Chapter 5: The Name of the Monkey King

When he saw me get up and approach, the woodcutter stopped singing:

“Are you here to find Crescent Hollow?”

“How do you know?” I instinctively stepped back.

“Because another monkey came looking for it before.”

The woodcutter chuckled, pointing to a winding stone path behind him:

“Just follow this path.”

“I wonder...”

Before I could finish, the woodcutter vanished before my eyes.

Only a carefree laugh drifted from the thick trees on the mountain:

“No need to ask more. Fate comes and goes as it will. Dreams and waking life all turn to dust—”

I took off my soaked clothes and tossed them onto the roadside thorns.

I walked up the mountain step by step.

Since the Great King set out, he never seemed to tell anyone where he learned his secrets...

Thinking of that mysterious woodcutter just now,

Looking again at the end of the stone path, faintly glowing with holy light,

A bold guess suddenly came to me.

Did the Great King send me here to invite his master out of hiding?

It seemed that only my footsteps echoed in the forest.

I seemed to walk for a very long time.

Or maybe I never moved at all.

Until the words ‘Crescent Hollow’ appeared at my feet...

Yes, they appeared at my feet.

The cave home of Crescent Hollow had long since been destroyed.

Everywhere I looked was desolate.

Seeing this, I dropped to my knees, unwilling to accept it.

But at that moment,

Golden light suddenly appeared above the ruins.

In the swirling golden light appeared an old man with the bearing of a saint.

The old man looked at me with compassion.

He sighed: “My mischievous student still hasn’t figured out who he really is?”

When Mother Eve gave her last, she left two divine items in this world.

One is the golden cicada from beyond the sky.

Solve its secret, and you can gain immortality.

The other is the five-colored holy stone.

With it, you can destroy heaven and earth.

The old man, calling himself Old Man Bodhi, looked solemn, as if his thoughts flew back thousands of years.

After a long time, he slowly spoke:

“After Eve sealed the leak in the sky, the gods lost the nourishment of the strange energy, so their lifespans began to run out.

In order to break the shackles of time, for millions of years, the gods and saints have been working together, but have never succeeded.

So a hundred thousand years ago, they decided to use the five-colored holy stone left by Eve to pierce the sky again, so that the strange energy from beyond the stars—blocked by Eve—would once more pour into this world.”

Old Man Bodhi looked up at the sky as he spoke, echoing Percy’s words:

“They chose such a desperate method to keep living because some among them already have time running out...”

I stared at Old Man Bodhi, dumbfounded.

Thinking of the dark purple light across the sky, I swallowed hard: “So, that dark purple light is really the strange energy from beyond the sky?”

Old Man Bodhi nodded: “You can also call it spiritual energy.”

“Spiritual energy?”

“Mm.”

Old Man Bodhi explained:

“When the world was new, the sky was originally ‘leaking.’ The reason mortals could awaken to power was because of the spiritual energy from beyond the sky.

Although this energy is deadly to mortals, once you adapt to it, you can draw it in and become divine. By then, your life could become endless.”

After hearing Old Man Bodhi’s words, I was silent for a long time.

According to what he said,

In ancient times, mortals not only relied on this energy to begin awakening, but could even achieve immortality... the world was thriving.

Until later, Eve sealed the hole in the sky, cutting off the energy, causing those who had already become immortal to have their lifespans limited again.

“So, did Mother Eve make a mistake by patching the sky?”

Hearing my question, Old Man Bodhi looked at me seriously, then shook his head:

“Mother Eve was not wrong, because in this world, there shouldn’t have been gods to begin with...

The existence of gods increases the intake of energy from beyond the sky, which then kills many mortals who haven’t yet awakened.

So mortals who ascend should leave this world and go beyond the sky. But in the middle, some gods were unwilling to leave, and with great power they built order, divided the world into Realms and Paths, trying to use their higher status to enslave billions of mortals.

Back then, Mother Eve’s presence blocked their ambitions, but now, after millions of years, as their time runs out, their dark thoughts rise again...”

Old Man Bodhi lowered his brows:

“Now that the sky is about to break, only Hawkins can save the Realms, because he was the backup left by Mother Eve...”

“Great King?” I looked troubled.

“But the Great King was killed by me a thousand years ago...”

“Bodhi—”

At this moment, a chant suddenly came from the sky:

“I have searched for you for two million years—where do you think you can still run?”

I looked up suddenly.

A giant golden Saint hovered in the sky.

Beside him, the Nine-Dragon Chariot gleamed, a tall figure looming in the holy light.

“It’s the Silver King and the Bishop!”

I exclaimed.

But Old Man Bodhi only smiled faintly and waved his sleeve at me.

My body immediately moved without wind, quickly leaving Old Man Bodhi.

“Go to Five Pillar Mountain, awaken Hawkins, and let him find his true self—”

At that moment, Old Man Bodhi’s gentle voice, along with the golden staff, echoed in my ears.

I struggled to look back.

But golden light bloomed everywhere.

Those dazzling rays, whether holy or divine, instantly drowned Old Man Bodhi and Crescent Hollow.

“Six Ears—

Six Ears—”

I seemed to be in chaos.

But in a daze I heard a familiar voice.

I struggled to open my eyes.

In front of me was a void.

The dark purple energy had made this world murky.

“Six Ears—”

I suddenly turned over and sat up.

That wasn’t just in my head—it was the Great King’s voice!

But isn’t the Great King already gone?

“Six Ears, look down...”

Hearing this, I lowered my head.

In the darkness below me stood a great mountain.

Divine chains crisscrossed the mountain.

At the intersection of countless chains, a thin figure was bound.

No... that figure, though like a body with all its flesh rotted away,

Was only a spirit.

That spirit was so weak it seemed it would vanish at any moment.

But there was still an unyielding soul, stubbornly refusing to disappear.

“Great King!”

I cried out.

My body suddenly dropped.

But Five Pillar Mountain grew farther away.

“Six Ears, run—”

Under Five Pillar Mountain, the Great King raised his head with difficulty.

The chains running through his spirit suddenly tightened, and in an instant, the Great King’s spirit twisted in agony.

“Six Ears, you—run—”

This sentence seemed to use up all the Great King’s strength.

I was furious, summoned the golden staff, and smashed it at the mountain.

But the blow only caused ripples in the void.

Five Pillar Mountain remained untouched.

“Six Ears, don’t be stubborn.”

At that moment, golden light appeared.

The Bishop, who had destroyed Crescent Hollow with a flick, had caught up.

“If you step back now, you are still the Victorious Saint.”

The Bishop’s words entered my ears, and the darkness around me dispersed.

Only then did I see that behind the darkness, gods and saints filled the sky.

They were cloaked in holy light, but their faces were cold.

They were holy and noble.

I seemed full of sin.

I looked at familiar figures.

They were like mountains, making it hard for me to breathe.

“Ugh—ah—”

With the Bishop’s arrival, the Great King couldn’t help but roar in anger.

He trembled in pain, his voice breaking, not far away.

Each word seemed to smash into my heart.

I forced myself to withstand the Bishop’s pressure, hoping to get closer to the Great King.

Hoping to rescue him.

But the closer I got, the farther away the mountain seemed.

It was always right in front of me, yet always out of reach.

“This monkey’s rank is higher than Old Percy’s, but his understanding of faith is much worse than Old Percy’s.”

A mocking voice came from the saints in the sky:

“He doesn’t even know the saying ‘a flower, a world; a leaf, a Bodhi.’ That Five Pillar Mountain is near yet far, only...”

Suddenly, the Bishop’s holy light burst forth.

Seeing this, Percy hurriedly covered his mouth with both hands.

He forced a harmless, awkward smile to those around him.

But I had already understood what he was trying to remind me of.

So-called ‘a flower, a world; a leaf, a Bodhi’—

Is great supernatural power, and also great illusion.

So-called ‘far as the horizon, close as the eye’—

Is but a matter of inches.

And in these Realms, only the infinitely large and traceless golden staff can break all illusions and bring things back to reality.

Understanding this, I gripped the golden staff and charged at Five Pillar Mountain without hesitation.

“Stubborn!”

At that moment, a sigh came from the sky.

I struggled to look up and saw a huge palm print falling from the sky.

Where the palm passed,

Even the void was torn apart.

“Boom—”

After a loud bang, I opened my eyes, trembling.

Divine blood rained down.

But I was unscathed...

A deep voice sounded above my head:

“I told you, even if no one intervenes, you are not my match...”

John Ericson, though displaying the Law of Heaven and Earth, was still beaten down and kneeling by the Bishop.

He said to the dying Great King in Five Pillar Mountain: “Back then he crushed you with one palm; now, I only spat out some divine blood...”

“You... why bother...”

The Great King raised his head from the dust.

But after struggling for a while, he drooped again.

“John, you shouldn’t have come.”

In the sky, the figure in the Nine-Dragon Chariot spoke.

He sounded extremely disappointed.

As his words fell, divine soldiers all over the sky instantly attacked.

John forced himself to stand up.

The three-pronged spear pointed at the sky, he sneered: “The revenge for my mother and brothers has not yet been taken—how could I not come?”

As John spoke, he soared up.

“Millions of years ago, someone told me that if I insisted on revenge, even if I died and my faith perished, I still couldn’t kill you. In the end, I’d only drag my brothers down for nothing.

So now, I fight you not for all beings, but to settle the injustice in my heart.

Even if I die and my faith perishes, what do I fear?

Besides... this is what I owe that monkey...”

As John finished, wails rang through the sky.

I looked up and saw John, protected by mystical arts, rampaging among the holy soldiers.

Especially when the Thunder Spell burst from his palm.

He stood alone, with the courage of ten thousand men.

“You blockhead monkey, hurry and save Brother Monkey!”

As I watched, a voice full of exasperation came from behind.

I turned quickly.

Percy was hugging the Exquisite Lantern, running so fast his feet were on fire.

“Ericson, quickly give me back my lantern!”

Luke, chasing behind, looked even more anxious than him.

“Geez, they’re killing pigs!”

Percy shouted: “Nate, Nate, little Nate, our buddy little Nate... your dad’s lantern has been stolen by Old Percy...”

Sure enough, Nate—who was slacking off on the battlefield—heard this and immediately revealed his true form, sprouting three heads and six arms.

With a burst of holy fire, batches of holy soldiers fell from the clouds like rain.

“Uh?” I said.

Is this for real?

I subconsciously swallowed.

Suddenly, a wild wind rose beside me.

The dark sky gathered clouds.

In the depths of those layered clouds, dark purple thunder rolled.

Heaven’s wrath!

I looked in horror at the Nine-Dragon Chariot.

He was angry!

“Courting death!”

A cold voice came from the chariot.

Like rolling thunder.

Immediately, thunder as thick as tree trunks swept out from the clouds.

In just one strike—

Whether it was Nate with three heads and six arms, or John using the Law of Heaven and Earth, all were struck back to their original forms.

The clouds in the sky still surged.

World-ending thunder rolled in the clouds.

I glanced at the dying John, and suddenly remembered what Old Man Bodhi said.

He said the sky was about to break, and only the Great King could save the Realms.

Because the Great King was the backup left by Mother Eve...

I’m slow by nature, unable to comprehend the true meaning.

But now I had no other way.

Since Five Pillar Mountain is an illusion, as long as I hold the golden staff, I can never get close.

Because my body is real.

With this thought, I took advantage of the moment when the thunder fell, and soared up.

Using my own body, I blocked the Silver King’s fatal blow for John and the others.

The fierce thunder instantly engulfed me.

I didn’t even feel pain before my body was completely annihilated.

At the moment my body shattered, I poured all my remaining soul into the golden staff, and with my last thought, controlled the staff to sweep toward Five Pillar Mountain.

The golden staff, fused with my remnant soul, instantly became ethereal.

It easily entered Five Pillar Mountain.

The staff inside Five Pillar Mountain instantly shone brightly.

Countless golden lights fell.

Every divine chain on the Great King’s spirit snapped.

With the last chain gone, the strange energy surged violently.

Visibly, it formed a vortex sweeping the Realms.

When the vortex became real, countless holy soldiers froze.

In an instant, they were drained of all life by the vortex.

My soul trembled as I looked to the end of the vortex.

In the endless darkness, a vague figure suddenly raised its head.

“Bishop—Silver King—Old Sam is back!”

As two crimson lights flared, the once-invincible Great King, with his rage, broke out of the mountain.

Just before my consciousness vanished, I saw the Five Pillar Mountain, which had stood for countless years, collapse with a roar.

Then my consciousness seemed to fall into a warm ocean.

I smiled bitterly at the Great King, who held me in his hands but was as ethereal as me...

Only then did I remember that his body had been shattered by me on Mount Laurel a thousand years ago.

“Great King, your...”

“No matter.”

The Great King interrupted: “You’ve had it rough these years, next...”

“Blessed be—”

Next, the Bishop chanted a prayer.

As his ethereal words spread, the dark sky suddenly began to crack and tremble.

On that shattered sky, a huge meteorite suddenly fell.

As the meteorite fell, the Bishop, with a compassionate face, formed a sign with his hand and pointed at the sky, as if using holy power to wipe away the dust on the meteorite.

Soon, the meteorite emitted a dazzling five-colored light.

A figure was faintly visible in the light.

When the light faded, I saw that the figure looked exactly like me...

“Great King, it’s your body!”

I cried out.

“So close, so close, the sky was about to break!”

From the Nine-Dragon Chariot came an angry voice.

“No matter.”

The Bishop spoke indifferently: “Once we subdue this demon monkey, it won’t be too late to break it.”

I suddenly understood.

So the Bishop’s real purpose in plotting the Great King’s death back then was to use the Great King’s stone body to operate the Heaven-Breaking Array, to break open the sky patched by Eve.

So that the strange energy from beyond the sky, blocked by Eve, would pour into the Realms again...

And then use the special power contained in the energy to achieve immortality.

But this... would wipe out all mortals in the Realms!

I looked in horror at those lofty gods and saints, whose appearances were so holy and compassionate...

After the Great King’s body was summoned back by the Bishop,

The strange energy from beyond the sky suddenly disappeared.

The cracked sky was restored.

As the world returned to clarity, the figures of the gods and saints became incredibly filthy.

“You spent a million years to gain wisdom, and another million to gain a body. If you are willing to let go of the past, the gods and saints will give you a place among them.”

The Bishop looked down, his eyes full of compassion.

But the Great King ignored his soft words.

He only turned to look at John and Nate not far away, their holy armor broken, hair wild.

“Brother Monkey... how about letting it go? The lives of mortals, what do they have to do with you...” Percy clutched the lantern, hesitating nearby.

“Let it go?”

The Great King sneered.

“If I let it go, I’m not the Great Sage!”

With that, the Great King pointed his staff at the gods and saints:

“A place among you? You can keep it!”

The Great King threw my remaining soul to John, then, in spirit form, raised his staff and struck at the Bishop.

With the Great King’s rage, the golden staff in his hand suddenly became infinitely huge.

It was about to smash onto the Bishop’s head.

“Stubborn.” The Bishop shook his head and sighed.

He gently chanted the Six Words of Light:

“Om~ Ma~ Ni~ Ba~ Mi~ Hong—”

As the chant left the Bishop’s lips, the golden band on the Great King’s body suddenly shone.

The golden band tightened.

“Ugh—ah!”

The bone-piercing pain passed from the Great King’s body, straight to his spirit.

A moment ago, the awe-inspiring Great King was now clutching his head in pain in the void.

“Heaven’s punishment!”

At the same time, a decree came from the Nine-Dragon Chariot.

The nine holy dragons pulling the chariot soared up.

After merging with heaven and earth, they converged from all directions.

Bringing the nine most extreme forces in the world, they attacked the Great King.

When gold, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, light, and darkness—all nine powers—burst forth, the Realms became dazzlingly colorful.

And the Great King at the center of the vortex.

In an instant, he was swallowed and annihilated by this power.

After the ultimate brilliance, a pitch-black hole appeared in the void.

Countless eyes stared at the center of the black hole.

A white dot slowly grew at the center.

As the dot grew, it spun rapidly, gradually merging with the darkness.

It became the shape of a yin-yang disk.

Then, just as the disk was about to burst out of the black hole, a stem that was neither tree nor vine grew from the space between light and dark.

When the stem matured, a Bodhi appeared under the largest leaf, and a white-haired, saintly old man walked out from the Bodhi.

“Hawkins, have you still not figured out who you are?”

Old Man Bodhi looked kindly at me.

As he spoke, a ray of golden light burst from the black hole.

The golden staff from the void suddenly filled the black hole.

On the golden, shining platform,

A curled-up figure slowly stretched out.

He looked at Old Man Bodhi in confusion, then asked:

“Not within the Realms, yet trapped in the Five Elements... so, who should I be?”

—I am Sam Hawkins.

It seems I have many identities in this life.

I am my master’s student, my brother’s senior.

I am lord of a mountain, and king of all monsters.

Some call me Hawkins, some call me Traveler.

They curse me as a demon, yet revere me as the Great Sage.

But tracing back to the source, none of those are me.

I am just a stubborn stone.

A stone unwilling to be alone, so it took on a form.

I could have become any living being in this world.

But in those hundreds of years, what I saw most were monkeys...

So I became a stone monkey, and became their king.

The three hundred seventy years in Silver Hollow Mountain were the happiest days of my life.

Because I felt the joy of being alive.

I thought I could go on like this forever.

But one day, my monkey general died.

That was the first time I felt the pain of parting in death.

Another monkey general comforted me, telling me not to be sad, saying all life in this world must die—unless one can seek immortality and learn the way to avoid calamities.

Why?

I didn’t understand.

We exist in this world, shouldn’t we be immortal?

Who controls our life and death?

I didn’t want to die.

Even more, I didn’t want my monkeys to die.

So after entrusting Silver Hollow Mountain to Six Ears,

I decided to set sail, vowing to learn the way to immortality.

In Crescent Hollow, the old saint asked my name.

I was stunned for a moment, then realized I had no name.

I only said I was the Handsome Monkey King of Silver Hollow Mountain.

The old saint laughed and said that was not a name.

So he gave me the name Sam Hawkins.

Hawkins?

It sounds so mysterious.

I rolled the name around in my mouth, the syllables strange but somehow fitting. In the hush of the forest, it felt like a promise, or a beginning.