Is That Badass Enough?

After Wu E finished speaking, no heavenly spectacle appeared.

Only the ancient pavilion by the star lake seemed to grow a little more solid.

When the stone monkey heard that the Daoist before him was willing to accept him as a disciple, the emptiness and bewilderment that had lingered in his heart ever since leaving Flower-Fruit Mountain seemed to be soaked through by a warm spring. In an instant, they were replaced by an unprecedented sense of security and belonging.

"Rise," Wu E said. "The bond of master and disciple between us was fated long ago. Today merely completes the formalities. You disdain those Dao lineages because your path was never meant to fit within the frames they drew."

The stone monkey rose and anxiously asked, "Master, then how should I walk my path? What divine abilities will you teach me?"

"Divine abilities?" Wu E chuckled and shook his head. After looking the stone monkey over, he suddenly asked, "There is no hurry for that. Before that... do you have a name?"

"A name?" The stone monkey froze, instinctively scratching at the golden fur on his cheek.

He thought carefully about it. Back on Flower-Fruit Mountain, the monkeys addressed one another by their calls, fur color, and build. They had no fixed names.

At most, he was the Monkey King, but he truly had no specific name.

Later, although he had spent quite some time among humans, during those days—

he had either disguised himself as a beggar wandering the streets or stayed in forgotten corners where no one cared to look.

No one had ever bothered to ask his name.

So he honestly shook his head. "In answer to Master, I have never had a name."

He had indeed lived among humans for many years and knew that every