New Journeys To The West
St Paul ' s Convent School , Lai , Ching Ue - 13
L aws of the incantation of the golden hoop 1 . You shall be trapped in the golden hoop for the rest of your life unless you have found the desired soul to be worn on before the hoop is wholly rusted . 2 . The desired soul would bring you back to the time before its last reincarnation to free you 3 . You must finish an extra mission assigned to you on the back of your left hand after you have returned to your original form or else you would be trapped in the hoop again until the next reincarnation of the desired soul . 4 . No feelings are allowed to be attached to any version of the desired soul , reincarnation or not . 5 . May the odds be ever in your favor .
“ What ’ s left to live for ?”
Payne pondered on the same question as Xia did so every night when she used to lie in bed all alone , except that this time , he was tottering beside the ramshackle hillside . It must have been the utter feeling of being forsaken that kept him stumbling . Tiptoeing along the edges , he could almost sentimentalize the merriment of collapsing . Or was it mere rue that he had sensed ? Nevertheless , he let it happen for there was no more vigilance left in the fragile soul of his . At the crack of the sun ’ s rays between the clouds , his twin ' s hoop fell from his pocket in the cold air , slipping itself into the bare wrist of the poor boy as the colliding bodies entered some sort of pirouette , where the surroundings were no longer black and white but rather tinctured with blushes of radiant . Swirling into wherever fate is bringing her , she could never be so sure about it - it ’ s hope .
“ Haven ’ t seen you in a while , old friend .” The money king ’ s voice echoed through the lonely woods of Tianzhu . Her wings fluttered in sparkles like a dove in liberty , she knew she was no longer a faerie ambushed in a silly hoop . “ I did it ! Wukong , I did it ! I freed myself from the golden hoop !” Sporadically , Xia the faerie did wonder about the number of phases she had been stuck inside the golden hoop tightening herself every time Tang Sanzang murmurs that torturous spell to Wukong . Or perhaps she should put it in the way ‘ pretend to tighten ’ as she never really wished to torture such a good friend of hers . “ The boy …...” Wukong stared at the awkward body lying like a doll at an awkward angle , for no one really knew if poor Payne still breathed at all after these traumas he had been through from the moment he jumped , he still hadn ’ t woken up . “ Is your reincarnated self indeed .” Xia finished his sentence . Payne jolted up all of a sudden . “ Is this heaven or hell ?” He shrieked at the sight of the emerging monkey . “ What a pleasure to meet you , Payne .” The monkey shook Payne ' s sweaty hands with his furry one , ignoring what he had just said fervently . I ’ m Wukong .” Gesturing at the faerie , the monkey added , " And this is Xia . Welcome to your past .” Payne stood paralyzed and spellbound . The boy ’ s concern was not on the monkey ' s particularly queer choice of diction such as “ your past ”, nor did he think about how he managed to get to the undefined universe . But the name Xia had replayed itself for the billionth time inside his throbbing head like a cliche love song . Leaving aside the fact that this was one for a twin who had lost the other half like a butterfly ' s incompleteness without one single wing . Oh , for who could envisage the angst , he thought to himself . For a moment , Payne wished that he could just pass out . “ I ’ m not your sister . It ’ s just pure coincidence that I ’ m sharing the same name with her , though I must admit I do know her .” She brushed her maroon locks aside , breaking the tension . “ Explanation is needed , as I expected .” The monkey looked at his companion . Payne frowned at the two , for in his past sixteen years , he had never been in a more bizarre conversation with total strangers who didn ’ t even resemble human beings . “ So basically , you are the reincarnated version of him ,” Xia pointed over at the monkey , who was apparently crossing his arms a bit impatiently . “ I am on a mission to find his reincarnated self so as to break myself free from the golden hoop I used to be trapped in . The Subhuti sent me to the future , where I