Chapter 290

"Can't find Fangcun Mountain?"

Watching the disappointed Lin Liu leave Xiniu Hezhou to meet his predestined death, Zhao Si was also dazed for a while.

Because he had imagined many scenarios, such as Patriarch Bodhi not accepting him, or Patriarch Bodhi teaching him the immortality method, but he couldn't learn it.

Even Zhao Si had thought it possible that Patriarch Bodhi saw his different identity and slapped him, this extraterritorial heavenly demon, to death with one palm……

But Zhao Si never imagined that Lin Liu couldn't even enter Fangcun Mountain.

He had imagined so much, yet he met an inexplicable demise right at the start! "What's going on?"

Zhao Si scratched his head:

"Since the monkey invited him to become a disciple, that shows Patriarch Bodhi is willing to accept him, so it's impossible that Patriarch Bodhi forbids Lin Liu from entering the mountain gate."

"The problem can only lie with the monkey……"

"Patriarch Bodhi finally said the monkey's heart is different from others, so it can find Fangcun Mountain……the monkey's heart?"

What's different about the monkey's heart?

Zhao Si thought and thought; in the original Journey to the West, the monkey also has an alias, called the "Heart Monkey".

The monkey is the "Heart Monkey", the White Dragon Horse is the "Will Horse", and Tang Monk wants to successfully obtain the true scriptures and become Buddha—he must subdue the Heart Monkey and Will Horse, symbolizing the principle of cultivation.

Although this chapter isn't from Journey to the West, from this perspective, some of the original work's metaphorical settings are still adopted……

"Lingtai Fangcun is the heart, the oblique moon and three stars are also the heart……the monkey can find this place symbolizing the 【heart】, which itself shows the monkey is different from others."

"So the monkey is also the 【heart】……or rather, Lingtai Fangcun Shan is mutually bound with it; everyone except the monkey cannot see it……"

Zhao Si thought and thought; although he still doesn't fully understand the principle, the monkey's uniqueness is beyond doubt—if Lin Liu truly wants to meet Patriarch Bodhi, he will eventually have to rely on the monkey.

But……Lin Liu should have already given up, because this blow was too great for him, so great he couldn't bear it; the dispirited him only wants to die on the boat heading home! "Then, in this case, Lin Liu can only temporarily give up seeking Patriarch Bodhi for immortality methods……he has only one path: the Contemplation Method."

This is a no‑choice choice; even if Lin Liu's Contemplation Method cannot be mastered, compared to the completely impossible Patriarch Bodhi's immortality method, the Contemplation Method is still more realistic.

As for the difficulties therein……

There's no solution; just grind slowly.

"After all, he probably has no chance left in this lifetime……"

Zhao Si can see that Lin Liu's first life is about to reach its end.

……

【You stubbornly steer your small boat, sailing against wind and current into that vast expanse of blue waves.】

【Even though you know you can never reach your homeland nor see familiar kin……】

【The monkey keeps urging you, trying to get you to turn back, but because you are too stubborn, it can only comply, continuing to give you directions and supply points.】

【And as you row and row, your body finally can't hold out……】

【In the first month you could barely manage four to five double‑hours of rowing each day.】

【In the second month, gritting your teeth, you could only manage one to two double‑hours.】

【In the third month you couldn't even hold half a double‑hour; you row a bit, then rest half a day.】

【By the fourth month, the headwind and current pushed you back to the starting point of the second month……】

【In the end you can't row at all; each day you can only lie helplessly on the boat, breathless.】

【Your arms have no strength, your beard and hair have turned white; you, under sixty, look older than a seventy‑ or eighty‑year‑old.】

【You begin to stare blankly in the cabin, a daze that lasts half a day, gradually recalling the past……】

【Six years apart—has your grandson grown up? Is he already married?】

【Is your old wife's health still okay? When it's overcast and rainy, does her leg still hurt?】

【Have your daughters been bullied? When they and their husbands quarrel, will they come to blows……】

【Having thought of these living relatives, you then think of those who have already passed.】

【That damned Western King, that damned county magistrate, that damned imperial court……】

【Your mind conjures one familiar face after another—some you loathe, some you miss, some you cannot bear to part from.】

【Finally you recall your deceased father and mother: in early years the family wasn't wealthy, but mother always found ways to make you tasty dishes—fish soup, shrimp paste, roasted shells……she always smiled and called you home for a meal.】

【Father was a typical silent, honest fisherman; he taught you various fishing methods and their little details: how to cast the net to make it round, how to tie the fishhook so it doesn't easily slip, how different fish have different feeding preferences……】

【These things you had once forgotten suddenly become clear again, as if mother were still calling you home for fish soup, as if father were still telling you to thrust the spear behind the fish so you wouldn't miss……】【And when you have recalled everyone and everything you have met in this life, a golden‑haired big monkey finally appears at the very end.】

【It single‑mindedly seeks immortality, full of confidence, convinced it will surely obtain the immortality method so as to bring the monkeys of its hometown island to eternal youth together……】

【Gradually, that big monkey's figure slowly merges with the monkey before you who is worrying about you.】

【It hasn't changed at all.】

【Thus you inexplicably regain a bit of thought and strength, and gently ask it a question.】

【"Have you brought the monkeys and their offspring to immortality?"】

【These words spoken, the monkey immediately froze……】

【You sighed; although it didn't answer, looking at its expression the answer is already clear: it did not fulfill its original promise and dream.】

【"I……"】

【The monkey hesitated, seeming to want to explain something, but in the end said nothing, only lowering its head: "Benefactor, you are right—I have failed……"】

【"My westward journey only found a way to save myself, not a way to save the world; not to mention the monkeys and their offspring, I couldn't even save you……"】

【It was tear‑stricken; although it truly found an immortal and learned the true immortality method, its original quest for immortality was unfulfilled—no matter how good its method, it can only be learned by one person, others cannot see Patriarch Bodhi, thus cannot learn the method.】

【And since the monkey's goal was unachieved, it can also be said that its quest for immortality has failed……】

【Thus on this boat sit two failures.】

【"I want to know."】

【The feeble sensation of life leaving the flesh gradually creeps in; you clearly realize you are about to die.】

【And as this final moment approaches, you grow increasingly unwilling: you have wished all your life to become immortal, yet at death's door you still grasp nothing……】

Then you looked at the monkey with a complex gaze: "What exactly did Patriarch Bodhi teach you?"

The monkey instinctively shook its head: "I haven't received the patriarch's permission, so I can't tell it to the Six Ears…"

One person has two ears, so Six Ears naturally refers to a third person—meaning the oral transmission between master and disciple, not to be leaked to a third party.

Obviously, the monkey still did not want to defy the master's order.

But you continued to stare at it fixedly, only obsession left in your eyes… your life has already begun its countdown!

"……"

When you witnessed that your life had reached its final moment, the monkey finally gritted its teeth and chose to defy the master's order: "I will speak!"

It gazed at your cloudy eyes and slowly revealed that ultimate secret.

"The patriarch said: 'One dream of heaven and earth; awakening brings truth!'"

Once the words were spoken, heaven and earth fell silent……

Your life has come to an end.

But the corner of your mouth bore a faint, almost imperceptible smile……

"……"

You are dead, and your wrong choice led to a wrong ending…… Your life was that of a mortal, born in mediocrity and dying in mediocrity; the most spectacular thing you ever did was help the county lure and slay the vicious rebel chieftain, the West King.

Besides that, you had no noteworthy accomplishments……

You do not know what the transcendent world is like, nor do you know the state of the world; as an ordinary person in a remote county town, what you can come into contact with is ultimately too little.

But you had your own fate; that strange monkey you met at seventeen ultimately influenced your entire life.

The monkey surely possesses some unknown secret; it cannot be an ordinary monkey, nor a simple monkey demon…… Its body is bound with a secret concerning the 'mind,' and through it you might obtain the ultimate information……

And at the brink of death, you also successfully used it once, relying on its lenience toward the dying, and you finally obtained the immortal method that Patriarch Bodhi had transmitted to it—although only a single line.

One dream of heaven and earth; awakening brings truth……

This is a headless, tailless sentence; you really can't say what extraordinary information it contains, but just obtaining this line is already a qualitative breakthrough!

You don't expect to gain sudden enlightenment or the power to ascend to immortality from this monkey's words; however, this short sentence is enough for you to put a reasonably perfect period on your unremarkable life.

With this period, you have the foundation to keep striving; lifetime after lifetime of accumulation, you will eventually gather the answers you seek…… As the protagonist, you never fear effort and sacrifice; you only fear that you have striven and sacrificed, yet received no reward……

You look forward to the next life!

……

(End of chapter)