Chapter 6: Beasts From the Statues?
The monkey moved ahead with quick, precise steps, hardly disturbing a single leaf on the forest floor. Mingye followed behind him, but the more they walked, the more something felt… off with the forest.
It wasn't like it was dangerous; it was more like the forest itself was strange—extremely strange. It was unnatural.
At first, he couldn't tell what it was. The forest looked like any other forest with lush trees, thick underbrush, and the distant calls of birds sounding above. The rustle of leaves as some animals moved about.
But the longer he observed… the more he realized this wasn't a normal forest.
There were ruins everywhere.
Broken columns half-swallowed by moss.
Crumbling stone walls leaning against trees.
Shattered archways covered in vines.
Fragments of jade tiles buried under roots.
Wide stone platforms cracked down the center like something had struck them long ago.
This place once held structures—grand structures—but they had all fallen.
"What… happened here?" Mingye murmured under his breath.
The monkey didn't answer. It simply kept walking like everything around them was normal.
Mingye slowed slightly, letting his gaze sweep over a collapsed pavilion split neatly in half, its roof tiles scattered like playing pieces across the ground.
The place looked ancient, the stones used in the construction were nothing Mingye had ever seen before. The pavilion looked like something huge had split through it.
But still, the monkey did not look back.
They walked for several more minutes until the ground beneath Mingye's feet suddenly shifted from soft earth to something firmer.
Mingye glanced down and he saw stone beneath his feet.
He was standing on what looked like an old walkway—except it was cracked with age, half-buried beneath layers of dirt, and overgrown with grass and glowing moss. Pieces of it had collapsed entirely, leaving jagged edges.
Mingye paused.
"What is this place?" he asked the monkey.
"You'll find that out soon, but for now, keep walking. We have somewhere to be and little time to waste," the monkey told him.
Mingye had no idea why the monkey said they had no time to waste, as if they were in a hurry, but he didn't say anything. He just followed.
The air grew heavier the deeper they went—not oppressive, but ancient, like the breath of a place that had lived for thousands of years.
Then the trees opened.
Mingye stepped into a wide clearing.
And froze.
Before him were five massive stone statues… or what remained of five massive stone statues.
He counted them automatically.
One, two, three, four… and a ruined stump where the fifth should have been.
The first statue was a giant tortoise, towering and broad, carved with exquisite detail. Its shell had patterns so intricate they resembled celestial diagrams—circles, constellations, mountains, waves. Even unmoving, it commanded respect.
The second was a massive bird, wings raised as if in mid-flight. Flames were carved into its plumage, frozen in stone arcs. Mingye wasn't sure if it was a phoenix or some other divine bird—but the sense of majesty it held was unmistakable.
The third was a coiling water dragon, its long serpentine body wrapped around a carved pillar. Its jaws were open in a silent roar. Water-like grooves had been etched into its scales, as though it had once been alive and flowing.
The fourth statue…
Mingye squinted.
It was a frog.
A huge one, sitting with its legs tucked under it in a poised, quiet manner. Despite being a statue, its eyes seemed to gleam with eerie intelligence.
And the fifth—
Or what should have been the fifth—
Was nothing more than a shattered base. Completely destroyed. Whatever it had been was impossible to guess.
The clearing felt sacred but broken, alive yet sleeping.
"Monkey…" Mingye whispered, "…what is this place?"
The monkey didn't look at him.
Instead, it lifted one hand sharply.
"Be quiet."
Mingye shut his mouth immediately.
Silence fell instantly.
Mingye swallowed and turned his gaze back to the statues. He didn't know why the monkey wanted quiet, but his instincts screamed at him not to disobey.
He studied the statues again, his gaze settling on the water dragon when suddenly, he noticed a twitch—
A tiny flicker at the corner of his vision.
Mingye blinked hard, thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him.
But they weren't. The eyes of the dragon had moved.
But, Mingye thought to himself… that wasn't possible. It couldn't be.
He stepped closer cautiously.
Was he hallucinating? Or was it just a trick of the light?
He leaned a little more forward—
"Boy, step back from—"
The monkey's warning came too late.
WHOOSH!!!
A sudden blast of water exploded outward from the dragon statue, slamming directly into Mingye's chest and sending him flying backward.
He hit the ground hard, dirt splashing beneath him, as water drenched him from head to toe.
He sputtered, coughing and wiping his face.
Behind him, loud laughter echoed around the clearing.
Mingye froze.
His head whipped toward the monkey, assuming the little creature had decided to mock him.
But the monkey… was sighing in defeat.
"I should have known you wouldn't be able to stand still."
Mingye had no idea what the monkey meant.
"At least it wasn't the other one, who would have bathed you in poison," the monkey said.
Again, Mingye stared, confused, but then paused as a thought formed.
If the monkey wasn't laughing…
Then who—
He turned around but then the monkey shook his head and pointed upwards.
Mingye obeyed, looking up—
And completely froze.
The statues had moved.
No… they weren't statues at all anymore.
They were alive.
Not physically so—he could partially see through them, as if they were made of mist or spirit energy rather than flesh and blood.
But they were no longer stone.
The giant tortoise's eyes glowed a deep, ancient gold.
The water dragon coiled lazily through the air, translucent blue scales shimmering.
The enormous frog blinked, its green form rippling like smoke.
And the fiery bird—no, the Vermillion Bird—flapped its wings once, scattering drops of glowing red flame that did not burn.
They surrounded him in a loose circle.
Four beasts born from the statues.
Mingye's heart hammered in his chest.
He had never seen anything like this before. He wondered if they were spirit beasts, but they didn't look like the ones he remembered his family members having. They looked strange and more like… ghosts?
The dragon swam through the air around him, inspecting him from all angles.
The frog croaked.
The Vermillion Bird circled above, wings bright enough to warm the air.
And the tortoise lowered its massive head, eyes locked onto Mingye.
"Well, well, well…" the tortoise's voice rumbled as he spoke. "…what do we have here?"