Dear Traveler, why do you contort your face in that way? Are you not enjoying the story thus far?

Ah, I understand. It's the spideress that occupies your mind. I agree that she seemed quite distressed at the end of her evening with the monk. Perhaps she does not know as much about her employer as she previously believed.

Listen, you're not going to get any answers to her situation by sitting there and frowning at me all day. We need to push on and find out what happens. It may be a while, however, because our bogus monkey king is on a very serious mission to watch the sun come up with his new friends.

The pig, Dear Traveler, could not understand why his benevolent companion was surprised that neither the monk nor the spider joined the two of them in catching the sunrise.

Sun Ritsu looked absolutely dejected as he shuffled back up the hill where Ham Song waited and plopped down beside him in the grass.

"Anari is locked inside of her paper space and Bodhi wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I shook them or how loudly I called their name."

Ham Song grunted and opened his mouth, but before he could get the words out, Ritsu held up his hand and sighed, "I already know what you're going to say. Neither of them deserve my friendship or something like that, right?"

The pig huffed, "Well, they don't." He squinted his eyes against the glowing glare of the dawn. "To be honest with you, monkey, I think the spider is hiding something. As for the monk, you already know how I feel about them. Whatever their intentions might be underneath that alcoholic funk, they are far too reckless to be trusted."

"Ham Song?"

The pig shivered a little as Sun Ritsu's warm hand came to rest on the fat of his neck rolls.

"Can we just..." The monkey spirit gestured at the view. "Enjoy this moment before it goes away? In just a few hours we're going to be leaving the Horse Province behind for good."

Ham Song absorbed the seriousness in his friend's face and clamped his mouth shut over his tusk.

"You're right, benevolent monkey." The pig looked down at the valley. "This view is too wondrous and true to be spoiled in any way."

They both fell into a reverent silence as they watched the giant on which they were perched shift. The rotation of the lands could not be felt, but rather, only registered by the eyes. All the open territory feeding from Ripe Peach Mountain dissolved and morphed into concrete and rigid structure. The change was very slow and unevenly distributed across the giant. It was quite a sight to behold.

"Which way are we going to take to get out here?" Ham Song asked. "Do you know yet, Sun Ritsu?"

Ritsu blinked some clarity back into his features. "I think Anari said that the Heavenly River is where we can purchase a ferry ride to take us to the next province."

Ham Song gave a little squeal as he rooted the air with his nose. "Ah. The Heavenly River. It's been a long time. Do you know about the river?"

Ritsu leaned back on the heels of his palms and stretched out his legs over the grass.

"I don't think I do. Can you tell me more? What's it like?"

Ham Song felt honored by the monkey's request. He bowed his head in gratitude and tested his throat to see if the curse would allow him to say what he had in mind. When the pig was sure that nothing was holding him back from recalling his memories, he drew in a deep breath and said, "The dragons used to go to the Heavenly River to bathe. They overlooked the river and kept the waters clean. There was one time when they called upon the Great Sage, Sun Wukong, for help removing some unwanted debris from the riverbed."

The pig peered out at the shifting scenery and gave a snort. "Perhaps I can remember enough to sing the tale. I think it went a little like this..."

Are you ready, Dear Traveler, for another wondrous moment told in verse? I bet you didn't know that the pig had a few songs of his own hidden up his sleeve. Did you forget that he is a dragon and thus hordes knowledge, including the minstrels of the past?

Let's see how well you do with a little history.

Now sit and listen to the old dragon disguised as a pig while he reimagines the Heavenly River and sings:

I have not been down to the riverbed for a long, long time

Not since the days of the Dragon King

or any such immortal kind

But I remember when the river glew

Uh. Shined. No – glowed! Or what have you

such a heavenly light born from a bed of ore

Iron-clad and cast aside

in the Flood by the Conqueror

The dragon nobles wished that it be removed

but the iron was much too heavy

forever stuck in what is now

known as the ocean treasury

Only one immortal – the high Sun Wukong – the Monkey King

could be that strong

To speak the language of the iron

For him, it yielded, folded, shrank

each time he whispered, "Abandon your defiance!"

Then he blessed it with a new name:

The Golden-Hooped Rod of Compliance

You should have seen that Monkey King

standing in Heaven's River, ankle-deep

with his new toy from the treasury

glowing with him under the sun

his sideburns dripping with river pearls

softly blending, bending the light until...

in a blink, he was gone

You know Sun Wukong was never one

to stay for very long

But to the Heavenly River shall I return

to reflect on his deed through song

Bodhi did not wake up for the sun or even for their friend Sun Ritsu, no matter how hard the monkey had rattled them. The monk was drawn forth into consciousness by an immortal song. Their body responded to the ancient voices blanketing them, becoming one and unbecoming into many again and again.

Bodhi yawned as they rolled over to breathe in the morning air. They stretched their lithe, petite muscles and braced themself for the pain in their side from where the pig had bulldozed into them. But no such pain came.

With a grunt, Bodhi sat up and wiped their eyes so that they could assess the damage. But when they pulled back the bandages and peered down at their skin, they found no bruising. When they poked the area with the tips of their fingers, it did not hurt in the slightest.

The immortal song was coming to an end. Bodhi looked up. They could hear something familiar in the voice as it faded from the air. Oh well. Perhaps it was Luck that lured a high immortal out from wherever their kind hid to walk through the valley and heal an unsuspecting monk with their song.

Bodhi stood up and adjusted their robes, realizing that the place where they stood could hardly be called a valley anymore. There were sidewalks now and street lights. The place where Bodhi had slept was nothing more than a stretch of grass running behind a bus stop.

The monk gathered up the barrel, looped their arms through the straps and hoisted it onto their back like a bookbag for daycare. They figured Sun Ritsu and the pig couldn't be far. So they started marching in the general direction where they last saw them.

It took a while of meandering, but Bodhi eventually found Ritsu and Ham Song standing around a floating origami lotus blossom. This one was about the size of a rice bowl.

"I take it the spideress is still catching up on her beauty sleep," Bodhi said as they unhinged the barrel from their back and set it down. They produced a shallow cup from the inside of their robe and opened the lid on the barrel to get a bit of breakfast. Bodhi had a feeling it was going to be a while.

They could tell by the sound Ham Song made in his throat that he did not approve of their timing with the wine. As always, the monk could care less.

"Bodhi, do you have any idea why Anari would take this long to come out?" Ritsu asked. "I thought I saw her walking back from where you camped out last night."

Bodhi schooled their features into something neutral. Last night they had been sober enough to remember that Anari did seem a little off towards the end of their conversation. She had left in such a hurry.

Something – call it intuition or what you will – gave Bodhi the impression that Anari wouldn't want Ritsu to know that something was bothering her. Based on the timing of her strange behavior, the monk would have guessed it had something to do with the company that hosted the feast in the Garden of Immortal Peaches during the festival.

So Bodhi followed their instincts and shook their head, trying to fein as much innocence as possible.

"She seemed fine last time I checked. Perhaps she's sleeping off the wine."

Ritsu turned his gaze back on the floating paper space and sighed. "Perhaps."

Yeesh, Bodhi thought as they scanned the yearning in Ritsu's features. He's already crushing hard on Miss Daddy Long Legs, isn't he?

Bodhi didn't know why they were surprised. Anari had this quiet magnetism about her that most spirits did not possess. Like Bodhi, she seemed a bit of an outsider. Everywhere you looked in the Ninth Heaven, you saw geese galore, as well as pigs, sheep, monkeys, and star-beings – all manner of spirits. But spiders? Bodhi had never met a spider before. 

Before last night, they had never been touched by a spider.

And it wasn't until they registered how the longing on Ritsu's face reflected the same sharp tug they felt in their own heart that it became clear... they had never wanted to kiss a spider before now.

The lotus blossom paused in its rotation. Bodhi held their breath as they watched it unfold. In seconds, Anari was stepping out. She was back in her leather jacket with the fringe dangling down to the waistline of her black shorts. Her long box braids rested over one shoulder and cascaded down her chest.

Bodhi tried not to stare too hard. When they glanced at Ritsu, it was quite plain that he wasn't trying at all.

"I overslept," Anari said in what Bodhi was sure had to be the first apologetic tone they had heard from her.

Anari glanced between the three spirits and went about adjusting the sleeves on her jacket and checking the zipper along the side of her thigh-high boots. "Thank you for waiting for me."

Ritsu, it seemed, had collected himself enough to approach the spider and take her hand in his. The way he looked at her made Bodhi suspect that he simply forgot that there were other spirits around.

"We would never leave without you." Ritsu said, holding Anari's hand up near his chin and dragging his thumbs along the back of her knuckles.

The spider's glamour flickered and for a moment Bodhi saw all eight of her glossy black eyes.

"Sun."

Anari's breath rushed out of her as she took a step back and lowered Ritsu's hand down to his side. Bodhi noticed that she didn't let go.

"We should get going," the spider said after clearing her throat. "The lines at the ferry can get very long, very fast."

Ham Song snorted, "Especially after a festival. Great Sage. Let's hurry this up!" And with that, the pig trundled on ahead of the group.

Bodhi noticed the way Anari shifted her stance to hide her and Ritsu's linked hands behind her back. They tore their gaze away before either of the spirits could notice and shrugged the barrel back over their shoulders.

"Wait up, Ham Song!" Bodhi called, pressing forward. "You know they're not going to let a pig hop on a ferry boat unattended!"

Ham Song only glanced back to shoot an ugly scowl at the monk. Bodhi winked right back at him and grinned. They had their booze and thanks to the immortal spirit's song from earlier that morning, their side was completely healed. There was nothing Ham Song could do or say to darken Bodhi's spirits.

At least, not for the time being.

You know, Dear Traveler, had you not kept pestering me with your interruptions all this time, our spiritual cadre would have probably made it out of the Horse Province a long time ago. It absolutely baffles me that we are just now getting to this point in the story.

Sorry, what were you prattling on about just now?

Go on, speak up!

Oh, that?

You want to talk about the obvious?

What surprises you more, Dear Traveler? That Bodhi and Ritsu are both taken by the spider spirit or that she can somehow manage to find common ground with a drunkard and a dumbass without leaving us wondering if she's right in the head?

Oh dear... I am going to stop you right there. Sweet Immortal Peaches, the things you tourists project onto these stories sometimes. There was nothing in my retelling to suggest that Bodhi is jealous of Anari and Ritsu's mutual interest in each other. The monk was merely observing and comparing their own feelings with what they were seeing.

Not every story with romance between three or more involved morphs into a monstrosity of jealousy and rivalry. And don't you dare ask me for hints about what this all could mean. Just shut up and wait to see what happens.

The monk. Jealous? As if.

Can't you see by now that they are no different than the pig or the spider?

Whether Bodhi realizes it or not, when it comes to Sun Ritsu, all they want is to see him happy and radiant.