Chapter 5: Gathering Energy
Pain.
A deep, throbbing ache pulsed through Mingye's skull like someone was hammering inside his head. He groaned and pressed a palm to his forehead as his eyelids fluttered open.
The forest canopy above him swayed gently. Light filtered through the green leaves in broken, shifting patterns, making the world tilt and spin for a moment. Mingye winced and slowly sat up.
His head was pounding badly.
"What… happened…?"
The last thing he remembered was a talking monkey.
Mingye frowned.
That had to be a dream. He had been hung on a spike for three months. Birds had eaten at him. His limbs had been torn off. His mind had suffered, his body had suffered—everything about him had suffered. So it made sense his brain might be inventing strange illusions.
"A talking monkey…? Ridiculous," he muttered, rubbing his temples.
He shook his head to clear the dizziness. But when he lifted his gaze, he froze in shock—because the same thing he had dismissed as a dream was staring right back at him.
Sitting only two steps away, on the same moss-covered boulder as earlier, was the grey monkey from the dream.
Same soft grey fur.
Same regal posture.
Same bright golden eyes that looked far too intelligent for any normal beast.
The monkey wasn't eating a banana this time. Instead, it sat upright with its hands on its knees like an annoyed old man whose patience had long run out.
Mingye stared.
The monkey stared back.
"…No way," Mingye whispered.
He pinched his arm. Hard.
"OW!"
The pain was very real.
Which meant the monkey was real too.
"Finally," the monkey drawled, its tone dripping with impatience. "You're awake."
Mingye froze. His jaw fell open so widely it nearly hit the ground.
"A t-t-talking… a talking monkey…" he stammered, scrambling backward so quickly he tripped over his own feet and fell on his back. "You're… you're… real?!"
The monkey gave him a flat, unimpressed look.
"No. I am a hallucination," the monkey said dryly. "Of course I'm real, you fool."
Mingye instinctively scooted farther away, putting more space between them.
"Wh-what are you?" he demanded. "And who are you?!"
The monkey's golden eyes narrowed in clear annoyance.
"What am I?" it echoed. "Is your head still not working? Look properly. I'm a monkey."
Mingye blinked.
He looked at the fur. The tiny hands. The tail swaying lazily behind him.
Yes… it was a monkey. A real monkey but—
"Monkeys don't talk!" Mingye protested, pointing an accusing finger. "They don't sound like grown men!"
The monkey clicked its tongue and hopped lightly off the boulder.
"I'm a grown monkey," the monkey replied. "I'm older than you, hence why my voice has to show my age."
Mingye stared at the monkey like he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
The monkey sighed. "You really can't take a joke," he muttered.
"Anyway, let's get to training," the monkey said.
"Training? What do you mean by training?" Mingye asked.
The monkey didn't answer. Instead, it jumped lightly—straight onto Mingye's head.
"Hey!" Mingye yelped as tiny hands began knocking on his skull. "W-What are you doing?!"
"Checking if your brain is damaged," the monkey said calmly. Tap, tap, tap. "I need to know if we have to fix your brain first before we start actual training."
Mingye's eye twitched. He reached up to grab the monkey—
But the monkey leaped away effortlessly, flipping through the air before landing gracefully back on the boulder.
"You're fine," the monkey announced. "Well… as fine as someone who got used as public decoration for three months can be."
Mingye's cheeks flushed with indignation.
"I am not stupid! I understand what you said perfectly well," Mingye retorted.
"Are you sure you understood?" the monkey asked.
Mingye nodded. "I'm not stupid," he repeated.
"That's good. We have work to do after all," the monkey said.
Mingye stood and dusted himself off, glaring at the creature.
"I don't have time to play around with you," he said. "I have things to do."
"Yes," the monkey agreed calmly, inspecting its fingers. "That's why I'm here."
"…What?" Mingye frowned.
"I'm here," the monkey repeated slowly, "to help you accomplish what you need to do. Don't make me repeat myself. It's a waste of breath."
Mingye stared at him as if the monkey had grown three heads.
"You?" he said disbelievingly. "There is absolutely nothing you can do. You're just a monkey."
The monkey froze.
Very slowly… it turned its golden gaze toward him.
The look it gave him was the same one a disappointed teacher might give the worst student in the entire sect.
"Sit," the monkey ordered.
Mingye frowned. "No. I need to start training. Go play somewhere else."
The monkey raised a brow.
"Training, you say?"
"Yes," Mingye replied firmly, crossing his legs. "I don't have time to waste. I need to get stronger. I have things to do."
The monkey simply watched the young boy. If it had been anyone else, it would have walked away.
But the boy in front of him was different. Special. He had known that from the moment he saw him in the capital.
Mingye ignored the monkey and closed his eyes. He placed both hands on his knees and tried to focus.
The moment he breathed inward, he felt something—warm and circulating faintly inside him.
A faint golden thread woven into his veins.
He recognized it immediately. This wasn't his own energy.
It was the old man's gift.
Mingye exhaled, steadying himself.
He began gathering the energy, guiding it toward his dantian.
The energy vibrated.
It felt warm, alive, powerful—yet unstable.
It pulsed chaotically through his veins.
It scattered whenever he tried to direct it.
It spread into his limbs, up his spine, across his chest—everywhere except where he wanted it.
His brows furrowed.
He tried harder.
Sweat formed on the back of his neck.
His breathing grew strained.
The energy kept slipping away like water between fingers.
"Come on…" he whispered. "Please…"
The chaotic energy clashed with itself, sending sharp stings through his bones. The more he forced it downward, the more the pain intensified.
Every part of his veins felt like they were burning.
But Mingye gritted his teeth and gave it one more determined attempt.
His hands trembled.
His breath turned ragged.
His heartbeat thumped painfully in his ears.
For a moment…
The energy responded.
It began gathering.
A warm, swirling point formed in his abdomen.
Mingye's heart leapt.
It's working—
But before he could finish the thought—
BOOM!
The unstable energy exploded inside him.
A sharp, piercing pain tore through his stomach and shot up his throat.
Mingye's eyes flew open.
"Ugh!" He coughed blood as his vision blurred.
His chest heaved painfully.
His body trembled uncontrollably from the backlash.
He clutched his stomach, gasping.
The monkey watched without blinking, its eyes slightly sympathetic. The pain Mingye felt was something the monkey could only imagine.
The monkey finally spoke. "I never asked—what's your name, boy?"
"Mingye," he grunted as he wiped the blood from his lips.
The monkey nodded, then hopped off the boulder. It placed a hand on Mingye's lower back. Mingye, shocked, was about to ask what it was doing when the monkey abruptly released him.
With its hands clasped behind its back, the monkey turned.
"Come with me, boy. There's a reason why you feel pain when you try to gather energy. We need to fix that first."
Intrigued and still shaken, Mingye pushed himself to his feet. He realized he no longer felt pain and wondered if it had something to do with the monkey now walking ahead of him.
The monkey looked back.
"Are you just going to stare at me, or are you going to follow?"
That was his cue.
Mingye followed the monkey.