A Rising Sun

"Are you Chenxiang?"

"You know me!?"

"I once saw a portrait of your mother."

"A portrait?"

Chenxiang scratched his head. He'd thought Lu Bian knew his name because he'd seen his mother by the roadside, but instead, he said he'd seen a portrait.

"An old man once commissioned me to carve a statue of your mother. He asked me to work from a painting, which your father had painted," Lu Bian explained.

"Uncle, did you know my father? Mother told me he died before I was born," Chenxiang said.

"I didn't know your father either," Lu Bian replied.

"Poor child."

Lu Bian and Chenxiang sat side by side on the stone ledge beside the street, one big and one small, chatting. Mostly, Lu Bian listened as Chenxiang poured out his story.

It turned out that as soon as Third Holy Mother became pregnant with Chenxiang, she attracted Erlang Shen's attention. Liu Yanchang died at the Holy Mother Temple on Mount Hua, while the pregnant Third Holy Mother fled and secretly gave birth to Chenxiang in the human world, raising him on her own. When Chenxiang was seven, Erlang Shen found them. He seized Chenxiang first, forcing Third Holy Mother to submit. Desperate to protect her beloved son, Third Holy Mother was then imprisoned beneath Mount Hua. She was willing to accept her punishment, but Erlang Shen also had to promise to raise Chenxiang to adulthood...

Lu Bian understood. This was the animated version of Chenxiang's story. The broad strokes matched, though many of the details differed.

Remembering the animated film's ending, Lu Bian could barely keep from laughing when he thought about how Chenxiang had only made True Lord Erlang use the Heaven-Waving Cloak.

What was the Heaven-Waving Cloak, anyway? Just one piece of True Lord Erlang's outfit.

The Golden Bow and Silver Pellets, the Mountain-Splitting Axe, the Mountain-Driving Whip, the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear, the Demon-Binding Rope, the Demon-Slaying Sword, the Demon-Revealing Mirror... True Lord Erlang had plenty of magical treasures he hadn't even used. He'd gone easy on Chenxiang for half the length of the Heavenly River.

"You're saying True Lord Erlang lives in the Celestial Palace now?"

"Yeah. I just came down from the Celestial Palace," Chenxiang replied.

"That's strange. Why would True Lord Erlang live in the Celestial Palace?" Lu Bian mused.

Chenxiang had stolen his mother's Lotus Lantern and, protected by its power, made his way back to the human world.

While wandering the human world, Chenxiang had heard storytellers tell of Sun Wukong's Havoc in Heaven. Sun Wukong's powers were immense; even True Lord Erlang, whose abilities reached the heavens, had only been evenly matched with the Great Sage. Chenxiang had made Sun Wukong his idol and vowed to become his disciple, learn his skills, and defeat his uncle.

When Lu Bian had first encountered Chenxiang, the boy had been captured and taken to the lake to be sacrificed to a monster. He'd been so fearless because he relied on his mother's Lotus Lantern to protect him.

Even True Lord Erlang was wary of the Lotus Lantern's power. A mere water-monkey demon could be reduced to ashes by a single flash of its light.

"Uncle Thunderbolt Immortal, when are you going to Mount Hua to save my mother?" Chenxiang tilted his head toward Lu Bian.

"..."

He'd dug himself into a hole.

Under Chenxiang's innocent gaze, Lu Bian couldn't bring himself to lie to the boy.

Words, once spoken, were like water poured out. He couldn't go around saying things carelessly anymore.

As an adult, he had to take responsibility for what he said. He also couldn't set a bad example for a child. It was a lesson Lu Bian had learned in childhood from the beloved Ultra Brothers.

"Chenxiang, listen to me."

"Mm." Chenxiang looked into Lu Bian's eyes.

"Right now, I can't beat Erlang Shen, and I can't save your mother."

"But you can!"

Lu Bian placed both hands on Chenxiang's shoulders.

"Look!"

Lu Bian stood up and pointed toward the sun on the horizon.

"If I'm the setting sun on the horizon, then you're the sun that will rise bright tomorrow!"

"Chenxiang, you have to use your own strength to defeat Erlang Shen and free your mother from beneath Mount Hua."

"I'll train you and teach you everything I know. You'll create endless possibilities!"

"Master Thunderbolt..."

Tears brimmed in Chenxiang's eyes as he hugged Lu Bian's leg.

"Don't call me master. I haven't taken you on as my disciple." Lu Bian crouched down to speak to Chenxiang again.

"We're not master and disciple. Do you understand?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to become Sun Wukong's disciple? Once you've learned my skills, you'll be able to cross mountains and rivers to find the master you admire," Lu Bian said.

"...Mm!!" Chenxiang nodded firmly.

Lu Bian: [Brothers, look,]

Lu Bian: [Chenxiang.jpg]

Kakashi Hatake: [You've got a student now?]

[Lu Bian uploaded the animated film Lotus Lantern.]

Kakashi Hatake: [You mean this kid is Chenxiang from the animated film?]

Lu Bian: [That's right. It's Chenxiang.]

Lu Bian: [I showed off my Kamui and vanquished a monster in the lake. The kid saw me crackle with lightning and nicknamed me "Thunderbolt Immortal."]

Kakashi Hatake: [Thunderbolt Immortal? Not bad.]

Lu Bian: [There was a bit of a misunderstanding, and now I'm traveling with Chenxiang.]

Shi Tianwu: [What are you planning to teach Chenxiang? Ultimate Boundless?]

Lu Bian: [Besides my own Dog Beating Technique, the only thing I can teach Chenxiang is Ultimate Boundless. The Book of Supreme World Ordering is out of the question.]

Shi Tianwu: [Want to learn something new? I have a Mahayana Buddhist teaching.]

Lu Bian: [What Mahayana Buddhist teaching?]

[Shi Tianwu uploaded the Dharma Sutra.]

Shi Tianwu: [This is the Dharma Sutra of Bodhidharma. People call Bodhidharma "Patriarch Bodhidharma." He was the founder of the Chan school of Mahayana Buddhism.]

Lu Bian: [So I've got myself a Mahayana Buddhist teaching, too?]

[Lu Bian downloaded the Dharma Sutra.]

Lu Bian: [I... I can't understand this!]

Shi Tianwu: [When new learning appears, how can we stand still?]

Lu Bian: [Bro, do you spend all your free time watching movies from my memories?]

Shi Tianwu: [The ones you've watched are pretty good. They fill me with hope for the world.]

"Uncle Thunderbolt, where are we going?"

Chenxiang sat astride the donkey and asked Lu Bian, the Thunderbolt Immortal.

"To Dali City. I've heard the scenery around Cang Mountain and Erhai Lake is breathtaking. Settling there and teaching you martial arts would be a fine choice."

"Oh."

"Why martial arts, and not immortal techniques?" Chenxiang asked.

"I never said I knew any immortal techniques. I'm just an ordinary mortal. Everything you saw was martial arts."

"Can martial arts make someone's body crackle and shoot lightning?"

"When I was in the Celestial Palace, I only saw a few Kami who could summon thunder and lightning."

"The human body is marvelous," Lu Bian told Chenxiang.

"You're half-human, half-god. Your talent is definitely greater than mine, an ordinary mortal's. You might surpass me in no time."

"Really?" Chenxiang felt that Lu Bian was so kind to him. He was the kindest person he'd met apart from his mother.

The monsters he met all wanted to eat him.

Everyone else either tricked him or wanted to hurt him.

Uncle Lu Bian was truly different. He never talked down to him. He would even crouch down to speak with him.