Piggy

"Let me go!" Zhu Bajie struggled desperately as the Jingu Bang was tightly wound around her like a rope.

"Not so fast, pig," Wukong retorted, glaring and using fire to create new clothing.

"If I manage to escape, my rake will be the thing stuck on your head!" Bajie threatened, still struggling.

"That's why I won't let you go. Who's foolish enough to let a half-pig attack me?" Wukong taunted, poking Bajie's cheek with her tail.

"You scoundrel!" Zhu Bajie cursed angrily, while Wukong carried her on her shoulder towards the Gao Village.

"You'll regret it, you stinky monkey!"

"If not for that golden ring of yours, your life would already be in my hands."

Wukong threatened, she didn't particularly like this pig, but the fact this pig have golden ring make she can't do anything to her.

"The golden ring? What's that?"

"...You really don't know? It's the thing currently on your head."

"On my head? You mean the accessory I use to attract my idea guys?"

"...Where did you hear that from?"

"The weird old lady."

'Darn it, that must be old hag' Wukong frowned (Quan Yi: U really hate me that much huh?)

"If you believe that's the thing to help you find your idea guys, then sorry to burst your dream, it doesn't have that kind of power."

"You're lying!"

"Why would I lie?"

"BECAUSE I FINALLY FOUND THAT GUY!" Zhu Bajie boasted, Wukong looked at her with annoyance.

"Tch, whatever, just looking at you makes me sick."

"You too."

"No, just you."

"Are you crazy? Definitely you."

"No, you."

"You rotten monkey, itching for a fight?"

"I can beat the shit out of you with my tail."

The two continued to argue.

***

"Wukong! She's back! And who's that?" Yu Long and I ran up.

"My dinner."

"Oi! Who are you calling dinner?!" Zhu Bajie angrily demanded, ready to punch Wukong.

Mr. Gao approached, his face looking more worn and aged than yesterday.

Then he looked at Zhu Bajie, showing surprise.

"Bajie?"

"Bajie? Do you know her?" I turned back to ask Mr. Gao.

"Everyone in the village knows her."

"Why is she so famous?"

"Infamous is more accurate."

Zhu Bajie heard this, biting her lip and looking down at the ground, clearly not liking someone talking about her like that.

"Zhu Bajie is the daughter of a very beautiful girl in the village named Zhu Rinno. She was kind, obedient, and always had admirers among the village boys."

"But beauty in this era is no different than a death sentence. She inadvertently attracted a foul-smelling pig monster living nearby."

"He kidnapped her at night while everyone was asleep, and that night became the young girl's worst nightmare."

"Not long after, the villagers woke up to discover the incident and called upon a level 3 warrior to handle it, the monster was only a level 1 so is easy to handle."

"But what he left behind... it was horrifying. The girl endured humiliation and torment from him."

"And she pregnant."

I couldn't help but sweat as I looked at Zhu Bajie. She remained silent, her eyes devoid of any spark.

"And then, five months later, she gave birth to Zhu Bajie," Mr. Gao continued.

"Due to the suffering inflicted by the pig monster, she grew to resent her own child, drowning herself in alcohol to cope alone."

"She was never accepted by the villagers, despite being a demon. Children bullied and ostracized her, while adults treated her like a monster."

Mr. Gao sighed, casting a glance at the girl.

Wukong and Yu Long don't really care about the story, because they were monsters, no, a demons (Demons stronger than monsters) and they feel digust from half-demon like any monsters.

I swallowed hard, stunned by the deep and dark of the story, then turned to Wukong.

"What do you think?"

"What do I think? I'm not good enough to care about others, especially half-demon."

"Why do both humans and monsters hate them? I think..." I turned back to look at Bajie, then slowly spoke up.

"She seems quite cute."

"..." Wukong looked at me with a 'what did you just say?' expression.

"..." Mr. Gao also looked surprised at me.

"...!" But Zhu Bajie was the most surprised, she looked straight into my eyes, her eyes shining like never before.

"W-What's going on?? Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Master... do you know what you're saying?" Wukong looked at me with a serious expression.

"Well... I said she seems quite cute," I answered sincerely.

"...Master, humans hate demons because they have monster blood, which they fear and abhor."

"But for monsters and demons like us, it's different. It's not about their blood being repulsive."

"Monsters are born with strength and are familiar with energy from their early stages of development, so it's not surprising if they know how to harness energy instinctively."

"Thus, they can see ghosts, something humans can't perceive unless they reach level 1."

"Because monster eyes are very sharp, when they see a half-demon, they see a creature that's neither fully human nor fully monster, hence finding them repulsive is natural."

"I-Is it that serious?!" I sweat nervously, looking at Wukong.

"If others heard the master say that to the half-demon, they'd consider you a crazy or something~" Wukong shrugged, hands behind his head, whistling.

I stayed silent, observing Wukong, then looked at Zhu Bajie, who remained silent.

"But... I don't really care much about how people see me. If I think someone is beautiful, I'll call them beautiful, that's it," I scratched my head.

"Master... I really doubt if you're from this era," Wukong sighed.

"Sniff"

"Huh?" I looked at Zhu Bajie.

She was crying now.

Tears fell to the ground, her nose running.

"Hugh..." She closed her eyes, resting her head on the ground, unconcerned about whether it dirtied her or not.

"T-Thank you, really, thank you so much," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Master is really good at making girls cry, I'm looking forward to my turn," Wukong smug, poking me with his tail.

"Be quiet."

"Oh, come on, that's just cruel."

I approached Bajie, trying to console her to stop crying.

'But really, did I say just a few words that made her cry this much?' I was confuse, not knowing what to say.