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mythologyfolklore · 6 months ago

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JTTW/Chinese mythology ideas

(A/N: Decided to finally make a list for this one too. Do these things make sense? No. Is it in any way close to canon? Also no. Will that stop me? Absolutely not. Also, I would like to establish that not all (or even most) of these are headcanons. Some are heartcanons, gutcanons, junkcanons and spleencanons. This list will be expanded, as I think of new ideas. Just keep in mind, that pretty much all of this is pulled out of my butt.)

1. Sūn Wùkōng has a slightly scratchy voice from five-hundred years of being fed molten copper and iron pellets, as well as the previous 49 mortal years of being cooked in a furnace.

2. Tripitaka is traumatised from his mother's suicide, his first two companions' deaths and the constant kidnapping and attempted murder and/or sexual harassment. After so much trauma and with having to parent several powerful and crazy demons and a dragon, he's become jaded.

3. Tripitaka was eighteen, when he learned of his family, and twenty, when he was recruited by Guān Yīn.

4. Sūn Wùkōng is a little self conscious about his body, since he was cooked in the furnace and pressed under the mountain and burned by Hóng Hái'er's True Samadhi Fire. To his subjects he's still the Handsome Monkey King though.

5. After being exposed, Liù'ěr Míhóu was given the option by the Buddha to either join the Tang Monk on the Journey along with the other disciples or be reincarnated into hell for his crimes. He chose the former. Tripitaka gave him the Dharma name Sūn Wùhuàn, though the others sometimes still call him Liù'ěr Míhóu (that's just Chinese for "Six-Eared Macaque").

6. Liù'ěr Míhóu is transgender with body dysphoria. He's absolutely miserable with his female body, but he can't hide it without shapeshifting, as his voice gives him away. He's also prone to delusions and dissociation by the time he joins the Journey. It doesn't get much better, but the other pilgrims learn to deal with it relatively quickly.

7. Èrláng Shén is transgender as well, but he goes to great lengths to hide, that his body is biologically female. Not because he has dysphoria (he doesn't), but because he hates the way he's treated by most people once they find out he's trans-masc. That and he can't stand people looking at his chest, when it's unbound.

8. Shā Wùjìng is super affectionate to his brothers and master. The affection is reciprocated, because they love their friendly, sensible formerly-maneating giant fish man.

9. Liù'ěr Míhóu has been sexually assaulted and forcibly impregnated many times in the past. Of the resulting children only one was allowed to live, because the Macaque either miscarried or aborted the rest. It's also a primary cause of his madness.

10. The surviving child (a monkey-fox hybrid) was left in the care of a significantly more sane friend, who happened to be the sister of one of the Wŭdàxiān.

11. Some primate species eat their dead in times of famine. The Six-Eared Macaque uses that as an excuse for eating that one dead monkey. Sūn Wùkōng and Tripitaka are having none of that bs.

12. Bái Lóng Mă is the first of the Pilgrims to befriend the Six-Eared Macaque and then becomes super protective, after he finds out what happened to him. In kind he becomes the Macaque's favourite brother.

13. Sūn Wùkōng is asexual demiromantic. Tripitaka and Liù'ěr Míhóu are both aro-ace. Zhū Bājiè is a straight ally. Shā Wùjìng is pan, but abstinent. Bái Lóng Mă is bi.

14. At first Tripitaka was delighted about having been one of the disiples of the Buddha Himself once. But after being the 10th reincarnation of Golden Cicada has gotten him into so much trouble, he's grown to hate it and loathes being addressed as "Golden Cicada".

15. Before Golden Cicada converted to Buddhism, they were an immortal cicada spirit, who had cultivated immortality under Yùdĭng Zhēnrén. They were a senior disciple, when the Yáng siblings showed up and quickly befriended the two.

16. Golden Cicada can switch from picture perfect Buddhist disciple to sassy spirit willing to throw hands. When they were a Taoist disciple under Yùdĭng Zhēnrén, they'd also sometimes chirp all night, just to annoy the younger disciples.

17. Golden Cicada had the ability to see the future. As such they weren't shocked to be sentenced to reincarnation by the Buddha for their disrespect, but it still hit them hard, because just like in the old school, they had grown attached to the other disciples and their master.

18. The Buddha has a lot of patience, but he takes no shit.

19. When Tripitaka becomes the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit, he regains all the memories from his past lives, including that of Golden Cicada. He also (re)gains the ability to shapeshift and fly and develops a few quirks Golden Cicada had in life.

20. Zhū Bājiè is still a little butt-hurt about becoming "only" an altar cleanser- Pff, nah, just kidding, he's fine. He's more upset, that he still looks like a boar.

21. Zhū Bājiè still flirts with women, but by now he has internalised the benefits of mutual consent.

22. Shā Wùjìng becomes the Golden-Bodied Arhat at the end of the novel, but decides to keep his demonic appearance most of the time, so he will never forget where he came from and as a reminder to be humble. His brothers still call him "Old Shā" or "Wùjìng".

23. Despite redeeming himself and becoming an Arhat, Shā Wùjìng is still shunned by the Celestial Realm. He is a bit sad about still being treated as a monster, but has long concluded, that this is just their pride talking.

24. Shā Wùjìng is still a capable fighter, but he's uncomfortable around swords. The reason is that, before he became a Buddhist, one of his punishments from Heaven involved being stabbed by a hundred swords every day, if he didn't stay in his river.

25. Bái Lóng Mă becomes a Golden Celestial Dragon of the Eight Classes of Supernatural Beings, but the others just affectionately call him "Gold". He's still a bit unhinged, but doesn't set things on fire anymore.

26. Sūn Wùkōng returns to his mountain after becoming the Buddha Victorious in Strife, but he often has his brothers over for tea and, about a hundred years after the Journey, takes Liù Chénxiāng (the nephew of Èrláng Shén) in as a disciple.

27. Liù'ěr Míhóu is given the title of "True Person of True Hearing" at the end of the story (making him the only one, who didn't become a Buddha or Bodhisattva). Tathagata informs him, that he joined the prilgrimage too late to make up for his terrible crimes, but he does give him magic transition surgery and promises to reward him in the future (provided the Macaque keeps working on bettering himself, of course).

28. Liù'ěr Míhóu specialises in helping vengeful ghosts. He restores their conscience and memory and if that's not enough to free them, he takes them in as disciples, until they're ready to reincarnate. On the side he clears up misunderstandings. A few centuries after the pilgrimage, Tathagata awards him the title "Bodhisattva Discerning Ghostly Speech" for his merit.

29. The Pilgrims are on the height of modern times. Getting phones and laptops was the Six-Eared Macaque's idea, because he was sick of having to write to his siblings and friends, while they can just talk into the wind and he'll hear it (Tripitaka didn't get a laptop until the COVID-19 pandemic rolled around and he couldn't hold his seminars in person anymore).

30. Liù'ěr Míhóu is getting therapy and taking medication to combat his mental instability. But his friends often have to accompany him to the hospital for check-ups.

31. Tripitaka/the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit and Èrláng Shén become friends after the Journey. Having obtained Buddhahood, Xuánzàng now remembers that they were friends in a past life and hopes to catch up and help Èrláng move on from his grief over Golden Cicada's death.

32. The real form of Xiàotiān Quǎn (Èrláng Shén's dog) is a giant heavenly dog the size of a large horse, but he has a smaller energy save mode in form of an albino Tibetan Spaniel.

33. Xiàotiān is extremely protective and affectionate towards his master. Èrláng Shén is also extremely protective of his dog and will brutally murder anyone, who tries to hurt him.

34. Nézhā becomes friends with Sūn Wùkōng throughout the Journey and they develop a brotherly bond. They also do brotherly things, like fighting about who is the older one. Spoiler: Nézhā is more than 500 years older (Èrláng Shén being about a thousand years older than Nézhā).

35. Sūn Wùkōng has let go of his anger by the time the modern era rolls around, but he's still waiting for an apology from Èrláng for the mountain fire.

36. Èrláng deeply regrets everything he did, but he can't properly apologise for major things.

37. During his fight with his uncle, Chénxiāng accidentally absorbed the Lotus Lantern and became immortal. He didn't realise the latter, until years later. He was not happy about it.

38. Sūn Wùkōng isn't Chénxiāng's only teacher, but the one he's closest to. He and Chénxiāng have a father-son-relationship. That includes dad jokes (much to Chénxiāng's dismay).

39. Very few people know that Chénxiāng became immortal and is still alive. Chénxiāng made them swear not to tell anyone, because he doesn't want to be found by certain people. Most of the time he's not even in China.

40. After being freed, Sānshèng Mŭ gave up her divinity to live a normal mortal life with her husband. Chénxiāng was overwhelmed with grief, after his parents eventually died of old age, while he was forever young. After his parents' death he moved back to Sūn Wùkōng for a while, before leaving to see the world.

41. At some point in the modern age, Nézhā had a falling out so bad, he decided he wanted a new legal surname, like, NOW. He asked Èrláng Shén to adopt him - much to the latter's consternation, as Èrláng is still haunted by his past mistakes and doesn't grasp how Nézhā could possibly see him as a parental figure. But Nézhā eventually softened Èrláng up and now his surname is Yáng.

42. Little does Èrláng realise, that Nézhā had already sneakily adopted him as a dad centuries earlier. Mostly because Èrláng respects him more and treats him better than his father and most other Celestials do.

43. Èrláng Shén has an unspoken crush on Sūn Wùkōng. He's not planning to do anything about the "unspoken" part, mainly because he's repressed and believes that love brings nothing but pain and misfortune and should never be indulged; and he also thinks it would be insulting to just walk up the the Monkey King and profess his feelings (considering the environmental destruction and genocide).

44. Yùdĭng Zhēnrén is extremely protective of each of his disciples. But the moment one of them starts hurting another, he'll banish the culprit at best and kill them at worst.

45. Golden Cicada was also extremely protective of their younger brothers and sisters. As a senior disciple, they felt it was their obligation to take the kids under their wings. That attitude didn't change, when they changed masters and became the second disciple of the Buddha.

46. During Èrláng Shén's and Sānshèng Mŭ's training under Yùdĭng, a then 9yo Èrláng was touched inappropriately by one of the senior disciples (who happened to be their master's favourite at the time). He confided in Golden Cicada, who reported it to their master.

47. Golden Cicada remained friends with the Yáng siblings and many others for the rest of their life. The last thing they did before dying and reincarnating was say goodbye to all their friends.

48. Èrláng Shén has a drinking problem. He's trying to quit for Nézhā's sake, but recovering from alcoholism is hard and he occasionally relapses. Nézhā is of course not happy about the drinking, but he appreciates, that his dad is trying to stop.

49. Sūn Wùkōng didn't know he was one of four Primates of Havoc, until he met the Six-Eared Macaque and the Buddha explained everything. Once the Macaque stopped being a villainous dickhead, the Monkey King was eager to meet the other two Primates. So Liù'ěr Míhóu introduced him to them.

50. The Red-Buttocked Horse-Monkey (Chìkāo Măhóu) and Connected Arms Gibbon (Tōngbì Yuánhóu) were excited to meet a new Primate of Havoc.

51. Chìkāo Măhóu is a female Taiwanese macaque, who emerged from a tree struck by lightning. She has exceptional healing powers, a profound understanding of human affairs and yin and yang, is very adaptable and loves trolling the death deities in various ways. She also likes to gather philosophers, say something, then sit back and watch, as a philosophical debate devolves into petty fighting.

52. Chìkāo Măhóu cultivated immortality under an immortal, who specialises in healing and medicine and named her Zhìyù Zhīshǒu. But the other three Monkeys of Havoc just call her Chì.

53. Tōngbì Yuánhóu is a transfem Hainan black-crested gibbon, who hatched from an egg-shaped lump of gold, that melted during a firestorm. She used to live in mainland China, until deforestation destroyed her home. She can shorten great distances, seize the sun and moon, play with the stars and distinguish the auspicious and inauspicious.

54. Sometimes Tōngbì Yuánhóu bonds with Liù'ěr Míhóu over being critically endangered species (the latter being the only six-eared macaque in existence).

55. When the Jade Emperor began his reign, he was full of enthusiasm and eager to make the world a good place. But over time he grew bitter and began to make it everyone else's problem.

56. The Jade Emperor has a photo of Sūn Wùkōng pinned to his office wall, which is riddled with darts, because he uses it for target practice.

57. One thing Sūn Wùkōng and Èrláng Shén agree on is this: if anything were to happen to Nézhā, they would kill everyone in Heaven and then themselves (if they could).

58. When Sūn Wùkōng first read the novel and saw that the author knew who his master was, he freaked out. Fortunately, he wasn't hunted down by an angry Subodhi thinking the monkey had broken his word.

59. Yes, Subodhi knows about the book. Yes, he also knows that Sūn Wùkōng didn't tell anyone, that he was his master. That's why he was chill about it.

60. Xiàotiān Quǎn is incredibly smart. He possesses human-level intelligence. Xiàotiān can't speak, but he can read traditional and simplified Chinese and has an excellent memory.

61. All four Monkeys of Havoc were born around the same time and are around 2500 years old.

62. Liù'ěr Míhóu can understand and speak all languages that exist, have existed or will exist in the future. But until he joins the Pilgrims, he could neither read nor write any of them. When Tripitaka learned this, he sat him down and taught him how to read and write.

63. Tàiyĭ Zhēnrén encourages Nézhā's goblin energy and feralness. Why? Because his adorable, sweet student, who can do no wrong, should be allowed to be free and- just kidding, the truth is, he's secretly a feral goblin himself.

64. The Pilgrims (including Liù'ěr Míhóu) are all super protective of one another. Even Tripitaka has a protective mode.

65. Tripitaka's protective mode is activated, when his disciples get sexually harassed (usually Liù'ěr Míhóu, given his feminine voice and appearance) and manifests in Tripitaka chewing the harasser out, until they run away crying. Ever since unlocking this particular skill, he has pulled no punches.

66. After Tripitaka was rescued from the Scorpion demoness, he told his disciples, that all that had happened was forward flirting on her part. He didn't tell them, that she actually assaulted him. Only Liù'ěr Míhóu knows, but Tripitaka made him swear not to tell anyone.

67. The Buddha prefers to teach his disciples how to let go of fleeting things piece by piece on their own, as he has seen first hand how traumatising it is for some people to suddenly be separated from everything they hold dear in this world.

68. When Sūn Wùkōng is overwhelmed, he flails his arms and speaks in monkey. People get confused.

69. Chénxiāng often visits Sūn Wùkōng on his island to check on his old teacher and catch up. He also introduced him to modern tech. A decision he now deeply regrets, because his teacher keeps sending him monkey memes.

70. Xiàotiān Quǎn was gifted to Èrláng Shén by Golden Cicada. After learning, that Èrláng had made a vow of celibacy, Golden Cicada thought, he still should have a loyal companion to shower with love and care to his heart's content, so they gave him a puppy.

71. Èrláng Shén doesn't know, that Xiàotiān Quǎn possesses the intelligence of an adult human. Partly, because Xiàotiān is perfectly happy being pampered, but mainly because Xiàotiān decided the best way to take care of his owner is to be undercover. He's really good at the "no thoughts, head empty" charade.

72. Liù'ěr Míhóu can hear pretty much everything, but it took him a while to learn to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

73. Bái Lóng Mă never forgave his father for almost getting him executed over accidentally setting something on fire, and completely cut ties with his birth family after becoming the Celestial Dragon Bodhisattva. He instead focussed his compassion and empathy on all beings mistreated and disowned by their family.

74. After banishing Shā Wùjìng to the Mortal Realm, the Jade Emperor got himself a new Courtain-Lifting General. But there actually are deities in Heaven, that still call Shā Wùjìng by his old title. Shā Wùjìng has mixed feelings about that.

75. Golden Cicada was an incredibly skilled warrior and possessed several potent magical weapons: an umbrella that can sap the magic of whoever they use it on, and a magical lantern. Before passing on, they gave the umbrella and the lantern to their old master, knowing he'd keep them safe. Golden Cicada also created the Lotus Lantern as a gift to Sānshèng Mŭ, after she became a goddess.

76. Golden Cicada could have become a Taoist deity, but rejected godhood, because they - just like their master - disdained the Heaven that treated their best friends so cruelly.

77. The Buddha of Sandalwood Merit sometimes jests about how he used to be the youngest of his friends and now, that he is truly one with Golden Cicada, he's in a way older than most of them.

78. Èrláng Shén has mixed feelings about how Tàiyĭ Zhēnrén encourages Nézhā's chaos, but he doesn't want to upset Nézhā by telling him not to interact with his master.

79. Sānshèng Mŭ - being a (demi)goddess - is over a head taller than Liú Yànchāng. He's a proud simp for his (what in the 8th century would've been a) giant woman.

80. Guān Yīn's disciples Mùzhā and Hóng Hái'er agree on only one thing: Lóngnü is the best and sweetest little cinnamon roll, deserves only the best and must be protected at all cost.

81. Nézhā adores dogs and loves petting Xiàotiān Quǎn. In turn Xiàotiān has observed, that Nézhā is one of the few people who can make Èrláng smile, so the K-9 agent has made it his mission to help protect this kid.

82. The Wŭdàxiān (a group of five local zoomorphic deities revered in Northeastern China) once lived in the Celestial Realm, until Wūyāxiān was wrongfully accused of sexual assault. While the lie was found out, the culprit faced no repercussions and Wūyāxiān was asked to leave Heaven, despite being proven innocent. The other four Great Immortals (Húxiān, Huángxiān, Shéxiān and Báixiān) joined their friend in exile out of solidarity.

83. When Tripitaka isn't doing Buddha things, he just chills out with his friends. When out in public, he goes by his real name Chén Xuánzàng.

84. Báixiān (the Hedgehog Immortal) was in fact the Shīfù of Chìkāo Măhóu and the one, who named her Zhìyù Zhīshǒu. The two are very close and Zhìyù Zhīshǒu considers her a mother figure.

85. When Nézhā was resurrected by his master, something went wrong and he was reborn with the True Samadhi Fire. It caused him pain, until Èrláng Shén (also a wielder of the Samadhi Fire) taught him how to control it.

86. Èrláng calls Nézhā "Xiăolián", when they're alone. He came up with that nickname as soon as he realised he was attached to the kid. Nézhā - never having been given affectionate nicknames before - didn't know how to handle that at first and teared up the first time he was called that.

87. Even after the Yáng siblings became gods, Golden Cicada still called them "Xiăo Yáng" or "Jiăn'er" (Èrláng Shén) and "Chán'er" (Sānshèng Mŭ), which Èrláng found incredibly annoying.

88. Yùdĭng Zhēnrén hates Heaven. Like, really hates them. He also hates most Celestials, especially the Jade Emperor. Nobody knows why, because he refuses to explain. So he was furious, when Èrláng joined Heaven to become a god, and made it clear, that he never wanted to see him again, unless there's an emergency only Yùdĭng can handle (a very unlikely scenario in his eyes).

89. Tōngbì Yuánhóu and Chìkāo Măhóu prefer to stay under the radar and constantly move. They're so secretive, that Sūn Wùkōng didn't find out about them, until he was 1100 years old. Liù'ěr Míhóu found them through his hearing pretty quickly after he was born. Tōngbì Yuánhóu is the oldest of them and when they get together, she's usually the voice of reason.

90. Liù'ěr Míhóu is the tallest of the four Monkeys of Havoc and a few centimetres bigger than Sūn Wùkōng, which the latter finds incredibly annoying.

91. Guān Yīn and Cháng'é are friends with Èrláng Shén and have been for more than 3000 years. Guān Yīn became friends with him, because she could tell he needed one. Cháng'é first met Èrláng, when her husband introduced them to each other, and they became fast friends after Hou Yi's passing. Despite the three of them being so different from each other, they somehow make it work.

92. Out of the former Tang Monk's disciples, only Sūn Wùkōng and Sūn Wùhuàn have disciples of their own. Technically that makes Xuánzàng grandmaster, but his disciples' disciples sometimes secretly call him "grandpa", thinking he doesn't know. Xuánzàng didn't know how to deal with that at first, but eventually he accepted, that he had upgraded from tired single parent to proud grandparent.

93. Sūn Wùkōng knows about Èrláng Shén's feelings for him, but doesn't confront him about them out of pity. And as long as Èrláng doesn't do anything creepy and stalker-esque, he doesn't see the need to bring it up at all.

94. Èrláng Shén introduced Cháng'é to the Netflix movie "Over the Moon" and now he has to sing the heartbreaking duet with her every time he visits. At this point he's sick and tired of it, but he still humours her.

95. All demons and dragons can purr.

96. When Liù'ěr Míhóu joined the Pilgrims, Tripitaka had to get used to someone suddenly seeing through his facade and calling him out. But once they got along, they reached a mutual understanding and developed a very close bond (not romantically. No. Just no.). Zhū Bājiè got jealous, when he realised he was no longer their master's favoured disciple.

97. Once a Celestial warrior was dared to cut off some of Èrláng Shén's very long hair, while he was napping. The next morning, the Jade Emperor went for a stroll in his garden and found a body in his favourite duck pond. I think you can guess what happened.

98. Èrláng Shén hates Lĭ Jìng with a burning passion and has made it his life's mission to make the man as miserable as possible. Nézhā finds it hilarious.

99. Tripitaka has permanent spinal issues from that time Liù'ěr Míhóu knocked him out by hitting him on the back. They manifest as flashes of extreme pain, that render him unable to move. Guān Yīn gives him special painkillers to ease the aches, but cannot heal him, because the chronic pain is karmic punishment.

100. Yùdĭng Zhēnrén gave the Yáng twins the same training. Only change was that after Èrláng came out as a boy, both his and his sister's training became tougher.

101. The Celestial Realm has a mental hospital: the Heavenly Hospital for Criminally Insane Deities and Immortals. It was established via decree of the Jade Emperor at the behest of Èrláng Shén, but before passing this law, there was a lot of dispute about the requirements for institutionalisation between the Jade Emperor and his advisors.

102. The Jade Emperor wanted to make political opposition a requirement for being admitted to the hospital for criminally insane deities and immortals, but was dissuaded from doing so by Nézhā, who informed him, that a surprising number of Celestials actually disapproved of many imperial decrees and that putting them all in the hospital would lead to overcrowding, disaster and even more opposition.

103. Áo Bĭng was resurrected shortly after Nézhā was. The reason? The Jade Emperor grew tired of Áo Guāng justifying his hateboner for Nézhā with the murder of his son and ordered for the Third Prince of the East Sea to be resurrected, just so Áo Guāng would finally SHUT UP!!!

104. After their resurrection, Nézhā apologised to Áo Bĭng, but it took almost a millennium, until they were on speaking terms. Then they became friends, grew ever closer and closer and after over 1800 years more, they fell in love and became a couple, soon to be married.

105. Èrláng Shén is unhappy about his adopted son wanting to get married, but he has learned his lesson about opposing his loved ones' relationships, so he just sucked it up and gave his blessing to make Nézhā happy. (Nézhā knows his dad isn't really happy about it, though, because Èrláng isn't remotely as subtle as he thinks he is)

106. When Golden Cicada gave their magical treasures to Yùdĭng Zhēnrén, they asked him to give them to none other than their 10th reincarnation. Accordingly, Yùdĭng Zhēnrén guarded the magical umbrella and lantern like his own for over 500 years, until the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit came to get his treasures back. They had some tea, chatted a little and Xuánzàng told a few things about himself, while Yùdĭng shared some wholesome stories from way back when Golden Cicada was still his disciple. By the time Xuánzàng left, both were happy and fast friends (again).

107. After Chénxiāng defeated and severely wounded his uncle and freed his mother, the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit took the wounded god in and nursed him back to health (he had to explain himself first and remind Chénxiāng of how "universal compassion" works). But he also didn't miss the opportunity to scold Èrláng Shén like no tomorrow, for being such a cruel brother and uncle.

108. After giving up her god status, Sānshèng Mŭ spent the rest of her mortal life hoping her brother would come and apologise to her, so they could reconcile before she passed on. Meanwhile Èrláng couldn't face her again and thought she didn't want to see him. So Yáng Chán died without an apology, and Èrláng never knew he'd blown his chance to make peace with his sister. This is just another point on Chénxiāng's "Why I hate my uncle" list.

109. Èrláng Shén has made a habit of killing Celestials who piss him off, and selling their organs on the black market. He doesn't have money troubles, he just thinks that if those people couldn't be useful in life, at least they should be in death.

110. Liù'ěr Míhóu has a lot of do-not-touch-days, due to his trauma. On those days no one is allowed to touch him, except maybe Tripitaka, because the Macaque has grown to trust him unconditionally.

111. Sūn Wùkōng doesn't know how to feel about the stories of him having actual children of his own (beside his subjects, who he considers his grandchildren). On one hand he loves kids, on the other hand he considers the family he has already quite a handful.

112. Golden Cicada looks very breakable with their golden carapace, but their exoskeleton is unbreakable, their insect wings have razor sharp edges and they can utilise their cicada song as a weapon.

113. One of Èrláng Shén's sworn brothers, Yáo Gōnglín, suffers from a congenital heart condition, that even immortality couldn't fix. He gets medication from Laozi to keep his heart from blowing up, but Èrláng constantly has to remind him to actually take it. Sometimes Yáo Gōnglín calls Èrláng a mother-hen for that.

114. Sūn Wùkōng's stalward generals very reluctantly allowed Èrláng Shén on Flowerfruit Mountain twice to help build a few hydraulic mechanisms as compensation for the fire. But only if he came as a monkey. This is how they found out, that Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys are fucking adorable (no, they haven't forgiven him, the cuteness just softened them up enough to tolerate his presence for a few hours).

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