Chapter 240

Bandit monkeys tower over the caravan, mature ones standing as much as ten meters tall with arms more than twice the thickness of their legs and tails like iron rods, capable of pulverizing stone; their golden fur, striped black like a tiger’s, grows out naturally at the waist to cover the crotch and rear like a skirt. The monkey king’s howl brings the rest of the troop roaring in answer, scattering the fog and revealing that both sides of the passage are already lined with bandit monkeys, over a thousand of them surrounding the caravan and many as large as the trees around them. The monkey king itself is larger still, seated on a stone bench beside a wine jar the size of a water tank. ^{ch. 240}

Caravan leader Jia Long sends Jia Yong, a rank two defensive Gu Master whose lifebound Gu is water armor Gu and who once killed a boat sized tortoise while swimming, gaining a permanent tortoise strength Gu from it. Arm wrestling is the bandit monkeys’ own custom for settling disputes, practiced from birth, and it is the same custom the righteous Gu Master Sky Crown Marquis once used to win the monkey emperor’s approval and open this route: win, and a caravan passes without toll; lose, and the monkey troop takes a share of its goods. Jia Yong loses, and the monkeys jeer as he walks back, some baring their backsides at him. Jia Long then sends Jia Ping, a thin, frail looking man whose tendon coiling Gu compresses his muscles and grants him the strength of two bears; Jia Ping beats the monkey king twice in a row, and its eyes go wide with disbelief. The Jia clan passes through after hiding their high quality coal stones under colorful silk that the monkeys happily strip away and wear instead. Other clans follow in a set order, sending their own ox, tiger, elephant, python and horse strength Gu Masters to win or lose in turn. ^{ch. 240}

Zhang Clan goes last and is the weakest force in the caravan: Zhang Zhu, their only Gu Master, is a rank three healer with no aptitude for a strength contest. Shang Xin Ci is an illegitimate child of Zhang Clan, pushed aside even before her mother died of illness, and she organized this caravan herself by selling family assets in keeping with her mother’s will; most of the clan sent no other Gu Master with her, looking forward to this disgrace of the family dying on the road. Gu Masters from clans that have already lost goods gather at the checkpoint to watch, expecting Zhang Clan to fare worse and taking comfort in it. Shang Xin Ci tells Zhang Zhu the goods do not matter next to people’s safety and that he need not compete at all, but Zhang Zhu insists they cannot skip the custom without losing face, and walks out to face the monkey king himself. ^{ch. 240}

Fang Yuan steps out of the crowd first, calling Shang Xin Ci his benefactor and asking to go in Zhang Zhu’s place. Xiao Die and Shang Xin Ci both refuse, pointing out that he is not a Gu Master and that other challengers have already had their arms broken. Fang Yuan insists that he has had unusual strength since childhood and walks toward the monkey king anyway. Zhang Zhu holds Shang Xin Ci back from stopping him, telling her to trust him, though privately he has no faith in Fang Yuan and only expects this to teach the troublesome newcomer a lesson. Onlookers jeer that Zhang Clan has sunk to sending out a servant. ^{ch. 240}