"Though your body is humble, you resemble a macaque that feeds on pinecones. I shall take a surname from your appearance, teaching you to be surnamed 'Hu.' The character for 'Hu,' minus the beast radical, is the ancient character for moon. 'Ancient' signifies old; 'Moon' signifies yin. Old yin cannot foster growth, so it would be better to surname you 'Sun.' The character for 'Sun,' without the beast radical, is a child bound by strings. 'Child' means a young boy; 'Bound' means slender and delicate. That fits perfectly with the essence of an infant. So let your surname be 'Sun.'"
"Good! Good! Good! Only today do I know my surname. Master, please be merciful! Now that I have a surname, I beseech you to bestow a name upon me, so I can be properly called."
"Our sect has twelve characters from which to assign names, and as you are of the tenth generation of disciples, it is your turn."
"What are the twelve characters?"
"They are Guang, Da, Zhi, Hui, Zhen, Ru, Xing, Hai, Ying, Wu, Yuan, and Jue. When it comes to you, it falls to the character 'Wu.' How about I give you the Dharma name 'Sun Wukong,' is that good?"
"Good! Good! Good! From now on, I shall be called Sun Wukong!"
"I propose a wager between us; if you have the ability, somersault out of my right palm, and you win. There will be no need for weapons or bitter battles, and I will invite the Jade Emperor to move to the west, leaving Heaven to you. But if you can't jump out of the palm, then you must return to the Mortal World as a demon, continue cultivating through several calamities, and then come back to dispute."
"Sun Wukong, because you caused a great uproar in Heaven, I used my profound mana to suppress you under the Five Elements Mountain. Fortuitously, the time of calamity has been satisfied, and you have returned to Buddhism. I am pleased to see that you have hidden your evils and promoted goodness. You have had merit in subduing demons and taming monsters along the way, completing what you started. Thus, I elevate you to a great and true position, and you will be known as the Victorious Fighting Buddha."
"Ah!"
A sharp pain pricked through his head like needles, and a small monkey with a golden body, not much bigger than a child, sprang up from the ground.
"Twenty years, and for these twenty years, every day the same dream has repeated: accepting a Master, Heaven, the journey to the west, the Buddha... These memories have reappeared over and over. Could it be..."
The little monkey shook his dizzy head and finally came to his senses, but just then, a familiar yet extremely strange voice suddenly rose from the depths of his heart.
"You and I share the same root, now bonded in one body. Should you seek a reason, embark on the journey to the west once more."
The little monkey was startled into stillness by this voice.
"Will it ever end?! Having that Journey to the West dream is one thing, but what's with this sudden phrase now? Could it be some sort of hint?"
The Golden Monkey patted his head; he clearly knew who the voice belonged to, as it had appeared countless times in his dreams, witnessing his past.
"But why would that guy's voice suddenly appear in my mind? Could it be that he's not dead, and by some mistake after death has taken residence in my body?"
Thinking this, the Golden Monkey couldn't help but shiver.
In fact, this monkey was not that monkey. Although he had the body of a Golden Monkey, within it dwelled a soul from Earth.
His actual name was Sun Wukong, just missing the character for 'void' from that Great Sage Equalling Heaven.
Twenty years ago, he was elated to have his new book sweep across Sanjiang. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Unexpectedly, as he composed his thoughts for Sanjiang on his smartphone, the device exploded from overheating. As consciousness blurred, he awoke to find himself transformed into a monkey on Mount Huaguo.
"Sigh! No one would believe this if I told them. Who would have thought transmigration was real, especially to the Journey to the West World, the birthplace of Sun Wukong, the Victorious Fighting Buddha?"
"But what on earth happened here? Not even a single monkey remains, leaving me with no one to talk to. If this continues, I'm afraid I'll eventually forget how to speak."
"Sigh! Although that Journey to the West dream is somewhat tormenting, it does relieve loneliness. Even though it's gotten rather tedious. Then there's the inexplicable appearance of the Chaotic Demon Technique and Refining Technique, which I should diligently practice. The demons around Mount Huaguo exude a suffocating aura, and sensing it from afar is enough to scare anyone witless. I should be wary lest they suddenly appear, as my monkey life would surely be in peril..."
Lost in his thoughts, Sun Wukong rubbed his ears and whipped out an iron staff, swinging it around. By constantly experiencing the Journey to the West in dreams, his staff play was quite impressive, bearing a slight resemblance to Sun Wukong himself.
However, overexertion and lack of technique meant that he stopped after a short while, panting heavily.
"Sigh... So tired, I'm really not cut out for martial arts!" Sun Wukong lamented, picking up a green peach from the ground and biting into it forcefully. The tart and slightly bitter juice instantly filled his mouth, wrinkling his entire monkey face.
Damn, that's really sour!
One might have thought it was a lemon.
He wanted to spit out the fruit, but as it was his only source of food, he put up with the bad taste. There wasn't much to eat, but the one benefit might be that the tree bore fruit all year round.
"If I don't eat, I'll starve. Better endure it!" Sun Wukong sighed softly, grinding his teeth and swallowing the fruit flesh, quickly consuming the sour green peach.
Just then, amidst the tranquility of Mount Huaguo, a series of rapid footsteps sounded.
There was demon energy!
Sun Wukong's eyebrows raised, he picked up the iron staff and agilely leaped into a dense underbrush.
"Mount Huaguo has been desolate for so long, devoid of spiritual charm. This place has become so desolate that even birds won't defecate here. Why would there be demons here? Could they have discovered my presence?"
Damn it, this can't be happening!
Sun Wukong gripped the iron staff tightly, not moving an inch, silently watching the group of demons approaching from afar.
"How many times have we come here? We've turned Flower Fruit Mountain inside out and still haven't found any treasure!"
"Shh! Keep it down. The Great Saint mentioned that twenty years ago, there was a burst of spiritual charm fluctuations at Flower Fruit Mountain. It was quite a commotion. If we could find that treasure..."
"Tsk. Dream on. If there had been anything of spiritual charm here, it would've been taken long ago. It wouldn't be our turn to find it. In my opinion, we might as well go back to sleep."
The speaker was a green ox-headed demon, followed by a Pig Demon and a Rat Demon.
The three demons walked straight towards Sun Wukong. As they got closer, the Rat Demon's nose twitched slightly, and then its gaze fell on Sun Wukong's hiding place. "Who's there, come out!"
"There are other members of the Demon Clan here!" The Pig Demon sniffed the air with its nose too and caught Sun Wukong's scent.
The ox demon, being the least intelligent, heard there was a demon hiding and, without a second thought, charged headlong into the thicket.
Just then, a dark shadow leaped from the bushes, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Boom!
The tremendous force of the ox-headed demon's charge, with terrifying power, shattered the mountain rock hidden in the underbrush, as broken stones scattered in all directions.
At that moment, the Pig Demon and Rat Demon also launched their attacks, closing in on Sun Wukong from left and right, blocking any escape.
The fight was about to erupt.
Perhaps it was the blessings of the Bodhisattva, or the added effect of the Chaotic Demon Technique, but Sun Wukong, who had never learned how to wield a staff, seemed to handle his iron rod with skill.
Even when faced with the combined forces of these three minor demons, they could not withstand the attack of the iron rod for even a single round.
As for Sun Wukong, he struck frequently, whirling his iron rod with the wind howling. The Rat Demon and Pig Demon quickly had their skulls crushed, leaving only the ox demon to kneel in fear, unable to muster any thought of resistance.
"Mercy, great demon!"
"This lowly one had no intention to offend, merely acting upon our king's command to seek out the spiritual charm. I did not expect to collide with a great demon, and I beg for your forgiveness."
The ox-headed demon kowtowed repeatedly, fearing that Sun Wukong might suddenly swing his rod and end its life.
Damn it!
Who said oxen are stupid?!
Sun Wukong narrowed his eyes, clearly seeing the ox-headed demon's slight movement, and immediately swung his rod to kill it on the spot.
The body of the ox-headed demon trembled, then its lifeforce ceased. The bone tile it was tightly clutching in its right hand slid to the ground.
And then it exploded.
Whoosh!
A spiritual charm suddenly soared into the sky, streaking into the distance, quickly disappearing over Flower Fruit Mountain.
"Shit, just a step too late!"
Swearing aloud, Sun Wukong quickly stowed away his iron rod and left the area.
With the appearance of the spiritual charm, surely the surrounding monsters would swarm Flower Fruit Mountain. The best course of action was to leave as quickly as possible.
With urgent thoughts racing through his mind, Sun Wukong leaped and bounded through the jungle until he arrived at a waterfall.
With a jump, he leaped into the eye of the waterfall.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing on a chain bridge. He leaped over the middle of the bridge and looked around, only to see a stone stele in the center with the words "Flower Fruit Mountain Blessed Land, Water Curtain Cave Heaven" engraved in regular script.
This turned out to be the dwelling place of the Demon King. However, after the Great Sage Equalling Heaven had attained Buddhahood, it had become deserted. Now there wasn't a hint of life inside the dwelling, with the only relatively clean thing being the somewhat mossy stone bed.
"Sigh! I've lived here for so long, it's hard to leave when the time comes."
"But my life is on the line here, so I better slip away!"
Sun Wukong jumped onto the stone bed, wrapped up a few black stones from the head of the bed with the old beast hide, took out two green peaches from a hole in the wall, and with a lift of his leg, prepared to leave the cave he had lived in for twenty years.
"You... finally arrived!"