"Ask all under heaven, far and wide: who is the most famous demon of every age?"
The monkey was gone. They say it began with Sha Wujing.
One Arhat was lost, and so be it, but the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons heard of it.
The White Dragon Horse took heart and sent word to the emissary traveling abroad.
Zhu Wuneng, without his backbone, hurried east to find his senior brother.
Sun Wukong went to the Western Realm, and when he returned...
When he returned, he was alone, with nothing but an iron staff.
He fought from Buddha to god, from west to east,
and at last! The Sea-Calming Divine Needle Iron fixed Flower-Fruit Mountain in place, and the Great Sage Equal to Heaven's soul shattered, returning to the soil of China...
-
Many years later--
My name is Awu.
The Victorious Fighting Buddha's sanctuary lies in Water Curtain Cave, Flower-Fruit Mountain, Aolai Kingdom, Eastern Jambudvipa.
I once went there.
The mountains were green and the waters clear.
I thought,
I would probably never see the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Handsome Monkey King, again.
But a stone pillar rose from the earth and pierced the clouds.
Beneath it stood a figure,
his divine eyes bright as lightning, his proud bones holding up the sky, his robes and crown gleaming gold.
He asked, "Where do you come from, and where are you going?"
I answered, "I come from nowhere, and I'm going nowhere."
He cried, "Hey!" and blew out a breath of immortal qi. The clouds and mist swirled around me.
When I looked down again,
the Golden Cudgel was in my hand.
Only then did I remember where I came from and where I was going.
The journey of 108,000 li was simply the Old Monkey making the trip once more.
It was as they said:
"He defied the Way of the heavens, with a heart set on freedom. The world offers me a divine abode, yet calls me the most famous demon of every age!"
[20250430]
Theme: Chinese civilization
