✓𝐀𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 『𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔』

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 65: Solutions

OH MY GOD, SEASON 4 SPECIAL IS OUT!!!!!😍😍😍 I CAN'T BREATHE, I've seen waaaaayyy too many spoilers at tiktok and just eventually watched the entire 4 episodes of it in mandarin. By the looks of the mini episode at the end of it, it seems like we'll eventually see a season 5 containing a whole other realm👀.

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Monkey King grabs the black furred simian's tunic, pulling him roughly until they were face-to-face, "I told you to keep her safe! I TRUSTED YOU!"

"IT WAS HER CHOICE, WUKONG!"

"EVEN IF IT WAS HER CHOICE, YOU COULD'VE DONE YOUR JOB AND PREVENTED IT! — FOR THE THIRD F^CKING TIME!"

MK, Redson, Sandy and Pigsy hooks their arms on Wukong, pulling him away from Macaque. "Monkey King, let go of him! This won't solve anything!" says his successor.

Mei held the woman's body on her arms, feeling a pulse, "... She's still alive."

Tang's eyes widens, rushing beside the girl to check her pulse as well, "Hmm... If she's alive, then..." he looks back to the angry simian with a brow raised.

Monkey King pulls himself out of their hold with a grunt, "Only six days... Six days—! and I would've... " Realization hits him like brick, he began rummaging inside his armor, taking out three intricate black candles.

Nezha, having arrived as soon as he was out of Bone Demon's imprisonment to aid them at the last minute, recognized these candles and felt a chill run down his spine, "Wukong, do you realize what that is?! This is madness, you can't just—..." his gaze softens at the sight of the simian's solemn expression. No doubt that he truly loved her. For the first time, he's cared for someone more than for himself, and above all else.

"I need to—I have to! It might save her! I— Maybe Meng Po could do something for her. Someone could — One of the kings could make an exception!" he nodded, fixing up the candles with shaking hands.

"It's not the right time," he kneels beside the Great Sage, placing a gentle hold on his shoulder, "The path to the Nether won't open up in the world of the living unless the moon is full."

"Uhm..." Redson holds his hand up, cutting in through an interesting topic, "Are you perhaps... planning to go to the realm of the damned? I could— Well, I do know how to open the path to it." Monkey King glances at the Demon Bull's spawn, hope ringing in his ears at the question.

Pigsy crosses his arms, "What good would it do to go there? What are you planning exactly?"

He calms down significantly, setting his goals straight, "... I'll remove her curse. I'll make sure she lives through." His head turns towards his left where Mei and Tang are already tending to her, "She's not dead, but already is at the same time. Without her soul— or more like the contents of her soul— Xiu is just a husk that will desperately try to end her life by all means possible, whether on her own accord or by accident that she's somehow able to sense."

"So you're going to the Netherworld to revive her, right?" MK wipes his tear stained cheeks, "I'm going with you!"

"No! This is a really really dangerous mission, bud. It won't do me any good to bring someone else along," he looks back to the candles before him, "... and I only have enough candles for myself to keep me alive."

"How can we help?" asks Sandy, "There must be something we can do for you, Mr. Monkey King. Our friend's life is at stake... or what's left of it, I suppose?"

"You guys guard her with all your life, make sure she doesn't do anything that'll make Nether's messengers successfully get to her," Monkey King faces the pig demon, placing both hands on his shoulders, "Gotta keep that favor now, buddy. I'm counting on you."

"Yeah... I'll take care of her for ya."

Macaque frowned as he saw the look he was given. Looks like every ounce of trust was finally ruined between them.

Monkey King releases a sigh of relief, and proceeds to start the spell, casting it upon himself in a circle. The candles lit up on their own, its flames floating upward and rotates before latching themselves behind him in an arch. His lifelines.

"You could die in there," Nezha lowers his voice, excluding the others from his warning towards the simian. "That realm isn't supposed to be tread onto by a living, much less you who had erased a couple of names off the death list."

"If that could at least save the current Xiu, then I'm willing to take the risk... even if it kills me."

Redson finishes drawing the portal to Nether, glancing towards the simian with a sweat dropping down his temple, "I— uh— I'm sure this would work, but... I'll won't be able to get you back if it comes to it."

"It's fine," he tightens his hold on the hilts of Chimangjing's dual blades, placing them in the sheathes around his waist, "I've gotten out of there before, I'll be able to do it again." Before he could pass towards the portal, Monkey King looks back to the woman as they laid her on a makeshift bed made of metal. He takes a long stride towards her, kneeling, and places a kiss on her forehead, caressing her cheek, "... I'll be back, my queen."

MK kept a tight lip as he watched his mentor walk towards the realm of the dead, feeling his worries worsen after connecting the dots that were too fast for him to comprehend earlier. "W-Wait! Monkey King!" He stops, giving him a side glance. "... Be careful out there. A-And make sure you come back, you still got a lot to teach me, you know."

Monkey King scoffs, smiling and giving him a thumbs up, "Sure, bud."

The portal closes up like stitching the fabric of space, removing them from his line of sight. The darkness that loomed around him couldn't be any darker, cold wind that carried the scent of death makes his fur ruffle up in chills, in a few distance were the cries of the damned, he swallows his anxiety with a sobered look as he opens his eyes on the world beyond.

Buildings upon buildings stacked unorganized, nameless streets littered with spirits and guides, disappearing in a blink of an eye to accompany them towards a new place out of sight. The fire on his back flickered yet the blades are eerily quiet, and who can blame it when he's literally standing on the otherside where Chimangjing certainly had already been to after he killed her centuries ago.

"Alright... Let's go," he says to himself, starting his dangerous journey alone in the dreaded place called the Netherworld.

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