#Gōngzhǔ

[ka-go-me]

. 山丨几ㄒ乇尺 丨几 山ㄩ卄卂几

[ashitakaxsan]

Elegant Cheongsam

[darkdrin6]

Bi Han: We won't have a daughter. I need a son, an heir. Sareena: *gives birth to a daughter* Bi Han with his daughter: you are my precious princess, my little priceless treasure. I will give you the whole world and kill anyone who even thinks of harming you

[call-me-maggie13]

Beatrice finds her on the roof, just beyond her window. Shannon’s dragged a blanket onto the shingles and she’s laying on her back speaking to the sky quietly. Beatrice can’t hear what she’s saying from here, but this feels private. She doesn’t want Shannon to think she’s lurking or trying to eavesdrop, so she wrings her hands and turns away.

"Oh, hey, Bea. What’s up?" Shannon’s rolled on her side looking at her, there’s no discontent, no malice in her face.

"Sorry…"

"For what? Oh, the sky? Nah, you’re not interrupting anything. Come ‘ere." She shuffles over and pats the space next to her, rolling onto her back and crossing her arms behind her head. Beatrice doesn’t move, waits for Shannon to repeat the invitation before slowly crawling over the windowsill and across the shingles. She sits beside Shannon on the blanket, follows her direction when she tells her to lie down.

She doesn’t ask. She still feels like she’s intruding, especially when Shannon starts talking to the stars again.

"This is Beatrice," she smiles and motions to her. "She’s kinda weird but I love her. Bea, say hi."

"Hi?" Shannon giggles and props herself up on her elbows.

"Did you know the light we see from stars is like a bajillion years old?"

"Bajillion isn’t a form of measurement but yes, I did know that." Shannon rolls her eyes and drops back onto her back.

"That means that we’ve yet to exist so every one of those stars." Shannon traces a design through the sky.

"I suppose. It’s more complex than that, but that presumption isn’t entirely incorrect." Beatrice has never understood a fascination with space. There’s enough wrong on our planet, why would we want to spread that across the universe? Why would we want to add the universe’s tribulations when we can’t handle the woes within our atmosphere?

"It’s more complex than that, but that presumption isn’t entirely incorrect," Shannon mocks. "What are you, ninety? Let me have this."

"I’m - "

"Don’t apologize, I’m teasing." Beatrice bites back the words and lets Shannon continue. "What I’m trying to say is, somewhere in the universe, there’s a point where all the people we’ve loved are still alive. Does that make sense?"

Beatrice shakes her head slowly.

"Okay so, somewhere, the star my grandma wished on when she was my age is just now receiving that wish. So, to that star, she’s still alive. She still exists. Does that make sense?" Shannon is sitting up now, legs crossed and hands waving as she tries to explain herself.

"Yes. It’s similar to what you were saying about the trees and how we’ll always be a part of them if we carve our names into the bark."

"Yeah. Kinda like that."

"Where’s this coming from?" Beatrice turns back to the stars, watches them shimmer and sparkle.

"When I was little, my grandma told me when people die, they leave little pieces of themselves in the stars. She said every star is a soul. So when I would miss her, she told me to talk to the stars and she would always listen."

Beatrice is reminded of her Yéyé, her father’s father. She remembers bouncing on his knee and feeding his koi fish while he promised her the moon. No matter where you or I go, we will always be looking at the same moon. He had sworn. Even when I’m gone, we will always share the moon.

Perhaps, he is among the stars too. Scattered around the glittering, glowing sky watching over her. Perhaps he is waiting for her patiently, always patiently waiting, with a mooncake and a smile. He would drop to a knee and ruffle her hair and offer her a hug. He would make her laugh and listen to her stories and tell her he loves her. He’d tell her he’s proud of her. Probably.

If he were still alive.

Beatrice finds herself wishing she could talk to him one last time, to tell him about her new home, about the girl who holds her hand after she has a nightmare, about the man who taught her how to bait and cast a line, about the woman who carefully bandages every scrape and kisses it better, about the dog that bounces and thumps his tail against everything when she comes home. Home.

"Talk to ‘em. Tell ‘em what you’re thinking."

"Who?" Beatrice watches Shannon roll her eyes in her periphery.

"Whoever you’re missing right now. The stars will pass along your message."

That, Beatrice knows is faulty information. Stars have no voices, they know no language, they have no more connection to the people she’s lost than she herself. They’re just giant balls of fire millions of billions of trillions of miles away.

"Dude, just try it, alright? Even if you don’t believe it, it’ll make you feel better to say it out loud."

Beatrice grimaces and wishes she hadn’t gone looking for Shannon, wishes she’d just gone to her room instead of searching for Shannon.

"Okay." Shannon shrugs and flips back onto her back, crosses her ankles and folds her hands over her stomach. "I’m gunna talk to my grandma though."

"I can go."

"You can stay, if you want." She doesn’t look away from the glittering sky, but Beatrice can feel her watching her. She lies back down beside her and Shannon smiles. "So anyways, Granny. We start school in like two weeks and I just know everyone is going to be talking about all the fun places they went and things they did this summer. But I didn’t go and do any fun things. I got Beatrice, but Aspen’s not going to care because she learned how to sail and Vera had her birthday party in Bora Bora and Solomon probably went to Europe again."

Shannon quiets, tilts her head and furrows her brows like she’s listening intently for a response. Beatrice’s chest burns when she realizes how much Shannon missed out on due to her arrival. She was supposed to go to summer camp. She had told Beatrice about the summer camp in a letter over winter break. She was supposed to learn how to water ski and sail a boat and ride a horse. She had been so excited.

"Hey, Beatrice?" Shannon tangles their fingers together, squeezes briefly before turning to face Beatrice. She hums instead of responding, fearing her voice might crack and give her guilt away. "I’m really glad you came here. My friends are going to say I had a really boring break and they’re probably going to say that my summer would’ve been better without you because I would’ve gone to camp with Aspen and Bora Bora with Vera. But they’re going to be wrong.

"This is the best summer of my life." She punctuates her statement with a wide grin and three quick squeezes of her hand around Beatrice’s.

Neither speaks after that. Shannon’s waiting for a response from her grandmother’s star and Beatrice is wondering when the world is going to crash down around her. It isn’t until Rich calls them for bed that either even moves again, Shannon helps Beatrice up and steadies her as she crawls across the shingles and back into the window.

Shannon gets a secret handshake from Rich and a kiss on the head from Martha for her tuck in, and Beatrice gets a hair ruffle and a tight hug. They offer to tuck her in, as they have every night since she first emerged from the depths of her room all those nights ago, but she doesn’t want it.

"You know where we are if you need us, okay?" Beatrice smiles and nods, like she has every night before. Martha waves and closes the door behind her, like she has every night before. They start down the stairs and, just before they reach the foyer, Shannon opens the door and climbs into bed beside her, just like she has every night before.

But, unlike every night before, Beatrice doesn’t fall asleep. She stares at the moon peeking through her curtains until her toes tingle and her fingers twitch, then she slips out from Shannon’s embrace and pushes her curtain back.

She gets it. At least, she thinks she finally gets it.

"Hi." She glances at Shannon to check she’s still sleeping, continuing once she’s certain she hasn’t awoken. "It’s me, Beatrice. Or… am I supposed to assume you know that? I’m not certain how this is supposed to work, forgive me. Regardless, I miss you."

She can picture his soft smile and the wrinkles around his eyes like a warm blanket, feel the callouses on his hands when he would take her hands and rub her knuckles, smell the wood shavings and varnish on his coveralls. He always had a gift for her, a tiny wooden animal he had carved in his workshop when he would think of her.

"I moved. Mother and Father didn’t - well - they sent me away. I wasn’t even allowed to tell you goodbye. I’m sorry." She sniffles and wipes away her tears roughly. "I live with a wonderful family now. Rich, he - he reminds me of you. He’s always smiling and telling jokes. And he often has treats for us when he returns from work. And Martha always has cookies for us. They do not compete with your mooncakes, but they are still delicious. And Shannon. Shannon is weird. She’s loud and silly and she doesn’t think before she does things and she can be merciless and melodramatic, but I think you would like her. She likes to draw and she holds my hand when I’m scared and she makes me laugh and she loves me. I think… I think they all love me."

She picks at a loose string around the ankle of her pajamas, twists it around and around and around her fingertip.

"Yéyé…" she rips the string off but doesn’t untangle it from her finger, watches her fingerprint taint red then blue then purple before tearing it away. "May I love them as well? Would you mind if I did? Because… because I’m nearly certain I love them also. They - they aren’t you. They never will be. But - I think they’re trying to be good to me. Despite how I am unworthy of it."

Shannon rolls over, pulls the duvet away with her. Beatrice smiles softly and rolls her eyes.

"I think - I think I do love them. I think I might…" Beatrice bites her quivering bottom lip as she turns back to the window. "I think I might love them more than Mother and Father. I know I’m not supposed to. But they make it so easy to love them, Yéyé. Mother and Father… they… they don’t even like me. But Martha and Rich and Shannon, they do."

Shannon was wrong. Saying it out loud doesn’t make her feel better. It makes her chest tight and her eyes burn and her hands shake. She squeezes her thighs into her chest and buries her face in her knees, bites back a sob and forces herself to slip back into that hollow, empty space in her head.

Nothing can hurt her here.

She’s empty when she goes back to bed. The curtains drawn and blankets stolen by Shannon. Beatrice has half a mind to take her pillow and a blanket from Shannon’s room and curl into a ball beneath her bed. But she’d promised she wouldn’t sleep beneath the bed anymore.

She doesn’t want to sleep. She fears the world will fall apart if she does. She fears her parents will have heard what she’s said and she will be called back to Europe to her empty room in her empty house with her empty parents.

She doesn’t remember falling asleep. But she does regardless.

Her dreams find her in front of the koi pond in her grandfather’s garden. The waterfall burbles and splashes, his chickens cluck and crow, his cat purrs and twines around her ankles. The sakura tree blossoms fall around her like snow and fill her lungs with an irreplicable sweetness. The sun shines bright and warm on her shoulders. She’s wearing the cheongsam she had worn his last Chinese New Years.

"You have grown quite a bit in two short years." She flinches away from the pond, confused when she feels the wind dance across her skin.

He’s behind her, warm and weathered and wrinkled as he was the last time she’d seen him except he’s not sick this time. He looks healthier than he had the entire time she’d been alive, softer and happier as well. He extends a mooncake to her, his calloused palms the same sandpaper she’d always known.

"Yéyé?" How? How does this feel so real? Has she died?

"You’re not dead, xiǎo yāojinɡ." He laughs and his eyes crinkle and Beatrice doesn’t have time to worry about how he knows her thoughts because she’s too busy trying to figure out how she could possibly be here with him. "You are just visiting. I called you here."

"Called me? Where - "

"Do not worry of the what’s and the where’s and the when’s. They are not important." He swats the air between them like her question is a bothersome gnat.

"Alright. Then how?"

"How are you here? Or how did I call you?" She takes the mooncake when he offers it again, takes a step closer to him.

"Both? Neither? I’m not certain." She doesn’t know which she wants to know more.

"Does it matter?" It doesn’t, she supposes. She shakes her head and he smiles again.

"Why am I here?" That does matter.

"Because I called you here." He knows by the tilt of her head and the lift of her eyebrow that his answer is insufficient. "I heard you."

"Oh." Back comes the burn of shame in her chest. The rush of blood in her ears. The sting of tears in her eyes.

"I’ve been watching over you. Your parents… they have not been good to you. I am not certain where I went wrong with your father, but he wasn’t always like he is now. I wish you could’ve met the man I thought I was raising, but that’s not the case." He strokes her cheek, collects the tears there with his knuckles. "Richard, he’s a good man. He is like the man I thought I was raising. And Martha is good too. They are good people, little Beatrice. You are allowed to love them."

"You’re not mad?" She looks up from her feet and into his aged, wenge brown eyes. She used to think his eyes held the secrets of the universe, that she would find the answer to every problem she could ever have if she just looked deep enough. They’re brighter than she remembers, like death has gifted him a light.

Perhaps it has.

"Why would I be mad? My xiǎo gōngzhǔ is finally being loved the way she deserves." She missed how his eyes crinkled when he would laugh, how they would disappear when he smiled too wide. "That Shannon, she’s good for you. Maybe she will teach you to laugh as well as talk to the moon."

"I said… what I said…"

"You love them more than your father and mother." Beatrice nods solemnly, drops her chin against her chest. "As do I."

"What?" Her father is his son. His own child. It doesn’t make sense.

"They are giving you something your own parents never offered, Beatrice. Unconditional love." He pulls her into his embrace. She tucks her head against his chest and is surprised to find no heartbeat. Of course he doesn’t have a heartbeat, he’s dead. She’s not certain what else she had been expecting.

"That family doesn’t care about the grades you get or the languages you speak, the ribbons your bring home or the instruments you play. They care that you laugh, that you smile. That you feel safe and, most importantly, loved. You could be a drug addicted school dropout and they’d love you the same as if you were the Queen.

"You are not worthy of their love because of anything you have ever done nor anything you could ever do. You are worthy of it because you exist and that is enough for them."

"How do you know?" He pulls her away, holds her by the shoulders so he can meet her eyes. People have always told her she has his eyes, she’s not certain she does because his eyes contain the universe while the most hers have ever held are tears.

"You aren’t the only person I watch over. I’ve listened to their conversations of you. I’ve seen how they have shown up for you. I’ve heard how they speak to you, so careful and considerate and kind. I’ve felt the unending love they have for you through the planes of existence.

"Your father? I have to love him. He’s my son, my blood, my heir. But Richard and Martha and Shannon? I love them for how they love you."

He kisses her forehead and she closes her eyes and when she opens them, she’s back in her bed, staring at the ceiling fan going round and round. Shannon leans into her line of view and grins down at her, hair still ruffled from sleep.

"Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

"Do not." Beatrice sits up and Shannon bumps their shoulders together before pushing her out of the bed.

"Do too, you kept saying yeahyeah or something. That’s not English, right?" Shannon drags her down the stairs, Beatrice doesn’t try to pull free like she has every morning in the past.

"It’s Mandarin." Shannon pauses on the bottom step to turn back to her, eyebrows knitted together and head cocked like a confused puppy. "It means Grandfather."

"Oh." Shannon shrugs and leads her to the kitchen where Martha is making pancakes. "Did you have a dream about your grandfather?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

Find more here!

I have been corrected! I should’ve used Yéyé instead of Zufu!

[kukuandkookie]

ART IS BY DAMETAI ON TWITTER!!!

Chapters: 6/10 Fandom: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 穿书自救指南 | Scumbag System (Cartoon) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Original Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū Characters: Original Luò Bīnghé, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shā Huálíng, Mòběi-jūn, Shàng Qīnghuá, Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Yuè Qīngyuán, Cāng Qióng Mountain Sect, Lǎo Gōngzhǔ | Old Palace Master, Tiānláng-jūn, Zhúzhī-láng Additional Tags: Magical Boys, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - High School, Secret Identity, Some attempts at Comedy, secret identity shenanigans, and some Qijiu, and maybe even a bit of Moshang and Mingling sprinkled in, No beta we die like sv manhua, Enemies to Lovers, (Sort of! Maybe more like:), Rivals to Lovers Summary:

Shen Yuan is what many would regard as normal—nothing too special, a bit of a dork, not all that popular at school...

Except he has a secret: he's a xianxia-themed magical boy.

And well, this secret gets increasingly hard to keep when he gets assigned the most popular boy at school as a partner on a big class project, because for some reason things keep happening that threaten his secret identity. Maybe it would be easier if Shen Yuan knew that suave, sweet Luo Binghe has a secret too—because Luo Binghe is the Demon Lord, the town's biggest supervillain...and Shen Yuan's arch-nemesis.

They literally fight each other on a near nightly basis, and also sort of flirt (?) with each other (except Shen Yuan is oblivious to this. To him, it's just the other being infuriating and smack-talking him). But through shenanigans, Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe somehow get closer at school and also keep flirting (err, Luo Binghe is flirting anyway) even as they try to keep their secret identities...well, secret. And when the elderly Huan Hua Polytechnic Headmaster requests Luo Binghe's help in opening a portal to the Demon Realm, things get serious...and something something more shenanigans and secret identity reveals~

[trashyangelic]

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 || ғᴇʟɪɴᴇᴛᴛᴇ (2)

·        ❝  𝓣𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒   ❞  · ·                 chapter two            ·

⋆     ꕥ MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

"Whoa Marinette! I didn't know you were the great-granddaughter of the Head Ambassador of China!" Marc said excitedly. "I didn't want to say anything but Alya decided to push my buttons for that." Marinette stated. "She had it coming." Aurore said boredly half of the school already knows that Marinette is the Great-Granddaughter of the Head Ambassador of China. But Adrien, Alya, Lila, Luka, Juleka, Zoe, Mylene, Ivan, Kagami, and Felix didn't know that but now they know after the incident earlier. 

"What about your older sister what position is she again?" Mirelle asked. "She is the Head Governor of the School Board why?" Well that caught Mrs. Mendeleiev's attention for two things this might put Damocles and Caline in thin ice for neglience and enabling.

"Utterly ridiculous! Did you tell your sister about our old teacher and our principal? Maribug." Chloe asked her then she nodded. "She is working on them along with Lila Rossi included. She might bring the big guns again." Marinette told Chloe who solemnly nodded leaving Felix, Kagami, and Luka confused until Aurore notice this and explain what Marinette mean by 'big guns'.

"Well good they are going to be in big trouble for messing with her little sister!" Chloe exclaimed as huffed annoyanced as some like Jean, Marc, and Mirelle nodded since Aurore is still explaining the trio. Marinette recieved a message from her great-grandmother who's name was Zhao Meixiu she is her mama's grandmother of Yan Cheng. As Marinette smile genuinely which took Chloe for granted to notice it.

"What is it, Maribug?" Chloe questioned her confused as the rest glanced at her. "My zēngzǔmǔ texted me that she is pissed of what she is finding out right now and decided to visit Paris but bringing the entire China to Paris." Marinette said while reading the text message that is in mandarin thanks to Chloe to set up the language setting for her since she didn't know how to do it. Oh now you done it. We're doomed! Mrs. Mendeleiev thought to herself. As the Class here in Mrs. Mendeleiev's their faces drain in white.

- ̗̀ ————————— 🜲 ————————— ˊˎ -

Meanwhile in Beijing, China — The Embassy of China Headquarters...  Zhao Meixiu recieved a message from her eldest great-granddaughter Cheng Qiu Yu (Parisian Name is Bridgette Cheng) who is telling her that her little sister Wei Young is being mistreated in a school at Paris that is called Collège Françoise Dupont. And boy she was pissed hearing the statement from her eldest great-granddaughter but more concern about her youngest great-granddaughter Marinette who's name was Cheng Wei Young. 

"How dare these imbeciles mistreated my youngest great-granddaughter?! Who has the right mind to negligence and enable this mess!" Meixiu snarled coldly as many of her co-workers gulped.

Zhao Meixiu went to visit her mother in the Palace of China. Her mother who's name is Li Xiuying needs to know about her great-great grandchildren and what's going on as well. Li Xiuying is the Empress of China. Her father who's name is Zhao Weisheng. As soon as she has arrived to the palace. Her status here in China is well she is the gōngzhǔ but has an older brother who is Zhao Mingli who is the Head General of the China Army but she decided to be a rebellion and works in the Embassy instead of being the Empress like her mother.

"What is it daughter?" The Empress asked but notice her daughter expression something happen which is concerning for her then glanced at her husband who seem well preserved but also concerning as well.

"I received a call from my great-great granddaughter Cheng Qiu Yu she told me that her little sister Cheng Wei Young is being mistreated in her school from Paris. Mother. Father." Meixiu stated this made her father absolutely livid including her mother. "Did Xia Bing say anything about this?" Her mother asked in a calm way. "She did but she needed help from us. Apparently the bullies of Cheng Wei Young has been vandalizing her room and not paying for pastries from Xia Bing and her husband or the dresses that Wei Young makes for them." Meixiu stated this really started to anger her mother the most.

"GUARDS! Deliver this message to General Mingli. We are going to Paris to fix this mess! Some of you will have to contact the President of Paris and the Mayor of Paris as well about our arrival!" Empreror Zhao Weisheng ordered as the guards quickly rush out of the palace to deliver a message to General Mingli. 

"Someone call Xia Bing for me. I need to speak to her! Quickly!" Empress demanded her maids who nodded immediately and rush out to find the Empress' iphone that was gifted by her daughter when she was at the working station as an Head Ambassador of China.

At the army base, General Mingli is with his fiancee Liu Jiayi she is the third-rank general. His righthand and best friend came in and said this, "General. The Emperor wants to speak to you. Its an urgent message from Xia Bing's children." Wu Renshu stated this was concerning for both of them and agreed to go. Jiayi became worried about Cheng Qiu Yu and Cheng Wei Young. 

- ̗̀ ————————— 🜲 ————————— ˊˎ -

Back in Paris, the President and the Mayor recieved felt a chills down their spine. I have a bad feeling something is going to happen. The President and Mayor Bourgeois thought at the same time but in different location. Miss Bustier's Class and Damocles made a huge mistake of mistreating Marinette Dupain-Cheng who's given name was Cheng Wei Young.

"Sir we have an incoming phone call from the Embassy of China right now that wish to speak to you with another call from Mayor Bourgeois" Elaine Labelle informed to her boss. Oh no. Adolphe thought to himself. "Put it on air please so I can video call them, Elaine." Adolphe confirmed her as she nodded.

The Head Ambassador of China as in Zhao Meixiu does not look very happy his face drain in white when he spotted the Emperor of China, Empress of China, and the General of the Army. Oh shit. He thought to himself. "I recieved a call from my great-granddaughter who is the Head Governor of the School Board. She told me that my youngest great-granddaughter Marinette Dupain-Cheng as for her given name who is Cheng Wei Young is being mistreated at Collège Françoise Dupont. What is the meaning of this? President Adolphe and Mayor Bourgeois!" Meixiu barked explaining in more details.

Damocles! What have you done! Mayor Bourgeois thought angrily as he continue listening to Head Ambassador of China, Emperor and Empress of China, The Generals of the China Army they do not look very happy and now they are thin ice with them cause of their resources that they send it to them from the beginning. 

"As for the resources that we have sent from the beginning.. we decided to cut it down." This made the President and the Mayor to go pale as white. "Our people had decided to visit Paris." General Mingli told them. "Some of you will be spared but others cannot." Fourth-Rank General Jiayi stated to them in a calm way she learn french after taking a university there.

Then they ended the call. The President groaned but told his secretary to set a meeting to the government and a few adults to the meeting while the Mayor at his office panic. "Ms. Blanchet please call the TVi News. I have decided to make announcement to everyone they need to know." Mayor said to his secretary he was pissed at Damocles for this mess if he didn't mistreat Marinette Dupain-Cheng by boycotting Lila Rossi this wouldn't have happen in the first place. His secretary nodded did not want to push his buttons by the looks of it... it does not look good for them either.

During the TVi News they recieved a call from Mayor Bourgeois it seems urgent. They send an alert on the parisians to watch the news. Many people heard their notifiction ping it as they went on their phones or the television to watch the news. It reveals to be Nadja Chamack who is talking to the boss before going to her seat to announce it but then there was the Mayor coming in. Many remain silent to listen what the mayors says.

- ̗̀ ————————— 🜲 ————————— ˊˎ -

The school secretary heard a ping on her phone it says broadcasting news and its urgent. She march to the principal's office and said, "Sir there is an urgent broadcasting that you need to watch it. So I can inform the other staffs!" Secretary said urgently as Damocles nodded and turn on his television to watch the news.

She went to the Armand D'Argencourt, Fred Haprèle, Jean-Pierre Monlataing, Olga Mendeleiev, and Caline Bustier to turn on the news now there is an urgent message from the Mayor Bourgeois right at now. They immediately turn it on and told their students to quiet down.

"Don't be amused, it's just the news! I am Nadja Chamack. According in live. We here by the Mayor Bourgeois who has an announcement to make! But also bring out the video call all the way from China!" Nadja exclaimed then glanced at the Mayor who nodded. As Nadja put up a video call it revealed to be Emperor of China, Empress  of China, General of China Army, and the Head Ambassador of China they do not look very happy at all. The Head Ambassador of China looked absolutely pissed.

At the Collège Françoise Dupont while Marinette cheered of her family in honor to be viewed but kept quiet so she can hear the news. Many teachers seem wavery by this while Adrien stared at them in pale he recongized them anywhere including Max who is repeatedly muttering about "We are doomed." Nino panic immediately he recognized them thanks to Marinette when they were in élémentaire. 

"It has come to our attention that our Head Governor of the School Board as Bridgette Cheng had called their great-grandmother Zhao Meixiu who is the Head Ambassador of China about her little sister Marinette Dupain-Cheng but to some who haven't knew this is that her given name is Cheng Wei Young. They were told that she is being mistreated in Collège Françoise Dupont here in Paris. Due to the fact of the Principal of that school along with her old teacher Caline Bustier for this mess. 

Not only that I have spoken to the Emperor of China who goes as Zhao Weisheng along with his wife Li Xuiying the Empress of China they are a family to Sabine Cheng. The Cheng Family came from a Royal Family of China. Our resources has been cut down you can blame this on Denis Damocles, Lila Rossi, Alya Cesaire, and Caline Bustier later on. I recieved a call from the government and we are on lockdown meaning you cannot leave Paris. If you are a friend of the Cheng Family you may leave Paris or come back." The Mayor stated as many gasped in horror while the staffs and students of the school were furious. 

Mrs. Rossi was angry at her daughter for this mess. Marlena was so mad at her daughter when her daughter's name was mentioned. While Gabriel went pale as white that he mess with the wrong person along with Nathalie who did not know this would have happen. 

Rose glared at Lila, Alya, and Ms. Bustier many also glared at them. "This happen earlier in school by those two. Who had the nerve to struck Marinette when she came to school." Rose said out of the blue. "I can't be friends with someone who wanted war against a royal family. Even I have morals here." Rose stated out loud for them to hear as she dragged Juleka away and sat next to Chloe's seat. Lila went pale as white she didn't know that Maritrash came from the Royal Family. How was she suppose to know this. Well she is in big trouble now.

"If that vile child Lila Rossi thought she get out easily. The emperor and empress had decided to declare war with Paris and Italy for this mess. Many of you will be spared but others cannot be spared. We have the list of families who is being spared thanks to Sabine Cheng this morning." Jiayi stated out of the blue when they are making a conversation to her since she can speak French.

"The one who is being spared are Gretta Rossi, Bourgeois Family, Graham de Vanily Family, Fathom Family, Agreste Family, Lahiffe Family, Beaureal Family, Blanchet Family, Dubois Family, Bellamy Family, Wang Family, Couffaine Family, Jagged Stone, Penny Rolling, Clara Nightingale, Chamack Family..." Many families were relieve but others aren't. They were furious while Gabriel sigh in relief that he is being spared. Lila heard her mother's name it means that her mother is spared not her.

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[luminouslumity]

I've already talked about our heroes, so now let's talk about the villains. For the sake of convenience, I'll only be discussing the ones who have appeared on the show so far as well as the order in which they'd appeared in according to the book, unless the villains in question are connected in some way.

NIÚ MÓWÁNG (牛魔王), TIĚSHÀN GŌNGZHǓ (鐵扇公主) and HÓNG HÁI'ÉR (紅孩兒)

Consisting of three of Sūn Wùkōng's more well-known enemies, each of them has a story to tell.

Starting with NIÚ MÓWÁNG—Bull Demon King, or Demon Bull King on the show—this powerful character was the eldest of seven demons who had sworn loyalty to each other—Sūn Wùkōng among them—and had styled himself Píngtiān Dàshèng (平天大圣), or Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven, after the Monkey King had picked his own title. Sometime during Sūn Wùkōng's imprisonment, he ends up starting a family, becomes the owner of a BÌSHUǏ JĪNJĪNG SHÒU (避水金晶獸), or Water-Repellent Golden-Eyed Beast, becomes an ally to a family of dragons, learned seventy-two transformations, and it's also mentioned that he'd met Zhū Bājiè and Shā Wùjìng before they became Buddhists.

HÓNG HÁI'ÉR—Red Boy, or Red Son as he's called on the show—is the next member of the family to meet Sūn Wùkōng. I kind of already talked a little about him here, but to go into more detail on his role in the novel, he's also known by the title Shèngyīng Dàwáng (聖嬰大王), or Great King Holy Child, and after spending three hundred years self-cultivating on Huǒyànshān (火燄山), the Flaming Mountains, to the point of being able to wield Sānmèi Zhēn (三昧真火), the True Fire of Samādhi, he was eventually sent by his father to guard Liùbǎi Lǐ Zuàntóu Hàoshān (六百里鑽頭號山), or the Roaring Mountain of the Six-Hundred-Mile Awl-Head Peak, where he then proceeds to bully the local gods and spirits.

He first encounters the Pilgrims under the guise of an innocent boy stuck in a tree in order to get close to Tripiṭaka in order to—as is the case with most demons in this story—kidnap him and then eat his flesh in hopes of gaining immortality. Naturally Monkey tries to warn Sānzàng, and naturally the latter doesn't listen, and naturally Red Boy manages to make off with the monk afterwards!

Fortunately, thanks to that old sworn brotherhood with Red's father, this technically makes Sūn Wùkōng the boy's uncle—more specifically his shū (叔), or the younger brother of one's father. So of course Red Boy would have to listen him, even though they'd never met before, Sūn Wùkōng didn't even know of his existence until now, and—from Red's perspective, at least—the monkey had absolutely everything to gain by lying.

So really, what could possibly go wrong?

Everything. The answer is everything.

Creating a fire that not even the Dragon Kings are able to extinguish thanks to it being samādhi and rendering Sūn Wùkōng immobile in the process, Zhū Bājiè is sent to ask the Bodhisattva Guānyīn, the Goddess of Mercy, for help, but then he gets captured by Red Boy as well. Despite his pain, Sūn Wùkōng soon decides to confront Red Boy again, this time transforming into the Bull Demon King himself, but the younger demon soon grows suspicious after "Bull Demon King" says he's been keeping a vegetarian diet and then gets these suspicions confirmed after the disguised Monkey King fails to remember when his "son" was born.

Afterwards, the real Guānyīn comes along and after Monkey tells her what happened, to say that she gets upset at Red Boy disguising himself as her would be an... understatement, let's just put it that way. Eventually, the samādhi fire is put out with help from the water inside Guānyīn's vase and after that's dealt with, the Goddess of Mercy then decides to have Red Boy sit on a lotus throne, impale him with an entire set of swords, and—when he fails to genuinely surrender—envelopes the demon's body with five golden hoops, similar to the gold fillet Sūn Wùkōng himself had to wear during the journey, before finally taking him away.

Afterwards, Red Boy becomes her disciple and is given the name Shàncái Tóngzǐ (五個箍兒), Boy Skilled in Wealth, which is also the name of one of the Bodhisattva's actual disciples in Buddhist iconography. And as a fun little detail, I should also point out that red is traditionally considered to be the color of good luck in China!

Later, while crossing a stream, Táng Sānzàng and Zhū Bājiè drink from the water, only to discover afterwards that it's pregnancy water from Xīliáng Nǚguó (西 梁女國), the Woman State of Western Liang. And as the name implies, it's a kingdom populated by only women. After teasing Sānzàng and Bājiè for a bit, the Pilgrims learn of that the kingdom houses an Abortion Spring—Luòtāi Quánshuǐ (落胎泉水)—but it's since been taken over by an immortal who's holding the entire land's reproductive rights hostage by blocking the spring unless he's payed in offerings.

Yes, really.

Anyway! This immortal goes by the name of RÚYÌ ZHĒNXIĀN (如意真仙), or True Immortal Compliant, the younger brother of the Bull Demon King. As a result, he has a score to settle with Sūn Wùkōng over what happened to Red Boy, so a fight ensues, True Compliant causes Wùkōng to drop the water and so Monkey asks Shā Wùjìng for help getting more while he distracts this latest adversary, and they soon succeed! Out of the old alliance he has with the Bull Demon King, Wùkōng decides to spare his life.

Much later on, the Pilgrims come across the perpetually hot region of Huǒyànshān (and as we find out later, the reason it's like this turns out to accidentally be Monkey's fault), which the Pilgrims can't cross without getting hurt because of how extreme the climate is. Wùkōng soon learns from the locals that there's an immortal by the name of Tiěshàn Xiān (鐵扇仙), Iron Fan Immortal, who owns a bājiāoshàn (芭蕉扇), a palf-leaf fan, that would be able to do away with the heat altogether. After traveling to her home on Cuìyúnshān (翠雲山), Jade Cloud Mountain, he not only learns that her name is actually TIĚSHÀN GŌNGZHǓ (鐵扇公主)—Iron Fan Princess, or Princess Iron Fan—and is also called Rākṣasī (羅剎)—in reference to a type of evil female spirit in Hinduism and Buddhism—by those living on Cuìyúnshān, but that she's also the wife of the Bull Demon King.

Much like with Red Boy, Sūn Wùkōng didn't know about her at all until now, but also like with Red Boy, he's quick to acknowledge her as family, calling her sǎosǎo (嫂嫂), sister-in-law in the context of her being the wife of his older brother, when first meeting her in person. And also much like Red Boy, Iron Fan isn't happy to see him at all, precisely because of what happened to her son!

So of course he doesn't get the fan. But Monkey is nothing if not persistent, so he then transforms into a mole cricket, flies into Iron Fan's mouth, and gets the palm-leaf fan that way.

Except not really, because the fan he got actually turns out to be a fake.

So what's a poor monkey to do? Go to his eldest sworn brother directly, of course! Or as he's known these days, Dàlì Wáng (大力王), Vigorous King.

Which brings us to our final member of the Demon Bull Family!

Well, sort of.

Because at least two years before the start of the Palm-Leaf Arc, the Bull Demon King took a concubine.

Meet YÙMIÀN GŌNGZHǓ (玉面公主), Jade-Faced Princess, nicknamed Měirén (美人), Pretty Lady, by the Bull Demon King. The daughter of a fox king, who'd passed away after ten thousand years, she was left with a vast fortune and, after learning how powerful the Bull Demon King was, sold it all as a dowry in order to make the Bull Demon King her consort, leading to him abandoning Iron Fan in the process, though it's noted he still provides for her despite this, something the fox princess thinks she should be grateful for.

When Sūn Wùkōng meets her after arriving at Jīléishān (積雷山), Hoard-Thunder Mountain, he scolds her for her actions and later attacks her, she complains to the Bull Demon King about it, even insulting him at one point while he does his best to comfort her before going to see Sūn Wùkōng, and unfortunately for Monkey, the reunion isn't a happy one due to the Pilgrim not only hurting his son, but insulting both of his wives as well. So a fight breaks out between them, but before a winner can be decided, the Bull Demon King literally calls for a time-out because he has a banquet to attend first!

So Monkey follows him, steals his Bìshuǐ Jīnjīng Shòu while his eldest brother is feasting with that family of dragons I mentioned earlier, disguises himself as the Bull Demon King himself, and tricks Iron Fan into giving it to him this way. Naturally, the real Bull Demon King is enraged when he learns about what had happened, and after comforting Iron Fan over it, he goes to confront Sūn Wùkōng once and for all by giving him a taste of his own medicine and disguising himself as Zhū Bājiè, which soon leads to the two fighting. Even after the Bull Demon King gets outnumbered when the real Bājiè joins in, he's no closer to either winning or losing and Jade-Faced quickly sends her own captains to assist him when she finds out what's going on, giving the Bull Demon King enough time to escape, until it's time for another round and he and Monkey engage in a shapeshifter duel while Jade-Faced and her soldiers get killed by Bājiè.

Before another fight can commence, several Buddhist warriors and celestial generals arrive at the scene to arrest the Bull Demon King, who is soon captured by Nezha and taken to see Buddha, while Iron Fan finally surrenders her fan willingly in exchange for her life and promises to never misbehave again.

Say what you will about this family, but at least they're loyal (or mostly loyal) to each other till the end, especially where Red Boy is concerned.

BÁIGǓFŪRÉN (白骨夫人)

For as powerful as she appears to be, BÁIGǓFŪRÉN—White Bone Lady—also called BÁIGǓJĪNG (白骨精), or White Bone Spirit (Lady Bone Demon on the show) in the novel is essentially the exact opposite. She, like so many other demons, had heard that eating a monk's flesh would grant the eater immortality and as soon as she sees the Pilgrims passing by prior to them coming across Red Boy, she decides to make her move and, after disguising herself as a young girl (whom Bājiè becomes attracted to), an old woman, and then an old man—all quickly attacked by Sūn Wùkōng—she's finally killed.

What should've been a minor inconvenience at best, however, actually serves to have massive consequences for the next few chapters, as Táng Sānzàng—with some convincing from Zhū Bājiè—comes to believe that Sūn Wùkōng actually just killed three innocent people, leading the monk to perform the Tight-Fillet spell, banish his eldest disciple from the group after Monkey's third attack, and eventually get captured once again in Sūn Wùkōng's absence while the other three Pilgrims become otherwise too indisposed to save him (an incident I already brought up in my post discussing the Pilgrims).

After defeating the Monster of the Week, Wùkōng and Tripiṭaka make amends.

JĪNJIǍO DÀWÁNG (金角大王) and YÍNJIǍO DÀWÁNG (銀角大王)

Sometime after Sūn Wùkōng rejoins the group, the next demons the Pilgrims encounter are a pair of brothers named JĪNJIǍO DÀWÁNG and YÍNJIǍO DÀWÁNG, or the Gold and Silver Horn Kings, who live on Píngdǐngshān (平頂山), Level-Top Mountain, in Liánhuā Dòng (蓮花洞), Lotus-Flower Cave.

Of the the two, Jīn is apparently the eldest and is the one who suggests going after Tripiṭaka to eat him, and while Yín is at first reluctant to capture what he initially assumes to just be some ordinary monks, he immediately changes his mind once Jīn says that eating one—specifically one who had once been Buddha's own disciple—would be a much quicker way to prolong their lifespan rather than the usual way. Despite this, Jīn still suggests that they be cautious.

While patrolling Píngdǐngshān (and falling asleep at one point), Zhū Bājiè gets captured after being mistaken for Tripiṭaka, one of the brothers disguises himself as a Daoist and then proceeds to trap Monkey under three mountains—Sumeru/Xūmíshān (須彌山), Emei/Éméishān (峨嵋山), and Tai/Tàishān (泰山).

Working with the brothers are two other demons named LÍNGLÌ CHÓNGDÀO (伶俐蟲道) and JĪNGXÌ GUǏDÀO (精細鬼道), Wiley Worm and Sly Devil respectively, and it's noted that Yīn has a soft spot for the former. They plan to catch Sūn Wùkōng using the Purple Gold Red Gourd/Zǐjīn Hónghúlu (紫金紅葫蘆) and the Pure Mutton-Jade Vase/Yáng Zhīyù Jìngpíng (羊脂玉淨瓶), which are able to trap anyone inside if their name is said aloud.

Monkey, meanwhile, manages to get out from being trapped beneath the mountains with the help of the local mountain deities, but rather than go and rescue his friends first, Sūn Wùkōng decides to make stealing demon treasure his first priority, the gourd and vase among them. To do so, he disguises himself as a Daoist, tricks Línglì and Jīngxì into exchanging their treasures for his normal gourd after Monkey "proves" to them that it can capture Heaven itself.

Línglì and Jīngxì are spared, but when Jīn and Yīn decide to invite their mother JIǓWĚI HÚLÍ (九尾狐狸), Nine-Tailed Fox, to dinner, they send for two other demons called BĀSHĀNHǓ (巴山虎), Hill-Pawing Tiger, and YǏ HǍILÓNG (倚海龍), Sea-Lolling Dragon, to fetch her instead.

Overhearing this, Sūn Wùkōng learns that the one in possession of the third treasure, the Yellow-Gold Rope/Huǎngjīn Shéng (幌金繩), is none other than Jiǔwěi Húlí herself. So Monkey does as Monkey does and eventually kills the tiger and dragon, kills the mother and her attendants, and then ends up disguising himself as Jiǔwěi before meeting with Jīn and Yīn.

And then Bājiè blows his cover.

A fight ensues and the demon brothers eventually manage to catch Sūn Wùkōng, except not really, because the one they've captured turns out to be a fake. Meanwhile, the real Sūn Wùkōng pretends to be his own younger brother and gets sucked into into the gourd even after using a fake name, tries the same trick once more under a different name after switching the gourds again, and kills Yīn by sucking him inside it.

With his little brother dead and after being told by Zhū Bājiè of Sūn Wùkōng's trickery, Jīn then decides that the next best course of action is vengeance! So another fight ensues and Jīn eventually flees, leading to Monkey to soon obtain the next treasure, the Palm Leaf Fan/Bājiāoshàn (芭蕉扇), as well as free the other Pilgrims without issue.

But it's not over yet, because as it turns out, Jīn actually started to form an entire army to use against Sūn Wùkōng! Joining him is his maternal uncle HÚĀQĪ (狐阿七), Great King Fox Number Seven, but the demons are soon beaten and Jīn faces his brother's fate by being sucked inside the vase. Afterwards, Wùkōng finally acquires the final treasure, the Seven Stars Sword/Qīxīngjiàn (七星劍).

Unfortunately for Wùkōng, he's not able to keep any of his new toys, because as it turns out, they all belong to the immortal founder of Taoism Tàishàng Lǐ Lǎojūn (太上李老君), otherwise known as Laozi, who explains to the Pilgrims that the demon brothers were actually two Taoists who worked for him and that they not only stole the treasures from their master, but also got turned into demons by Guānyīn herself in order to test the group; Jīn and Yīn are then both restored to life and taken back to Heaven afterwards.

LÍNGGǍN DÀWÁNG (靈感大王)

Granted, this demon is never actually stated to be the exact same one the Pilgrims encountered, but the name's the same, so I'm counting it!

So, one day, the Pilgrims come across Tōngtiānhé (通天河), Heaven-Reaching River, but due to being unable to cross it, they end up taking shelter with two brothers from Chénjiāzhuāng (陳家莊) named Chén Qīng (陳清) and Chén Chéng (陳澄), who both share the exact same secular surname as Táng Sānzàng himself (Chén as in 陳).

After the Pilgrims notice funeral arrangements being prepared, the brothers explain that their village has a tradition of sacrificing one boy and one girl to the local river demon called the LÍNGGǍN DÀWÁNG, Great King of Numinous Power, in exchange for wind and rain, and this time, it's their children's turn: Chéng's daughter Yīchèngjīn (一秤金) and Qīng's son Guānbǎo (關保).

Agreeing to help, Wùkōng and Bājiè (much to the latter's dismay) disguise themselves as the year's sacrificial lambs in order to lure the Great King out. Once they're confronted by him, the two Pilgrims begin to attack, but he manages to escape and later devises a plan with another water demon to, of course, kidnap Tripiṭaka, which works. Shā Wùjìng and Zhū Bājiè try to fight him, but because he's in hiding, Wùkōng decides to go to Guānyīn to find out the demon's origins.

Unfortunately for him, Guānyīn isn't in the mood to see anyone right now, but Monkey being Monkey, goes to see her anyway. After he tells her what had happened, she travels with him to Tōngtiānhé and quickly captures the so-called Great King herself... who actually turns out to be her pet goldfish, who'd self-cultivated after listening to her lectures. He then leaves with Guānyīn and Tripiṭaka is rescued afterwards.

It's also here where he meets a giant turtle who'd self-cultivated for three hundred years and only asks in return for safe passage across the river is for Tripiṭaka to ask Buddha to make him human.

DÚJIǍO SÌ DÀWÁNG (獨角兕大王)

He's only appeared in video game form so far, but yeah, I'm counting him too.

Following the goldfish incident, we get to my favorite of Sūn Wùkōng's enemies, DÚ JIǍO SÌ DÀWÁNG, the One-Horned Rhinoceros King!

So what happens is that the Pilgrims begin traveling through another mountain range, Golden Pocket Mountain/Jīndōushān (金兜山), when—in Sūn Wùkōng's absence after the others leave a circle he explicitly told them not to leave while he searched for food—Tripiṭaka, Bājiè, Wùjìng, and Liè all soon get captured by the Rhino King here.

After Monkey finds out where the others has been taken to this time, he finds the demon's lair, but rather than getting scared or trying to avoid the Great Sage altogether, Rhino is instead excited!

So the two have a battle and even start praising each other's abilities, but they can't fight forever, so Rhino eventually ends up stealing Wùkōng's staff by sucking it into a white fillet, rendering the Monkey King without a weapon of his own. However, due to a comment the enemy made during their fight, Sūn Wùkōng quickly comes to the conclusion that Rhino came from Heaven and immediately goes to the Celestials to investigate.

After explaining the situation, the Jade Emperor soon agrees to send Devarāja Lǐ Jìng, his son Prince Nézhā, several Heavenly soldiers, as well as the thunder squires Dèng Huà (鄧化) and Zhāng Fān (張蕃) to subdue the Rhino King, but then most their weapons get sucked into the white fillet too and Monkey is so distressed that he actually ends up laughing at the situation afterwards. Lǐ Jìng then brings up that only fire and water can resist being sucked away, so Sūn Wùkōng decides to go to Huǒ Dé Xīngjūn (火德星君), Star of Fiery Virtue, and then to Shuǐ Dé Xīngjūn (水德星君), Star of Watery Virtue.

I'll give you three guesses as to what happens with both of them.

So Monkey and Rhino duke it out again as Jìng and Huǒ Dé look in in awe while both the thunder squires and Nézhā try to help out. After Sūn Wùkōng gets praised for his efforts when Rhino and his minions flee, one of the thunder squires suggests that they steal the white fillet and who better to do it than the Great Sage himself?

After taking the compliment, Monkey changes himself into a fly, and though he doesn't get the white fillet, he does at least manage to find his staff. Afterwards, he goes in a second time and duplicates himself to retrieve the Heavenly weapons, mounts one of Fiery Virtue's captured fire dragons, and then charges out of there with all the awesomeness that riding a literal fire dragon entails!

Have I mentioned I loved this arc yet?

Unfortunately, Sūn Wùkōng has yet to steal the white fillet.

Again, three guesses as to what happens.

Soon enough, most of the Celestials start arguing with each other while Watery Virtue stands off the side to sulk, so Monkey tries to cheer them all up, and after being asked by Nézhā where he could find information on this latest enemy since Heaven couldn't find anything on him, Sūn Wùkōng decides to go directly to Buddha himself, who refuses to reveal the Rhino King's true identity, but does still offer his assistance by having his arhats release eighteen grains of golden cinnabar sand.

Good thing Buddha had a backup plan! And that's to go to Laozi!

So after Monkey gets done being annoyed over why Tathāgata couldn't have just told him that in the first place, he does just that. And it's from Laozi he not only finally finds out about the true identity of the Rhino King, but the origin of the white fillet as well, because they both belong to Laozi himself: the former is actually an escaped buffalo while the latter is a diamond snare.

Hearing what the buffalo has done, Laozi decides to go the mountain himself and uses his fan to change the creature back into his true form before apprehending him, everyone gets their weapons back, and the rest of the Pilgrims are finally freed!

XIĒZI JĪNG (蠍子精)

Xiēzi Jīng, or Scorpion Spirit—Scorpion Queen on the show—appears following the Kingdom of Women arc, specifically right after Táng Sānzàng rejects the queen, who had wanted him for a husband. Overhearing this, a disguised Scorpion decides that if the queen can't marry him, then she certainly will, and then proceeds to kidnap him. She does however make sure that he's treated well and even tries to lighten the mood with puns, but Tripiṭaka is having none of it and just wants to leave.

Soon, Sūn Wùkōng and Bājiè confront her, but neither of them can manage to actually beat her. Eventually, they're approached by Guānyīn, who informs them that what appears to be a strange maiden is actually a scorpion spirit who'd listened in on Buddha's lectures. Buddha however tried to get her to leave, but was instead stung by her, hence an earlier statement made by Scorpion about how even Tathāgata is afraid of her, and she then fled afterwards.

Guānyīn then directs Sūn Wùkōng to speak with an old friend of hers named Mǎorì Xīngguān (昴日星官), Star Lord Orionis, who agrees to help by literally turning himself into a giant rooster and just crushing Scorpion to death.

LIÙ ĚR MÍHÓU (六耳獼猴)

The show did a pretty good job at covering the basics of the origins of Sūn Wùkōng, but Liù Ěr Míhóu, or the Six-Eared Macaque, is a different story entirely.

So in the original book, Sūn Wùkōng—not for the first time—has been banished from the group for killing the thieving son of a couple who'd been kind to the Pilgrims. Taking advantage of the Monkey King's absence in order to obtain the scriptures and gain all the fame and glory that would come with it for himself, Macaque disguises himself as Sūn Wùkōng, attacks Tripiṭaka to the point of knocking the monk unconscious, steals the luggage, and then makes his way to Huāguǒshān, where he then proceeds to order the other monkeys to apprehend Shā Wùjìng after finding out that he had followed him before revealing to the disciple that he's already made copies of the others.

Horrified, Wùjìng manages to kill the copy of himself, which turns out to be just another monkey, and decides to go inform Guānyīn about what's happened. The imposter doesn't give chase, however, and instead orders the other monkeys to skin and fry the dead one before simply having another monkey change into Shā Wùjìng, showing that he views his "subjects" as expendable.

Meanwhile, Wùjìng soon makes it to Guānyīn's home, only to find that Sūn Wùkōng—the real Sūn Wùkōng—is already there. After realizing Monkey had indeed been replaced by an imposter, the two disciples return to Huāguǒshān to try and stop him, but as soon as Sūn Wùkōng and his double engage in battle, they turn out to be evenly matched, nor can anyone tell the difference between the two no matter what they do.

Eventually, Buddha gets involved again, and it's from him that we learn there are actually four spiritual primates: the Intelligent Stone Monkey (靈明石猴) Sūn Wùkōng, the Red Bottomed Horse Monkey (赤尻馬猴), the Long Armed Ape Monkey (通臂猿猴), and the Six-Eared Macaque. Also according to Buddha, each monkey has their own specialty, with Macaque in particular having, to quote Yu:

A sensitive ear,

Discernment of fundamental principles,

Knowledge of past and future,

And comprehension of all things.

Afterwards, Buddha manages to capture Macaque himself in an almsbowl and Wùkōng strikes him dead.

Fun fact, Macaque's name may also be derived from the old Buddhist saying, "the dharma is not to be transmitted to the sixth ear (法不传六耳)," referring to a secret that can't be known by a third party. Sūn Wùkōng previously referenced this while he was still under the tutelage of Patriarch Subodhi.

ZHĪZHŪJĪNG (蜘蛛精)

Unlike on the show, the Zhīzhūjīng, Spider Spirits, are actually comprised of seven sisters and no queen. They reside in Cobweb Cave/Pánsīdòng (盤絲洞) at Cobweb Ridge/Pánsīlǐng (盤絲嶺).

The Pilgrims encounter them sometime after the Bull Demon King's arrest, and after seeing their house, Tripiṭaka decides to go to the homeowners and beg for food, though his disciples remain weary. Even Bājiè insists on approaching the house himself, but Tripiṭaka is adamant on going on his own. While at the house, he's greeted by seven young maidens, who attempt to feed him human flesh. Sensing that something is off, Tripiṭaka tries to leave the house, only to be held hostage. Following this, the maidens reveal their true forms as spider spirits and cover the entire nearby village in silk.

Sūn Wùkōng of course goes to investigate and finds out from the local deity that the sisters have taken over a spring known as Purgation Spring/Zhuógòuquán (濯垢泉), which once belonged to the Qī Xiāngū (七仙姑), Seven Immortal Dames, and that the spider spirits go there frequently. Monkey ends up following them there, but due to an old proverb that states a man shouldn't fight a woman, stays his hand and just steals their clothes instead so they'll be too embarrassed to come out.

After returning to the other disciples, Zhū Bājiè decides it would be best to just kill them instead and Wùkōng doesn't even try to stop him, but Bājiè is eventually tied up in silk as well. After running home to put on their other clothes, the Spider Spirits call upon their adopted sons to get rid of the disciples: Bee/Mì (蜜), Hornet/Mǎ (螞), Cockroach/Lú (蠦) Catharsis/Bān (班), Grasshopper/Měng (蜢), Maggot/Là, (蜡) and Dragonfly/Qīng (蜻).

Of course, it doesn't end well for them, with Sūn Wùkōng transforming seven of his hairs to transform into seven hawks to devour the insects. The disciples manage to find Sānzàng afterwards and burn the cave to the ground, but the Spider Spirits are nowhere to be found.

Later, the Pilgrims come across Huánghuāguān (黃花观), Yellow Flower Abbey, where they are then greeted by a Daoist, who actually turns out to be the elder sworn brother of the Spider Spirits. After finding out what had happened earlier, he agrees to help them seek revenge against the Pilgrims by serving them poisoned tea, which only Sūn Wùkōng doesn't drink. Monkey is then attacked by the Spider Spirits, but he manages to escape and is eventually able to capture the sisters and kill them after the Daoist refuses to exchange their lives for Táng Sānzàng's.

Feeling remorse, the Daoist then attempts to avenge his fallen sisters and eventually defeats Sūn Wùkōng after emitting golden beams from his thousand eyes. Afterwards Monkey comes across a Bodhisattva who has recently lost her husband to the very same Daoist and it's from her Sūn Wùkōng learns the poisoner is actually called DEMON LORD OF A HUNDRED EYES/BǍIYǍN MÓJŪN (百眼魔君) as well as MANY-EYED FIEND/DUŌMÙGUÀI (多目怪).

After promising to avenge her husband, the woman suggests Sūn Wùkōng seek the help of Orionis' mother Pralambā (毘藍婆), who resides on Purple Cloud Mountain/Zǐyúnshān (紫雲山). Afterwards, the woman reveals herself to actually be the Old Dame of Li Mountain/Líshān Lǎomǔ (黎山老姆). So Monkey goes to Pralambā, who helps him free the other Pilgrims, gives them the antidote to the poison, and defeats the so-called Daoist—who actually turns out to be a giant centipede—herself.

YÙTÙJĪNG (玉兔精)

Yes, I'm counting the bunnies!

Last but not least, we have the Jade Rabbit Spirit, Yùtùjīng, the final adversary the Pilgrims meet on the journey before finally reaching Buddha at last.

Upon finally reaching Tiānzhú (India), the Pilgrims travel to the palace to get their papers certified, unbeknownst that the Princess of Tiānzhú is going to choose a husband at that moment using a ball, and whoever it lands on is to become her husband.

So guess who it lands on.

Funnily enough, this also happens to be how Sānzàng's own parents met!

Afterwards, Wùkōng senses that something is amiss and quickly discovers that the princess is actually a fake, so to save Sānzàng from yet another female adversary who wishes to marry and/or sleep with him and absorb his yang energy, Monkey eventually battles her, until she flees to Hairbrush Mountain/Máoyǐngshān (毛 穎山) and he follows her there, where he learns from the Star Lord of Supreme Yīn/Tàiyīn Xīngjūn (太陰星君) that the False Princess is actually the Jade Rabbit, who held a grudge against another immortal who'd slapped her eighteen years prior called Sùé (素娥), the reincarnation of the real Princess. Jade Rabbit later kidnapped her and assumed the princess' identity for herself as vengeance.

Jade Rabbit is then apprehended by the lunar deities while the real Princess is eventually reunited with her family afterwards.

[totally-yourz]

Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

Relationship:

Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū

Characters:

Luò BīnghéShěn Yuán | Shěn QīngqiūXiǎo Gōngzhǔ | Little Palace MistressLǎo Gōngzhǔ | Old Palace MasterQín WǎnyuēQín WǎnróngMèng Mó | Dream Demon (Scum Villain)

Additional Tags:

Shen Yuan Transmigrates Into Gongyi XiaoHuàn Huā Palace (Scum Villain)Post-Endless Abyss (Scum Villain)Luò Bīnghé's Dream PowersSlow Burn

Language: English Stats:Published:2023-07-21Completed:2023-12-07Words:118,837Chapters:21/21Comments:3,628Kudos:6,073Bookmarks:1,818Hits:108,500

Tarnished Gold

Prim_the_Amazing

Summary:

Becoming emperor of the cultivation world will start with a first step as small and basic as becoming Head Disciple of Huan Hua Palace. For that, he must steal the position away from the current Head Disciple. Luo Binghe will sabotage, upstage, and completely and utterly best him.

The road to destroying everything and everyone who has ever wronged him, to becoming the highest ruler so that no one will ever have the right to control him ever again - it will start as simply as ruining Gongyi Xiao’s life.

Compared to everything else he’s already done, this should be easy.

-

Luo Binghe brings all his skills of cunning and brutality to bear on Gongyi Xiao, Head Disciple of Huan Hua Palace Sect. It… doesn’t go too well for him.

[strawbs-screaming]

Aight so you've def seen my cursed hc posts for all the guys so I think i'll just dump my list of names that all the spo guys call hoy and what hoy calls them in turn:

Peter: Peepaw- Bèn bèn (Literally means 'stupid' but affectionately)

Gabby: Papa- Jùfēng (Literally means chicken, but meant to call him brave yet weak)

Hurricane: Abuelito- Jùfēng (Hurricane, meant to call him swift and destructive)

Charlie: Grampa- Lǎnduò (Lazy, but hoy means it lovingly)

Dragon: Sifu (Cantonese spelling)- HeHe (A repeat of the first character of Dragon's real name, which is common in china) or Lǘ ròu (donkey meat, a joke about his full name)

Muscle: Tito- Shé (Literally means snake, but meant to call him sneaky)

Spo Aran: Pops- Yāzi (Literally means duck, but meant to call him impulsive, close to water, and having no teeth)

Heike: Sofu- Gōngzhǔ (Literally means princess, but meant as a reference to his stage name and his focus on his looks)

Clown: Nonno- Pàngzi (Fatty, but in an affectionate way, like gordito)

Narcis: Grandad- Xiǎohuā (Little flower, meant to be ironic)

Rick: Old fart- Wáng bā (Son of a bitch/bastard)

Nick: Mummified corpse- hún dà (Bastard, but more intense)

Most of these are slang for grandpa, except for Gabby and Dragon's, which mean dad and 'great master/father figure' respectively

(god this took forever to write lmao)

~ fan-mans

omg yess that cursed hc post spins in my head rent free helppp

hoy is so real for for calling Rick a son of a bitch

also another hc that hoy has a mean nickname for everyone he whispers under his breath when mad + has a Twitter account where he talks shit in the most grandpa way possible

[eisenbrave]

Qítiān Dàshèng + Tiě Shàn Gōngzhǔ

Oathsworn + the Guardian MK.II

[crownsofesha]

Would you rather: start your current project from scratch or do a soft reboot focusing on a different character?

Probably a soft reboot. While I some what want to fix some of my pretty early posts, I know that I would never actually do it and just keep saying that I would.

I actually know which character it would focus on, Esther. I also plan on focusing on Esther's story in the next chapter, but if I was going to start over with a completely different character, I would say my Huáxià Princess, Zhou Xinyi Gōngzhǔ.

[ka-go-me]

. ꅏꍏ꒒ꀘꀤꈤꁅ ꌃ꒒ꀎꍟ

[ao3feed-liushen]

He’s Just Another Rotten Apple

read it on the AO3 here

by Powhruu, YeniiiX3 (orphan_account)

"May my prayers forever remain unheard, for now all I desire is peace within my tormented heart. May I be forgotten, condemned to an eternity of this maddening existence."

Ever since that accident, Shen Jiu had felt an unsettling burden on his mind. Each day, unfamiliar and profound memories infiltrated his thoughts, leading him to a conclusion.

He had always known a bit too much for his own good.

like a beaming star surpassing everyone's expectations. He had everything he could ever wish for—a family who would give him the stars as he too would give him the moon, wealth and fame enough to indulge him for a lifetime, and exceptional musical talents that surpassed even prodigious abilities.

He seemed to have it all.

However, deep down, Shen Jiu knew he wasn’t the innocent and fragile Shen Yuan.

He was Shen Jiu and was previously discarded like a rotten apple, and he thrived on it.

Sometimes he wonders dead at night looking at the stars near the Qing Jing peak’s radiant lush bamboo forest

‘Was it a devil's deal disguised as a blessing in his past life? Or was it simply the consequence of someone’s selfless wish for some nobody’s happiness?’

Who knows and yet he wonders?

Words: 765, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: M/M, Other

Characters: Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Luò Bīnghé, Original Luò Bīnghé, Yuè Qīngyuán, Liǔ Qīnggē, Original Liǔ Qīnggē, Cāng Qióng Mountain Sect Peak Lords, Cāng Qióng Mountain Sect, Huàn Huā Palace Disciples, Lǎo Gōngzhǔ | Old Palace Master, Xiǎo Gōngzhǔ | Little Palace Mistress, Qiū Hǎitáng, Qiu jianlou

Relationships: Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū/Original Yuè Qīngyuán, Original Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Liǔ Qīnggē/Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Liǔ Qīnggē/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Original Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū/Yuè Qīngyuán, Original Mòběi-jūn/Original Shàng Qīnghuá, Mòběi-jūn/Shàng Qīnghuá

Additional Tags: Third Chances, Reincarnated Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū and Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū are the Same Person, Self-Harm, Past Relationship(s), Trauma, Childhood Trauma, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Grooming, Dark, Modern Era, Alternate Universe - Historical, Amnesiac Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Childhood Sweethearts, Memory Loss, Suicide Attempt, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū Deserves Better, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū Deserves Happiness, turn back time, Possessive Behavior, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Obsession, Torture, Psychological Torture, Mentions of mutilation, Trauma dumpfest, Attempted Sexual Assault

read it on the AO3 here

[wolfblastgirls-corner]

Meet Jīn huǒ gōngzhǔ(Princess Golden Fire)

She is the Princess of the highest ranking clan of Demon Stone Monkeys. Often being called the Princess of the sun, fire, and gold. She is the sworn protector of her clan, doing everything in her power to protect her people. Even if it means getting killed in the process.

She is around 5ft(short lady), and has long golden like hair with orange tips. Her face marking is shaped like a butterfly in a way. She was very humerous and kind, always being the light of her friend and family's lives. You could say her personality was just like Wukong's but his was like way more mischievous.

However, when her species was hunted down by Kěn Yuē and his army of demon hunters she had to do something she never thought she would have to go through. She being the last of her kind she had to produce a cub, using her magic and the earth. This was how her son Sun Wukong came to be. After the exhaustimg process she would take her final stand with Kěn Yuē, entrapping him in a prison that she hoped would keep him sealed away for many years, so her cub could hatch and grow in peace. She would succum to her wounds only moment later, never being able to see her cub. Luckily her aquatint-friend was there to raise Wukong when he was born.

She is from my Lego Monkie Kid Au, The One of a Kind Gem (yes its shadowpeach lol)

Planning to put the story on Wattpad and Ao3

[kukuandkookie]

ART IS BY DAMETAI ON TWITTER!!!

Chapters: 9/10 Fandom: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 穿书自救指南 | Scumbag System (Cartoon) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Original Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū Characters: Original Luò Bīnghé, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shā Huálíng, Mòběi-jūn, Shàng Qīnghuá, Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Yuè Qīngyuán, Cāng Qióng Mountain Sect, Lǎo Gōngzhǔ | Old Palace Master, Tiānláng-jūn, Zhúzhī-láng Additional Tags: Magical Boys, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - High School, Secret Identity, Some attempts at Comedy, secret identity shenanigans, and some Qijiu, and maybe even a bit of Moshang and Mingling sprinkled in, No beta we die like sv manhua, Enemies to Lovers, (Sort of! Maybe more like:), Rivals to Lovers Summary:

Shen Yuan is what many would regard as normal—nothing too special, a bit of a dork, not all that popular at school...

Except he has a secret: he's a xianxia-themed magical boy.

And well, this secret gets increasingly hard to keep when he gets assigned the most popular boy at school as a partner on a big class project, because for some reason things keep happening that threaten his secret identity. Maybe it would be easier if Shen Yuan knew that suave, sweet Luo Binghe has a secret too—because Luo Binghe is the Demon Lord, the town's biggest supervillain...and Shen Yuan's arch-nemesis.

They literally fight each other on a near nightly basis, and also sort of flirt (?) with each other (except Shen Yuan is oblivious to this. To him, it's just the other being infuriating and smack-talking him). But through shenanigans, Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe somehow get closer at school and also keep flirting (err, Luo Binghe is flirting anyway) even as they try to keep their secret identities...well, secret. And when the elderly Huan Hua Polytechnic Headmaster requests Luo Binghe's help in opening a portal to the Demon Realm, things get serious...and something something more shenanigans and secret identity reveals~

[kururu418]

Olivier has another late night chat with Gabby as Yin Lang, but leaves on a rather shaky note. The boy starts to wonder if visiting her is a good idea at all, and gets some advice from his parents.