Monkey

The second book in Jeff Stone's The Five Ancestors series follows 11-year-old Malao, a monkey-style kung fu master, as he struggles to survive after the destruction of his home, Cangzhen Temple.

The story opens as Malao hides inside a barrel in Cangzhen's practice hall with his four temple brothers: Fu (tiger style, age 12), Seh (snake style, age 12), Hok (crane style, age 12), and Long (dragon style, age 13). Soldiers carrying qiangs, a devastating new type of firearm, attack the compound. The assault is led by Ying, a 16-year-old former temple brother exiled a year earlier who has altered his appearance to resemble a dragon, the kung fu style he believes is his birthright. All of Cangzhen's warrior monks are killed. Before the attack, their Grandmaster instructed the five boys to scatter and uncover secrets of the past, revealing that all six orphans, including Ying, are connected to one another.

While Malao flees through the treetops, Ying confronts Grandmaster inside the burning practice hall. Ying accuses Grandmaster of killing his father, a dragon-style master, and stealing Ying from his family as a toddler. Furious that Grandmaster raised him in eagle style rather than dragon, Ying demands the dragon scrolls from the temple library. Grandmaster refuses to fight and urges Ying to forge his own path. Ying kills him with eagle-claw strikes to the back.

Malao accidentally circles back near Cangzhen, ambushes a patrolling soldier, and reclaims his favorite weapon, a short stick decorated with carved monkeys. From a tree, he sees Grandmaster's severed head near Ying, who berates Tonglong, his number one man, for failing to secure the scrolls. Hok appears and explains that Fu escaped with the dragon scrolls. Hok proposes retrieving Grandmaster's body while Malao creates a distraction. Malao improvises wildly, stuffing dry grass into his robe and leaping onto the smoldering bathhouse roof to dance and howl like a vengeful spirit. The superstitious soldiers throw themselves to the ground, and Hok retrieves the body. When Hok wants to bury Grandmaster inside a hollow elm tree, Malao, deeply afraid of dead bodies, refuses and flees into the forest.

The next morning, Malao encounters a troop of macaques led by a large, one-eyed white monkey. The monkeys swarm a caravan of gold-laden carts defended by bandits who slaughter the younger macaques. Malao intervenes and scares the monkeys away, but a huge bandit named Hung threatens to kill him. When Hung throws a dart at the white monkey, Malao attacks but is trapped in a net. Seh's voice rings out, challenging Hung to fight fairly. Seh, disguised in blue silk, has infiltrated the bandit gang. The bandit leader is Mong, a giant man whom Malao recognizes from past visits to Cangzhen. Mong bets on Malao, who defeats Hung through sheer agility and spares his life before fleeing.

That night, Malao shares mushrooms with the white monkey by a stream. The monkey kisses his hand, returns the decorated stick, and departs. Malao reflects on having no family and regrets abandoning Hok. He wonders about the Monkey King, a figure mentioned by one of the bandits, and whether this person might be connected to his past. Seh visits after dark, explaining he joined the bandits to cultivate potential allies. Malao shares that Grandmaster is dead and Fu has the scrolls. Unknown to either boy, Mong has been hiding in the underbrush, listening.

The white monkey guides Malao back to the hollow elm. Malao apologizes to Hok and pays respects to Grandmaster for the first time. Hok reveals that Fu has been captured and is held in a village where the Governor lives. Malao insists on a rescue, and the white monkey leads him toward the village.

Along the trail, Malao's monkey troop creates chaos among Ying's soldiers, and Malao frees Fu from a cage. Tonglong, however, has captured Hok, who hangs bound from a pole. Ying privately reveals to Tonglong that Hok is female and orders him to keep this secret. Using eagle-claw pressure-point attacks, Ying knocks both Malao and Fu unconscious, recovers the scrolls, and orders Tonglong to execute all three young monks. Ying reads the first dragon scroll and discovers that dragon-style kung fu encompasses the best techniques of all animal styles along with leadership and psychological warfare. A warning shot interrupts: The monks have escaped, aided by a young tiger.

On the run, Fu shares what Hok overheard: Grandmaster killed Ying's father, and Cangzhen served as a base for secret activities. Hok has departed for Shaolin Temple. Malao devises a plan using sleeping mushroom spores he finds along the trail. Commander Woo, Ying's second-in-command, is preparing Ying's nightly elixir of powdered dragon bone and snake blood. Malao disguises himself as a ghost again, terrifies Commander Woo, and slips the spores into the goblet. Tonglong discovers Malao's footprint near the goblet but says nothing. Ying drinks the tainted elixir and falls into a drugged sleep. That night, Malao lifts the scrolls from Ying's robe, but he takes only three of the four. Fu suspects Tonglong was awake and deliberately allowed the theft, just as Tonglong previously helped Fu escape by loosening his bindings.

Fu and Malao travel to the village. Fu meets the Drunkard, a former warrior monk whose wife died giving birth 12 years ago, Fu's exact age. The Drunkard strongly implies he is Fu's father, but Fu cannot respond. The Governor tells Malao that the Monkey King is a real local figure, a small, monkey-style kung fu master who lives with a troop of monkeys and carries a stick like Malao's. The Governor points to the white monkey watching from a nearby tree.

Ying arrives and finds the boys. The Drunkard seizes Ying from behind and strikes him with a tiger-claw fist, ordering Fu to run. Fu and Malao perform a combined maneuver in which Fu launches Malao over a line of soldiers. Both boys and the white monkey flee into the forest.

Over 10 rain-soaked days, the white monkey guides them to Shaolin Temple, where smoke and charred rooftops signal a devastating attack. Seh appears, explaining he arrived too late to warn the monks. A bald monk named Tsung claims to be the sole survivor but reveals suspicious knowledge, including the secret that Hok is female. Tsung attacks with leopard-style speed and snatches all three dragon scrolls from Malao and Fu. Ying arrives and reveals that Tsung is a general who led the destruction of Shaolin. They fight viciously. During the chaos, Fu accidentally tears open Tsung's robe, sending the scrolls tumbling out. Seh grabs them and flees with Fu.

Tonglong arrives with soldiers and forces Tsung to release Ying from a choke hold at sword-point. Watching from a tree, Malao sees Tonglong kneel beside the unconscious Ying and discreetly slip the fourth dragon scroll from Ying's robe into his own sleeve. Tonglong locks eyes with Malao and grins. Malao realizes that Tonglong's smile looks exactly like Seh's, a resemblance now unmistakable as Seh's hair has grown in. As Seh pulls Malao into the forest, Tonglong winks, leaving the mystery of his true loyalties and identity unresolved.