I sniffed at the air excited, hanging in the branches of an old pine, and looking out over the forest as I climbed.
The leaves had just begun to change, turning the vivid colors of red, yellow, orange, and purple, while the evergreens remained lush.
The scent of fall hung in the air, of preparations before spring like the decomposition of leaves on the ground.
Being in an unfamiliar area, we were traveling by tree, my father still blazing the way.
A faraway hoot made my head swivel.
My father hooted, an admonishment.
He was urging me to keep up.
I reluctantly jumped down, joining the other young monkeys coming of age this year.
Excitement trembled between all of us, and we were right behind my father, eager to get to the mating grounds.
Fall was in full swing.
And that meant mating season.
I was two and a half now, and this was when I could start trying to find a suitable mate for me.
As… unlikely as that was.
I’ve doubled down on my cultivation and refined my technique.
I was now twice as strong as other monkeys and was the best hunter and gatherer in the troop.
My father glowed with pride, bragging about me to whoever will listen.
Most of the troop was sick of it at this point.
He would soon get a larger audience to brag about me to.
Now that mating season was here, we were meeting in a place where all the monkey troops in this area gathered each fall.
It was a mountain with lots and lots of fruit trees.
And a brilliant waterfall that made a wide lake for monkeys to swim and enjoy.
Personally, I was hoping to find a monkey who also knew cultivation, for one reason, and one reason only.
Age.
If cultivation was anything like in novels, the goal is to become immortal.
If I took a mate, I wanted it to be for life.
So, I was desperately hoping there was another monkey who could cultivate like me.
It should be obvious who when I get there.
It wasn’t a guarantee that we would find mates who matched with us.
There were a lot of considerations when taking a mate.
Who’s troop you went to, how they got along with your parents and the rest of your troop, if they were strong and healthy, and… okay, looks.
Monkeys were very vain.
Just as vain as humans even.
Luckily, I was very good looking, in addition to being strong.
I would have my pick of mates.
However, I had a few requirements.
Firstly, the cultivation thing.
That was a big disqualifier right there.
Secondly, I wanted a good-looking mate.
Someone with big muscly muscles.
And healthy lush fur.
I liked darker colors.
Oof.
Maybe I was asking for too much.
Just finding a mate who could cultivate would be hard enough.
But I guess it couldn’t hurt to have an ideal type.
A cultivating monkey with muscles and dark fur, a deep brown or black.
Ah yes… I daydreamed about it until an excited hoot snapped me out of it.
We were here.
Ooooh.
Peaches, plums, apricots, lychees, walnuts, and more.
The sun shone brightly, and a pleasant breeze floated the smell of ripe fruit through the air.
It was a haven for monkeys, some of whom swam in the lake, playing, others who sat on the shores, grooming, and more who were playing games or participating in contests to show off their agility and strength.
It seemed we weren’t the first troop to arrive.
The other troops hooted to greet us, and I followed my mother and father.
Mother led the way, towards her old troop, and we sought out her parents, my grandparents.
We found them playing near the waterfall, and she pushed me forward, showing me off to them.
Her first child was now old enough to seek out a mate.
They fussed over me as I fidgeted, eager to explore on my own.
Father eventually laughed and told me to go meet people.
But that I couldn’t choose a mate until I introduced them to him and mother.
I rolled my eyes and sped off, intending to circle around the lake.
I trotted around the lake, several males hooting to get my attention, but none really got me to look at them for long.
This was still just an introduction.
I was seeing the available options.
And praying that at least one of them could cultivate.
My feet splashed in the water, as I occasionally waded in, and stilled, closing my eyes and dispersing my chi into my surroundings.
I felt the chi of all the nearby monkeys, all of which was just… average.
Normal for regular monkeys.
I continued moving, and gradually felt more and more disappointed.
Finally, I gave up.
I climbed into a peach tree, and lounged in its boughs, picking a peach and munching on it to stave off the hollow feeling in my chest.
I knew this was a longshot.
It wasn’t like I could count on another reincarnated monkey showing up.
But what now?
I… I wanted a mate.
But if I picked a regular monkey, there was a good chance I’d outlive them.
That just felt… wrong.
At least by how much I’d outlive them for, possible lifetimes.
And if I had children with a regular monkey… would I be able to teach them chi?
Or would I be destined to outlive them too?
I wasn’t sure, and it made me anxious.
If I had children, the thought of outliving them for so long felt too sorrowful to bear.
No parent should outlive their children… I looked out over the monkeys playing around and meeting each other.
I could see some of my friends already getting to know their prospects.
Over a hundred monkeys in this clearing, but none of them were right for me.
What was I going to do?
If I couldn’t find a mate in my homeland, would I have to venture out?
Search for another monkey like me?
But I wasn’t ready to leave yet!
I still had friends, my parents, a brand-new sibling who had to stay behind to help guard the territory.
Hooting from the other side of the lake drew my attention.
Another monkey troop had arrived, the new monkeys greeting the other troops with zeal.
As the new monkeys dispersed into the area, I sighed and dipped into cultivation.
I spread out my chi senses, searching for any with a higher chi count.
All I got was a lot of nothing.
All of them were average monkeys too.
I was just about to to give up when I felt a little blip on my radar.
The blip quickly blinked out, making me think that it may have been my imagination.
I opened my eyes again and peered into the forest on the other side of the lake.
Maybe… I should go check it out.
I scampered down the tree.
I walked through the various groups of monkeys, the signs of comradery all around me.
I threw out my chi senses at them, but none of them had been the source of the blip I felt.
I turned off into the forest, trotting through the trees, towards where I felt that blip.
But as I reached the area I felt it and looked around, I didn’t see anything.
Maybe it was just a mistake.
It was a very strong chi signature after all.
Even stronger than the snake.
I closed my eyes again and spread out my sense to check.
I was suddenly tackled from above and something pushed me into the ground!
I scrambled, hissing, and turned up to face my attacker.
I grappled, pushing back as I got a good look at him.
Oh.
Wow.
He was… tall.
Most males were around four foot five, but he looked to be a few inches taller, about four foot seven or eight.
His eyes were a startling icy blue, cold as he snarled at me.
His fur was lush, glossy, on the shorter side.
and a jet black, a rare color among the monkeys in this area.
His face was handsome, large eyes, small nose, and big fangs.
And his tail!
It was a good four feet long!
He make a sharp, angry noise that startled me out of my admiration for his long and dexterous tail.
Ack!
He was still on top of me, pinning me down!
I kicked up, sharp and hard, right into his ribs.
He jolted, yanking back as he made another noise.
Not monkey speak.
Human speak.
A high voice, shrill, which was pleasing to my ears.
His tones were brash and angry.
He circled me, walking upright, like human.
His fur was poofed out, threatening me.
He spoke.
I hissed at him, ready to defend myself if he tried to pin me down again.
He said something else in human-speak.
I hissed again.
Weird-ass monkey.
Talk normally!
After another tense moment I felt something sweep over me and he relaxed.
He grumbled and turned away from me.
Clearly dismissing me.
What was his problem?
I spread my chi senses again and found the blip I had sensed was him.
He had a lot of chi, even more than me!
I followed him.
He climbed up a fruit tree and closed his eyes.
I felt something sweep over me.
I closed mine too.
I cultivated with him.
I felt his chi gather much faster than mine.
Ooooh.
How was he doing that?
Without seeing the chi inside him, it was hard to tell what was happening.
Hmmm.
Maybe he didn’t realize I could cultivate.
Maybe… I poked his chi with mine as a hello.
It shrank back, then turned away.
Ugh!
I knew it!
He was deliberately ignoring me!
Wasn’t he even curious?
I stopped cultivating and shot him an annoyed glance.
I shook myself and stood up.
I returned to the lake.
I asked around about the dark-furred solitary monkey.
His troop was only too happy to gossip about him.
Apparently, he was an enigma.
He didn’t even sleep with the troop.
The only time he showed up was when they went to groom themselves, then he got groomed and left.
This was his third mating season, and he’s rebuffed every female who approached him.
However, he was very strong, and had strange powers.
He was definitely a cultivator.
Like me?
Did he have memories of his past life as well?
I returned to his tree and saw him still cultivating.
I lashed my tail in frustration.
I wish I could speak the language humans did here so I could ask him.
But I couldn’t.
And he couldn’t speak monkey very well, not that we could convey ideas like that in monkey-speak.
Ah, the language barrier.
My first hurdle.
I climbed up the tree, to the branch next to his, and started cultivating again.
Sure enough, I felt our chi senses overlap.
I studied his technique.
It seemed like the chi slowly gravitated its way towards him, making the air around him thick with chi.
However, it seemed like he took in every chi type, except unaspected chi.
I took that chi into myself.
I felt his technique falter for a moment when I started cultivating, but after a second it started again.
I hoovered up all the unaspected chi around him, making room for more chi to come in.
I boosted his efficiency a little, and he boosted me a lot.
We didn’t stop until darkness fell.
Then, he stopped and grabbed some nearby fruit, quickly munching on it.
I took some too, watching him out of the corner of my eye.
He occasionally stole glances at me, clearly deep in thought, munching on fruit until he was full.
Then he started cultivating again.
Was this all he ever did?
I climbed down, out of the tree, and went to visit my parents.
I’d tell them about the weird male I had my eye on.
I’m sure they’ll both be horrified I picked such a strange monkey.
I still wasn’t sure about him either.
But I’d save my reservations for when I found another monkey who could cultivate.
The next month I spent mostly cultivating with the weird monkey.
He didn’t stop me probably because I was helping him.
Since I picked up the unaspected chi, he had room to cultivate other types.
Of course, he helped me way more.
He could draw lots of chi to himself, without moving.
Usually once I got all the unaspected chi in an area, I had to move on.
I could feel myself getting stronger by the day.
He only stopped cultivating to eat and sleep though.
I still went to talk to my parents and occasionally friends.
However, our cultivation sessions together were quickly coming to an end.
The leaves had fallen, and the trees were stripped bare of fruit.
It was time to move back to our mountain.
This morning, my father began preparing the troop to move out.
Now I only had a few minutes to say goodbye to the only monkey I’ve considered taking as my mate.
I sighed, looking up at the tree he was in.
This was goodbye.
I had to at least ask once.
Even though I already knew the answer.
I hooted my proposition up to him.
I saw him glance down at me, impassive, before turning his back on me.
Damn it.
I sighed and turned to rejoin my troop.
Maybe I’d see him again next year.
Then I heard a thud behind me.
I turned to see him looking away from me, but clearly ready to move.
I hooted excitedly and hopped around him.
He accepted?
He accepted!
I really didn’t see that coming.
He threw me a haughty glare and looked away, ignoring me again.
I trotted off towards my troop, happy to have found a mate.
Well… maybe not quite a mate just yet.
But at least a good prospect.
The moment my father saw him, the two of us together at the back of the troop, he growled.
Dissatisfied that I’d chosen such an unsocial mate.
But it was my decision to make, and he begrudgingly let him stay, and I followed him up into the trees, sticking close to him.
He was coming with us, sealing his fate.
He trailed behind the group, but I stayed right next to him.
I had found a mate.
One who I could see a future with.
When we got back to our mountain, my new mate was initially cautious.
He explored our territory, and he stayed well away from the human’s cave.
He eventually found a spot to settle a little away from the main group.
It seemed he was determined to remain a loner, baring his teeth at any other monkeys who got close.
Except for me.
He tolerated my presence, for cultivation.
Moreover, he acted rather… strangely sometimes.
I watched him put rocks in a little ring with wood.
Was he trying to make fire?
He set some dry leaves and kindling underneath.
I watched, interested.
Rather than striking stones, he snapped his fingers.
I shrieked as a small flame caught at the bottom.
He gave me an annoyed glance, and I watched, fascinated.
Oh wow.
He made fire from nothing.
Magic?
I turned towards him as the fire started in earnest.
He started cultivating, and I joined him.
I looked back up at him.
Maybe… I edged a little closer.
A little closer.
And a little—
He snapped at me, making the angry noises and I leaned back.
He wound down and sighed.
He used a stick to poke at the fire before turning towards me.
He pointed at himself.
“Zhihao.”
Oh.
He was giving me his name.
This was my chance to communicate with him.
“Z-Zhi-Zhi.”
It was difficult to wrap my mouth around the syllables.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he nodded.
“Zhihao.
Liu Zhihao.”
“Z-Zhi.
Hu-Ho, Hu…” Yeah, that was too difficult.
“Zhi.”
He looked annoyed before sighing again.
He pointed at me.
Oh.
Was he asking for my name?
I shook my head.
He rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing at me.
He thought for a few minutes before pointing at me again.
“Ming.”
“Ma-Mi-Ming.” A name.
I mean, I guess that was nice.
I haven’t really had a name before now though.
He nodded, and sighed again.
He said something long and complicated.
I stared at him in confusion.
He pointed at the fire, and said another word.
Thus began the long process of me learning a whole language.
Mmmmm.
I blinked, the warm sunshine beaming through the leaves tempting me awake.
I yawned, and sat up in our little nest, stretching.
I felt shuffling beside me, and turned to see Zhi blinking up at me.
I smiled at him.
“Good morning, Zhi.”
He grunted in discontent, sitting up, his fur all messy.
“Whatever.
I’m going to go see if my snares caught anything.
Stoke the fire until I get back.”
Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the nest this morning.
I threw an annoyed glance at his back as he got up and trotted away.
I threw a few sticks onto the fire anyway.
How long has it been since he joined the troop?
I counted.
About… five years.
My parents were very concerned that we haven’t had any cubs yet.
He seemed wholly uninterested in me though, consumed entirely with cultivation.
He cultivated like his life depended on it.
And every time I suggested anything like that, he shut me down.
He didn’t consider me his mate.
To him, I was just a cultivation aid.
I pouted as I watched the sticks burn up.
Ugh, I was so frustrated!
Sure, my cultivation was a lot better.
According to Zhi, I was mid-level of Chi Gathering.
He was ahead of me, at high level.
There were three different stages to every cultivation stage, and eight different stages to immortality.
Chi Gathering, where you gathered up chi.
Foundation Establishment when used used the chi you gathered to create your chi channels.
Core Formation, where you created a core and grew it.
Golden Core, where you mastered your otherworldly powers and chose a specific dao to follow.
Nascent Soul, where you prepared another soul for ascension.
Spirit Transformation where you undergo a complete restructuring body and soul to prepare for immortality.
And finally, Immortality.
Which everyone wants to get to.
You get to live forever.
As for how he knew all this, he refuses to tell me.
And I haven’t told him anything about my old memories either.
If he doesn’t want to share, then I won’t share.
Zhi was a jerk.
He bosses me around all the time and refuses to interact with the other monkeys because he considers them beneath him.
If only there was another cultivating monkey around.
Then I wouldn’t put up with his bullshit.
But there wasn’t, so unless I wanted to take a regular monkey as my mate and watch them and my children grow old and die, I was stuck with him.
I stirred the fire as I heard his footsteps returning.
He quickly dressed a squirrel and set it to cook above the fire.
Hmph.
I got up.
“I’m going to get some fruit.
And don’t expect me to share!”
He rolled his eyes and watched the squirrel roast.
Ugh.
He was so annoying.
I snatched the basket from beside our nest.
I clambered up into the trees and headed for a nice fruit tree.
I came back with a basket full of fruit.
I took a big bite, eyeing him eyeing the fruit.
No way.
Not unless you shared your squirrel.
I swept my tail around the basket protectively.
He grunted.
“Fine.
You can have half.
I want half too.”
Fine.
We swapped without another word.
I happily bit into the cooked squirrel.
Tasty.
We finished eating quickly., and I stood up, shaking myself.
“I’m going to say hello to my parents and the other monkeys.” I stood up and he didn’t respond as I left.
I swear, there are days I regret not listening to my father about him.
I found everyone else and blew off some steam by complaining and playing a little.
I also got my fur groomed, since Zhi rarely ever deigned to do so, even though I always groomed him…
I got back a little later to find him still staring into the fire.
I frowned.
Umm… Usually, he’d be cultivating by the time I got back, and I’d join him.
“Are you finally going to take a break from cultivation today?”
He was laying on his back, a deep frown set in his face.
“This… this isn’t working.
Even with you around my cultivation speed is way too low.
Damn it!
I need some kind of treasure or something to boost my cultivation speed.”
I rolled my eyes and sat next to the fire.
“Isn’t the entire point of cultivating to have all the time in the world?
What’s the big rush?”
He was quiet for a second, before sitting up.
“Nothing.
I’m headed out today.
Stay with the troop.
I’ll be back before nightfall.”
He stood up and walked away.
Like a human would.
God, he’s such a terrible monkey.
Whatever.
I could use a break.
Cultivating so much wears on you.
I hopped up and went to rejoin my troop.
I took it easy, bathing, grooming, playing.
Actually enjoying life unlike that stick in the mud.
Until nightfall came and went.
I looked over our nest to find it empty.
He hadn’t returned.
I climbed a tree and looked out over the forest.
Nothing.
I closed my eyes, and began seeking him with my chi senses, stretching them as far as they could go.
I still couldn’t find him.
But then, my senses could only cover about a hundred feet in every direction.
I jumped down to our nest, trying to decide what to do.
Damn it.
I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
I’d be too worried about him.
Alright.
I hopped down and asked the troop about him.
One monkey had seen him hooting as he pointed up the mountain.
Towards… towards the immortal’s cave.
Oh no.
Please don’t tell me he was really that stupid.
I rushed up the mountain in darkness to the cave.
I looked at it from in the forest and used my chi senses to check the immediate area.
Not here.
Maybe his goal wasn’t the cave?
Maybe—Movement.
I saw the young man, the immortal’s disciple, at the entrance to the cave.
He tossed something out.
Something that had been burned and smelled strongly of blood.
Oh no…
He turned and as soon as he was out of sight I darted out.
My suspicions were confirmed when I got to him.
Zhi.
Badly beaten, whipped, and burned.
Shit.
I turned back to the cave, watching for movement.
Then I heaved him up.
It took until morning to get him back to our nest.
I arranged him, being careful, as the sun went up.
I grabbed our little wooden bowl that Zhi carved by hand and went to the closest water source, a little creek.
I brought it back and began cleaning him to the best of my ability, without any cloth or soap.
Once he was somewhat clean, I could see how bad it truly was.
His wounds would be enough to kill a normal monkey.
For now, all I could do was pray he’d wake up soon and his cultivator status would be enough to help him survive.
I kept my eye on him for the next few days, watching his heartbeat, cleaning away his waste, keeping water on hand, and keeping his wounds clean.
My parents and little siblings occasionally came by and helped, giving me fruit so I wouldn’t have to leave him to go gathering, grooming me carefully since I couldn’t go bathe.
Fetching me water, and keeping me company through those scary solitary days.
On the third day, he coughed, and his eyes weakly opened.
It was mid-afternoon, shortly after my mother had been by, giving us some soft fruit that would be easy for Zhi to eat.
“W-What?
Where…”
“Zhi!” I knelt next to him.
“Zhi!
You’re awake!
Oh, hold on!”
I grabbed our bowl of water and helped him sit up to drink.
He groaned and guzzled the bowl down.
He coughed after.
“Ming?
How did I end up here?
I was… fuck…”
“You tried to steal from a fucking immortal!
What did you think would happen?!” I shot him a glare before sighing and picking up a soft apricot.
“Here.
You’ve been asleep for three days.
I found you half-dead outside the cave.”
He took the fruit, me still supporting him so he could eat.
He grimaced with every bite.
I let him back down again, gentle, and his voice was guttural as he growled the story out.
“Curse those… bastards.
I didn’t steal anything.
I asked to become a disciple.
When he said no, I asked if he at least had any cultivation supplies I could use.
He said no to that too.
And then…” He trailed off.
I waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t.
He just looked away.
I had a feeling that whatever he wasn’t telling me was the reason he got beat up, burned, and whipped.
He must have really pissed off the immortal somehow.
He growled, and I flinched as he slammed his fist in the ground.
“Damn it!
Damn that bastard who killed me!
Damn the heavens for turning their back on the Liu family!
I’ll… I’ll…” He trailed off again closing his eyes.
I waited another moment to make sure he was done before I checked his fist for injuries.
I had no idea how he even moved it like that given his injuries.
He must have been really mad.
“Well, you’re in rough shape.
You should take it easy for a while.
Hopefully you’ll be all better in time for mating season, or I’ll have to stay behind to take care of you.”
He sighed and his eyes opened again.
“Ming.
Do you know what dual cultivation is?”
Uh… I did from my memories, but I wanted to hear this from him.
“No.”
He was quiet for another moment.
Before closing his eyes with a pained expression on his face.
“It’s… I’ll start mating with you.
We cultivate while doing it.
It helps boost efficiency.”
Oh-hoh-hoh.
“Really?
Then… you want to be mates?”
“Whatever.
Fine.
Yes.
We’re mates.
But only for dual cultivation purposes.
And I won’t come inside you.
I don’t want… monkey babies.” He turned away from me, his fur poofing out.
Embarrassed if I had to guess.
I crossed my arms, leaning back.
“You’re a cad.
Wanting to be mates but not wanting children.
But fine.” I flicked my tail.
“It’s better than nothing.
So, I assume you want to start this mating season?”
“Yes.
As soon as I’m all healed.
But remember.
This is for dual cultivation only.”
“Then you should probably explain how it works.”
He groaned.