Thursday, August 3, 2017

King of the Baboons

During his stay in Quitokai, Bangqiu ran across his old acquaintances, Prince Jake and Sir Crowler who were visiting the Wulin, a group of speaking baboons who lived on the rocky plateau above Quitokai. The Wulin were feuding with the people of Quitokai because of a certain fishpond. The Wulin treasured the fish and considered them sacred. The children of Quitokai speared the fish for sport. In attempting to negotiate a peaceful resolution, Bangqiu ended up challenging the King
of the Wulin to a wrestling match. He emerged victorious and became the new King of the Wulin. 

This proved handy since his efforts to negotiate peace in Quitokai were also unsuccessful. The Imperial Officer who had claimed authority over the area on behalf of the Emperor refused to entertain a personal challenge from a commoner and instead simply banished Bangqiu from the village. While the villagers did not enforce the General’s ban, the official opprobrium emboldened
them in their pointed questions about when he would rescue their sons and daughters from captivity. 

To escape the guilt, Bangqiu retreated to his “palace”—a larger than average cave carved into the chalk ground on the plateau above Quitokai.