The Spirit Monkey stepped onto the beach, soaked from head to toe. His golden fur curled in wet ringlets, and he had thinned by a whole circle.
He peered twice toward the depths of the land, then, without another word, broke into a run.
Above the clouds, the Five Directions Jiedi looked at one another.
The corner of Gold-Headed Jiedi's mouth twitched.
"That Monkey... doesn't even take a rest?"
Silver-Headed Jiedi glanced down at that golden figure rapidly receding into the distance and sighed.
"He's in a hurry to find an immortal. Where would he find the time to rest?"
Mohe Jiedi had already risen and patted the nonexistent dust from his robe.
"Follow."
Five streaks of flowing light swept soundlessly across the sky, trailing close behind the Spirit Monkey.
The Spirit Monkey set foot on the land of the Southern Continent. Having only just entered the human world, he found everything novel beyond measure.
Copying the way passersby looked, he gathered some leaves and vines and clumsily made himself a garment, covering his lower body. Then he swaggered into the market.
"Hey, have any of you seen immortals?"
He asked everyone he met, his voice ringing loud and clear, drawing sidelong glances from the passersby. When they saw he was a monkey with a hairy face and a thunder-god mouth, dressed in a ragged suit of leaves, they all burst into laughter.
"Where did this wild monkey come from? It can actually speak human words!"
"Maybe it's some mountain spirit that came here looking for fun."
The Spirit Monkey did not understand why, and simply went stubbornly from person to person, chasing them down to ask.
"Immortals! I'm looking for immortals! The kind who live forever and never grow old!"
What answered him was more ridicule, along with