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itsabouttimex2 · 12 days ago

Note

Can we get an eclipse King's continuation does y/n wake up?

Eclipse Kings

Part Two: Barbed Dusk

(Part One: Mountain Monkeys) (Part Two: You Are Here) (Part Three: Wild Dawn)

(Extra One)

(You are a ragged little thing, unfit for luxury or lavishness. “Thankfully”, Macaque sees to curating your hygiene.)

They are covered in scars.

The Six-Eared Macaque; golden eyes dimmed in frustration and impatience, is now bereft of his crown. It had borne him a striking silhouette, each wicked spike on the circlet fashioned from gold.

You could not have known it yourself, and the shadowy king would never admit it to one whom he deigned a necessary pest as most, but… he had commissioned it only a week after losing his beloved Xiaotian.

With tear-stained cheeks and gouges torn into his fur from constant scraping, the simian had wobbled down from the mountain and into the nearest smithy, then threw down a glittering heap of golden coins. His only request had been; spoken brokenly, for “something that would hurt”.

The blacksmith had been hesitant at first. The request was unusual—not for the opulence offered, for he had forged again and again petty trinkets to sooth a lord’s ego. No, it was the pain. The simian’s trembling voice and sunken eyes spoke of a sorrow too vast to comprehend, but the blacksmith had seen enough grief bite down any questions. Instead, he had worked through the night, the rhythm of hammer on gold ringing out in the silence, a somber requiem for the monkey’s fresh loss.

So the blacksmith had fashioned him a twisted crown from that heap of treasure, taking what little was left as payment after beating the metal into a branching circlet that splintered out into harsh thorns, then plated it with rhodium to darken and reinforce the malleable gold underneath.

“It’ll hurt,” the man had reminded him, touching the crown only with his thickest gloves.

The look in Macaque’s eyes had told him enough- “I want it to,” spoken through his hollow eyes and gaunt frame and torn fur, but left unsaid on trembling lips.

And Macaque had taken it with his bare hands, punishing his treacherous fingers for “allowing” his son to slip through them.

He had not allowed his agony to end there.

The sharp tips bit into his scalp, drawing thin rivulets of crimson that trailed through inky fur, leaving raw furrows through its heartless embrace. He hadn’t winced or cried or paused, instead pressing it down further and further, lips curling into a grimace that might have once been a smile, his heart brittle and sharp like fractured glass.

It would hurt, but never as much as losing his son.

An unassailable grief, incapable of transmutation into vengeance or betterment.

Until you.

Until you had wandered into their stately pagoda, wandering through the lavish halls and snatching their food, leaving the trail of an all too familiar scent in your wake.

Until you had ran from them in fright as so many had years ago, twisting through woods just as jagged and thorned as the crown that Macaque had finally pried from his forehead, smashed and discarded at the empty grave they had fashioned for their found son.

You had led them back to him.

That thought alone keeps Macaque’s hands gentle as he lathers a thick sponge with fragrant soap, wetting it and rolling the squashy corpse* against your forearms.

His mate, holding his own sponge, tends to your legs with a manic smile- it hasn’t dropped even after a full night of sloppy celebration and utter destruction. Every last little memorial and shrine they had created now lay in pieces around the pagoda, only sparing what little the prince himself would have use for- the clothes and toys they had left on these altars as gifts that would have been now resided in the boy’s room-

“It’s Y/N’s room, too,” the little one had insisted, forcing them to make arrangements appropriate for both a demon toddler and a mortal… whatever age you were. Folding screens and an extra mat.. but nothing else. Not from malice, though- they simply hadn’t quite learned what else to put in “your” room.

There was no need to separate what was his from what was yours- you simply didn’t have anything at all. Every little luxury you had accumulated in that muddy rattrap was all for your brother.

The boy’s bed, piled high with plush animals and soft quilts, had been eagerly pushed closer to yours, left with “only” a few pillows and a single blanket as he excitedly prepared to sleep in warmth and safety for the first time in years.

(Only was not a word you knew. There was no “only” in the life of one who owned nothing.)

“You had enough of a nap on the way here,” Sun Wukong sighs. “So stay awake a little longer. We can’t let you go to bed filthy or injured.”

You want to protest. To scream and cry and plead for them to take their hands off of you, to let you return to that familiar; if squalid, hovel, to let you- and your brother- go back to the only home either of you had ever known.

But words die on your chapped lips, too exhausted to be parted for begging.

You just lay there in the tub, head held aloft by one of Wukong’s muscled hands, completely incapable of moving or protesting. You just… sit there, and accept the reluctant doting.

MK (“Qi Xiaotian”), the kings and all their soldiers and maids say. You don’t think there’ll ever be a moment that you’re used to that. ) sits next to the tub with worry in his little black eyes, trying his hardest to focus on the book he was gifted by his fathers- hand-drawn pictures of him decorate each page, detailing his growth from baby to toddler. Supposedly it would “stir his memory”, but the effort seemed futile- he had simply been too young to remember anything before you.

Neither of you were truly “home” in this pagoda, no matter how they tried to push you into believing that.

MK would adjust, definitely. He would come to enjoy plush toys and doting maids and loving fathers, ample food and warm water. He could grow to love silk pillowcases and wool blankets. He could grow to love warm halls and loving fathers.

He hadn’t lived like you had. No, MK had spent his time safely inside that wretched dump, playing with whatever toys you could scrounge for him, chasing little bugs and cooing at the occasional rabbit or squirrel that came in for shelter.

This was going to be harder for you.

The warmth of the water feels unfamiliar, outright alien in its softness . You are too used to icy streams that prick at your skin, the dry rasp of dirt and grime. Here, the milky water cradles you like a cloud.

Help.

You are being helped .

And you know what that means. Help comes at a cost. A leering smile from a vendor who would try and tail you through the woods. A begrudging shove of stale bread into your hands after a trade. Mumbled curses about a “pest” under the breath of a housewife giving you a chunk of too-ripe fruit.

What price will this cost?

The thought churns uneasily in your gut as Sun Wukong tilts your head upward, his golden eyes studying your face. They gleam like the sun, but there is no warmth for you.

(Not yet.)

They’re calculating, cataloging each bruise, each scrape. Every pale white line scarred deep and unremovable. The truth of agony is plain on your skin, a map of suffering written in purples, blues, and scabbed reds.

It does not miss him that his son is, in turn, totally unblemished.

Admiration without love. Gratitude without familiarity. Respect without want.

You have done him a greater favor than any other being could provide- you are owed praise and repayment, that much the vaunted kings know.

You are deliverance from grief and agony and a haunting eternity of wondering “what could I have done to save him?”.

But you are not his child.

The golden king’s hands are steady as he finishes rinsing the soap from your hair, the last traces of filth swirling down into the bathwater, which drains into a little bamboo pipe leading outside.

One of them, you don’t care to see which, wraps a towel around you. It smells faintly of mint and ginseng- things the rich put in their soaps and lotions.

The silence stretches, broken only by the soft lapping of water and the occasional creak of the tub as one of them shifts. You think you should feel safer in this moment, surrounded by warmth and covered neck to ankle, but the unease still roils in your stomach, a highly coiled spring just waiting to snap.

The unease is not lost on MK, who cuts through it like hot butter.

Y/N!” He cheerily calls, catching your attention. You turn your head slightly, just enough to meet his gaze. He’s holding the book up for you to see, a wide, gap-toothed grin plastered across his face. “Look! This is me! When I was a baby!”

The drawing he points to looks almost too real, imperceptible from reality aside from the lightly yellowed edges. An infant demon with wide, curious eyes, bundled in blankets, his tail peeking from the swaddle You glance at the page, then back to MK, who looks at you expectantly.

You don’t know what he wants you to say.

You don’t even want to speak.

But you manage a “It’s cute,” voice cracking from disuse. It’s the first thing you’ve said since they brought you here, and it feels strange. “ Very cute, kiddo.”

The silence grows tenser for your words, winding further through the room and forcing it into unease. And, like before, MK keeps going in spite of it.

“You’re gonna get sick if you don’t wear something warm,” MK fussed, tugging on the towel with one little paw. “You need to put some clothes on! And you need something to drink!”

“Your Baba can get them something to wear,” Wukong coos, tapping one clawed finger against his son’s rosy snout. “The maids sewed up some nice clothes for the two of you.”

“Moonlight, if you’ll get the paste, I’ll run and grab what they made.”

Macaque nods and releases you to sit alone on the floor, turning to scrounge through his lavish cabinets, each one stocked with a costly product that you couldn’t put a name to, paired to a price that would make your eyes water if you heard it spoke aloud.

You sit motionless on the tiles, towel wrapped tightly around your bruised shoulders. The plush fabric is too heavy, too soft. It’s not comforting—it’s suffocating. Every nerve in your body screams at you to run , but… to where? To what ? There’s no dirty stream to lose your scent in, no puddle of mud to smear yourself with for camouflage. There is no place left but here .

As you think on escapes, Macaque’s shadow coils- like a wispy vein of smoke- along the floor, and for a moment, you swear it’s alive, flickering toward you like a snake.

But you blink and then it is still, unshifting and steady.

You don’t imagine things often. You can’t bring yourself to think that this was one of those rare circumstances.

…he’s even more dangerous than you had believed, and with that dawning revelation a little spark of hope is squashed in your chest.

The sable king turns to you with two glads jars, both smelling of fresh herbs even through their seals. One he sets on the wooden rim of the bathtub, and the other he brings to you- the contents glow from within, faintly white and luminescent, as though moonlight itself had been processed and bottled.

“This is going to sting,” the king warns, dipping his claws into the glittering paste to scrape out a generous, gelatinous lump. “But it’ll keep you from getting infections.”

Everything hurts, and you are tired. So, so very tired that your eyes smear the colors of the world all around, incapable of perceiving fine details. All the embroidery of Macaque’s kingly robe, purple and black and silver, blend into a dark blob as he approaches, as he kneels, peels away the top of the robe, and begins to smear the paste across your upper body.

The searing sting is immediate , sharp enough to make you gasp, breath catching in your throat. It feels like fire crawling across your skin, burning out the grime and decay that had wormed under your flesh. It hurts, worse than icy waters soaking your feet in winter, worse than all the hounds that bit at your heels as you leapt fences, worse than all the beatings you had taken when your thieving was thwarted.

Throughout all your life, only one thing has brought worse pains- hunger. But even that feels like a distant memory now, boiled away by the sensation of prickling, running through your skin in a steady march.

Macaque pulls away with a little huff, shrugging his shoulders as you twitch and writhe in place.

“Be grateful. That stuff costs an eye and a half.”

It’s strikingly casual for a demon of his status, speaking almost like a…

Maybe he had spoken like this to MK once.

Maybe he was settling back into it, with his son back, and simply didn’t think to harshen his tone with you, given his preoccupation with unscrewing the second jar.

“This is something we’ve been trying to spread in that mortal village of yours- a paste blend to scrub teeth with. Mint, ginseng, and some rock salt…”

“…why, um. Why is it… why just for mortals and not demons, too?”

“Yaoguai grow their teeth back once they’re damaged- doesn’t matter if they rot out or get snapped. A new one grows in after the old. Mortals need to take care of what they’ve got. So one of our, ugh “Sworn Brothers��- with a real soft spot for squishy little mortals - worked to make this stuff with another of our “brothers”. He even gave us a crate for our own citizens.”

“…he seems nice,” you remark, thinking on the existence such a benevolent immortal. “I hear most demons just eat mortals.”

“Most yaoguai do,” he snaps, eye twitching at the term you used. “And those yaoguai have tried to break into our village before, and my mate has always protected all of you, even before I came in and married him. Now we protect all of you from yaoguai together.”

(…if he weren’t twice your size and equipped with claws and fanged canines, you might’ve seen fit to call him something mean.)

“Now, open your mouth.”

“…excuse me?”

“It’s an herbal paste. For your mouth. You wet it with clean water and scrub it over your teeth- it scrapes out filth, and there’s not much else you brought with you into our pagoda.”

“Hmm, almost like I didn’t bring shit because-“

Snapping through the air like a whip, he interjects with a snarled- “Language .”

Macaque’s eyes are narrow, golden irises flickering with a dangerous edge that makes your stomach churn. He leans closer, looming over you, and you’re suddenly reminded - and quite vividly- of the disparity in your sizes, in your positions. His shadow shifts, darker, heavier, wrapping around your silhouette in a way that feels utterly suffocating .

Your mouth clamps shut instinctively, a primal reaction to the unspoken threat. A dozen instincts claw at you: run, fight, scream—but there’s nowhere to run, no fight you can win, nothing. So, you simply sit there, jaw tight, avoiding his gaze, your whole body trembling like a leaf in a storm.

The shadow king exhales sharply through his nose and leans back, his oppressive presence retreating as he composes himself. When he speaks again, his tone is quieter, though still sharp enough to make you flinch.

“You’ve had it rough,” he says, somewhat reluctantly. “I get it. But you’re under our roof now. Which means you obey our rules. Watch your tongue, brat.”

Submission is a bitter taste you’ve rarely sampled- rare is it that you lie down and grudgingly accept a losing lot. But there is no choice now- he is stronger, faster, smarter. You have lost without even making a move.

“You haven’t been here a day, and you’re already biting a hand that hasn’t had time to feed you.”

“I didn’t ask to be here”, is what you want to say, to scream about the unfairness of being ripped away from a home that you were at least familiar with… but you’ve been cowed, and thus, simply open your mouth.

Reluctantly, you open your mouth.

“Good,” he says, his tone softer now, though still carrying that edge of command. He dips a soft-bristled tool you hadn’t noticed before into the herbal paste and scrapes up a small amount, before lightly dipping it into a small jar of water, then maneuvers that unfamiliar tool into your mouth with some small measure of gentleness.

The first bristles touch your teeth, and the sensation is strange. Foreign. Not painful, exactly, but intrusive. You flinch, more out of instinct than anything else, and Macaque pauses, his eyes narrowing just slightly.

“It won’t hurt. Or taste bad. Azure made sure none of this would be unpleasant for a mortal.”

You try to nod, though it’s awkward with the tool in your mouth. Macaque takes it as a cue to continue, brushing your teeth with a deliberate circular rhythm. long. But, true to his word, the paste doesn’t sting or leave an acrid aftertaste- instead, it’s cool and herbal, with a faint sweetness from the mint. The bristles tickle more than anything, and after a moment, your teeth start to feel… bare.

Stripped of grit and mud. Of moldy leftovers and bits of sand.

The grime that’s been built up after years of poor living is stripped like bark is peeled from a tree, in that all that is left under the coating is a smooth, soft white. The sensation is uncomfortable in its newness, leaving your mouth feeling raw and exposed. Your tongue darts along the surface of your teeth, licking again and again at the lack of filth.

“There,” Macaque huffs, pulling back as he dips the brush into a bowl of water to rinse it clean. “Clean enough that you don’t have an excuse for getting sick.”

You swallow thickly, avoiding his gaze. You don’t feel like thanking him. Not after everything.

Instead, you glance toward MK, who’s still engrossed in his book. He’s watching you through the corner of his eye, waiting for some kind of signal. You don’t know what he expects from you—a smile? A reassurance?

It seems like you’re as much a stranger to him as he is to you, despite your efforts to keep him safe all these years.

A demon prince hailing from the kings of Flower Fruit Mountain, heir to the throne.

To you, he had only ever been a sweet little brother.

Did you realty know him at all?

The thought alone is too much.

The warmth of the bath, the suffocatingly tight towel, the newness of your teeth, the watchful eyes of a being so much stronger than you. It’s all too much. You sit down and draw your knees up to your chest, clutching the towel tightly, a silent plea for space that you will not receive.

The tension in the air again grows palpable, but before it can thicken further, the golden king reappears, his arrival announced by the clink of glittering beads against tile. Sun Wukong strides in with a bundle of neatly folded clothes in hand, his gaze flicking between you and Macaque.

“I can take over from here, moonlight.”

#Platonic Yandere #Yandere Lego Monkie Kid #Yandere LMK #Yandere Sun Wukong #Yandere Macaque #MK #Monkiefam #Eclipse Kings #Not The Beloved #3k

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sanflawoah · 3 months ago

Text

Black Myth: Wukong ramblings because I'M GOING INSANE.

FOUR YEARS. I. DID. MY. WAITING. WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO EXPRESS MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS GAME.

(Lengthy words and massive spoilers below!)

First minutes into the game I was all chill expecting the opening to be a long prologue cutscene about JTTW, explaining core things you need to understand, a helpful guide for those unfamiliar with the lore beforehand. But NOOOOO....we jump straight ahead fighting ERLANG SHEN AND THE FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS. We're WIDE AWAKE.

About gameplay, the devs stated repeatedly that it's not a souls-like game, and more like a God of War ish. Yet so many still questions whether it's a souls-like and then went into the game just to say "meh not souls-like". Amazing density of head.

I really don't demand much for whatever mechanic they serve, I'm really just here for the monkey smash experience and the childhood nostalgia and the fresh aesthetics.

The character design?? The environment?? The architecture?? The statues?? Soooo beautiful oh my god you really need to stop and admire these things (when you don't have a boss shredding you) up close. Look up their inspirations and concept arts, some statues and buildings exist in real life and it's really mind boggling how they incorporate it into the story. The part where you fight with Yellowbrow at Thunderclap temple, what a creative choice, the idea of "miniature fight" on the temple altar. I'm farming so many screenshots for art references. 10/10 visuals, graphics will definitely fry your PC.

Again with the character designs. I'm really loving the absurd looking bosses one, really fresh take. Then to the celestials and yaoguais, I just..... OH they're ALL hella gorgeous. I've seen some people going "WOULD" towards Wukong or The Destined One and I don't blame you. I've had my fair share of neuron activation moment.

Erlang yoo, I was stunned at first with the way they present his personality during the opening, but turns out we got the reason for it near the ending :"(((. He was helping us all along ughsjsjsjsksdsd. Also, they know EXACTLY what they're doing by casting Andrew Koji as the english VA.

White Clad Noble? Half snake man hissing at you to get off his lawn. I feel kinda bad for him lmao, dude was just minding his business and we go monkey smash all over his place.

Keeper of Flaming Mountain? Neat hat and cool makeup bro, awesome yin yang palette and battle area design. BANGER THEME I'll get to it.

The Third Prince in Pagoda realm prison, why does he looks so good, you encounter this guy in his cell just suffering, and somehow he's still serving looks.

The girlies damn, the spider sisters are gorgeous, and YES even madam violet spider, come look at spider granny serving fashion and arachnophobia.

At first I was scared that they're going to sexualise the hell out of the spider sisters or any of the female characters, since the book itself tells their trait as luring men with their beauty (to be eaten though). But actually?? They're a lot tamer than I expected? I mentally prepared myself for the worst, like racy sexualised outfit and personality, but turns out they're all very normal. Like how you would see Tang dynasty inspired ladies. I braced for GTA or cyberpunk-like explicitness but thank god it's not the case, not at all.

Rakshasi and Pingping having the relatively "sexy" look, but then both of them had a moment where they're not actually their real selves, but rather a transformation of Zhu Bajie and Red Boy LMAO. Funny boner killer.

Talk about this boi, our Destined One. To be honest I was kinda disappointed when I found out he doesn't speak at all. Banters, insults, cackles, anything you would expect a Wukong-like personality, he doesn't have it.

I tried to think of a reason, and I think the dev's choice of making The Destined One silent kinda has a root to it. Our MC is NOT the Wukong himself, we are literally just some monke, and we're tasked to gather the six relics Wukong had scattered by retracing his journey. Also, I think it's a funny thought that probably it's just their personality difference, Wukong the loud, Destined One the quiet. Wukong sometimes does chaos for shits and giggles, our Destined One does chaos because we have to.

My theory: our Destined One is just non-verbal! Zhu Bajie even acknowledged it. When we first met him after defeating Kang-Jin Loong, he bantered "A furry coat and a pinched face, luck's all you've got", and he looked confused when we don't say anything back because Wukong would've returned the favour, "Great, another mute. Let's not dally". So the game actually acknowledges it, it's not like they intentionally muted us and have the NPCs acting as if we talk back to them all the time.

Non-verbal and asexual coded? I'll take it.

THE ANIMATED CUTSCENES??? OH MY GODDD. Impossible to put ALL the epic frames here. I really don't expect this from a game at all, real time cutscenes are great, but a WHOLE 2D AND STOP MOTION ANIMATED SCENE?? No wonder the full development took SIX years. You could pause the scenes at any frame and it's worthy of analysis.

The stop motion one really surprised me, how are they that dedicated. The plot as well, it started out romantic and escalated into HORROR real quick. Batshit insane, love it.

For many players, the animated cutscenes may be confusing on the first watch. So many references to JTTW, metaphors, mix of Chinese Taoism and Buddhism. I personally encourage people to look around in forums for explanations, plenty of the Chinese words are untranslatable into English, but it's all so worth the knowledge.

Enjoying the JTTW shows and contents as a child is all about the fun and giggles, understanding the lesson of it all as an adult hits me like bricks, especially with the way they're adapted in this game.

I CRIED?? A LOT??? Of all characters I could cry for, ZHU BAJIE?? Man is literally a nasty pervert in the book, living to the pig form indeed, but in this game he's a bit better. Sure he's still his natural pervert self, but since the game took place after JTTW, he surely had some character development. His animated love story cutscene, loorddd they have no business making it so full of freshly diced onions.

Love how each character in animations have different styles. Erlang's design in particular are different in each scenes. Most of the time he has dark hair, in others he has white hair and different armor, same goes for Wukong's design. I'd imagine the devs struggled to choose for one consistent design and decided to just fuck it and put them all in lmao.

And then THE SOUNDTRACKS, THE SOUNDTRACKS YALL. Love love love it when they incorporate buddhist prayer chants flawlessly into the soundrack. The soundtrack during the chapter one ending animation caught my attention with it, I asked around what mantra is it and they say it's probably Cundi Dharani? Please correct me if I'm wrong. The track is called "I See" in the official playlist. The lyrics too, my god, the way they narate the animations.

During the fight with Keeper of Flaming Mountains, IS THE SOUNDTRACK A RENDITION OF "FISHERMAN'S SONG AT DUSK"? IS IT? Losing my mind because it's my favourite chinese traditional piece. Half expected him to pull out a guzheng and blast me with phantom blade from the strings, IYKYK.

And of course, a new rendition of the classic JTTW theme. This will be my neighbour's favourite music for a while.

Some tidbits I like, apparently if you're idle for a while and Zhu Bajie is with you, sometimes he'll start to talk about past stories or lectures you. If you push him around for a few times he'll get annoyed, if you keep pushing him then he'll struck you with his rake lmaoooo. Perhaps we weren't so different from Wukong after all.

Another insane stuff is the headless singing guy. GoW has a talking disembodied head, now BMW has a HEADLESS singing man, literally a reverse Mimir.

The rematch with The Four Heavenly Kings YOOOOO I love their design so much. They look like statues from temples jumping straight to life. The stances! Throwing hands with them is the true Monke of War experience. The East King with his Pipa literally playing the background music, excellent touch.

This has been an insane scroll of yappings, I'll stop here (for now) and take a moment to touch grass. If you've been reading ALL THE WAY to this line, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to harm your braincells.

#black myth wukong #sun wukong #zhu bajie #erlang shen #journey to the west #JTTW #may I request a DLC of throwing hands with the jade emperor #spoketh

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quitealotofsodapop · 2 months ago

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Does that last ask mean Nezha is on MK’s side the whole time during the MK Egged au?

Ref.

Yup.

The second Nezha learned about MK's Stone Egg, his loyalty has been to his role as Protector of Children.

To ensure that the youngest Stone Monkey (whether that be MK himself or the future infant) is safe outweighs any other duties Nezha may have. Except perhaps finding safe place to hide the Emperor's power.

So when Li Jing treats MK like animal that needs to be tamed and caged, Nezha's trust in his father falters.

Nezha busts the monkeys out on purpose. And pretends he sees nothing when he attends the Dragon-Tiger festival.

Li Jing: "You let them get away!? Why didn't you react?!" Nezha:

When the gang jump into the Pagoda, Nezha is jumping in after them cus "Gotdang it! Gotta make sure MK is safe!"

Also once the Queen Mother of the West arrives on-scene to see what the commotion is about, Li Jing gets the crap beaten out of him for putting a pregnant person in distress.

Xiwangmu, destructive power lashing at Li Jing: "You are truly the worst son-in-law I have!" Li Jing, dodging her flames: "Do you forget the Bull!!?" Xiwangmu: "HE WOULD NEVER HURT A PREGNANT PERSON!"

Xiangliu barely has the screen time to explain their plans since they get a War Form Lotus Prince and Primordial Destruction Goddess squeezing them like a stress ball. Meanwhile, MK still puts himself in harms way by sacrificing himself to the Pillar, only to pop out moments later with Nuwa's permission to destroy the heavenly stones.

Once the baby Haoyu is finally born/hatched, Nezha holds them and prays; "Please, do not be as much trouble as your parent."

Haoyu sneezes and flames spit onto Nezha's face. Nezha sighs fondly.

#MKEgged au #pregnancy tw #stone egg talk #qi xiaotian #lmk mk #lmk nezha #lmk li jing #lmk xiwangmu #lmk queen mother of the west #lmk aus #lmk #lego monkie kid

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starsfic · 6 months ago

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Monk and Monkey, Back Together

Summary: Qi Xiaotian has been kidnapped by a cult. When Wukong raids the cult's compound, he finds a familiar face.

A familiar face, yes...but the same personality? No.

Notes: A birthday gift for @unseelie-robynx, based off their Cult AU (basically Tang Sanzang goes nuts after splitting his soul and starts a cult in Wukong's honor) and the fun AUs that branched off.

-_-

Sun Wukong was furious.

Stories had been told of his fury, of the always burning rage that lived deep inside him, no matter how calm or collected he seemed. Wukong, when he was younger, didn't mind the stories. He was always up for a fight, no matter how Macaque complained. As he grew older and more tired, he had found himself worn out.

He was too old to be angry.

Not right now, however. Now, Wukong was a burning ball of rage.

Qi Xiaotian, his successor, his star, the thing that made him get up in the morning, was gone.

Had been stolen.

Wukong hadn't known for two days, not until Pigsy called him (he had no idea how he got his number) to ask when the kid would be allowed to leave in order to come home. The confused "What are you talking about? The kid's not here." sent Xiaotian's family and friends scrambling.

Wukong had first assumed the kid had been courtnapped, but his search provided nothing but Red Son offering his help. He had next assumed Heaven, but the gods up there had no idea Xiaotian even existed, excluding Nezha. Macaque had come to him first, allowing Wukong to ransack his properties to kick him off the list. Which left them with no clues.

Not until Xiaojiao had cornered Yin and Jin.

"All we heard was that there was some cult, out in the Gobi!"

"Yeah, yeah, there were rumors that they stole some prince!"

"Maybe not your prince, but it's worth a look-see, right?!"

They were right, it was worth a look-see. Wukong had even given them a headstart before calling Nezha about his stolen stuff.

Down below, he could see what appeared to be a temple. It was done in white and gold, the roof gleaming like a star in the sunset. If this was any other situation, Wukong would brush it off as a ruin. But it looked too new, too kept, to be anything beyond the location he was looking for.

Wukong jumped off his cloud and landed right in front of the gates. He slammed his foot into them, and they banged open, revealing a courtyard. It was empty, but that wasn't what made him stop.

It was the giant gold statue of him.

Sure, plenty of statues of Wukong existed. But none had been as big as this one, depicting him dressed in his finest garments and holding the staff. Despite the warlord dress, he was shown with a gentle, almost loving smile, his hand reaching down to the flower-decorated base as if to offer help. If this was any other case, Wukong would love it.

Now, it just felt creepy.

Wukong eyed the statue as he marched into the pagoda of the temple. He threw open the doors and felt his brows raise higher.

The temple was decorated with him. The walls were done with tapestries and paintings of him and his victories, both on and off the journey. The floor was tiled with peach flowers, matching the flowers that lined each piece of art. In the center of the pagoda was a large pool, flowers gently bobbing in the water.

Once again, there was another statue of him sitting in the center of the pool. This one was dressed more simply, smiling at a baby monkey, both wearing flowers. More flowers were piled at the base of the statue, which must've been the source of the floating flowers.

Even weirder, it was dead silent.

"Where is everyone?" Wukong looked around, wondering if he had missed guards or assassins lurking in the shadows. Nothing met his eyes. However, that was second to the more disturbing thought working his way in.

Was this cult dedicated to him?

As a rule, Wukong destroyed cults. A few had sprung up after the journey, with humans wanting to eat Tang Sanzang's flesh in hopes that it would give them immortality as it did demons, requiring Sanzang to be rescued. (Wukong hadn't minded, more than happy to get a chance to see his old master.) One or two had mentioned him, but none had been dedicated to him entirely. He couldn't even see any signs of his brothers in any of the art.

But why take Xiaotian?

Wukong groaned, rubbing his forehead. "I wish Sanzang was here," It wasn't the first time he had made this wish, but the first since Tang and Pigsy and Sandy had taken him aside and delicately told him their suspicions. He had no idea what to think of the idea. But, right now, Sanzang might have been able to offer an alternate view.

But, Wukong was alone. Nobody had come to see what the noise was when he slammed open the doors. So, he took in a deep breath and allowed his eyes to light up in gold.

Above, there was nobody. He couldn't see movement at all. Maybe it was just the fact that he was on the main floor and this was a big compound, but Wukong had a feeling that wasn't it. He looked down.

Bingo. Three gleams, moving about a floor or two down below. None was the bright supernova that was Xiaotian and all his magic, but it worked.

The cult must've moved to another place when they heard that he was looking for Xiaotian. These three must've stayed behind for some reason. Wukong chuckled as he started to move, looking for a way down. Despite it being cheery, it was dark, broiling with emotions.

It was their mistake.

The iron doors were easy to spot, lit by the lanterns that lit everything. They creaked loudly, revealing a small dark staircase lit by only torches. Wukong wasted no time in heading down them. Once he got there, he followed the gleams to a cell. The doors were double unlike the simple barred cells. This must've been where they kept Xiaotian.

Wukong slammed his foot into the doors. They banged open.

"Alright, you guys better tell me where Xiaotian is!" he barked, looking around.

A few things stuck out to him. One was Yellowtusk and Peng, both bound in golden rope and frantically struggling with gags in their mouth. Second were the empty chains. Third was the chair, its back facing him. The fourth thing was the chuckle. "He's not here, my king…"

The chair spun around. Wukong felt his entire being freeze.

"He hasn't been here in weeks." Tang Sanzang sighed, staring at him from the chair. A heartbeat of silence passed. Wukong couldn't bring himself to move. The monk did first, standing up and folding his hands in the gold robes he wore. He looked like he had the day it was announced he was moving back into the cycle of rebirth. "This one…" Sanzang pressed his hand to his chest. "Did his best to care for him when he was allowed contact but the Azure Lion was rarely so indulgent as to allow-"

"Azure? What… I don't… M…" Azure had been in the underworld last he checked. Sanzang had rejoined the cycle of rebirth. Confusion was overtaking his anger, and Wukong felt the fire slowly die. "Master? Is that… I don't understand, what's going on?"

Sanzang laughed, the sound gentle and warm, as he spread his arms. "Would you be willing to allow this one to explain?"

Wukong couldn't help himself. It had… it had been so long since he had hugged Sanzang. He allowed himself to be folded into the monk's arms, leaning his smaller body against the other man. It was warm and comforting and Sanzang even reached up to that small area on the back of Wukong's head to gently scritch where the filet had rubbed his skin raw. It was one of those gestures Sanzang had done in apology. It still made Wukong melt, falling to his knees.

Unlike all the times before, Sanzang followed.

"He stole him," Sanzang whispered, but the noise still carried in the room. "Azure hurt him. He wanted to twist him into what he wanted you to be. He wanted to break his will. He-" A noise of disgust that was familiar in Wukong's mouth but alien in Sanzang's mouth escaped him. "He made him call him Baba."

Baba.

Wukong's stomach heaved. He had always known that Azure hoped that, one day, Wukong would love him back. That they would get married and have children in a warrior's dream. Peng, in a rare burst of spite aimed at Azure, had once told Wukong that Azure had written out possible baby names.

Qíngyí or Míngxiá for a girl. Yìchén or Mùyáng for a boy.

Wukong had never confronted Azure to see if this was the truth. He had kept his silence, hoping his lack of response meant that Azure got the hint.

But he never imagined…Azure was charismatic enough to start a cult, ignoring the question of how he escaped the underworld. But to try and force Xiaotian to see him like that?

"I did my best to help Xiaotian, I swear I tried," Sanzang continued, voice trembling with heartache. Wukong barely noticed Yellowtusk lurch to life, frantically trying to say something through his gag. "He's such a bright boy, he deserves better," Wukong nodded. He did, he definitely did. "But Azure demanded what he thought he deserved."

Oh, kid…

"But, now you're here." Sanzang pulled away to reveal a sunny smile, one rarely seen on his face. "We can find Azure together and bring Xiaotian home. We can fix things, make them right," He squeezed his hands. "Together."

Wukong was confused. He was scared. He was angry. He was-

"OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, ANOTHER WUKONG ADMIRER?!" Peng's gag had somehow managed to slip off. The bird angrily squawked. "HE'S NOT EVEN THAT HOT!"

He really wanted to smash Peng into bits.

However, he didn't have his staff. Plus, Sanzang was here. His poor master never got the handle of seeing blood or gore, even when he grew to understand that violence was sometimes the path that had to be taken. Wukong was supposed to be better than that now.

He didn't feel like it with Xiaotian gone, but everyone in the crew felt like that.

"C'mon," Wukong got to his feet, ignoring as Yellowtusk renewed his thrashing, and held out a hand. He fought back a shiver as he remembered the statue, because that wasn't important. Sanzang, taking his hand and rising gracefully to his feet, was. Xiaotian was the most important thing here. "If Azure has him, there's one place he'll definitely go."

Wukong led the way. He didn't notice Sanzang pause and glance back, flashing Yellowtusk and Peng a nasty smirk before he followed his monkey.

A thought occurred to him and he turned at the doorway, just in time to see the gentle smile reappear. "By the way…how are you here?"

"Whatever do you mean, my dear monkey?"

"It's just…" Okay, this felt a little stupid. "I heard you joined the cycle of reincarnation. One of Xiaotain's dads- his real dads-" Because Xitaotian wasn't his son, despite Wukong's most secret wish. "Has your powers. His husband and his friend, they might be reincarnations of Bajie and Wujing-" He glanced at the floor, trying to figure out how to word this, failing to notice the anger that briefly lit Sanzang's eyes. "-So, I thought…ugh, this is so dumb…"

"It is," Sanzang nodded, reaching out and cupping his face. Heat rose up in Wukong's face at the touch. It felt a lot more intimate than their touches before, and considering the amount of just naked cuddles they had done (actual cuddling, not sex Bajie), that was saying a lot. "You should know by now that I'll always be here for you for whatever you need."

Peng gagged in the background.

Something felt weird about Sanzang's tone, but Wukong couldn't put his finger on it. Whatever it was, it probably didn't matter.

They were back together, the monk and the monkey, and they would fix things.

"I'll call the others and let them know what's going on," Wukong pulled out his phone. "I think Camel Ridge is an archaeological site right now, so maybe Tang-" Okay, it felt awkward to think about him now with Sanzang there. "Maybe Tang has a friend who spotted something." His phone dinged and he glanced down.

NO SIGNAL

"Of course," Wukong sighed. "I'll go upstairs. While I do that, I'll also let Nezha know he has some prisoners he needs to pick up."

Sanzang nodded. "Of course. I'll be glad to meet your new friends."

"…thanks, master."

The moment Wukong was gone, the cheeriness and light faded from Sanzang's reflection, the darkness of the room closing on him. He took in a deep breath and stretched. It had been a long time since he had needed to lie so boldly. He turned to Yellowtusk and Peng, who both glared at him. "You're lucky Wukong was here," he said simply.

Yellowtusk threw his head back, allowing the gag to slip down his mouth. If he had managed before, Sanzang's plan might've been blown up. "Our brother is more clever than you think-" he panted, eyes furious. "He will see through your ruse-"

"Oh, well, eventually," Sanzang shrugged. Wukong was smart and clever. "Not until the Jade Emperor's dead, and I've given him the throne at least." He pulled out a phone. "I will need to contact the others and let them know the plan has changed." It was likely that the monks sent to guard the prince with Azure were dead.

He mourned for a second. But they knew their purpose. They would not have mourned.

It was so hard running a cult sometimes.

#my writing #Tang Sanzang #Sun Wukong #Yellow-Tusked Elephant #Golden-Winged Peng #AU #LMK #LMK AU #Monkie Kid #Monkie Kid AU #LEGO Monkie Kid #LEGO Monkie Kid AU #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #Suntang #Tangsun #Tripsun #Suntrip

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yamayuandadu · 1 year ago

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Horned hermits and immoral immortals: an inquiry into Zanmu's background

As you might remember from my previous post covering Zanmu, I was initially unable to tell how her historical background led to ZUN choosing to make her an oni. The historical, or at least legendary, Zanmu seemed to be, for all intent and purposes, a human. That has since changed, and the matter now seems considerably more clear to me. Read on to learn more about the real monk Zanmu is based on, and to find out what she has in common with the most famous Zen master in history, Taoist immortals, and Tsuno Daishi. Even if you are not particularly interested in Zanmu, this article might still worth be checking out, seeing as the discussed primary sources are also relevant to a number of other Touhou characters, including Byakuren, Yoshika and Kasen.

As in the case of the previous Touhou article, special thanks go to @just9art, who helped me with tracking down sources advised me while I was working on this.

The historical Zanmu

Statue of Zanmu from the Sazaedo pagoda (Fukushima Travel; reproduced for educational purposes only) As already pointed out by 9 here even before my previous post about Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost, Zanmu is based on a real monk also named Zanmu. His full name was Nichihaku Zanmu (日白残夢), and he also went by Akikaze Dōjin, but even Japanese wikipedia simply refers to him as Zanmu. ZUN basically just swapped one kanji in the name, with 日白残夢 becoming 日白残無. The character 無, which replaces original 夢 (“dream”), means “nothingness” - more on that later.The search for sources pertaining to the historical Zanmu has tragically not been very successful. In contrast with some of the stars of the previous installments, like Prince Shotoku or Matarajin, he clearly isn’t the central topic of any monographs or even just journal articles. Ultimately the main sources to fall back on are chiefly offhand mentions, blog articles and some tweets of variable trustworthiness. The only academic publication in English I was able to locate which mentions Zanmu at all is the Japanese Biographical Index from 2004, published by De Gruyter. The price of this book is frankly outrageous for what it is, so here’s the sole mention of him screencapped for your convenience:

The book referenced here is the five volume biographical dictionary Dai Nihon Jinmei Jisho from 1937. I am unable to access it, but I was nonetheless able to cobble together some information about Zanmu from other sources. Not much can be said about Zanmu’s personal life. He was a Buddhist monk (though note a legend apparently refers to him as “neither a monk nor a layperson”, a formula typically designating legendary ascetics and the like) and a notable eccentric. Both of these elements are present in the bio of his Touhou counterpart.

The Sazaedo pagoda (Fukushima Travel; reproduced for educational purposes only)

Zanmu’s tangible accomplishments seem to be tied to the temple Shoso-ji, which he apparently founded. He is enshrined in the Sazaedo pagoda near it, though this building postdates him by over 200 years. It’s located in Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima. You can see some additional photos of his statue displayed there in this tweet. It’s a pretty famous location due to its unique double helix structure, and it has a pretty extensive article on the Japanese wikipedia. It’s also covered on multiple tourist-oriented sites in English, where more photos are available (for example here or here). There’s even a model kit representing it out there. Sazeado’s fame does not really seem to have anything to do with Zanmu, though. While many Buddhist figures ZUN used as the basis for Touhou characters in the past belonged to the “esoteric” schools (Tendai and Shingon), Zanmu was a practitioner of the much better known Zen, specifically of the Rinzai school.

The kanji mu (無 ) caligraphed by Shikō Munakata (Saint Louis Art Museum; reproduced for educational purposes only) Since the concept of “nothingness” or “emptiness” represented by the kanji 無 (mu) plays a vital role in Zen (see here or here for a more detailed treatment of this topic; it’s covered on virtually every Zen-related website possible though), and there’s even a so-called mu kōan, it strikes me as possible this is the reason behind the slightly different writing of the names of ZUN’s Zanmu, as well as the source of her ability. Granted, the dialogue in the games makes it sound like Zanmu (and by extension Hisami) just talks about nothingness as a memento mori of sorts, which is not quite what it entails in Zen. Of course, ZUN does not adapt Buddhist doctrine 1:1 (lest we forget Kasen seemingly being unaware of the basics of Mahayana in WaHH) so this point might be irrelevant.

The legendary Zanmu

The eccentric monk Ikkyū (center), as imagined by Kawanabe Kyōsai (Egenolf Gallery; reproduced for educational purposes only)

A number of legends developed around the historical Zanmu. If this blog post is to be trusted, there is a tradition according to which he was a student of arguably the most famous member of the Rinzai school, and probably one of the most famous Buddhist monks in the history of Japan in general, Ikkyū. He is remembered as the archetypal eccentric monk, and spent much of his life traveling as a vagabond due to his disagreements with Buddhist establishment and unusual personal views on matters such as celibacy. As I already said in my previous article pertaining to Zanmu, long time readers of my blog might know Ikkyū from the tale of Jigoku Dayū and art inspired by it, though since this motif only arose in the Edo period it naturally does not represent an actual episode from his very much real career.

A page from Ikkyū Gaikotsu (wikimedia commons)

In art a distinct tradition of depicting Ikkyū with skeletons developed, as seen both in the case of works showing him with his legendary student Jigoku Dayū and in the so-called Ikkyū Gaikotsu. Skeletons also played a role in Zen-inspired art in general (for more information see here). Whether this inspired ZUN to decorate Zanmu’s rock with bones is hard to determine, but it does not seem implausible. It would hardly be the deepest art history cut in the series, less arcane of a reference than the very existence of Mai and Satono or Kutaka’s pose. Obviously, it does not seem very plausible that Ikkyū ever actually met the historical Zanmu. Ikkyū passed away in 1481, and Zanmu in 1576, with his birth date currently unknown. Even if we assume he was a particularly long-lived individual and by some miracle was born while Ikkyu was still alive, it is somewhat doubtful that an elderly sick monk would be preaching Zen doctrine to an infant. However, apparently legends do provide a convenient explanation for this tradition. Purportedly Zanmu lived for an unusually long time. The figure of 139 years pops up online quite frequently, and does seem to depend on a genuine tradition, but even more fabulous claims are out there.

Kaison Hitachibō, as imagined by an unknown artist (wikimedia commons)

According to another legend, Zanmu was even older, and in fact remembered the Genpei war, which took place in the Heian period - nearly 400 years before his time. Supposedly he told many vivid tales about its famous participants, Yoshitsune and Benkei. A tradition according to which he was himself originally a legendary retainer of Yoshitsune, the warrior monk Kaison Hitachibō (常陸坊海尊) developed at some point. This has already been pointed out by others before me in relation to the Touhou version of Zanmu. From what I’ve seen, some Japanese fans in fact seem excited primarily about the prospect of Zanmu offering an opportunity to connect Touhou and works focused on the Genpei war. The tradition making Zanmu a centuries-old survivor from the Heian period must be relatively old, as his supposed immortality is already mentioned in Honchō Jinja Kō (本朝神社考; “Study of shrines”) by Razan Hayashi, who was active in the first half of the seventeenth century, mere decades after Zanmu’s death. While I found no explicit confirmation, it seems sensible to assume this legend was already in circulation while Zanmu was still alive, or at least that it developed very shortly after he passed away. Perhaps he really was invested in accounts of that period to the point he sounded as if he actually lived through it.

The choice of Kaison as Zanmu’s original name in the legend does not seem random, as there was a preexisting tradition according to which this legendary Heian figure was cursed with eternal life for betraying Yoshitsune by fleeing from the battlefield instead of remaining with his lord to die. You can read more about this here. Apparently there is a version where he instead becomes immortal to make it possible to pass down the story of the Genpei war to future generations (this is the only source I have to offer though), and there's even a well-received stage play based on it, Hitachibō Kaison (translated as "Kaison, priest of Hitachi") by Matsuyo Akimoto. Another thing worth pointing out is that Kaison was seemingly a Tendai monk from Mount Hiei, which means that even though Okina isn’t in a new game, you can still claim she’s metaphorically casting her shadow over it in some way if you squint (and that’s without going into the fact sarugami are associated with Mount Hiei). I've seen two separate sources which mention that according to a legend he trained Benkei there, and that the two did not get along because Kaison was a corrupt monk (lustful, keen on substance abuse, greedy, the usual routine). You can access them here and here,but bear in mind they're old. Zanmu’s Genpei war connection does not really seem to matter in Touhou, though, as ZUN pretty explicitly situated his version in the Sengoku period, with no mention of earlier events. Granted, if you like it, this should not prevent you from embracing the view that Zanmu is an alter ego of Kaison as your headcanon - as I said people are already doing that. It seems equally fair game as “Okina is Hata no Kawakatsu”, easily one of the most popular “historical” headcanons in the history of the franchise. According to this twitter thread, the legends about Zanmu’s longevity (or immortality) have a pretty long lifespan themseles, as they were referenced by relatively high profile modern writers, like Orikuchi Shinbou and Tatsuhiko Shibusawa.

Buddhist immortals

A word carving of a sennin, "immortal" or "hermit" (wikimedia commons)

Legends about long-lived (or outright immortal) monks, such as Zanmu or Kaison, are hardly uncommon. A work which seems to be the key to understanding their early development, and by extension possibly also the portrayal of Zanmu in Touhou, might be Honchō Shinsenden, “Records of Japanese Immortals”. This title refers to a collection of setsuwa, short stories typically meant to convey religious knowledge or morals. Its title pretty much tells you what to expect. Honchō Shinsenden is an interesting work in that while it in theory deals with Buddhism, and largely describes the individual immortals as, well, Buddhists, it ultimately reflects a Taoist tradition. There is a strong case to be made that it was an inspiration for another Touhou installment, specifically Ten Desires, already, seeing as it mentions prince Shotoku and Miyako no Yoshika and its Taoist-adjacent context has a long paper trail in scholarship, but I will not go too deep into that topic here - expect it to be covered in a separate article later on. Stories of immortals are pretty schematic, and their protagonists can be categorized as belonging to a number of archetypes. I think it’s safe to say this has a lot to do with the self-referential character of this sort of literature - compilers of new works were obviously familiar with their forerunners, and imitated them for the sake of authenticity. In China, literary accounts of the lives of immortals circulated as early as in the first century BCE, with the concept of immortals (xian, 仙, read as sen in Japanese; this term and its derivatives have various other translations too, with Touhou media generally favoring “hermit”) itself already appearing slightly earlier. It seems Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of Spirit Immortals) by a certain Ge Xuan, certified immortals enthusiast and cinnabar-based immortality elixir connoisseur (discussing and developing immortality elixirs was a popular pastime for literati in ancient and medieval China), can in particular be considered the inspiration for the later Japanese compilation. While the concept of immortals was largely developed by Taoists, tales focused on them were already not strictly the domain of Taoism by the time they reached Japan. They were embraced in Chinese culture in general, both in strictly religious context and more broadly in art. In Japan, they came to be incorporated into Buddhist worldview, and in fact Honchō Shinsenden states that their protagonists can be understood as “living Buddhas” (ikibotoke), a designation used to refer to particularly saintly Buddhists. Their devotion to both Buddhas and other related figures, and to local kami, is stressed multiple times too.

Presumably this was the result of the influence of the Japanese Buddhist concept of hijiri (聖), a type of particularly rigorous solitary ascetic in popular imagination regarded as almost divine. Needless to say, most of you are actually familiar with the hijiri even if you never read about them, as this is the source of Byakuren’s surname and a clear influence on her character too. In Honchō Shinsenden, it is outright said that the sign 仙, normally read as sen, should be read as hijiri in this case.

A portrait of Huisi (wikimedia commons)

The notion of extending one’s lifespan was not incompatible with Buddhism, as evidenced by tales of adepts who lived for a supernaturally long period of time to show their compassion to more beings or to get closer to the coming of Maitreya. Even the founder of the Tiantai school of Buddhism (the forerunner of Japanese Tendai), Huisi, was said to meditate in hopes of extending his life to witness Maitreya. At the same time, Chinese compilations of stories about immortals do not list Buddhists among them, in contrast with Japanese ones. This might be due to the rivalry between these religions which was at times rather pronounced in Tang China, culminating in events such as emperor Wuzong's persecution of Buddhism. Let’s return to Honchō Shinsenden, though. Its original author was most likely Ōe no Masafusa, active in the second half of the eleventh century. No full copy survives, but the original contents can nonetheless be restored based on various fragmentary manuscripts. Some of the sections are preserved as quotations in other texts or in larger compilations of stories, too. I have seen claims online that the historical Zanmu is covered in some editions of the Honchō Shinsenden or works dependent on it. So far I was only able to determine with certainty that Zanmu is covered alongside the immortals from Honchō Shinsenden in at least one modern monograph (Nishi-Nihon-hen by Kōsai Chigiri; if anyone of you have access to it I’d be interested to learn what exactly it says about Zanmu) and a number of posts and articles online. However, he lived around 400 years after this work was completed, so he quite obviously does not appear in its original version, contrary to what the Touhou wiki says right now. Masafusa does not necessarily portray the immortals as pinnacles of morality, and indeed moral virtues do not seem to be a prerequisite for attaining this status in his work. It is therefore possible that despite being setsuwa, his tales of immortals were an entirely literary endeavor and were not meant to evoke piety, let alone promote the worship of described figures.

A recurring pattern which unifies all of these tales is describing immortals as eccentric. As I already noted, this is a distinct characteristic of the historical Zanmu too, and it comes up in the bio of his Touhou counterpart as well. She has “reached the absolute pinnacle of eccentricity”. It seems safe to say ZUN is aware of that pattern, then, and consciously chose to highlight this. He also stresses that Zanmu has lived through an era of marital strife, specifically through the Sengoku period. The inclusion of such episodes is another innovation typical for Japanese immortal tales, and does appear to be a feature of the tradition pertaining to Zanmu’s counterpart too, as discussed above. Horned hermits?

A modern devotional statuette of Laozi with horns, found on ebay of all places; reproduced here for educational purposes only.

There is a further possible feature of Zanmu that might be tied to Honchō Shinsenden. While there are numerous physical traits attributed to immortals in Chinese sources, Masafusa decided to only ever highlight two. One of them are unusual bones, the other - horns on the forehead. Tragically one of my favorites, square pupils (mentioned in Liexian Zhuan), is missing. Masafusa relays that an anonymous hijiri, the “Rod-Striking Immortal”, grew stumpy horns as a sign of attaining his supernatural status.This might be a stretch, but perhaps Zanmu, due to being the Touhou version of a legendary immortal, also already had horns before becoming an oni. You have to admit it would be funny.

The two horns - or rather small bumps, based on available descriptions - characteristic for some immortals were known as rijiao (日角; “sun-horn”) and yuenxuan (月懸; “moon crescent”). Such unusual physical features were already attributed to various legendary and historical rulers and sages in China in the first century CE, so this is not really a Taoist invention, but rather an adoption of beliefs widespread in China in the formative years of this religion. They also intersected with the early Buddhist tradition about the so-called “32 marks of the Buddha”, documented for example in Mahāvastu and later in Chinese Mahayana tradition which Taoist authors were familiar with. Yu the Great, the flood hero, was among the legendary figures said to possess horns in Chinese tradition. It is even sometimes believed Laozi had them when he was born, which according to Livia Kohn was meant to symbolically elevate him to the rank of such mythical figures as Fuxi.

While this is ultimately a post focused on Zanmu, I think it’s worth pointing out this belief in horned ascetics has very funny implications for Kasen. Being a “horned hermit” is not really an issue, it would appear. If anything, it adds a sense of authenticity. Clearly Kasen needs to study the classics more.

Immortals (and mortals) in hell

One last connection between Zanmu and legends about immortals is her role as an official in hell. However, this is much less directl. Early Chinese sources mention “Agents Beneath the Earth” (dixia zhu zhe 地下主者), a rank available to low class immortals choosing to serve in the land of the dead. They could be contrasted with the immortals inhabiting heaven, regarded as higher ranked than them. However, note that there are also many narratives focused on mortals becoming officials in hell - in Japan arguably the most famous case is the tale of Ono no Takamura, a historical poet from the early Heian period. In Chinese culture there are multiple examples but I think none come close to the popularity of judge Bao. It does not seem any immortals playing a similar role retain equal prominence in culture. Ultimately this paragraph is only a curiosity, and a much closer parallel to Zanmu's role in hell exists - and it’s connected to materials ZUN already referenced to booth.

Corrupt monks, oni and tengu

Ryōgen, the most famous monk turned demon, and his alter ego Tsuno Daishi (wikimedia commons)

In addition to characterizing Zanmu as eccentric, ZUN also wrote in her bio that she is a corrupt monk. As we learn, she developed a belief that the best way to reconcile the Sengoku period ethos which demanded boasting about the number of enemies killed with Buddhist precepts was to focus on spirits rather than the living, since she will basically deliver salvation to them. She ultimately “absorbed some beast-youkai spirits, thus discarding her life as a human”. This to my best knowledge does not really match any genuine tradition about the historical Zanmu, related figures or anyone else. As far as I can tell, it’s hard to find a direct parallel either in irl material or elsewhere in Touhou... at least if we stick to the details. More vaguely similar examples are not only attested, discussing them was for a time arguably the backbone of Buddhist discourse in Japan, and neatly explains why Zanmu became an oni. The idea that monks who broke Buddhist precepts in some way turned into monsters is not ZUN’s invention. It first appears in sources from the Heian period, and gained greater relevance in the Kamakura period. Particularly commonly it was asserted that members of Buddhist clergy who fail to attain nirvana turn into tengu. However, oni were an option too. Bernard Faure points out that Ryōgen, the archetypal example of a fallen monk (see here for a detailed discussion of this topic, and of his return to grace as a demon keeping other demons at bay), could be described as reborn as an oni, for example. The Shingon monk Shinzei is variously described as turning into an oni, a tengu or an onryō (vengeful spirit). Oni are also referenced in a similar context in Heike Monogatari alongside tenma, a term referring to demons obstructing enlightenment in general.

Corrupt monks turned into tengu in the Tengu Zoshi Emaki (wikimedia commons)

Typically it was believed that monks who turned into demons went to a realm variously known as makai, tengudō or madō. As you may know, normally there are three realms one should avoid reincarnating in - beasts, hungry ghosts and hell - but this was basically a bonus fourth one. Granted, this view was not recognized universally, and the alternative interpretation was that it was just a specific hell with a distinct name. At the absolute peak of this concept’s relevance, the foremost Buddhist thinkers of these times, including Nichiren, were accusing each other of being demons. Additionally, some of the past emperors, especially Sutoku and Goshirakawa, could be presented as tengu, for example in Hōgen monogatari. There was also an interest in finding gods who could keep the forces of disorder at bay. You can see echoes of these beliefs in rituals pertaining to Matarajin, which ZUN rather explicitly referenced in Aya's route in Hidden Star in Four Seasons. Typically the reason behind transformation into an oni, tengu or another vaguely similar being were earthly attachments. Alternatively, it could be pursuing gejutsu, “outside arts”, essentially teachings which fell outside of what was permitted by Buddhism. Note this does not necessarily mean anything originating in religions other than Buddhism, though, the term is more nuanced. So, for instance worship of kami or following Confucian values are perfectly fair game. A synonymous term was gedō, “heretical” way (on the use of the term “heresy” in the context of study of Buddhism see here). We can make a case for Zanmu’s bio alluding to that - she wanted to adhere to the social norms of the Sengoku period by symbolically taking in a headcount by absorbing spirits, I suppose. That’s not really a thing in any Buddhist literature, though, and I assume ZUN came up with this himself. Conclusion While this article is slightly less rigorous than my recent research ventures pertaining to Matarajin, let alone the Mesopotamian wiki operations, I hope it nonetheless sheds some additional light on Zanmu. I will admit I already liked her even before I started digging into the possible inspiration behind her, and finding out more only strengthened my enthusiasm. While there are clear parallels between Zanmu, her namesake and a variety of other characters from Japanese and Chinese literature and religions, as usual for a character made by ZUN her strength lies both in creative repurposing of these elements and in adding something new.

Postscriptum: Zanmu and Tang Sanzang?

Xuanzang, as depicted by an unknown Qing artist (wikimedia commons) While much about Zanmu’s character - her backstory as an eccentric fallen monk who became a demon, her apparent zen theme, and so on - all form a coherent whole, there is a tiny detail which does not really match anything else discussed in this article. It does not come from her dialogue or bio, but rather from Enoko’s. As we learn, she became immortal herself after eating a piece of Zanmu’s body back when the latter was still a human. Or rather, the combination of that and subsequently consuming a magical gemstone as recommended by Zanmu did it - I’m pretty sure I misread this before. As 9 pointed out to me, probably the implications are just that Enoko’s backstory is a partial reference to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, which does state that consuming the flesh of a monk would be a particularly suitable way for an ordinary animal to turn into a youkai. Still, comparisons between this tidbit and Journey to the West have been made by others before already, so I figured it would be suitable to address them here even if they lie beyond my own argument about the inspiration behind Zanmu. In this novel, many demons want to devour its protagonist Tang Sanzang because his flesh is said to make anyone who consumes immortal. This is because he is a reincarnation of Master Golden Cicada (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子), a disciple of the Buddha invented for the sake of the story. Interestingly, Sanzang is portrayed as an adherent of Chan Buddhism, the school from which Japanese Zen is derived (note that his historical forerunner Xuanzang belonged to the Yogācāra tradition instead). Despite the vague similarities, I ultimately do not think there are particularly close parallels between Zanmu and Sanzang. For starters, Zanmu is meant to be a corrupt monk, while Sanzang is the opposite of that. Their respective characters couldn’t differ more either. Throughout the entire novel, Sanzang is a pretty poor planner, shows doubt in his own abilities, and regularly misjudges the situation. Needless to say this does not exactly offer a good parallel to Zanmu. Sure, she creates a bootleg Wukong, but Sanzang did not create Wukong, the famous primate was just assigned to him as a bodyguard. Therefore, until evidence on the contrary appears (for example in an interview) I would personally remain cautiously pessimistic regarding a possible connection here. Recommended reading

Bernard Faure, Rage and Ravage (Gods of Medieval Japan vol. 3)

Noga Ganany, Baogong as King Yama in the Literature and Religious Worship of Late-Imperial China

Zornica Kirkova, Roaming into the Beyond: Representations of Xian Immortality in Early Medieval Chinese Verse

Christoph Kleine & Livia Kohn, Daoist Immortality and Buddhist Holiness: A Study and Translation of the Honchō shinsen-den

Livia Kohn, The Looks of Laozi

James Robson, The Institution of Daoism in the Central Region (Xiangzhong) of Hunan

Haruko Wakabayashi, From Conqueror of Evil to Devil King: Ryogen and Notions of Ma in Medieval Japanese Buddhism

Idem, The Seven Tengu Scrolls. Evil and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy in Medieval Japanese Buddhism

#touhou #zanmu nippaku #nippaku zanmu

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lavender-butterfly-cookie · 28 days ago

Note

I feel so early but whatever, can we get a Dark choco x reader? I think I'm the first but that's ok. Also, welcome to the fandom

Ah- very early, butterfly. I was expecting about a week or two before getting an ask and yet you're already here. But I guess it's better than nothing, right? I shall deliver for you!

Reader x Dark Choco cookie

You're a peaceful cookie who resides in the ivory pagoda. You normally wouldn't interact with those who travel in these parts, but one cookie caught your eye. His dough was dark and so was the cloak he wore. In all honesty, he stuck out like a sore thumb in these light lands. That's probably why you even noticed him in the first place.

Regardless, You were rather intrigued by this cookie. And so you followed him from a distance, curious to see what he was searching for. Despite how discrete you had been (or at least thought you were) it seemed your presence didn't go unnoticed for too long. The cookie stopped in his tracks before glancing around for a moment, as if looking for something. "He's looking for you, idiot-" you thought, and despite trying to shake it off as an overreaction, you knew it was true.

Eventually the cookie turns to your direction and stops moving, causing you to freeze as well as he stared in your direction. You kept still in hopes that maybe he'd think you were a statue or something. But clearly that wasn't the case as he spoke up.

"I know you see me."

He said. You remain silent, earning yourself a grunt of annoyance from him as he made his way to you. You shrunk back a bit as he stopped just in front of you and you didn't know what to do from this point. You were caught.

"Why have you been following me? who are you"

Knowing there was little to nothing else you could do but comply, you introduced yourself and explained your story and how you had never seen a cookie such as himself. When he saw that you meant no harm and wielded no weapon, he eased up. You went on to ask him why he was here and where he was from, even going as far as providing him guidance around since you knew this place well.

From there, a variety of conversations sparked between you two, and the longer you explored the place, the more comfortable you had both gotten with each other. You learnt his name was Dark Choco cookie, an ex-prince from the Dark Cacao kingdom. When you asked why he was an ex-prince, he didn't answer. Realizing it must've been a heavy topic for him, you retracted it and spoke more about these lands in order to change the topic.

And them came the part you didn't realize you dreaded so. You both stood in front of the temple where your master resided and explained her history to your new companion. Upon seeing a look of realization on his face, you figured that she might've been the one he was looking for. If that was so...

Your heart drops into your stomach. Why did he seek out your master?! For a wish? Maybe to combat her? No no, regardless of his intentions you couldn't allow him to go any further than this. Not only for your loyalty to Mystic Flour cookie, but also for his safety. You had spent majority of this journey explaining who and what your master was, and all that she could do. And yet, none of that registered enough in his mind if he didn't decide to turn back.

Before he could advance further, you stepped in the way and questioned him. Why didn't he turn back when you had foreshadowed what your master was capable of doing? What were his intentions? Was he too foolish to take the hint of how dangerous mystic flour cookie was and decide to just keep going? You needed answers, and you needed them now before he did something regrettable.

But he didn't answer them. A shadow covered his eyes and you could sense that he wasn't gonna provide you with the answers you needed. You had recalled how he mentioned that it was of great importance to him that he finishes what he came to do, and how he was ready to do anything to reach that goal. It became apparent to you now that he was serious about this and was willing to find a way to bypass you if you were seen as a potential threat, reluctantly so.

"Move"

He said, his voice dark, and yet it carried a hint of something else. What that something else could be evaded you. Part of you wanted to refuse, your loyalty to your master strong. But you had grown fond of this cookie, far more than you'd like to admit. You could fight, but what would happen if you won lost? Your master was dear to you. Not More dearer than a mere stranger. You had two choices. You could fight, or you could surrender.

Whatever you chose to do, however, ended in the same way. With tears and jam on your face. Darn, if only you weren't still fond of the one who killed you, huh? Part of you knows that he regrets it. Why else was the last thing you saw his tear filled eyes otherwise?

#crk #crk x reader #crk x you #dark choco cookie #dark choco crk

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icekingofhope · 5 months ago

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WARNING THIS HAS SPOILERS FOR MONKIE KID SEASON 5

So since we have the new villain who is definitely Impiled to have a lot of importance to the story which is the nine headed beast

I decided to check abit about him to see if there is any info of him and in fact there is he was a villain of journey to the west and here is what we have

this is copy and pasted from the jttw wiki it says and I qoute

“ The Nine-Headed Beast also known as the Nine-Headed Prince Consort is married to Wansheng Dragon King's daughter. He is armed with a Crescent Moon Spade He collaborates with his father-in-law to steal the Śarīra from Golden Ray Monastery. Sun Wukong enlists the help of celestial forces to deal with the demons. The Nine-Headed Beast has one of his heads bitten off by Erlang Shen's celestial hound but manages to escape”

and for more info on the wansheng dragon king and the nine headed beasts wife is this

“The Wansheng Dragon King is based in Emerald Waves Lake Rocky Mountain Kingdom of Jisai He marries his daughter, Wansheng Princess, to the Nine-Headed Beast. He plots with his son-in-law to steal a Śarīra from the pagoda in Golden Ray Monastery in Jisai and release a rain of blood in the kingdom. Without the Śarīra, the pagoda loses its magical shine, and the king perceives the blood rain as an ill omen. He believes that the monks in the monastery are responsible for stealing the Śarīra and starts persecuting them. Sun Wukong uncovers the truth when he and his companions arrive in Jisai. The dragon king and his family are eventually killed by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. The Śarīra is returned to the pagoda”

“The Wansheng Princess is Wansheng Dragon King's daughter and the Nine-Headed Beast's wife. She stole the Nine Leaves Lingzhi Herb from the Queen Mother of the West. She is slain by Zhu Bajie”

he also seems to have two servants

“Benbo'erba and Babo'erben are two minions of the Nine-Headed Beast. Their respective forms are a sheatfish and a blackfish respectively. They stay at the top of the pagoda in Golden Ray Monastery after the Śarīra is stolen. Sun Wukong discovers them while cleaning the pagoda and captures them. He learns about the theft of the Śarīra from them”

so that’s what is seen so far he is practically a prince as he had married to royalty and his wife is practically dead- along with his father in law and such him being a prince does fit though due to his appearance and what his body language indicates

I hope in the English dub or sub we get info of him and we seen him more he is a really interesting character

(also side note is it just me or why would it feel like the character double trouble from she ra would fit for a English Va )

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #lmk s5 spoilers #lmk s5 #the nine headed beast #Jttw #info #lmk #monkie kid season 5 #monkie kid s5

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yletylyf · 10 months ago

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Mysterious Lotus Casebook timeline

I put this together for my own use while writing my fic, but haven't seen anyone else share one, so here goes!

This is live-drama canon, not novel canon. I don't speak much Chinese; I followed iqiyi's subtitles which are rather awful. Additions/suggestions/comments/corrections more than welcome!

As should be expected for a comprehensive timeline of all pre-canon events, this is not spoiler free. Below the cut, as it's long:

Timeline

130 years ago:

Princess Longxuan is born, in the year of Ren Yin, Wu Shen month, Geng Jia day, at the hour of Geng Chen. [It could be any year of Ren Yin, but since it has to be more than a hundred years ago, this one is the only one that makes sense.]

100 years ago:

The night before Nanyin was overturned, Princess Longxuan marries Crown Prince Fangji, the eldest son of Emperor Xicheng, granduncle of the current emperor. Princess Longxuan becomes Consort Xuan. Consort Xuan secretly initiates the revival of Nanyin and plots to use the Rama Vessel.

Prince Fangji conspires against Emperor Xicheng and fails. He is ordered to commit suicide. Consort Xuan is sentenced to be buried with Prince Fangji.

Princess Longxuan writes a letter to magician Feng A-Lu asking him to save her son at the bamboo forest. She tells him to contact Jin Yu Huang Quan and revive Nanyin.

Nanyin craftsmen build their tomb and Nanyin sorcery hides it for 100 years.

The throne passes to Emperor Guanqing.

Feng A-Lu does not meet Princess Longxuan's son. He goes to kill the imperial family and falls in love with Consort Ying instead. They have a son who Consort Ying passes off as the emperor's son. Feng A-Lu is buried in the collapse of the Pagoda of Bliss.

Jin Yu Huang Quan did not revive Nanyin. They used the amassed wealth for themselves and passed the Rama ices onto the next generations.

Unknown time:

Li Xiangyi's parents save Qi Mushan.

Bandits attack the Li family; Li Xiangyi and his older brother are the only survivors.

25 years ago:

Teenage Shan Gudao finds four-year old Li Xiangyi and his older brother on the streets. Older brother dies.

Qi Mushan rescues Shan Gudao and Li Xiangyi and brings them to Yunyin mountain.

20 years ago:

The Feng clan, having searched for Princess Longxuan's descendant for over a hundred years, learns that her grandson had a ten-year-old son who is presently studying under Qi Mushan.

[Note Shan Gudao is over twenty and Li Xiangyi is nine or ten at this time, but anyway:]

The Feng clan takes Shan Gudao as the long-lost descendant of Princess Longxuan.

Ostensibly 18 years ago, but probably more like 21 or 20:

[Note there is some debate about how old Fang Duobing is supposed to be. Di Feisheng claims he has a letter showing that Fang Duobing's parents broke up 18 years ago while He Xialan was pregnant, but other sources state he is 20 at the time of the show]

He Xialan was in a relationship with Shan Gudao. They break up while she is pregnant. Fang Duobing is born a few months later, and Tianji Hall announces Xialan has died of illness. Fang Duobing is raised by Xialan's older sister and her husband as their own.

15 years ago:

The Demon of the Blood Realm challenges Li Xiangyi and Qiao Wanmian begs him to give Li Xiangyi one more year.

14 years ago:

Li Xiangyi passes Qi Mushan's test. He receives the Shaoshi sword. He departs the mountain for the first time.

Shan Gudao and Li Xiangyi go to rescue the He family of the Changma Blade sect, who was massacred by Dongling Three Gang for the cloud iron. They find one survivor, a child, and take him to Louyang. Shan Gudao ditches Li Xiangyi and kills the kid.

Li Xiangyi defeats the Demon of the Blood Realm.

At an unknown time between 15 and 10 years ago:

Di Feisheng, Wuyan, King Bai of Fire, Four-faced Qingzun, and King Zunming of Yama found the Jinyuan alliance. Di Feisheng makes his first famous kill: the Monk of the Blood Realm, Kuang Jiezi. He removes the Golden Jade hoops from his staff and hangs them on his dao as a trophy.

Li Xiangyi fights with Wuyou and nicks the Shaoshi sword to avoid killing him.

The 12 Guardians join the Jinyuan alliance just before Jiao Liqiao does.

Jiao Liqiao was following Li Xiangyi around. A girl from Fengling Sword Sect provoked Jiao Liqiao and she massacres the Fengling Sword sect. Li Xiangyi stops her and attempts to kill her, but Di Feisheng saves Jiao Liqiao.

13 years ago:

Li Xiangyi establishes the Sigu Sect. Sigu sect makes an agreement with the court dividing the affairs of the people and the affairs of the jianghu. Everyone agrees to follow the legal code of Da Xi.

Scholar Sushou robs the imperial mausoleum in the south of the capital.

Di Feisheng rescues Jiao Liqiao from a gang led by Guishou Fenglie, whose martial arts techniques she tried to steal. Di Feisheng was just there to challenge the gang leader for his spot on the martial arts rankings.

12 or 11 years ago:

Just before Li Xiangyi turns 18, Shan Gudao gives him the Wenjing sword as a birthday present.

At the age of 18, Li Xiangyi acquires Yangzhouman.

11 years ago:

Sigu sect destroys the cult in Mobei and the sect's vitality is damaged. The Jinyuan alliance becomes more powerful. Di Feisheng and Li Xiangyi make a peace treaty: they won't interfere with each other or draw a war in five years.

The royal court agrees to ally with Shan Gudao.

Ten years ago:

[Depending on how old you think Fang Duobing is; he says this happened when he was ten] Madam He introduces Shan Gudao to Fang Duobing as her long-lost brother. Shan Gudao teaches Fang Duobing martial arts in secret before he can walk. Fang Duobing briefly meets Li Xiangyi, who gives him a wooden sword.

Li Xiangyi trespasses into the Royal Palace grounds on Mid-Autumn night to watch the Epiphyllum festival.

Lian Quan, Lord Of The Netherworld, is last seen in Shishou Village.

Shan Gudao tries to break into the Yipin tomb but cannot get past the Bagua (eight trigrams) Formation. The 14 Thieves of the Netherworld break into the tomb and die inside.

Li Xiangyi receives a message that the three kings of the Jinyuan alliance have besieged Shan Gudao in the Yangsha valley, the Jinyuan alliance's secret hideout. Meanwhile, the three kings receive a challenge from Shan Gudao but the letter was not his handwriting. The three kings arrive at the valley to find Shan Gudao already dead. Other members of the Sigu sect claim: they followed Shan Gudao to run some errands but were suddenly attacked by the three kings; Shan Gudao sent someone to go for help; Shan Gudao lured the three kings away to protect his subordinates.

Li Xiangyi cradles his shixiong's body and vows revenge. Shan Gudao's body is stolen in an ambush by the Jinyuan alliance. Li Xiangyi declares war on the Jinyuan alliance.

Li Xiangyi gathers Shan Gudao's belongings into a box in his room at the Sigu sect headquarters.

Yun Biqiu, at Jiao Liqiao's direction, administers Bicha poison to Li Xiangyi.

Jiao Liqiao and Fang Qing are working together. Someone from Nanyin purchases gunpowder from Thunder Hall in Jiangnan with funds from the Wansheng clan. Ding Yun, Wind and Thunder Emissary and Wan Renshan, Star and Moon Emissary used thundering fire bombs to trap the Sigu Sect and blow up the Jinyuan alliance headquarters. The 12 guardians of the Jinyuan alliance die. 58 heroes of the Sigu sect die.

27th day of the 12th lunar month, year of Xin Chou: Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng battle at the East Sea.

Someone alters a corpse to look like Shan Gudao. He survives, under the influence of wuxin huai. Shan Gudao kills Qi Mushan and takes his inner power.

Li Xiangyi fakes his death and disappears. The Sigu sect disbands. Its surviving arm, Baichuan Court, rounds up the remnants of the Jinyuan alliance. Di Feisheng goes into seclusion for ten years.

Ten or nine years ago:

Xin Lie, Thunder Chaser of Jinyuan alliance, Five Poison Palm, escapes from prison.

28th day of the 5th month, year of Ren Yin: Shi Hun writes a letter to the Sigu sect to thank them for releasing him.

Unknown, between ten years ago and present day:

The Jinyuan Alliance surrounds Lian Quan's mansion for the Rama Heavenly Ice, he escapes with Li Xiao and Li Xiong to Xiaoyuan City to live in hiding.

Li Lianhua finds Scholar Sushou, helps him and lets him stay with him. Scholar Sushou passes away.

Li Lianhua saves Tiexiao, who jumped off a cliff and was buried; Li Lianhua heard him shouting.

Four-faced Qingzun dies in prison and gives the Rama ice shard to his wife, Liangyi Xianzi.

Fang Duobing takes bitter medicine; bathes in cold springs; pierces his 12 major acupoints every day and faints many times but refuses to cry. He can stand up, walk, and learn martial arts.

Five years ago:

The Hall of Wind and Flame took the Shi family's secret book as their own. This includes Qi Mushan's recipes.

Three years ago:

Fang Duobing takes the Baichuan Court entrance examination, but they refuse to accept him.

One year ago:

"Last March": Li Lianhua saved Shi Wenjue, third son of the Shi family (he faked his suicide because he wanted a career in public service and his family didn't approve, Li Lianhua saw it). The Shi family in Weapons Valley were the ones who forged Cloud Iron armor and the wind sword.

Present day:

The show begins sometime after the sixth day of the fourth month of Ren Zi year. [We know this because in episode 2, Wangfu is sixteen and we are given his birthday as April 6th of Bing Shen Year]

Red Mountains (Girls' Mansion episode arc) takes place on month 9 day 9 of Ren Zi Year.

Episode 37/38 is the ten-year anniversary of the dong hai duel, so it takes place on the 27th day of 12th month of Ren Zi Year.

#mysterious lotus casebook #reference guide #timeline

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