Chapter 2

On that day, the weather was fine and the sun was shining. A huge rock on Huaguo Mountain suddenly rolled down without any warning, shaking the heavens and the earth.

All the creatures on the mountain gathered together, watching in fear.

"What's happening? That rock has been on the mountaintop since before my grandfather's time," a brown, wrinkled old monkey said, trembling.

It squatted on a tree, looking down at the towering tree not far away, hoping to find an answer. It was an ancient tree, over a thousand years old, and even it had forgotten its exact age.

At that moment, the old tree only rustled its leaves slightly, but did not say a word.

Perhaps it was too lazy to speak, or perhaps it was also puzzled.

After a long time, nothing happened. The little deer, the little squirrels, and the little monkeys started playing again.

In this place, which seemed like a paradise, the forest was always simple, and the animals were always forgetful, as if nothing had happened.

A goldfinch even landed on the huge rock that had rolled to the foot of the mountain, as if the rock had always been there.

"Crack—"

A crisp sound echoed, and the goldfinch trembled, its eyes bulging. It looked around in panic but found nothing wrong.

"Clang—!" A golden light shot up into the sky but instantly disappeared, leaving no harm to anyone.

The goldfinch flew away in fright, and the rock split into two halves. In the center of the rock, a monkey staggered to its feet, looking around in panic.

All around, the creatures watched him in panic.

"What's going on... I just closed the client... How did this happen..."

The monkey, who had just jumped out of the rock, looked at his hands, stroking his fur, and a furry tail twitched behind him—followed by a piercing scream that echoed through the heavens and the earth.

The forest seemed to tremble slightly, and countless birds were startled into the sky.

The monkey quickly stood up and ran through the forest, howling wildly. All the animals made way for him, even the tigers, who could easily swallow him, were scared and hid.

Soon, the monkey found a deep pool, with a huge waterfall cascading down from the mountaintop.

He poked his head out from the side, touching his face in fear: "Monkey... monkey?"

He suddenly remembered something, breathing rapidly, but then muttered to himself: "Calm down, calm down, this must be a dream."

Is it a dream? Then why does the scrape on my knee hurt so much?

After looking at his reflection in the pool several times, the monkey started to go mad. He picked up a stone and threw it hard.

"Thud—" The ripples spread out, quickly covered by the splashing water from the waterfall.

If it's a dream, why does this scene, this sound feel so real?

The monkey put his hand on the ground, picked up a stone, and smashed it on his wrist.

"Ow—" He clutched his bleeding hand and rolled on the ground.

"What's he doing?" a little squirrel asked the goldfinch, still shaken.

"Probably in the anxiety phase, it'll be fine soon," the goldfinch replied, glaring at the stone monkey.

The stone monkey continued to折腾 (struggle) by the deep pool, struggling hard from morning till afternoon, until he had no strength left in his body.

He lay on the ground, exhausted, looking up at the sky. All around, countless animals were secretly watching him.

Suddenly, he clutched his stomach and got up, drank some water from the deep pool, and then walked into the forest with a lost look.

He scanned the forest with a hungry gaze but found nothing to eat.

Climb trees? He couldn't.

Hunt? He couldn't do that either.

In the end, he could only find some sour and bitter red berries in the grass, not caring if they were poisonous or edible, and swallowed them. But there were too few, and he couldn't get full.

"Hey."

The monkey looked up, and on a high tree, a brown old monkey was half-squatting, holding an apple.

Seeing the monkey look up, the old monkey let go of the apple, which fell in front of the monkey.

"Eat," the old monkey said.

As a normal person, the stone monkey should have been surprised that the old monkey could speak.

But the stone monkey was clearly not normal.

Or rather, if something as bizarre as this could happen, then nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.

The monkey, with tears streaming down his face, grabbed the apple and started to eat it. Only he knew why he was crying, whether it was from being moved or from the absurdity of being thrown into this place without food and having to rely on the charity of a monkey.

Soon, the hungry monkey swallowed even the core of the apple. With something in his stomach, he could think more clearly.

He slowly stood up and looked up. The brown old monkey was still squatting on the tree, watching him with a curious and fearful gaze.

The monkey followed the same path back to where he had just been born. Touching the two rocks, his eyes narrowed: "Stone monkey... Sun Wukong?"

He suddenly turned his head and shouted to the old monkey still watching him from a distant tree: "Is this Huaguo Mountain?"

The old monkey was so scared that it ran away in a flash!

"Damn! Do I have to jump into the Water Curtain Cave too?" The stone monkey sat down, dejected: "What a pain, this Journey to the West!"

The stone monkey was a positive and optimistic person. He quickly gathered his spirits and prepared to face the upcoming life. Of course, the main issue was that his stomach wouldn't allow him to continue feeling down—lunch was not enough, and dinner was uncertain. He had to fill his stomach first before thinking about anything else.

...

Just after causing a commotion by the pool, the stone monkey started to cause trouble in the forest again. He finally managed to pull a branch from a small tree, but got a thorn in his finger while stripping the leaves.

He walked clumsily, carefully poking around with the stick. This unfamiliar place made him fearful, and he was cautious with every step.

"Is this a joke? Isn't Huaguo Mountain supposed to be full of monkeys? Why is it so hard to join a group?" He was in a terrible mood.

A person, or rather a monkey, couldn't survive alone. The most important thing was that he didn't know how to climb trees or hunt. To survive, he had to join a group and find a monkey troop.

Thinking about this, he looked into the distance. A few monkeys were startled and immediately chattered and climbed higher up the trees.

"Am I a monster? Am I a monster? Why are they so scared!" The stone monkey thought these were just random monkeys. He needed to find a monkey troop. Joining a troop meant he was part of a group. Ideally, there would be a monkey king, and they could have a one-on-one fight on the ground, and he might become the monkey king.

As for the Water Curtain Cave... forget it. Thinking about it, the waterfall he had just seen was probably the Water Curtain Cave. Jumping into that place would either kill him or leave him crippled.

The book says Sun Wukong jumped and made it, but what if Wu Cheng'en got it wrong? What if he wasn't Sun Wukong but someone in another world? What if, what if...

In short, there were too many "what ifs," and it felt like a million "what ifs," not just one. The hand he had just injured by the pool was still bleeding, and the pain was real. Could he really do it again? Is there such a big gamble?

Looking up, the stone monkey imagined himself as a cripple hanging from a tree, pitifully begging for charity, and felt an unbearable pain. Being a monkey was bad enough, but a crippled monkey? How cruel is that?

"Couldn't I have been Sun Wukong after learning the arts? Then... " The stone monkey started to indulge in fantasies, drooling: "You little demon, if you submit to me and serve me well..."

The stone monkey grinned and kept tapping the nearby tree with the stick, as if performing a play.

Soon, just as the stone monkey was getting into the act, the distant howls of a group of monkeys finally reached him.

"Here we are." The stone monkey instantly put on a serious and dignified expression.

He walked forward step by step, imagining himself with a mysterious aura. Although the monkeys might not understand, the arrival of a monkey king needed some flair, right? It would be useful for educating the younger monkeys later.

...