Wu Gang's Promise

People often say that in the mountains, there are no calendars; one knows not the years in the passing seasons.

Su Qing was not in those deep mountains, but staying here in the Moon Palace, she also did not know how many years had passed.

She did not like keeping track of the years; she simply repeated her plain, dull daily studies day after day.

Perhaps there were occasional moments of excitement, but the routine was mostly monotonous.

She knew not if today was summer or autumn, spring or winter.

On this day, after playing and studying with Lady Chang'e for a while, she happened to pass by the Osmanthus Tree.

Under the Osmanthus Tree, the legendary Wu Gang was, as always, laboriously felling the wood.

He knew clearly that he could never cut down this osmanthus wood, yet he chopped at it day and night without ceasing, tireless and never stopping.

Su Qing watched him and suddenly asked out of curiosity, "How many years have you been here chopping this osmanthus wood?"

The old man glanced at her, then retracted his gaze and continued to chop the wood.

Clearly, he did not intend to answer Su Qing's question, or perhaps he was unwilling to mention such matters.

Su Qing gave a helpless smile and turned to leave.

At that moment, the old man suddenly spoke, "I don't remember how many years I've been chopping, but it shouldn't be many more."

Su Qing stopped in her tracks and couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"Why? Aren't you quite aware?" The old man suddenly stopped the axe in his hand, turned his head to look at Su Qing, and said, "You should be the most aware of all, shouldn't you?"

Su Qing smiled slightly, shook her head, and said, "I don't know what you are talking about..."

"Forget it... forget it. If you are unwilling to admit it, I won't say more." After the old man finished speaking, he turned back to continue chopping, only muttering, "Green snake, I hope when that day comes, you can come to me. I have an object to give you."

Hearing this, Su Qing looked at Wu Gang as he chopped with mechanical movements and, after a long silence, nodded slightly.

She did not know why Wu Gang also knew of such things, but she accepted the request.

Simply because she was somewhat curious about what exactly Wu Gang wanted to give her.

"This Wu Gang... seems a bit interesting. Is he not just a simple sinner?"

Su Qing stroked her chin, unable to help but wonder.

As she was thinking, she suddenly felt as if someone had kicked her on the backside.

Su Qing, who was thinking seriously, was nearly knocked over by this kick.

However, having cultivated for a long time after all, she quickly steadied herself.

She turned around to look, only to see a white rabbit quickly trying to flee.

Su Qing sneered, reached out to grab the rabbit by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it up.

Though there were many rabbits in the Moon Palace, there was only one rabbit who was constantly thinking of kicking her backside.

"Yuer, you really are quite vengeful." Su Qing looked at the rabbit in her hand and said helplessly, "How many years has it been, and you're still thinking of kicking me?"

The rabbit in Su Qing's hand struggled twice and, after finding it could not escape, gave up.

Yuer manifested her human form and said with a bit of pride, "I remembered for over a hundred years; how could I forget after only a few decades? Though this time was my miscalculation; I should have run faster."

Su Qing smiled helplessly and reached out to pinch the silly rabbit's backside...

"Kill me or skin me as you wish, but you're not allowed to touch my backside!" Yuer said with a red face, covering her backside and gritting her teeth.

"You kicked me; I have to get my revenge, right?" Su Qing rolled her eyes and said, "Besides, who wants to touch your backside... am I a pervert? And can you not even tell the difference between a touch and a pinch?"

"Aren't you?" Yuer's red eyes stared at Su Qing as she spoke gloomily.

"......"

Su Qing couldn't be sure of much else, but she was certain she was definitely not a pervert.

After giving Yuer's backside two casual pats as revenge, Su Qing released her.

Yuer's feet finally touched the ground, and she couldn't help but straighten her dress before asking:

"Speaking of which, who were you talking to just now? I saw you talking to that Osmanthus Tree for a long time..."

Hearing this, Su Qing was stunned for a moment, pointed at Wu Gang chopping wood in front of the Osmanthus Tree, and said, "I was talking to Wu Gang."

"Huh? Is there something wrong with your head? Are you hallucinating?"

Yuer looked at Su Qing with a face full of worry and said:

"That Wu Gang died long ago. The one still chopping the osmanthus wood now is nothing more than a phantom."

"That is a phantom left behind by Wu Gang before his death! It is also an obsession..."

"That obsession will chop the tree forever, and will never cut it down. It is just a wisp of obsession that repeats the chopping motion over and over."

"To put it in human terms... that thing has no intelligence and naturally cannot chat with you."

Hearing this, Su Qing looked at Yuer with some surprise; this was the first time she had heard of this.

She had always thought the Wu Gang chopping the tree was the real Wu Gang.

"You never told me this..."

"You never asked me." Yuer curled her lip and said, "So, the one talking to you just now was definitely not some Wu Gang."

"Since it wasn't him, then it must be a spirit born from the Osmanthus Tree using Wu Gang's obsession to chat with me?" Su Qing stroked her chin, thinking as she spoke, "I just don't know why this Osmanthus Tree wanted to have a few words with me."

"Who knows?" Yuer shrugged, not intending to look further into it.

There were plenty of strange things in the world; continuing to press for answers wouldn't necessarily yield any.

She only said, "This time was my miscalculation; next time you won't be so lucky."

Su Qing laughed, reached out to pat Yuer's head, and after giving her a kick in return, vanished.

Yuer looked around, extremely depressed; why did it feel like in such a short time, this fellow had become so much more powerful again.

Returning to the side hall, Su Qing recalled Wu Gang's words, then looked up at the tall Osmanthus Tree.

"Is it the Osmanthus Tree? Or is it Wu Gang? Forget it, the answer will naturally be revealed in the future." Su Qing shook her head and retracted her gaze.

She continued to cultivate the minor techniques she had learned from Lady Chang'e today.

One day, a banquet was being held in the Imperial Stables of the Heavenly Palace.

Wukong was drinking with the people of the Imperial Stables when someone suddenly brought up the matter of official ranks.

Wukong couldn't help but pause his cup and ask, "Speaking of which, what kind of official rank is this 'Bimawen' of mine?"

One person said, "The official name is just as it is."

"What grade is this office?" Wukong did not understand and asked again.

The person thought for a long time and said, "It has no grade."

Wukong chuckled and said happily, "No grade? I suppose that means it is exceptionally high?"

"Not high, not high. It is simply called 'Unranked'."

"What do you mean by 'Unranked'?" Wukong's brow furrowed as he couldn't help but ask.

That person deliberated for a moment and informed him of the details of being 'Unranked'.

After listening, Wukong was furious, saying only that the old Jade Emperor looked down on him. He immediately took out the Golden-Hooped Rod, smashed the official desk, and left in a rage.

Seeing this, the crowd hurriedly tried to stop him, but they could not hold him back.

They could only let him depart.

Afterward, they finally went to report to His Majesty.