Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude
(A/N: Trauma, body dysphoria)
Chapter Nineteen: Liù'ěr Míhóu gives Sūn Wùkōng a hug
.
None of the men knew how long it took for them to snap out of their shocked state.
But Liù'ěr Míhóu was the first to speak: “I'll go after him.”
“Wouldn't it be better to give him some alone time right now?”, Shā Wùjìng objected.
The Six-Eared Macaque shook his head. “No. Right now, he's a danger to himself and others. Nobody should be left alone in such an emotionally vulnerable state. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Let me handle this. I can understand him better than all of you and if he lashes out, I'm the only one here equal to him in terms of power. You guys stay here, until I come back either with him or with information about his state.” His face darkened. “And while I'm gone, y'all can think of a decent apology. Especially you, slaphead! If I catch you wallowing in self-pity instead of coming up with a way to make up for your shit, I'll punt you to Diyu and there you can see what the hells are like, do you hear me?! Because if we all had to atone and redeem ourselves, then so do you! You don't have the moral high ground, slaphead, so get your head out of your ass! I'll see you later. Now I gotta make sure rock head doesn't get into trouble.”
And with that he too jumped on a cloud and flew away.
.
With his preternatural sense of hearing, it wasn't too hard for Liù'ěr Míhóu to find the other Spiritual Monkey.
He had flown southwards, crashed into a bunch of trees along the way and apparently had crashed into a mountain, taking out a big chunk of it.
As soon as the Six-Eared Macaque landed on the ground, he was accosted by a visibly unnerved mountain god.
“You better be here to stop that rabid flea bag of a rhesus macaque!”, he spat. “He's wrecking my mountain!”
Liù'ěr Míhóu's indigo eyes began to glow sapphire blue and he bared his sharp fangs. “Call my Eldest Brother a rabid flea bag again and I'll raze your precious mountain to the ground, do you hear me?”
The mountain god shook with fear, but nodded.
Liù'ěr Míhóu scowled. “Good. Now you mind your own business and I'll take the Monkey King with me. You will not press charges against him, make any other moves against us or encourage anyone else to do so, or you will face the wrath of the Six-Eared Macaque. And let me tell you, I'm one bloodthirsty son of a bitch.” He put on a sweet smile. “Also, I hear everything, so don't think you can go behind my back! I will know! Keep that in mind. Toodles~”
With that he made his way to the mountain, leaving behind a traumatised mountain deity.
As he made his way up to the crater, he heard muffled sobs and sniffles.
And Liù'ěr Míhóu would never ever admit, that the sounds hurt him to hear. Coming from Sūn Wùkōng they just sounded … wrong.
Finally the Macaque arrived at his destination and frowned at what he found: Sūn Wùkōng was hidden in a small whole in the rock, curled in a tiny ball of fur and blood, trembling and weeping.
Before approaching, Liù'ěr Míhóu made himself known: “Wùkōng.”
Two glowing red eyes peered at him from the darkness.
“May I approach you?”, he asked.
There was an affirmative noise and Liù'ěr Míhóu crouched into the hole to join the upset monkey.
“May I touch you?”, he asked next.
“… Dunno …”, was the teary response.
“Then I won't”, said Liù'ěr Míhóu. “But can you come out of that hole?”
At this, the brown monkey seemed to retreat further into the hole.
“We don't need to go back to the others”, the white monkey assured him. “Just away from this uncomfy mountain and into a nicer location. I know there is one not so far away, with a nice grove and a stream. I think a bath would do you good.”
“… 'Kay.”
.
Liù'ěr Míhóu discreetly turned around, while Wùkōng rinsed himself off in the small stream and washed away the dirt and blood.
After a while, Wùkōng mumbled: “Can you hand me my clothes?”
Liù'ěr Míhóu turned around. “Sure, here you go – holy shit, you look awful!”
The Monkey King had dark rims and bags under his eyes. His frame was concerningly skinny, littered in scars and he had burn scars on his body and face. He was wounded and still bleeding, probably from the earlier crash. Then there was the shiner from his earlier scuffle with his former sworn brother.
“Way to appeal to my ego”, the brown monkey deadpanned. But he was hugging himself, belying his stoic tone.
“Where did you get those burns?”, Liù'ěr Míhóu couldn't help but ask, as he passed the other his undergarments.
Wùkōng sighed and went over each burn scar.
“Trigram Furnace”, he started with the burns on his face, his glowing red eyes and extremities.
“Hóng Hái'er”, he pointed at the other burn marks. “His True Fire of Samadhi is no joke.”
Liù'ěr Míhóu chuckled: “Yeah. I didn't tell his mother, but I met him once. And what a little shit he was. He found out about my ability to hear the future, asked me to listen into his and didn't like what I told him. If it wasn't for my own elemental magic, he would have burned me to a crisp.”
“What kind of abilities do you have? That aren't the same as mine, I mean.”
“Water manipulation, but my water isn't normal.”
“Could it put out the True Fire of Samadhi?”
“Yup.”
“Wow. Now I wish we had met you back then. Just without the impersonating bullshit.”
“Heh … yeah. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. But what happened, happened.” Liù'ěr Míhóu smiled. “Come here. I'll take care of your wounds. Don't worry, you can keep your pants on.”
The Monkey King sighed in relief and sat next to the white monkey.
Liù'ěr Míhóu transformed a few hairs into medical supplies (yes, he could do that too) and began to treat and dress the other's wounds.
Once he was done, the two sat in silence and just took in the beauty of this place.
“I hate my body too”, Wùkōng confessed all of the sudden. “Not for the same reasons as you, obviously, I just … hate it. I used to be the Handsome Monkey King. I used to be beautiful. Now look at me. I look disgusting. Even strangers scream in terror, when they see my face. I don't recognise myself anymore. It feels like … like this isn't my body. Like this isn't me.” A hollow chuckle. “It's ridiculous, really.”
“It's not ridiculous”, Liù'ěr Míhóu contradicted gently. “It just proves how similar our experiences are. Just like you all accepted me, I'll accept you. You're not alone, Wùkōng. Okay? And don't let those stupid mortals get to you. If they call you ugly, then that's because they don't know true ugliness.”
“What does that mean?”
“Appearances are and always will be nothing but façades. A pretty face and a sweet demeanour can hide the most hideous nature. You know this better than anyone, don't you? You can see through illusions and down to creatures' very core, can't you?”
“I couldn't see through yours”, Wùkōng pointed out.
The Six-Eared Macaque snickered: “My mimicry is like no other's! I don't cast illusions, I shift completely. I don't pretend, I become the person I impersonate!”
The Monkey King grinned weakly. “It was pretty cool, in retrospect. At first I actually thought it was a clone of mine, who got away and went feral.”
“Hah!”
“If you hadn't used my face to wreak havoc, it would have been funny. But it was pretty epic, when you turned into my master and threw his own words against him.”
“Oh, you're welcome. Though I seriously don't understand, how you can be so loyal to him after all the abuse.”
“… He freed me from that cursed mountain. And for that I will always be grateful. But still …”
“It's not enough to make his treatment any more forgiveable.”
“No. And … I don't think it ever will be.”
“And that's okay”, Liù'ěr Míhóu told him. “You don't owe him your forgiveness. And he better realise that and accept it, because if he keeps being such a fucking jackass, I'll slap him till his head looks like a cherry.”
“Liù'ěr Míhóu, no.”
“Liù'ěr Míhóu, yes!”
.
“How are you feeling right now?”, Liù'ěr Míhóu asked.
Sūn Wùkōng heaved a sigh. “Like shit, honestly. This whole fucking day has been a shitshow. At least for me. First that conflict with my big brother and his wife and mistress, then I was fucking mocked by Zhū Bājiè, Master threw a tantrum at me, you succeeded, where I failed, and then Master had the audacity to tell me I should be like you. No offence, but-”
“You're not the one, who almost broke his back and stabbed one demon in the ass eighty-one times. No regrets, by the way”, Liù'ěr Míhóu finished.
“Exactly! Also, you ate one of my subjects.”
“Yeah, but in my defence, Shā Wùjìng was the one, who killed him. And I shared with your other subjects. Couldn't let the precious meat go to waste-"
“You ate one of my babies! They may not be my biological children, but I love them. I'm their Old Grandpa Sūn. It was painful enough, when … when my master banished me for the first time and I returned to Flower Fruit Mountain, only to find, that …” He choked back a sob. “Fucking Èrláng had burned it down and killed my children and grandchildren! Fuck, curse that three-eyed bastard! Fuck everything and this journey that keeps me from protecting my little ones!” He burst into tears again. “I just … everything hurts and I can't take it anymore!”
Liù'ěr Míhóu didn't know what to say. Except … “I … I promise no more cannibalism? And I guess I'm sorry? I wasn't actually planning to hurt any of those monkeys, but-”
Sūn Wùkōng gave him an unimpressed look. “Stop. That's a shitty apology, but for now I'll let it slide. Let's … let's not talk about that anymore. And you can apologise to them after the journey. I'm not inviting you to my mountain, but my little ones deserve the truth and the apology.”
“Okay. Uhm … how did it go with the Bodhisattva and Hóng Hái'er? Did she allow him to visit his parents?”
For the first time today, Wùkōng smiled. “Yeah. The three of us flew to his father, the two had a sweet reunion and all … and you know what Niú Mówáng said to me? He thanked me and said that sometime in the future, he will be able to forgive me.”
“That's good, right?”
“Yeah … more than I ever hoped for, actually. I have missed him so much, you have no idea. Though … do you ever miss your crow friend?”
The white monkey chuckled: “Certainly. I think I'm going to miss my new sworn sister too.”
“I still can't believe you managed to become buddies with Princess Iron Fan.”
“Yeah. Now I have two friends with 'iron' in their name! Get it? The Iron-Feathered Crow and Princess Iron Fan?”
Wùkōng guffawed: “Hah! You're right! That is funny!”
Liù'ěr Míhóu grinned. “See? Changing topics though …”, he sobered up, “… how are you feeling now? Are you ready to go back?”
The Monkey King's face fell and he hugged himself.
“Not? Okay. Then we'll stay here for a bit longer. May I ask what's wrong?”
“…”
“I won't laugh or judge”, promised the Six-Eared Macaque.
There was still some hesitation.
Then, finally: “… I'm scared.” The auburn monkey seemed to choke on his words and sounded, like he was about to cry again. “I'm … I'm scared of going back. I can't face Master. He will hurt me. He will punish me for being a bad monkey. He will … he will use the Tightening Mantra.”
Liù'ěr Míhóu had to hold back a snarl. “No, he won't. You had to endure this shit for years, but now I'm here and I will not hesitate to give him a taste of his own medicine. I will not stand for his hypocrisy and if he refuses to listen to reason, I will make him listen.”
“…”
“May I put an arm around you?”
For a moment the Monkey King looked shocked, before saying: “… You may.”
So Liù'ěr Míhóu put an arm around the distressed monkey's shoulder and allowed him to lean against his own.
“It's pathetic, huh?”, Wùkōng mumbled. “Running away after yelling at everyone and not having the spine to-”
“Wùkōng, no. You reached your breaking point and were upset. Your anger in this case was perfectly justified. Slaphead's been treating you like a serf he can use and abuse how he saw fit. He takes his loathing of his own weakness and lack of agency out on you, because you're the only one he can control to an extent. That tirade you gave him was absolutely necessary. And that brat better kowtow and beg your forgiveness, or I swear to Buddha, I will make good on my promise of slapping his head till it's scarlet!”
“…”
Wùkōng leaned further into the Six-Eared Macaque's shoulder.
Liù'ěr Míhóu got the hint and hugged him completely this time.
The Monkey King's heartbeat was still rapid, so the Macaque sighed and pressed the other's head flush against his body.
Wùkōng let out a surprised chirp.
Followed by an awkward: “Uhhh, Liù'ěr Míhóu? M-my head is kinda pressed against your-”
“Don't focus on that! Just listen to my heartbeat and breathing.”
“… Okay.”
He felt the Monkey King slowly relax against him.
Good.
Softly, Liù'ěr Míhóu instructed: “Let my heartbeat soothe your nerves. Let my breathing guide your own. Just listen to the noises of the area. Listen to the flow of the water. The singing of the birds. The wind playing in the leaves …”
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TW// mentions of self harm, body shamming, vomiting
Hello everyone it's me Serenity hehe
These past few days, I've been quite down and literally no motivation to move at all. I wanted to take a break from Tumblr for a few days but at the same time, I don't. Tumblr is the only place rn where I can find happiness and taking a break from Tumblr is kinda hard for me.
I've been doubting myself lately. A LOT. Misery is lingering in my whole body and I can't even look into my family's eyes without wanting to cry. I've doubted every one and everything I can do and have. I don't thinking I'm a lovable person, I feel like shit.
I do have friends (ol and irl) and the thing is, only 1 or 2 out of those people genuinely care about me. But do they really? I don't know anymore. Not only that, when in a group of friends and one of them decided to pull up with fucking favoritism, it makes me want to die, genuinely. It makes me feel like I am loved/liked less compared to others. Is it that hard to treat your friends equally especially when you entered their friend group? 🙁 But who am I to complain? Who am I to question them? Who am I to feel sad? I'm just a random stranger they met online. And because of my internal doubt, I don't think anyone actually cares about me as I, myself, think that I literally don't have anything that can be loved
I'm brainless, I also almost failed every subject I have and I don't even have anything I'm good at at school. Yeah, I can draw, but I'm not good at it. I say that every art is beautiful but my mind is starting to exclude my own art. Also, one time someone asked me 5 things I like about me, I had to think about atleast a few answers so hard since I really couldn't think of anything. Literally nothing is special about me
One of my wishes is for me to stop being attached to someone easily. Because of that, it hurts me a lot when I get attached to someone whether I know them personally or online and it turns out, I am just nothing to them
I lost all my motivation to move and my past few drawings are made with force. As I said, I almost failed school because of loss of motivation and another thing that bugs my head but I wouldn't talk about it. And since I lost motivation to do school, I only draw for the sake of me being happy even just for a little bit but now, my art is starting to look like shit in my eyes. Nothing makes me happy anymore and I feel like sadness and loneliness are swallowing me little by little
It came to the point where I stood on the kitchen, making a coffee. I was going to take scissors but the knife took my attention. I was trying my best to ignore the knife and not let my thoughts take over me to harm my body but I suddenly took the knife and placed it on my thigh, I was going to slash it but it was dull and I managed to stop myself from doing so and to not grab the sharper knife to use instead. I hate my thighs so much, they are big and always gets made fun of which I think is why it's the first thing I've thought of to harm amongst all my body and use it to let out my feelings. My so called "friends" makes fun of my arms and thighs the most which results to me hating it SO MUCH. They'll also call me "dead hungry" (which is translated as patay gutom in our language but I don't know the english term to it) or "greedy" and even make fun of my breasts and call them "saggy". Every time I'll take more spoonful of rice, I always feel guilty, I always feel like everyone is judging me. And I feel that every stare is like a dagger stabbing me and I fill up with guilt.
Earlier, I purposely vomited what I ate as I was breaking down in the bathroom. It kinda felt nice, it made me feel less guilty that I eat a lot.
Every time I'll look at the mirror, I am always disgusted by the sight facing me. I always feel like I'm ugly and no matter how much someone compliments me, I never believe them. The words "ugly", "cow", and "whale" are carved on my brain and they wouldn't leave. I feel so ugly and disgusting from head to toe.
I also remember one time which shattered me SO MUCH when we had a project, you need to have a partner since it's a partner/duo activity and one of my classmate was talking to his friend (which is also my classmate) and as I was sitting on my desk, I overheard them because they were behind me. "Find me a partner, anyone, I don't care who" then his friend replied, "[my name]" , it caught my attention even more and his reply was "Anyone but her" then they proceed to laugh hard. It shattered me so much especially because they had the guts to talk about me like that behind me, literally behind me. He was also the guy who talked about my body once or maybe more
I don't know anymore. I don't know what to do anymore. Drawing was the only thing that makes me happy when doing personal things but I slowly view my own art as "ugly". Here I go again, comparing my art to others. I wish I had the talent, I wish I had the skills, I wish my own art isn't ugly, I really want to improve but I literally don't want to move and do anything. There was a hint of lie when I mentioned that I was enjoying drawing those little comic strips. I feel so drained, so lonely, so fucking worthless, useless, and a big disappointment
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