“Okay, I’ll take your help,” Lu Na said.

“Na Na, you shouldn’t make a pact with a feral spirit. It never ends well,” Sun Ren said. “Say something monk. You’re her sifu.”

“Amituofo, it is common knowledge that making pacts with feral spirits is a bad idea. There is nothing he can teach you I can’t.”

“Oh, you sad monk. You wish you had as much knowledge as I do. But more importantly, you’re a genius of your generation aren’t you?” Sun Wukong asked.

Hen Li said nothing.

“What the monk isn’t saying is that he does not know what it’s like to struggle,” Sun Wukong continued. “He was given everything without trying. His spirit just did as he needed. He’s not like us. I had to start from the very bottom. Every other spirit laughed and spat on me. It wasn’t until I found my sifu before I could learn. And even then it took me over a hundred years.”

“Amituofo, I must admit the monkey spirit is correct. Even the earlier lesson I tried to teach you was a struggle for me. That is why I have said that I can’t be your sifu as I am not qualified.” Hen Li pressed his hands together and bowed.

“And don’t even think about your friend helping you or teaching you. I can already smell the secret techniques of her training.” Sun Wukong sniffed the air. “She would sooner kill herself than divulge any of her secrets. I know the type.”

Sun Ren didn’t deny it.

“So little girl, all you have left is me, Sun Wukong.”

“No, I can teach you. Take nothing from him,” Nugua said.

“Oh, you little snake. I remember you. You tried playing god and now you’re not much better than me. How are your children treating you?” Sun Wukong laughed. “Little girl, your spirit is the worst of all. Whoever bound her to you made sure that you could never control her like any summoner can. Even if you practiced for a thousand years, you could never manifest her.”

“Is that true, Nugua?” Lu Na asked.

“I can’t say,” Nugua said. “Your mother made a very strong pact with me that I can't break. But I promise you I won't hurt you.”

Lu Na snickered. She still clearly remembered the threats she made after bonding. Obviously, she can’t trust her spirit.

“Well, if you don’t trust me, then you can at least trust your mother. She made the pact, not me. She only has your best interest in mind.”

Lu Na wasn’t sure about that anymore. Her mother left without telling her all those years and now she’s risking her own life trying to help her. She didn’t give her any tools to defend herself and here, right in front of her was an opportunity to change just that.

“Were you serious about this being a gift? No strings attached?”

“Of course. This gift I freely give you,” Sun Wukong said. “You’re smart and kind. I know you will remember me every time you command your spirit. And who knows, maybe one day you might call me sifu instead of that monk.”

“Amituofo, I am not her sifu,” Hen Li said.

“Even better. You have no worries about having two sifus and having to kill one. It’s entirely free with no obligations.”

“Fine, I’ll take it then.”

Sun Wukong smiled, showing off his fangs. It was creepy.

“All you have to do is pull one hair off my head.”

“That’s it? How is a hair going to help me?” Lu Na asked.

“I’ll show you. Just pull one.”

Lu Na walked up to Sun Wukong’s head. He bowed his head as if awaiting an executioner. Lu Na reached for one of the golden hairs and yanked it off his head.

The hair turned into a small scroll that fit on her palm. She opened it and saw a lot of words and a picture. More importantly, it was the most complex technique she’d ever seen. There was no way something like this would be possible.

“All you have to say is, ‘Sun Wukong is the best’ and the scroll will reveal its secrets,” Sun Wukong whispered. “Well, that or anything that praises me. You can call me a king, an emperor, a god. Whatever.”

Lu Na smiled at the conceit coming from the spirit.

“Sun Wukong is nice.”

The scroll in her hand expanded to the size of a tofu square.

“Come on, that’s not enough praise,” Sun Wukong said.

“Sun Wukong is great.”

The scroll expanded to the size of a kite.

“There we go. That wasn’t so hard, right? All it took was just a few words and now you have the secret of immortality,” Sun Wukong said.

Lu Na opened the scroll. The first thing she saw was a beautifully painted picture of Sun Wukong, standing with his staff. He was dressed in red military armor that complimented his red, orange fur.

“I’m not sure what I’m looking at. It’s just a picture of you.”

“Keep looking,” Sun Wukong said.

The picture of Sun Wukong twirled his staff. It moved! He tossed his staff into the air, making it disappear. Then the words “Scroll of Immortality” appeared, taking over the entire space.

“How did you do that?” Lu Na turned the scroll over, looking at it like the greatest treasure she’d ever received.

“Girl, if you help me, I can show you even more. There are so many things that I have seen in my life that would make your head spin. All you have to do is release me from this mountain.”

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Lu Na was tempted. She was very tempted. It was one thing to see her brother’s techniques and she had only started studying Sun Ren’s. But their techniques were like children’s toys compared to this.

Sun Ren pulled Lu Na away.

“No Na Na, we’re going now.”

Sun Wukong hissed again.

“You know, you’re really pissing me off, girl.”

Sun Ren stood in front of Lu Na and unsheathed her sword.

“My name is Sun Ren, daughter of Sun Wentai, and descendant of Sun Tzu. The first thing we learn is to always be wary of very helpful people, spirits more so. So if you truly are trying to be helpful, we’ll take your scroll and see how much it will help Lu Na before she decides to help you.”

“Sun Tzu, huh? I was the one that taught him,” Sun Wukong laughed. “He changed his last name to mine. In a way, you’re my descendant, not his. Don’t worry, I won’t make you kowtow before me.”

“Amituofo. We should go before the Wintersweet Sect catches up to us. I can sense my father’s spirit energy inside the forest,” Hen Li said.

“You can sense that?” Lu Na asked.

“He’s fighting right now and he’s very close.”

“Oh, you don’t want these other humans to find you?” Sun Wukong asked. “I can help with that. Think of it as another generous gift from the monkey king.”

“Amituofo, please don’t kill them, Sun Wukong,” Hen Li said.

“Fine, I won’t kill them. Besides, they came in with an army. I don’t think even my bear friend could beat them.”

“Amituofo. Thank you. You have a kind heart. Maybe you might consider the path of Buddha?”

Sun Wukong rolled his eyes.

“Get out of here. Go north until you see a stream. Then go west from there. You will get out of the forest and on your way to the labyrinth. I hope you all find what you’re looking for.”

Hen Li and Lu Na bowed as Sun Ren ushered the both of them back into the tall trees of the forest. After a hundred paces, they heard the loud crack of spirit techniques not too far away. It was as if a hundred growling voices were silenced instantly. Then the loud roar of a bear was heard.

“It can’t be the same bear spirit, right?” Lu Na asked. “Hen Li disabled him.”

“Who’s saying there is only one bear spirit in these forests? Let’s move before they find us,” Sun Ren said.

Not too far from the monkey king’s mountain, they met with many other feral spirits in the forest. Every single one avoided the trio as Hen Li walked ahead.

“I can’t believe they’re not attacking us,” Lu Na said. “Maybe Sun Wukong is helping us.”

“Hah, that monster can’t even help itself,” Sun Ren said. “It can talk a lot, promise the world, but can do very little. That’s why he needs your help to get him out. More than likely, the feral spirits can sense Hen Li’s spirit energy and are running away.”

“Amituofo, I just didn’t want another spirit to attack us needlessly,” Hen Li said.

“I am curious, though. You said that your strongest spirit was sealed away, but how did you continue to become so strong?” Lu Na asked.

They heard the stream Sun Wukong mentioned.

“How about we take a lunch break and then the monk can tell us,” Sun Ren said.

There was a large rock outcrop beside the stream where the trio stopped. It was a perfect place to rest, as it kept them hidden from the other feral spirits. The stream provided a calming flow of water that refreshed their minds.

Sun Ren took out smoked fish from her pack and passed one to Lu Na. Hen Li took out three really large pieces of bread and a small bag of nuts.

“To answer your question, when my former sect sealed away my Bifang Niao, I was almost dead,” Hen Li said. “They had to seal away most of my spirit energy with my spirit so that it couldn’t explode and wipe out the city. It was a difficult time where I couldn’t agree with what the sect was doing.

“Afterwards, when I finally woke up, I had to recuperate for many months, taking many spirit energy pills. Not the same ones that you saw Senior Wong take, but quite a few. It gave me just enough strength to get out of bed. I made a pact with the new Sect Leader to leave the sect so that I can follow my path.

“It was after many months before I finally recuperated enough that I felt my spirit energy come back. I am nowhere near the height of my power, but I had enough to cultivate again. And the monkey spirit was not wrong. It all came very easy for me, despite it being my second time.

“And that’s how I found Panhu. He was a feral spirit that the other spirits were attacking. I saved him and now he’s bound to me.”

“I’m sorry about what happened,” Sun Ren said.

“What happened?” Lu Na asked.

“I don’t think the monk wants me to tell his story.”

“Amituofo, it’s fine,” Hen Li said. He took out his prayer beads and moved them in his hand. “I think you should know who I was before I started on the path of the Buddha. And if you feel you don’t want me to go with you, then I will understand.”

“Is it that bad?” Lu Na asked.

Sun Ren nodded.

“I only know of the broad story from my father’s reports. I didn’t expect this monk to be the one mentioned.”

“Amituofo. It was only a few years ago when I was still in the Wintersweet Sect. I was conflicted. The Wintersweet Ancestor had commanded us to wipe out a competing sect that had invaded our territory. And I was specifically requested for this because of my power. My father wanted me to show my skills so that they would know to not confront us.”

Hen Li’s beads moved faster in his hands.

“What the ancestor didn’t tell us at the time was that the village where the competing sect had their headquarters was filled with children. I didn’t know and I…”

“There were no survivors,” Sun Ren said. “An entire village was wiped out in a blink of an eye. It was so brutal that my father was sent to investigate. Everything was burned down.”

“Amitoufo, let the sins pass.” Hen Li had tears rolling down his face. “Not everything. There were families and groups of children huddled up together. There were no summoners from the competing sect. There were no enemies in there. A fight between summoner sects is expected in the life of a sect, but this was mass slaughter.

“It wasn’t until later did I learn the ancestor ordered the slaughter to prevent the rise of a future sect leader that would rival the Wintersweet Sect. He was only a child with great potential. When I learned this, I went crazy. I lost all control of my Bifang Niao. I fought the former sect leader and killed him before the rest of the sect could subdue me.

“And so I had to stand up for you when you told me about the Wintersweet Sect coming after you. I couldn’t allow the ancestor’s cryptic prophecies to ruin more lives.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Lu Na said. She put down her smoked fish. She suddenly lost her appetite after hearing that story.

“Therefore, I understand if you would like me to leave.” Hen Li had put down his bread and recited the heart sutra.

“This man is a killer. It’s not safe to be around him,” Nugua said.

Lu Na was torn. She thought exactly as Nugua did, but Hen Li also saved her life. And who was she? She wasn’t the Jade Emperor or Buddha. She was just a woman looking for her mother. And if this man can help her on his way to repentance, then would it be so bad?

“I think you made a mistake by listening to that demon of an ancestor. I met him and he tried to eat me,” Lu Na said. “Not to mention, I’ve seen how fanatical the rest of the sect is to that ancestor. The current sect leader and his daughter would have killed me for his prophecy. So I say, forget them and let’s move on together.”

“Amituofo, I am more than happy to do so,” Hen Li said. “My path to enlightenment requires me to recognize my misdeeds and repent. I hope that helping you against them will do that.”

“Then it’s settled. Let’s finish eating and head out before another spirit attacks us,” Sun Ren said. She ate her smoked fish and then ate Lu Na’s before passing her large bread like Hen Li’s. “Eat something.”

Lu Na was grateful that it was simple bread.

Afterwards, the trio followed Sun Wukong’s directions and made it out of the forest quickly. The sun was setting, showing a glowing beam of light right in between two mountain valleys.

“This can’t be right,” Sun Ren said. “We entered the forest from the south and we walked north for a long time. But based on those mountains, we’re further west than where we were. This is the Qinglong mountain. That’s at least another day’s walk from the forest.”

“Does that mean we’re really far from the road?” Lu Na asked.

“Not too much farther. We just have to head south.”

A loud crack echoed out of the forest. Trees fell and the sound of animals roaring reverberated.

“Let’s go before that catches up to us,” Lu Na said.