#the brothers sūn and like this other guy

[cassettemoon]

A troupe of macaques

[mythologyfolklore]

Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude

(A/N: Trauma, body dysphoria)

Chapter Nineteen: Liù'ěr Míhóu gives Sūn Wùkōng a hug

.

None of the men knew how long it took for them to snap out of their shocked state.

But Liù'ěr Míhóu was the first to speak: “I'll go after him.”

“Wouldn't it be better to give him some alone time right now?”, Shā Wùjìng objected.

The Six-Eared Macaque shook his head. “No. Right now, he's a danger to himself and others. Nobody should be left alone in such an emotionally vulnerable state. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Let me handle this. I can understand him better than all of you and if he lashes out, I'm the only one here equal to him in terms of power. You guys stay here, until I come back either with him or with information about his state.” His face darkened. “And while I'm gone, y'all can think of a decent apology. Especially you, slaphead! If I catch you wallowing in self-pity instead of coming up with a way to make up for your shit, I'll punt you to Diyu and there you can see what the hells are like, do you hear me?! Because if we all had to atone and redeem ourselves, then so do you! You don't have the moral high ground, slaphead, so get your head out of your ass! I'll see you later. Now I gotta make sure rock head doesn't get into trouble.”

And with that he too jumped on a cloud and flew away.

.

With his preternatural sense of hearing, it wasn't too hard for Liù'ěr Míhóu to find the other Spiritual Monkey.

He had flown southwards, crashed into a bunch of trees along the way and apparently had crashed into a mountain, taking out a big chunk of it.

As soon as the Six-Eared Macaque landed on the ground, he was accosted by a visibly unnerved mountain god.

“You better be here to stop that rabid flea bag of a rhesus macaque!”, he spat. “He's wrecking my mountain!”

Liù'ěr Míhóu's indigo eyes began to glow sapphire blue and he bared his sharp fangs. “Call my Eldest Brother a rabid flea bag again and I'll raze your precious mountain to the ground, do you hear me?”

The mountain god shook with fear, but nodded.

Liù'ěr Míhóu scowled. “Good. Now you mind your own business and I'll take the Monkey King with me. You will not press charges against him, make any other moves against us or encourage anyone else to do so, or you will face the wrath of the Six-Eared Macaque. And let me tell you, I'm one bloodthirsty son of a bitch.” He put on a sweet smile. “Also, I hear everything, so don't think you can go behind my back! I will know! Keep that in mind. Toodles~”

With that he made his way to the mountain, leaving behind a traumatised mountain deity.

As he made his way up to the crater, he heard muffled sobs and sniffles.

And Liù'ěr Míhóu would never ever admit, that the sounds hurt him to hear. Coming from Sūn Wùkōng they just sounded … wrong.

Finally the Macaque arrived at his destination and frowned at what he found: Sūn Wùkōng was hidden in a small whole in the rock, curled in a tiny ball of fur and blood, trembling and weeping.

Before approaching, Liù'ěr Míhóu made himself known: “Wùkōng.”

Two glowing red eyes peered at him from the darkness.

“May I approach you?”, he asked.

There was an affirmative noise and Liù'ěr Míhóu crouched into the hole to join the upset monkey.

“May I touch you?”, he asked next.

“… Dunno …”, was the teary response.

“Then I won't”, said Liù'ěr Míhóu. “But can you come out of that hole?”

At this, the brown monkey seemed to retreat further into the hole.

“We don't need to go back to the others”, the white monkey assured him. “Just away from this uncomfy mountain and into a nicer location. I know there is one not so far away, with a nice grove and a stream. I think a bath would do you good.”

“… 'Kay.”

.

Liù'ěr Míhóu discreetly turned around, while Wùkōng rinsed himself off in the small stream and washed away the dirt and blood.

After a while, Wùkōng mumbled: “Can you hand me my clothes?”

Liù'ěr Míhóu turned around. “Sure, here you go – holy shit, you look awful!”

The Monkey King had dark rims and bags under his eyes. His frame was concerningly skinny, littered in scars and he had burn scars on his body and face. He was wounded and still bleeding, probably from the earlier crash. Then there was the shiner from his earlier scuffle with his former sworn brother.

“Way to appeal to my ego”, the brown monkey deadpanned. But he was hugging himself, belying his stoic tone.

“Where did you get those burns?”, Liù'ěr Míhóu couldn't help but ask, as he passed the other his undergarments.

Wùkōng sighed and went over each burn scar.

“Trigram Furnace”, he started with the burns on his face, his glowing red eyes and extremities.

“Hóng Hái'er”, he pointed at the other burn marks. “His True Fire of Samadhi is no joke.”

Liù'ěr Míhóu chuckled: “Yeah. I didn't tell his mother, but I met him once. And what a little shit he was. He found out about my ability to hear the future, asked me to listen into his and didn't like what I told him. If it wasn't for my own elemental magic, he would have burned me to a crisp.”

“What kind of abilities do you have? That aren't the same as mine, I mean.”

“Water manipulation, but my water isn't normal.”

“Could it put out the True Fire of Samadhi?”

“Yup.”

“Wow. Now I wish we had met you back then. Just without the impersonating bullshit.”

“Heh … yeah. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. But what happened, happened.” Liù'ěr Míhóu smiled. “Come here. I'll take care of your wounds. Don't worry, you can keep your pants on.”

The Monkey King sighed in relief and sat next to the white monkey.

Liù'ěr Míhóu transformed a few hairs into medical supplies (yes, he could do that too) and began to treat and dress the other's wounds.

Once he was done, the two sat in silence and just took in the beauty of this place.

“I hate my body too”, Wùkōng confessed all of the sudden. “Not for the same reasons as you, obviously, I just … hate it. I used to be the Handsome Monkey King. I used to be beautiful. Now look at me. I look disgusting. Even strangers scream in terror, when they see my face. I don't recognise myself anymore. It feels like … like this isn't my body. Like this isn't me.” A hollow chuckle. “It's ridiculous, really.”

“It's not ridiculous”, Liù'ěr Míhóu contradicted gently. “It just proves how similar our experiences are. Just like you all accepted me, I'll accept you. You're not alone, Wùkōng. Okay? And don't let those stupid mortals get to you. If they call you ugly, then that's because they don't know true ugliness.”

“What does that mean?”

“Appearances are and always will be nothing but façades. A pretty face and a sweet demeanour can hide the most hideous nature. You know this better than anyone, don't you? You can see through illusions and down to creatures' very core, can't you?”

“I couldn't see through yours”, Wùkōng pointed out.

The Six-Eared Macaque snickered: “My mimicry is like no other's! I don't cast illusions, I shift completely. I don't pretend, I become the person I impersonate!”

The Monkey King grinned weakly. “It was pretty cool, in retrospect. At first I actually thought it was a clone of mine, who got away and went feral.”

“Hah!”

“If you hadn't used my face to wreak havoc, it would have been funny. But it was pretty epic, when you turned into my master and threw his own words against him.”

“Oh, you're welcome. Though I seriously don't understand, how you can be so loyal to him after all the abuse.”

“… He freed me from that cursed mountain. And for that I will always be grateful. But still …”

“It's not enough to make his treatment any more forgiveable.”

“No. And … I don't think it ever will be.”

“And that's okay”, Liù'ěr Míhóu told him. “You don't owe him your forgiveness. And he better realise that and accept it, because if he keeps being such a fucking jackass, I'll slap him till his head looks like a cherry.”

“Liù'ěr Míhóu, no.”

“Liù'ěr Míhóu, yes!”

.

“How are you feeling right now?”, Liù'ěr Míhóu asked.

Sūn Wùkōng heaved a sigh. “Like shit, honestly. This whole fucking day has been a shitshow. At least for me. First that conflict with my big brother and his wife and mistress, then I was fucking mocked by Zhū Bājiè, Master threw a tantrum at me, you succeeded, where I failed, and then Master had the audacity to tell me I should be like you. No offence, but-”

“You're not the one, who almost broke his back and stabbed one demon in the ass eighty-one times. No regrets, by the way”, Liù'ěr Míhóu finished.

“Exactly! Also, you ate one of my subjects.”

“Yeah, but in my defence, Shā Wùjìng was the one, who killed him. And I shared with your other subjects. Couldn't let the precious meat go to waste-"

“You ate one of my babies! They may not be my biological children, but I love them. I'm their Old Grandpa Sūn. It was painful enough, when … when my master banished me for the first time and I returned to Flower Fruit Mountain, only to find, that …” He choked back a sob. “Fucking Èrláng had burned it down and killed my children and grandchildren! Fuck, curse that three-eyed bastard! Fuck everything and this journey that keeps me from protecting my little ones!” He burst into tears again. “I just … everything hurts and I can't take it anymore!”

Liù'ěr Míhóu didn't know what to say. Except … “I … I promise no more cannibalism? And I guess I'm sorry? I wasn't actually planning to hurt any of those monkeys, but-”

Sūn Wùkōng gave him an unimpressed look. “Stop. That's a shitty apology, but for now I'll let it slide. Let's … let's not talk about that anymore. And you can apologise to them after the journey. I'm not inviting you to my mountain, but my little ones deserve the truth and the apology.”

“Okay. Uhm … how did it go with the Bodhisattva and Hóng Hái'er? Did she allow him to visit his parents?”

For the first time today, Wùkōng smiled. “Yeah. The three of us flew to his father, the two had a sweet reunion and all … and you know what Niú Mówáng said to me? He thanked me and said that sometime in the future, he will be able to forgive me.”

“That's good, right?”

“Yeah … more than I ever hoped for, actually. I have missed him so much, you have no idea. Though … do you ever miss your crow friend?”

The white monkey chuckled: “Certainly. I think I'm going to miss my new sworn sister too.”

“I still can't believe you managed to become buddies with Princess Iron Fan.”

“Yeah. Now I have two friends with 'iron' in their name! Get it? The Iron-Feathered Crow and Princess Iron Fan?”

Wùkōng guffawed: “Hah! You're right! That is funny!”

Liù'ěr Míhóu grinned. “See? Changing topics though …”, he sobered up, “… how are you feeling now? Are you ready to go back?”

The Monkey King's face fell and he hugged himself.

“Not? Okay. Then we'll stay here for a bit longer. May I ask what's wrong?”

“…”

“I won't laugh or judge”, promised the Six-Eared Macaque.

There was still some hesitation.

Then, finally: “… I'm scared.” The auburn monkey seemed to choke on his words and sounded, like he was about to cry again. “I'm … I'm scared of going back. I can't face Master. He will hurt me. He will punish me for being a bad monkey. He will … he will use the Tightening Mantra.”

Liù'ěr Míhóu had to hold back a snarl. “No, he won't. You had to endure this shit for years, but now I'm here and I will not hesitate to give him a taste of his own medicine. I will not stand for his hypocrisy and if he refuses to listen to reason, I will make him listen.”

“…”

“May I put an arm around you?”

For a moment the Monkey King looked shocked, before saying: “… You may.”

So Liù'ěr Míhóu put an arm around the distressed monkey's shoulder and allowed him to lean against his own.

“It's pathetic, huh?”, Wùkōng mumbled. “Running away after yelling at everyone and not having the spine to-”

“Wùkōng, no. You reached your breaking point and were upset. Your anger in this case was perfectly justified. Slaphead's been treating you like a serf he can use and abuse how he saw fit. He takes his loathing of his own weakness and lack of agency out on you, because you're the only one he can control to an extent. That tirade you gave him was absolutely necessary. And that brat better kowtow and beg your forgiveness, or I swear to Buddha, I will make good on my promise of slapping his head till it's scarlet!”

“…”

Wùkōng leaned further into the Six-Eared Macaque's shoulder.

Liù'ěr Míhóu got the hint and hugged him completely this time.

The Monkey King's heartbeat was still rapid, so the Macaque sighed and pressed the other's head flush against his body.

Wùkōng let out a surprised chirp.

Followed by an awkward: “Uhhh, Liù'ěr Míhóu? M-my head is kinda pressed against your-”

“Don't focus on that! Just listen to my heartbeat and breathing.”

“… Okay.”

He felt the Monkey King slowly relax against him.

Good.

Softly, Liù'ěr Míhóu instructed: “Let my heartbeat soothe your nerves. Let my breathing guide your own. Just listen to the noises of the area. Listen to the flow of the water. The singing of the birds. The wind playing in the leaves …”

[spotsupstuff]

i don't know if you're the right person to ask, sorry if not! but could you please give me the proper names of the lmk crew? i'm writing a comic script for my au and it feels wrong writing the western names when i call xiaotian and xiaojiau by their chinese names.

well, "proper" isnt really a good word to use since the english version is the og n therefore anythin u hear There IS technically the Proper Version, but i gotcha ya drift

MK = 齐小天 [Qí Xiǎotiān] • Monkie Kid (hero title) = 悟空小侠 [Wùkōng xiǎo xiá] (basically means "little heroic Wukong") Mei = 龙小娇 [Lóng Xiǎojiāo] Pigsy = 朱大厨 [Zhū dà chú] (first name unknown, the last two characters mean chef/great chef) mr. Tang = 唐师傅/师父 [Táng shīfù/shīfu] (first name unknown, the two shifus r basically the "mister") Sandy = 沙大力 Shā Dàlì Monkey King = 孙悟空 [Sūn Wùkōng] (it is important to address him by the full name or one of his titles/titles + last name. the Sūn is read as S-uh-n, btw, not sun the star) Macaque = 六耳猕猴 [Liù'ěr míhóu] (meaning six eared macaque- the "six ear" part of his name is usually used more often as a name for him from what I've seen if not the entire thing, idk why LMK rather goes with "macaque"] Lady Bone Demon = 白骨精/夫人 [Báigǔjīng/fūrén] (meaning White Bone Spirit/Lady)

Sometimes some of the elder peeps refer to each other as "老 [lǎo] + [last name]", that basically happens between equals of age, if I understand that right. Xiaojiao could call Xiaotian "lao Qi" if she wanted, basically (i THINK). Xiaojiao and Xiaotian refer to Sha Dali as Dàlì gē (gē means elder brother)

Everyone else is just basically a translation between the languages. With Bull Demon King, the Bull comes before the Demon in the mandarin version of the name. I sometimes refer to Princess Iron Fan as Rākṣasi cuz the translation of the book I have did so, but Rākṣasi basically means "female man-eating demon" from hinduism (n some other religions). Still, it was kinda used like Her Specific Name in the book so I kinda treat it as such

Spider Queen is called "spider spirit", the fish guy from s3e3 is "gold fish spirit", the scorpion demon is "scorpion spirit" n so on

[mythologyfolklore]

Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude

(A/N: tw: cannibalism, assault, identity theft, implied SA)

Chapter Twenty-Five: The confession of the Sixth Ear

.

Wùkōng sighed, wished his master a good recovery and returned to the pagoda.

“We really need to find a healer”, he said to his youngest brother. “His back is getting worse by the month. At this point, Master will become paralysed, just like Bājiè said.”

“Yeah”, said Liù'ěr Míhóu and added: “I didn't mean to give him permanent spinal damage back then. I just wanted to hit him hard enough to knock him out.”

“Hm. Good to know. Speaking of which, there's something that's been bugging me the whole time (you know, apart from the obvious stuff). You could have killed him with ease back then. Why didn't you?”

Liù'ěr Míhóu's expression tightened. He started swaying his head from side to side, as he seemed to debate with himself, whether he should answer that question or not.

To Wùkōng's relief, he chose to do so.

“I'm not gonna lie, that was my original plan: kill him and the others, get rid of the evidence and then steal all your stuff, because I wanted it. But … I heard something in the future. Several potential futures, actually – did you know, that the future is fluid and determined by our choices? – and one of them … I liked it. That's why I didn't kill Xuánzàng. Because I knew if I killed him, that future wouldn't come true.”

Wùkōng tilted his head.

He thought he understood, what the other Spiritual Monkey was saying, but just to be sure …

“Was it this one?”, he asked.

“…”

“Liù'ěr Míhóu-”

“I don't speak of the future. To anyone. The future's supposed to be-”

“It's not the future, if it's happening right now”, the Monkey King pointed out.

“…”

“Sūn Wùhuàn.”

Liù'ěr Míhóu stared at him. “You've never used my Dharma name before.”

“Well, it got your attention, didn't it? Come on. You just have to say yes or no. I guess the answer is yes, but guessing isn't knowing.”

The white monkey lowered his head and his six ears were laying flat.

He's afraid, Wùkōng realised.

“I won't judge. And I won't tell anyone”, he promised.

“… Yes. Yes, it was.”

“So you heard us being kind to you.”

“Yes.” A shaky smile. “I … I heard you guys accept me for what I am. I heard you be angry at my misdeeds without blaming me for things that were beyond my control. I heard promises of support and safety. I heard myself laugh with you. And … I wasn't sure, if it really was a possible future, or just a wishful dream. But I wanted it. Oh, I wanted it so badly!”

Wùkōng frowned: “But then, why did you pull all that crap? Why did you steal my face, my mountain, my grandchildren? Why did you eat one of them? Why did you harm Master at all? If the Buddha hadn't been there to stop me, I would have beaten you to death for what you did! You know that, right?”

Liù'ěr Míhóu sighed: “Of course I do. Well, it's true, I wanted all that. But at that time I wanted your glory even more. Your fame, your greatness, all the good things you have. I heard how Heaven feared you, how your subjects adored you, how powerful demons hurried to make alliances with you to either protect themselves or benefit from your sheer power – and it made my blood boil, because you were living the high life, while I knew nothing but struggle. I'm an envious creature, Sūn Wùkōng. As for why I ate one of them … well, the fresh body was there and I'd hardly eaten in weeks, so I wasn't gonna let the meat go to waste.”

The Monkey King shot him an unimpressed look. “I know I promised I wouldn't judge, but … wow. Just wow. Well, I sure hope that meal satisfied you, because that'll have been the last time ever that you ate flesh. Also, you will apologise to my babies.”

“That's fair.”

“And why did you hurt our master?”

The white monkey arched an eyebrow. “Have you forgot? He insulted me, when I offered him a cup of water! I don't care, if he thought I was you, I will not be offended like that!”

Oh yeah. Those words …

Liù'ěr Míhóu finished: “And that's when I decided 'fuck it' and hit him on the back. I still can't believe that action alone didn't blow my cover! Like damn! They just assumed that was totally something you would do! Kinda depressing, really. One would think, after eight years they'd know you better than that.”

Sūn Wùkōng felt a little bitter, knowing the Six-Eared Macaque was right.

Would his master and brothers ever stop thinking the worst of him?

The other monkey continued: “But … in retrospect I'm glad my plan failed. Not just because that would've been my death, but … now I have something better. For the first time in my life, I actually feel ��� okay. You have no idea, how good that feels. To finally be respected and get to interact with someone, who'd never … hurt me like countless others did.”

To Wùkōng's dismay, a single tear ran down Liù'ěr Míhóu's cheek.

The Monkey King let go of his irritation, threw away his broom and pulled the taller monkey into a hug.

“Listen to me”, he murmured. “What those disgusting bastards did to you … that's over. And we will never ever even think about doing that to you. What I'm trying to say is … if you ever can't defend yourself, we'll keep you safe. You're our little brother now. And if anyone even tries to touch you, they'll regret it. If I won't kill them, our fellow brothers will. Remember when you told us what happened to you and we all started fantasising about the horrible things we would do to your rapists?”

There was a watery chuckle: “Didn't you four come up with a plan involving castration, removing their eyes and hands and shoving Bājiè's rake or your staff up their asses?”

“M-hm. And we all meant it. That aside … I don't know how it feels to go through … that, because it never happened to me. But when you confided in us, I couldn't help but think … that could have been me. If the Celestials had wanted to do that to me, when I was imprisoned … I would've been powerless to stop them from living out whatever perverse fantasies they might've had. It didn't happen, but it could have …” He tightened his hug around Liù'ěr Míhóu, who hugged back just as tightly.

“Scary thought, isn't it?”, Wùkōng heard him whisper.

“Yeah. The thought of anyone touching me like that …” He shuddered. “Who knows, they might even have considered it!”

“Some did.”

“… What?”

“Before I pulled the identity theft, I listened into the past to learn all I could about you. At some point during your punishment, after Èrláng Shén burned down your place, but before the monk freed you, a group of Celestials suggested, that Heaven could make you their concubine. Guān Yīn scolded them for suggesting something so horrible, some child yelled at them and apparently kicked them in the crotch, because next thing they were screaming profanities-”

Must have been Nézhā. Good kid. I'll have to send him a fruit basket.

“-and then another screamed in agony, because someone stabbed them in the face.”

“What.”

“That's not even the craziest part: the one doing the stabbing was Èrláng Shén.”

“What!”

“I know, right? Trust me, if I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed it either. But yeah, one of the proposers screamed in pain and then someone said 'Did the Illustrious Sage just stab a fellow Celestial for the sake of that rabid ape?'. Not my words. And then the Jade Emperor kicked them out, saying the Celestial Realm is not a brothel.”

“What the fuck …?” Wùkōng's legs gave out and Liù'ěr Míhóu had to catch him. “What the fuck?!”, repeated the Monkey King, like a mantra. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuuuuu-”

“Maybe you should sit down?”, the Six-Eared Macaque awkwardly proposed and helped Wùkōng lean against the wall. “There. Now listen, I know this makes no sense-”

“You're damn right, it doesn't!”, hissed the Monkey King. “I can see Guān Yīn and Nézhā defend me (kid has a heart of jade, I will die on this hill), but Èrláng Shén?! He captured me, sic'ed his dog on me, burned down my home and killed my children, while I couldn't protect them- and then he suddenly decides to save me from possible sexual assault?! What?! This is unreal! What the hell is it with that guy?!”

Liù'ěr Míhóu shrugged: “Perhaps same reason as when he shot you for turning into a female bustard? Or he had a moment and secretly felt bad for burning down your mountain and killing your kin for your crimes against the Jade Emperor? I dunno, man. I couldn't hear him give an explanation and believe me, I listened closely.”

“I … this is too much! I … I can't even-”

“Maybe ask him next time you meet?”

Wùkōng scoffed: “Right! That's gonna be fucking hilarious! 'Hey, Èrláng, why did you stab that one guy in the face for suggesting I be made Heaven's sex slave, when you had no problem with murdering my innocent subjects?' Hah!”

“Okay, damn! Calm down! It was just an idea!” The Six-Eared Macaque sighed and stood up. “Let's get back to work. Maybe that'll help us get this shit off our minds.”

“Sounds good”, Wùkōng muttered and picked up his broom.

They went back to sweeping the stories of the pagoda in silence.

But as they were sweeping the twelfth, Liù'ěr Míhóu paused all of the sudden.

“What's wrong?”, Wùkōng whispered.

“Do you hear that?”, the other whispered back.

The Monkey King stood still and listened.

Indeed, he could hear something. Voices from the thirteenth floor – talking and laughing.

“Who the hells is still up there at this hour?”, he wondered. “Must be demons.”

“Wanna sneak up and beat a confession outta them?”

“Pfsh, who do you take me for?”

[mythologyfolklore]

Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude

(A/N: Tw: misgendering, chronic pain, mention of torture)

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Pilgrims agree to aid the Golden Light Monastery

.

“In all twelve hours, you must not forget,

to reap the fruits of night and day.

For five years, one hundred and eighty thousand rounds.

Let the spirit water never run dry,

nor let the fire's light cause you distress …”

Sūn Wùkōng had no idea, why Liù'ěr Míhóu had just started singing out of the blue.

Not that he was complaining; the white monkey certainly could sing. It was just kinda surprising, as Liù'ěr Míhóu had never ever done it in their presence before.

Now he was warbling away, seemingly without a care in the world, and the other pilgrims were listening just as intently as the Monkey King was.

“… There's no harm, where fire and water blend well;

Five Phases would join, as if enchained.

Yin and yang at peace raise you up the cloudy tower.

Ride the phoenix to reach the Heavens!

Mount the crane to head for Yingzhou~”¹

“Your singing is beautiful, Wùhuàn”, Tripitaka praised the macaque.

Liù'ěr Míhóu paused and blinked. “Oh. Thanks. I don't even remember the last time I've sung. Or made up my own lyrics to a tune I know.”

“Ohh, you rhyme songs and poems?”, the monk exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear.

(Wùkōng could have sworn, that his master was glowing with the sheer excitement radiating off him.)

Damn. When was the last time Master was this happy?

Tripitaka's joy was contagious though, and Wùkōng found himself smiling as well.

Liù'ěr Míhóu, however, was swaying his head from side to side and looking at the monk strangely.

Then: “You wish to bond over poetry with me, don't you?”

The monk chuckled a bit sheepishly: “I mean, if you want to. If not, you don't have to. It's just that I enjoy poetry myself and … it would be nice to be able to share that with someone. Your brothers aren't really interested.”

The Six-Eared Macaque considered it and eventually decided: “Sure, why not? It might be nice to let others hear my songs once in a while.”

“Wait, is this the first time you're singing in front of someone else?”

“Second time. I sang for Tiě Yū Wūyā² once, but she's a crow demon, so she doesn't have an ear for music.”

“Oh. That … that kind of bites.”

“Yeah, but what can you do. Music is like cake; not everyone likes it.”

Zhū Bājiè gasped: “What kind of barbarian doesn't like cake?!”

Liù'ěr Míhóu just gave him a blank look. “Don't bring barbarians into this; most of those guys actually do like cake. Then again, if we're talking about the nomads from the northern steppes, they also like cheese …”

The whole group collectively shuddered in disgust.

Fucking. Cheese.

How could anyone like that?!³

“But yeah, tastes differ. What can you do.”

Bājiè huffed and started a wordy speech about the stupidity of disliking cake.

Wùkōng just rolled his eyes, while their master chuckled and Bái Lóng Mă let out a snort, that sounded suspiciously like an annoyed groan.

Shā Wùjìng laughed, gave Bājiè a pat on the back and turned to Liù'ěr Míhóu: “Can you sing some more? It was really relaxing.”

The Six-Eared Macaque smiled at the river spirit and began anew.

“Wild chrysanthemums drop their blooms,

tender buds emerge from new plums.

At every village they harvest grains,

everywhere they eat fragrant fare.

The woods shed their leaves and distant hills are seen.

By the brookside frost thickens, cleansing the ravine.

Moved by the winter breeze,

the insects stop their work.

Pure yin now becomes yang.

The month's ruled by Yuanming.

Water virtue's strong.

For peace reigns in bright, clear days.

Earth's aura descends,

Heaven's aura rises,

the Rainbow leaves without a trace.

Ice slowly forms in pools and ponds.

Dangling by the ridges, the wisteria flowers fade.

Absorbing cold, pines and bamboos grow more green~”⁴

As Tripitaka clapped enthusiastically (but quietly, for the sake of Liù'ěr Míhóu's sensitive ears), Sūn Wùkōng couldn't help but feel envy.

He got never such enthusiastic praise from their master, let alone applause.

But the Monkey King kept his mouth shut.

He was being ridiculous.

This was just his master being excited about being able to share a hobby. Who wouldn't get excited about such a thing?

And sure enough, while Liù'ěr Míhóu was clearly trying to look all cool and unfazed, his ears and wagging tail gave away his pleasure at the positive attention.⁵

Wùkōng just sighed and turned his gaze back to the horizon.

As did the monk apparently, because he spied the silhouette of a city in the distance.

And it was Wùkōng he turned to: “Wùkōng, look at those high buildings? You too wonder what place that is?”

Wùkōng squinted. “Hm … well, it's a walled city with a moat, so it's probably the residence of a king.”

“How do you know that?”, questioned Zhū Bājiè. “There are lots of walled cities with high buildings, that aren't home to a ruler. So how would you know, that a king lives here?”

“You mean apart from the huge, luxurious buildings and the abundance of gates?”, the monkey retorted. “Come on! This place has 'royal residence' written all over it!”

“I wonder what this place is called”, said Wùjìng.

Liù'ěr Míhóu hummed: “I've been here before. If I remember correctly, this is the Kingdom of Sacrifices. Last time I was there, they had the loveliest treasure.” A smirk. “Luckily for them, I didn't feel like stealing it.”

Wùkōng chortled: “I totally would've stolen it, if it was shiny enough!”

The other monkey laughed: “Oh, it was shiny alright! But you'll just have to see it! Anyway, since we're already here, why don't we have a look around the city? I think there's a Buddhist monastery, where we can stay.”

Tripitaka nodded. “Good idea. Let's do that!”

Indeed, the city was bustling with life and the market was busy.

Wùkōng might or might not have snagged a fruit here and there.

Fortunately, his master didn't notice.

Unfortunately, the reason his master didn't notice was a group of Buddhist monks begging for food, their wrists in cangues.

This better not be a second Slow-Cart-Kingdom, Wùkōng thought and followed his master's order to ask them what was wrong.

He was mildly surprise, when they didn't even bat an eye at his appearance (then again, they probably had bigger things to worry about), but that confusion was dispelled, when they told him, that he seemed … familiar? Odd. Wùkōng knew for a fact, that he'd never been here. Maybe they were confusing him with his youngest brother?

Either way, he introduced them to his master and brothers and the chained monks took the pilgrims to their own monastery.

The sign above the gate read: Golden Light Monastery, built by imperial command.

Golden Light Monastery, huh? What a pompous name.

Especially, when the group entered in and saw abandoned and neglected buildings.

“That's weird. Last time I was here, this place was prosperous and bustling with life. And that was just a few years ago”, Liù'ěr Míhóu remarked. “Wonder what happened here- whoa, are you okay?!”

Wùkōng turned to see, what the Six-Eared Macaque was freaking out about, only to be met with the sight of his master bawling his eyes out.

Wùjìng tried to soothe the monk by gently rubbing his back, but the latter was inconsolable.

The pilgrims let their guides lead them into the main hall, where they paid hommage to the Buddha, before proceeding to the backyard.

There they found another six monks chained to a pillar, which made Tripitaka cry even harder.

Liù'ěr Míhóu grimaced and covered his ears at the noise.

Well, isn't this place just a barrel of laughs, thought Pilgrim ironically.

Finally they entered the abbey.

Once inside, the local monks kowtowed in front of the group.

What?

Upon seeing their confusion, one of the monks spoke up: “You six look so very different from everyone around here. Are you from the Tang Empire in the east?”

Wùkōng couldn't help but laugh incredulously: “What, do you have the power of precognition without divination?”

“I'm impressed you even know what precognition means!”, quipped Liù'ěr Míhóu.

Wùkōng stuck his tongue at him, before turning back to the monk: “To answer your question, yes, we do come from there. How'd you know?”

The monk smiled wrily and explained to them, that everyone here had had a dream last night, of a group of pilgrims from Tang, who would deliver them from their suffering. And this ragtag group fit the description perfectly.

So that explained that.

Now Tripitaka spoke up: “And what is this place? My youngest disciple called it the Kingdom of Sacrifices, but he wasn't entirely sure.”

He nodded into Liù'ěr Míhóu's direction.

One of the monks took a double take, before asking the Tang Monk: “Holy Father, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but are you sure that's a 'he'???”

Liù'ěr Míhóu snarled, visibly upset.

Before Wùkōng could intervene, however, their master did it instead.

Placing a gentle hand on the white monkey's head, Tripitaka explained: “Don't let his voice and appearance fool you. He is very much male. But a wicked spirit afflicted him with a curse, that left him with this appearance. It makes him very unhappy, so we hope that through our pilgrimage we'll find a way to undo the curse. Thus I must ask you, on my disciple's behalf, to not focus on his physique.”

Wùkōng struggled not to gawk at his master in disbelief.

Had the guy seriously just pulled this sob story out of his ass?!

Impressive!

And the monks of this monastery seemed to buy it, as their whole demeanour became more sympathetic, they apologised and wished the Six-Eared Macaque good luck.

“Thanks”, he mumbled (but his tail and ears were still drooping).

Tripitaka gave him some pets, before returning to the original topic: “So, this place …”

One of the monks shook himself. “Oh yes! Right! Well, this is the Kingdom of Sacrifices, as your disciple told you. It's one of the most important cities around these parts and receives rich tributes from the surrounding territories.”

“You must have a good king and fine officials then.”

Wow, how can Master still be so fucking naïve?!

The local monks seemed to think similarly, since they collectively frowned.

One of them scoffed bitterly: “Hah! If only! They're the exact opposite! Why do you think we're wearing these cangues?!”

“Now, don't be rude”, an older confrater scolded. “It's unbecoming of a Buddhist monk to lash out like that.”

Now Wùkōng inquired: “Okay, but what is going on here? This monastery is called 'Golden Light', but it's the bleakest thing I've seen in a while! Did you do something to anger your king, or-?”

“No! We didn't do anything!”, the middle-aged monk exclaimed. “What actually happened is this …”

As it turned out, this monastery had once been blessed and surrounded by an auspicious aura, that had given it a golden glow – hence the name. But exactly three years ago, during a newmoon in autumn, a blood rain had fallen, this place had lost its chine and the treasure in the tall pagoda had vanished. The officials had convinced the king, that the monks were to blame. So these poor souls had been punished for a crime they hadn't committed.

“It's ridiculous!”, the rude young monk spat. “Why would we steal the treasure? But the king didn't believe us! He didn't even call for an investigation!”

“There used to be three generations of monks here”, the eldest said and a shadow came over his face. “But the oldest among us have succumbed to the torture. We and the ones chained to the pillar outside are the only ones, who survived.”

“That's horrible!”, cried Tripitaka. “Of course we'll do everything we can. But now, may I have a broom? I would like to sweep the pagoda.”

A short, slightly emaciated monk smiled: “Sure. In the meantime, we will cook something for our esteemed guests. We just need to find an axe for one of you to open these cangues …”

“I've got this!”, Wùkōng cried and cracked the locks with magic.

After finishing dinner and taking a bath, Tripitaka decided to offer some incense and a prayer to the Buddha and headed to the pagoda. Accompanied by Wùkōng and Wùhuàn, because the former worried about evil spirits nesting in the defiled pagoda, while the latter needed to busy himself to quiet his loud mind.

Not that Tripitaka was complaining.

He appreciated the help and with his two most powerful disciples around, he'd be safe.

“Wow, this place really needs a cleaning!”, Wùkōng noted, as they entered the pagoda.

“Gross! There is dirt and dust everywhere!”, Wùhuàn groaned.

Tripitaka smiled at them. “Well, we will just have to fix that, don't we?”

The two monkeys agreed and so the trio went to work.

Wùkōng announced he would sweep the second floor and climbed up, leaving the monk with his youngest disciple.

For a while they swept in silence.

Then Wùhuàn cleared his throat: “Hey. Uhh, I just wanted to say … thank you for that earlier. For sticking up for me. I appreciate it.”

Tripitaka smiled: “Of course, anytime.”

“I can't believe you lied to them.”

“I can't believe they bought it.”

They shared a giggle, before going back to companionable silence.

This was nice. Being able to laugh together. Doing something productive together. Being comfortable around each other. Tripitaka couldn't even remember when he had last felt like this, but he was going to enjoy this moment, while it lasted.

Once they were done sweeping the first floor, they climbed upstairs to join Wùkōng on the second floor. Pilgrim was currently busy poking the beams under the roof with his broom, probably trying to get rid of spiderwebs.

Tripitaka bit back a laugh, as he put a hand on his eldest disciple's shoulder and told him to leave it be.

“But spiders are so gross!”, Wùkōng whined. “So many eyes and legs!”

Now the monk laughed: “Maybe, but they're still innocent life forms, who never deliberately harmed anyone. Leave them alone. They won't bother anyone.”

“Fine”, the monkey grumbled and together the three proceeded onto the next floor.

But Tripitaka was beginning to feel the strain the movements put on his back. His spine was hurting, but for now he bit back the pain and continued to work without complaint.

As the three reached the sixth floor, however, the pain became too great to ignore. And then there was a flare of white-hot agony, making him groan and slump against a wall.

The two monkeys dropped their brooms and hurried over.

“Master, what's wrong?”, fretted Wùkōng and looked him over for injuries.

“M-my back”, whimpered the monk.

Wùhuàn frowned. “Maybe you should call it a night. Ask the others to give you some of the blue pills – the blue pills!”, he reiterated. “The ones for your back pain. Not the red ones, those are mine. Just a reminder, since the three dorks can never remember, which is which.”

Tripitaka would have laughed, if he wasn't in so much pain right now.

“And don't worry about the remaining floors, Master. We will do the rest”, said Wùkōng.

The monk sighed, but agreed. So Wùkōng carried him downstairs and into their sleeping quarters for the night, where his remaining three disciples scrambled to give him his painkillers and try to make his bed as comfortable as possible.⁶

.

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1) Did I just yoink this song straight from Anthony C. Yu's revised translation of the novel? Yes. Yes, I did. According to the book it's sung to a tune called "Immortal at the River" and is meant to depict the pilgrims. 2) "Iron-Feathered Crow", my OC for this story. 3) Here's a fun fact: cheese isn't well liked in China. There are several reasons for this, from lactose intolerance over cultural trauma to the fact that cheese is basically fermented milk. 4) This is also from the novel. 5) I couldn't find any information on how macaques actually show joy. 6) In the novel, Tripitaka sweeps ten floors, before his legs and back hurt too much. However, in this fanfic he has a spinal injury, which would make the labour much harder and more straining. So I made it six floors.

[mythologyfolklore]

Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude

Chapter ten: A revelation, pt. 02

.

“You better have good reason to wake us before even the sun is up!”, grumbled Zhū Bājiè, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Sūn Wùkōng rolled his eyes: “Oh, don't start whining! You sleep too much anyway, lazybone!”

Shā Wùjìng was more concerned than grumpy. “What happened, Eldest Brother?”, he asked. “You said it was an emergency, but Master is here and safe.”

Tripitaka just let out an unintelligible grumble.

Bái Lóng Mă and Liù'ěr Míhóu looked drained. No wonder, after all the latter had been crying all night and the former had comforted him all the while.

“It's a different kind of emergency, Old Shā”, Wùkōng explained. “Liù'ěr Míhóu here-”

“Sūn Wùhuàn”, corrected Tripitaka (oh, he was finally awake enough to talk!).

Wùkōng rolled his eyes again. “Whatever. Anyway, he has something to say.”

“He?”, echoed Tripitaka.

Liù'ěr Míhóu had paled and was staring at Wùkōng in horror. “You-”

“Yeah, yeah, I was awake. Now spill!”

The Macaque looked like he wanted to sink into the ground, but Bái Lóng Mă gave him an encouraging nudge and he took a deep breath.

“I …” Hesitation and another deep breath. “… I'm not … I'm not a female.”

Tripitaka was visibly nonplussed, Bājiè looked like he didn't give a fuck and Shā tilted his head in curiosity.

“My body and voice are feminine”, Liù'ěr Míhóu continued. “But I'm not … I'm not a She. I'm a He.”

An icy silence fell over them.

For a few moments the six of them sat like that, five of them staring at the Six-Eared Macaque, whose ears and tail twitched with anxiety.

In the end the silence was broken by Bājiè: “Okay.”

Liù'ěr Míhóu gawked at the pig demon: “What? 'Okay'?! No mockery? No telling me that no, I'm a female? No telling me, that I'm sick, confused or a freak? No disregarding my identity? Because that's what they all do!”

“Bullshit!”, snapped Wùkōng. “And another thing: you have some explaining to do, Mister! Why did you never tell us you're actually a guy?! You never corrected us, when we used the wrong pronouns and got your temperament¹ wrong! Why?!”

“Would it have made a difference?!”, spat the Macaque. “Would any of you have accepted my gender and taken me seriously, or would you have continued treating me as a woman, like literally everyone else does?! Except for two creatures in all of China, no one has ever accepted me for who I was! Why would you be different?! We don't even like each other! What makes you think I'd trust you with my true self, when I can't even be certain, that you won't kill me in my sleep?!” He sniffled. “Fuck this! What's even the point of telling you all that? To you I'm just an impersonator and a robber, am I not? The only beings in creation who care are Bái Lóng Mă and a female crow demon² I haven't seen in decades!”

He sniffled again, but didn't break into tears.

Now Shā stood up, came over and sat near the six-eared monkey.

“Six-Eared Macaque?”

The white monkey glared up at the river demon.

“Please don't make assumptions about us, Youngest Brother.” Shā's voice was gentle, but firm. “We're not so shallow as to reduce people to what they look like. Just take a look at us and tell me, if we'd have much ground to stand on, if we did.”

“…”

“What I mean is, we accept you. And if you need time to believe that, that's okay. Just don't tell us what we think and what we don't. If I understand you right, you thought that if you told us about your true temperament, we'd believe it to be just another lie. But don't worry, Youngest Brother. If you say you're a man, then that's what you are. Eldest Brother is just grumpy, because he has been wrong about you the whole time and didn't realise.”

Wùkōng held back a smile; dear, understanding and sensible Shā!

“What about slaphead?”, Liù'ěr Míhóu asked and pointed at Tripitaka.

The monk was still staring at him, like he had grown another head.

Zhū Bājiè scooted over and waved a hand in front of Tripitaka's face. “Master? Can you hear me? Helloooo? Wood Mother³ to Scripture Pilgrim? Are you in there?”

No response.

The Pig Demon sighed. He looked completely done, as he turned to the rest of them.

“Guys … I think we broke our master.”

.

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Tripitaka.exe has stopped functioning. Please reboot your Scripture Pilgrim.

1) The Chinese word for temperament (xing) can also mean gender (the characters are different, but pronounced the same way). I actually learned that from a post from this account: https://www.tumblr.com/antidotefortheawkward (I swear, the things I learn from hellsite ...) 2) The female crow demon is an OC that will appear in later chapters. ^^ 3) Wood Mother: one of Bajie's many nicknames in the novel.

[mythologyfolklore]

Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude

(A/N: Trigger Warning: misgendering)

Chapter six: Liù'ěr Míhóu gets a new name

.

When Wùkōng and Shā returned, their new fellow pilgrim was in a vicious battle of words with Bājiè.

The two were taunting and insulting each other relentlessly, pulling no punches and giving each other tit for tat, while Tripitaka was trying in vain to make them stop fighting.

Shā chuckled: “I see, she's already fitting right in!”

Wùkōng rolled his eyes, strode up to the quarrellers and ended the fight by slamming his staff into the ground between them.

“Behave yourselves!”, barked the Monkey King. “Bājiè, don't try your luck. She's as powerful as me, but worse than I have been in a long time. And you-”, he glowered at Liù'ěr Míhóu, “-will leave Bājiè alone. The only one allowed to fuck with Third Brother is me!”

“Love you too, Eldest Brother”, Bājiè deadpanned. “Whatever. It's getting late, so I'm gonna get some fire wood. Why don't you two get some food and water for all of us? The less I have to see of you two monkey menaces, the better!”

“You get the rest of the group kidnapped by demons at least once a week and I have to save your sorry asses!”, Wùkōng retorted. “So who's the menace here?”

“Still you! Remember when instead of saving us right away, you stole a bunch of treasures and got yourself captured in a calabash?”

“… Touché. But they were so cool! I wish we hadn't had to give them back to mean ol' Laozi!”

“Eh, the Jade Emperor is meaner. He's the meanest, biggest douchebag.”

The Monkey King's vermillion eyes widened. “You are so right!”

.

In the Eastern Heavens, the Jade Emperor had to sneeze twice.

His right eye twitched. “Someone is mocking me again! And several people this time! I'll have their heads!”

.

Incredulously, Tripitaka stared at his two disciples. “Did you just resolve an argument by hating on the Jade Emperor?!”

Zhū Bājiè scowled: “Master, are you complaining that we stopped fighting all on our own and found something to agree on? Listen, I don't know about Six-Ears here, but my fellow brothers and I have one thing in common: that the Jade Emperor treated us like crap. So please forgive us for not adoring him, just because he's the ruler of the Celestial Realm.”

The monk raised his arms in an appeasing gesture: “Easy! I wasn't complaining! I was just … surprised? That you two stopped fighting on your own? Even if that was a weird way to end an argument.”

“Uh, guys?”

Everyone turned to Shā Wùjìng. “Are you all just going to keep ignoring the fact, that Lady Guān Yīn is still here?”

All eyes turned to the Bodhisattva, who was chilling on her Lotus Throne and watching the whole thing with a mild smile.

“Thank you, Shā Wùjìng”, Guān Yīn chuckled. “But it seems like my presence is no longer needed here, so I will make my way home. Tripitaka, don't forget to give your new disciple a Dharma name. Guān Yīn out.”

Then she vanished in a blinding light.

With a groan, Tripitaka sank to his knees. He was just so sick of everything right now. This day had been horrible, his back was still hurting like Diyu and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and just sleep …

“Master?”

A small, bony hand with long fingers tapped his shoulder. The monk turned his head and found two vermillion eyes with golden pupils staring at him in concern.

Oh.

“Don't worry, Pilgrim”, he mumbled. “I'm just tired. Let's … let's just get something to eat and then go to sleep, okay?”

The beige-furred monkey looked doubtful, but relented.

Tripitaka smiled tiredly. “Okay … so … I do still need to give my new disciple here a name.”

The Macaque frowned: “My name is Liù'ěr Míhóu. What other name would I need?”

“Everyone here has one. It signifies that you're starting a new life. Look at Wùkōng, for example. Do you hear anyone call him Líng míng shíhóu¹? No. Himself and others call him Sūn Wùkōng, I call him Pilgrim – which he told me was fine with him, by the way². Is it not fair, that you should get a nickname of your own?”

“… But I want a non-feminine name.”

Tripitaka smiled. “Of course, no problem! Hmm … I want to call you Sūn Wùhuàn³. Wùhuàn; because you were dreaming, but now you're awakening and becoming aware of the fantasy. What do you say?”

The Macaque gave him a blank stare. Then she started to sway her head from side to side. A bit unsettling, but maybe that was just a habit of hers.

Eventually, she muttered: “Well … it's not the worst name.”

.

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.

1) "Stone Monkey of Luminous Wisdom"; according to Buddha that is Wukong's name as a Spiritual Primate. 2) That actually happens in the novel. Both Master Subhodi and Tripitaka ask Wukong about his opinion on the names suggested, and he accepts them. I found that a rather cool and interesting detail. 3) "Monkey Awakened to Fantasy"; this is a reference to "A Supplement to the Journey To The West", a sequel to JTTW from the 17th century.