Chapter 347 Hearing the Immortal Singing

Seeing that the monkey finally started to behave, Shang Yang, who had changed his body several times, was delighted, but he pretended to be ignorant and asked: “Why are you crying, my king? We are free and happy now, so why should we be sad?”

The Monkey King’s eyes were filled with tears, and he sighed, “Even though happiness is a thousand good things, there is still a long-term worry. How can I be happy if I don’t get rid of this worry?”

Many demon saints and star gods laughed and said, “Your Majesty is really unsatisfied. We are singing and feasting here every day without any worries. In such a blessed place of immortal mountains and ancient caves, we are not afraid of the jurisdiction of the Qilin and are not subject to the constraints of the Phoenix.

Even the current leader of the human race cannot restrain us. Being free is an infinite blessing in the world. Why worry about the future? Isn’t this just worrying about nothing?”

The Monkey King had tears in his eyes as he looked at these monkeys who only knew how to laugh, sing and feast, and felt very sad. Now they were enjoying so much happiness, but if one day their souls returned to the heaven and earth, how would they cope with the situation?
As their king, the Monkey King didn’t know why he could live so long, but he didn’t want to see the familiar faces eventually become old and frail, so he closed his eyes and returned home.

Even though the other monkeys said that it was fate and that it would happen to everyone, the Monkey King still couldn’t accept it.

As the Monkey King, he is unable to bring eternal happiness to his people, which makes the Monkey King feel extremely sad.

He couldn’t help but lament, “Even though we are free and happy now, and no one in heaven, earth, or gods or ghosts can control us, there will always be a day when we are old and weak, and there will always be someone to control us.

When that day comes, the King of Hell will send people to teach us how to take our souls away. Once we die, wouldn’t it be a waste of our lives in this world? Pain, pain, pain! Why can’t we remain in heaven forever? “

The Monkey King looked up to the sky and uttered three words of pain. His voice was mournful, like a cuckoo crying with blood in its mouth, which made those who heard it sad, and those who felt it heartbroken, resentful that the world was so unpredictable.

Upon hearing this, these demon saints and star gods immediately covered their faces and cried bitterly. Monkeys roared in bursts, apes cried in the valleys, and the birds disappeared from the thousands of mountains and people were wiped out from the thousands of paths.

They were of course pretending, but only in this way could this protector of the Dao be inspired to pursue the Dao. Otherwise, if he only knew how to sing and dance all day, he would be wasting the Empress’s kindness.

As time was getting better, a strange-looking monkey suddenly jumped out from the group of monkeys. This monkey looked no different from the other monkeys, except that his skin had a slightly rustic texture.

These monkeys are all disguised as the demon saints and star gods of the demon race. Naturally, there won’t be a real monkey mixed in. The origin of this monkey is naturally not simple.

After the leaders of the two tribes of warlocks and liches committed suicide to repay the karma of heaven and earth, other living forces except for these two leaders were not weakened much.

Under the protection of Nuwa, the demon race naturally entered a stage of rapid development. Although there are still the ten great demon saints today, some changes have taken place in the guardians of the heavens and the star gods of the sky.

The twenty-four celestial guardians became thirty-six celestial Dharma Kings, and under each Dharma King were nine celestial guardians. The three hundred and sixty-five celestial stars became three thousand.

Even so, the demon race’s manpower is definitely not limited to this. There are many more hidden old demons practicing in the Southern Continent, and they have not appeared until today.

Now this monkey is one of the Dharma Kings of the Heavens, and his origin is the Spiritual Stone Monkey among the Four Mischievous Monkeys. He can change his appearance, know the weather, know the terrain, move stars and change constellations, and he is born with extraordinary magical powers and wisdom.

His origin is similar to that of the Monkey King. He is also a monkey that emerged from a stone. The only difference is that the stone he emerged from is a chaotic stone, which is equivalent to the original body of the current God and Queen Mother.

However, his body is not made of stone. Instead, the essence of the stone broke out of his body and evolved into a monkey. He can be said to be a congenital monkey and has nothing to do with the monkey clan.

It is just like Nuwa, whose true form is a human head and a snake body, but she is not a member of the snake clan.

The Monkey King can be considered a clever stone monkey, but his original body is too powerful. Thanks to the intervention of several saints, he has been able to break away from the category of stone monkeys and transform into another brand new body of a god.

The Stone Monkey King was envious when he saw this, and naturally wanted to transform into a body like this. Unfortunately, the Chaos Stone was much weaker than the Five-Colored Stone, and without the help of a saint, he was naturally unable to change.

Therefore, the Stone Monkey King took the initiative to join in, with the purpose of absorbing some of the essence of the Monkey King in order to transform his origin.

So when he saw that the Monkey King had come to his senses, he immediately stepped out and shouted loudly, “If your Majesty is so far-sighted, you can be said to have a perfect heart of Taoism.

Just having a heart of Taoism alone cannot free you from the control of the King of Hell. Now only a third-class color name can free you from this restraint, and the king can live without worries year after year, truly without worries!”

The Monkey King asked, “Do you know which three types of people can escape the jurisdiction of the King of Hell?”

The Stone Monkey King said, “Of course they are Buddha, Immortal, and Divine. These three kinds of people are not afraid of reincarnation, they are neither born nor dead. Even if the mountains and rivers are destroyed, these three kinds of people will still exist.”

The Monkey King was very excited and asked, “Where do these three people live? Do you know where they are?”

However, when it comes to this, the Stone Monkey King stopped talking and only said that these people are everywhere in the world, and there may be one not far away, or even at the end of the world.

The Monkey King was not sad when he heard the news. Instead, his heart was filled with joy. He immediately decided to go down the mountain and travel around the world. He was determined to visit these three people and learn a secret of immortality so that all monkeys could escape the jurisdiction of the King of Hell.

All the monkeys were laughing and talking happily at this time, and the next day they all went to pick fairy peaches and exotic fruits, countless rare flowers and herbs, and all kinds of orchids and osmanthus trees. This handful was Shennong’s five-color rice, and that one was the heavenly Renshui peaches.

In this Flower-Fruit Mountain, all kinds of rare fairy fruits and flowers in the world are available. It is indeed called the Flower-Fruit Mountain, with all kinds of flowers and fruits.

The Monkey King had no idea that these things were rare treasures in the world. Seeing these monkeys working so hard, he was deeply moved and decided to learn the art of immortality so that they could accompany him forever.

Then the monkeys made a raft with the fairy branches and sacred trees in the sky, and made a bamboo pole with six pure bamboos from the west. They weaved a cushion with ginseng fruit leaves, weaved a fruit basket with bodhi branches, and used laurel petals as a large sail. This was the end of the plan.

The Monkey King stepped onto the raft and pushed down hard. He found that the raft was very solid and was immediately more satisfied.

Then he waved his hands vigorously at the people on the shore and said, “Go back quickly! I will come back sooner or later!”

Many monkeys were also chirping and waving their arms on the cliffs, obviously bidding farewell to the Monkey King. Seeing that the Flower-Fruit Mountain was getting smaller and smaller until it was out of sight, the Monkey King finally withdrew his gaze and looked forward.

But for some reason, he seemed to accidentally see huge figures, all of which emerged from his monkeys and descendants. But then he laughed and blamed himself for seeing things. How could this be possible?
Seeing that the Monkey King had finally left, these demon saints and star gods finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately turned around and transformed into the state of innate Taoist bodies.

“Master Military Advisor, should we go back to Taisutian or Nanzhanbuzhou next, or continue to stay here?” Qin Yuan asked.

She felt uncomfortable turning into a monkey, after all, she really didn’t like such furry things.

Bai Ze, who was wearing a Taoist robe, waved his feather fan, thought for a while, and then shook his head and said, “The Monkey King will be back soon. Instead of wasting time flying around, we might as well wait for him here. We can only leave after he officially enters the journey to the West.”

Upon hearing this, many demon saints were at a loss, and lay helplessly on the side. Only the Stone Monkey King asked cautiously: “Master Military Advisor, where will the Monkey King go to practice?”

Bai Ze said casually: “Of course, we have to go to the corpse of the saint Zhunti, the place where the Bodhi Patriarch is. This calamity is the Journey to the West calamity. If we don’t go to the West to practice, where should we go to obtain the scriptures?”

The Stone Monkey King nodded and also went to the side to rest.

The Monkey King just went with the flow, and whenever he came across some islands, he would ride his bamboo raft forward, searching for the so-called third-class people.

But now that the Monkey King has appeared on the sea, there are no telling how many dragons are staring at him. Some Hunyuan dragons opened their mouths and exhaled, blowing out gentle streams of wind, sending him to the border of Southern Continent first.

Jambu Continent is the most mixed place among the four continents. People of all races, even humans, are present. The place where the Monkey King is approaching now is one of the human territories.

It’s a pity that this happened to be a mortal village, so the Monkey King naturally couldn’t find the immortal trace, so he wandered around, looking around, and occasionally he would imitate humans, wearing clothes and performing rituals. Except for the monkey hair all over his face, he was really no different from an ordinary person.

But in most cases, the Monkey King would eat wind and sleep light, get up early and sleep late, travel day and night, and sometimes even walk for months without stopping, just to find the trace of immortality.

But after wandering here for several years, the Monkey King did not find any trace of the immortal. He felt a little discouraged and unknowingly came to the sea again.

Seeing that his small raft was still there and thinking of his monkeys, the Monkey King mustered up his courage, reached into the fruit basket and took out a big peach. After eating his fill, he began rowing again.

The numerous Hunyuan Divine Dragons began to blow air again, and soon the Monkey King was carried to a beautiful mountain. This place was already Xiniu Hezhou.

The Monkey King climbed the mountain as usual. He was not afraid of wolves, tigers and leopards. He climbed all the way to the top. When he reached the top, he looked down and found that it was indeed a good mountain.

Thousands of peaks are spread out, tens of thousands of cliffs are spread out, the sun shines on the mist and lightly locks the green, the rain stops and the dark green is cold, withered vines entangle old trees, an ancient ferry crossing a secluded path, exotic flowers and rare grasses, tall bamboos and pines, an evergreen land that never withers in all seasons.

Seeing such a landscape, even if the Monkey King had confidence in the Flower-Fruit Mountain, he was impressed and thought that this mountain was much better than the Flower-Fruit Mountain.

But after noticing this scene, he felt a surge of excitement in his heart. After all, he had been traveling in the Southern Continent for many years, and the Monkey King had also learned some rules. In a good place like this, there must be masters hiding their identities.

It’s not like he had not been to these places before, but either they were not as good as the Flower-Fruit Mountain or they were too high and deep for him to climb. Now that he saw this huge mountain, how could he let it go?

The Monkey King took two steps forward from his three-seater seat and walked closer. By chance he heard someone talking, so he stepped in quickly and listened carefully, only to discover that it was the sound of singing.

“Watching the chess pieces being played, the clinking of woodcutters, walking slowly at the edge of the valley, selling firewood and drinking wine, laughing wildly and intoxicated by my emotions…”

The singing was particularly elegant, especially the last line ‘wherever we meet, we are either immortals or Taoists, sitting quietly and talking about Huangting’ which made the Monkey King very happy. Knowing the immortals and Taoists, this person must be an old immortal!
The Monkey King jumped in, only to find that the person singing was actually a woodcutter, who was chopping wood with an axe. He was wearing a bamboo hat, a cloth robe, straw sandals, and holding a steel axe. There was nothing special about him at all.

But the Monkey King had already determined that this man was the old immortal, so he ran over quickly and shouted, “Old immortal! Please accept my disciple’s greetings!”

When the woodcutter saw the Monkey King coming to worship him as his master, he immediately became so flustered that he even dropped his axe. He turned around and saluted, saying, “I don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve it. I am just an ordinary man. I don’t have enough food and clothing now. I worry about my three meals a day. How can I deserve the title of immortal?”

The Monkey King was a simple-minded person who did not understand any tactful reasoning. He immediately stood up upon hearing this and asked in confusion, “If you are not a god, how can you speak the words of a god?”

Maitreya Buddha pretended to be puzzled and said, “What did I say? How come this old man doesn’t understand this?”

The Monkey King was afraid that the man had forgotten, so he hurriedly said, “I just heard you say, ‘When we meet, we are either immortals or Taoists. Sit quietly and talk about Huangting.’ I heard someone say that Huangting is the Tao Te Ching, and only immortals can talk about it!”

After hearing this, Maitreya Buddha acted as if he had suddenly realized something and said with a smile: “Young man, you heard it wrongly. I also heard it from others. It was an old immortal who taught me.

The immortal lived next door to me. Seeing that I had a lot of housework and daily worries, he taught me these words to recite whenever I was upset, to help me relax and get out of trouble.

I was a little sleepy just now, so I just read it out loud. I didn’t expect that the young man heard it, and he laughed at me. “

Seeing that this old man actually lived next to the immortals but did not practice with them, the Monkey King was curious and said, “You are such a strange person. Since you have the blessing to live with the immortals, why don’t you practice with them and learn a method of immortality? In this way, you can get rid of these troubles and be happy, right?”

After hearing this, Maitreya Buddha sighed, “I don’t want to learn the Dao, but unfortunately my life is full of hardships. I was born alone. My parents raised me when I was only eight or nine years old, but my father died. Now my mother is a widow, and I have no brothers or sisters. I am the only one left.

I had no choice but to serve her day and night. Now that my mother is old, I dare not abandon her. Besides, the fields are barren and we don’t have enough food and clothing. I can only chop wood and fetch water, sell them for a few cents, and get a few liters of rice.

Cooking simple meals every day to support my mother takes up a lot of my energy. How can I have time to practice?”

(End of this chapter)