We headed east and I turned my chi sight on.

  “Yue, are you sure you’re up for this? You seem pretty upset still.”

  “I’m up for this because I’m upset. That bastard needs to be brought to justice. He tried to kill us over a cassock. He had dozens of his own cassocks, so it wasn’t even out of desperation. And he tried to kill his own monks. In the country I lived in, that was considered a crime so evil, neither Lunus or Anaste would take your soul when you died, and you’d be cursed to wander the universe, alone, for eternity. Plus, I’m not letting you out of my sight. We might just be dealing with bandits, or there might be a demon involved. Whatever it is, I’m not taking chances on you getting captured again.”

  Wukong seemed a little taken aback by my rant. He shrugged. “Fair enough. I would tell you not to worry, but I guess that would ring a little hollow. Oh! Down there!”

  “I see it.” Large iron gates were built into the mountain, and were reinforced with an insane amount of chi. In fact, it seemed the chi from the mountain were reinforcing them.

  I gave Wukong a troubled glance. Even if he used all his might, I wasn’t sure he’d be able to breach them. It wasn’t just the amount of chi, it was the way it was arranged. In a pattern of strength. While Wukong had more chi overall, it would take several times more chi than what the gate had to break it.

  “Okay Yue. Hop on Lonely Moon, and turn invisible. I’m going to go knock.”

  “Wukong, be careful.”

  He gave me a quick peck. “I always am.”

  Sure he was. I summoned Lonely Moon and flew a distance away. I gave Wukong a thumbs up before turning invisible.

  Wukong wasted no time and drawing his staff and whacking at the door. “Wakey, wakey! Wukong’s here with your delivery of ass-whoopin! Open up you fuckers!”

  A small eyehole popped open. “Oy! Who’s making so much noise out here!”

  “I’m Sun Wukong, and I’m here for the old bastard in charge of the Guanyin Monastery, and the cassock he stole. If you give them to me nicely, I might just let you all live!”

  The eye widened and the hole slammed shut. Likely getting whoever was actually in charge here.

  It took about ten to fifteen minutes, but the gate eventually opened up, revealing a warrior dressed all in black. Black armor, black shoes, black fur.

  He was a very large and intimidating black bear.

  He held up a spear, and roared at Wukong. “Why are you making a racket outside my doors?! I’ve half a mind to silence you for good!”

  Wukong scoffed. “Please. Cut the bullshit. I know you’re protecting the old bastard who tried to burn down his own fucking monastery last night. He has something important, so if you hand him and the cassock over, I’ll leave you alone.”

  The bear shrugged. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He gave Wukong a smirk that said he definitely knew. “And who are you anyway? I haven’t got any reason to be scared of the likes of you.”

  “Cut the bullshit. And I’m Sun Wukong, the Monkey King!” Wukong puffed himself up, and took a fighting stance with his staff.

  The bear tilted his head. “Who?”

  I’ll give the bear this. He knew exactly how to get under Wukong’s skin. Wukong just stared at him, flabbergasted.

  “You know, Sun Wukong? The monkey who won two wars against heaven and is unable to be killed? The Great Sage Equal to Heaven?”

  The bear pretended to think hard, then snapped his claws. “Oh! You were heaven’s stable boy weren’t you?”

  Oh. He was very dead. Wukong didn’t waste any time lunging at him with murder in his eyes.

  I watched the battle rage between them. Despite Wukong having more chi, he couldn’t bring the battle to a conclusive end in a fair fight.

  He'd gotten rusty.

  I guess it made sense. It’s been five hundred years after all. As they continued to fight though, I could see him getting faster, his moves flowing more smoothly.

  The sun rose high into the sky, and around noon, the bear backed off and shouted.

  “Time out! I need to eat!”

  Wukong stopped out of sheer surprise. “What? Eat?”

  The bear nodded. “I was about to eat breakfast when you rudely interrupted me, and now it’s time for lunch.”

  Wukong’s surprise turned to fury. “What!? Aren’t you a warrior? There’s no fucking stopping for a meal when you’re in a life and death battle, you coward!” Wukong lunged again, but with a deft feint, the bear withdrew and quickly flew back through the gates, shutting them tight behind him.

  Wukong screamed and shouted, pounding on the gates. I sighed. The bear had noticed Wukong was improving and he was likely to lose. That was more likely the reason for his hasty retreat.

  I flew up to Wukong and dropped my invisibility. “Wukong, there’s no point. He’s not going to let you in.”

  He growled. “Of all the rude, inconsiderate things! Stopping in the middle of a fight to eat? I’ve never even…” He continued to grumble, still mad. Maybe he was a little hangry himself.

  “Come on. Let’s go back to the others. We can eat something and discuss strategy.”

  He sighed. “Okay Yue.”

  He was silent as he flew us back to the monastery. We landed, and headed inside, and found everyone back in the dining hall.

  It seemed the monks had been busy. They were covered in soot as they morosely ate their meal. Recovering what they could from the fire most likely.

  Our group was in a table in the back. Trip lit up when he saw us approaching, but his expression fell when he saw Wukong’s defeated expression.

  “What happened?”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Wukong drew himself up. “It’s a black bear spirit. He’s hiding the old bastard in his mountain, I just know it! I challenged him to a martial duel, and he was pretty good. But around noon, he just fucking stopped fighting, and went back into his mountain to eat. I mean, who stops in the middle of a fight to fucking eat! I can’t break down the gate into the mountain either. So, now we’re here.”

  Wukong finished his story with a harrumph. It was clear he considered stopping for any reason in a fight the height of rudeness. I didn’t think many people would agree, especially if they were on the losing side.

  Trip sighed. “Well, sit down. Get something to eat. We’ve just been helping the monks comb through the rubble and bury the bodies.”

  Even though Trip tried to state it matter-of-factly, it was clear the work weighed on them. Trip was picking at his food, and Sandy and Pigsy were covered in dirt, yet their appetites also seemed subdued. The monk’s grief was rubbing off on them.

  A monk brought over two more bowls for us, and as we ate, I tried to come up with a plan.

  By the time we finished, I had the bones of one.

  “Okay, so, we need to inform Guanyin.”

  Wukong groaned. “Do we have to? I’m sure if I goad him enough, I can beat that bear. Next time for sure.”

  I shook my head. “This is Guanyin’s monastery. We at least have to inform her about everything that’s happened. I’ll go talk to her. Wukong, you try challenging the bear again, and Pigsy, you watch the doors of the mountain. If anyone comes out, capture them. We can interrogate them to see if there’s another entrance or something.”

  No one seemed particularly enthusiastic. I clapped my hands, drawing eyes from all around the room.

  “Hey! I know this isn’t easy. But this is what we signed up for when we started this journey. Trip, you said suffering is a part of the journey, and now it’s here. Pigsy, you need a serious attitude adjustment if you ever want to earn forgiveness. Sandy, I’m sorry this hasn’t been going well, but we need you to stay strong and watch Trip while the rest of us deal with the problem at hand. And Wukong…” I sighed. “Being better isn’t easy. You need to stay positive, even when things aren’t going your way. Now, are you guys ready to beat up a nasty bear and get these monks the justice they deserve!?”

  Their eyes finally lit up. They all gave me determined nods, even Pigsy.

  I nodded. “Good. Then let’s keep going. We are going to figure this out! Let’s cheer Buddhism on three!” I stuck my hand in the center of the table, and the four of them quickly followed suit. “One, two, THREE!”

  We lifted our hands up and shouted. “BUDDHISM!” To my surprise, several monks also cheered. It seemed my impromptu pep talk had also inspired them. They resolutely walked out of the hall, ready to tackle the heavy task at hand.

  Trip, Pigsy, and Sandy all seemed renewed too. They finished eating, and Pigsy stood up and nodded to Wukong.

  “You ready brother?”

  If my pep talk had inspired everyone else, it fired up Wukong. “YEAH! I’m going to kick that shitty bear’s ass!”

  He flew out of the hall like a shot on Nimbus, leaving Pigsy scrambling to keep up.

  Trip and Sandy nodded to each other, and Trip said. “Thank you Yue. We all needed to hear that after last night and this morning.”

  I nodded. “Anytime Trip. I know I’m not your disciple, but I still want to help all of you, even if all I can do is offer a few words of encouragement.”

  “A few kind words at the right time can change destinies. So thank you, you’re right. We will figure this out.” He nodded, and Sandy gave me a small bow of respect before they headed out.

  I was just glad I could do something to make them feel better, even something as small as a pep talk and a cheer. I walked outside, and summoned Lonely Moon.

  I flew off towards the western ocean. Back when we were first married, Wukong had brought me there, and we toured a lot of immortals homes.

  Guanyin’s had been one of them, but that was a long time ago. I had to stop once and ask for directions, which they graciously provided.

  As the afternoon turned to evening, I found it. A small island with a bamboo forest. I landed and a familiar young man greeted me.

  Muzha nodded to me. “Sun Yue. Are you here to see the Boddisattva?”

  “Yes, is she available?”

  “Wait here. I’ll retrieve her now.”

  Muzha went into the forest, and I patiently waited on the beach. It wasn’t long before he returned, with Guanyin.

  I bowed to her. “Boddhisattva. I fear I bring grave news. In the lawless lands, west of the Tang empire, there is a monastery that bears your name. We ran into trouble while staying the night, and I fear a part of the monastery was burned down as a result.”

  An anguished expression crossed her face and she sighed. “I know. I have been watching your journey from afar. That monastery began going astray two years ago, but I was hoping the head monk would return to the path of goodness. But now it seems he’s committed sins worthy of death.”

  She shook her head in grief. “It is I who should apologize and thank you. I should have intervened before the head monk became so hollow and greedy. But thanks to your mercy, most of my monastery was saved, along with most of the faithful monks still there. They can still recover, and find their way again. But you came to me about the black bear spirit, yes?”

  Wow. I hadn’t realized she’d been stalking us. It was a little creepy. “Uh, yeah. Do you know anything we can do against him? We know he’s hiding the head monk and cassock inside.”

  She nodded. “I’m coming with you. I need to address the monks left at my monastery. And I might be able to help you with the black bear spirit too.”

  “Uh, thanks, do you want to ride with me or…”

  With a wave of her hand, a giant lotus flower rose from the ocean. She serenely sat down, and the flower began floating towards the monastery.

  Wow again. She was extra. I glanced at Muzha. “Is she always like this?”

  He just gave me a tired look and nodded. Poor kid.

  I hopped back on Lonely Moon and followed her. She was slow. Real slow. That lotus flower looked majestic, but it got a lot of drag in the wind.

  Guanyin didn’t seem that fussed about it. I followed along at her pace, which felt glacial compared to the speeds I usually fly at.

  We reached the monastery late at night. She slowly flew down and landed her flower. Which was glowing. Brightly.

  The monks obviously noticed, and they all formed a crowd around here, dipping into the lowest bows the could, lowering their heads to the ground

  I mean… yeah she looked cool. Even if it seemed highly impractical.

  I spotted our group among the crowd, and landed next to Wukong, who looked depressed again.

  Guanyin gently raised herself off the lotus, and hovered in the air. So extra.

  “Monks, I know your sorrows and woes. I’ve heard your prayers and received your offerings, asking for aid. I know you have been faithful to your teachings. I have come to alleviate your suffering, and reward you for your faithfulness. And I humbly ask you forgive me for allowing such a tragedy to occur.”

  Many monks raised a cry, insisting it wasn’t her fault at all. They begged her to forgive them.

  I shook my head and turned to Wukong, who looked even more depressed than before my pep talk. “Wukong? What’s wrong? Did something go wrong after I left?”

  He sighed and turned away from me, his mouth set in a grim line. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Pigsy piped up. “He couldn’t beat the bear and he escaped back into the mountain.”

  Wukong growled. “He fucking said he had to go to sleep! He stopped our battle for his bedtime. He doesn’t even deserve to wield a weapon!”

  A few monks shot dirty looks at him for being so loud when Guanyin was still giving an inspirational speech nearby. He shut his mouth and sighed.

  “Anyway, it didn’t go well. And Pigsy accidentally killed the messenger they sent out of the mountain.”

  Pigsy sputtered. “He was very fragile. One hit with my rake and he was gone. I would’ve liked to see you do any better. At least I got the message he sent out.”

  So, L’s all around. But we had a message. Hopefully that would help us come up with a new plan. Plus, I got Guanyin to help us now.

  It seemed she was finally winding down. She serenely floated over to us. “Let us discuss our next moves in private. Please, follow me.

  She led us back, into the old monk’s rooms. With a snap of her fingers, his things vanished, replaced with more elegant versions that featured lotus motifs.

  She nodded. “Much better. Now, are there any leads you can give me to work with? The more we know about this spirit, the better.”

  Wukong and Pigsy glanced at each other. Trip sighed and bowed to her. “I apologize for my disciple’s incompetence. But all we’ve managed to recover is this.”

  He pulled out a small box from his robe, and handed it to her.

  She opened it and found an opened letter. She read through it. Then nodded.

  “I see, an invitation to a nearby immortal. And he asks them to bring a pill of immortality as a gift. Very interesting.”

  Wukong snorted. “Yeah, but thanks to this bozo, we have no idea where the immortal lives, which means I can’t see him, which means I can’t impersonate him. It’s essentially useless.”

  Guanyin shook her head. “Not necessarily. You see, I’ve met this immortal. I can impersonate him if necessary. But if this bear can compete with the famed Monkey King, I fear I’m no match for him myself.”

  Yeah, most of her powers seemed centered around looking really cool.

  “Hmm,” Wukong scratches his chin. “Maybe you won’t have to, if I can sneak in too.” His eyes twinkled. “I have a good idea.

  Uh oh. That was never a good sign.