✓𝐀𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 『𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔』

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 33: Meditation

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Who would've thought that breaking out of Dragon Palace prison just required a van and a reckless driver? Xiu definitely didn't expect that, though in comparison, she would've done the same thing if she had her dual blades. Xiu looked out the window just in time as Macaque started rampaging in the underwater city. She knew he was strong, just as near strong as the Monkey King, but did he really have to make an enemy out of everyone? That's not a tactic that the likes of him would've done.

"This won't do. I probably should do it now while the Macaque is still preoccupied," Monkey King muttered to himself, his fingers rubbing his chin.

"Do what now?" she turns to him with a brow raised.

He clears everything in the middle and sets up a nice little seat for himself, balancing on it and closes his eyes, "Meditation."

MK's eyes sparkled, looking forward to learn another mystic monkey business from his mentor, "Meditation? What is that?"

"A technique to recharge my powers."

"Oh yeah?" Xiu rolls her eyes and sits on one of the beds in the new van, showing her flexibility in her own terms of meditating, "Isn't it just supposed to be something that'll calm your mind and body?"

"Awesome!" he thought it'd be cool to join in, but getting in position seemed really hard for him, "Alright, let's d-do this..." MK tried the position that Xiu is doing, but getting his leg behind his nape was near impossible for his non-flexible limbs.

Xiu chuckles, reaching her arm to poke Monkey King on the cheek, "Don't blame me if you find yourself bald for the next few days, stupid ape."

He frowns, "Ha ha, very funny, Xiu."

"So what happens in meditation? How will it recharge you?" MK asks.

The immortal sage began glowing as he began the process, "Sometimes, to find what we've lost, we have to begin where we've started. Look within ourselves. So I'm going to do just that and go into some deep meditation. Wake me up sometime in the next... uh... I don't know, hundred years. K, bye."

"Wait— What?! Hundred years?! Monkey King, you can't be serious about that, right? Right???" the boy grabbed Monkey King's shoulder in an attempt to get him to talk more about this whole meditation thing.

"Forget it. He's that desperately tense," Xiu unbends herself, laying flat on the bed, hearing the waves crash indicating that they've gotten out of the sea by now. "At least he has a way to get his powers back... "

Pigsy grunted at the sight of the van's refrigerator and shelves, "Uh, Sandy, maybe we should make a stop somewhere."

The blue giant adjusts the rear view mirror, getting a sight of those behind him, "Why? Something wrong?"

"No, uh, it's just that... we may need some supplies if we wanna last through this journey."

Mei, who was sitting between the driver and Tang, scoots over to the left and kicks the brakes, sending most if them flying forward— including Monkey King. She gasps, "You're right! Oh no, what do we do. We haven't even got the GPS! And my phone just died," Mei cradles her phone close to her face. With no way to know where they are, it'll certainly be hard to resupply.

Sandy moved the vehicle again, easing up the panic that rises from the two, "Don't worry, Mei. I'm sure we'll find someplace we can restock."

"But we no way of finding out where we are!" she cries.

Xiu blinks, sitting up and looking over to those at front, "Do you see any landmarks nearby?"

"Landmarks?" Tang searched the map and finds no such thing, then out to the window where there's literally been nothing but trees. "Eh, no. Except maybe for that one dove tree over there."

"Does it have a golden larch and flying spider-monkey tree beside it?"

The man squints his eyes, adjusting his glances while staring towards it, "...Yeah, I think it does."

"STOP THE VAN!!!"

Sandy made an abrupt stop, sending everyone flying forward again. "What is it?"

Xiu peeks outside, finding that similar tree she'd seen before, "Yep! That's our landmark alright!" the woman laughs.

Pigsy raises a brow beside her, "What exactly are we looking at?"

"That's always been a crossroad for my travel party before. We're close to the fishing village!" she points to the right, "Just follow that path over there. We'll get there in no time."

The vehicle moves again, going towards the direction she instructed them to. Mei hugs her from behind, squeezing her face against hers, "You're amazing, Xiu! How'd you know that without a map?"

"I basically already travelled all of China since I was a demon huntress and all that. This is one of the peaceful places around eight hundred years ago."

The fishing village Haizi Jia, one of the best fishing grounds in West. It's been centuries since she last visited. Last she've heard of it was in Yuan dynasty, after speculations of rebellion on its neighboring town brought the topic that some of the individuals included were from Haizi Jia. She was a general at war back then.

"Alright! Fishing village, here we come!" MK side hugs her on the right, fist bumping in the air with Mei.

"This... isn't what I was expecting," Pigsy crosses his arms, eyeing the scenery before him from left to right.

Moss covered the entirety of the stone walls, the place was void of any presence like a town left for nature to take over, the once cheerful village of Haizi Jia turned into a ghost town that's been disregarded as a forgotten memory of the past. It looked as if it hadn't been touched in ages.

"At least they left all the equipment," MK nodded towards the port where rusty fishing tools and a boat sat idly for someone to use.

"I got dibs on the front seat! MK, you row the boat," Mei got on immediately, tossing the oars towards him.

"Wha— Hey! That's not fair!"

"Better hurry up, you two," Pigsy calls out to them whilst checking the windows for any sign of the locals that still live nearby. If there's still any. "We don't know when that Macaque will show up."

Xiu pulls Monkey King out of the van to give him some fresh air before the long journey ahead of them. Pulling out some mini scrunchies from her pocket with an angelic smile on her face. The mischief dies down a bit too quickly as she looks back at the state that this old village had gone through.

Sure, there wasn't any sentimental moments for her here, but it made the woman realize how fleeting the time has been, and what she thought would be the same as it was before had passed through her in an instant and changed into something unrecognizable. The weight of being able to reminisce of something in just a memory had dawned on her, and she looks back to the immortal who's lived life for who knows how long. Xiu's hands dropped to her sides, she could finally imagine what he must be feeling throughout his infinite number of years, the loneliness of knowing that life keeps its cycle as he's grounded on existing forever. He refused her along with the reasoning that she's still human, a being that dies within a short lifetime. He didn't want to be with someone who would leave him, just as the world does around him, and keeps them at arms length.

"Heh... You sure are strong, Monkey King," she smiles.

The woman then pushes all sentimental thoughts aside as she bit on one scrunchie, working her fingers through his soft orange fur.

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Alright. I can already see it. Season 3 just goes on until chapter 50 of this book 🤦🏻‍♀️ or maybe more. I'm putting in some character growth here, so please bear with me through this🥺