The Stone Monkey Sets Sail

The thought sent a chill down his spine.

For the first time, deep fear and confusion stained the Stone Monkey's golden eyes.

He lowered his head and looked at his powerful hands. For the first time, he felt that this heaven-shaking strength was so pale and useless in the face of death.

He had to do something. Not to fight the enemy before him, but to fight time itself—formless and intangible, yet destined to devour everything.

Not for himself, but for his children, and even more so, for his duty as their king...

"Strength alone isn't enough." A clear voice rang out in his mind. It was not words, but an awakening.

"There has to be... a way. A way to keep them from aging and dying too."

Once this thought took root, it spread wildly like rooted weeds.

Perhaps... beyond the mountain, in a world vaster than the waterfall and more wondrous than Flower-Fruit Mountain, there would be an answer.

There might be methods called "immortality," or "divine abilities" that could free ordinary living beings from birth, aging, sickness, and death.

The decision was difficult and weighty.

He looked at the monkey troop immersed in grief, then at this homeland that had only just become peaceful and prosperous.

Leaving meant danger. It meant the unknown.

But staying behind and watching time's scythe fall again and again was something he could not do.

Several months later, the Stone Monkey summoned several of the cleverest and strongest monkeys before him.

With difficulty, he gestured toward the outside of the cave, then toward the high heavens. He pointed to himself and all the monkeys, mimed searching for something, then bringing it back.

Again and again, he emphasized that he would return. He would certainly return with a way to attain immortality.

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