In the ancient days of the world, when the boundaries between the heavens, the earth, and the swirling waters were not yet firmly drawn, the land of China was engulfed in a cataclysm known as the Great Flood. For two generations, the waters rose, swallowing the valleys and cresting over the peaks of the mountains. The Emperor Yao sought a way to save his people, but the task was beyond the strength of any ordinary man. When Yu, the son of Gun, was tasked by Emperor Shun to succeed where his father had failed, he did not merely seek to build dams or walls. Instead, he studied the veins of the earth, understanding that water must be guided, not merely blocked. This monumental task took Yu across the breadth of the Middle Kingdom, leading him eventually to the turbulent reaches of the Huai River in what is now Anhui province.
The Huai River was unlike any other waterway Yu had encountered. It was possessed by a spirit of singular malice and chaotic energy. While other rivers flooded due to the imbalance of the seasons, the Huai churned with a deliberate, sentient fury. Waves would rise to the height of hills even on windless days, and the air above the water was thick with a perpetual, choking mist. The local inhabitants, huddled on the high ridges, spoke in hushed tones of a creature that dwelt in the depths—a being of immense power and ancient lineage who claimed the river as his personal domain. This was Wuzhiqi, the water monkey spirit, a demon whose strength was said to rival the gods and whose temper was as unpredictable as the current.
Wuzhiqi was a sight of terrifying wonder. According to the records found in the 'Taiping guangji' and other ancient scrolls, he possessed the body of a giant ape, nearly five feet tall, with a mane of fur that was green as the deepest river weeds. His head was snowy white, contrasting sharply with his emerald body, and his eyes flashed with a piercing, golden light that could be seen even through the murkiest depths. His teeth were white and sharp as jagged flint, and his limbs possessed the strength to uproot mountains. He was not merely a beast, but a sophisticated spirit of the elements, capable of commanding the spirits of the wind and the minor deities of the tributaries. For years, he had reigned supreme, mocking the efforts of mortal men to tame the floods.
As Yu began his engineering works along the Huai, his progress was constantly thwarted. Every channel his workers dug during the day would be filled with silt by morning. Every levee they raised would be smashed by a sudden, localized tidal wave. Yu realized that the river could never be channeled so long as Wuzhiqi remained free. He called upon the local earth deities and the spirits of the mountains, demanding to know the source of the interference. They trembled and pointed toward the Huai, whispering the demon's name. Yu, undeterred by the warnings of his celestial advisors, resolved to confront the demon directly. He knew that the survival of the people depended on the subjugation of this primal force.
The battle did not begin with a single blow but with a series of skirmishes. Yu initially sent his most trusted generals and the spirits of the marshes to apprehend the monkey, but Wuzhiqi was too fast and too cunning. He would dive into the depths, vanishing into the subterranean tunnels of the riverbed, only to reappear miles away to harass the supply lines. The demon mocked Yu, shrieking from the treetops and summoning storms that pelted the workers with ice and gale-force winds. Seeing that his mortal forces were overmatched, Yu reached out to the higher realms, summoning the celestial general Gengchen. Gengchen was a warrior of the heavens, a deity associated with the control of water and the punishment of rebellious spirits. He arrived with a retinue of divine soldiers, their armor gleaming like the sun on the water.