Except as far as I knew, that mountain was somewhere in China. I couldn’t be sure, but I was pretty certain that we hadn’t flown all the way to China. Although at this point, I was beginning to think nothing could surprise me. Maybe, like how Chinatowns had sprung up across the US thanks to Chinese immigration, Huā Guǒ Shān had been drawn to the States as well.
“We’re here.”
“Where exactly is here?” Ashley wrinkled her nose.
“It’s Huā Guǒ Shān,” I repeated. “We’re here to see Sun Wukong—the ‘old ally.’ ”
“This can’t be right,” Ashley declared. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “How can the Monkey King be the ‘old ally’ from Erlang Shen’s shī?”
“Well, the dude is, like, a bazillion years old,” Jordan said.
“It makes sense,” I said. “The Ruyi Jingu Bang must be the ‘weapon of greatest power.’ ”
“No, that doesn’t make sense,” Ashley protested. “The Monkey King, Sun Wukong, never allied with Erlang Shen in the old tales. They constantly butted heads. One time, when Sun Wukong was wreaking havoc on Heaven, the Jade Emperor even sent Erlang Shen to defeat him.”
“The Jade Emperor sent everyone to defeat Sun Wukong,” I pointed out. “Everyone and their butt-kicking grandmother. Back then, the Monkey King wasn’t friends with anyone. Remember?”
Ashley took a step toward me but stumbled when the chariot suddenly dipped. Under Jordan’s guidance, the stone lions brought us to a bumpy landing on a bridge in front of the waterfall.
“Everyone get off,” Jordan barked. “It’s time to meet this ‘old ally.’ ”
“What exactly are you thinking?” Ashley snapped as Jordan and I disembarked from the chariot. She stayed inside, her feet planted firmly. “I’m not following you guys.”
“You can stay here if you want,” I said sweetly, “but I wouldn’t recommend it. The demons are stronger at night, you know.”
“Of course I know that! As if there are any demons up here anyway!” Ashley shouted. But she didn’t seem to believe her own words and rapidly turned her head from side to side, as if expecting demons to jump out at any moment.
Finally, Ashley got off the chariot. I took the remote out of my pocket, clicked the button, and watched as the chariot turned back into a small coin—which Ashley then snatched up and shoved into her pocket. Her narrowed eyes dared me to try to take the yuán from her.
I rolled my eyes and turned to the waterfall.
“What do we do now?” Jordan asked.
“Call out the Monkey King’s name?” I suggested.
Jordan cupped his hands around his mouth. “Monkey King! Oh, Monkey King!”
“Stop that.” Ashley slapped her brother playfully on the elbow. “As if one of the most powerful gods would answer to the sound of your stupid voice.”
Jordan gave her a wounded look. “What do you suggest we do, then? Magically walk through that waterfall, like in Warfate?”
Although he was joking, Jordan’s words stirred my memories. With startling clarity, I recalled Alex playing his favorite video game. I’d watched him play a level that involved a magic waterfall hiding a secret entrance to the Monkey King’s lair. I couldn’t believe my brother’s dumb video games were coming in handy at a time like this. “You’re right. We have to walk through the waterfall,” I blurted out. “That’s how Sun Wukong does it in the video game and cartoons.”
Ashley scrunched up her nose. “Video games and cartoons? We’re on the most important quest of the century, and you want to base our decisions off a bunch of video games and cartoons?”
“Sounds about right for the twenty-first century,” Jordan said cheerfully. He stepped forward hesitantly, stretching out his fingers.
“Careful,” Ashley called, eyes wide with concern. I could tell she cared a lot about her brother, as much as she tried to hide it.
“Whoa, this is so weird,” Jordan gasped when his fingers met the water. “It’s not wet.” He moved swiftly through the waterfall. Jordan’s sneakers were the last I saw of him before he disappeared.
Ashley gawked at the space where her brother had been just moments ago. “What in the—?”
Moving past Ashley, I took a deep breath, straightened, and stepped into the waterfall.
Just like Jordan had said, there was no wetness. Stepping through the waterfall felt like stepping through a cool space of air. Next thing I knew, I passed right through it and found myself inside a cave.
“Jordan?” I spun in a circle. All I could see was sparkling stalactites, rocks, and blackness.
“C’mon!” came the distant echo of Jordan’s voice.
There was a light at the end of the cave. Without waiting for Ashley, I sprinted toward it. When I reached the opening, I tumbled out into the light and gasped.
Waiting for me was a scene that looked straight out of a paradise.
CHAPTER
12
I entered a clearing surrounded by thick bushes and tall green trees bearing ripe peaches. Emerald moss framed the ground, and white clouds drifted across the sky. The nature atop Huā Guǒ Shān looked completely untouched by anything impure, like demons, the Panda Express fast-food chain, or large multinational corporations. Monkeys of all shapes and sizes hung from the trees. Others stood in clusters on the ground.
In the center of the clearing stood a tall golden throne occupied by an imposing figure: half-man, half-monkey, with his arms crossed over a slightly protruding belly. He wore a leopard-print skirt paired with blue pants and black boots and a yellow long-sleeve shirt with a blue ribbon tied around his neck. There was a golden band on his head, which I knew from the old stories was what his old master had used to keep him under control.
The Monkey King couldn’t have been taller than four feet, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in presence. Sun Wukong commanded our attention, and he knew it. As far as I could tell, he looked almost exactly like he did in Warfate and his cartoon—except for one thing. One giant, glaring,
