#huaguoshan four

[sixteenthchapel]

hes such a good king, he should win an award for best kingliness

[lmk-monkiesibs-au]

as promised, here are this au's designs for half of the stalwart generals of flower fruit mountain!

let's begin with the marshals!

info on them under the cut!

up first, Ma!

she's the youngest (and shortest) of the Stalwart Generals, and based off a lar gibbon. her main color is green (duh), and metals are always silver (because op loves color-coding stuff).

personality wise, i envision her as more of a playful type. she's funny and a little chaotic, and really popular amongst the island's youngsters. she tends to be pretty blunt at times and isn't afraid to speak her mind when the situation calls for it. usually, Ma's pretty quick to drop any pretenses of formality amongst her fellow generals — she sees her responsibility as huaguoshan's marshal less like a burden and more like being part of the King's extended family (which, let's be honest, it kind of is). she's rated a 6 out of 10 in mihou's uncle/aunt scale. only because she's a liiitle too loud for him

her weapon of choice is a shangshou dadao — basically, a real big sword. how does she wield it considering she's really short? she's got loooong arms. where does she store it? think something like Azure Lion's sword — it's got a magic pocket dimension of it's own. or something.

she's unlikely besties with Liu. sorry I don't make the rules.

next up, Liu!

he's like. the second tallest of the generals, and looks-wise, mostly based off on new gods: nezha reborn version of wukong — while some other elements, like the red marking on his face come from snow macaques. his main color is teal, and metals (except for his jian) are champagne gold.

personality wise, Liu is very stern and reserved. he's extremely serious about his "job" as marshal and scarily orderly in everything he does. he might seem a little cold or distant at first, but he would kill and die for anyone he cares about (which, somewhat unfortunately, includes the entirety of ffm's inhabitants in one way or another). pretty soft spoken, Liu literally cannot raise his voice past a certain volume — that doesn't stop him from being the biggest gossip around. and that puts him down as a solid 9 out of ten in mihou's uncle/aunt scale. he's absolutely aware of that fact and cherishes it, even if he could not care less at first.

Liu's weapon of choice is the Jian. another type of sword, that while not as flashy as Ma's, certainly does its job. everything about it is pretty traditional; he's even got a whole scabbard getup for it, a tassel for tying at the pommel, et cetera, et cetera.

anyway, that's about it for the marshalls! next are generals Beng and Ba. they very much are developed but there's no art ready yet D: keep an eye out for them, because they will be posted too...eventually!

[sixteenthchapel]

I AM DECEASED LOOK AT HIM!!!!!!! This is AMAZING

@sixteenthchapel

ArtFight attack on Sixteenthchapel’s Marshal Liu. :D

[hcdragonwrites]

Letters (a @journey-to-the-au Drabble)

I made another thing (yeah I couldn’t help myself but this one is shorter I think. I hope you like it!) I just. Brain fire.

Inspired by <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/journey-to-the-au/722003448742248448/may-we-hear-about-the-yaogui-attack-0-apologies" >This Post </a>

(Also I suck at linking things I’m so sorry.)

Liu crossed out the line on the parchment before him, splashing ink onto the stone beneath his feet in an frustrated spray.

“No that doesn’t sound right either!” He gritted his teeth, growing frustrated. General Liu, one of the Four great Generals of Flower- Fruit mountain and friend to its King Sun Wukong, had a dilemma.

He set the brush down, still getting used to holding it in his hands. Wukong makes this look so easy! But things of the unmonkey nature came easily to Wukong- how could they not ? He had mastered the mysterious arts that had given him such power, had defeated the demon who had first claimed Water- Curtain Cave in his absence (and more beside.) Wukong had walked among the men of the world and had claimed treasure from dragons.

Wukong would be able to hold a brush with ease and write words with a steady hand. The general tugged at his fur and looked about himself. Rolls of parchment lay about him like discarded rinds of watermelons. All the failed attempts to transcribe what his heart was trying to speak. He tugged more, hairs coming free.

When Wukong spoke of his experience in the world abroad their mountain, he had mentioned how the important people within that strange world of mortals and immortals would communicate through scrolls and parchment.

“It was too quiet at times for my liking!” He reminisced once, splashing some wine as he gesticulated upon his throne. “What silence! What needed to be written that couldn’t be communicated with a clear voice?” He would then call for one of the troop of his subjects to retell a story, for Wukong loved the telling of a yarn through voice and act.

Liu had understood why one would want words written down however. The things he wanted to say- to tell- either fled him like mist before the sun or stuck in his throat like a peach stone. The Marshal scratched behind his ear, brushing the notched edge and remembering. Remembering her.

Rin Rin.

Liu had never been one for such deep hesitation as he was now. In all the Aolai country, among and betwixt the unicorns and the phoenixes who preened and called themselves the most beautiful, where the leopards and the tigers roamed and boasted their own majesty, Liu had faced all that threatened his home with bravery. He loved this mountain, from every blade of grass to every luminous stone deep in Water-Curtain Cave. He thought none of the beasts or birds or celestial bodies in Heaven was more beautiful than his home.

Except Her.

He wanted to tell her. Tell Rin Rin how she rivaled all the clouds in heaven for her softness. How no flower could compare to her eyes and how they shined like the sea when the sun hit it. Her smile could make the trees cry and her anger could chase the stripes off a tiger.

Liu was afraid. Not afraid of her. Afraid to miss this opportunity! His tail lashed and sent a bit of paper skittering over the stone floor, knocking into several stone bowls of almonds.

The mountain was a paradise. The waterfall that crashed beyond, the pine forests that dotted the slopes where their needles spiced the air. He had faced tigers and demons, fought and thrown himself into situation after situation of danger without a second thought for himself.

Now he was hesitant. He acted as he had on that day Wukong had found Water- Curtain cave: hesitant. Marshal Liu had not been hesitant since that time- so why had he returned to this state ?

Liu looked down at the paper and groaned.

“I just want to tell her how beautiful she is…”

Steps approached from outside Liu’s room.

“So this is where you’ve been!” Wukong called, stepping into the room with a frown on his face. “I have been waiting for you in the Throne room for hours! Sentries have spotted what look to be the makings of a camp. We have a troop of creatures lurking in the shadow of our mountain and I need my Generals— what is all this stuff ?”

Liu didn’t bother to cover up his failings- he just lay his head on the stone table and glared at the brush.

“You only called for a meeting a few minutes ago, my king.” He replied from the table.

“Minutes- hours. It has been too long! What have you been up to in here?”Wukong picked up a paper scroll, the feathered crown on his head bobbing.

“You are as pretty as a … hmm. You never finished this one Liu!”

Liu moved his face to flatten into the stone table, feeling his cheeks burn and his ears itch. Of course my king would start reading them.

Shuffling paper noises sounded again as Wukong picked another scroll up.

“My heart becomes a candle when you are near—“ he frowned. “You crossed out the rest in a mess of black.”

Liu wished he could dissolve into the stone.

“You smell as sweet as a magnolia flower- your eyes are the shape of stars —“

“Please My King.” He begged. “Spare me.”

“You wrote them Liu! I am only reading.”

“And I ask for mercy, please.”

“Seems you’ve had trouble finishing whatever you were trying to say.” Mused the Sage.

“None of the words formed well enough on the paper.” Marshal Liu sighed. There came a shuffle and a brush beside him. He lifted his head to see Wukong had crossed his legs beside him, a shoulder companionably against Lius. The Monkey King twirled the brush between his fingers, unrolling a new scroll of parchment.

“If I help you Write your love poem to Rin, Will you stop mooning so sadly ?” Wukong cocked a brow at his general, side eyeing him in a way only a friend could.

Marshal Liu felt his pride pricked, just a bit. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Liu- you have been my friend for countless years. Longer than most monkeys usually live.” Wukong dipped the brush into the inkwell, checking the ink stone and grimacing at its diminished size. “I know you from the tips of your ears to the ends of your fur. We have fought and bled side by side. You may be a master at strategy and planning but. My friend.”

Wukong turned his whole face to stare at Liu. “You suck at hiding how in love you are with Rin Rin.”

The Marshal sat up, opened his mouth to defend, to deflect —

Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, waited. His face set in a neutral and very are you really going to argue with me? expression.

Liu closed his mouth, tugged at his fur and set his chin on the stone table. “She makes me feel so—-“

“Mhm.”

“She’s so—!”

“Mhm…”

“I just can’t get the words out!” The Marshal admitted finally. “Each time I start to tell her, I freeze. I’ve tried so many times!”

When Rin and He had shared a sweet patch of strawberries he had tried to say how he loved her.

When Rin had been tending to a scratch on his face, chiding and reprimanding him for his recklessness again. Her anger had made him want to hold her and reassure her that he was fine.

When they had decided to stay out late, tails curled together as they counted the stars. Liu had wanted to compare her to each one.

And each of these times his words had either fled him or had refused to come out.

“And you thought to write them out because they keep getting stuck.”

Liu nodded.

“Give me the words and I’ll write them down.” Wukong set the tip, ready. “If I write this for you, then will come and put your mind back to keeping our mountain safe?”

Guilt itched beneath his fur. “My King i'm sorry—“

A affectionate rub of Wukongs head against his own shut the general up as the king tugged at his ear in play.

“Liu. I may not understand the power of what you are feeling,” Wukong cut off, tail thumping against the Marshals “but that doesn’t mean your feelings aren’t important. And … seeing you so distressed makes me distressed. I can help my friend in this simple task at least.”

Liu felt a warmth well from him. For all his Kings boasting and prideful proclamations, Wukong cared for each of his subjects - even in the face of his incomprehension. He would do what he could to ease his friends, his subjects, his families struggles. Wukong began to write as Liu began to speak, his face warm and his hands slowly beginning uncurl from his fur.

After just an hour with Wukongs transcribing and Liu describing, the confession was complete. Liu clutched the scroll and strapped it to his side.

He had been able to attend the Council with a lighter heart and a smile on his face. The discussion and the plans to increase patrols along the pine forest to the west of Flower Fruit Mountain had been unanimously agreed upon as the troubling information came to light.

The scouts' reports had indicated that there had been activity - a half made campfire kicked over and cold with bones from what looked like a small deer- not a few leaps and bounds from the slopes. Liu had frowned at the description of the tracks- five footed, fur and the scent of musk in the air. Another band of Monkeys … but they seem to be scouting us as well.

When Liu had this brought to attention, an immediate patrol had been sent out to gain more information on how many may be circling their home. The unspoken kept being danced around but all in that council chamber had a suspicion. Demon Monkeys….

Until they knew further who and what they were facing, Wukong wouldn’t risk a war troop to prowl the nearby hills and leave the rest of his family and people exposed.

Liu had a bit of time beneath the growing moon of night to find Rin Rin now. Before his nerves left him. Wukongs handwriting had made the words look better, flow better, feel better to the Marshals eyes. His King had sat through his flowery language, and had written it all diligently if with a little bit of snorting at times. (“Don’t compare her to pine nuts!” “But she smells of the pines and the wood and everything I love!” “…. But pine nuts ?”)

If his words failed him, Liu had them written down. If they stuck in his throat, he could pull them apart with the help of his letter. His heart was thumping, his fur was sticking out a bit as electric nerves rolled on his skin. Liu was in full armor having come from council, and it jangled softly in the night air. But it was a comforting jangle- a separate staccato rhythm against his body.

As the moon rose outside of Water-Curtain Cave casting the spray in silver light, Liu gazed out. Some other monkeys mingled in the cooling air enjoying the clear night. Tending to loved ones by either grooming fur, sharing ripening fruits from the many orchards across the vast mountain, or cuddling down in the soft grasses to gaze upward. Liu greeted each in turn, butting heads or brushing hands. Pride welled in him, making Liu stand taller. This was his home- his family. The peace they lived in was hard won and protected by their King and his Marshals- and that peace was precious.

A small bundle of babes shot past, one carrying a lychee fruit as a prize to be kept from the others. A pair of older simians gazed into the waters of the pool, leaning into each other. Liu would fight a thousand demons, all the celestial beings in the world, to keep this peace. He would tame dragons and pull the moon down from its boughs in Heaven to preserve this peace.

Liu turned, green eyes seeking. There, just beneath the pomegranate tree overlooking a mossy spray of water, he spotted the cloud gray of Rin Rin. Even in the shadow of the tree he could see her moon flower perched behind her ear, the fur perfectly groomed in wonderous swirls. He wished he had a bouquet of moonflowers to bring her or a cup of tea to present to her. He wanted to come bearing gifts and to tend and tidy her hair and weave flowers throughout it.

He came bearing his heart instead.

Said heart thumped against his chest. Steady Liu.

Liu took a moment to groom his finger through his fur, his tail, and to dust at his armor. He grabbed at a small patch of pine needles, snapping them between fingers and briefly rubbing the tips over his fur. He wanted to look his best to smell his best to be his best.

Then, gathering himself and tapping the scroll's top at his hip, Liu straightened and stepped forward.

He would tell her how much she meant to him. He would show her how much she was worth to him- between the words he had been able to wrangle and place onto a page.

Liu would never get the chance to unwind that scroll however. The night air that had been full of gentle chatter and warm conversation was broken by screams as the mountain's peace was shattered into a thousand screams of fury and fear rang off the mountain.

[digitalagepulao]

Sun clan AU character directory

[this directory will be edited and updated as time goes on and the story progresses]

THE ELDERS: older generation, live on the deeper chambers of the Shuilian Mansion and enjoy the respect and honors by all the beings in Huaguoshan.

An-kong Tudigong (Grandpa Earth God)

Earth God of Huaguoshan, appears mostly as a moss-green furred orangutan but has many forms. Reclusive and reticent, but loves dearly all the beings living on his mountain. Adoptive father of Wukong.

A-ma Longan (Grandma Dragon-Eye)

Matriarch of a monkey troop, Francois Langur. Dry yet caring, often serves as a protector of the monkeys of the mountain and a middleman between spirits and mortal creatures. Her duties were mostly taken over by Wukong after he became king. Adoptive mother of Wukong.

I-bo Lanye (Auntie Orchid-leaves)

Granddaughter of Longan, and second in command, Silvery Lutung. Fond and overbearing, takes care of the troop whenever Longan leaves to maintain the peace. Biological mother of Jinju.

Shandanmao (Coral lily cat), also called Au-bo Shanhu (Stepmom Coral)

An asian golden cat who once attempted to eat Longan, and was made to atone for her attack on the mountain's Tudipo by serving as her bodyguard.

Wukong, also called Shihou (Stone Monkey) and Xiaoshi (Little pebble)

King of Huaguoshan. Rules over several troops that live on the mountain and shelter in the Water-Curtain Cave, and helps to keep the peace and balance among the creatures and demons.

THE FOUR STALWART MARSHALS: The Monkey King's trusted second-in-commands in the kingdom's hierarchy, and Wukong's closest confidants.

Liu Jinju (Golden-Orange)

Ma Yuehua (Moon-Flower)

Ba Hongteng (Red-vine)

Beng Maqaw (Mountain-pepper)

THE GOLDEN CAPTAINS: Trusted soldiers directly under the command of the Stalwart Marshals, but especially under Jinju/Marshal Liu

Songzhen (Pine-needles)

Second-oldest of the group, a laidback Ebony Javan Langur.

Suanguo (Sour-fruit)

The youngest and grumpiest of the bunch, a red-shanked douc.

EXTENDED FAMILY: Members of the sworn brothers' kingdoms who end up joining Huaguoshan in some manner.

Erwangzi Xiangjing (Second Prince Fine-Fragrance), also known as Prince Rougui (Cinnamon)

Wukong's mate and trusted friend, Cat Ba langur. One of the rescued monkeys from the Monstrous King of Havoc's lair, trusted advisor and cousin-in-law of Yurong Wang (Golden Snub-nosed Monkey King). Charming, eloquent and wise, but wears his heart right on his sleeve. After the two kings build an alliance, Xiangjing and Wukong become quite fond of each other, and after some failed courting attempts, Wukong accepts Xiangjing's affections.

Rinrin, also called Xiaohuo (Little fire)

Ranked sentry and scout, Rhesus Macaque demon. Once part of Niu Mowang's kingdom, she sought to earn further rank and merit by learning exorcism techniques to dispel minor demons who'd dwell on the edges of the mountains. She became emotionally attached to a human demon hunter, and when she left the mountain in shame, said human followed her. She earned the friendship of Wukong swiftly, which also earned her a spot in his court despite displeasing the Bull Demon.

Xiaojie Duan

Skilled demon hunter, human. While she's accomplished in exorcising and conquering demons and spirits, her true goal was to find someone she loved to settle down and raise a family with. What luck, that said person turned out to be a demon monkey in disguise! Not one to back down from her affections, she followed after Rinrin and together they settled in Huaguoshan.

THE SEVEN PRINCELINGS: Wukong's children by order of age.

Wumiao (Witch-sprout)

Adopted first daughter, fairy crane demon. Eternally youthful and ethereally beautiful lady. Often bears a feathered fan in her hand and a pinewood sword at her waist. Gentle and demure, adores her father and siblings. Head priestess of the Huaguoshan Daoist temple, and protectress of the Heavenly gate there.

Bailian (White-face)

The largest of the quintuplets, Bailian has snow-white pale skin no matter the season or weather, and fur like clouds at dusk. Despite being the firstborn son and the only one able to walk on clouds and water, Bailian has frail health and a sickly disposition, and thus seldom interacts with the world at large. His father and siblings tend to be overprotective due to this, much to his dismay.

Liangwei (Two-tails)

The second daughter, Liangwei has a head of golden fur and two prehensile tails. She has a cunning mind and a sharp tongue, always quick to reply and twist people into knots with her words. She enjoys entertaining guests and kindred with masterful poetry and rhymes, as much as others enjoy hearing her. Her eyesight is quite poor, and she often relies on Sanyan and her tails to help her find her way around.

Sanyan (Three-eyes)

Second-born son, with a somber and dry temperament. Though his appearance seems at first not to stand out against his more visibly magical siblings, Sanyan possesses a third eye often hidden in his fur when closed. It can see the true nature of all things, though what he knows he seldom shares. Sanyan is selectively mute, and communicates through sign language or by borrowing Liangwei's sharp tongue when she's around.

Shuashua (Playful):

Third son among the five, and by far the most energetic. Most well known as a never-still blur, Shuashua is nimble and covered in colorful stripes of fur and has a snub nose. He's known for never sleeping or ever seeming to rest at all, and spending most of his time with some activity or another. Not the sharpest tool in shed, but his bright and hard-working disposition more than makes up for it.

Si'er (Four-ears)

Third daughter, and by all measures the runt of the quintuplets. She has a calm and sweet disposition, but her particularity of having four calf-like ears and sensitive hearing often tends to put off the others of her family and kingdom. Reincarnation of [redacted], aware of past life. Deeply devoted daughter and sister, tries her best to right the wrongs of the past. Has terrible tinnitus and migraines that turns her physically monstruous. Keeper of the sealed temple of [redacted].

Danxia (Cinnabar Cloud)

Adopted fourth son, human. An orphan left in Wumiao's temple. Despite growing up surrounded by demons, immortals, and fairies, the boy had no contempt for his peers, instead striving to learn as much as he could to keep up with his siblings.

THE KING'S DISCIPLES: newcomers to Huaguoshan after the fire, brought in thanks to the pilgrimage west.

Xiaoyu (little fish), Congcong (verdant), Jiazao (hearth)

Three female macaques Wukong rescued from being stable monkeys, and have stuck to the group to cater to the artifacts and run minor errands. Trained in combat by Wukong, and later joined the mountain kingdom as warrior nuns and established a Buddhist temple.

[sketching-shark]

@kaijufluffs

someone send help what are the characters/pinyin versions of the four stalwart generals names 😭😭 i literally can't find them which is WILD

edit: i've been helped! if anyone else needs to know, here they are!

Marshal Ma (馬)

Marshal Liu (流)

General Beng (崩)

General Ba (芭)

[sketching-shark]

PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW—

How were the Huagou monkeys doing when SWK returned? And what happened to them, their home, after SWK became a Buddha (the other too?)

OKAY @sunny-days-and-warm-mournings so the story actually ends pretty much right after the pilgrims complete the journey and receive their new religious designations, so there's no word on what happens to the Mt. Huaguoshan troop afterwards. From what little I know of the 17th century fan sequel Journey to the South, however, one imagination is that Sun Wukong went back to live with them presumably as their guardian and king, and even had at least three kids (Quidou, Luohou, and Yuebei Xingjun).

In Journey to the West itself, however, the Mt. Huaguoshan monkey yao go through one tragedy after another. The first time we see what happened to the troop was right after Sun Wukong returns home after being banished for the first time from the pilgrim group. Here he sees the devastation that the war with heaven left in its wake even 500 years later, which basically left Flower-Fruit Mountain a withered and barren wasteland since Erlang Shen and his sworn brothers had burned it "to total ruin" after Sun Wukong was captured.

While he's grieving the state of his home, a few little monkeys run out and after excitedly greeting SWK tell him that in addition to living in a wasteland they're also being relentlessly hunted by humans. SWK furthermore learns that between the heaven's fire, migration to hopefully more fecund lands, starvation, and the hunters, the Mt. Huaguoshan troop was reduced to "no more than a thousand" from a population of 47,000 monkeys in Mt. Huaguoshan's heyday.

The monkeys beg SWK "'to take care of us,'" and the Monkey King starts this by slaughtering about a thousand of the hunters persecuting his "little ones," along with their horses. He then tells the monkeys to strip the human corpses of their clothes and weapons before dumping the bodies in a lake so that they can "ward off the cold" and start up military drills to learn how to protect themselves again. He also orders the horse corpses to be stripped of their hides to be made into boots and for their meat to be cured for consumption. After this, Sun Wukong "gathered together more fiends and beasts by the day, and he stored up all kinds of foodstuff...As he enjoyed wide friendship and great power, he had no trouble in borrowing some sweet, divine water from the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans to wash his mountain and make it green again. He next planted elms and willows in front, pines and cedars in the back; peach, pear, date, and plum--he had them all. He then settled down to enjoy life without a care."

Soon after Sun Wukong restores Mt. Huaguoshan to something close to its former fecundity and violently ensures the safety of his "little ones" for a time, of course, he's called back to the pilgrimage. The monkeys beg him not to go, but Sun Wukong tells them: "Little ones, watch what you are saying. My accompaniment of the Tang Monk is no private matter, for Heaven and Earth know that Sun Wukong is his disciple [and therefore he's compelled to resume the journey]...You all must take good care of our property and don't fail to plant to willows and the pines in due seasons. Wait till I finish accompanying the Tang Monk and taking the scriptures back to the Land of the East. After that merit is achieved, I'll return to enjoy the joys to nature with you." So SWK does leave the monkeys in much better shape with both lots of food and the means to protect themselves, and seems sincere in his promise to to come back.

BUT NO ONE EXPECTS THE SIX-EARED MACAQUE. The second time SWK returns to Mt. Huaguoshan he finds an imposter on his throne who he describes as having "take[n] my descendants [the monkeys] captive," and indeed before they meet Xiyouji made it abundantly clear that LEMH doesn't care about the Mt. Huaguoshan monkeys outside of how he can use them as tools to achieve his own journey. Hell, after Sha Wujing kills the monkey that was impersonating him, LEMH instructs the others to "have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines. After their meal, that Pilgrim selected another monkey monster who knew transformation to change into a Sha Monk. He again gave them instructions on how to go to the West..."

So yes, not many fun times for the Mt. Huaguoshan monkeys after the war with heaven. Even so, their love for Sun Wukong and Sun Wukong's love for them is consistent.

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 5 Thoughts

Caught up to Chapter Five for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

While Heaven was mostly at fault for the trouble in the last chapter, this time around it is Sun Wukong who messes up plentiful.

But for the time being he’s making friends again! This time travelling around in Heaven!

Related to this I firmly believe they made a mistake assigning him to look after the Garden of Immortal Peaches not just for the obvious reason. He takes his job very seriously much like the previous one and that is kind of presenting as an issue here. He doesn’t socialize as much anymore.

As for the obvious reason this was a clear mistake on Heaven’s part, they put someone, who is very much still a monkey at the end of the day, in charge of delicious fruits. What were they expecting would happen? Him not eating any? Now that was just plain foolish.

There is a much better and somewhat obvious job he could have done instead. Delivering messages, something that has been mentioned by the Daoist disciples in chapter two and that he pretended to do in his scheme towards the Barefoot Immortal. His cloud is faster than most as a matter of fact, something the Gold Star definitely knows. This way he’d also socialize more and would have a change of scenery regularly, so it would be far less likely for him to get bored, which was their concern to begin with.

About the peach trees themselves, those taking thousands of years to ripen, so they mean Earth years or Heaven years? I’d say Earth years as I asked how years are counted in Heaven before and the common consensus was that they are almost always counted in Earth years. So it still takes quite a while for them to grow, but not nearly as long if you live in Heaven as well.

I don’t quite understand why Sun Wukong immobilized the Seven-Gown Immortal Maidens. They didn’t object to staying in the garden for a little while longer until he gets back. In fact he didn’t even give them a chance to respond at all.

At this point I would like to mention what are arguably my favourite designs for the Immortal Maidens, which are from the movie My Son Goku by Tezuka Productions. Though they are missing the White-Gown Maiden, the lady to the very right in the first screenshot being the Lady Queen Mother herself.

Also this perfect screenshot I got by chance.

Since before starting this journey of reading the book only having seen various movies, I used to be under the impression that Sun Wukong took from the Festival of Immortal Peaches, because he was upset that he wasn’t invited. But nope, that is not the case actually! It was simply because he couldn’t restrain himself. Silly monkey, that particular string of trouble he got into was on him and him alone.

He does believe he was not invited, but that is something he only mentioned after the fact, so I’m inclined to believe in the moment he arrived at the banquet without actually knowing if he was invited or not he acted purely on impulse. Back at Huaguoshan he excused his behaviour assuming he wasn’t invited, which he never actually found out for certain.

When the other Demon Kings got captures during the siege of Huaguoshan, I’d like to think Sun Wukong talking about them not being monkeys and thus not really their concern towards his four commanders was more him telling himself that in an effort to cope.

Before, he did already display some troublesome behaviour towards the Dragon King who tried to accommodate him as best as he could. In the last chapter he didn’t necessarily overreact when leaving Heaven for the first time given what we know, and otherwise behaved rather well. However this chapter he stepped out of line in ways that were not okay without proper reason and is dragging his friends and family into it as well. One might have noticed by now that I’m a rather avid Great Sage defender, but I can’t defend actions that are without excuse.

[journeythroughjourneytothewest]

Chapter Recap 2: Fully awoke to Bodhi’s wondrous truths; He cuts off Mara, returns to the root, and joins Primal Spirit.

Thank you very much to everyone for an interesting second “meeting!” But now the day has drawn to an end, which means it is time for another chapter recap. And so without further ado:

While not covering as long a time period as Chapter 1, Chapter 2 goes over a particularly important part of Sun Wukong’s life. For here we see him, after receiving his religious name, begin his schooling in Daoism. During this time he learns etiquette, “the arts of language,” calligraphy, philosophical discussion, as well as does chores such as planting flowers and fetching water. The Monkey King does this for six or seven years, until one day, being unable to “refrain from dancing on all fours” because he was so delighted by the words of his shifu, Patriarch Subodhi first scolds the monkey and then tells him he will instruct the simian on whatever Daoist tradition the monkey would like. After QUITE a bit of backing and forthing between teacher and student with Sun Wukong rejecting each one as they won’t grant immortality, Patriarch Subodhi finally acts like he’s had enough of the “mischievous monkey,” striking Sun Wukong on the head three times, and then folding his arms behind his back and walking inside. The other students berate Sun Wukong for upsetting their shifu, but the monkey had “already solved secretly, as it were, the riddle in the pot”; that “the master, by hitting him three times, was telling him to prepare himself for the third watch; and by folding his arms behind his back, walking inside, and closing the main doors, was telling him to enter by the back door so that he might receive instruction in secret.”

Sun Wukong makes his way to Patriarch Subodhi’s chambers at the appointed time. The immortal, “terribly pleased” that his pupil understood the riddle and being assured that “‘There is no third party here save your pupil’” (which one later chapter may give us reason to not believe), teaches the monkey “‘the wondrous way of long life.’” Thus was “the very origin…disclosed to Wukong, whose mind became spiritualized as blessedness came to him.’”

After three years quickly go by, Patriarch Subodhi again inquires after Sun Wukong, and learns that the monkey “‘has begun to apprehend the nature of all things.’” Yet what his achievement of immortality and a form of invulnerability means, as Patriarch Subodhi informs Sun Wukong, is that the monkey will need to “‘guard against the danger of three calamities’” of heaven-sent thunder, fire, and wind, which all seem to be there to “correct” the existences of those who “have stolen the creative powers of Heaven and Earth and invaded the dark mysteries of the sun and moon.’” It is for this reason that Patriarch Subodhi teaches Sun Wukong the seventy-two transformations as well as his cloud-somersault. With these techniques mastered, the Monkey King then had “complete freedom, blissfully enjoying his state of long life.”

Sun Wukong continues to live happily as Patriarch Subodhi’s temple until one day when, eager to impress his fellow students at their encouragement, he turns himself into a pine tree. The students’ clapping and laughter soon brings their shifu storming in, demanding to know who’s behind the ruckus. While the students all say that they were the ones being noisy, the patriarch dismisses them all before laying into Sun Wukong for “‘showing off’” and potentially even “‘placing your life in grave jeopardy’” if others demand where he got these abilities. The monkey begs forgiveness, only for Patriarch Subodhi to tell him that while he won’t condemn his simian pupil, Sun Wukong must leave and go back home to Mt. Huaguoshan. He further tells the monkey that he’s “‘bound to end up evildoing,’” and that while he doesn’t care “‘what kind of villainy and violence you engage in…I forbid you ever to mention that you are my disciple. For if you but utter half the word, I’ll know about it; you can be assured, wretched monkey, that you’ll be skinned alive. I will break all your bones and banish your soul to the Place of Ninefold Darkness, from which you will not be released even after ten thousand afflictions!’” Having no other choice, and having thanked his shifu, Sun Wukong uses his cloud-somersault to quickly go back to Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Rejoicing to be back home, Sun Wukong is soon greeted by the other monkeys, who both chide him for being gone so long as well as tell him how they are being “brutally abused by a monster…that fellow has plundered many of our possessions, kidnapped a number of our young ones, and given us many restless days and nights watching over our property.” Enraged by this news, the Monkey King declares he will “‘exact vengeance’” on this Monstrous King of Havoc, and flies off to confront him. Declaring himself the lord of the Water-Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong offers a challenge to the gigantic monster and is mocked for it before the two swiftly come to blows. It is here that we then see Sun Wukong use one of his most infamous techniques, “the method called Body beyond the Body. Plucking a handful of hairs from his own body and throwing them into his mouth, he chewed them to tiny pieces and then spat them into the air. ‘Change!’ he cried, and they changed at once into two or three hundred little monkeys encircling the combatants on all sides. For you see, when someone acquires the body of an immortal, he can project his spirit, change his form, and perform all kinds of wonders.” With this technique, Sun Wukong is able to swiftly overwhelm the Monstrous King of Havoc, even killing the yaoguai with his own scimitar. This one-monkey army then slaughters “all of the imps, young and old,” frees “the little monkeys kidnapped by the Monstrous King from the Water-Curtain Cave,” and “set fire to the Water-Belly Cave and reduced it to ashes.”

The Mt. Huaguoshan monkeys are left in “great delight” and seeing their young ones returned, the entire troop then welcoming Sun Wukong back with a banquet. Besides giving them a summary of how he gained his magic powers, the Monkey King also lets his “little ones” know that “‘another delight is that our entire family now has a name…When the monkeys heard this, they all clapped their hands and shouted happily, ‘If the great king is Elder Sun, then we are all Junior Suns, Suns the Third, small Suns, tiny Suns—the Sun Family, the Sun Nation, and the Sun Cave!’ So they all came and honored Elder Sun with large and small bowls of coconut and grape wine, of divine flowers and fruits. It was indeed one big happy family!”  

We will have to wait for the next chapter to see if this monkey family is able to keep their happiness.

[sixthear]

It's a good thing Liu'er can't see Wukong blush while wearing their own face. So, they're none the wiser. "There are, but they're not much better than anywhere else. Uhm.."

For not the first time, since coming to Isola, they're missing home. At least everything made sense, back on Huaguoshan—

Images flash briefly in their mind. A version of home that isn't quite right. There's no Grandpa Monkey King. He can't recognize the Four Generals. But there are other demons sitting at the banquet table, and Macaque is there too, and everything is perfect. So long as your brotherhood remains true, then, nothing can stop you. Not even the heavens.

You pretend to ignore the way some of them don't actually look at you as their leader. The respect in their gaze is always for—

There's the sound of Liu'er's breath hitching, of them dropping the phone. Luckily, with Wukong's reflexes they're able to catch it. "M sorry—" they rush out, because they're supposed to be helping.

It was supposed to be their job to look after Shihou. Shihou relied on them. But this isn't his Shihou. He's nothing like his Shihou. He knows this.

"I go to the forest. It's a long walk though, and I can't— I'd fly, to be faster, but I don't have my powers unless I'm on the floating islands..." So they just walk. But going outside might actually be too much for Wukong. They pause.

"When I was little, I'd put moss in my ears and hide under the blankets... But I don't know... Oh! I can come to you. There's lots of moss and stuff here!"

He appreciates the lowered voice, even if the distortion from the phone's speaker still makes it grate on not-his ears. Okay, focusing on one thing. He can do that. He's good at that.

(Even if he's much better at focusing on everything, all the time, which he suspects might be the thing biting him in the ass right now).

"Okay." Deep breath in, deep breath out. Wukong closes his eyes and focuses on the closest thing: his heartbeat. It's a little faster than the one he's used to but the steady, rhythmic sound is familiar enough to ground him. Slowly, everything else fades into the background. "Okay." He says again, a little louder. This doesn't make things any less noisy, but it definitely makes them more bearable. He can manage (he's no stranger to headaches, after all). "Somewhere quieter you say? I don't think there are any parks in this part of the city."

Can the younger Liu'er use magic to travel the way his Macaque does? Wukong waves his hand and tries to call to the shadows, but nothing happens. Then again, he has no idea how Macaque's magic works, so that might be the problem also. He knows how to use his magic, knows only how to be himself, even when he shapeshifts. How is he supposed to know what it's like to be-

Grandpa is sick. Shihou had brought some of the mushrooms the herbalist needed to help him, but they needed more. They don't know that it was actually Shihou who found them. He left to go do something— and the elders want you to go find more, because they think it was you who found them. You didn't have the heart to correct them— for the first time since Shihou joined the troupe, for once you were receiving praise again. So, you need to find those mushrooms. If Shihou could do it, so could you. Your searching soon takes you to a precarious cliff by a waterfall. The mushrooms were just out of reach. Maybe, if you just carefully climb down... You slip. You're falling. But Shihou, with his pretty golden fur and bright smile catches you. He always catches you.

--Wukong blinks. And turns very, very red. (He definitely wasn't supposed to see that.) "Um... "

[sixteenthchapel]

recently @sunny-days-and-warm-mournings drew my version of Marshal Ma and I was over the moon for it TToTT !! it definitely made me want to drew her again, so thats what i did

and a few more of the Huaguoshan Four for extra too. maybe what they do while the king is away causing problems in heaven...

[sketching-shark]

I’m pretty sure the ordeal with the Demon King of Confusion happens before Sun Wukong erases their names from the Underworld ledgers and gives them the immortality-granting wine. Referring to the Anthony C. Yu translation (Vol II specifically) also gives some clear numbers to show just how devastating the violence against the Mt. Huaguoshan monkey yaoguai population was, as well as more details on what form that violence took.

After he’s exiled from the pilgrim group for the first time, Sun Wukong goes back to Flower-Fruit Mountain and discovers that his beloved home now “had neither flowers nor plants, while the mist and smoke seemed completely extinguished: cliffs and plateaus had collapsed and the trees had dried and withered.” And right after this shock the monkey king is greeted by some of his monkeys, who tell him that besides now being relentlessly attacked by human hunters there are, “‘Young and old...altogether no more than a thousand’“ monkeys left. Sun Wukong says that “‘In former times, I had forty-seven thousand little monsters here,’” and is told that this massive population crash was caused when “‘this mountain was burned by the Bodhisattva Erlang, and more than half of them were killed by the fire. Some of us managed to save our lives by squatting in the wells, diving into the brook, or hiding beneath the sheet iron bridge. When the fire was extinguished and the smoke cleared, we came out to find that flowers and fruits were no longer available for food. The difficulty in finding sustenance drove another half of the monkeys away, leaving those of us to suffer here in the mountain. These two years saw our number dwindle even further by more than half when the hunters came to abduct us.’“

So we go from 47,000 to 1,000 monkey yaoguai at Mt. Huaguoshan. At least 23,500 were killed by Erlang Shen and his sworn brothers, some 11,750 left afterwards to try to find a place where they wouldn’t have to live in starvation conditions, and the around 11,750 that were left had their numbers whittled down by the hunters to a mere 1,000 monkeys. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that immortality doesn’t automatically come with invulnerability in Chinese mythology; you might stop aging, but you can still be killed.

The monkeys actually clap their hands and laugh in joy when they learn about Sun Wukong’s banishment from the pilgrim group because they’re so happy that he can be their king and protector again. And indeed, Sun Wukong not only kills over a thousand hunters and their horses in one go, thus saving his monkeys from further violence, but also gets the monkeys clothes, food, and, as “he enjoyed wide friendship and great power, he had no trouble in borrowing some sweet, divine water from the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans to wash his mountain and make it green again. He next planted elms and willows in front, pines and cedars in the back; peach, pear, date, and plum--he had them all. He then settled down to enjoy life without a care” (spoiler: he’s gonna be back on that pilgrimage & the Mt. Huaguoshan monkeys are going to suffer even more when the Six Eared Macaque tries to murder-replace the monkey king).

How many times do Wukong monkeys die? I was reading that The Demon King of Confusion kills them??? Besides that Erlang burned the mountain, some monkeys also died there??

Alright so, as far as I know, wukong monkeys got attacked so many times when he wasn't there, so most definitely died.

The reason some are still alive is because they were turned immortal by wukong himself, so obviously they didn't die. For the rest that wasn't, well. Died. Eaten. Burned. Anything that happened i don't remember the exact number of things, they were enslaved, they were taken hostage, they were burned,eaten, lied to, they have been through hell and i don't blame wukong for getting so pissed for it. He sees them as his children and they see him as a king and a figure that protects them, like a grandpa yeah.

it's also really nice how despite all the things, they are still loyal to their king, they know that if they survive the king will come and save them

[sketching-shark]

You used to like Bull Demon x Sun Wukong right? Could you do 76 + 85? Could also include Iron Fan or be one-sided if that's more your style

SDFAEGRTHSGRFES I literally got this ask three times so dang anon it seems you really like your Demon Bull King x Great Sage ship! Though I will say from my own end that while I personally see Sun Wukong as aroace, of all the people I have seen Sun Wukong shipped with I think pairing him with his og classic bestie made the most sense (like wow Wu Cheng'en even composed this whole poem about their ferocious fight and how tragic it was that their incredibly close friendship ended in bitterness). ANYWAY, here's an attempt at a Demon Bull King x Sun Wukong story with lots of Princess Iron Fan & the prompts of "Did They Or Didn't They" + "Innocent Physical Contact"

-----

Humans could become gods, gods could become yao, but it was vanishingly rare for a yaoguai to declare themselves equal to heaven. Learning that there was another who would so audaciously dare to rebel against the deities was what had initially attracted the self-styled goddess Princess Iron Fan to the far-away Mt. Huaguoshan. She was a xian who knew herself to be accomplished in both the martial, spiritual, and magical arts, but even with an entire mountain cave court of her own to run she felt that the existence of another who called themself a deity on Earth was well worth her personal attention. There was always the chance, after all, that a Earthly god would sooner or later make an attempt at her home and her life. Such a being, as she knew from her own character, would not be restrained by the same rules that governed the Heavenly entities.

For an immortal of her caliber it was but a short trip to Mt. Huaguoshan. It was as filled with fruits and flowers as its name suggested. It was also a scene or unbridled, yet still strangely ordered, chaos. Thousands upon thousands of yaoguai--a good half of them monkey yao--were everywhere playing, eating, fighting, lovemaking, drinking, and even studying scrolls on a multitude of different subjects under the eyes of attentive teachers, all while others practiced military drills in tight formations. Five of the monkey yaoguai who were clearly working as guards had watched Princess Iron Fan float in. One of them had dashed off as soon as she was spotted--likely to announce her presence to this so-called Great Sage Equal to Heaven--while the other four waited for her to land with polite, if cautious, deference. They greeted her as Lady Immortal, and requested that she wait for their king to come welcome her himself. Princess Iron Fan decided to play along for now. Based on what she had seen of the activity on Mt. Huaguoshan, this Great Sage would at the very least have to be quite the administrator to organize everything from food production to education for all the yaoguai who called this mountain home.

When the Great Sage arrived not long after Princess Iron Fan had made herself comfortable on a stone chair covered with high quality silk and was wondering whether she should attempt the plum wine or assorted delicacies that had been brought out for her enjoyment, he did not come alone. The self-declared goddess found herself grudgingly grateful for the impeccable manners she had been instilled with when she still resided in heaven, as she had almost snorted with surprise and mirth when she first saw the vast differences between the Great Sage and his companion. Princess Iron Fan had known before coming that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was a monkey yaoguai, but she hadn't expected him to be so...short. His stature and slender frame made the towering, well-muscled bulk of his bull yaoguai associate seem all the more formidable.

It was something that Princess Iron Fan, carefully keeping her face pleasantly neutral though she did, couldn't help but appreciate.

The two yaoguai both greeted her with a level of enthusiasm that shocked the self-declared goddess before they flopped carelessly onto the stone seat across from her, the bull yaoguai settling back with a snort of contentment, the monkey yaoguai using his horns to swing around and seat himself on the bull yaoguai's shoulders. The monkey yaoguai--the Great Sage--stared at Princess Iron Fan for a few seconds from his perch before he gave a short chatter of knowing laughter.

"Let's have a cup of wine each, brother bull! It's best if we start this party of three by assuring our guest that nothing's been poisoned."

Princess Iron Fan felt her face heating in embarrassment from being read so easily. Still, she was a stranger in a strange land, and the easygoing hospitality of the yaoguai across from her signaled that they didn't find anything insulting about her suspicion. Rather, they both leaned forward almost eagerly, and asked her if she had come to be part of the alliance of seventy-two mountains.

She had arrived knowing that the self-proclaimed Great Sage was a monkey yaoguai. She had also gathered tales of the many friends that he made everywhere he had traveled. And if she was being honest with herself, Princess Iron Fan had come not just to potentially scope out a future enemy, but with the hope that she might be able to make a new friend.

Deciding in a flash that honesty was the best policy when it came to forging new and hopefully friendly relations, Princess Iron Fan congratulated the Great Sage for his audacity, and admitted that it was precisely that which had first prompted her, as another self-stylized Earthly deity, to make the trip to his mountain home. The bull yaoguai--who, she learned, went by Niú Mówáng-- had roared in laughter at that, and informed her with a cheeky wink that his sworn brother might be the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, but that he was the Great Sage who pacified it. From there the conversation and wine had flowed quickly and pleasantly. Princess Iron Fan learned many details about the alliance between seventy-two yaoguai rulers and their seventy-two mountains that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, religious name Sun Wukong, had created. She heard story after story of the exploits of Sun Wukong, Níu Mówáng, and the other five members of the sworn brotherhood, and offered a few of her own. Hours flew past in laughter, and while Princess Iron Fan had ended the party by telling a pouting Sun Wukong that she needed to consider matters further before she agreed to be part of his alliance, she could confidently say that their meeting seemed to be the beginning of a delightful relationship. That cheered the monkey right up, his good humor only getting larger when the three immortals were accosted by a pack of young monkey yao that Sun Wukong greeted enthusiastically as his grandchildren. He gave Princess Iron Fan one last wave before he let the horde tug him away, and proceeded to pull one sweet after another out of seams in his armor, the clamor of his grandchildren getting louder and louder as they all begged "Yeye Sun" for some of the treats.

Níu Mówáng watched the monkey and his young entourage leave with clear fondness before he turned back to the self-styled goddess.

"Well my Lady Immortal, what now? Are you planning to return to your own court, or shall we explore those amorous looks you have been throwing my way all evening a little further?"

Princess Iron Fan felt shocked by the bull yaoguai's bluntness into silence, long enough for Níu Mówáng's eyes to grow comically large as he fumbled through an apology for his forwardness, saying sorry that he had so terribly misread her gaze, sorry that he had assumed, sorry that he had-

"Please, you can call me Raksasi. And I think that could be a lovely way to end a delightful day."

The Demon Bull King looked so happy and grateful for her consent that Princess Iron Fan nearly laughed. She couldn't, however, help a squeal of joy and amusement when he picked her up easily and settled her on his shoulders, whispering almost conspiratorially that there was more than one way to ride a bull before setting off at an eager jog for his bedchambers.

Princess Iron Fan had been an Earthly immortal for centuries, and over that time had enjoyed a number of lovers. Yet if she was being honest with herself once again, Princess Iron Fan was coming to prefer the blunt honesty among many of the friendly more "animal" yaoguai over the strange, upsetting mind games that so frequently haunted even the closest of human and godly relations. At the very least, their willingness to express their true desires helped assure that the pain which came with misunderstanding was kept to a few embers, rather than turning into an inferno of raging and confused feelings.

---

It wasn't often that a relationship which had begin for mainly physical reasons blossomed into deep love, but it was a position that Princess Iron Fan found herself in when, years later, the Demon Bull King had greeted her marriage proposal with joyful tears and a bellowed "YES!!!!!" The bull yaoguai had been loud enough that a worried Sun Wukong, his as-you-will cudgel at the ready, had flown into the orchard Raksasi and Níu Mówáng were meeting at with his fangs bared, declaring he could turn their foe into a meat patty. All that fury quickly morphed into joy when he heard what his sworn brother had agreed to, and for all his small stature Sun Wukong was easily able to get the Demon Bull King in a headlock so that he could alternate between nuzzling his sworn brother and tousling his fur with monkey shrieks of delight. Sun Wukong even insisted that they hold at least the wedding feast at Mt. Huaguoshan, even going so far as to bring Princess Iron Fan into that sanctum sanctorum--his personal wine cellar--to convince her of the obvious benefits to choosing his mountain home over her own cave court. Eventually they compromised through the realization that there was no need to have one wedding feast when they could have several. It was a recognition that got that particular monkey off of Raksasi's back as he went to go plan at least five nights of what would be, in the Monkey King's own words "parties that will blow our collective tits clean off."

Raksasi had been happy with her life beforehand, but her upcoming marriage and all the years of friendship and love she had received made everything all the sweeter. She was a powerful xian, loved, respected (and a little feared) at her own court, a firm member of the alliance of now five hundred caves, the friend of some of the most amazing yaoguai she had ever met, and now soon to be married to the great love of her life.

And yet...and yet.

The relationship between Princess Iron Fan and the Demon Bull King had gone through many shifts, yet his relationship to the Monkey King was as strong now as it had been when she first met them. And it was clear to anyone with eyes that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven had a very close relationship, defined by constant tussling and hugging, loud parties, confidential whispers, and even bouts of them going off on adventures for two that sometimes lasted months, Sun Wukong perched confidently on Niú Mówáng's shoulder as they left the Mt. Huaguoshan cave, waving back at the cheering assembled yaoguai until they had disappeared from sight.

Raksasi knew all about this, of course. Conversation between her and her betrothed often turned towards the great deeds him and his sworn brother had accomplished (as well as their mishaps, if the bull yaoguai thought it made for an amusing tale). As it was, Raksasi had come to appreciate this part of her own relation to the Demon Bull King. Being the leader of her own court made for a very busy life, with many aspects that she had constructed according to her preferences over the centuries and which she hadn't wanted another party attempting to abruptly rearrange under the belief that romance with her allowed for anything. Indeed, her and Niú Mówáng had discussed this aspect of their upcoming married life in great detail, and had agreed that Raksasi's cave court and the Demon Bull King's grassland territory should more or less follow the systems that both yaoguai leaders had already established even after they had officially joined forces. Too abrupt a change could result in chaos for their people and for their personal lives. And that was to say nothing of the fact that they were both yaoguai centuries old, and as such as seen a multitude of relationships among their kind falling apart from too many small annoyances piling up as the years went past. The Demon Bull King and the Princess Iron Fan loved each other, but their love would be like the wind caressing the tree; their lives would be connected, but they would still stand as their own beings.

Raksasi was often left giddy in the knowledge that she had found a lover whose own desires wre so suited to her wants. But the closer her marriage to Niú Mówáng got, the more the intimate relation between her betrothed and the Great Sage Equal to Heaven became a topic of court and cave gossip. The whispers and rumors all around her started to become to intense to ignore. The Iron Fan Princess tried...no, she did trust her groom to not be dallying with another yaoguai behind her back, especially not with one with which they were both friends. But as the rumors continued to circulate over the precise nature of the Demon Bull King and Monkey King's apparently too friendly relationship, after she caught a number of her own court regarding her with pity, Raksasi felt justified in seeking reassurance.

When Princess Iron Fan was alone again with the Demon Bull King, she stopped his amorous touches by telling him about the rumors she had heard, how prevalent they had become, how much it was putting doubt on her and her betrothed's relationship. Niú Mówáng grew wide-eyed and gave a snort of surprise upon hearing all of this. It was, however, quickly followed by a thoughtful hum.

Princess Iron Fan braced herself for what might come next.

"I won't lie to you, honey. You are the love of my life...but Sun Wukong is the first one I ever felt such affection for. He...he was my best and most beloved friend for centuries before we even met you. He's been there for me through some of the hardest times in my life. And, well, you've seen him. Whether he's acting as a general or a drinking buddy, he's...he's magnificent."

Princess Iron Fan felt herself bristling a bit at this language in spite of the countless declarations of praise the Demon Bull King routinely gave to her own glory. She almost wanted Niú Mówáng to stop talking. But she wanted the truth of their relationship even more.

"Did you ever...act on your affection for Sun Wukong? Are...are you still acting on it now?"

The Demon Bull King looked absolutely crestfallen at her question, and Princess Iron Fan felt a pang of terror. She had been so worried about the possibility of her betrothed ruining their upcoming marriage with a secret affair that she had completely neglected to consider how her own mistrust might do the same. But Niú Mówáng eventually but smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, as if in silent apology for how his feelings and actions could have sparked her suspicion.

"Truth be told, I don't think he's ever even recognized my affection. And, well, once I realized that he had never shown that kind of interest in anyone, I got scared that me doing so would ruin what we have." Niú Mówáng offered Raksasi another hesitant, melancholy smile. "Truth is I'm still scared to tell anyone."

Raksasi experienced yet again the warm glow that came from understanding how much someone else trusts you to see something they'd rather have hidden. But even so, she had one more concern that, no matter how foolish it might seem she could not ignore.

"If Sun Wukong was receptive to your affections, do you...would you rather be marrying him?"

The Demon Bull King moved towards Princess Iron Fan slowly, as if scared she would fly away. But she let him pull her into a gentle hug and take a few minutes to assemble his thoughts.

"I love my sworn brother. But I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Princess Iron Fan returned her beloved's hug fully.

"Thank you. For your love, for your patience...and for the truth. I know that it can't have been easy to admit your lingering feelings, not right when we're soon to get married. So know that because you told me the truth anyway, I will treasure all the more."

Reaching up, she cupped his face and tried to pour all the love she and understanding could into her gaze. It was also to buy some time to put together one of her own less-than-standard thoughts.

"So thank you for the truth my love. But know that if...if he ever tells you that he may want to take your relationship further...I wouldn't necessarily be averse."

The Demon Bull King's eyes and nostrils grew big with surprise, but then his faced rearranged itself into an expression that was absolutely lascivious.

"Oh? You'd like our dragon and phoenix to be joined by a monkey? I didn't realize I was marrying such a lecher~."

The Iron Fan Princess screamed in mock fury before giving her love a few gentle swats with her folding fan, condemning him for a mind clearly overtaken by the lust he accused her of. The Demon Bull King just responded with a bellowing laugh and sweeping Raksasi up so that he could nuzzle her face and pepper it with kisses, his whispered words going from naughty to sweet and then back to sensual. The Iron Fan Princess was left both heated and warmed from her husband-to-be's attentions and the promises of the treats he had planned for their wedding night. Yet for her the most wonderful part of all was the blooming realization of how honest with each other they could be.

And to be honest with herself once again, she could admit to jealousy. She had never had as deep a relationship with any of her past lovers as she had found with Niú Mówáng, something that left her both joyful that he had it and terrified that he wouldn't want to be in her life forever. Even if she had nothing to worry about in terms of Sun Wukong coming between her and the Demon Bull King, the reassurance that she was the love of his life soothed the spectre of loneliness that often haunted her thoughts. She was, at any rate, very grateful that she didn't have to confront the Great Sage Equal to Heaven for making moves on her man all while pretending to be her friend. Still, Princess Iron Fan could fully admit that while it was not the same kind of adoration that she and the Niú Mówáng shared, neither Raksasi nor anyone else could deny the loyal fierceness with which Sun Wukong loved the Demon Bull King.

It was something that Raksasi could even feel a terrible gratitude for when, centuries later, the Monkey King had prostrated himself before the entirety of a Heaven he had once attempted to overthrow and managed to negotiate, using himself as a bargaining chip, Niú Mówáng's sentence of death for attempting to hinder the journey to the west down to five hundred years imprisonment.

[timeturner-jay]

You always hide so much good stuff in the tags! You're so right - Erlang Shen only won that fight because Laozi got the drop on our dear Great Sage with the diamond snare. It wasn't a fair fight - it was a dirty victory. There's no telling how that encounter would've ended without that outside interference. But knowing how Sun Wukong always goes above and beyond to protect those he cares about, he would've probably pulled through and driven back the attackers eventually. Huaguoshan and his people were at stake, after all.

And yes, that is something that very much bothers me about people putting Macaque on the same level as Wukong - it always comes at the cost of people taking skills away from Wukong and giving them to Macaque instead.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen takes that go "Macaque is much smarter than Wukong and thus better at magic, while Wukong is physically stronger", which... no. just no. Sun Wukong is strong and dextrous, but he is no jock. Far from it, in fact. Out of the four Celestial Primates, it is Sun Wukong who is noted for his intelligence. He is the Intelligent Stone Monkey, not Macaque. He diligently and patiently studied for years to learn all kinds of different magics and philosophies. He's a very spiritual person (again, he's a Buddha) and learned in the teachings of several religions; he does free-form poetry. He loves wordplay and reads between the lines effortlessly. He is a master of traditional Chinese medicine even when he doesn't use magic to heal, and he cured an emperor's supposedly incurable sickness by making his own diagnosis and then mixing medicine accordingly.

But yes. He's physically stronger, too. Vastly. 😌 And that's before he grows three heads, six arms and three times as tall as Mount Everest.

I've said it in the tags before, but if you even have to ask "Can Sun Wukong do [...]", the answer is "yes". The answer is always going to be yes. 🙏

Every time someone says Macaque is as powerful as SWK i make him an inch shorter

[digitalagepulao]

note i can't finish that animation yet cus i crave more frames but CSP is a bully /hj so im waiting till i can upgrade my version before i continue it

[journeythroughjourneytothewest]

Chapter 3 Recap: Four Seas and a Thousand Mountains all bow to submit; From Ninefold Darkness ten species’ names are removed

We are now not very far into the story, but Chapter Three has given us some of Sun Wukong’s most (in)famous acts in very rapid succession! We begin with an account of how the Monkey King turned the Mt. Huaguoshan troop into a proper army and “practiced daily with the little monkeys the art of war.” Yet after some time Sun Wukong becomes disturbed at the thought that the bamboo spears and wooden swords the monkeys were armed with wouldn’t stand a chance against actual “sharp swords and fine halberds,” something that leaves all the monkeys alarmed and wondering where they might get such things. At this, four older members of the troop, “two female monkeys with red buttocks and two bareback gibbons,” come forward to tell the “Great King” he should get such weapons from the king of the Aolai Country, “who has numberless men and soldiers in his city, and there are bound to be all kinds of metalworks there.” Delighted at this idea and making the trip of two hundred miles to Aolai Country in no time at all, Sun Wukong uses his magic to steal the entire armory. And so the Mt. Huaguoshan troop, who are forty-seven thousand strong, became very well armed indeed!

Impressed by the assembly of well-armed and well-trained monkeys, the yaoguai kings of seventy-two caves all come to pay homage to the Monkey King, and even start bringing him annual tributes and joining his army. In this manner Mt. Huaguoshan becomes “as strong as an iron bucket or a city of metal.” Yet while the Monkey King does enjoy the ever-growing impregnability of his beloved mountain home and the strength gathered by his beloved family, he becomes deeply unsatisfied with the scimitar he took from the Monstrous King of Havoc. Coming forward again, the four elder monkeys suggest that he use his vast magical powers to visit the Dragon King of the Easter Ocean, and there request a new weapon. Sun Wukong is quick to make the trip, and is greeted with honor by the Dragon King Aoguang. The Dragon King then offers the Monkey King one weapon after another, each of which Sun Wukong rejects for being “too light.” Aoguang is left “completely unnerved” at witnessing how the monkey easily wields even a halberd weighing seven thousand two hundred pounds, and even though he protests that he has nothing heavier to offer Sun Wukong, the monkey insists he look some more, stating that he’ll give the dragon a “good price” for an acceptable weapon.

It is here that the dragon mother and her daughter suggest Aoguang show the Monkey King “that piece of rare magic iron by which the depth of the Heavenly River is fixed,” hoping that one way or another offering it to Sun Wukong will get the monkey off their collective back. Yet to everyone’s surprise, the Monkey King is able to lift this pole using all his might, and to his pleasure discovers that this metal responds to his request to become shorter and thinner at his command. When he finally gets it to the size he wants, he examines it and “found a golden hoop at each end, with solid black iron in between. Immediately adjacent to one of the hoops was the inscription, ‘The Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod. Weight: thirteen thousand five hundred pounds.” And so the Monkey King is now armed with his famous staff.

Aoguang and all his subjects are left shaking in fear seeing how Sun Wukong displayed his might as he mock fought with the staff throughout their court. They are left more fearful still when the monkey proclaims he must also have the “material apparel” to go with his new weapon, even threatening to “try the iron” on the Dragon King if he doesn’t give him something suitable. Aoguang is forced to summon his three brothers Aoqin, Aoshun, and Aorun, each of them also a dragon king of an ocean, in the hopes they might have what the simian wants. They are left outraged at the monkey’s audacity and theft, but ultimately decide that, as it would be suicidal to go against the Monkey King armed with his new “piece of iron,” that they will “assemble an outfit for him and get him out of this place. We can then present a formal complaint to Heaven, and Heaven will send its own punishment.” All agree to this plan, and thus give Sun Wukong an outfit composed of “cloud-treading shoes the color of lotus root,” a “cuirass of chain-mail made of yellow gold,” and “a cap with erect phoenix plumes, made of red gold.” Sun Wukong takes his new outfit and his new staff and leaves with a “Sorry to have bothered you!” to the dragons, something that leaves them even more enraged and eager to tell Heaven about the monkey’s misdeeds.

Sun Wukong, for his own part, is left “beaming broadly” at the praise the monkeys heap upon him at seeing his new finery, and gives them a playful demonstration on the extent to which his new weapon can grow and shrink. Soon after he performs “magic of cosmic imitation” and takes on his war form for the first time, a figure “ten thousand feet tall, with a head like the Tai Mountain and a chest like a rugged peak, eyes like lightning and a mouth like a blood bowl, and teeth like swords and halberds. The rod in his hand was of such a size that its top reached the thirty-third Heaven and its bottom the eighteenth layer of Hell.” All the yaoguai and their kings who see this are left terrified, their fear compelling them to continue paying their respects.

At this time, all the assembled yaoguai have a “great banquet of a hundred delicacies,” and “the cups were filled to overflowing.” At this feast the Monkey King “made the four old monkeys mighty commanders of his troops by appointing the two female monkeys with red buttocks as marshals Ma and Liu, and the two bareback gibbons as generals Beng and Ba. The four mighty commanders, moreover, were entrusted with all matters concerning fortification, pitching, camps, reward, and punishment.” This achieved and the absolute security of Mt. Huaguoshan and his family seeming assured, the Monkey King not only proceeds to travel all over the world making good friends wherever he goes, but also “entered into fraternal alliance with six other monarchs: the Bull Monster King, the Dragon Monster King, the Garuda Monster King, the Giant Lynx King, the Macaque King, and the Orangutan King.” For a long time this fraternal order of seven spend their days discussing civil and military arts while not overlooking a single pleasure, from exchanging wine cups to song and dance.

After another banquet at Mt. Huaguoshan some time after the fraternal order is formed and during which everyone becomes “thoroughly drunk,” the Monkey King sinks into a deep slumber only for his soul to be dragged to hell. Yet Sun Wukong fiercely “protests” this, first making the case to his jailers that he shouldn’t be there because he successfully trained to be an immortal, and when that doesn’t work he pulls out his treasure and “reduced [them] to hash.” Sending bull and horse-headed demons fleeing in every direction, the Monkey King fights his way to the Palace of Darkness and demands under pain of “a drubbing” that the Ten Kings of the Underworld bring out the register of birth and death and let him see if his death was a mistake. Sure enough, he finds himself as “Soul 1350…Sun Wukong…Heaven-born Stone Monkey. Age: three hundred and forty-two years. A good end.” Yet good or not, the Monkey King refuses to accept any form of death, instead forcing hell’s judges to get him a brush soaked in heavy ink so that he can cross out his own name and the name of every other monkey on the ledger. This accomplished, Sun Wukong declares that he’s truly no longer the subject of death and fights his way back out of the Region of Darkness. The Ten Kings, for their own part, could do nothing except “report the incident to Heaven.”

Waking and realizing that his escapades in hell were “all a dream,” Sun Wukong, the mighty commanders, the various other monkeys, and soon enough the six sworn brothers nevertheless are all “delighted about the cancellation of the names,” believing that “those fellows,” the ministers of death, “have no hold over us now.” And indeed, “from that time onward there were many mountain monkeys who did not grow old, for their names were not registered in the Underworld.”

Yet even as the yaoguai celebrate, the Great Benevolent Sage of Heaven, the Celestial Jade Emperor of the Most Venerable Deva, is presented with more and more complaints about Sun Wukong’s various crimes and exploits. Hearing about the terror the Monkey King inflicted on the Dragon Kings, the Jade Emperor declares that he will send his generals out to arrest the unruly culprit. Right after, the Jade Emperor also receives the complaint from underworld on how Sun Wukong is upsetting the very wheel of transmigration, “for birth and death are eliminated in each kind of monkey,” and as such there is now another request for the Jade Emperor to “send forth your divine army and subdue this monster.”

The Jade Emperor, now faced with more understanding of the power this monkey holds, asks which of his divine generals will take on the task of capturing Sun Wukong. Yet the Long-Life Spirit of the Planet Venus steps forward and offers an alternative: that the Jade Emperor, instead of going to war with the Monkey King, summon the simian to Heaven and give him “some kind of official duties. His name will be recorded in the Register and we can control him here.” If he obeys then Heaven will gain another immortal, and if he doesn’t than he can be arrested without any military might needed. The Jade Emperor is “highly pleased” at this idea, and delegates the Gold Star of Venus to inform Sun Wukong of this new (and somewhat dubious) honor. The Monkey King receives the Gold Star politely, is delighted at the offer of a place among the deities, and agrees to go to Heaven. This chapter ends with Sun Wukong instructing his four mighty commanders to “Be diligent in teaching and drilling the young ones. Let me go up to Heaven to take a look and see whether I can have you all brought up there too to live with me.”

Whether Heaven will become a monkey paradise or not is a question that will have to wait for the next chapter.