The mountain path up Five-Finger Mountain was much easier to travel than the one in the Zhongnan Mountains. Though it twisted and turned through the peaks with bend after bend, someone clearly maintained it: the planks and ropes were sturdy, without a single rotten or broken section.
As he walked, Pan Long even came across the people maintaining the plank walkway. They were short, with large, round ears and unusually long limbs, fingers, and toes. Many had long hair on their faces and bodies.
Anyone with poor eyesight who spotted them from a distance might have mistaken them for a troop of apes.
Pan Long knew they were people, not beasts, and that their origins were rather extraordinary.
In ancient times, long-lived beings had all been called "gods." Gods and humans had lived side by side, leaving behind many descendants. Their bloodlines had survived through the generations to the present day, and they were known as Divine Descendants. Their origins varied, as did their appearances and abilities. This group belonged to the Long-Armed Tribe. Their ancestor had been known as the Star-Plucking Divine Lord, who, legend said, could stand upon the earth and pluck stars from the sky. His powers were vast.
Accounts of the Star-Plucking Divine Lord were too hazy to verify, but the Long-Armed Tribe certainly existed. They had lived near Five-Finger Mountain for generations and seldom left.
Some scholars argued that the stone monkey called the Handsome Monkey King in Lord Wenchao's Record of the Stone Monkey had actually been based on the Star-Plucking Divine Lord, and that the Long-Armed Tribe were the Handsome Monkey King's descendants.
Others said that the Handsome Monkey King had roamed the world, unrivaled by gods or ghosts. The story gave him six sworn brothers, together known as the Seven Great Sages.