21.i The Heavenly River

Dear Traveler, why do you contort your face in that way? Are you not enjoying the story thus far?

Ah, I understand. It’s the spideress that occupies your mind. I agree that she seemed quite distressed at the end of her evening with the monk. Perhaps she does not know as much about her employer as she previously believed.

Listen, you’re not going to get any answers to her situation by sitting there and frowning at me all day. We need to push on and find out what happens. It may be a while, however, because our bogus monkey king is on a very serious mission to watch the sun come up with his new friends.

~

~ Ham Song ~

The pig, Dear Traveler, could not understand why his benevolent companion was surprised that neither the monk nor the spider joined the two of them in catching the sunrise.

Sun Ritsu looked absolutely dejected as he shuffled back up the hill where Ham Song waited and plopped down beside him in the grass.

“Anari is locked inside of her paper space and Bodhi wouldn’t wake up no matter how hard I shook them or how loudly I called their name.”

Ham Song grunted and opened his mouth, but before he could get the words out, Ritsu held up his hand and sighed, “I already know what you’re going to say. Neither of them deserve my friendship or something like that, right?”

The pig huffed, “Well, they don’t.” He squinted his eyes against the glowing glare of the dawn. “To be honest with you, monkey, I think the spider is hiding something. As for the monk, you already know how I feel about them. Whatever their intentions might be underneath that alcoholic funk, they are far too reckless to be trusted.”

“Ham Song?”

The pig shivered a little as Sun Ritsu’s warm hand came to rest on the fat of his neck rolls.

“Can we just…” The monkey spirit gestured at the view. “Enjoy this moment before it goes away? In just a few hours we’re going to be leaving the Horse Province behind for good.”

Ham Song absorbed the seriousness in his friend’s face and clamped his mouth shut over his tusk.

“You’re right, benevolent monkey.” The pig looked down at the valley. “This view is too wondrous and true to be spoiled in any way.”

They both fell into a reverent silence as they watched the giant on which they were perched shift. The rotation of the lands could not be felt, but rather, only registered by the eyes. All the open territory feeding from Ripe Peach Mountain dissolved and morphed into concrete and rigid structure. The change was very slow and unevenly distributed across the giant. It was quite a sight to behold.

“Which way are we going to take to get out of here?” Ham Song asked. “Do you know yet, Sun Ritsu?”

Ritsu blinked some clarity back into his features. “I think Anari said that the Heavenly River is where we can purchase a ferry ride to take us to the next province.”

Ham Song gave a little squeal as he rooted the air with his nose. “Ah. The Heavenly River. It’s been a long time. Do you know about the river?”

Ritsu leaned back on the heels of his palms and stretched out his legs over the grass.

“I don’t think I do. Can you tell me more? What’s it like?”

Ham Song felt honored by the monkey’s request. He bowed his head in gratitude and tested his throat to see if the curse would allow him to say what he had in mind. When the pig was sure that nothing was holding him back from recalling his memories, he drew in a deep breath and said, “The dragons used to go to the Heavenly River to bathe. They overlooked the river and kept the waters clean. There was one time when they called upon the Great Sage, Sun Wukong, for help removing some unwanted debris from the riverbed.”

The pig peered out at the shifting scenery and gave a snort. “Perhaps I can remember enough to sing the tale. I think it went a little like this…”

Are you ready, Dear Traveler, for another wondrous moment told in verse? I bet you didn’t know that the pig had a few songs of his own hidden up his sleeve. Did you forget that he is a dragon and thus hordes knowledge, including the minstrels of the past?

Let’s see how well you do with a little history.

Now sit and listen to the old dragon disguised as a pig while he reimagines the Heavenly River and sings:

I have not been down to the riverbed for a long, long time

Not since the days of the Dragon King

or any such immortal kind

But I remember when the river glew

Uh. Shined. No – glowed! Or what have you

such a heavenly light born from a bed of ore

Iron-clad and cast aside

in the Flood by the Conqueror

The dragon nobles wished that it be removed

but the iron was much too heavy

forever stuck in what is now

known as the ocean treasury

Only one immortal – the high Sun Wukong – the Monkey King

could be that strong

To speak the language of the iron

For him, it yielded, folded, shrank

each time he whispered, “Abandon your defiance!”

Then he blessed it with a new name:

The Golden-Hooped Rod of Compliance

You should have seen that Monkey King

standing in Heaven’s River, ankle-deep

with his new toy from the treasury

glowing with him under the sun

his sideburns dripping with river pearls

softly blending, bending the light until…

in a blink, he was gone

You know Sun Wukong was never one

to stay for very long

But to the Heavenly River shall I return

to reflect on his deed through song