Chapter 23: Sun Yuan Emerges from the Mountain, Monkey King Reaches the Summit

  On this day, Zhangmao just climbed to the top of the mountain. As he raised his head, what appeared before him was no longer the unchanged stone gate, but a fluffy figure standing in front of the gate, limping and staggering down the mountain.

  The long-haired monkey rubbed his eyes hard and opened them to take a look. He quickly confirmed that he was not dreaming, and then excitedly shouted "Huang Hou, is it you?"

  "Ah! It's Long Mao, what are you doing here? Not playing around at the foot of the mountain? This isn't like you!" A familiar tone rang in Long Mao's ears, and Sun Yuan had discovered him. Seeing that it was indeed Sun Yuan, who had been out of contact for a long time, Long Mao couldn't help but jump up excitedly.

  "Are you okay? Why has your fur changed again?" Long Mao jumped a few times, came closer, and circled around Sun Yuan, saying.

  "What can I do! This time on the mountain for a long time, so I want to live in the mountains for a while, don't know if you are welcome or not?"

  "Welcome, welcome, Yellow Monkey, have you finished your training?" Long Mao couldn't help but think of the gigantic lightning bolt on the mountain top a week ago, and he felt a surge of curiosity. He looked left and right, circling around Sun Yuan, trying to figure out how this small body could withstand it.

  "Anyway, I won't be going anywhere for a long time." Sun Yuan smiled.

  "That's great, I'll go tell the king and his men. They will be overjoyed when they hear this news." The long-haired man scratched his head, but took a step ahead, hopping and jumping down the mountain.

  "This old man, at such an advanced age, is still so restless!" Watching the old man's receding back, a bitter smile appeared on Sun Yuan's face. At this moment, he desperately needed someone to help him down the mountain, but the old man had already walked far away, and he could only drag himself down step by step!

  On that day, Sun Yuan and Mei Houwang gathered together, with several monkey heads mentioning the lightning on the mountain. However, Sun Yuan didn't want to say much, and in fact, he was a bit dazed at the moment. When asked by some monkeys, Sun Yuan lightly mentioned it a few times and then turned his attention to other things. After several attempts, the group of monkeys saw that the two great kings were unwilling to discuss further, so they didn't bring it up again.

  As night fell, the bustling Huaguo Mountain gradually quieted down. After all the monkeys had fallen asleep, a figure slowly emerged from among the sleeping monkeys. This figure did not attract the attention of other monkeys. He carefully got up and stealthily slipped out of the Water Curtain Cave. Under the faint moonlight, it was clear that this monkey had golden fur - who else could it be but Sun Wukong, the Handsome Monkey King?

  The mischievous Monkey King looked around and, seeing no one in sight, leapt out of the Water Curtain Cave with a few swift bounds, making straight for the highest peak on Mount Huaguo. He thought he was being very secretive, but behind him, a shadow slowly emerged from behind a boulder. "This monkey's curiosity is quite heavy, I just hope it doesn't prematurely stir up his desire to cultivate." Sun Wukong appeared from behind the rock, gazing at Monkey King who was sprinting up the mountain under the moonlight, muttering to himself.

  Although Sun Yuan was seriously injured at this time, after all, he was a demon who had formed the Demon Dan. As the saying goes, "A lean camel is bigger than a horse." The magical powers of a demon in the Dan formation period were not something that Sun Wukong, an ordinary monkey, could contend with. When Sun Wukong got up, Sun Yuan knew it and thought for a moment before suddenly understanding everything. He roughly guessed what Sun Wukong was thinking.

  And then Sun Wukong, after leaving the Water Curtain Cave, ran swiftly to the foot of the mountain, looked up at the high peak, and without any hesitation, climbed up quickly with incredible speed.

  In a short moment, Sun Wukong arrived at the mountain top. He looked up and saw that the stone gate was wide open. Without any hesitation, the beautiful Monkey King's heart skipped a beat with excitement as he stepped through the stone gate.

  For a long time, looking at the scene in front of him, Sun Wukong's mind was completely blank. After a long while, as if he had been petrified, Sun Wukong finally came back to his senses. In front of him, the rugged mountain peak that was once covered with strange rocks now lay flat and level, with some areas already crystallized. Except for the cave behind the mountain, which remained unchanged, the entire area had undergone a drastic transformation.

  "This, this is a huge power!" The Monkey King lowered his body, touched the crystallized stone wall, and his heart was calm no matter what. Thinking again about the scene he saw that day, combined with the current situation here, Sun Wukong could easily guess what happened here at that time. The more he thought, the more furious the Monkey King became.

  "It turns out that there is such a great power in the world, and it turns out that the Monkey King's strength has already reached the point where he can withstand this kind of power. It's truly unimaginable! If he can do it, why can't I?" A thought rose up in Sun Wukong's mind.

  But then he thought again, Sun Wukong was hesitant once more. He looked at the Flower Fruit Mountain's immortal stone pedestal that had been struck by lightning and was now unrecognizable, and thought about the hardships of meditation and cultivation. Suddenly, his enthusiastic heart calmed down, "Let's talk about it later, if I go to ask for advice from Huang Hou, wouldn't I lose face? Where would my dignity as a great king be?" Sun Wukong thought to himself, and soon went down the mountain along the winding path.

  The next day, the banquet continued, and Sun Yuan discovered that Sun Wukong did not have a heart to seek the Tao, and he secretly let out a sigh of relief. If Sun Wukong really had the heart to cultivate the Tao, Sun Yuan didn't know what to do.

  "Come on, come on, let's give the Second Grand King some wine." Sun Wukong waved his hand and shouted at Sun Erlang, "You haven't appeared for a hundred years, brothers are really missing you."

  "Is that so? The Second Master won't be leaving this time, will he?" said the long-armed ape as it grasped the wine jug.

  "I'm not leaving, this time I'll stay down the mountain and won't come back. There's plenty of time to reunite in the future." Sun Yuan grabbed his wine cup and drank it all at once. For now, he had to wait until his body recovered before continuing his cultivation. Staying at the foot of the mountain seemed like a good option too.

  "That's it, wait for me to take you out for a stroll later. In the past 100 years, our Mount Huaguo has undergone tremendous changes. It's just that I have grown old, if it were someone else, it would be hard to explain." Long Mao shouted from the side.

  "Alright, alright, let's talk about these things later. Let's drink first!" The Monkey King raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp, then refilled it and patted the table.

  "Come on, have a drink." Sun Yuan raised his wine cup along with him.

  After having enough wine and food, Sun Yuan followed the long-haired monkey to stroll all over the Flower Fruit Mountain, during which he also went to visit that pair of monkey couples from those years.

  When he passed by, the couple had become old and were on their last legs, with not many days left to live. Despite this, they were still very happy. At that time, a large group of monkeys and grandchildren surrounded them. Among the monkey groups, these two monkeys were also considered very happy!

  "This is what I was like before my cultivation!" Sun Yuan sighed secretly, but didn't let the long-haired one disturb the peaceful life of the two monkeys. If he hadn't known that this was the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, if he hadn't witnessed the birth of Sun Wukong, perhaps Sun Yuan would have found a monkey to marry. His life wouldn't be a monkey's life, but it would probably be similar to that of the two monkeys now. The fleeting years would pass quickly, youth would fade away, beauty would wither, and what awaited them was death, an eternal rest.