Chapter 7

When the night fell once again, the stone monkey finally opened his eyes. The first thing he did was to devour a pile of fruits offered by the monkey troop, then he bandaged his wounds with tree vines and fan leaves.

Taking advantage of the break, he also had a bowel movement.

Speaking of this matter, it made him shudder. Without toilet paper, the only thing he could use was leaves. Most leaves were too smooth to clean properly, so in desperation, he used a leaf with fine hairs.

Naturally, his anus was left in a sorry state.

The thought of having to use such things for a long time made the stone monkey even more distressed, longing for his previous life.

In the following days, unless there was a special need, he firmly refused to leave the tree hollow. While recuperating, he began to remotely command the monkey troop to chase the tiger.

The method of pursuit was highly effective. It was virtually impossible to kill the tiger by throwing fruits, but he could starve it to death!

The monkeys, divided into ten groups, harassed the tiger day and night, while broadcasting its movements everywhere. As a result, the prey would flee before the tiger even arrived.

Unable to bear the harassment, the tiger had no choice but to run to the outskirts of Huaguo Mountain, an area not covered by trees.

As the saying goes, a tiger on the plain is bullied by dogs. Tigers are suited to live in the forest. In open areas, their fur is so bright that prey can see them from a distance.

Although it wasn't impossible to find food, hunger was inevitable.

The former king of the mountains could not endure such humiliation. He knew very well who was behind all this. On several moonless, windy nights, the tiger returned to try to capture the leader first.

However, the stone monkey was not to be underestimated. He was always on high alert in the face of life and death. He had sentries posted throughout the forest, and by the time the tiger arrived, he had already hidden in the tree hollow.

Moreover, while recuperating, he didn't idle. With few tree hollows available, he decided to dig his own! He directed the monkeys to use stone knives to dig a custom-made hiding place at the base of a large tree.

At this point, the entire forest had become his fortress.

Of course, even the best-laid plans can go awry, especially when the subordinates are a bunch of unreliable monkeys.

They might fall asleep while on duty, run off to play while on a mission, or forget their tasks after urinating... In short, anything bizarre could happen with these monkeys.

As a result, the stone monkey found himself in danger several times, his nerves on edge, and plagued by nightmares at night.

Living far from civilization, enduring the elements, and being constantly pursued by the tiger had already taken a severe toll on the stone monkey's physical and mental health. The relentless tiger had pushed him to the brink of mental collapse.

From this perspective, the tiger's counter-harassment was not entirely fruitless.

This had turned into a protracted war of attrition, and whoever gave in first would lose.

After a month of this, the stone monkey's mental depression had lifted, and his injuries had healed. The tiger, however, was emaciated, looking more like a sick cat from a distance.

With his energy depleted, the tiger had to focus more on hunting on the plains and less on entering the forest, seemingly ready to end this endless war.

However, the stone monkey didn't see it that way.

"Do you still want to kill it? It hasn't ambushed us for five or six days. Why bother?"

"It must die! I will roast and eat it!" The stone monkey, with dark circles under his eyes, roared almost madly, "As long as that thing lives, I can't sleep!"

The canary widened her eyes, suddenly realizing how strong the monkey's desire for revenge was.

Centuries later, when someone asked the stone monkey who his most memorable opponent was, his answer was not the Buddha, the Jade Emperor, or Yang Jian, but this nameless tiger.

This was the longest and most intense struggle of his life, leaving an indelible psychological scar.

Another month passed, and the tiger, now starving, was even weaker. The stone monkey, in a state of madness, had mastered all the survival skills of the monkeys, becoming a competent monkey king.

The final battle began.

The stone monkey tied banana leaves around his body, carried a sturdy wooden shield he had made, and armed with a stone dagger, led a group of monkeys equipped with sharpened wooden spears toward the tiger's location.

In a narrow valley, the two mortal enemies, who had been at odds for two months, met again.

The moment the tiger saw the stone monkey, it was utterly despairing.

"Must it be this way?" it asked.

The stone monkey did not answer, only gesturing for the monkeys with long spears to advance.

That was his answer.

The tiger bared its teeth, its fur bristling, and roared madly at the monkey troop. The desperate struggle of a dying beast was indeed terrifying, but it couldn't make the monkeys retreat.

Their trust in the monkey king had overcome their fear of the tiger.

The two-month war ended with the monkeys' victory, and the canary would never forget the scene that day.

The stone monkey personally led the charge, his mouth open in a mad roar, his eyes bloodshot, and his face contorted with veins bulging.

The months of suppression were finally released. He wielded a stone and smashed the tiger's head into a bloody pulp, still unsatisfied, he skewered and roasted the tiger's body.

This was the only time the stone monkey ate meat, and it left him with diarrhea for seven or eight days, reducing him to skin and bones before he recovered.

However, the ordeal was not over. As is well known, in the animal world, there is the concept of "territory." With the "lord" of the territory dead, another top predator would take its place.

A month later, the "new lord" arrived—a leopard.

This pushed the stone monkey, who had just begun to settle down, to the brink of mental collapse again. Although he had experience dealing with the tiger, the smaller, tree-climbing leopard was not as easy to handle.

Worse still, even if he managed to defeat this new lord after great effort, other predators would take its place.

Fortunately, this leopard was not particularly interested in provoking a large, relatively united monkey troop, giving the stone monkey a brief respite.

However, this peace was short-lived. Half a month later, a young monkey went missing, and the stone monkey found half a skull with bits of flesh still attached in the leopard's den...

The monkeys' nerves were stretched to the breaking point. The alert network was expanded, and the stone monkey had to check the sentries multiple times a night, sometimes even taking their place when he couldn't find them.

Despite his efforts, monkeys would still go missing from time to time.

He tried to counterattack, but the leopard was extremely agile, and harassment was ineffective—harassing monkeys were easy prey!

Once, the leopard smiled eerily at the stone monkey through the monkey troop, and that hunter's smile planted a seed of fear deep in the stone monkey's heart, which took root and grew.

Countless times, the stone monkey dreamed of being bitten in the throat while sleeping, blood gushing out. The constant threat of death pushed him to the brink of collapse...

Finally, after only four months, the stone monkey, unable to stand it any longer, turned his gaze to the sea.

"Are you going to sea?" the canary screamed in shock.

"I'm going to the Western Regions, to the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Xieyue Sanxing Cave, to seek the Dao from Patriarch Puti."

"I've been to the Western Regions, but I've never heard of this place."

"I remember you said you encountered people called 'immortals' during your travels. If I find them, they will surely know the way."

"How will you cross the sea? Even humans can't cross it to get here."

"That's because they don't have a guide. The sea's greatest fear is losing direction, and I have you!" the stone monkey said firmly.

"When did you agree to accompany me?"

The canary was highly disdainful of this claim, but she eventually joined the stone monkey's cause, perhaps because he often made her happy.

She liked the small wildflowers the stone monkey placed in her hair and the way he called her the most beautiful bird in the world.

Soon, the stone monkey mobilized all the monkeys to prepare for the sea journey, a massive undertaking.

For these monkeys, far from civilization and without any tools, cutting down trees, transporting them to the shore, and building a raft was extremely difficult, let alone the large raft the stone monkey required.

Moreover, they had to constantly guard against the leopard's threat during the entire preparation process.

After three months of non-stop work, they finally completed a large raft, six zhang (about 20 meters) square. During this time, four more monkeys were killed by the leopard.

When it was time to leave, the entire monkey troop was in tears.

"Great King, will you come back? We are a bit scared."

"I will. When I learn the seventy-two transformations, I'll come back and kill that leopard!" the stone monkey vowed.

Watching the stone monkey board the rough-barked raft, the monkeys huddled together and wept.

These monkeys, though silly, had undeniably saved the stone monkey from becoming the tiger's meal. More importantly, they kept their promise and followed the monkey king's orders even when they knew he was preparing to leave. What would they do to defend against the leopard once he was gone?

They were simple, pure, and silly, but their simplicity and loyalty touched the stone monkey's heart.

The receding tide carried the raft out to sea. The stone monkey climbed to the specially reserved lookout pole in the center of the raft and shouted, "You must all stay alive and not let the leopard eat you. I'll be back!"

"Great King, you must come back!"

At this moment, the stone monkey was in tears.

"Since you're so reluctant to leave, why are you going?" the canary asked.

The stone monkey did not answer. The struggles of the past few months had reduced him to a primitive state, and only he knew the hardships he had endured.

The path to seeking the Dao left him with no other choice.