The Rotting Buddhas of Journey to the West - chapter 5

Things grew ever more bizarre.

I once thought the Three Realms ought to be just as they were-gods, humans, ghosts, immortals, and demons, all from the Heavenly Court to the Underworld, everything in perfect order.

Only now do I realize how naïve I was.

The mist over the Three Realms thickens. For example, what lies above the Ninth Heaven? And what is at the very bottom of the great sea?

I dare not dwell on these questions, afraid that the correct answer might suddenly dawn on me.

As a child, I always believed the Heavenly Court was the highest, and the Underworld the deepest. But both Laojun and my father have told me one thing-

Everyone is just a frog at the bottom of a well, gazing at the sky.

Retracing the Journey to the West, my first stop is Flower-Fruit Mountain.

That is where the Monkey King began, and where the journey itself began.

Most importantly, I want to investigate the Six-Eared Macaque. When he impersonated the Eldest Senior Brother, he once returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Thinking back now, that fellow is truly suspicious…

Aolai Country, Flower-Fruit Mountain-here, monkeys and their offspring cover the hills and valleys. Every year, the monkey tribe gathers at the center of the waterfall to worship a statue.

It is the one they await, and they have waited five hundred years.

“Are you the Horse Monkey General?”

The monkey tribe surrounded me, and I addressed the old monkey at the front.

The old monkey waved his hand, signaling the tribe to disperse, and greeted me gently, “You must be the king’s junior disciple, the Third Prince of the Western Sea.”

“You actually recognize me.”

“The king returned once and told us about you.”

“That time, was it a fake monkey impersonating your king?”

As soon as I said this, the old monkey’s cloudy eyes flashed with sharp light, and he gestured for silence: “Let’s talk inside the cave.”

I followed the old monkey into the cave behind the waterfall. It was unusually quiet, with only a stone bed set upon a platform, silently awaiting its true master.

“May I ask, Third Prince, why hasn’t the king returned?”

“He…” I didn’t know how to answer. Telling the monkeys would only make them worry needlessly.

“The Eldest Senior Brother has important matters and cannot return for now,” I lied.

The old monkey nodded slowly, as if trying to convince himself.

“You just mentioned the fake monkey who impersonated our king?”

“Yes, his name is Six-Eared Macaque. Later, he was captured by the Buddha. I want to ask, when he was at Flower-Fruit Mountain, was there anything unusual about him?”

Upon hearing this, the old monkey gave a bitter smile, then leaned back and closed his eyes. I saw a tear slide down his face.

“What Six-Eared Macaque, what being captured by the Buddha-all of that is false.”

I couldn’t quite understand the old monkey’s words.

“Why do you say that?”

“I can tell you, but afterward, I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

“Of course.”

The old monkey gazed at the stone bed for a long time before speaking.

“Five hundred years ago, our monkey tribe chose a Handsome Monkey King outside the Water Curtain Cave. Those days were our happiest and most carefree.”

“Later, the king wanted to go overseas to learn the secret of immortality, so he set off alone on a wooden raft.”

“Ahem… Sorry, I’ve heard this part from the Eldest Senior Brother,” I interrupted inappropriately.

The old monkey looked at me blankly.

“But there’s one thing you surely don’t know. Three days after the king set out, I found his corpse on the shore!”

His words struck like thunder!

I staggered back two steps, feeling the blood in my veins turn cold in an instant!

“Do you know what you’re saying!” I shouted, furious.

Unexpectedly, the old monkey ignored me, instead slowly crouching down, clutching his head and sobbing.

“I… I so wished it was just my imagination! But… later, another king returned, bringing with him powers that could shake the heavens and the earth.”

The old monkey’s withered face was drenched in tears, his voice entirely choked with sobs.

“So I’ve never understood-was the corpse on the shore the king, or was the one who returned after learning those skills the king?”

“Then… then the Six-Eared Macaque…”

“Afterward, I secretly buried that corpse in the Rear Mountain Ice Pool. Later, when the matter of the true and false king arose, I went again to the bottom of the Ice Pool, and…”

The old monkey paused, and I had a feeling I knew what he was about to say.

“The corpse beneath the water… was gone!”

A wave of dizziness swept over me, and I felt as if I were trapped in a terrible nightmare.