Taibai Jinxing stood at the edge of the White Jade Arena.
He looked at the two men onstage. "Tianpeng, Perfected Lord of Registering Fate, now that your match is over, step down and rest."
Mao Gu bowed to Taibai Jinxing and the central viewing stand, then turned into a wisp of blue smoke and drifted lightly back to the eastern stand.
At those words, Bajie shouldered the Nine-Toothed Rake and swaggered off the arena, his feet splayed outward, looking every inch a victorious general returning from battle.
His plump face brimmed with undisguised triumph. Before he even reached the western stand, he could not help shouting:
"Brother Monkey! Little White! Old Sha!"
He shifted the Rake on his shoulder, thrust out his chest, and tipped his head back.
"Well? Wasn't I impressive? Seen what Old Pig can do now, have you?"
He bounded up to the stand, taking the steps two at a time, and squeezed in among the others.
"Hurry up and make room for me! I'm worn out. Let me tell you exactly how I spotted the trap and broke out of it."
Spittle flew as Bajie showed off to Wukong, the others, and the five hundred monks.
Little White Dragon stood nearby, listening to his endless chatter, and lifted his eyelids slightly.
"Second Senior Brother."
Interrupted, Bajie turned his face toward him. "What?"
"In that manifestation of your mind," Little White Dragon said evenly, "who was the sickly scholar surnamed Bai?"
Bajie patted his chest, looking as though the answer were perfectly obvious.
"You! Little White, what do you think? You're always taking jabs at me and showing no respect for your senior brother, but I still keep you in my heart. Touched, aren't you?"
Little White Dragon looked at him and paused.
"But my surname is