The Jiajing Emperor, who ruled China’s Ming Dynasty from 1521 to 1567, is often remembered for his sadistic and tyrannical reign marked by cruelty, decadence and obsession with immortality. His relentless pursuit of eternal life led him to engage in dark and brutal practices, one of the most notorious being his bloodlust for a substance called “red lead.” This concoction was allegedly made using the menstrual blood of young virgin girls.

In the moss-slicked shadows of the Balinese cosmos prowls Hanuman, the uncoiled fury of the simian king, commanding reverence even as he inspires animal dread. He is no sterile symbol of righteousness because he is a manifestation of primal kinetic energy, an untamed force that destroys empires to enforce a brutal cosmic balance. His presence acts as a violent conduit, linking the living directly to the arenas where immortals and monsters shed blood in an eternal war.