Weren't We Bound in a Past Life?

"Truth is, I don't remember."

What?

No. Hold on. What do you mean you don't remember?

Sun Wukong stared at Myodu-eung, too incredulous to speak. Under that blatant glare, the owl hastily added,

"It's true! I have a faint recollection of spiritual energy bursting forth, but everything after that is gone. As if the whole stretch of time had been cut clean out."

"Cut out?"

"I remember it was summer. Then the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and white snow was falling from the sky."

Sun Wukong's face hardened. No memory of anything that had happened while the seasons turned — and this was Myodu-eung, a mountain deity.

"I... I don't know. I really don't. Why I can't remember. Even thinking about it now scares me."

Myodu-eung's shoulders slumped. The feeling of having an entire stretch of memory carved away.

Sun Wukong regarded the owl in silence. Those eyes were clear. He didn't even need the Fiery Golden Eyes to see through them.

...Nothing is being hidden on purpose.

If every memory from that time is gone...

One possibility came to mind.

A seal.

When a mountain deity faced mortal danger, it would sometimes seal itself to survive. Myodu-eung had no recollection of what had happened at all. Someone had sealed the owl before it could even register what was occurring.

I figured anyone who could steal Sanzang's soul wouldn't be ordinary. But sealing a mountain deity? Even a young one?

Sun Wukong's eyes grew still and cold. It wasn't as if he'd come away empty-handed. The culprits had a clear purpose, and they were powerful enough to seal even the Earth Deity who guarded this place. That alone was a worthwhile find.

He let out a sigh and gently stroked the trembling feathers of the owl still shivering before him.

"Well. If that's how it is, there's nothing to be done. Tell me — are there still many mountain deities like you left in the mortal world?"

"I've never really left my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own territory, but from what I know, there aren't many."

"Why not?"

"The mortal realm and the celestial realm have been cleanly split apart, and the demons have vanished, so this has become a world of humans. Nothing happens anymore that would shake the karmic order of heaven and earth, so most mountain deities either enter eternal rest without naming a successor, or simply fade away."

"So gathering up Earth Deities and putting them to work like the old days wouldn't be easy, huh."

Sun Wukong clicked his tongue. Commanding the local Earth Deities had always been a solid method. All he had to do was wave the Ruyi Jingu Bang around and bark a few threats, and they'd scramble to get everything done.

He stroked his chin and, on the off chance, put one more question to Myodu-eung.

"You. Do you know where the Ruyi Jingu Bang is?"

"The Ruyi Jingu Bang... From what I've heard, isn't that the sacred treasure of the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven? Why would you ask me about that?"

"Aigoo. You don't know a damn thing. Forget it."

"..."

Sun Wukong heaved a sigh that could have blown the mountain down. Myodu-eung felt vaguely guilty — not a single answer had been what this visitor wanted to hear. The predecessor's tales of the Great Sage's infamy only made the compulsion worse. The owl felt it had to be of some use.

They said beating an Earth Deity to annihilation was nothing to him.

Earth Deities were the very beings who nestled in the bosom of the Supreme Lord Lao. And this maniac would thrash them until they ceased to exist. Myodu-eung wracked its brains with desperate intensity.

"Mt. Wudang! Ah — and Songshan, and Mount Hua too!"

"Hm?"

"As far as I know, the mountain deities of Mt. Wudang and Songshan have been active even longer than my predecessor. If anyone would know something about the Ruyi Jingu Bang, it would be them, wouldn't it?"

Sun Wukong stroked his chin.

"Mt. Wudang and Songshan are among the most spiritually potent mountains in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Central Plains, steep and forbidding, which is why Taoist priests and Buddhist monks have gathered there. The mountain deities of those places might well know where the staff has gone!"

It was a desperate dump of information, born of sheer compulsion — but it actually made a fair amount of sense.

Sun Wukong's foremost goal was finding Sanzang, of course. Finding Sanzang's body, then finding the soul and putting it back where it belonged. There would be trials along the way. That much was certain.

If this is the Buddha's will, anyway.

The journey to the West had been one ordeal after another. A process of enlightenment, they'd called it. Nothing was going to come easy. And Guanyin hadn't assigned this task to Sun Wukong for no reason — not when she knew full well he was a great demon whose demonic energy had returned.

Sun Wukong had already begun preparing himself in earnest. Inventing a new inner art that ran on demonic energy was one such preparation.

And if the Ruyi Jingu Bang finds its way back into my hands...

He nodded at Myodu-eung's suggestion.

"Not a bad idea. For a little one, you've got a decent head on your shoulders."

"Th-thank you."

Mount Hua and Songshan. The Mount Hua Sect of the Taoists sat on one, and Shaolin of the Buddhist monks on the other. Dealing with the Namgung Clan moving in had already been a headache. He hoped those lot wouldn't get in the way either...

Footsteps.

Just then, Sun Wukong's keen senses caught the sound of approaching steps — so stealthy that even he had only managed to detect them once they were already close. He stared through the darkness.

Perhaps the approaching presence had noticed his gaze. The quiet footsteps suddenly accelerated.

Sun Wukong swallowed a dry laugh.

The presence felt like a great demon, but this is the actual level?

The man was clearly of middle years, yet his skin was as white and luminous as a child's. A clean, pure energy.

"Haha. I never expected our White Owl to have a visitor — and Teacher Sun, no less."

The one radiating that subtle yet immense power was the Lord of the Namgung Clan himself: Namgung Jinbaek. He wore his usual good-natured smile, broad and warm.

"White Owl?"

"A spirit beast that's watched over this mountain for a very long time. Something of a local fixture."

Namgung Jinbaek raised a hand. A basket overflowed with every kind of fruit.

"A spirit beast. You two know each other well, then?"

"Of course we do. I've known this one since my grandfather's time. Was close with my elder brother, too. This pure white — clean as freshly fallen snow. A white owl. How could it not be a spirit beast?"

Sun Wukong glanced sideways at Myodu-eung. The owl had already clamped its beak shut and, wearing a look of lofty dignity, fluttered down onto the fruit basket.

He couldn't help but laugh. The same creature that had been trembling in front of him was now putting on airs like a lord before Namgung Jinbaek — a man whose power called a great demon to mind. It was genuinely funny.

"So what brings you all the way out here in the dead of night, Teacher Sun?"

Namgung Jinbaek fed fruit to Myodu-eung as he regarded Sun Wukong with a calm, steady gaze.

...Look at those eyes. They could cut steel.

The face was still hearty and open, but beneath the gaze Sun Wukong caught a glint of something sharp. He shrugged.

"Just out for a stroll."

"A stroll. It's quite a distance from the estate to here..."

Sun Wukong played it off with shameless ease.

"Once I start walking, I lose all track of time."

"Is that so."

Namgung Jinbaek nodded evenly. The smiling face hadn't changed at all.

A phrase surfaced in Sun Wukong's mind.

A dagger hidden in a smile.

Not just the sharpness in those eyes beneath the grin — the pressure he was letting leak, whether he meant to or not. Sun Wukong snorted at the quietly mounting force.

"I've got a question."

"What might that be, Teacher Sun?"

"You suspect my identity. You're wary of me. So why take me in as a guest retainer?"

A direct hit. Namgung Jinbaek hadn't expected him to come in that hard. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, then he coughed awkwardly.

"As I thought. Your senses are remarkably keen."

"When you're that obvious about it, how could I not notice?"

"I daresay no one in the Namgung Clan besides myself would have picked up on it."

Namgung Jinbaek spoke with an open, unguarded expression.

"If a man has a past and an identity he'd rather keep hidden, prying into it isn't the way of the martial world. But Teacher Sun — you came to this clan with a purpose, did you not?"

"A purpose. What makes you think that?"

"Your eyes were different from the other guest retainers from the start."

"..."

"The other retainers are people worn down by the world. Some wandered the martial world alone for years. Some came from the imperial court, which is a demon's den worse than anything in Murim. They have one thing in common. Most of them arrived at this clan having already lost everything."

Namgung Jinbaek looked Sun Wukong dead in the eye. Myodu-eung, who had been quietly burying its beak in fruit, went rigid at the sudden shift in atmosphere. Namgung Jinbaek's voice was firm.

"Teacher Sun. You need to earn their trust."

"Trust?"

"There are those in the clan who aren't particularly fond of guest retainers as a concept."

Namgung Jinbaek continued at an unhurried pace. Guest retainers were, without question, another pillar that indirectly supported the Namgung Clan. Many of these remarkable figures had once commanded great fame and vast connections. The mere fact that they resided with the Namgung Clan gave other factions pause — a weight that made them think twice before acting rashly.

"But the cost of maintaining them isn't small."

"The clan is short on money?"

Namgung Jinbaek smiled, a little embarrassed.

"Things have been tight in a number of ways since the Great War between Orthodox and Unorthodox. And lately we've been spending quite a bit preparing for an important event. We can't do away with guest retainers entirely, of course, so the recent consensus has been to reduce their numbers."

"And then I showed up."

"Yes. And on top of that, both your past and your identity are... thoroughly unclear."

Sun Wukong regarded Namgung Jinbaek with a curious look.

"Then it's simple. You shouldn't have taken me in as a retainer in the first place."

"Have we met before?"

"..."

"I have this familiar feeling, as if I ran into you somewhere."

Sun Wukong burst out laughing before he could stop himself. Even without seeing the threads of fate, the man was being drawn by instinct.

Well. Fate itself is nothing but the tangle of karmic bonds.

Sun Wukong shrugged. He had never been particularly fond of lying. Maybe it was all those years of dealing with demons who hid their true intentions at every turn. He preferred people who laid their cards on the table.

That was what Sanzang had said. The man had laid his heart bare every single time, to a degree that bordered on foolish. The thought of fabricating a lie for the sake of the mission had never even occurred to him. It had been maddening — and Sun Wukong had loved him for it.

Besides, his own nature had never had much use for pretense or hypocrisy.

He answered with a look of genuine relief.

"A person. I'm looking for someone."

"Looking for someone. What sort of person?"

"I don't know the name. Don't know what they look like, either."

"Is this some kind of Zen riddle?"

"I don't know the name or the face, but I know the bond. Fate, tangled up in karmic ties, led me here. What else is there to do?"

Namgung Jinbaek studied Sun Wukong in silence. The kind of thing a venerable monk of Shaolin might say.

Is he from Shaolin?

The head of Myeong-i-dang had been digging hard, but this man had no past at all — as if he'd dropped out of the sky. Could he be a hidden master that Shaolin had raised in secret?

Any number of thoughts flickered through, and Namgung Jinbaek shook his head. This wasn't what he'd come to talk about. Identity could be sorted out in due time.

"Then you'll need to remain at the clan for a while, if you're to find this person."

"That's right."

"I don't know why, but I find you familiar, Teacher Sun. Like an old friend I knew long ago. But the rest of the clan doesn't feel that way. Most of them don't. The memory of the Sama Order planting spies during the Great War and slaughtering so many of our blood is still vivid. The more unfamiliar the face, the sharper the wariness."

Namgung Jinbaek let out a sigh.

"That's why the guest retainers already here have proven themselves in any number of ways. Their fame and influence are a great asset to the clan, and in a crisis they would fight for us. Though they are, each of them, rather... distinctive personalities."

The Namgung Clan was strong. Namgung Jinbaek alone was powerful enough that Sun Wukong had compared him to a great demon. And it wasn't just him. Every member of the Namgung Clan was a master in their own right.

The problem was numbers.

Sun Wukong thought of Muhwa, whom he'd seen not long ago.

She looked exhausted enough.

If even she was worn that thin, it was no surprise that Namgung Jinbaek, too, carried a deep fatigue beneath that smiling face. Namgung Jinbaek smiled bitterly.

"We're busy. Trying to keep this enormous clan running with so few people. And recently my son and my niece, who were out in the martial world, are coming back with some friends of theirs — so there's an event to prepare on top of everything else..."

Sun Wukong already knew what Namgung Jinbaek was going to ask. The goal from the start had been finding Sanzang. He needed to stay at the Namgung Clan. If the clan's people needed to trust him, then he would act in a way that earned that trust.

More than anything — if I earn their trust, I'll learn about this man's past life, and that woman's. Muhwa's.

He'd only learned about Ojeong's past life after building a certain degree of trust and deepening the relationship.

Sun Wukong looked at Namgung Jinbaek. The karmic thread shone brightly.

Whether this man is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sanzang or not...

He was curious about the past life. If it was Sanzang, the reunion would mean something extraordinary. And even if it wasn't —

The bond is as deep as the one I had with Ojeong.

He needed trust. Namgung Jinbaek's trust in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠particular. The man was the clan's absolute authority, after all. Win that trust, and tracking Sanzang's traces from here would become far easier.

And if this man himself was Sanzang, well — then there was nothing left to find. Even better.

"Take on a task for me."

"Of course I will. Consider it done."

"...I haven't even told you what it is."

Namgung Jinbaek's eyes went wide. Even a man of his bold temperament had never dreamed Sun Wukong would accept so readily.

Sun Wukong shrugged.

"It's the bond between us. What's the big deal?"

Namgung Jinbaek let out a disbelieving laugh.

"The bond between us... Teacher Sun, you said yourself we weren't old acquaintances."

That was enough.