Bajie turned to look at Great King Si in the middle of the hall.
He held it in for a long while, but finally could not help himself.
"So... was Ox Lord transformed from Fuxi or Shennong?"
The Old Lord walked over expressionlessly, raised a hand, and knocked him on the head.
Thonk!
Bajie crouched down, clutching his head.
"Ow!"
"Pigbrain! You deserved that!"
The Old Lord scolded, "After listening all this time, that's all you took away?"
"He is himself."
"They are themselves."
Bajie rubbed the top of his head, looking thoroughly aggrieved.
"I was only asking. You're always taking things out on me. Then what did all that you just said have to do with Ox Lord?"
At that, the Old Lord turned toward Great King Si.
Blue-green root patterns had already climbed to the vaulted ceiling, weaving together and enclosing the entire hall.
Great King Si stood amid the root patterns, his brow tightly furrowed, his eyes still vacant.
"All three of them later became Jianmu."
"But later still, Jianmu was gone too."
"This Little Ox walked out of Jianmu."
"He was born to be my disciple."
The fingers hanging at Great King Si's side twitched slightly.
The corners of Wukong's mouth twitched several times before he laughed. "Old fellow."
"By your reckoning..."
"In the end, several disciples pooled together to make one ox?"
The Old Lord shot him an icy glare and flung out his sleeve.
"What nonsense is that? They owed me!"
"Every last one of them made such fine promises, only to refuse to leave in the end."
"What's wrong with compensating me with a disciple now?"
The Old Lord bristled, his beard puffing and his eyes glaring. "This is what I'm owed!"
"Do you have any idea how many messes I cleaned up