Great Demon Sun Wukong-Chapter 541 - 512 (3.0) Journey to the West

Volume 1 Unspeakable Chapter 4 Searching for Immortal Traces

Days at Flower Fruit Mountain were carefree, yet the Stone Monkey found no peace within his heart.

He discovered that the three Taoist Spells he heard upon first entering the Water Curtain Cave had all been etched into his memory, though he was not without intelligence, he had never possessed the talent of having an infallible memory. Perhaps his talent had changed after he transmigrated? Or was it the Divine Skills of that Preceptor?

The Stone Monkey always connected that Preceptor to Patriarch Subhuti. In the entire "Journey to the West," it was Patriarch Subhuti who bestowed the greatest benefits upon Wukong. But why did he do so?

In the blink of an eye, a year had passed, and the day the Stone Monkey had been yearning for finally came.

That day, the Stone Monkey sat upright on a stone platform, staring vacantly at the fruit wine on the stone table before him when several little monkeys rushed in, flustered, reporting, "Your Majesty, an old monkey has suddenly died, and we know not why!"

After a moment of contemplation, the Stone Monkey said, "Summon all ministers to the hall."

To facilitate governance, the Stone Monkey had divided the thousand-odd monkeys into three ranks. Aside from himself, four Red-Buttocked Horse Monkeys with long arms were appointed as deputy cave masters in charge of food and miscellaneous affairs. More than a dozen other monkeys with high prestige were also given official posts.

Once these monkeys entered the cave, the Stone Monkey ordered the young ones to arrange a feast with wine. The monkeys all felt this banquet to be rather abrupt, and with the King’s visage unlifted, none dared to ask why.

After three rounds of wine, the Stone Monkey suddenly shed two streams of hot tears. Naturally, these tears were feigned; in his past life, the Stone Monkey had been an actor, adept at expressing joy and sorrow with ease.

One Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey stood up and inquired, "What worries Your Majesty?"

The Stone Monkey replied, "Today, our tribe has lost one more member. Thinking about it, you and I will inevitably suffer the same fate, falling into the cycle of Reincarnation. How many more days of joy such as this will we have?"

The long-armed monkey stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty is of an Immortal Body. How can you fear such things? It’s us normal folk who cannot escape the ordeal of life and death."

Although the long-armed monkey stood with bowed head, the Stone Monkey, sitting high on the stone platform, saw a glint of joy flash in his eyes, which made him suspicious. Yet without showing any reaction, he said, "I, of course, don’t fear these things, but I do pity all of you."

The long-armed monkey looked slightly disappointed but quickly spoke up, "If Your Majesty truly has such concern, it is indeed a tremendous joy for our entire tribe!"

"From where does this joy come?" asked the Stone Monkey.

"Does Your Majesty not know that in this world there are three types of beings beyond the jurisdiction of the King of Hell: the divine, immortals, and Buddhas. If we can find someone with Great Divine Power to teach us Spells, we could evade Reincarnation and achieve Eternal Life," the monkey explained.

The Stone Monkey feigned astonishment and asked, "Is there really such a thing? Do you know where they dwell?"

The long-armed monkey replied with inward glee, "They reside in ancient caves and immortal mountains. The Four Great Continents are full of such traces of immortals."

The Stone Monkey slapped the armrest of his stone chair and exclaimed with joy, "Excellent, excellent! I shall leave the mountain tomorrow in search of the secret to eternal youth. I will teach you all to escape Reincarnation and eternally enjoy the bliss of family."

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Overjoyed, the long-armed monkey clapped his hands and said, "Tomorrow, we will prepare a grand feast, gather exquisite fruits, and see off Your Majesty!"

The Stone Monkey was well aware of the long-armed monkey’s thoughts, thinking to himself, you must wish I never return so that you can claim the throne of the Eastern Mountain. Alas, you have some cunning within this monkey troop, yet poor thing, with your vision and capabilities, how could you ever understand the rules of this world?

The next day, the monkeys cut pine branches to make rafts, had a joyful drink, and the Stone Monkey, with a bamboo pole and some fruits, set off across the ocean.

One monkey on one raft traversing the vast ocean, the Stone Monkey felt neither apprehension nor fear, for he vividly remembered that "Journey to the West" depicted that "day after day, a strong southeast wind would carry him to the northwest shore, the realm of the Southern Continent."

Having bid farewell to the troop, the Stone Monkey lay atop the wooden raft, letting it drift upon the waters.

On the shore, many monkeys’ eyes brimmed with tears; the Stone Monkey as their king had been compassionate to the old and the weak and had allotted resources fairly. Now that he’s gone, they knew not when he’d return. Of course, some old monkeys harbored different thoughts. From this day on, Flower Fruit Mountain had no master. The Stone Monkey’s lingering influence persisted, but distant waters cannot quench immediate thirst, and an eminent power struggle seemed inevitable.

The Stone Monkey was well aware but set his sights much higher. Why would he care about the stretch of land that was Flower Fruit Mountain? Moreover, he’d surely return someday.

Clouds floated across the sky, and the warm sun bathed the world in mellow warmth. A monkey with great aspirations, his heart brimming with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, was about to embark on a journey!

The Stone Monkey rose with the sunrise and rested with the sunset, with plenty of melons and fruits on the raft to last three or five days without worry. But after three days passed, as he gazed at the calm sea, he began to grow anxious.

The book clearly stated "strong southeast winds for days on end," yet now that three days had passed, why was there no sign of change? Without strong winds to aid him, he feared he might perish on this wooden raft.

On the fifth day, finally, the winds arose.

A vicious gale it was, which could verily make one lament: worldly fame and life pass away like flowing water, and our existence is but a wave tossed about in the smoke and tides.

The raft bobbed in the vast ocean like a leaf, floating and sinking in the waves.

Fearless and actually delighted, the Stone Monkey took out some vines he had prepared and tied himself firmly to the raft. The wind came from the southeast; he headed northwest. Indeed, to go by water is to take the easy course, to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

In just a few days, he could see a dark line appearing in the distant seam between sky and sea, which surely must be the boundary of the Southern Jambūdvīpa Continent.

As the raft reached the shallows, the wind calmed, and the waves stilled. The Stone Monkey picked up a bamboo pole, and with a little effort, he reached the shore.

Gathering a few pieces of clothing discarded by fishermen on the beach, a subtle thought flickered in the Stone Monkey’s mind: now, am I a monkey or a human?

Upon reaching a seaside market town, Wukong, relying on his agile skills, pilfered a few steamed buns and found a secluded spot to gnaw on them.

Looking back, it had been over a year since he had come to the world of Journey to the West, and finally, he had tasted food again.

With a full belly, the Stone Monkey couldn’t help but ask himself, where should I go now?

According to the events in Journey to the West, the Stone Monkey searched for an immortal in Southern Jambūdvīpa for eight or nine years without success, and only then did he go to the Western Cattle Gift Continent to meet Patriarch Subhuti.

But the Stone Monkey knew that Patriarch Subhuti was an unusual presence in Journey to the West: as the saying goes, coming from nowhere and heading toward nowhere, it seemed that his existence was solely for the purpose of teaching Sun Wukong.

If he were to head straight for the Western Cattle Gift Continent now, nine times out of ten, Patriarch Subhuti would not be there. The will of Heaven is unfathomable; it’s better not to take the risk. After much contemplation, without coming to any decision, he simply started roaming around the region.

With hair covering his body, ordinary people would steer clear of him at sight, and finding it difficult to fit in with mortals, he felt deeply stifled. The Stone Monkey headed straight north, wanting only to find a desolate mountain to get through these eight or nine years before making any plans.

Traveling along, the prosperity and splendor of Southern Jambūdvīpa far exceeded the Stone Monkey’s imagination. There were people everywhere, and who knew the road he was on turned out to be the imperial highway? How could he find a desolate mountain on it?

Not knowing how many times he had worn through his feet or how much sweat he had shed, the Stone Monkey traveled slowly, stopping and starting. Unknowingly, through heat and cold, a year and a half had passed.

The Stone Monkey felt colder with each step, having ventured into a barren land where tall mountains stood in his way, without a single household in sight.

That day, large snowflakes began to drift down from the sky, turning the world into a realm of silver white in an instant. The Stone Monkey had no desire to admire the snowy landscape, seeking only a ravine to shelter from the wind and hide from the snow.

Having endured the year and a half of alternating starvation and satiation, suffering need not be mentioned. Having reached this uttermost northern land, the sense of superiority he was born with as a monkey born from an immortal stone had almost entirely faded away, and the advantages of a transmigrator had not come into play yet. He couldn’t help feeling disheartened and cold in spirit. After finally finding a mountain hole to shelter in, the Stone Monkey was shivering from the cold.

Taking out the only two dry steamed buns he had left, a crystal-clear teardrop slid from the Stone Monkey’s fuzzy eyes, landing precisely on a bun.

Not to mention the noble life of fine clothes and jade food in his previous life, even after transmigrating to Flower Fruit Mountain, the Stone Monkey had never suffered the slightest hardship. This trial he was undergoing was the first of its kind in his entire existence. How could he not feel sorrowful?

Biting down, he swallowed the bun along with his tears, and thought to himself that after the snow stopped, he would turn southward where he at least wouldn’t freeze. Just then, the Stone Monkey suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold, as if he had plunged into an ice cellar, with the tears on his face instantly freezing into ice beads and the bun in his hands turning as hard as iron. Fortunately, he was not made of flesh and blood, or he would have quickly become an ice monkey. Even so, the Stone Monkey was stiff with cold, unable to move.

While the Stone Monkey was in shock, a loud shout came from the sky: "Evildoer, where do you think you’re escaping to?" The voice was rather clear, like that of a young man, followed by several thunderous booms and the sound of metal clashing.

The sound grew louder and closer, and suddenly, with a blast that sounded like thunder, the entire mountain peak trembled violently. Then, the mountain wall beside the Stone Monkey slowly collapsed. Fortunately, it fell outward, or the Stone Monkey would certainly have been crushed underneath, unable to turn over for ten thousand years. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your votes for recommendation tickets and Monthly Passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)