Chapter 287: The Returned Monkey

Will that big monkey come back?

You, nearing fifty, with your temples already streaked with white, can't help but sit alone by the sea, reminiscing about the past…

The sea breeze blew gently, stirring your longing.

In your memory, the monkey's image has become blurred; after all, it's been nearly thirty years, and you are not someone with photographic memory. As time wears on, you, an ordinary person, unconsciously forget many things.

You only remember its golden fur all over, and that it was human-like and could speak.

And… its promise.

A strange monkey, harboring an illusory dream, set foot on an impractical path to seek immortality… Its equipment was so shabby, relying only on a small fishing boat you gave it out of friendship, it dared to dream of crossing the vast sea to find the legendary immortals.

Such confidence really makes you feel ridiculous!

What does it rely on to find immortals? Even if it did, what would it rely on to be accepted as a disciple?

You are no longer the boy whose mind was filled only with fantasy; as you matured, your understanding of worldly affairs deepened, making you ever more aware of the impracticality of the monkey's quest for immortality.

No matter how you try to justify it for it, it is nearly impossible for it to take an immortal as master… Its greatest possibility is to encounter a storm and become lost in the endless deep sea, or to be captured by ordinary people while walking among humans; even if it luckily survives, it can only spend the rest of its life in the prison of the powerful.

You have always understood this principle, and as you age, you understand it even better: you can easily come up with over a hundred reasons for its failure, each guaranteed to be a logical result derived from reality!

Pure idealism must ultimately yield to cold, complex reality—this is unavoidable.

But…

The more helpless you feel toward reality, the clearer you see its illusory emptiness, and yet the more you harbor a hope that transcends reality.

Precisely because you know its illusory emptiness, you feel drawn to it, hoping it might truly happen in reality…

The older you get, the more realistic you become—this is correct, because people know more and more; turning the unknown into the known makes people ever smarter, so they no longer believe in the products of fantasy, which at a glance seem fake.

The older you get, the more dreamy you become—this is also correct, because the more something seems false, the more people wish it were true.

And now you find yourself in such a contradictory mindset: you are caught between the two great mountains of ideal and reality; reality tells you the monkey almost certainly won't return, while idealism lets you place infinite hope on that slim possibility beyond 'almost'.

"You… will you come back?"

From sunrise to sunset, sitting by the sea watching the sun rise over the water and then set into it, you sit there all day… You fiddle with the sand and pebbles on the shore, but your gaze is always emptily fixed on the distant sea.

You hope to see a small sailboat appear where sea meets sky, and also hope to see that monkey bathed in golden sunlight, a splendid scene; in intangible ways it has borne too many of your expectations.

You spent the first half of your life denying fantasy, yet the second half hoping for it.

To this day, you can no longer tell whether you are waiting for that monkey, or for the childhood fantasy it represents…

As night fell, another day's hope was dashed; you silently lowered your head, rose from the shore where you had sat fantasizing all day, and slowly returned to your quiet home, just as you return from fantasy to reality.

…

Your life remains the same two-point routine: practicing the Contemplation Method at home, waiting for the big monkey by the sea.

It's a pity that the Contemplation Method still hasn't yielded any progress, and the big monkey never shows up…

When you were forty-three, your daughter, married into the county town, gave birth to a child—your grandson was born. Thereafter, they, just like you in your youth, returned to the village only during festivals to see you.

Thus you finally came to understand what your parents felt back then…

Since your grandson was born, he has become another of your emotional anchors; besides your steadfast sitting practice and gazing blankly at the sea, your sole anticipation is to count the days until the festival—not for the festival itself, but to wait for your grandson.

Each time your daughter's family brings the grandson over, you become full of energy, holding him as you romp around the beach, repeating the days you once spent taking your daughter out.

But once your grandson leaves, your spirits sag again, and you continue waiting for the next festival.

Forty-three, forty-six, forty-nine…

All this repeated itself, until the year you turned fifty-two.

…

It was during the New Year period, in your careful reckoning, that your grandson returned to the village once again, laughing and playing with you every day by the sea.

Happy, you took him fishing and casting nets… These means by which your ancestors made a living have now become the things you use to entertain your grandson.

You rowed the fishing boat you had bought especially, carrying him as he set nets and fished; grandfather and grandson enjoyed themselves greatly…

Suddenly, a dilapidated small boat came slowly sailing from the distant sea.

You glanced at it, thinking it was just a villager returning from fishing at sea, and didn't pay much attention—until… it started calling you!

"Benefactor! I'm back again!"

You startled, lifted your head, a jolt in your chest, thinking of some possibility; you stared intently, trying to catch sight of that golden figure…

"Grandpa, what are you looking at?" the grandson asked curiously.

Your face lit up with wild joy as you pointed toward the boat: 'Monkey! It's the monkey!'

"Monkey?"

Your ten‑year‑old grandson, astonished, followed your pointing gaze and said: 'Where is there a monkey?'

"Look! Don't you see it? It's waving at me!"

You pointed at it, feeling moved: 'After all these years apart, I never expected it to still be so handsome—its golden fur shining splendidly in the sun, truly admirable.'

"It still remembers me! It's going to take me to become an immortal!"

You felt a myriad of emotions… yet you failed to notice your grandson's growing worried gaze…

Then, after the boat docked, your clever grandson bolted back, shouting: 'Oh no! Grandpa's gone mad! Grandpa's gone mad!'

Am I mad?

You frowned, watching his retreating back: 'What nonsense is this kid spouting?'

Never mind him! Seeing the monkey is what matters!

You waited on the shore with eager anticipation for it to dock…

After a while, that familiar broken fishing boat drew near the shore, and from it leapt the figure you had seen countless times in your dreams.

Its golden fur shone especially splendidly in the sunlight, seeming even more handsome than it had been thirty‑odd years ago.

"Benefactor! I'm back!"

The golden‑furred big monkey shouted cheerfully at you!

You couldn't help but burst into tears of joy: "Just come back! Just come back..."

"Did you find an immortal?"

You asked eagerly.

"Of course I found him!"

The monkey raised his head proudly: "I found Lingtai Fangcun Shan in Xiniu Hezhou; inside the mountain there is a cave called Xieyue Sansheng Dong, and in the cave resides Patriarch Bodhi, who possesses boundless magical power and limitless divine abilities!"

"I endured countless hardships and finally became the Patriarch's disciple; the Patriarch passed on to me the Immortality Technique!"

"Immortality Technique!"

You listened, immensely excited: "Indeed, there truly is an Immortality Technique in the world; I haven't waited in vain!"

"Can you teach me?"

You were extremely excited, and asked cautiously.

"This..."

"This..." the monkey hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "This won't do; I haven't yet received the Patriarch's permission... Unless you come with me to see the Patriarch, let the Patriarch teach you personally."

"Go see the Patriarch?"

A glimmer of light reappeared in your eyes: "If I could manage to meet that Patriarch Bodhi, I would surely have a chance to become an immortal..."

"The Contemplation Method I obtained from the Western King is still too difficult to practice; after all these years I've made no progress... Rather than stubbornly sticking to the Contemplation Method, it's better to follow the monkey to see the Patriarch; with personal guidance from an immortal, your future will surely be limitless!"

Thinking of all the wonderful things in the future, you secretly made up your mind...

So you nodded at the monkey: "Good! After I bid farewell to my family, I'll go with you to Xiniu Hezhou to meet Patriarch Bodhi!"

As you were speaking, you turned your head and saw your wife, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson all running toward you, each of their faces filled with worry...

"Head of the household! What's wrong with you?"

The wife anxiously embraced you in one grab: "Did you see something unclean?"

"Dad! A Heng said you've gone mad, saying you're pointing at an empty sea with nothing, yet you saw some monkey..."

You shook your head: "How am I mad? The monkey is right here!"

You pointed at the empty sand with no monkey, speaking solemnly.

……

(End of chapter)