The sky above Jade Heaven shimmered.
Clouds stretched like oceans, palaces of jade and pearl floating upon their backs. Towers gleamed, draped with banners that carried the seal of the Celestial Court. And beyond them, hidden behind walls of mist and guarded paths, lay the orchard that no mortal, spirit, or demon was meant to touch.
The Peach Garden.
The trees here were older than dynasties. Their roots curled through the clouds, their branches stretched high enough to scrape the stars. The fruit they bore was rare, each peach swollen with light, its skin glowing faintly pink as though painted with dawn. They did not ripen like mortal fruit. Some took three thousand years to mature. Others six. The rarest took nine thousand, and to taste one was to know immortality.
Which was why it was forbidden.
And why the Monkey King's grin split ear to ear as he crouched on a branch, tail flicking lazily.
