As You Are [Monkey King]

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 19: Deities

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"Pigsy! Pigsy Pigsy Pigsy!" MK came barreling in through the back door, accidentally slamming into the pig demon who's carrying a box of tomatoes.

Pigsy rubbed his head and raises an angry fist in the air, "STOP RUNNING IN THE SHOP! JUST LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO MY PRECIOUS TOMATOES!"

"Pigsy, I found this by Xiu's plant pot beside her door! Actually, I didn't think she'd have that plant, she didn't have that plant before. Maybe someone gave it to her before she left—BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT! This letter was for her, and it got an address to her home!" he showed the crumpled letter to him and slapped it on his belly.

He grumbled and opened the letter in one hand while the other began to gather his items. While going through the last sentence, his brows furrowed in confusion and rereads it again. "Are you sure it's for Xiu? And why does it specifically say from your adoptive mother? If anything, this looks completely suspicious."

"Who cares! At least we know where Xiu is, right?! I can visit there to see if she's fine and when she'll come back."

"MK, Xiu had to deal with personal things by herself, you shouldn't be sticking your nose in other's business."

"I know..." the young man slouches his back.

"Besides, she did tell us that she's definitely coming back."

"But... But what if it's like what happened with Macaque? Xiu takes a short leave and the next thing we knew, she gets taken hostage by some shady guy!"

Tang laughs from the counter, making the duo flinch in surprise, "Well, if anything, Xiu is a collection of memory from a notorious demon huntress that lived through past dynasties. Surely she wouldn't be captured without a proper fight this time."

"What are you doing here so early?" asks Pigsy.

"For breakfast!" the man smiles, igniting a series of complaint from the chef.

Wukong sneaks into MK's pocket and reads the paper carefully. His waiting finally came to fruition, even though the outcome wasn't what he expected it to be. Knowing her whereabouts is good enough.'Wait for me, Xiu.'

Xiu curled into a ball, her tired eyes glancing from left to right. Her hair whipped around from the wind trapped in a fluffy wall, the rumbling below her soles reminding her of continuous ripples from the downpour.

Three men sat in a circle alongside her, their traditional hanfu etched with designs dedicated to their work. The one with the wind pattern stared at her with a smile, the one with the cloud pattern scrolled through a tablet to work on his files online, and the last man with the rain pattern narrows his eyes at her with his arms crossed.

"...Nice weather we're having today?" she smiled sheepishly.

"Can you really see it now?" the first one asks.

"I... No?" she does, but once she did, Xiu was beyond terrified, her recent speculations were indeed true. The old Ying Xiu would've seen this as a normal car, driving through a vast landscape of dirt and gravel, but the current her had the knowledge of Lian Xiu who had known the existence of historical figures beyond myths and technology, so her eyesight managed to clear through the glamour and realized just how complicated her current self is with whom she ended up associated with.

Yun Tong, the Cloud Youth; Yu Shi, the Rain Master; and Fengbo, the Earl of Wind, the trio Uncles who loved her to bits and would always have her back whenever she's in trouble. But now these Uncles are narrowing down at her as she fidgeted nervously in the small cage-like interior with grounded suspicions due to her unlikely reaction of their arrival. Who wouldn't when a cloud roams the streets like a normal vehicle in front of you as you're walking down the road?

"Do you like the new car?" asks Fengbo.

Xiu held her head high and gave a stiff nod, "Y-Yeah, it's cool. It's looking pretty good. I love the color."

"Aha!" Yu Shi roared in a deep tone as he spoke, pointing a finger to her nose, "You lied! This is not a new car nor did we change the color, which is red, your favorite," his smile wide and playful.

"The issue isn't about her seeing the real deal, it's about her true nature," says Yun Tong before glancing up from the device, "I'm curious, how did you get past the illusion? A mortal normally wouldn't be able to, even if you do have a peculiar record."

'That's... Wukong's teaching,' she thought. The simian thought her how glamour works and he handed her the knowledge of seeing through it, Xiu activated it and played it cool for a while, discovering others who uses illusion to conceal what they wanted to conceal.

The Cloud Youth shook his head and continued, "Nevermind that. Dianmu will handle things from here on out."

The woman chokes on air, "Mum's home?"

"Not for a while," says the Rain Master, "Although brother Leigong is at home waiting for you."

Her adoptive father, the God of Thunder, Ying Leigong, she'd hoped that he was also out for work. He wouldn't have thought twice to kill her if he found out that she's not as innocent as she turns out to be, just a mass murderer with a curse that used to be on her back.

"Oh, look, you've scared her. She looks as white as a soul!" Feng Bo frowns at Yu Shi and hugs Xiu into his arms. Yu Shi fidgeted as he apologized to her, but nothing he says afterwards makes much sense to her now awakened mind.

These people are among the many deities of China, and Ying Xiu was the one who became a part of it. The punisher of evil doers, and hailed as the best cop producing generals that had its own headquarters to spread justice around the continent, just what awaits her back in this lifetime's cozy and warm home?

"Ying Xiu." A man dressed in black hanfu sat behind the desk, his sharp eyes glances up at the cream haired woman and sets the papers nearly back in order.

His glasses removed from the bridge of his nose, folded gently and placed down on the table. His shoes clicked against the marble floor as he walked around his workspace toward the people by the door.

You took a step back as the man's arm reached for her, pulling her in to suffocate her in a big bear hug that a father could possibly give.

"Welcome back, my little princess," he cooed while he swing her back and forth.

Yes. That's the infamous God of Thunder, Leigong.

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This in just my version of the mentioned Gods and Goddess. They don't have much background in Journey to the West, so they're perfect for my thoughts in her adoptive family❤️