As Chen Fan and the others toured the shrine, they also made their way toward their destination. Before long, they arrived at an inconspicuous place. It was a Sacred Stable.
"Look, there are monkeys over there, big brother!" Hikari excitedly tugged on Chen Fan's arm and pointed at the front side wall of a building. To a child, monkeys were quite interesting creatures.
Chen Fan looked in the direction Hikari was pointing. It was where the railings of an ordinary house would be, carved with monkeys from one end to the other: monkeys with their eyes closed, monkeys with their mouths closed, monkeys covering their ears, monkeys sitting, monkeys looking up at the sky, monkeys lying down. There were more than a dozen carvings in total.
"Is it because of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?" Chen Fan raised his brow and asked.
Yuri nodded. "Yes. The Monkey God Lord is enshrined here, so there are carvings of all kinds of monkeys."
After saying that, Yuri took out a rectangular talisman. "Then, let's head to the Western Heavenly Palace." Holding the talisman, Yuri entered the vast woods behind the Sacred Stable, and Chen Fan's group followed her.
After following Yuri into the forest for more than ten minutes, they had completely lost their sense of direction. At last, they arrived before an ancient shrine.
"Welcome. We of the Nine Law Shrine are greatly honored by the King's arrival!" A capable-looking young man, who seemed to have been waiting there for some time, said to Chen Fan.
"My name is Kuhotsuka Mikihiko, leader of the Kuhotsuka clan, the Guardian God of the Western Heavenly Palace in Nikko." As he spoke, he took out a short sword. Both its scabbard and hilt were made of white wood, and it looked ancient.