✓𝐀𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 『𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔』

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 26

Lost Identity

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓"
-𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒆𝒖𝒓

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

The cream haired woman indulged in a mix of chips and cookies like it was her last meal, downing half a liter of soda in one go before resuming her snack fest.

Her companions watched with a mix of intrigue and disbelief, particularly unsettled by the bombshell dropped by Ying Xiu upon waking.

Pigsy pieced together the puzzle fragments she offered, realizing they had to go along with her tale about the mysterious twin blades she seemed burdened with.

"So, let me get this straight. You're a demon huntress from the Tang Dynasty, reincarnating across centuries, and you've been tight with the Monkey King and Six-Eared Macaque since way back when?" he queried.

Ying Xiu—no, Lian Xiu—swallowed hard, thumping her chest when the food didn't quite cooperate on its way down. "Not quite. I wouldn't call us friends. Our paths have just crossed a few times, that's all."

Mei scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Ah, so that's why Macaque snatched her."

"You're telling me we bear a striking resemblance to who now?" Tang gestured incredulously to himself and the pig at the counter.

"Tang Sanzhang and Zhu Bajie," she affirmed with her mouth full.

The man gasped, stars sparkling in his eyes as he absorbed the incredible revelations from the reincarnated soul. But MK quickly nudged him aside, more concerned about her well-being than anything else in her absence. "You seriously don't remember a thing? Like why Macaque suddenly snatched you? Or why he trapped you in that lamp?"

The intimacy of her current relationships with these people unsettled her a bit, given her incomplete memories, not having direct contact with the dual blades themselves. She couldn't bring herself to reassure them, especially when confronted by apparent descendants she'd met centuries ago, claiming to be close friends with her. It's just too unexpected.

"Not a clue," she shook her head, followed by a small burp. "Thanks for the grub~"

"There's plenty more where that came from," the perky girl chirped, opening her jacket to reveal an array of assorted chips, crackers, and all manner of junk food, tempting her to snag another pack.

"Now that you've unearthed some clues about the blades' origins, MK," Tang addressed the boy beside him, "Do you reckon it's time to loop in the Monkey King?"

A hand slamming against the table startled them, their gazes snapping to the woman whose stare had hardened at the mention.

"The Monkey King? Sun Wukong?"