Chapter 366: The Way of Propping Up a Desk Leg

Thunder!

An invisible thunderbolt, powerful enough to cleave heaven and earth, boomed in the part of Sun Wukong's mind that was about to plunge into deathly silence.

His pupils, having lost all focus and turned hollow and lifeless, suddenly contracted into the most dangerous pinpoints in that instant.

He lay like a wild dog with its spine ripped out, sprawled on the icy ground that kept cracking open.

Yet his gaze, like a red-hot branding iron, was driven down and pinned firmly beneath that desk!

That piece of turtle shell!

That piece of turtle shell, casually grabbed by Master to prop up a short leg of the desk, broken, worn, and covered in dust...

Prop! Desk! Leg!

These three words were like three divine hammers dipped in molten lava, striking again and again, smashing deep into his divine soul!

What does it mean to prop a desk leg?

Sun Wukong's brain began to spin at an unprecedented, frantic speed at this moment!

The desk became uneven, wobbling, unable to hold things steady—what to do?

Should we study the desk's material, analyze its mechanical structure, then fetch the finest divine wood,

and, using the most precise laws, craft a perfect new leg for it?

No!

To hell with it!

Who needs all that trouble!

Just grab whatever you find lying on the ground or in the trash heap!

A broken stone!

A piece of rotten grass paper!

Even a lump of dried cow dung!

As long as it works, as long as it's hard enough—whatever it is, just shove it straight under the shortened desk leg!

Then kick it hard with your foot to lock it in place!

The desk—doesn't it stop wobbling now?!

This... this hell, what kind of Principle is this?

What kind of method is this?

Is there any logic in this? Any order? Any 'meaning'?

None!

Nothing at all!

This is a most irrational approach!

This is a most utilitarian solution!

This is a slapdash, make-do method, a thuggish tactic full of 'making do' and 'settling for'!

And what does that shadowy manipulator, that lofty being who treats all things as artworks, value?

He values 'termination'! He values 'negation'! He plays with 'meaning'!

And what about Old Man Hongjun?

He values 'order'! He values 'fixed numbers'! He writes the 'laws'!

They are all high-and-mighty 'top-tier players'!

They sit on an incomparably vast chessboard, elegantly and calmly playing by the rules they themselves set!

They enjoy the process! The control! The pleasure of toying with all beings in the palm of their hand!

But what about Master?

My Master, after experiencing hundreds of millions of deductions and hundreds of millions of failures, what did he realize?

He realized—'To hell with fixed numbers!'

He realized—'I'm not playing anymore!'

Sun Wukong's body hair stood on end all over at this moment!

He understood!

He thoroughly, completely understood!

This piece of turtle shell! It was never a key! Never a map! Much less some ultimate treasure capable of destroying heaven and earth!

This turtle shell represents Master's spirit of 'I won't play by your rules—I'll solve problems with the crudest methods'—a rascal's spirit!

It's the attitude of 'You play your refined tunes; I'll stick to my vulgar songs'—a carefree, unrefined stance!

What... what have I been doing all along?

I've been using a 'player's' mindset to oppose the 'GM' who sets the rules!

I've been trying to assault his 'fixed numbers' with ever more sophisticated 'variables'!

I've been trying to crash his black-and-white system with a 'gray' bug!

So I was bound to lose, no doubt!

Because no matter how you jump around, you're still on his board! You're still in his game!

And what is Master's true hint?

What is Master's true way to break the deadlock?

It's to stop being that smug little player!

Go be a... desk-flipping bastard!

Go be a... cable-pulling rascal!

"Ah… ahaha…"

"A tremendous joy, impossible to describe, like a collapsing mountain and tsunami, instantly engulfed Sun Wukong's Divine Soul!"

"He lay on the ground, first chuckling softly."

"As he laughed, his shoulders began to shudder violently."

"Finally, he could no longer hold back; he raised his head, opened his mouth, and let out an earth‑shaking, resounding laugh that echoed throughout the entire spiritual world!"

"\"Ahahahahahahahaha——!!! \""

"\"I get it! I finally fucking get it!!! \"

"\"Hahahahahaha!! \"\n【69】 "He laughed so hard he doubled over, rolling on the ground!"

He laughed until he doubled over, laughing until he rolled all over the ground!

"Golden tears, like a bursting flood, poured wildly from his bloodshot eyes!"

"These were tears of ecstasy!"

"They were the tears of finally breaking free from all fetters, seeing the sun through the clouds!"

"More than that, they were tears of laughter at his own utterly foolish idea!"

"He cradled that ordinary, dust‑covered tortoise shell like a child who had just gotten his favorite toy, laughing and crying, a complete madman, a fool!"

"Ridiculous!"

"I, Sun Wukong… am truly the most ridiculous… absolute fool under Heaven!!"

"It took him so long to grasp such a simple principle!"

"He actually thought he would have to debate scriptures and discuss the Dao with that sneaky, good‑for‑nothing!"

"Discussing what a load of bullshit Dao!"

"His master had already told him: the only Dao is not to speak of Dao!"

"The only principle is not to speak of principle!"

"And in the midst of his wild, unrestrained laughter, a miracle occurred."

"The study that was collapsing and continuously being devoured by the Blank scroll, the beams falling from the sky, the earth constantly cracking…"

"Unexpectedly…"

"Unexpectedly, everything strangely ceased collapsing!"

"Time seemed to have been hit with a pause button."

"The Blank scroll representing Absolute Malice, its expanding momentum, also came to a halt!"

"It… seemed unable to comprehend this monkey before it."

"It could not understand how a broken Dao Heart, about to be completely 'Negated', a failure, could laugh?"

"And why would it laugh so joyfully, so wildly?"

"This defies logic."

"This… is meaningless."

"Sun Wukong's laughter gradually faded."

"He trembled, summoning all his strength to push himself up from the ground."

"He held the tortoise shell as if it were the most precious treasure in the world, carefully placing it in his palm."

"He looked at the tortoise shell as if he were looking at his master's face, tinged with a hint of playfulness and slyness."

"\"Master…\""

"\"Disciple… I understand. \""

"He whispered hoarsely, his voice filled with a determination he had never felt before."

"The next moment, he took action."

"He poured into the tortoise shell the last trace of Source Power remaining in his divine soul—a power already thoroughly mixed with the gray 'rust spots', filthy and impure—without hesitation!"

"He wanted to see."

"He wanted to see how the object bearing his master's final 'Great Dao' would respond."

"However…"

"Nothing happened."

"The tortoise shell did not glow."

"No earth‑shattering phenomenon erupted."

"Not even a trace of energy fluctuation appeared."

"It was just a true, ordinary, stubborn stone."

"After he infused his power into it, the tortoise shell merely trembled slightly, then… it threw that power right back at him, unchanged, even with a hint of disdain!"

"That feeling was as if it were clearly telling him:"

"\"You worthless junk, stay away from me. \""

"Sun Wukong froze."

"But immediately he laughed again."

"This time, his smile held no madness, no self‑mockery."

"Only a sense of relieved clarity remained."

"Yeah."

"He had messed up again."

"That tortoise shell was merely a teaching aid."

"It was simply an example his master used to enlighten this dull disciple, the most direct illustration."

It itself is nothing.

The true way of 'propping up the table leg' has never relied on an external object.

But……rely on oneself!

Rely on that Monkey Heart of oneself, which dares to scorn all rules, dares to use the most despicable means to solve problems……the Monkey Heart!

Having figured all this out, Sun Wukong only felt his thoughts penetrating, his Divine Soul unprecedentedly clear and powerful!

He slowly raised his head, his gaze falling on not far away, that scroll of 'Blank' which, because the situation was unclear, had temporarily stopped expanding.

He looked at that expanse representing 'Absolute Malice', representing 'Ultimate Negation' of the Blank.

The Fear Heart Demon, despair, and anger in his eyes have vanished without a trace.

What replaced it was a kind of……eager-to-try excitement!

A kind of……seeing a brand-new toy, the curiosity and frenzy!

He cracked his mouth open, revealing a mouthful of stark-white teeth.

That Smile, was full of wildness.

Full of roguishness.

Even more full of……a kind that makes gods and Buddhas feel their scalps tingle, pure, unadorned……ruffianly air!

"Scum……"

He hoisted that similarly rusted Tiěbàng, pointing far away at that Blank, with a tone of extreme frivolity and extreme provocation, he hehe laughed:

"Are you ready?"

"This old monkey……will start……propping up your table leg!"