Cave Behind the Waterfall

Through dense forests and over several rugged mountain ridges, the Thin Monkey led the Little Stone Monkey on a run until they parted the last patch of bushes.

Ahead, a massive, silvery-white waterfall cascaded down from the top of a steep cliff!

Below was a bottomless pool, shrouded in a white mist that filled the entire valley!

"It's... it's spectacular!"

The Little Stone Monkey murmured to itself, its eyes filled with awe.

It had never seen such a sight before.

Seeing the Little Stone Monkey's shocked expression, the Thin Monkey said smugly, "See? I didn't lie to you! Wasn't it as loud as thunder?"

At this moment, more than a dozen monkeys emerged from the side, some old and some young, some male and some female.

When they saw the Little Stone Monkey and the Thin Monkey, they greeted them kindly, and then went off to play and frolic on their own. Some chased and played, while others squatted down to drink water.

"Huh?"

The Little Stone Monkey kept a close eye on the waterfall, and suddenly, he noticed something different.

A golden light involuntarily flashed in his eyes; he had seen something.

"The center of that waterfall... seems to be hollow? And behind it... there seems to be a large hole?"

"Empty? Big hole?"

The Thin Monkey was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Little Stone Monkey, you must be mistaken! Our clan has lived here for decades. If there were a cave, we would have discovered it long ago! Our clan chief is a Qi Refining to Godhood expert, and he never found it!"

"Qi Refining to Godhood?"

The Little Stone Monkey, not understanding what it meant, looked at the Thin Monkey in confusion, "What is that?"

The Thin Monkey scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. "I... I don't know exactly what it is, but that's what the clan chief said. He said it's a very powerful skill! Much more powerful than those big tigers that only know brute force."

Several young apes nearby overheard their conversation and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Did you hear that? That Little Stone Monkey said there's a hollow space behind the waterfall! There's a big hole!"

"That's hilarious! How long has it been here? We've lived here for generations and we didn't even know!"

"How could you possibly see inside? The water was flowing like crazy, you couldn't even open your eyes, and the steam was so thick! Grandpa Chief never mentioned it!"

The Little Stone Monkey was neither angry nor in a hurry to argue; he looked at the waterfall again.

Although the Thin Monkey didn't quite believe it either, it trusted its friend more.

It leaned closer to the Little Stone Monkey and asked in a low voice, "Little Stone Monkey, are you sure you saw it clearly? If it's really empty inside, could there be some treasure hidden there?"

Its eyes lit up. "Our tribe is often bullied by other monsters in the mountains. If we can find a powerful treasure, we won't be afraid of them anymore!"

"Treasure?"

Although the Little Stone Monkey had only been following Dao Venerable Lin Tian for a short time, he had heard Dao Venerable mention that there were places in the world where rare and precious treasures were born.

It looked at the waterfall again, full of curiosity.

"Whether it's a treasure or not, we'll know once we go in and take a look."

"Go in?" Thin Monkey was startled. Looking at the rushing water and the bottomless pool below, he instinctively shrank his neck, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes.

"I dare not... the current is too strong, I definitely can't jump across..."

The surrounding monkeys laughed even harder when they heard the Little Stone Monkey say it wanted to go inside and take a look.

"What did you hear him say? Jump in? Haha!"

"Isn't this courting death?"

"He has no cultivation whatsoever; he's destined to perish!"

The Little Stone Monkey ignored him. He carefully observed the distance between the waterfall and the bank and estimated the force of the water flow.

The next moment.

He leaped directly off the Shi Tou and jumped towards the center of the waterfall!

"Little Stone Monkey!"

The Thin Monkey cried out in surprise.

The other apes were stunned, their eyes wide with disbelief as they stared at him.

"It... it really dares to jump?"

"Puff!"

The Little Stone Monkey's figure instantly disappeared into the raging curtain of water.

All the monkeys held their breath, staring intently at the waterfall.

The Little Stone Monkey crossed the waterfall, stood on Shi Tou, and curiously looked around.

The cave entrance is tall and wide, completely hidden by the waterfall, making it extremely difficult to spot from the outside.

The cave wasn't dark; sunlight, filtering in from somewhere, illuminated the spacious interior.

He carefully walked inside.

The interior of the cave is more spacious than the entrance, with an irregular dome shape, reaching a height of over ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

The ground was flat and dry, covered with a layer of fine sand.

The cave walls have many openings, leading to unknown places, bringing in fresh air.

There are branching paths deeper into the cave, seemingly leading to even more secluded places.

A rough estimate suggests that this main cave could easily accommodate hundreds of monkeys!

"Very good!"

The Little Stone Monkey was overjoyed.

Without further delay, it burst out of the waterfall and leaped in front of the monkeys.

"Little Stone Monkey! Are you alright?"

The Thin Monkey was the first to pounce, both surprised and delighted.

"There really is a huge hole inside!"

The Little Stone Monkey gestured excitedly, "What a huge cave! It's dry inside! Very spacious! It could house hundreds of monkeys! There are even branching paths, I wonder where they lead!"

This left all the apes stunned.

incredible.

The Thin Monkey jumped up excitedly. "Really? Haha, Little Stone Monkey, you're amazing! I, I'll go tell Grandpa Chief right now!"

"Wait!" An older ape stopped it, its voice trembling. "W-don't rush... we... we want to see it with our own eyes?"

It was still a little hard to believe.

Seeing this, the Little Stone Monkey pointed directly to a spot on the waterfall. "Look there, isn't the water a bit darker behind the current? Like a gap? That's where I jumped across."

The monkeys squinted and strained to see in the direction he pointed.

A detail they would never normally notice: the shadow of the rock wall behind the curtain of water did indeed seem deeper than the one beside it?

This completely enraged the monkeys!

Some of the clever ones had already run back to the forest to inform the Old Monkey King and more of their kind.

The rest of them surrounded the Little Stone Monkey and the Thin Monkey, asking questions incessantly, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Before long, led by the Old Monkey King, almost the entire ape troop, hundreds of apes of all sizes, came to the waterfall.

Although the Old Monkey King was old, his steps were still steady. He came to the Little Stone Monkey and stared intently at him. "Little Stone Monkey, what you said... is it true? Is there really a cave behind the waterfall large enough for my people to live in?"

The Little Stone Monkey nodded vigorously, pointed to the waterfall, and repeated his discovery, describing in detail how spacious and dry it was.

"It's really true? Strange, why did I think I never noticed? If it weren't for you, Little Stone Monkey, my clan would probably never have been able to enter this blessed land!"

The Old Monkey King's voice trembled as he turned to the Little Stone Monkey. Suddenly, he bowed deeply to the Little Stone Monkey!

"Little Stone Monkey, your discovery of this cave is a life-saving act for my clan! I have a request!"

The Old Monkey King raised his head, tears glistening in his eyes, "You... you would be willing to let me and my people move into the cave behind this waterfall?"

The Little Stone Monkey was startled by the Old Monkey King's actions and quickly pulled him up, nodding and saying, "Of course! Grandpa Chief, this place is excellent and secluded, much safer than you are in the mountains outside! Hiding here, we won't have to worry about tigers and leopards attacking us!"

Hearing the Little Stone Monkey's promise, the hundreds of monkeys behind the Old Monkey King were overjoyed.

They have lived in the mountains and forests for generations, constantly threatened by other monsters. It would be wonderful if they could move to a cave like this!

Seeing the Little Stone Monkey agree without hesitation, the Old Monkey King already had an idea in his mind.

It took another deep breath and said, "Little Stone Monkey! You saved my people from danger, and now you have found such a blessed land for us. Your kindness is like giving us a second life! Although you are young, you possess divine strength, have a kind heart, and are a member of the same ape clan as us!"

It looked around at all its members and said, word by word, "I am old and frail, and no longer able to protect our tribe. Therefore, I hereby declare that from this moment forward, the Little Stone Monkey shall be our tribe's new monkey king!"

"We, the apes, are willing to submit to you and acknowledge you as our king! We only hope that you can lead us to peace, joy, and prosperity in this new home!"

Having said that, the Old Monkey King no longer hesitated, pushed away his descendants who wanted to help him up, and slowly knelt down in front of the still somewhat bewildered Little Stone Monkey.

"The Old Monkey King!"

"Grandpa Chief!"

The monkeys gasped in astonishment, watching this scene in disbelief.

The Old Monkey King, who held immense prestige and was the absolute leader of his tribe, had now abdicated the throne to a mere monkey?

The Little Stone Monkey was completely stunned, retreating and waving his hands repeatedly. "No, no, Grandpa Chieftain, how can this be? Me, the Monkey King? I... I don't know how! I don't understand anything, how can I do it well? I can't agree to this!"

The Old Monkey King raised his head, his eyes filled with pleading. "Little Stone Monkey, I didn't act on impulse. I'm old, really old. My energy is waning, my magic power is stagnant, and I can't even deal with those tiger demons."

"The tribe needs a stronger king! You are the most suitable choice! Promise me, for the sake of these hundreds of lives, for the future of the tribe!"

It turned to the monkeys and said, "Why don't you pay your respects to your new monkey king?"

Under the Old Monkey King's imposing presence, the monkeys had no choice but to obey.

"Greetings, Your Great King!"

"Your Great King, please grant my request!"

"Your Great King!"

Such a scene left the Little Stone Monkey at a loss.

promise?

If you don't understand anything yourself, how can you manage so many monkeys?

You won't agree?

Looking at the Old Monkey King, he felt a pang of pity.

Just then, a voice rang in his mind.

"Say yes to them."

It's the voice of the Dao Venerable!

The Little Stone Monkey took a deep breath, then with a determined look in his eyes, he helped the Old Monkey King was kneeling on the ground, to his feet.

"Alright! Since Grandpa Chief and everyone else trust me so much, and... well, then I... I'll agree to be the Monkey King!"

Upon hearing this, the Old Monkey King exclaimed, "Good! Good! Good! Now I can finally rest easy!"

The monkeys cheered.

Now they have a new home.

Looking at the cheering apes, the Little Stone Monkey felt an unprecedented sense of responsibility rise in its heart.

"Now that I've become Great King, the first thing I'll do..."

It pointed to the waterfall, "From today onwards, that will be our new home. We will build our own territory there, and we'll never have to fear monsters again!"

"A new home!"

"Our territory!"

"Long live the Great King!"

The monkeys cheered, filled with anticipation for their new life.