“This is the last trial we have to pass before finding the Ruyi Jingu Bang,” Moli said. “The Last Glance to Home Tower. The Ruyi Jingu Bang should be inside.”
The tall tower loomed above the wall of the city. Only four spirit guards stood stationed directly outside the huge black doors.
“Four guards to protect the whole tower?” Ren sounded bemused.
“Well, you see, most of the dead are too busy trapped in eternal torment to try invading the Last Glance to Home Tower,” Moli said flatly. “And the majority of the spirit guards took the holiday off to spend time with their families on Earth during the Hungry Ghost Festival. Like I said—we offer great vacation benefits.”
“How’re we supposed to get inside that tower?” I asked. “I’m guessing those guards won’t let us just waltz in, grab the Ruyi Jingu Bang, and then peace.”
Moli stared at me like I’d sprouted a third, Erlang Shen–like eye. “Of course not. Even if most of the spirit guards are off duty, the Ruyi Jingu Bang is heavily guarded by magic. We have to carefully plan how we’re going to infiltrate the Last Glance to Home Tower. I’m talking power brainstorming sessions, prayers, sidewalk chalk maps—hey!”
“Last one to the tower is a rotten dumpling!” shouted Jordan gleefully as he tore past us down the path toward the walled city. He became a streak in the darkness as he zipped by at supersonic speed. Ashley followed suit, sprinting across the ground.
“Why do I even bother?” Moli groaned, dropping her head into her palms.
Ren and I chased after the siblings. By the time we reached them, they’d already stealthily taken down all four of the guards, leaving them sprawled out on the grass, unconscious.
“We’ll definitely be going to Diyu for this.” Ren sighed. “I mean, for real.”
I darted after Ashley and Jordan through the hole-shaped entrance the spirits had been guarding. We were in a courtyard filled with tall, moonlit grass. The Last Glance to Home Tower stood high above us, black as the night. The pagoda levels seemed to stretch upward into the sky.
When I entered the tower, a winding staircase that seemed to go on forever greeted me. There were no signs of life—or death, I guess—anywhere inside the Last Glance to Home Tower.
“It’s not normally this empty,” Moli explained. “Everything’s slower, since so many spirits have headed back to the living world for the Hungry Ghost Festival. But in our case, this works out well.”
Even without a bunch of spirit guards waiting to chase us out of the Last Glance to Home Tower, this place had some seriously nifty defense mechanisms against intruders. The huge staircase was a torture device itself.
“We’ve been climbing for at least an hour now, haven’t we?” I gasped.
“It’s only been five minutes,” called Jordan from somewhere above. “I’m checking my watch.”
“No way. That watch has gotta be broken.”
By the time we finally reached the top of the tower, my knees wobbled from the effort of climbing. “And this is where King Yama sends the good spirits?” I panted.
Nobody answered. I lifted my head. A golden light emanated from an object held up in the center of the room, glowing with the radiance of the sun.
We’d found it. The legendary weapon of the Monkey King. The Ruyi Jingu Bang.
CHAPTER
20
I didn’t really know what I’d expected the Ruyi Jingu Bang to look like. Something that would no doubt scream, “Ultra-super-mighty weapon of the Monkey King.”
When my eyes adjusted to the glow around Sun Wukong’s legendary staff, I saw that it looked pretty much as my grandfather had always described it. A red body, gold-capped on either end. The Ruyi Jingu Bang could supposedly expand to the heights of Heaven itself or shrink to the size of a toothpick. But now, at the top of the Last Glance to Home Tower, the staff was about the size of an average human man.
I was drawn to the Ruyi Jingu Bang’s power, like a fly to lamplight.
“Can we just … grab it and go?” Ren asked. “Seems a bit too easy. You guys think it’s a trap?”
“The trap is the weapon itself,” Moli explained.
“Huh?” Ashley wrinkled her brow.
“Honestly, don’t you guys know anything?” Moli rolled her eyes. “According to myth, the Ruyi Jingu Bang is so heavy that pretty much only Sun Wukong has the power to pick it up. Not likely that a couple of kids could lift it.”
“Just like Fenghuang is too heavy for all except the Heaven Breaker,” I murmured.
“Well, someone’s gotta at least try to grab that weapon, right?” Ashley pointed out. “We came all this way.”
“Nose goes,” Jordan shouted. There was a flurry of motion. Too late, I realized I was the only one without my finger on my nose.
I rolled my eyes and tried to give off more bravado than I felt. “Fine. I’ll do it.” Taking a deep breath, I strode up to the Ruyi Jingu Bang, staring right into its golden glare.
You can do this, Faryn. As the Heaven Breaker, I’d been the only one who could hold Fenghuang. Even if I wasn’t the Heaven Breaker any longer, some of that power had to have stayed behind, right? I mean, I’d retained enough of it to have been able to communicate here and there with Ren.
I stretched out my fingers toward the Ruyi Jingu Bang. I touched it gingerly at first, fingertips brushing against the cool metal of the staff.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!” yelled Jordan. Startled, I whirled around. He’d flung his hands over his face. He spread his fingers wide and peeked through them. “Sorry. Thought it was going to explode.”
Ashley smacked him on the head.
“Ow!”
“Stop scaring us!”
I turned back to the glowing staff. This time, I didn’t hesitate before grabbing hold of the weapon with both hands. Taking a deep breath, I pulled with all my might.
It was like trying to move a metal pole that weighed as much as an elephant. No matter
