Chapter 8. The bridge returns to the bridge, and the road returns to the road.
The troublemaking spider demon was chopped into several pieces and lay dead on the spot.
Miao Lian's white clothes were stained with blood, and the slippery blood made it difficult for him to even hold the hilt of his sword.
He kicked the spider's corpse aside, knelt on the edge of the cliff, and looked down.
As far as the eye can see, there is only blue water and white foam, and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks is terrifying.
There was no sign of the birds; they had been swept away by the waves, or perhaps their bodies had sunk to the bottom of the water.
A sudden feeling of loss of control made Miaolian uneasy.
He never trusted anyone but himself. The King of Hearts was being hypocritical and deceitful, asking him to cut off his own flesh to save Jiang Huaisu's life. How much truth was in that statement? He wasn't willing to gamble.
Instead of pinning your hopes on vague promises, it's better to take a gamble on yourself and try to break through the impasse.
In his view, if he showed concern for Jiang Huaisu, he would only be taken advantage of by the "King of Understanding," which would be detrimental to his side.
Unexpectedly, the spider demon was cowardly as a mouse. Once she saw that she was at a disadvantage, she was determined to hide behind Jiang Huaisu and refused to come out.
That doesn't matter. With a little more time, we can pinpoint the spider's location by sound and strike it with a sword, catching it off guard.
Inevitably, Jiang Huaisu will get hurt in the process.
But in Miaolian's view, being injured was better than dying. Besides, he would find an angle to avoid her vital points and wouldn't cause too serious injury. Broken bones could be set, and injured wings could heal. At worst, she could be cared for for three years, then another three years... caring for her for a lifetime wasn't a difficult task.
Miaolian threw down her short sword and looked down at the surging waves below the cliff.
He had seen it clearly just now; Jiang Huaisu jumped down herself. She didn't trust him, so when she saw him approaching, her first reaction was to run away?
...Was it his arrogance that ruined her? Jiang Huaisu knew nothing about his inner thoughts, so much so that she regarded him as a dangerous person, just like the King of Hearts.
Miao Lian knew that Jiang Huaisu had stayed by his side not out of her own free will, but out of coercion. Therefore, when the King of Hearts said that she was the mastermind, he wavered for a moment.
It was just a fleeting moment.
A little deeper thought will make sense. Even if Jiang Huaisu doesn't like him, she wouldn't conspire with an evil demon to harm people. She's timid and cautious by nature; she wouldn't do something like that.
That evil demon is blind and heartless; what nonsense is he spouting? His relationship with Jiang Huaisu isn't bad at all. Even if there's a slight discord, it's completely harmless; they have plenty of time to mend their friendship.
But now the plan has fallen apart, and he doesn't know if he'll ever have a chance to explain to Jiang Huaisu that he really didn't intend to kill her.
Miaolian was unwilling to accept it. How could that stupid bird jump into the sea so decisively? Couldn't we have waited for him a little longer? The matter was about to be resolved.
His clothes fluttered in the cold wind, his fingertips were icy, and his hair was wildly swirling.
As he jumped off the cliff, he was momentarily lost in thought. Was Jiang Huaisu really worth it for him to do this?
The sudden feeling of weightlessness made his internal organs itch. Fortunately, the fall did not last long. Seawater surged in from all directions and enveloped him. The salty and bitter taste filled his mouth and nose, which was not very pleasant.
But he quickly realized that he was the one who wanted to keep the bird, and even as its owner, he should take responsibility for his pet.
She just jumped off a cliff; she won't die. Jiang Huaisu shouldn't have been swept too far by the waves; he'll find her no matter what.
*
The sun warmed the shallows.
This place is sparsely populated and low-lying. During high tide, only the high-lying reefs are exposed, while at low tide, only a small patch of soft, wet sand is revealed.
A raft was washed ashore, and the man holding the pole, beaming with joy, jumped off the raft.
Having finally found a place to settle down, he dared not delay any longer and quickly took out the white bird from his bosom and placed it on the warm, fine sand.
After gently patting its back and squeezing its chest, and working tirelessly for a long time, the bird finally opened its eyes under his rescue efforts. It tilted its head and spat out a few mouthfuls of seawater.
It felt like a bee had crawled into Jiang Huaisu's ears, buzzing and making her extremely dizzy. The surrounding sounds gradually became clearer as they approached. She steadied herself and looked at the unfamiliar young man in front of her.
The boy looked at her, curiosity in his amber eyes: "You've been unconscious for so long, I thought you were going to die."
He had already decided that if he couldn't save her, he would bury her here. The scenery here was beautiful, making it an excellent final resting place.
Jiang Huaisu shook her feathers, and a dull pain shot through her wing again. Looking down, she saw that the wound had already been given simple treatment; the boy had torn off a piece of cloth from his own body to cover the wound.
The technique was a bit sloppy, almost wrapping the wings into a ball, but it did provide some protection.
Having escaped death from the sea, Jiang Huaisu exclaimed that she had finally been blessed by Lady Luck. Her previous worries vanished, and she only wanted to kneel down and thank her savior.
"Thank you so much, hero, for saving my life!"
She realized her mistake as soon as she said it. Hearing a bird speak human language would startle any ordinary person who had never dealt with demons before.
However, the boy reacted calmly, pulled off the turban covering his face, and said, "I am not a hero."
Only then did she realize that the boy had a layer of light brown fur on his face and a tail wagging behind him. Jiang Huaisu hadn't noticed his tail before, as it was wrapped around his waist.
Even with its delicate features, it couldn't hide its obvious monkey-like characteristics.
Jiang Huaisu realized that this young man was not human, but a demon! Perhaps he chose to dress in such a low-key manner so as not to frighten passersby with his true appearance.
"Then what should I call you?" she asked.
The boy pondered for a while.
He doesn't seem to have a proper name; the children all call him "Great King." If they wanted something more imposing and formal, they would call him "Thousand-Year-Old King" or "Handsome Monkey King."
With a flick of his tail, he proclaimed his imposing name: "I am the Monkey King!"
"..." Jiang Huaisu's expression froze.
"Is your name weird?" He waved his hand in front of her eyes. "Why this reaction?"
“No, no, I don’t blame you. It sounds good, powerful, and imposing.” Jiang Huaisu affirmed, then eagerly asked, “Benefactor, are you from Flower Fruit Mountain?”
How did you know?
"...I guessed. I heard there are a lot of monkeys there."
"So our Flower Fruit Mountain monkeys are famous to this extent!" the little monkey said proudly.
It's true what they say: you may plant flowers with care but they won't bloom, while you may plant willows without intention but they will thrive. Before, Jiang Huaisu went through all sorts of hardships to go to Flower Fruit Mountain to see the monkeys, but she didn't even reach the foot of the mountain. Now, she jumped off a cliff and got directly onto Sun Wukong's raft.
She immediately felt a sense of security, like finding a safe harbor. With her mood improved, Jiang Huaisu felt even the pain in her wings lessen. She had a very high level of goodwill towards Monkey King; the more she looked at his monkey face, the more affectionate she felt.
“But you don’t have to call me King.” Sun Wukong scratched his face and said very reasonably, “After all, you’re not a monkey from Flower Fruit Mountain, so you’re not under my jurisdiction.”
Jiang Huaisu hesitated, "Then..."
"Call me whatever you want, it's just a title. If you want to call me Your Majesty, I'll respond."
"Really? You can call me whatever you want?"
"Can."
At this time, he probably hadn't been given the name Sun Wukong yet, otherwise he would have already revealed his name. Therefore, it can be inferred that Monkey King was definitely not yet a disciple of Patriarch Bodhi; he was just leaving the beginner's village, rowing a raft out to sea to seek knowledge.
Not wanting to steal the name bestowed by the patriarch, Jiang Huaisu swallowed back the words "Sun Wukong" that almost slipped out and began to think seriously:
"Calling you Little Monkey is too generic; there are so many monkeys in the world. Calling you Little Wang sounds a bit odd, like calling a subordinate. How about Little Beauty? If you don't like 'Little,' Big Beauty is fine too."
As for the option "Great King," which carries a special connotation, she unconsciously ruled it out from the start. As a modern person, her sense of hierarchy was rather shallow, and besides, she had too much of a bias against Sun Wukong. Once she decided he was a good person, she decisively abandoned her guard and stopped being cautious.
Although Sun Wukong didn't know her, from her perspective, she had known this monkey for a long time.
Sun Wukong hesitated for a while between "Great Beauty" and "Small Beauty," and said with difficulty, "Can I choose neither? They sound awful."
But then he remembered that he had just said "you can call me whatever you want," and this action seemed like a breach of promise. How could a king go back on his word?
He sighed and conceded, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Jiang Huaisu silently repeated the name several times, feeling a bit awkward herself. Realizing Sun Wukong didn't like it, she thought for a moment and offered a new suggestion:
"The name Da Mei doesn't seem to suit you... How about Guo Guo? You're from Huaguo Mountain, so you're somewhat related."
With Yu Mu in front of him, the name Guo Guo suddenly became less unacceptable. Sun Wukong decisively said, "Okay."
"And what's your name?" he asked.
Jiang Huaisu wrote her name on the beach with a small pebble in her mouth.
She writes a word, and he reads it aloud.
"Jiang, Huai, Su?"
"Yes, that's my name."
Sun Wukong's eyes showed a hint of envy: "It really looks like the right name. I also want a name like that, with a surname." What others call him is one thing, but he should at least have a proper name.
Jiang Huaisu thought to herself, "Don't worry, you'll have a beautiful Dharma name in the future." But she couldn't say it aloud, otherwise it would seem like she had some kind of prophetic ability.
"By the way, your injury is quite serious, and you probably won't be able to fly for a while. But I have some herbs here; applying them will help you heal faster."
"Okay, thank you."
Sun Wukong took out a tightly wrapped cloth bag from his robes, took out the herbs inside, mashed them, and applied them to her wound. He probably carried medicine with him because he often got injured himself.
After doing all that, he looked up at the sky and said, "It's still early. Where do you live? I'm free right now, I can give you a ride."
"I have no home."
"So where do you live?"
“This…” Jiang Huaisu did not want to go back to Zhenfu, but she had not yet found a new place to live, so she could only say, “I can live under a tree.”
"Hmm, okay, it's more convenient than being a monkey like us." Sun Wukong asked curiously, "Won't you fall off the tree when you fall asleep?"
"If you sleep in your nest, it won't happen."
"Then how did you end up falling into the sea?"
"She got injured and accidentally fell off a cliff..." Thinking of Miaolian, her mood plummeted again.
Logically speaking, leaving him should be a happy thing, but the thought that he had misunderstood her before she fell off the cliff, implying that she had colluded with the "King of Understanding," left her with a bitter feeling.
"Oh, I thought you were injured after falling into the sea. That area has many sharp rocks and strong winds, so it's very dangerous."
How did you find me?
“The waves were raging, and my raft almost capsized. I was just struggling to keep up with the waves when you were brought here by the waves. Since you were still breathing, I couldn’t just throw you into the sea.”
Jiang Huaisu smiled and said, "...Thank you."
"It was just something I did."
Sun Wukong was very familiar with this area of the sea. From where he found Jiang Huaisu, he would pass through the reefs, squeeze through the narrow waterway near the estuary, and row eastward for a while before reaching this deserted shoal.
However, the waves were rough today, and it took more effort and time to find this place. It's not a big place, so it can only serve as a temporary resting spot.
Sun Wukong reminded her, "While you are recovering, you'd better find a secluded place to stay, lest you be captured and eaten. Some greedy creatures, seeing that you can't fly, will use you as their reserve food."
Have you ever dealt with mortals?
“Of course, I’ve been traveling through cities and counties in the Southern Continent for several years now, and I’ve met many people. They’re all very timid,” Sun Wukong grinned, “and this kind of look can scare them half to death. But you can’t do that; in terms of appearance, you’re not as intimidating as me.”
Jiang Huaisu asked knowingly, "Since dealing with mortals is risky, why don't you stay on Flower Fruit Mountain and instead wander around human towns?"
"I want to find a master and learn the secret to immortality!" Sun Wukong's eyebrows drooped. "But I've never had the chance to do so. I was wondering if I was going in the wrong direction, so I decided to turn back and try heading east, crossing this sea, to see the Eastern Continent."
...Then the direction is even more wrong, right?
Jiang Huaisu remembered that Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, where Bodhi Patriarch lived, seemed to be located in Xiniu Hezhou.
So Sun Wukong has been stuck in the beginner village for the past few years!
"Have you ever tried heading west?" she asked, seemingly casually.
"I've tried it."
"You've been to Xiniu Hezhou too?"
"That's too far west, I've never been there."
“I’ve heard that many powerful figures roam there, including some divine beings.” She hinted wildly, “I’m not afraid of the long and arduous journey to find a master; I’ll always go to see more distant places.”
The clear-headed monkey listened and agreed with her reasoning. Since there was no fixed destination, going east or west was the same, and since she said there were powerful figures in the west, there was no harm in going to take a look.
She was so easily persuaded, and the process went so smoothly that even Jiang Huaisu found it hard to believe.
"Then I'm leaving! You stay here to recover. Oh, wait, let me take you to higher ground first, so you won't get drowned when the tide comes in." Sun Wukong lifted her up.
Jiang Huaisu turned her head: "...Can I go with you?"
"cannot."
...I didn't expect to be rejected so decisively. Judging from his previous behavior, I thought Sun Wukong was easy to talk to.
No wonder Sun Wukong didn't mind her choosing a name casually. In his view, the two were about to part ways, so how they addressed each other was not important, since it was just a one-time encounter.
"It's fate that we met. We're both wandering in a foreign land, can't we keep each other company?"
Sun Wukong said bluntly, "But I don't know you. And what use would you be if I went to find a master? Do you also want to find a master?"
Jiang Huaisu shook her head. The threshold for accepting disciples was very high for a powerful figure like Bodhi Patriarch; even Sun Wukong could become a disciple, but she might not. Being a wild demon was fine; she was free and unrestrained.
"I have nowhere to go back to, so I thought I'd travel around with you and help each other out. Once I'm healed, I can fly ahead and scout the way for you."
"That's good, you can fly. But you've never dealt with mortals before, so if you want to find out information, I'll have to go myself."
"Who said I've never had dealings with mortals? I... stayed at a mortal's house for a while before."
"I thought you were a wild bird," Sun Wukong asked curiously. "Since you had a place to stay, why didn't you move out?"
"It's a long story," she said, reluctant to go into details. "I lived with a kid who was about ten years old. I couldn't get along with him, so I just ran away."
My personal reason is that I don't want to drag Sun Wukong into this troublesome matter. After all, his main task now is to become a disciple. If he gets involved with Nezha beforehand, the plot might get messed up.
As for Miaolian... he'll be returning to heaven in a few decades, and by then he'll definitely not remember ever raising a bird in the mortal realm.
Even if she remembers, so what? She can't just rush to the Heavenly Court to settle scores with Nezha, can she? She can't even defeat Miaolian, let alone the real Nezha.
Somewhat frustrated, she thought that the sword wound on her wing was just bad luck. Fortunately, no tendons or bones were broken, and it would recover after some time.
Hearing her words, Sun Wukong nodded knowingly: "Human children of this age are indeed difficult to deal with."
“Hmm.” Jiang Huaisu couldn’t help but say with a hint of emotion, “He doesn’t know how to make friends.”
Looking back, she had learned some skills during her three years living with the Zhen family, so it wasn't all bad. Now, things were going their separate ways, which was exactly what she wanted.
A note from the author:
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