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1. Hermitage
Some say that the Monkey King was born from the union of a celestial mountain and the heavens. Others say that he was born of a stone, touched by a blessed wind that granted him form and life.
In truth, he was at first merely a monkey.
A great immortal hermit lived in seclusion upon a mountain for many years. He was Qingfeng, the Gentle Breeze, and he enjoyed the company of the monkeys who lived upon the mountain alongside him. One such monkey was especially clever; this one mimicked all that Qingfeng did, even wrapping a leaf around himself as if to wear clothes and repeating Qingfeng's words like a parrot. Qingfeng was delighted by his intelligence and, being a broad-minded and rather eccentric man who did not pay great heed to convention, took the monkey as his apprentice.
Under his tutelage, the monkey, whom Qingfeng named Xue Yang, cultivated to great heights. He honed his martial ability until his strikes were as fast as a meteor; he learned to ride clouds and somersaulted about the mountain peak; he attained the 72 transformations which allowed him to change his shape to that of other creatures, and with this skill he especially took to adopting a human form, like that of his teacher.
Qingfeng was pleased with his progress and praised him often, but the more capable Xue Yang became, the more he sensed a kind of sadness in his master. When he asked what was troubling Qingfeng, Qingfeng said to him, "Xue Yang, your curiosity is boundless. I am sure it will soon carry you away from this mountain, to see many places and experience many things. I have left the outside world, but you have yet to meet it."
"What is sad about this?" asked Xue Yang. "Just teach me about the outside world, so I can go out to meet it quickly!" At this, Qingfeng shook his head, but did not correct Xue Yang on the meaning of his words.
Some days later, the two sat across from one another, and Qingfeng said to him, "Xue Yang, the two of us have cultivated to immortality through enlightenment. This form of immortality has granted us one thousand years of longevity. However, my life has already stretched across a thousand years."
"So what happens then, Teacher?"
Qingfeng tried to explain to his student what it would mean for his life to end, but Xue Yang couldn't comprehend it from words alone. Still, Qingfeng did all he could in their remaining time together to prepare Xue Yang for what was to come.
Despite his efforts, in the aftermath of his death, Xue Yang howled his despair from one side of the mountain to the next. He upended Qingfeng's sparse, tidy home, then hastily straightened it again in anticipation of Qingfeng's awakening, then upended it once more. He killed and cooked all manner of prey in the hopes that the smell would rouse his master, then threw it all across Qingfeng's robes. He cleaned Qingfeng's body every day to stave away the rot, but all this was in vain.
This went on for many days and many nights, until finally, on a brightly moonlit night, Xue Yang descended from the mountain.
2. The Heavenly Palaces
Qingfeng had not imposed any expectations on Xue Yang of what he must do or where he must go upon entering the outside world, but he had taught him etiquette and bartering so that Xue Yang might one day be prepared to live prosperously in regular society. However, Xue Yang had no interest in regular society; instead, he sought out greater knowledge, and greater longevity. He could not comprehend the length of one thousand years, and feared the coming of his own death. With his superhuman senses, he listened to the stories people told across the land, and as soon as he heard tales of another form of immortality, he set out to claim it for himself.
In his quest, Xue Yang traveled to the ocean palace of the Dragon Kings and demanded their treasures and weapons. The Dragon Kings took great offense and fought to capture and execute him, but sorely underestimated him, seeing him as only a monkey and not knowing that he had cultivated to immortality. Xue Yang soundly defeated them and obtained not only another form of immortality, a great pearl, but also a sword which could change its size and shape at will, which he himself renamed Jiangzai. Soon after Xue Yang's departure, the Dragon Kings complained in outrage to the Jade Emperor, who summoned Xue Yang to his own palace.
Several other forms of immortality could be found in the Jade Emperor's court: among them were the Peaches of Immortality, which granted any who partook over three thousand years of life and made their body light and strong, and the eyes of the Heavenly Orchard Keeper, the Bright Moon, Mingyue. Mingyue was a young divinity, and so held one of the lowest ranks in the Jade Emperor's court, but he was well-regarded by all who met him, and understood to have so pure a soul that his eyes could see the true nature of all living things. Xue Yang, too, had heard of him, but thought nothing of him before they met.
Though he had summoned Xue Yang at the Dragon Kings' prompting, the Jade Emperor's plan was not to punish Xue Yang, but to manage him and prevent further damage. However, the idea that he may be punished for his actions had not once crossed Xue Yang's mind, and he came to the palace expecting to be met with acclaim and fanfare for his accomplishments. To placate him, the Jade Emperor granted him the title of 'Protector of the Horses,' thinking that a monkey should be highly pleased with this, but Xue Yang took it as a mockery of his ability. He stormed away and made his way through the palace, looking to take anything he happened upon that he felt he deserved.
He came upon the Heavenly Peach Garden in this mood, and so set about eating the Peaches of Immortality without a second thought. Mingyue witnessed his theft and struck at his hands with a switch while scolding him soundly. Although Mingyue likewise had heard of Xue Yang and realized his identity, he attempted to capture him to present him to the Jade Emperor for punishment with regard only to Xue Yang's crime, and not his reputation, being neither scornful nor intimidated. However, Xue Yang was his senior in both age and power, and he took out his anger towards the Jade Emperor on Mingyue, defeating him soundly and delivering a lethal blow. Remembering the legend about Mingyue's eyes, he then popped out his own and replaced them with the Heavenly Orchard Keeper's.
In the moment Mingyue took his very last breath, Xue Yang witnessed his soul leave his body and enter the cycle of rebirth, and recognized Mingyue's soul as his old teacher, Qingfeng.
Xue Yang's anguish was so great, he leveled the entirety of the Heavenly Orchard with his first blow. He destroyed building after building, killing divinity after divinity who came to apprehend him, so overcome he forgot the language of humans and could only shriek. In time he exhausted so much of his power that he staggered, allowing the members of the court to finally contain him, and he fell into a deep sleep. He awoke beneath a mountain, to be imprisoned for five hundred years for the destruction he had wrought.
3. Point of Origin
Five hundred years later, the Goddess of Mercy bestowed on a monk a mission to bring the Buddhist sutras of transcendence from the western continent to the eastern lands. The monk was called Xiao Xingchen, later to be known by the title of Sanzang, in reference to the Three Collections of Scriptures which he journeyed to retrieve. He was known to possess an exceptionally pure soul, as well as eyes without sight.
Xiao Xingchen was the reincarnation of a divine being, which made his travels all the more perilous. Monsters and demons believed that they could obtain immortality by devouring his flesh, and alongside the disadvantage of his blindness, Xiao Xingchen had been taught no martial skills in his upbringing. The guards he was appointed at the start of his quest quickly succumbed to the dangers, and so the Goddess of Mercy intervened, leading him to stronger escorts.
First, she brought him to the mountain where the talismans sealing Xue Yang were soon to come free. Because Xue Yang was especially uncontrollable, she gave Xiao Xingchen a circlet to place on Xue Yang's head, which would constrict on Xiao Xingchen's command and inflict incapacitating headaches. Xiao Xingchen took this measure of caution to heart, and prepared himself for any force or trickery Xue Yang might attempt.
When Xiao Xingchen reached out his hand to free Xue Yang from the mountain, Xue Yang saw in him the soul of his teacher once more, and he took the monk's hand and cried, and laughed, and cried.
Though Xiao Xingchen never learned why, Xue Yang henceforth called him 'Teacher.'
4. Westward
Xue Yang was only the first of the guards the Goddess of Mercy arranged to protect Xiao Xingchen on his journey. Their departure from the mountain led them to next meet A-Qing, a divine pig beast, then Song Lan, a divine fish beast. Like Xue Yang, they too possessed great abilities but had committed great crimes in their past, though neither their abilities nor their crimes were as vast or as devastating as Xue Yang's. Xue Yang complained heartily at their inclusion, protesting at every turn, "I am more than enough to protect Teacher!" and "Teacher, these weaklings are only getting in our way!" A-Qing and Song Lan regarded Xue Yang poorly in turn, but Xiao Xingchen trusted in the Goddess of Mercy's judgment in appointing each of the three of them to his side, and he himself got along well with all three of them.
Xue Yang had a well-earned reputation for violence, and he was particularly vicious in eliminating the demons and monsters who threatened Xiao Xingchen's life. However, many evils were adept at disguising themselves and possessing humans; Xue Yang, who possessed Mingyue's eyes which revealed their true evil natures, was able to identify and attack them on the spot. However, whenever a demon possessed a human, approached, and then fled as Xue Yang attacked, the rest of the group had no way of confirming his claims of a threat, and could instead see only the human corpse left behind.
A-Qing and Song Lan repeatedly suspected and accused him, but to Xue Yang, this was like the annoyance of an insect flying about. But when Xiao Xingchen first scolded him as well, Xue Yang was astonished. To Xue Yang, their hearts were still as close as they had been in his earliest days on the mountain; he naturally thought that his intentions would be clear, and his explanations accepted.
"I am only defeating our enemies, as is my duty," he exclaimed. "The ones I kill are monsters, not innocents!"
This did make Xiao Xingchen uncertain, and so he ceased to speak in anger, but he nevertheless argued, "But to my ears, they sound like ordinary people. Xue Yang, you often play tricks on A-Qing and Song Lan and on my blindness, yet now you expect us to trust your word over our own senses."
Xue Yang insisted, "Those are just jokes! I wouldn't really lie to you, Teacher. I'm the one who cares about your well-being the most of anyone!"
While to Xue Yang, they were the oldest of friends, to Xiao Xingchen, they had met only recently, and so this proclamation merely sounded like one of Xue Yang's regular boasts about his greatness. He laughed despite himself, and said, "Thank you." But then, remembering himself, he became solemn once more, and said, "But even that is a joke, isn't it?"
"It's not a joke, Teacher. You should know this! I'm only going on this trip for you. Not for the Goddess, not for those musty old scriptures, and not for anything else. When have I ever given you reason to doubt me so much? Aren't you being unfair to me, Teacher?"
Once again, this answer made Xiao Xingchen feel uncertain. There was no doubt that Xue Yang could have run off at any time the whim took him, but he instead stayed close at hand, and was a great help in their travels, in both combat as well as mundane matters like laundry. Until this moment, Xiao Xingchen had simply thought of Xue Yang as an unpredictable, but naturally reliable person, and had never considered that Xue Yang's best and most dependable behaviors were a result of his loyalty to Xiao Xingchen.
The more Xiao Xingchen thought about it, the more he realized that Xue Yang indeed had been an invaluable and dedicated attendant to him, and he thought to himself that perhaps it was out of gratitude to Xiao Xingchen for releasing him from his imprisonment. Therefore he said to Xue Yang, "You're right, Xue Yang. From now on, I'll believe in your intentions." And thus, he resolved to bite his tongue and trust that Xue Yang was indeed only attacking evils.
But as their travels went on, an incident occurred:
The band of four came upon a small village with little nearby. They approached hoping to spend the night, as it would otherwise be a long trek to find the next village for shelter. In fact, the village was a demon's nest, and all its human inhabitants had long since passed on. The demons made subtle their outpour of yin energy, so even Xue Yang had not noticed the nature of the place from very far away - but once they entered the city, the truth became clear to his blessed eyes, and Xue Yang drew out Jiangzai and instantly slew the very first person he saw, then the next.
A-Qing let out a horrible shout of profanity, and Song Lan lunged to intercept him, but Xue Yang was so quick that he had already littered the street with corpses by the time Song Lan's weapon met his. Xue Yang parried Song Lan away from himself with such force that he sent him crashing through the wall of a house. The alarmed Xiao Xingchen demanded, "What is happening? What were those sounds?"
"Sanzang, he's completely cuckoo! This crazy monkey just started killing everyone!" yelled A-Qing, who kept a safe distance.
"Sure, of course I did! They're all looking to eat Teacher, so I'm getting rid of them!" he shouted back at her, adding, "That's your job, too, little piggy!"
Using the human voices of the bodies they possessed, whether out of deception or true fear, the demons cried and screamed while running away. Song Lan rallied to charge at Xue Yang once again, but not before Xue Yang killed another five demons. The sound of metal rending flesh had become familiar to Xiao Xingchen now, and it echoed terribly in his ears.
"Stop!" he cried out, and the circlet gifted from the Goddess of Mercy constricted at his behest.
Xue Yang shrieked, falling to the ground and scrabbling at his head with his hands. "Teacher, how could you! You said you'd believe me!" he screeched, but Xiao Xingchen did not release the restriction.
Xiao Xingchen said to him with a shake of his head, "This was too much, Xue Yang."
A-Qing chimed in, "He's too much! Sanzang, let's leave him here and get rid of him!"
Song Lan quickly agreed, adding, "He himself is as sinister a creature as any we've encountered."
Xue Yang hardly cared about what they were saying, and continued to yell over them, "You lied to me! You dirty traitor! To think after all this time, I never knew you were really such a person!"
Xiao Xingchen snapped right back at him, "Are you not the one who has lied and betrayed us?" And then, after hesitantly considering Song Lan's and A-Qing's words, he conceded, "Perhaps we should go our separate ways."
Xue Yang was still furious, but even more than his anger, he didn't want to be separated from his teacher yet again. Desperation filled his veins, and he shifted at once from jeering to beseeching, pleading, "One second! All I need is one second! Lift the restriction for just one second, Teacher, and I'll show you I'm telling the truth!"
Song Lan and A-Qing both argued against this, but in spite of their protests, Xiao Xingchen indeed felt regret that he had not kept his word to Xue Yang and held his trust in him. It was not unreasonable to allow him one second to prove himself, and so Xiao Xingchen lifted the restriction for exactly one second.
But of course, for the Monkey King, Xue Yang, whose strikes were even faster than meteors, a single second was like an eternity.
In the span of a lightning strike, he gouged out one eye each from himself and Xiao Xingchen, and placed in the newly empty socket of Xiao Xingchen's skull one of the eyes he once took for himself from Mingyue, the Heavenly Orchard Keeper, the Bright Moon.
The group devolved into chaos at once. Xiao Xingchen let out a scream of agony, unfamiliar with such pain; Song Lan and A-Qing drew their weapons on Xue Yang in frenzied tandem, and with the restriction hindering him once more, he struggled to block even one of their blows. For the demons all around them, it was a perfect opportunity. They carefully and inconspicuously closed in on all sides, waiting eagerly for the precise best moment to strike...
And then Xiao Xingchen's hand fell away from his eye, and he saw them.
Xiao Xingchen had never experienced sight until this. He could not make heads or tails of the shapes or colors before him, and tears streamed down his face and blurred his new vision. But while Xiao Xingchen could not comprehend what he was seeing, he instinctively knew the meaning of the souls he saw through the eye of Mingyue, just as Xue Yang once knew right away the identity of a soul he had not been able to see in the past.
And so, because in that moment it was the only thing he truly knew, he uttered aloud, "It's true. There is evil all around us. Xue Yang spoke true."
His fiercely battling companions ceased their movements in shock. Pinned beneath the other two, Xue Yang called out to him to release the restriction, and Xiao Xingchen did so in a daze. The three of them moved quickly to collect Xiao Xingchen before the demons could, and swiftly fled the village, although Xue Yang argued loudly that he could have cleaned out the whole nest, and then they would have had the whole place to themselves.
With no other village nearby, they made camp in the woods for the night. Xue Yang remained irritable and did little to help, but after Xiao Xingchen apologized to him (as well as put his hands on his face, to map out with touch what he was seeing through his new eye, a process he repeated with a very stiff Song Lan but was unable to manage with A-Qing, who backed away rapidly and yelled at him, "Keep your weird hands to yourself!") he managed to placate Xue Yang into a less irritable and far more smug mood in its stead. This mood did not discourage Xue Yang from tying the end of Song Lan's sash to a tree branch or putting a frog in A-Qing's hair as the night went on, but even Song Lan and A-Qing struggled to resent him for such things when Xiao Xingchen laughed uproariously and delightedly at all of it.
As A-Qing chased Xue Yang across the forest floor, Song Lan went to Xiao Xingchen's side and spoke very softly, hoping that Xue Yang would be distracted enough not to overhear with his heightened senses. He said to Xiao Xingchen, "You say that you believe him now, but why? Aren't you angry at him for harming you?"
Xiao Xingchen looked intently at Song Lan's face more, and assured him, "It isn't only that I believe his word. It does hurt, but with this eye, I could see and know for myself that their souls were possessed with evil."
Song Lan pressed at this reasoning, saying, "What if it's a trick? What if the eye is enchanted, or only shows the reverse of what is true?"
To which Xiao Xingchen replied, "I'm sure it doesn't show the reverse of what is true, because I see no evil in you, Song Lan, or in A-Qing, or in Xue Yang."
Song Lan himself was a reformed criminal, and he did not consider either Xue Yang or A-Qing to be trustworthy, and so this was not a convincing argument to him. "If it will not see the Monkey King as evil, then it must be the reverse of the truth," he said.
Xiao Xingchen, still staring deeply into Song Lan's face, frowned at him for this. He did not reply instantly, and the silence and scrutiny left Song Lan feeling somehow scolded. But when Xiao Xingchen spoke again, he said, "I believe none of you are evil, as the Goddess of Mercy led me to take each of your hands, and you have all been virtuous in my defense. But, even if it were the reverse... then I now see the world as Xue Yang sees it. He has had his own reasons for doing things all along, and now I share in them."
To this, Song Lan had no answer. He could no longer take Xiao Xingchen's persistent staring and turned his own face away, and said, "Let us rest. We still have far to go."
Xiao Xingchen agreed, "Yes. Let's continue west, to receive knowledge new and old."