukong was taken aback. “Remember to breathe,” he suggested.

“Sun — Wu — Kong!!” The Heavenly Mother finally exploded like a burst balloon, “You… you — demon monkey!!”

“What did you say?”

“— Demon monkey!!”

“I’m the Great Sage Equaling Heaven! I’m on equal footing with the Jade Emperor. All I did was joke around with you, and you dare insult me?”

“Are you not?? Are — you — not?? You think you’re on equal footing with Heaven?? Pffft... You’re just a wild monkey we keep in a yard since you can't be — housebroken!”

“Old potato, you wanna say that one more time??”

“What did you call me? You — demon monkey!!”

“Old potato!”

“Demon monkey!!”

“Hahahaha…” Ayao was still laughing her head off on the floor, “Old potato… Hahahaha… Demon monkey…”

Wukong roared with laughter himself, then abruptly he gave a shout and leaped at the Heavenly Mother, his staff aimed directly at her.

The Mother was so taken by surprise that she froze. She watched in a daze as the great iron pole swung down at her, forgetting even to dodge.

Wukong had moved so quickly that no one had time to make any move to save her.

At the critical moment, something streaked through the air towards him.

Wukong twisted his staff to deflect it. Smack! The flying thing was smashed into pieces. Glittering shards scattered everywhere - someone had thrown a glass cup.

As soon as the Gold-Tipped Staff changed direction, the Heavenly Generals had an opening. The four Heavenly Kings surged forward at once: the Nation-Bearing and Ever-Growing Kings faced Wukong; the Far-Seeing and All-Hearing Kings dragged the stupefied Heavenly Mother out of the way.

Sun Wukong began battling the two Heavenly Kings like it was child's play.

The Lords of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Officers of the Nine Stars, the Generals of the Twelve Zodiacs, and the Warriors of the Five Aspects all flipped their tables over and charged: “Get him!!”

“Welcome!” cried Wukong, “Let’s have us a proper fight!” His moves intensified, his staff twirling and dancing and lighting the Hall with flashes of gold. Not one of the nearly one hundred Heavenly Generals could get one step under his guard. Occasionally, there would be a loud yelp and a general would be ejected from the battle, crashing heavily into one of the walls.

The Giant Immortal was too bulky to squeeze himself into the crowded fight and had to watch the battle from outside the formation. It was then that he spotted Ayao. She had finally laughed herself out and was climbing unsteadily to her feet.

The Giant Immortal bounded over, stuck out one enormous hand, and caught Ayao like a baby bird.

In a flash, the air before his eyes blurred, and Sun Wukong stood in front of him.

To one side, the rest of the Heavenly Generals were still gathered in a crowd, oblivious, shouting: “Charge, charge!! Give him a left! Sweep his legs out…”

The Giant Immortal gave an awkward chuckle: “Ho ho… Why, Ayao, you have a bit of straw in your hair, allow me to remove it for you. Hm… it was there a moment ago…”

Wukong pressed down on the top of the Giant Immortal’s head with one hand and spun him around like a top, then wound back one leg and gave him a great kick to the backside.

The Giant Immortal yelped as he flew into the air. When he realized he was flying straight at the ceiling he dropped Ayao to cover his head.

Wukong leaped into the air and caught her. They landed lightly back on the ground just as a loud boom sounded above them - the Giant Immortal had burst through the roof.

Sitting secure in Wukong’s arms, Ayao beamed at him.

Wukong dropped her unceremoniously on the floor. “I think this girl’s in shock. Do we have a doctor here?”

“…aaaaAAAAAHH-” The Giant Immortal crashed through the roof again at the other end of the Hall on his fall back down.

He knew how to fly, but in his panic he’d simply forgotten.

He landed with a great thump in the middle of the crowd of fighting Heavenly Generals, and only then did everyone realize that Sun Wukong had gone.

“Where is that demon monkey? Come out, you fiend! Prepare to meet your doom!” they blustered, all praying privately that he wouldn’t actually appear before them.

Ayao was also nowhere to be found.

A report was made that a streak of gold light was sighted flying down to Earth.

“Phew…” All the Generals let out a sigh of relief. Then they seemed to collectively realize how that made them look and they all began to loudly curse the demon monkey.

The Heavenly Mother returned to the great Hall, her nose reddening with anger at the mess that had been made of the Peach Banquet.

She strode to the middle of the Hall and heard a crunching beneath her feet. She looked down and saw the glass shards scattered all over the floor.

“Who was it?! Who smashed my precious — Glass Chalice?!!”

Wukong and Ayao sat on a burnt hillside, under the black, sunless sky of Flower Fruit Mountain.

“What is it with me… Why can’t I control myself when it counts? Why did I say those things… Why did I forget everything else when I started the fight? I thought I’d managed to become just like the immortals…”

“Do you regret what you did?” asked Ayao.

“Maybe I’m destined to never become an immortal. The Jade Emperor doesn’t know about all this yet. Perhaps he’ll invite me back. But would I want to go back?” Wukong thought to himself.

“Do you want to go back?”

“There’s nothing in Heaven I’ll miss. But I told someone to wait for me - maybe I should at least let them know... Don’t you want to go back?” asked Wukong.

“No, I’m not going back.” replied Ayao, “It’s strange. When the Heavenly Mother ordered me to be cast down, I was terrified, as if the sky were falling. But when I think about it now, it’s not so bad.”

She jumped up and down a couple of times. “Here, I can jump when I want, say what I want - no one controls me. Ahhhhhhhhh...!” She bellowed into the distance. “Wow! It’s true! No one’s here to stop me!” Her face flushed with delight.

“Hm. You won’t be so cheerful soon enough.” Wukong picked up a handful of black ash and became lost in thought.

One continuous rumbling sound rolled east to west across the black sky. 

“Is that thunder?” wondered Ayao, “If it rains, maybe plants will start growing here.”

“That’s the sound of war chariots assembling in the Heavenly Realm.” Wukong was still gazing intently at the dirt in his hand, pouring the ash bit by bit back to the ground. “They’re coming. You should go, girl.”

“No! I’m staying with you!”

“Fuck off!” Wukong bellowed, “Get away from me! You’re the reason old Sun’s a demon again - I don’t want to look at you!”

“What’s… what’s so bad about being a demon? I’ll be a demon with you.” 

Wukong thumped the ground with a fist, and a few demons crawled up and out of the earth.

“My King! You’re finally back! We’ve waited so long and hard for you to lead us once more!”

“The King is back! The King is back!!”

The ground began to shake; a great rumbling emanated from deep under the earth. All across the mountain, hundreds of thousands of demons began to crawl out of the ground. The sight stunned Ayao into silence.

“Look who it is - it’s Sun Wukong! The Monkey King is back! We are saved!” cried an old demon, raising his arms to the sky.

“Sun Wukong! Sun Wukong! Sun Wukong!” Thousands upon thousands of demons as far as the eyes could see shouted in unison, the sound of their collective voices as loud as thunder, rising to the heavens.

In the sky another series of heavy rumbles sounded, clashing with the chorus of shouting on the ground. The very air seemed to vibrate from sound alone, without there being the slightest breeze to stir it.

Ayao stood frozen in awe and fear.

“All of you - disband.” said Wukong.

“What?” cried the demons.

“Disband, get out of here.”

“My King, everybody’s been waiting all these long years for this final battle!”

“I said disband! This is a private matter between myself and the Court. It only concerns immortals - it has nothing to do with you demons.” Wukong tilted his face dismissively to the sky as he spoke.

“What…? This is… a matter between immortals? Sun Wukong, did I really hear you say that? Are you really Sun Wukong?” cried the old demon.

“I’m Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. I’m no longer Sun Wukong the demon king.”

The old demon took a few steps back as his shock settled. “The Great Sage Equaling Heaven… I see. Ten thousand demons died in the first great battle with immortals, and you became the Keeper of the Horses. A hundred thousand died in the second great battle, and thus you became the Great Sage!”

“That’s right! Old Sun’s a naturally formed stone monkey - a rare creature with the bad luck to be born among you lowly demons! I’ve hated the sight of your gormless faces since I was young! It was always my dream to become an immortal - why would I sully my reputation by associating with the lot of you now?”

“If it weren’t for the debt we all owe you for crossing our names off the Ledger, I’d kill you myself!”

“Ha! That was my greatest regret, crossing off your names on a whim and having all you old bastards hanging around forever as a result!”

The old demon turned to the crowd: “Did you all hear what this monkey said? He’s an immortal now! What fools we were to wait so long and faithfully for him at this mountain! Our mistake! It’s time we all went our separate ways.”

The crowd of demons began muttering among themselves, the hum of voices spreading all over Flower Fruit Mountain. Finally, the assembly of demons began to disperse; countless demons flowed out of the mountain in all directions like ants from an anthill. The hum of their voices slowly faded.

“Get this girl out of here, too! The further away the better!” Wukong snatched up Ayao in one hand and stuck her onto the back of a passing demon. “And if you try to eat her, I’ll kill you!”

“No! I’m not leaving!!” Ayao cried, struggling on the back of the demon as she was carried far away.

Within a few hours, the hundreds of thousands of demons had all gone, like a storm cloud dispersed by the wind.

Watching them disappear into the distance, Wukong let out a long breath.

“How long will it be before flowers and fruit can grow again on Flower Fruit Mountain? But at least the seeds are being scattered all over the world.” He picked up another handful of black earth and smiled like a child.

The rumble of thunder was getting closer and closer.

Wukong leaned back on a charred dead tree, waiting calmly.

Finally, the moment came, and a great flash of lightning ripped across the pitch-black sky.

Sun Wukong leaped into the air, his Gold-Tipped Staff raised and aimed at the heavens.

“Come at me!”

In that instant lightning lit his body; the flash of light traced his silhouette, burning the shape of him into myths and legends for thousands of years to come.

Chapter Text

But friend! we are too late. It’s true that the gods may live,

   But up far above our heads in a different world.

Endlessly they reside there and seem to care little,

   If we live, so much do Those Above shun us.

Because a weak vessel cannot contain them,

   only at times can man endure divine abundance.

Therefore life itself is a dream about them. But erring, 

   same as slumber, help us, and misery and night-time strengthen us,

Until heroes have grown enough in the iron cradle,

   hearts as strong as Those Above, as in times old.

Thundering they arise. Meanwhile I often ponder, 

   it is better to stay asleep, than to remain without companions,

to wait, and not knowing, in the meantime, what to do or say,

   and what use are poets in times of need?

But they are, you say, like the wine god's holy priests,

   traveling from land to land in holy night.

    - Friedrich Hölderlin, “Bread and Wine”, emphasis added

      Translation by KariHigada

      With reference to translation by James Mitchell

Thirteen.

The Heavenly Palace after a great battle.

“Tian Peng… do you admit to your crimes?” drawled the Jade Emperor.

“I do. I helped the one I love to her feet, and so I have sinned.”

“Wrong! You’re convicted of conspiring with a demon! You were spotted speaking with the demon monkey in secret at the Milky Way!”

“Hahahaha…” Tian Peng laughed heartily, “If you’ve decided to kill me, then kill me. There’s no need to make up such ludicrous tales.”

“What is the penalty for conspiracy with demons?” The Jade Emperor looked away from Tian Peng to the immortal generals and advisors of his court.

The White Evening Star shuffled forward. “Name the penalty you’ve got in mind, my liege.”

“Unacceptable! Am I not an emperor who respects the celestial laws?”

“Your servant understands… According to legal precedent, the consequences for conspiring with a demon can vary. One could be promoted, pardoned, exiled, or executed.

“Promoted? I didn’t know that was possible.”

“Sun Wukong was promoted, was he not?”

“Now that you mention it, wasn’t that your suggestion? I’ve still got a bone to pick with you about that!”

“Your servant has sinned egregiously and deserves death a thousand times over! Your servant begs to be drowned in an urn of wine - preferably Fengyang wine.”

“Bah! Stop grandstanding and tell me what punishment Tian Peng should get according to the law!”

“Uh - this man behaved very badly! He’s been a terrible influence! He must, of course, receive the capital punishment!”

The Jade Emperor shook his head.

“Huh? Then, perhaps… exile?”

The Emperor shook his head again.

“But he’s an important general of Heaven after all, and the Court is magnanimous. Let’s pardon him.”

The Emperor shook his head.

“Uhh… umm… Tian Peng… managed to penetrate enemy lines as a double agent and bring us important intelligence - he deserves a promotion! I suggest we appoint him as the Marshal-in-Chief!”

Again the Jade Emperor shook his head.

“My liege, is your neck itchy perhaps? May this old servant scratch it for you?” The poor Evening Star was so confused he began to babble.

“Unacceptable!” The Jade Emperor barked, “You fool, must I spell it out? Execution is too easy for this wretch! It’s not satisfying enough!”

“But… is there a penalty more severe than execution…?”

“I rather thought…” the Jade Emperor beckoned with one hand, and the Evening Star stooped down close to listen.

Tian Peng clenched his jaw as he watched them share a small chuckle.

“Tian Peng… You will not be killed, for Heaven is magnanimous and merciful. You may thank the Emperor for his kindness.” The Evening Star chortled.

“Bring Yue to him and let them say their farewells.” The Jade Emperor smirked.

The Moon Goddess was dressed all in white, draped in sash, walking slowly toward Tian Peng. Her expression reminded one of the cool, tranquil light of the moon.

“You’re so beautiful whenever I see you, no matter what.” Tian Peng smiled.

Yue fought to keep her voice steady. “I wanted your last sight of me to be beautiful.”

“I promise you, so long as I breathe, I’ll find my way back to you.”

“You’re going down to the Mortal Realm. You’ll forget everything… you won’t even remember me.”

“I’ll never forget.”

“You must. You’ll be much happier that way.” Yue placed a gentle kiss on Tian Peng’s forehead. 

As she did so, her fingers snuck a red elixir pill between Tian Peng’s lips.

“Swallow it, and you’ll forget everything.” She backed away, “Forget me… Forget me forever!” She tore herself away and ran off.

And so Tian Peng watched her disappear into the clouds.

An immortal general brought a girl before the Emperor. It was Ayao.

“Your Majesty, we found her alone while we were surveying Flower Fruit Mountain. She appeared to be looking for something - we know not what.”

“Why, it’s Ayao, isn’t it?” A trace of a smile graced the Jade Emperor's lips. “What’s a nice girl like you doing among demons? If you can tell me where the scattered demons have gotten to, you shall be granted a full pardon, and reinstated in Heaven.”

Ayao was strangely calm. Her earlier panic had vanished entirely. “Just now I was with a group of demons,” she said, “They used all kinds of curse words I’d never heard before… and they also asked me a question I’d never heard: they asked me what I’m going to do. That was the first time someone asked what I wanted. That’s when I understood why demons are willing to live on Earth despite scarcity and starvation. Because no one ever says the word “grant” to them. They do not live off that word; they do not live by the grace of someone else…”

“Hm… a day on Earth passes in but a blink of an eye in Heaven. How did Sun Wukong so quickly lure an innocent Heavenly Maiden into the land of sin? You used to be so pure and adorable, Ayao. How it hurts me to see you like this now!” The Jade Emperor put on a pained expression.

“What did those demons say again?” Ayao propped her chin on one hand and thought for a long while, ‘Please shut your dumbass up.’ But no no - they didn’t say ‘please’… I can never get it quite right.”

“Pffft.” One of the Heavenly Generals could not hold back a snort of laughter.

“Who was it? Who laughed?!” The Jade Emperor yelled, forgetting himself for a moment.

No one responded, of course. All the immortals put on their most somber expressions of lament.

“Who are these people??” a voice cried suddenly. 

It was Tian Peng, about to be thrown down the Well of Banishment.

Ayao turned to him with a start. Her eyes glittered with tears at the sight of him.

“They are… immortals,” she responded, swallowing back her tears.

“Immortals, I see… So that’s who they are!” Tian Peng threw back his head, laughing as he fell to Earth. 

In mid-air, he saw a small figure fall from the sky after him - it was Ayao. She fell like a leaf, buffeted by the wind, drifting to the edge of the Earth.

The clouds parted; Tian Peng caught a glimpse of the mortal world below - it was a peaceful little village…

It was fast approaching…

A day later a sow in the village stared startled at one of her newborn piglets. All the other piglets were snuggled into her flank, but that one was staggering unsteadily towards the fence of the pig pen.

Suddenly, “Pfft!” - it spat something forcefully out of its mouth.

It was a red elixir pill.

The Heavenly Palace, the Demon Execution Post.

“What of that demon monkey?”

“Your majesty, fifty thousand bolts of lightning have been discharged, but the monkey is still alive!”

“Sabres!”

“Report: we have slashed him with three thousand strokes of the sabre. The monkey is still alive!”

“Burn him!”

“Report! He still lives!”

“Send three hundred Heavenly wolves to maul him! And three hundred Heavenly hawks to peck and tear at him!

“Well? Is he still alive?”

“Report: the monkey has been torn apart.”

“Hm. Excellent.”

“But…”

“But what??”

“H-he’s still alive!”

“What?!” The Emperor stood up in fear and shock. “Why won’t he die??”

Bodhisattva Guanyin was watching everything unfold as she stood to one side. She smiled calmly. “He is a monkey spirit born of the earth and the sky. If his spirit does not die, then he cannot be killed.”

“I refuse to believe there’s anything in this world that I, the Jade Emperor, cannot kill! Keep executing him until he dies!”

“There is one possible way to kill him,” said Guanyin.

Violet was brought before the Jade Emperor.

“Guanyin has spoken to you? You know what you are to do?”

Violet was silent.

Guanyin spoke from behind her. “Once you see the state of him, you will understand why you cannot let him live.”

“Go.” said the Jade Emperor.

Violet walked towards the Execution Post one step at a time. She dared not look up; instead, she counted the steps she took. By the time she counted to a hundred, she was almost right before him.

She saw blood. It flowed to her feet, pooling there.

A familiar voice piped up: “Aha. You’re here.”

Violet whipped her head up, and she saw…

There was a tall bronze platform before her, and on the platform a great pillar stood, stretching high into the sky.

Chained to the foot of the pillar was a broken body; half of it bloody and mangled, half of it burnt. Flesh was separated from bone - the body had been destroyed beyond all recognition. Only the pair of glittering eyes peering out of the bloody mess remained the same; they were lit bright with the laughter she’d become so familiar with. 

“I knew you’d come,” said the broken shell.

For a long moment, Violet simply looked at him. Finally, she spoke: “You were waiting for me?”

“Waiting for you? No… no I wasn’t… I just… figured… you’d come…”

The monkey was a little nervous. “That day, I promised I’d watch the sunset with you after I came back from the Peach Banquet… I really like… the sea by Flower Fruit Mountain… I often go there to… watch the sun… the sun go down… Truth is… what I’m saying is… I’ve been waiting… to tell you, the sunset… at Flower Fruit Mountain… it’s truly very…”

Blood dripped from his skull and seeped into his mouth as he spoke, yet every word he uttered was so clear, and such hope gleamed in his eyes.

“You’ve been hanging on all this time just to tell me this?” said Violet.

“Actually… something else… I wanted to tell you… Your dream, it’s real… I knew that squirrel… a squirrel who liked to sit on a tree branch and watch the sunset.”

“I’m not a squirrel, I was born from the violet clouds of the evening sky. That was just a dream,” said Violet, not turning her gaze from him. Suddenly, she raised her voice: “Sun Wukong, just who do you think you are? Look at you, you’re like a pile of mud! I… can’t stand the sight of you, I hate you! When I said I loved you the other day, that was just to spite the Giant Immortal. I’m an immortal of the Heavenly Palace, I could never be with a monkey. You are a demon! You are not a god, never! Do you understand? We will never be the same!”

“What are you saying? That’s not… that’s not what I’m talking about…” said the broken shell.

“Are you still dreaming? Are you still imagining the colours of the sunset at the edge of the sky? You lost! You lost your life; you lost everything! Wake up! Before you die, remember who you are - remember it forever! 

“You are Sun Wukong - the king of demons, Sun Wukong! Stop dreaming about being among immortals, because Sun Wukong will never, ever achieve enlightenment!” She leaned in closer to Wukong, looking into his eyes as blood trailed from them like tears: “Remember: the sky above Flower Fruit Mountain is black - there are no sunsets there.”

The monkey was silent.

The entire Heavenly Realm held a collective breath.

“So that’s how it is… that’s how it is…” said the demon king Sun Wukong.

“Do you understand? Do you really understand?” pressed Violet.

“That’s how it is… how… it is…” The two spots of light in his skull began to dim until, finally, the sparks were extinguished. The broken shell was now truly lifeless.

“The demon king is dead!!” All the immortals in the Realm began to cheer.

“Take his body to my furnace! That is an object of highly concentrated spiritual energy! I shall smelt elixir pills out of it,” crowed Lao Tzu.

A few Heavenly soldiers shoved Violet aside and climbed up to move Wukong’s body.

“Hm. He’s got something in his hand. All torn up and he’s still holding on to it. I can’t wrench the hand open.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just throw it all into the furnace together.”

The soldiers carried the corpse past Violet. 

She saw clearly what was clenched in that hand, the hand that had been stripped bare of its flesh and still would not let go.

A purple scarf.

It seems the familiar figure in the dark

Has faintly heard once more

A familiar voice 

Light a fire in the darkness

The ancient pottery

Has long been painted with legends about us

But you’re still insistently asking

If this is worth it

Of course, the fire will be extinguished in the wind

And the mountain peak will collapse at dawn

And dissolve in the river bearing the pall of the night

The bitter fruit of love 

Will fall when it’s ripe

Here and now

So long as we are crowned by the sunset

Everything that follows

What does it matter?

— that endless night 

The revolving season of silence

    - Bei Dao, “The Continuation of Legends”

Chapter Text

Fourteen.

Five hundred years later, the present day…

A white figure flitted through the night, like a silver ripple streaking through the darkness of the deep sea.

The Mortal Realm, the Forest of Ten Thousand Creatures.

“You accursed equine, did you visit your whole extended family? What took you so long?” groused Zhu Bajie, “I’ve refused the invitations of hundreds of beautiful women waiting for you! They all figured I must be awaiting an extraordinary beauty - but it’s actually you, a muddy little horse.”

“Keep dreaming, pig. Where is Master’s… body?” the White Dragon faltered.

“Master? Ohhh! You mean the baldie. It’s just over… there… Hm. Where did it go? There were still a couple of legs there just yesterday...”

“Zhu Bajie, you bastard!! How… how could you??”

“Alas, the world is declining by the day; in this day and age, even a horse can berate you. And a horse can cry, too, I see! What do you want the body of the monk for anyway? It’s just a stinky corpse attracting flies. All those beautiful ladies thought the smell was me - such an injustice that was...”

“I… I traveled day and night, and didn’t rest for a moment… I only hoped to get back in time… but…” The White Dragon couldn’t bring herself to finish.

“Even if you were a champion racehorse, you wouldn’t have been able to catch up to his spirit, so why fret? Did you want his body as a souvenir? Let me tell you a secret… when a person dies, they don’t look half as pretty as they did while living! Besides, you didn’t tell him you cared when he was alive but now he’s dead you cry for him? Even lady demons are preferable - at least they’re upfront about their feelings.”

“I… I refuse to believe he just died like that. He has to come back! Didn’t Wukong leave to look for his spirit?”

“Sun Wukong? Ha! If he were coming back he’d have done so ages ago. He must have met a lady monkey somewhere and started his own happy little life. I think I’ll go off and search for my happiness too…”

“Have you nothing else in your head besides beautiful women and sows?”

“What do you have in your little horse brain, then? Must’ve been nice to have your beloved ride you.”

“Zhu Bajie… you… you know being a horse was my punishment for refusing an offer of marriage from Heaven. I didn’t choose this!”

“Then why did you bounce your eager ass right over just when the monk mentioned he needed a horse? Pardon me, I shouldn’t speak so coarsely to a young lady. It’s easy to forget your gender when you’re in horse form.”

“Fuck you! Don’t give me that crap! There’s no profanity beneath old Horse after spending all this time with you three low-lifes!”

“Don’t be like that… if your father were to see you like this the old dragon would be heartbroken.”

The White Dragon burst into tears. 

Bajie sighed and patted her on the flank. “Let it all out. They’re gone, all gone, and all that’s left is us two lonely souls. We ought to take care.”

“*Sobs* Don’t do that, Bajie, it’s scary when you’re suddenly gentle like that…”

“Ahh… Back in the day, old Hog used to be quite the gentleman.”

“Hahahaha…” the White Dragon burst out laughing between her sobs, “the pig… the pig was a gentleman… haha...”

Even Bajie chuckled. “Quite a joke isn’t it? It’s my best one, guaranteed to give the ladies a good laugh!”

He tilted his face up to the sky. The night sky was dark, without so much as a sliver of the moon visible.

“The demon monkey has been defeated!!” Cheers echoed throughout the Heavenly Palace; all the immortals were celebrating as if New Year had come early.

Violet stood at the edge of the clouds, watching as the Hall was surrounded. Her expression was calm, without a hint of joy or sorrow.

“Why did you bring me this stuff?? I’m the Great Sage Equaling Heaven now! I don’t need them anymore!” Wukong had yelled that day, “And this scarf... it’s actually purple… don’t tell me you made it from the violet clouds of the sunset!”

Why was it happening again? Five hundred years ago he lost… and today he lost again. He could never seem to escape the palm of Heaven’s hand.

Violet left the gathering of immortals and walked alone to a corner of the sky.

She went to that particular patch of clouds again.

“Just wait here, old Sun will be right back…” she heard that voice say again.

I’ve waited five hundred years. Now he doesn’t need me to wait anymore. When I turn around, she thought to herself, I will face a world without him in it.

She watched the sea of clouds for a long time, then finally gathered herself and turned -

“Crying again, miss?” said a familiar voice. A pair of eyes, lit bright with laughter, were looking back at Violet.

Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong stood there like he’d never left in five hundred years. He was even munching on a peach. His grin was exactly as it was five centuries ago; time had not weathered it in the slightest.

“Sun Wukong?” said Violet after a long moment staring at him.

“Obviously.”

“You remember me?”

“Sure. Aren’t you the Heavenly Maiden Ayao? Haha, did that get you mad? Does it matter what I call you? Does it really matter who you are?”

“Weren’t you traveling to the Western Paradise?”

“The Western Paradise, ha! Where’s that? If I wanted, I could flip the whole world around. Then the West would be right here!”

“And weren’t you captured after the battle in the Miraculous Hall just now?”

“Hahahaha… I haven’t been captured since I was reborn from the elixir furnace five hundred years ago!”

Violet felt her thoughts tangle in confusion. All her memories of the past five hundred years were jumbled together, impossible to sort. What was real and what was not? Did Sun Wukong really die? Did he say his last words to her, or did she imagine it all? Was there really a purple scarf clenched in that broken hand?

Wukong looked all around the sky, oblivious to her thoughts. “Five hundred years it’s been, five hundred years… And it’s still just as stuffy here as it was back then. I can barely breathe! I’m going to open up a skylight and get some air!”

He thrust his arm up; the Gold-Tipped Staff shot high into the sky like a beam of golden light.

BOOM! The entire Heaven shook.

A great hole appeared at the zenith of the sky; flames poured in from the opening and the entire horizon caught on fire.

Violet was petrified in horror. The sky had not been cracked since ancient times - not since the Goddess Nuwa had made it whole.

“Feel that breeze!! Smell that fresh air! It’s like the wind from the sea by Flower Fruit Mountain, hahaha…” Wukong laughed carelessly as he spoke. “Do you smell it, Violet?” 

“Have you lost your mind, Sun Wukong?! This will bring unspeakable disaster down on all Three Realms!”

“Hahahaha... It’s a garbage dump of a universe anyway! May as well burn it down!!” roared Wukong, “Fire! What a fire!! ” Abruptly he began to sob, clutching at his head, doubling over, “Fire… Don’t burn… don’t burn my Flower Fruit Mountain…”

He seemed completely demented.

When he lifted his head again, his eyes appeared red to Violet, reflecting the glow of the flames, and his expression was savage in the dancing light.

Elsewhere in Heaven, the immortals were cursing and yelling, a picture of pandemonium.

“What’s happening?!” cried the White Evening Star.

“Lao Tzu must have left his furnace unattended! Now everything’s going up in flames! This is just like five hundred years ago when the monkey came back to life!” bellowed the Giant Immortal.

“But it wasn’t me this time!” protested Lao Tzu, “The fire is… the fire… Oh, oh - there! Look up there! The sky…!”

All the immortals looked up to the sky; screams burst out at once. The Heavenly Mother fainted on the spot.

Wukong watched it all in high amusement. He turned around to Violet: “Fun, isn’t it?!”

The fire roared, the flames shooting ever higher, and yet Violet felt a deep chill descending.

Wukong considered her. “Do you know what’s outside the sky?”

Violet hugged herself and shook her head.

Wukong: “Me neither. I wonder why nobody’s ever opened it up before to take a look.”

The fire grew greater by the moment, while the Palace perversely became colder and colder.

The Mortal Realm, the Forest of Ten Thousand Creatures.

“What happened?!” cried the White Dragon, looking up at the sky.

Bajie lifted his gaze. The eastern horizon was crimson, the vivid colour pouring like blood from a wound and staining ever larger portions of the sky.

“It’s getting so cold…” The White Dragon murmured.

While the sky blazed, snow began to fall.

“I’ve only seen a sight like this once before,” said Bajie, “Five hundred years ago.”

“Ahwooooo… ” the howls and snarls of countless demons clamoured throughout the Forest.

The Heavenly Palace.

“Quick! Go fetch the Lord Buddha Rulai!!!” The Jade Emperor peered out from the lower level of the Miraculous Hall and belted at the top of his lungs.

“There you are, you old fool!” The monkey leaped over and seized the Emperor by the collar. “Is that all you know how to say?! Five hundred years, it’s been, and you haven’t changed a bit! Unacceptable!!”

Wukong swung his arm, and the Emperor flew into the air with a cry.

All the scenes from five hundred years ago were replaying once more.

Someone sprung up and caught the Jade Emperor as he fell.

It was Sand.

“Good for you, you did very well,” said the Jade Emperor, back on his feet, “Where do you work? I’ll see that you’re well rewarded.”

Sand kowtowed furiously: “Your Imperial Majesty… this servant of yours has only one wish - to be allowed to return to Heaven!”

“Is that so? So you were exiled…” The Emperor chuckled dismissively. “Did you redeem yourself for your sins yet?”

Sand’s hand shook as he pulled the Glass Chalice from where he’d stowed it in his shirt. It was covered entirely in thin cracks. “That day, to save the Heavenly Mother I was forced to break this Chalice, and for that, I was banished. Since then I have spent every day and night searching for the pieces that had fallen to the lower Realm. Finally, I have it almost pieced together again - I’m only missing one… one last piece.”

“Is that so? You actually managed to find all the pieces and put them together again? That’s quite something.”

“Your servant has searched high and low in the Mortal Realm for five hundred years... If old Sand were not ordered to keep watch on the pilgrims traveling west, I might have - ”

“What did you say just now… did you say ‘old Sand?’”

“Ah no! Your servant has erred, your servant meant to say ‘your servant!’ Such a foolish error... deserving of death a thousand times over!”

“See, I tried to give you a chance but you squandered it. Why don’t you come back after you’ve found that last piece, hm? - Ahhh Sun Wukong’s coming! Stop him!!”

Sand held his zen staff fast and parried. The impact of the monkey’s staff sent Sand flying; the Glass Chalice was knocked out of Sand’s grip and arced through the air…

“Arghhh! Noooo…!” Sand dived hard and caught the Chalice in his arms, “Oh, thank heavens…”

A group of Heavenly Generals rushed forward to battle Wukong, stampeding over Sand’s prone body. Sand curled himself protectively over the Chalice, hanging on for dear life even as blood spurted from his lips.

“I just need one last piece, just one… Five hundred years, it’s been…”

Chapter Text

Fifteen.

The Heavenly Realm, the Prison Pagoda.

Great suspended chains shook and jangled.

“…Hurts… My head… hurts…”

“You cannot pry it off, you cannot break it open, because it is not a physical thing. It is a bondage of your innermost self,” Tang’s voice echoed, “I can’t remove it for you because I can’t find it. It was planted deep within your heart. I swear I’m not reciting any curse... Do you still want to kill us?”

“Don’t lie to me you fucking monk… Why is it when I think about killing you… my head hurts… Can’t I even think about it? I’m only thinking - AAARGHHHHH…”

“Give up the desires in your heart, and you will know peace. Overcome every selfish, distracting thought. Do not doubt, never doubt. “ Tang looked up in thought, “...The only thing that can save you is to believe.”

“Put it on, and you’ll be free!”

“Put it on! And you’ll be free!” said Guanyin, “Don’t you want to leave Five Elements Mountain? Will you believe, just once more? Just believe.”

“Is that Sun Wukong?” murmured many voices in question.

“Yeah, the same Sun Wukong who wreaked havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago!”

“Hahaha... that’s Sun Wukong? That’s it?”

“He’s so tame, now!”

“Look at him, the fool - what are you looking at, huh?”

“Hahahaha...”

“HAHAHAHA...”

“Sun Wukong!” Someone called as they lifted their Golden Gourd.

“I’m not Sun Wukong! I’m actually - huh? Grimpil Sun gets me sucked in too??”

“Haha... so long as you’re unable to forget yourself in your heart, you will be caught in my spell!” laughed the Gold-Horned Demon.

But how could I forget who I am?

“Sun Wukong!”

“Who calls me?” cried Wukong in response.

He startled wide awake.

He was in a dark, cavernous space, lit with only a few distant flickers of fire. Lengths of a huge chain were suspended everywhere, doubling back and crisscrossing itself in countless places, with no beginning or end in sight.

Agony wracked his body - something was lanced straight through the bones of his shoulder blades. He couldn’t gather any strength; he could barely breathe.

Slowly his vision cleared, and he saw the face of an immortal warrior with a rather long nose staring at him.

“Are you really Sun Wukong?” said the immortal warrior.

“Think so.”

“What do you mean you think so?” the warrior snapped, “If you’re Sun Wukong then who’s that out there?”

Another voice spoke up: “Stand aside for now, Muzha.”

Guanyin stepped out of the dark. 

“It’s been a long time, Sun Wukong. I hope you’re in good health.”

“Guanyin? Glad you came. Take this ring off my head, won’t you?”

“You had not even completed your atonement for your previous crimes before you committed new ones. You still dare ask to be released from the circlet?”

“Whatever you say. Feel free to cut my head off if you want, as long as you promise to take the circlet off the head afterwards.”

“You died once before already… and weren’t you reborn in the elixir furnace even then? If the Buddha Rulai had not stopped you, you might have gone on to…”

“What are you saying? What furnace? What Buddha? I don’t get it.”

“…Yes, my mistake… Sun Wukong, Heaven was merciful and gave you a chance to cultivate the inclination towards Buddhahood within you. You were tasked with protecting the monk Tang on his path to enlightenment. How dare you instead kill Tang and rebel against Heaven?”

“Told you it wasn’t me who killed the baldie. If you refuse to believe me, I can do nothing about it. Anything else? If that’s it then old Sun’s going back to sleep. Close the door on your way out, will you?”

“Sun Wukong, Heaven sees that you have an inclination towards Buddhahood within you still, so you’ll be given another opportunity…”

“Piss off! I’ve had enough of you messing with old Sun.”

Guanyin considered him. “Don’t you want to achieve enlightenment, Sun Wukong?”

“Nope.”

“Don’t you want to know who killed the monk Tang? Who framed you?”

“Nah.”

“Don’t you want to be rid of the circlet?”

The lengths of the enormous chain around them began to tremble.

A set of golden armour capped with a phoenix feather crown was brought before Wukong once again. 

“Bet that would look good on me,” he commented.

“It used to be the attire of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven,” said a Heavenly maiden holding a pair of battle boots and a belt of jade.

“Who’s the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?”

“That would be you…”

“- That would be your target, the one you’re tasked to kill. That miscreant dared to disturb the order in Heaven - he must die!” Lao Tzu smoothly took over from the maiden.

Wukong pulled on battle boots woven from lightning gathered in the darkest storm clouds. 

He threw on a mantle dyed with the crimson color extracted from the rising sun.

“And?” He held out a hand.

“That’s all,” said the maiden.

“That’s all?”

Strange. Why do I have the feeling something’s missing? Wukong thought.

He hefted the Gold-Tipped Staff a couple of times in his hand, then strode out of the hall.

The moment he looked up, he saw that face in the distance: the face that looked exactly like his own, thrown back in arrogant laughter. A wild tempest roared in the background at the edge of the sky, spreading blood-red flames to every corner of Heaven.

Before that other Sun Wukong, all manner of Heavenly Generals were brandishing their weapons; they were repeatedly making battle cries without daring to actually attack. The sight was quite familiar.

A trace of a smile drew across Wukong’s face.

The clamouring of the immortal generals abruptly quieted. They looked in front of themselves, and then behind.

On either side of the immortals stood two stone monkeys, in the same posture, wearing the same expression. It was as if the sky had been divided in two, and half of it was a mirror image of the other.

For a moment the Giant Immortal searched foolishly through the crowd for the image of himself, so convinced he was that a great mirror had been erected in the sky.

“Who are you?” shouted Wukong.

His words were buffeted at once by the fierce wind that swept in from outside the sky; the sound of his voice swirled all around, was torn apart and recombined, tumbling about until there was nowhere it hadn’t reached. The words he spoke echoed from every corner of Heaven: “Who are you?”

Sun Wukong felt suddenly as if he was talking to a shadow, a reflection. Perhaps instead of speaking, he should smash that mirror, if there indeed was one.

“Why did you transform into my shape?” Wukong bellowed again.

There was no answer from across the sky. The unnatural wind carried great white flakes with it as it swirled towards Wukong - it was snowing. The figure facing Wukong was fading from sight behind the snowstorm, but somehow Wukong knew that the face that looked exactly like his was smirking, mocking him.

“Arghhh…!” With a cry, he leaped towards the figure in the heart of the storm. 

The immortals tried to crowd in to watch the fight, but the snowstorm intensified and swallowed the two monkeys completely.

The clanging of clashing weapons rang through the air, reverberating throughout Heaven and Earth and resonating in the souls of all who heard it.

The Mortal Realm, the Forest of Ten Thousand Creatures.

The White Dragon knelt before Tang’s grave, watching as snow covered it until it became a small white dome, nearly indistinguishable from the snow-covered ground around it.

“The sky’s about to burn down. Perhaps the world’s ending. If the whole universe is destroyed, where will we all go? Wherever it is, will you be waiting for me there, River’s Child?”

“River’s Child - that’s a nice name. Who’s that? He sounds miles better than your sweetheart the baldie,” said Bajie.

“River’s Child is the Master, the monk Tang, the one you call the baldie!” 

“Is that so? How could anyone need so many names! Much better to be like old Hog... if you ever need to get my attention, simply holler: ‘Pig!’ - because, as it turns out, I’m the only pig who can understand the word ‘pig.’”

“A pig is always the same pig. Humans are different. The River’s Child I knew is different from the monk Tang. He used to be like the freely flowing brook, and now he’s like a lake so deep you cannot see the bottom of it...”

“Well, now he’s more like a pile of sludge that can’t flow at all. He did always have such a miserable look on his face, like somebody owed him money. The most infuriating thing is how he always referred to me - he called me ‘Bah!’”

“It’s Bajie - Eight Rules, isn’t it?”

“He never said the ‘Rules’ part. And he didn’t seem to like the name that Guanyin gave me either… ‘Wuneng’ - Without Ability.”

“Awakened to Ability!”

“Not the way he said it. But I don’t think he even liked his own name. I wonder what he did like if he didn’t even like himself? I think your name for me is best after all: ‘Pig’ - clean, simple.”

“He wasn’t like that before. He used to look at everything with a smile - like he was greeting a friend. Maybe the journey west was too much for him - especially with you three giving him a hard time every step of the way!”

“We were only doing our assigned duties. We’re like prison officials. Once we escort the captor to his destination we clock out and leave. It’s not our job to bond with him.”

“But all of you are prisoners, too. Besides the master, each one of us has been condemned by Heaven!”

“That makes it even harder to care about him!”

“Even though he was not condemned to redeem himself for his sins, he still seemed more deeply troubled than any of us.” The White Dragon heaved a great sigh.

“They said we would achieve perfect merit once we arrived at the Western Paradise. But no one even told us where the Western Paradise actually is!”

“When my old sow of a mother gave birth to me she didn’t tell me the meaning of life either. I was thinking hard about it when I realized that meanwhile all the nipples with milk had been taken by the other piglets. That’s when I learned what it means to be a fucking fool.”

“Zhu Bajie, what are you…”

Bajie lifted a hand and held it against her mouth, quieting her. He nodded at the sky. “Look at that. The snow’s burning. Next thing you know, dragons will return to the sea and pigs will fly.”

Chapter Text

Sixteen.

“What the hell… where am I?” Wukong wondered aloud.

He had been about to deal a decisive blow to the imposter when he accidentally charged outside the snowstorm - and everything around him changed.

What happened to the Heavenly Palace, the immortals, and the maiden in violet? Where was the fake Wukong?

Before him was a delicately beautiful mountain range.

A thousand peaks stand like swords, spread and pointed to the sky. 

Sunlight scatters in the mountain mist, lightly enveloping hints of emerald. Dark rain clouds add a touch of coldness to the greenery.

Gnarled vines entwine wizened trees. Ancient fords connect secluded paths.

There are rare flowers and herbs; lofty pines and bamboo.

Lofty pines and bamboo remain ever-green in this blessed land. Rare flowers and herbs forever bloom in this immortal’s garden.

The calls of hidden birds are near; the splashing of spring water is clear.

In rows upon rows of deep ravines, the orchids interweave; on every ridge and crag, lichens and mosses sprout.

“Have I seen all this before somewhere?” Wukong wondered. 

A cold, crisp wind blew from deep within the mountains, carrying with it the faint echoes of a song: 

“I observe chess games and forget the passage of time; I cut down trees with quick strokes of my axe.

I tread slowly along the edges of ravines, by the fringes of clouds. 

I sell firewood and purchase wine; with a careless laugh, I enjoy myself. 

Along an old trail in the frosty autumn weather, I fall asleep beneath the moon; with the root of an ancient pine as my headrest, I sleep until dawn. 

I know my way well through the old forest; over cliffs and over mountain ridges, with my axe I hack through gnarled vines.

When I gather enough wood to make a load, I stroll singing through the marketplace - and barter it for three pounds of rice.

I quarrel with no one; my asking price never changes. I don’t know how to bargain or scheme and have no concept of glory or shame. I enjoy a quiet life and take care of myself. 

Those I encounter, if not immortals, would certainly be learned Taoists. They sit quietly together and discuss ancient scriptures.”

Wukong felt the breeze flow right through his body, carrying away the tension from years of adversity. Just moments ago he was determined to fight to the death, but now he couldn’t for the life of him remember why that was so important.

“Sun Wukong… whoever is Sun Wukong? Does it really matter who he is? I am me, that’s all.”

At the sight of the verdant mountain range, it was as if he’d become once more the wild little monkey of yesteryear.

With a rush of excitement, he began to run, his chest heaving, his limbs dancing as he sprinted into the mountains. He didn’t even realize he’d left his Gold-Tipped Staff behind on the ground.

He wandered deep through the mountain. He did not encounter the one who sang, though the song continued to reverberate throughout the lush green forest, resonating with every leaf, as if it was the mountain itself that was singing. The grassy ground smelled of dew and petrichor; Wukong felt the familiar smell tug at a memory, but the fleeting feeling was like the smell that evoked it - it was everywhere and nowhere, and he could not pin it down. 

He strode through the woods, fallen leaves and vines soft beneath his feet. He considered for a moment and kicked off his boots, walking barefoot on the damp ground. The earth felt soothing and cool against the soles of his feet and appeared to harbour life: the burgeoning grass was tickling him.

A smile spread across his face. He suddenly flipped himself over and stood on his hands, feeling the damp earth at his fingers, the fine new blades of grass soft like the fur of little monkeys.

Wukong did another somersault, landing on his back this time. The soft ground broke his fall so very gently. 

The ground of the Heavenly Palace was covered in cold, hard tiles. The ground on the road to the West was all mud.

Why did he keep going to places like that?

Wukong laid on the ground, the smell of the grass permeating his body. He started to feel itchy all over.

He leaped up, threw off his clothes, and ran naked through the woods, howling and jumping to his heart’s content. 

When he finally tired himself out, he laid down again, feeling as if he would melt into the grassy earth.

“Why am I doing this?” he mused to himself.

“Because you are a monkey, of course!”

A large pair of eyes peered down at him and blinked a couple of times.

Wukong sprang up with a back flip, pulling on his clothes, glaring at the creature.

The creature with large eyes startled and hopped back - it was a squirrel.

Wukong patted himself down for the Gold-Tipped Staff - and realized it was gone. He felt a moment of shock, and his temper flared in his frustration. 

“What are you looking for?” The squirrel blinked her large eyes.

“Shoo, go away! I dropped something important.” 

“But you seem to have all your parts. I don’t think you’re missing anything.”

“You know nothing. I’ve never been without it.”

“You were born with it?”

“I… I don’t remember. Maybe.”

“What is it for?”

“Not much - just killing people!”

“Does it kill squirrels, too?”

“If I want it to.”

“Why would you want to kill me?”

“Maybe because you talk too much!”

“But if you killed me, there’d be no one to talk to you anymore, and you’d be bored.”

“Ha! How considerate of you. I was imprisoned in impenetrable darkness in the Five Dungeons Mountain for five hundred years and I had no one to talk to the entire time - I’ve long since stopped caring about that!”

“No one to talk to for five hundred years... That’s so sad! If I’d have known, I would have kept you company. …If I could live for five hundred years, that is.”

“Keep me company… huh? What for?”

“What do you mean what for? Does there need to be a reason to keep someone company?”

“Doesn’t there?”

“Does there?”

“Doesn’t there??”

“There, there, I’m just having a discussion with you, don’t be angry. I’m only one year old. I really like to discuss things with others - surely there are lots of things in the world we can talk about amicably?”

“Amicably my tail! I can’t believe I’m arguing with a one-year-old squirrel. If this gets out, anyone who heard would laugh their ass off. And I’m a monkey who’s about to achieve enlightenment and make the whole world tremble!”

“Why do you want to make the world tremble?”

“‘Cause I enjoy it! What do you care?”

“But I myself enjoy hopping in the trees, and hopping on the ground, and if I look up and the sky happens to be blue and clear, I’d be even happier. Are you not the same?”

“Hop in a tree…” Wukong shimmied up to a tree top, “Hop on the ground…” he scrambled down to the ground and jumped a couple of times. “Then look up to the sky… Well, I feel ridiculous - like some silly bird.”

“Yeah exactly! Silly Bird is my good friend! He’s always cheerful and laughs all the time. This year he was going to head south for the winter, but I said I hoped he would stay and play with me, so he decided to stay!”

“He’ll freeze to death,” Wukong snorted.

“No, no he won’t, I’ll let him have my tree hollow to stay in.”

“Then you’ll freeze to death - same thing!”

“But why… why must I freeze? Is it alright if I don’t die?”

“No, it’s not! You think you can just not die if you don’t want to? Then what have I been striving for all these years?”

The squirrel’s large eyes lowered, downcast. Then they lit up with a sudden thought: “I heard that all creatures have a spirit; when they are tired of living one way, they die, and are born again as something else - is that true? If that’s true then I want to become…”

“You don’t decide that! You could become a bird or a rock…”

“Maybe I’ll become the colourful clouds at the edge of the sky?”

“Or maybe you’ll become a broken clay pot!”

“Can’t I transform into anything I want?”

“In your dreams, maybe.”

“But I know somebody who can!”

“Who?”

“Subodhi.”

“Subodhi? Sounds like a kind of fruit that grows on trees.”

“Exactly! Sometimes he actually is a fruit. He can talk to you while transformed into anything - or in other words he is in all things.”

“To think there’s something like that… I’d like to see it. If it’s a demon I’ll kill it with a blow of my Staff and earn a few merit points.”

“Merit? What is that?”

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s the thing you need to become an immortal or a buddha.”

“I want to become an immortal or a buddha. How do I get merit points?”

“Lots of ways. You get points for saving lives, for example, and for killing demons.”

“But aren’t demons also living things?”

“Well... demons weren’t created by the gods. They formed naturally on their own.”

“But then, who created the gods?”

“The gods? Maybe they were born when the sky and the earth were created.”

“Who created the sky and the earth?”

“You sure are annoying... The sky and the earth formed when the first being Pangu split open the universe. ‘But who made Pangu?’ - Pangu hatched out of the egg that the universe used to be. ‘But who laid that egg?’ - How should I know?? Likewise, old Sun was born from a rock - how should I know who put that blasted rock there?”

“Then I won’t ask who laid the egg… instead I’ll ask, since Pangu wasn’t made by the gods, was he a demon? Does that mean the gods were made by a demon?”

“Huh? What the… Hahahaha… Why didn’t I think of that? The gods were made by a demon! Hahahaha…”

The squirrel scratched her head. “Are you laughing at me?” she sighed, “Though I know the saying goes: ‘Squirrel thinks, Monkey laughs’, I still can’t help but ponder.”

“Monkeys… squirrels… the fuck? Who told you that nonsensical stuff?”

“Subodhi, of course.”

“I’m more and more eager to meet him. Where is he?”

“I can’t really say for certain. He told me that the path to see Bodhi is different for everyone.”

“Different paths - yeah right. I bet he’s actually hiding from enemies and he’s got a bunch of escape tunnels dug out from under his house. How do you see him?”

“Sometimes he turns into a fruit in a tree to talk to me… other times, when I want to find him, I keep burrowing down from my tree hollow.”

“Just as I thought, he’s a tunnel-digging rabbit. Take me to your hollow.”

“But that’s my path - maybe yours is different?”

“Don’t you fuss, just show me the way.”

“Here it is.” The squirrel pointed to a pitch-black opening on a tree trunk.

Wukong shook himself and transformed into a streak of golden light. He dived straight down the hole and disappeared into the darkness.

The squirrel scratched her head. “Why the hurry to leave?”

She leaned over and shouted down the hollow: “Remember to come back here later to talk to me! I’ll wait for you right here!”

In the tunnel, Wukong realized suddenly that he had lost all sense of himself. Indeed, he could no longer feel his body or wield magical power. The darkness had no boundaries and, it seemed, neither did his body - his sense of touch stretched out infinitely, yet all he could feel was the empty void.

Suddenly a voice spoke - it sounded like that squirrel again: “Monkeyyy… You’ve got to come back!”

“I’m not ‘Monkey’, I’m Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!” he shouted in response, but his voice only echoed in his thoughts.

Even the squirrel’s voice seemed to originate in his own mind. “Who did you say you are? But you are just a monkey.”

“No, no I’m not… I’m…”

Who am I? He thought to himself.

He fell deeper and deeper into the dark - until all feeling was gone.

He heard the tinkling of divine music - or perhaps it was the sound of dew dripping from leaves into deep pools in the mountains. The leaves changed colour, whirling through the air as if flying of their own accord; one leaf crossed from air into water, and transformed into a fish - and then transformed again into a figure, hazy as if seen through fog, its long hair flowing in the wind. In the blink of an eye, the sight was gone, leaving only the reverberating notes of a song, a lament about the vastness of the world. Countless voices from across all time joined in harmony - and then the sound dissolved into the ecstatic laughter of demons and fairies.

“The sky: it is infinite, without boundary. The soul: it is a garden, it is time spent in the wilderness. Time among the blooming flowers, dancing, singing, and dying, never ever stopping. Here is a cloud for you - do you dare... are you willing... will you fly across the sky with me?”

He saw it then, the world in the sand.

Smoke and haze emanate colour; the sun and moon shine bright.

A thousand old cedars, ten thousand stems of tall bamboo.

A thousand old cedars, patches of blue-green suspended in the rain.

Ten thousand stems of tall bamboo, splashes of colour in the gray, misty glen.

Before the door, rare flowers are spread like brocade; next to the bridge, jadelike grass emanates a sweet scent.

Bedewed green moss grows on protruding ridges; Trailing emerald lichen clings to high-hanging cliffs.

The cry of magical cranes can often be heard; On occasion, phoenixes soar overhead.

When the cranes cry, the sound shakes the deep marshes and reaches the distant sky. When the phoenixes soar above, vibrant plumes spread and embroider the clouds with light.

Black apes and white deer show themselves on a whim. Golden lions and jade elephants hide at their leisure.

“What is this place?” wondered Wukong.

“What’s this place?” said another voice.

Wukong turned around - Aha! Wasn’t that the fake Wukong?

But the imposter was without his golden armor and crown; he wore only a skirt woven from grass, tied at the waist. His feet were bare - and most of all, the expression on his face was entirely different. His face no longer had a trace of arrogance, of that fierce temerity. Instead, it was full of childish innocence.

Excellent, the imposter has walked right into me and my staff. Huh? Where’s my staff? Shit... how am I supposed to fight him without the Gold-Tipped Staff?

Wukong turned himself invisible and stepped out of the way.

But the imposter did not seem to even notice that Wukong had been there. The imposter mused aloud to himself: “The woodcutter said it was here. But I don’t see a temple...”

"Why are you looking for a temple?” said a voice from the ground.

The monkey looked down - and saw a talking flask of wine.

“I’m seeking a master. I’m looking for Patriarch Bodhi.”

“Bodhi? Patriarch? Nope, not here. There’s only this flask of wine here, would you like it?”

“What would I want you for?”

“Hahahaha…” the wine flask roared with laughter, and began to sing: 

“Wherefore the sky and the earth? They cannot keep one warm at night. Wherefore the wind and the moon? They cannot satisfy thirst or hunger.

Wherefore this world of fine dust? All things dwell within it. Wherefore these transformations? Divine knowledge comes naturally with them.

Why face the wall and meditate? No more babbling words. Why wield the staff and give a cry? Raise a great lump on that head.”

The flask sang faster and faster, with ever greater enthusiasm, until it sprang abruptly from the ground, transforming in mid-air into a chubby bear with a great belly, which it began to slap rhythmically like a drum, singing:

“To what end was I created? I cannot laugh, cannot be happy. So what if I am destroyed? My arrogance shall not lessen one jot!”

For an incredible moment, the very sky and earth seemed to respond to the rhythm of his slaps and ring with the sound of drums; for a moment, the passing birds in the sky above, the grasses and trees on the earth below, and even the rocks and pebbles skipped to the beat:

“From where do you hail? We were born into this same world, together we sing, and together we walk the great path. 

Though you search for thousands of miles, you still may not find what you seek. Why not share a laugh with me, since we happened to meet?

With my grass-woven shoes and bamboo hat I could travel for ten thousand years. The grand and eternal sky I could tour in a single day. 

The one who walks and sings, forgets themselves, and forgets all things. Hey! Hey! Hey! What freedom, what bliss…

“…The gods don’t tell me how to live!”  The monkey cried out, so delighted by what he heard that he could not help but dance and sing along.

“What did you hear that delighted you so, monkey?” With a flash, the chubby bear transformed into a great mouth in the sky, and demanded.

“I’m not sure what it was I heard. All I know is I felt a great swell of joy in my chest, and I was beside myself with happiness.”

“Hahahaha!” the great mouth transformed again. It turned into an old man in a yellow robe, with snowy hair and something childlike to his ancient face - Patriarch Bodhi. “Many have come to seek me. Most were scared away; you are the only one to laugh with joy! I accept you as my disciple!”

The monkey was overjoyed. A little clumsily he knelt and bowed: “Please accept my respects, Master!”

“What is your name? What is your xing?” The old man inquired.

“I don’t have a temper,” replied the monkey, misunderstanding Bodhi. “When others curse at me, I never get angry. When others hit me, I do not make a fuss - I ask for an apology and let it go. I’ve never had any ill temper in my life.”

Bodhi chuckled. “What a polite monkey. I did not mean xing as in temper. I meant... What is your family name - what is the name of your parents?”

Said the monkey: “I don’t have parents either. The moment I was born, before me was a great sea, behind me was a mountain range, and I stood alone in between, with no one answering my calls. When I entered the mountains, I discovered others had parents and siblings, but I did not. Since then the sky and the earth have been my home, and all creatures of the world have been my brothers.”

“Is that so?” said Bodhi, “No parents or family... I suppose you sprang fully formed out of a rock?”

The monkey looked up in surprise. “Whoa - how did you know that?”

“Ahem... that’s actually a common saying... never mind.” Bodhi hid his delight, for he knew now the monkey was a naturally formed creature, endowed with talent that could not be easily found elsewhere. “And what did you wish to learn from me?”

“I wanted to learn the Way, but I don’t even know what the Way is.”

“The Way? That’s a Taoist concept, not exactly my department. But no matter. I do know a Way or two - would you like to learn?”

...

Wukong stood to one side, still hidden. He felt as if he’d seen the scene before him somewhere before, even though he knew it to be impossible.

“You won’t learn meditation or smelting elixirs… you won’t learn this and you won’t learn that - what is it you wish to learn, then?” demanded Bodhi, feigning anger.

Replied the monkey: “Seems like you cannot teach me what I wish to learn.”

“Indeed? And what is that, exactly?”

The monkey gazed up at the sky: “I have this dream... that when I fly up in the air, the sky itself would get out of my way… and when I dive into the sea, even the water would part and let me through. When the gods and immortals meet me, they would hail me as their brother. 

“I wouldn’t have a worry or care, for in the whole world there would be nothing that can restrain me, no one who can control me, nowhere I couldn’t go, nothing I couldn’t do, and…”

“Stop right there!” interrupted Bodhi, “Leave! Leave at once. I cannot teach you. If I knew how to teach you all that, I wouldn’t be fooling around here transforming into wine flasks.”

Bodhi turned to leave; the monkey caught a corner of his robe, trying to hold him back. Bodhi transformed himself into a wooden club and hit the monkey three times on the top of the head. Then the club grew a pair of wings and flew into the mountains. The monkey chased after it, and saw the club fly over the high walls of a temple.

The temple doors were firmly closed. If Master doesn’t come out, then I won’t leave, thought the monkey, and he knelt down outside the door.

A few magical cranes pulled a great black curtain over the sky - and so night arrived at once. Fireflies left the tall grass and flew up to the sky, shifting in formation to create different constellations.

And still the monkey knelt and waited.

Standing hidden to one side, Wukong began to lose his patience. Perhaps this wasn’t the fake Wukong, he thought to himself, perhaps all monkeys shared a certain resemblance. He went around the corner and flew directly into the temple in search of Bodhi.

Landing after vaulting over the wall, he stilled.

There was nothing at all on the inside, just a blank, white ground.

He began to sprint on the field of whiteness, and in one breath ran for thousands of miles. He found nothing.

“How could there not be an edge to this ground?”

Wukong flew up and into a mid-air somersault; when he landed, there was still only empty ground.

Getting agitated, he leaped and somersaulted about ten times in a row, which ought to have flown him hundreds of thousands of miles.

Still, it was empty all around him.

Wukong was incredulous.

“I’m getting to the edge no matter what!”

He leaped and took to the sky once more, disappearing beyond the horizon.

Chapter Text

Seventeen.

The monkey had knelt outside the doors of the temple for six days.

A leaf fluttered down from a tree and settled on his head. He did not move a muscle.

A ladybug crawled up to him in tiny ticking steps, paused, looked up at him, and then crawled away.

“I’ve traveled for thousands of miles and endured countless hardships - I refuse to turn back at the doorstep of knowledge.”

A voice gave a sigh. “The doorstep? If your heart and mind are not ready, it does not matter if you are right before the door - you may as well still be thousands of miles away from knocking on it!”

The monkey turned. “And you are?”

A figure in white strode towards the monkey from the other side of the mountain, so light on his feet that they did not seem to touch the ground. The figure walked up behind the monkey and stopped. He was a young man with a gentle smile. The breeze ruffled his clothes, but he stood perfectly calm and still as if he were one with the sky and the earth.

“How did I hear you beside me just now, when you were all the way over there?” asked the monkey.

“Simple: My will had arrived before my body reached you.”

“Oh.” said the monkey.

“‘Oh?’ You actually understood that?” The young man made a face.

“I didn’t follow what you said exactly, but I guessed you meant that when you speak with someone, you don’t need to physically be there - instead you can talk to their heart directly with yours.”

A surprised and pleased smile drew across the face of the man in white. “Did someone tell you to say that, monkey?”

“No. I’ve done it before.”

“*Cough* …What? You did it?”

“Back when I lived on Flower Fruit Mountain, I used to be bullied by everyone because I was born from a rock and had no parents. So at night, I would sit alone in the caves and talk to myself. But it turned out someone could hear me.”

“They must have very good hearing?”

“No, it said it listened with its heart.”

“Who was it?”

“An old tree.”

“Do trees have hearts?”

“It didn’t have one originally, but one day a squirrel moved into its trunk. It lent her its body, and she became its heart, and did the thinking for it.”

“Ohh,” The young man smiled, delighted, “Most interesting. Will you tell me more?”

“I could talk for a week about the stories from Flower Fruit Mountain. Maybe I’ll write it in a separate book someday. Hang on, what am I saying?!”

“Ahh… haha,” the man in white chucked and looked up to the starry sky. “Did you know? This world we inhabit is being watched by them at this very moment. Sometimes they speak through us, borrowing our voices to express their inner thoughts. All things in the world can be easily changed; if you don’t want to be transformed away, then you must know who you are.”

“Change… transform… What are you talking about?”

“Hm, do you know what is ‘Om mani padme hum?’ ”

“What’s ‘Om mani padme hum?’”

“Om mani padme hum, why it is…” the man in white began to sing: 

“The Buddha is in the heart and the heart is in the Buddha. The Buddha of the heart is always the most vital thing.

“If you are without things and without heart, then verily you have become a buddha of dharma body. 

“The dharma body has no outward appearance. It’s a single orb of light that contains all things.

“A body without a body is the true body. The form without a form is the true form.

“Not emptiness, not colour, not un-emptiness. Without coming, without going, without turning back.

“Nothing different, nothing similar, nothing but nothing. Hard to give, hard to take, hard to witness.

“The divine light is even within and without. In one grain of sand, an entire Buddhist world can be found.

“One grain of sand contains all things. A single body houses a multitude of magic.

“Ten thousand lifetimes, an eternity in a blink. A thousand transformations without deviation from the source.

“To learn this, one must learn the heartless mantra. And that is ‘Om mani padme hum.’”

A sudden heavy downpour of water - it had begun to rain.

The man in white spun around and, incredibly, the water drops scattered across the sky followed his movement, converging into a silver chain spinning around him, finally stacking in the palm of his hand as a perfectly straight silver rod.

Abruptly the rain stopped, and the stars and fireflies returned to their dance in the sky.

On the ground, countless blades of green grass sprouted, then transformed into thousands of blooming flowers.

The man in white smiled at the monkey: “Do you know now what it means to make a thousand transformations without deviation from the source?”

“I want to learn those transformations!” cried the monkey.

The man in white chuckled: “The one in the temple knows them. Why not have him teach you?”

“I angered him. He hid himself and refuses to see me. He even knocked me three times on the head before he went in.”

“That rascal Bodhi, he enjoys playing tricks like that and misleading the young people. Since he refuses to come out, what are you still doing here?”

“I’ve knelt here for seven days now, but he still won’t see me.”

“Hahaha… that’s because he’s waiting for it to snow! Since you are seeking knowledge, why wait for knowledge to come and find you?”

Wukong landed with a thump on the ground, panting heavily. 

“…Damn it, I’ve been flying for seven days straight and millions of miles. And I still haven’t seen so much as a speck of dust.”

“That’s because you are not on the correct path. Even if you travel until you die of exhaustion, it shall be for nothing.” A voice suddenly spoke up.

“Aha! Finally, something that makes noise! Where are you?”

“There is no such thing as ‘where’ in this place, so where could I be?”

“Don’t give me that crap! Come out or I’ll smash your temple to bits!”

“Ha! As there is no temple here in the first place, smash away. Sun Wukong, I heard that there is nothing in the world that you cannot defeat?”

“That’s right!” Wukong straightened, but thought privately of the fake Wukong for a moment, “How did you know my name?”

“Hahahaha… Who was it that gave you that name?”

“I… I’ve had it since I was born!”

“And how and where were you born?”

“…Where was I born?” Wukong’s mind raced, “Where was I born? Where was I…”

In an instant he felt something collapse in his mind, countless thoughts and memories plummeting down a bottomless crevice, falling like he had fallen down the squirrel’s tree hollow.

“Argh…! I don’t know I dontknowIdontknow…” He clutched his head and cried out, “My head… my head!”

“Ah… the Tightening Curse. You are a cruel one, Guanyin.” Bodhi murmured, then raised his voice: “Sun Wukong! Remember what you told me all those years ago! You said -”

“- I want there to be nothing in the world I cannot defeat!”

Sun Wukong’s voice rang out.

Bodhi felt a surge of joy in his heart, and revealed himself: “Have you come back to yourself? Have you come back?”

But Wukong was still writhing on the ground. The voice had come from behind Bodhi.

Bodhi turned and saw the monkey who was barefoot and in a grass skirt, the monkey with a face still full of innocence.

For a moment, tears glittered in Bodhi’s eyes as he felt countless different emotions swell and clash within him.

But it was only for a brief moment - in the next instant, his expression became unmoved once more. “How did you get in here?”

The monkey: “I kicked the door open and let myself in.”

Bodhi’s eyes revealed a nearly imperceptible frisson of shock. How could that be? That’s not what should happen according to history, he thought.

“Where did you get the nerve to kick the door in? Did someone tell you to do that?”

“Yeah! How did you know?”

“Hahahaha…” someone chuckled, “What a terrible liar this monkey is. How are you, Subodhi?”

Bodhi saw the speaker and called out his name in surprise: “Golden Cicada?”

The man in white smiled. “It’s been a few thousand years since we last met, Subodhi. I see you still have a penchant for dramatics and playing tricks on people.”

“I certainly was not tricking him - I truly do not dare to teach him.” Bodhi stepped close to the Golden Cicada and spoke quietly: “Can you not see what he is destined to do?”

The Golden Cicada merely smiled. “You think you have foreseen the events of the future, but they have already changed. If you understood the laws that govern the motion of all things, you would know that the future can never be predicted.”

Subodhi chuckled, “My senior brother, you are always so inconsiderate of my reputation. I’m supposed to be some kind of Patriarch, and here you are poking holes in my dignity right in front of the monkey.”

“Hahahaha!” The Golden Cicada laughed heartily, “If I were considerate of your reputation, I would not be the Golden Cicada. And if you had any dignity to speak of, then you wouldn’t be Subodhi.”

The two roared with laughter in a moment of mutual understanding; meanwhile, the two monkeys stood watching them, both monkeys equally confused.

“I thought the Golden Cicada was deep amidst his self-cultivation at Soul Mountain. How did you find the spare time to visit me?” inquired Bodhi.

“Yes, even now all my junior brothers and sisters in religion are in meditation and self-cultivation, preparing for the Fourth Great Gathering of Soul Mountain, for the recitation of the revised scriptural canons. But I felt it would be better to take a walk in the world, collect some dirt on my clothes... engage a bit with life... and so I snuck out.”

As he finished speaking the Golden Cicada pulled something out of a pocket in his robes: “I found this on my way here. I wonder who left it there.”

Wukong almost fell over in surprise - wasn’t that his Gold-Tipped Staff?

He reached out and seized it, but couldn’t pull the staff free from the Golden Cicada’s grasp.

The Golden Cicada held on to one end of the staff effortlessly, smiling as he spoke: “Do you want it? If you want it, simply say so. If you don’t tell me that you want it, then -”

Bodhi coughed pointedly.

The Golden Cicada laughed heartily. “I’ve been deep in thought for so long at Soul Mountain... I don’t believe I’ve spoken to anyone for thousands of years. I find it hard to resist talking a bit more when I have the chance.” He turned to the monkey in the grass skirt. “Is this yours?”

Don’t give it to him, Wukong thought urgently.

But the other monkey merely grimaced at the Staff. “What would I want that for?”

Wukong fell to the floor. 

The Golden Cicada: “Well said! It seems you and I get along rather well. I like the natural-born monkey that you are. Shall we be friends and hang out in our spare time?”

But the monkey merely looked at the Golden Cicada doubtfully: “Do you know how to do somersaults?”

The Golden Cicada was stumped. “Huh? That I do not.”

Bodhi: “But I know! I know! I can cover a great distance with my somersaults. You surpass me in nearly all areas, brother, whether knowledge or power, but when it comes to the various fun tricks to be found in the world, I have you beat.”

The monkey: “Then I still want you to be my master!”

Bodhi: “Master - that I cannot be. I will teach you the seventy-two transformations, but you must never call me ‘Master,’ lest it break my heart to hear it.”

The Golden Cicada: “That, and you can more easily deny responsibility when he gets into trouble.”

“Golden Cicada! If you keep telling the truth like that, I won’t be hanging out with you.” 

The monkey laughed at their antics: “I accept, I’ll have both of you as my friends!”

The three of them shared a laugh, arm in arm.

Wukong stood to one side, excluded from the group, and felt something ache in his chest. He could not say why.

“Unfortunately, I can’t stay long,” said the Golden Cicada, “The great gathering for the discussion of scriptures is about to start. I must return directly to Soul Mountain. You’re still not coming, Subodhi?”

Bodhi gave a small smile. “You know how it is. I’d rather stay here and sing a bit at the sky, chat on occasion with the plants and the squirrels, and think a little about the lessons of life. I’ve long forgotten how to discuss Buddhist scriptures. If I return unable to recite them, I would only anger our Master.”

The Golden Cicada replied solemnly: “It is no great achievement to find liberation for only oneself. On my way here, I could see how the spirits of all living things are unsettled, inextricably entangled with love and desire. Desire alone is the source of all their pain as well as all their joy - and they cannot let it go. 

“I try to advise people to cleanse their hearts and relinquish desire... but life itself was born from the void - to tell life to return to emptiness... it is merely to tell a traveler to return to where they came. The myriad of living things scatter in the world like falling leaves, generation after generation without end, and seem to require no guidance at all in their natural state. Perhaps there is wisdom in that I have yet to understand. 

“I’ve thought a great deal about many things, but Master’s laws and scriptures have been insufficient to ease all my doubts. After I return to Soul Mountain, I intend not only to recite scriptures, but also to ask the Master to help me find answers to my questions.”

“Brother, certainly you can ask for Master’s guidance... but do not argue with him.”

“Without debate, how am I to resolve my doubts?”

“But... Master cannot be wrong. If you can’t figure it out, it’s surely because you’ve gotten something wrong yourself.”

“Then I most certainly must clear things up for myself.”

“But...”

“But what?”

“It’s all right to be wrong. But I’m worried... in case...”

The Golden Cicada gazed intently at Bodhi for a long moment. Suddenly he gave a hearty chuckle: “What would you say Rulai means, as a phrase?”

“Rulai? I suppose it means... telling the truth just as it is. ”

“At the dawn of the universe, originally without a name; smash through the stubborn darkness, awakened to the void.” The Golden Cicada tipped back his head in laughter, “Since I’m there for Rulai, what do I have to fear?”

He flung out one arm, “Catch!” and tossed the Gold-Tipped Staff in his hand to Wukong.

Wukong sprung up and caught the Staff, and the Golden Cicada said: “Do you know what that’s for?”

Wukong gazed down at the Staff in his hand. The Golden Cicada smiled. “Should you encounter someone thick-skulled, just give them a tap with that - and wake them up!”

With that, he strode away, his laughter echoing behind him.

The wind howled. Dust and sand swirled all around the Golden Cicada, but not a speck caught on his clothes. As his figure grew ever more distant, the storm of wind and clouds tightly surrounding him followed him towards the horizon.

“Who was that man? What’d you call him... Golden something?” said the monkey in the grass skirt, “If I could have that kind of presence one day, I’d surely have made it.”

Bodhi sighed. “He’s a most impressive character. In terms of nature and personality, the two of you are very compatible as master and disciple. But sadly he is obsessed with discovering the universal path to knowledge; he often says that he himself has not yet comprehended it all, so how could he presume to teach others? As for his name... it matters not whether you know it. Quite possibly it will soon be lost to the world. If it is fated to be, one day, you will meet again.”

The monkey gazed after the Golden Cicada for a long moment and nodded.

“That reminds me,” said Bodhi, “You said you do not have a family name.”

“Yes, I was born from a rock. Please give me a name, Master - or rather, Patriarch Bodhi.”

Bodhi gave a long sigh, and spoke carefully and clearly, weighing every word: “You seem to be a monkey of some kind. You can take your family name from the phrase hu sun, which means monkey. Your family name shall be Sun. 

“‘At the dawn of the universe, originally without a name; smash through the stubborn darkness, awakened to the void.’ Your name shall be Sun, Awakened to the Void - Sun... Wu... Kong.”

“Yes! Wonderful! Henceforth, I am Sun Wukong!!”

Wukong had been standing to one side, staring at the Gold-Tipped Staff in his hand and thinking about what the Golden Cicada had said when he heard the words 'Sun Wukong' spoke aloud. Suddenly something seemed to crack in his mind and heart and a blinding ray of light seemed to shine through, as if it were a gift from the universe - or as if it burst from deep within him. The light radiated through him and lit up every part of him, revealing everything.

“Hahaha... I have a name! I have a name!” The monkey was wild with joy, bounding and tumbling all over the place.

Wukong walked over to Bodhi and fell to his knees. “My respects, Master.”

Bodhi gazed at him. “Didn’t I tell you not to call me ‘Master?’”

“Yes... Master.” Wukong’s voice wavered with sorrow.

Bodhi could not hold back any longer; he knelt likewise and threw his arms around Wukong. “Do you finally remember yourself?”

“Master... all these years without your guidance... it’s been hard.” Countless thoughts and emotions welled within Wukong.

Subodhi stroked Wukong’s head as he embraced him. “I knew your goals and aspirations, and knew that I’d be unable to guide you on your journey - that was why I would not have you call me Master.”

“Master, this Tightening Circlet’s brought me such misery. Won’t you get rid of it for me?”

But Bodhi’s expression only grew more sorrowful. 

“I cannot. The Tightening Circlet functions by constricting a person’s thoughts and feelings, transforming the pain of desire into the physical pain of the body. If you achieve the state of mind of the immortals and buddhas, the ‘state without self’, then you would no longer feel its pain.”

“What must I do... to achieve the state without self?”

“Forget yourself. Relinquish all that you love and hate.”

Wukong stood up and thought for a long moment.

Abruptly he looked up and spoke: “I could forget myself.”

Bodhi's expression was conflicted as he watched Wukong.

“But,” Wukong continued, “I could never forget the waters of the Eastern Sea, the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, the journey to the West, and the people I met on the road.”

He suddenly lit up with delight: “See, Master, I have so much to remember. How great is that?” He turned away. “Now I’ve got to return to Heaven and kill the fake Wukong. When that’s done I’ll be free of the Tightening Curse.”

Bodhi shook his head, smiling sadly: “Did Guanyin tell you that? Are you truly able to win? No, you cannot possibly win. The ending has long been decided for you. Better to stay right here, in this place of freedom. Isn’t it just as peaceful here as it once was on Flower Fruit Mountain? Forget yourself, forget the road to the West. If you return, you will not be able to escape the path laid out for you by Guanyin and Rulai.”

“I understand, Master, and I know you mean well. But in my life I am bound to fight, to battle, to win! To be Victorious in Strife!” Wukong looked up to the Milky Way in Heaven, “I won’t lose, no matter what they have in store - old Sun is off!”

A streak of light flew high into the cold, dark sky.

Bodhi watched the light streak across the Milky Way and sighed.

“Since I’m unable to change the beginning after all, perhaps I should endeavour to forget the ending?”

Chapter Text

Eighteen.

The Heavenly Palace.

Oversized snowflakes glimmered like crystals of blood in the light of the flames pouring in from outside the sky, filling the air with a swirling red storm. The ice crystals refracted the light of the flames, glittering like rubies, like a galaxy of red stars spinning through the universe, beautiful, unstoppable, destroying everything in its path. The raging gale tore apart and disintegrated the palaces of the gods like they were stacks of cards.

Amidst this wild dance of destruction, the gods ducked and hid in their panic - all the while savage laughter ringing in their ears. Heard clearly above the roar of the hurricane, the laughter came from a figure standing at the very top of the roof of the Miraculous Hall. Behind the figure was the burning sky; in the light of the fire, the figure cast an enormous shadow, growing taller with the flames, darkening the entire Heavenly Palace below.

Elsewhere in Heaven.

“Zhu Bajie! Will you fly slower?!” the White Dragon shouted ahead of her in the air. She was transformed into her human form, and the swirling ice and snow flying into her face were sharp like shards of glass, cutting into her face and clothes, forcing her to dodge and shield herself as she flew. But ahead of her, Bajie flew straight ahead without heeding her in the slightest, uncaring of the ice cutting bloody streaks all over his face and body.

“There’s no buffet in Heaven to fight over and no Gao Village - so why are you in such a hurry? Are you off to meet your bride?!”

“Go back to the Eastern Sea. I didn’t ask you to follow me!”

“Would you look at that, the pig’s trying to act cool! I’m telling you Zhu Bajie, with Wukong gone I’m not letting you out of my sight. So long as Master’s spirit is still missing you won’t be off the hook!”

Bajie searched urgently all around him, “No! The Palace is in disarray… all the stars have been blown out of place by the storm from outside the sky… I can’t find the Milky Way… no… no! ”

“You’re still in the mood to stargaze at a time like this? You and the monkey are both so weird. He needs to face westward when he has dinner, and you watch the stars instead of sleeping at night. And as for Friar Sand, something’s wrong with him too - he spends all day piecing together a broken bowl and heaving miserable sighs!”

Bajie ignored her, focused entirely on his search, looking everywhere. The White Dragon had never seen him in such panic. She watched as his rotund form stumbled around, his ears flapping with each turn of his head, and nearly broke into laughter at the comical sight.

Suddenly Bajie froze, his eyes fixed on something far away.

The White Dragon followed his gaze, and through the swirling snow, she could faintly see a silver star shining in the distance.

Bajie flew directly towards it at once, and the White Dragon followed.

When he drew near, Bajie leaped off his cloud and stared unmoving at the thing before him.

The White Dragon landed likewise and saw that Bajie was gazing at a laurel tree. The tree branches were bare; all its leaves had been blown away by the storm. Yet on one of the highest branches, a lantern still hung, and inside it was a bright, silver star.

Words were carved into the tree trunk, barely visible under a layer of snow clinging to it.

Bajie surged forward and brushed the snow from the trunk.

On the trunk were the words: “Tian Peng, our home is straight ahead. - Yue”

Bajie simply stood there for a moment, staring at the words.

Then he charged into the snowstorm ahead.

The White Dragon followed, full of confusion. She nearly lost her way in the storm, only catching up to Bajie after some time. She ran up to him: “Hey, Pig...”

Her voice trailed off. Bajie was staring ahead, with something in his gaze she’d never seen before. His emotions churned like the swirling storm around them, but beneath it all, was something bright and clear as the stars.

A figure, reflected in his eyes. 

A woman in white.

“The storm has blown apart the Milky Way, the thousands of acres of the home we built.” Yue spoke to the little rabbit in her arms, so soft and delicate it appeared to be carved from fine jade, “When Tian Peng returns, he won’t be able to find his way home. But no matter - I’ll wait for him. So long as I’m here, he’ll always have a home. The flames are coming. Go, little Jade Rabbit, go down to the Mortal Realm. There are many wonders there you wouldn’t find in the celestial realm. One day, if you see Tian Peng, please tell him to come home. Tell him, Yue is waiting for him here.”

She ripped off a corner of her robe and wrapped the Jade Rabbit inside. Then she let go, and the cloth transformed into a small cloud, carrying the Jade Rabbit down to Earth. The Jade Rabbit tried to hop out of the cloud and return to Yue, but could not.

She watched as the Jade Rabbit drifted away, and suddenly gave a soft chuckle. “I’m being silly. Who knows what Tian Peng looks like now, after rebirth? How could you possibly recognize him? And no doubt he’s forgotten you too. But I believe one day he will wake up and come back here... While I waited for that day I created patterns from stars every day, patterns only Tian Peng and I understand, in hopes that he would see them, remember me, and come home. But now, the storm has blown away everything - memory, love, hope... everything, all of it, is gone...”

“But I won’t leave. I’m waiting for him right here... Neither wind nor fire can make me leave this place.”

Barely visible in the snowstorm, Bajie began to tremble. His corpulent body fell suddenly to its knees. He bit his knuckles and sobbed in silence.

The White Dragon stood watching Bajie, and all at once, she understood. She knew now what it was that Bajie felt when he watched the stars each night when everyone else was asleep, and understood why it was that on the nights when no stars were visible, Bajie was so irritable and fragile.

“Bajie.” She leaned close to his ear. “Go to her.”

Bajie shook his head. 

“She’s waiting for you. Go to her!”

Bajie abruptly leaped to his feet - the White Dragon thought she was about to witness a most emotional scene - but Bajie turned in the opposite direction and bolted away as if his life depended on it.

The White Dragon chased after him. “Why?” She bellowed, “Zhu Bajie, tell me why! Haven’t you been waiting for this day? Isn’t she right there waiting for you?”

Bajie staggered mindlessly through the air, swerving wildly left and right. “Forget it! Forget the way home!!” he roared, “You know full well you can’t see her - why still remember the way?”

He stumbled heavily as he ran, and the White Dragon caught up to him easily. She kicked him from behind, sending him sprawling to the floor.

“Why?! Can’t you even summon the courage to see her just once? She waited for you for so many years - would you have her wait forever?!”

“No,” said Bajie, “Her long wait will be over soon. The fire’s about to spread over here. She will die while still hoping, die with her dreams intact. Much better than waiting all this time and getting only a pig! ”

“What’s wrong with a pig? What’s so wrong with a pig?” yelled the White Dragon, “I think pigs are adorable! Pigs are wonderful! Pigs can cry… pigs can laugh… A pig is miles better than any god in Heaven!”

“But I can’t accept - I can be a pig, but I can’t have her... because of me... Why didn’t you tell Tang who you are?”

The White Dragon stiffened. After a moment, she lifted one hand and slapped Bajie hard across the face.

“Zhu Bajie... Why... Why do you have to say everything that shouldn’t be said?”

She fell to her knees and began to sob.

“This is fate!! Most wondrous fate!” Bajie roared, “How clever it was to come up with an arrangement such as this! Oh great Heaven above, all living beings bow and tremble before you!”

He began to laugh wildly in his despair.

When he gazed back again, he saw that the fire had begun to burn in Yue’s palace.

Abruptly he turned around and hurtled back towards her.

Flames had spread to a corner of her dress, but she was still carefully arranging silver sand with her hands, laying grains of silver one by one on the floor.

Out of nowhere a pig charged into the room, stamping hard on the flames at the hem of her dress.

Yue stared at the pig in shock.

But the pig could not even meet her gaze.

The fire was beat back for only a moment before it came roaring back. Bajie bellowed furiously and hurled himself at the flames, keeping the fire at bay with his body.

Suddenly, Yue hugged him from behind, holding him tight.

“Tian Peng, Tian Peng... Hello... ”

Bajie felt tears drip onto his back. He smiled.

The fire surged, swallowing Bajie while his smile was still unfurling across his face.

The White Dragon stood in the distance, watching the Milky Way become a river of roiling flames.

“You must be happy now, Zhu Bajie - you’re finally with the one you love. Now I’m the only one left. I have to find him, I’m not dying alone... no...”

She turned and disappeared into the unrelenting storm.

Wukong returned to the Heavenly Realm. 

“It was I who tore up the Ledger of Life and Death; it was I who destroyed the natural order! Hahahaha! Tremble before me!! Who knew that fear could be so wonderful, and death, so rapturous! Haha... Hahahaha...”

The demon monkey atop the Miraculous Hall was still bellowing maniacally.

“Beg for mercy! You’ll get none from me! Hahahaha!”

Wukong looked up at the monkey howling with laughter atop the Miraculous Hall. “He’s lost it. He must die, yes?”

“I want there to be nothing in the world that I cannot defeat!”

He was suddenly very tired. 

That fragile yet hopeful little monkey back at Heart’s Measure Mountain - was that really him?

And now, though he had acquired a frightful amount of power, he felt more helpless than ever.

Why must one who could no longer hope to achieve his aspirations be shown the ideals of his youth?

The frenzied voice of the other Sun Wukong continued to ring out: “You can’t kill me! You can’t defeat me!”

And what could the one on the rooftop overcome? He could only destroy - nothing else.

Wukong felt as if he aged decades with every step he took, but he forced himself to hold his head high and walk as steadily as he could.

The figure he was walking towards became hidden in the flames until all that was left was Wukong himself and the sound of that arrogant laughter.

As he strode across the roof of the Miraculous Hall, the voice continued to bawl: “I am invincible! Invincible... No one can defeat me, NO ONE!!”

Wukong took a deep breath and leaped into the air.

He lifted the Gold-Tipped Staff high, soaring upwards, tearing through layers of smoke and haze, until he finally saw the other monkey standing stark within the flames, perched on the highest point of the Hall, holding a Gold-Tipped Staff in one hand and hurling curses at the world.

With all his might, Wukong brought his own Staff crashing down.

A gaze full of raw disbelief shot up to him.

Chapter Text

Nineteen.

Violet watched as snow and fire danced in the sky and wondered: if the victor should return to her side after the battle, should she believe it's really him?

Sun Wukong, laughing maniacally at the terror and misery of the gods.

Sun Wukong, on the journey to the West, weighed down with thoughts and worries.

The one who, when woken from a nightmare, could not entirely hide his fear.

The one chained to the Demon Execution Post, the light in his eyes growing dim.

She suddenly realized: it turns out, she didn’t know what Sun Wukong should be like.

She only knew the Sun Wukong of her imagination, the one in golden armour, the dastardly hero who saw all the gods of Heaven as no threat at all. But then, why was the monster who blew a hole in the sky, the monkey in agony, who clutched his head and cried not to burn his Flower Fruit Mountain - why was that also Sun Wukong?

A thought flickered in her mind - which version of him does she hope will live to return to her? But she immediately banished that train of thought.

In the snowstorm.

Wukong seemed to have met a foe unlike any he had ever encountered.

How was he supposed to fight when the enemy could predict his every move?

Wukong felt as if he was fighting an illusion; whenever his staff got close to connecting, his adversary would miraculously dodge the blow.

He pulled out every skill in his arsenal, in a single moment appearing in a hundred different places, making hundreds of moves. He was using incredible speed to attack his foe from all directions nearly simultaneously, with each attack surrounding the enemy in a dome of countless Gold-Tipped Staffs - but whenever the Staff swung down, it struck only air.

His power radiated in all directions - even if his opponent could reach the same speed that he did, so long as his opponent was within Wukong’s reach, his opponent would not be able to avoid being struck, would be forced to parry. Wukong’s attacks were without any gaps, uncountable like the rays of the sun.

There seemed to be only one possibility: the opponent did not exist.

Yet sometimes with a reflexive swing, he would feel his Gold-Tipped Staff meet the staff of his opponent!

His opponent was clearly striking back - but Wukong’s defense was flawless, so the opponent failed to get under his guard each time.

And, incredibly, Wukong found he likewise could not make out the form of his opponent’s attacks, and so could not dodge them - like the rays of the sun, the attacks could only be blocked, not avoided.

Clang! The two staffs connected once more. Wukong felt as if he had struck a steel surface hard; the Gold-Tipped Staff hummed in his hand from the impact, the force traveling up his arm straight to his heart.

But even steel would have shattered under his Staff. Was there anything in the world that the Gold-Tipped Staff could not destroy? Perhaps only the Gold-Tipped Staff itself.

Wukong felt a bolt of shock - could it be…?

Every instance he managed to strike his opponent was exactly when his opponent was also able to strike him! And so the two staffs collided and canceled out each other’s momentum.

What exactly was he fighting?

If the battle continued like this, there would surely never be a victor.

“If you kill him, you would naturally be rid of the Tightening Curse…” Guanyin’s words seemed to ring in Wukong’s ears again.

I cannot lose, I have to win! Wukong thought. He let out a roar and swung the Gold-Tipped Staff faster and harder - and faster and harder still!

“I refuse to believe you can’t be struck - I’ll get you yet!” 

The assembled immortals heard the clashing of weapons within the storm grow more and more frequent, the individual clangs melding together until they became one continuous, ringing note.

The great battle seemed endless; it was hard to say how long they fought.

Everything around them became unimportant. The fire, the howling wind, people yelling - all of it faded into the background.

All that remained was his will, his determination that the word “defeat” should not even cross his mind.

So Sun Wukong could not stop, even though he had sensed the strangeness of the battle, even though he could not catch so much as a glimpse of his opponent. Even though, sometimes, he suspected he was all alone as he swung the Gold-Tipped Staff in a frenzy.

When both Sun Wukongs had depleted nearly all of their strength, the Buddha appeared.

“Lord Buddha, which of the two Sun Wukongs is the real one?” asked the Giant Immortal.

The Buddha smiled. “Watch carefully, I’ll distinguish between them.”

“Sun Wukong.” He called to the two entangled in battle.

The two monkeys sprang apart. “What do you want from old Sun?!”

“Sun Wukong, if you can jump out of the palm of my hand, I shall see that the Heavenly Palace is given to you. If not, return quietly to the Mortal Realm, and cultivate yourself for some time before you return here with another dispute,” said the Buddha.

“Which one of us are you talking to?” Wukong asked.

Suddenly, the monkey who was not wearing a gold circlet roared with laughter.

He stuck his staff into the ground and stood obstinately, his red cloak whipping in the wind.

“Fuck that!” he said.

“What?”

“I’m standing outside of your palm right now, aren’t I?” the monkey continued to laugh, “Why would I want to place bets with you? Old Sun’s busy! I’ve got things to do and places to destroy - I don’t have the spare time to entertain you.”

The scene was so familiar, but Wukong could not recall where he had seen it.

He saw Violet, she was watching the center of the flames, watching the figure within.

“Don’t you want to return to Flower Fruit Mountain?” The Buddha waved a hand. The distant clouds parted, revealing a cluster of lush, green mountain peaks.

“Flower Fruit Mountain… yes… Flower Fruit Mountain. A mountain full of flowers, full of fruit, full of friends… Back to Flower Fruit Mountain… Back to my home.” The monkey gazed into the distance, filled with longing.

“But Flower Fruit Mountain is destroyed. Nothing grows there and nothing can live there now… ” the monkey continued, voice hollow. He turned abruptly and glared in rage at the assembled gods: “You destroyed it! Destroyed them! I don’t have anything anymore - and all of you, you won’t have anything either! ARGGHHH!!”

With a cry, he hurtled himself towards the gods.

The Buddha chuckled and reached out with one hand, five fingers splayed. A titanic force knocked the monkey to the ground; he sprang back up and was knocked back down again - he sprang up once more…

“What are you waiting for? Now is your chance!” a voice interjected.

Wukong started. Was the voice talking to him? For a moment he had thought that he was the one struggling against the Buddha.

That’s not me, thankfully that’s not me. 

I’m Sun Wukong, how could Sun Wukong ever bear that kind of defeat? How could he ever accept a battle with no hope of victory?

Wukong sensed that something significant was about to happen.

As he expected, the demon monkey that had been knocked down surged fiercely to his feet once more.

“I… REFUSE… TO LOSE!”

He roared like a wild beast and blood spurted out of his eyes.

Wukong knew that this would be the last time the demon monkey stood back up.

Like a hunter stalking prey, Wukong had been waiting for this very moment.

Wukong crouched, gripped the ground with his toes, and sprang up, his staff raised high in a flash.

A streak of pure gold light, a perfect arc, a strike for the history books.

“NOOO…!” A cry of despair. It was Violet.

Sun Wukong recognized that voice. 

He couldn’t help but glance back towards it. His arm swinging his staff slowed a little.

It was only a fraction of a moment.

The other Wukong struck.

Sun Wukong stood and looked down at the defeated adversary at his feet.

He had won - again. Just as it had been with every previous battle against a demon, he was the ultimate victor.

But wait - the gods were all muttering among themselves: who exactly was dead, and who was alive?

Was it really the demon monkey that was dead?

Perhaps the one who had fallen was Wukong himself.

He felt his head. The circlet was still there - good.

It was the only proof that he was Sun Wukong.

It was the crown of the victor.

But then, why had the other monkey also felt its pain?

Violet walked over, one slow step at a time.

Was she here to embrace the winner?

She stopped next to him, then she knelt.

She knelt next to the body of the monkey who had fallen.

She cried.

She clutched the hand of the demon monkey, the hand that should have struck Wukong just now but had reached out instead towards her.

She opened the hand gently.

It held a purple silk scarf.

Wukong felt something crack within him, breaking into pieces like a shattered stone.

Chapter Text

Twenty.

“The one standing... is the Six-Eared Macaque,” declared the Buddha.

Wukong stared at him in shock.

“You still refuse to reveal your true form, imposter?” continued the Buddha, “You killed the monk Tang, killed the Dragon King, and killed Sun Wukong - your crimes are as heinous as the sky is high. But Buddhism has a value for all living things. Bow down now and admit you are the Six-Eared Macaque, and I shall take you back to Soul Mountain and guide you to enlightenment.”

Wukong seemed to finally understand something.

He began to laugh wildly: “The Six-Eared Macaque? Hahaha… I’m the Six-Eared Macaque??”

Blood began to pour out of his every orifice - prolonged battle had damaged his organs, or perhaps he was simply laughing too hard. Suddenly he sprang up, and charged at the Buddha: “Born of the sky and the earth, I am Sun Wukong! Now watch my staff!”

He used every ounce of power he possessed to issue his last ringing cry.

Then his figure surged with uncontainable speed towards the world’s highest, most unassailable force of will.

He struck empty.

The Buddha’s form had been an illusion.

After Wukong fell, he could barely lift his Gold-Tipped Staff anymore.

But he still struggled mightily to stand: “Rulai! Get out here! Let’s go a few hundred rounds if you’ve got the spine!”

“Hahahaha…” the voice roared with laughter, echoing within the surrounding emptiness, “You cannot defeat me because I have no self and no origin… The void is the basis of my existence - but you, you are a physical form forged out of desire!”

“Rulai! Get out here and fight me!”

“Hahahaha…” that laughter continued to echo in the void.

“Rulai… Come out… and fight me!!”

Amidst the laughter, Wukong found that his consciousness was dissipating. He began to feel blurry. In one moment he seemed to be sitting peacefully next to Violet, then in another moment he was still facing his most powerful enemy. 

“Who am I?” he asked Violet.

“You are someone who refuses to give up on his dreams,” Violet replied with tears in her eyes.

“…Then… who is the one fighting to the death with Rulai?”

“He… he is someone who has lost everything, someone who has nothing left but himself.”

“Which is… better?”

“I don’t care, I don’t care - I only want one of you to be with me.”

“But I’m about to forget everything… I’m… about to lose everything… because… I refuse to give up!”

“Rulai! Get out here and fight me…!”

Wukong widened his eyes, glaring fiercely, using his last ounce of strength to cry out.

All illusions faded at last. Everybody present now saw clearly: There had only ever been one Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong was dead.

Perhaps he never came back to life. Perhaps, what sprang from the elixir furnace that day had been a desire that was too powerful to die.

Sun Wukong died five hundred years ago when he wreaked havoc in Heaven.

That was the conclusion of the historians.

“Could you have guessed this ending?” the Buddha asked.

“Your disciple could not,” replied Guanyin.

“And you?”

“Me neither,” admitted Lao Tzu. “I am deeply in awe of the Lord Buddha’s wisdom. I could never have imagined that Sun Wukong could be killed in this manner.”

“But I did not foresee it either,” said the Buddha.

“I have lost. It seems that there are things in the world that I cannot predict.”

“But… everything has unfolded, so to speak, within the palm of your hand!” cried Lao Tzu.

“No. He has escaped my hand,” said the Buddha. “I used the Tightening Circlet to bind all that is true and good in his heart, forcing out all that is evil and hateful. So long as he had hope for life, he would have been forced to battle with his own power. But he cannot win against himself, so inevitably he would have had to ask me to distinguish between what is real and what is false, and then, Sun Wukong would be whatever I say he is. But I did not foresee…”

“…that he’d rather die… than lose.”

Violet gazed down at Wukong, holding his hand in hers.

Was he truly gone, this time?

No, surely he’s about to spring up and startle her, that playful monkey.

Come on, Sun Wukong. Tease me one more time.

She placed his hand on her cheek.

But she only felt the hand grow slowly cold.

“I wanted you to remember that you’re a monkey because you never needed to become an immortal. You already had more dignity in your nature than any god.”

Tears slid down along the limp hand.

The fire at the edge of the sky was still burning.

“Do kindly put out the fire for us, Lord Buddha Rulai,” said the Jade Emperor.

“This is a fire from outside the sky, a flame without an origin. It is fueled by the desires of the people of the mortal world. Once the demons of people’s hearts are excised, the fire would naturally be extinguished,” replied the Buddha.

“The fire will never go out,” said Violet. “We will be its fuel.”

She lifted Wukong’s body and began to drag it towards the fire.

The immortals cleared a path for her. They were still wary of that body.

The fire from outside the sky roared.

In the Mortal Realm, the sky flashed with brilliant colours; great columns of burning clouds spread across the sky like an enormous ceiling mural.

“Look, it’s a phoenix spreading its wings!” said an old man.

“No - it’s someone swinging a weapon with a roar!” said a youth.

Next to them, a girl in a green dress was also looking up to the red-stained night sky. Nobody noticed her extremely ugly face or her bright, glittering tears.

When the history of the Journey to the West no longer exists, what becomes of the characters living in vain, and all of their misery and joy?

“Is it all over?” The Heavenly Mother popped up out of nowhere and asked.

“Wait a second!” The one who had shouted was Friar Sand.

He dived to the feet of Lao Tzu. “Excuse me, could you lift your foot up…?” Sand picked up something so minuscule that no one could see it: “I found it! I finally found it! Hahahaha… The last piece! The last piece!! Hahahaha…”

With shaking hands, he presented the Glass Chalice to the Heavenly Mother.

The Heavenly Mother took the Chalice, tilted her head, and stared at it for a moment: “What would I want this old thing for?”

She let go; the Chalice fell and crumbled into powder once more.

“NOOO…!” Sand could only watch as the Chalice he had painstakingly repaired for five hundred years shattered magnificently in an instant.

He stood there blankly for a moment.

Very slowly, his expression began to shift.

“I’LL KILL YOU!! I’ll kill all you sons of bitches!! Come here! I’m gonna kill you!!”

He bellowed at the top of his voice, utterly hysterical, but all the gods merely laughed as they watched him - every single one of them laughing.

Howling with laughter.

When five hundred years are all a lie, what becomes of the characters living in vain, and all their misery and joy?

The Heavenly Palace continued to burn for seven more days. Finally, the flames were extinguished.

The immortals searched all through the remaining rubble and ash - and found only two things.

A scorched rock, and a golden circlet, burnt until it had broken open.

Some say they heard laughter and singing coming from within the fire.

Some say they saw a streak of golden light and a wisp of purple haze rise from the flames, encircling each other, and fly off towards the edge of the sky.

Of course, most said nothing at all.

Guanyin got hold of the golden circlet.

“We have accomplished our goal. Can we now end the Journey to the West?”

The Buddha held the rock in his hand while Guanyin inquired.

“He lost - but did he lose? In the end, he managed to escape the palm of my hand after all. The Golden Cicada - he won.” The Buddha murmured to himself as he held the broken circlet.

With a sweep of his arm, the rock fell to Earth.

Ayao found the rock; she buried it in the burnt soil of Flower Fruit Mountain.

The scene from five hundred years ago flashed before her eyes once more:

“How long will it be before flowers and fruit grow again on Flower Fruit Mountain? But at least the seeds are scattered all over the world.” Sun Wukong picked up a handful of black soil and smiled like a child.

The rumbling thunder approached.

Wukong leaned back on a charred tree branch and calmly waited.

Finally, the moment came, and a great flash of lightning ripped across the sky.

Sun Wukong leaped into the air, the Gold-Tipped Staff aimed at the heavens.

“Come at me!”

In that moment lightning lit his body, tracing his silhouette, burning his shape into myths and legends for thousands of years to come.

“If it rains, maybe flowers and plants will start growing here. I have no seeds to plant; if the universe is moved by my sincerity, then let flowers bloom from stone.” Ayao drew a cut in one arm, and let her blood sprinkle into the earth beneath.

Suddenly, a rumble of thunder sounded in the sky above.

Ayao looked up. The first drop of rain fell on her head.

“It’s raining! Wukong, look! It’s raining… it’s raining… Flowers will surely grow again!” Ayao cried tears of joy, yelling into the sky.

In the sky, above the black clouds, a pure white dragon was rolling and tumbling, summoning rain.

The rumbling of distant Heavenly war chariots drew nearer at once. The yelling of Heavenly soldiers could already be heard: “Who started this rain, flouting the decree of Heaven?”

“Tang, Wukong, Bajie - this is the very last thing I can do for you,” thought the White Dragon.

“Goodbye - goodbye forever!”

Falling leaves drift to the ground. Seeds sleep under a white blanket of snow. A flower blooms then rapidly fades. As time rushes past in revolving light and shadow, the stars shift in the sky, islands rise from the sea, generation after generation of vegetation flourish and wither. Yet always there are fields and fields full of grass, each blade standing tall in the wind, just as their ancestors had.

How could we ever forget the Journey West?