The Monkey King

The sun slanted in from the window, and a burst of sandalwood drifted out of the furnace and spread slowly.

The two people in the room sat facing each other in silence for a long time, without saying a word.

Subhuti just looked, and kept looking, and kept looking, until the Stone Monkey's scalp became numb.

The gaze was so sharp that it seemed to want to penetrate the stone monkey's heart, and the expression on his face changed slightly from time to time.

"This old man can read minds. What does he want to read?"

Regarding the issue of Subhuti being able to read minds, Stone Monkey already knew it and had already thought about it. Otherwise, why would Stone Monkey dare to jump out of his mouth when he was kneeling at the door? Anyway, he would have known it even if you didn't tell him. It's better to just say it.

But it still feels extremely uncomfortable to be read face to face.

However, after all, it is better to come in and kneel on the futon to be read than to kneel on the stone slab outside.

For a whole year, my knees have developed a thick layer of calluses.

It wasn't until the sun set in the west, the bright moon hung up, the wind chimes sneaked in to hold the lamp, and added spices to the incense burner that Subhuti stretched himself and calmed down.

"'You are like a hozen, so let's name it Sun. There is a saying that it takes Wukong to break the stubbornness of the devil, so let's call it Sun Wukong.' Is this what you said?" After saying this, Subhu smiled meaningfully.

"This is obviously what you want to say." Shihou thought to himself.

"Forget it, just do as I said. From now on, you will be called Sun Wukong."

"Thank you, Master, for the name!" Sun Houhou kowtowed obediently.

The pain of communicating with someone who can understand the other person's thoughts is beyond words. The monkey simply stopped thinking about it, as if a dead pig was not afraid of boiling water.

Anyway, one step at a time, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain.

Subhuti stroked his long beard and said with a smile: "You monkey head, do you know why my teacher refuses to accept you?"

"I don't know, my disciple. Please tell me, master." The monkey replied respectfully.

"As a cultivator, if you peer into the numbers of heaven and earth, practice the method that crosses the boundary, you can deduce the destiny of heaven, turn your hands to turn into clouds, turn your hands to turn into rain, this is a great power. If you encounter a brave and ruthless person, you will definitely bring disaster to all living beings. . Therefore, there are three things you should not accept as a teacher."

"oh?"

"We will not accept those who are paranoid and unruly. We will not accept those who are arrogant and domineering and have no fear of God. The third one..." Subhuti stretched out three fingers and paused when he counted to "three" After a pause, he looked at Monkey Sun with a smile.

"Huh? This 'three' is..."

"Those whose origins are unknown will not be accepted!" After a pause, Subhuti continued: "Of these three, it would be fine if you only took one or two of them, but you, the monkey-headed 'Three Not Accepted', took them all. It may be difficult to find another one."

"What?" Sun Houhou's eyes widened and he muttered in his heart: "How come I am of unknown origin?"

Subhuti shook his fly whisk, looked at the monkey with interest, and said slowly: "Then tell me, where are you from?"

"I come from Dongsheng Shenzhou Huaguo Mountain!" the monkey blurted out.

But he immediately realized that something was wrong, because upon hearing his words, the smile on Subhuti's face grew stronger, and his gaze made the monkey's scalp tingle again.

"If you really came from Dongsheng China, you shouldn't be here at this time! Do you know that you came three hundred years early?"

The monkey's face suddenly twitched.

Talking to this kind of person will make you collapse at any time.

"Master, don't say this is irrelevant. When will you teach me Taoism?"

After staring at the monkey silently for a long time, Subhuti slowly turned his head to look at the bright moon outside the window, and said calmly: "It's okay if you don't say anything. You go down and settle down. When you get up early tomorrow, I will arrange for you to cultivate immortality and seek Taoism."

When he exited the door, Monkey felt a chill on his back.

Soon, the wind chime guarding the door led the monkey away, and wandered around the Taoist temple built in the cave for a long time before arriving at the room arranged for the monkey.

This is a separate room, next to the kitchen. It is not adjacent to the rooms of other Taoist disciples. It is still a single room, which seems to indicate Subhuti's special treatment of monkeys.

Helping Monkey to light an oil lamp in the room, Feng Ling neatly folded a set of gray Taoist robes on the table and asked with a smile: "Master, did you name your uncle?"

"Hmm." Monkey glanced at the room casually. It was a simple wooden house twenty square meters. Because it was built against a mountain, only one side had windows. There was a gradually single set of couches in the room, with a low table on top of the couch.

This is standard equipment for this era, not great, but not shabby either.

"But 'Sun Wukong'?" Feng Ling sat on the couch and pushed the fruit that had been prepared on the table in front of the monkey.

Without being polite, the monkey reached out and grabbed a pear and started to gnaw it.

He muttered: "Of course it's Sun Wukong, how could this be wrong?"

"Then I have to call Master Sun from now on?" Feng Ling asked cautiously.

"No." Monkey waved his hand: "You might as well call me Monkey, just to get used to it. Master Sun... this sounds weird."

After saying this, Feng Ling's expression suddenly became relieved, and he came over with a smile and asked: "Monkey, did Master let you choose Dao Meridian?"

"Dao Meridian? What Dao Meridian?"

"I have two channels in Taoism. One channel is called 'Practitioner', which is used to realize the Tao. The other channel is called 'Enlightened One', which is used to realize the Tao. All disciples in the temple choose the path of the Enlightened One. This is the path that any disciple who enters the disciples must choose. Something. What? Master didn’t mention it?”

"I didn't mention it." Monkey shook his head.

"Didn't you mention it?" Feng Ling frowned: "You guys have been talking for five hours, why...could it be that you don't even want to tell me?"

"The old man just kept looking at me, which made my scalp numb. He didn't say a few words."

Feng Chime thought for a moment, nodded and said: "This has happened before. Master likes to read minds. New disciples will definitely read well when they start, but this is the first time in such a long time. You can rest, I will read it early tomorrow morning Come find you again."

"Um."

The wind chimes left, leaving Stone Monkey lying alone on the hard mat.

"What did that mean just now?" the monkey thought.

The content and tone of the conversation clearly contained a hidden mystery.

"You don't want to take three?"

The more the monkey thinks about it, the more wrong it becomes, but now people have to bow their heads under the eaves. No matter what the inner world is, they still have to learn Taoism first.

"Anyway, we finally came in." The monkey smiled happily, took out an orange feather from his pocket, held it in his hand and looked at it for a long time, fascinated: "Are you right? Que'er."

After a long time, he put it away like a treasure.

After tossing and turning all night, I couldn't fall asleep. The next day, when the sky was gray and bright, the monkey had already gotten up and started washing.

It doesn't matter that I was sloppy when I was kneeling at the door before. Now that I have officially entered the door, I can't stay like that.

Not to mention Subhuti, it is still necessary to leave a good impression in front of other brothers and sisters.

The ill-fitting cloth I was wearing was temporarily begged from a family at the foot of the mountain for the sake of dignity. It has not been washed in the past year, and it is now tattered. When I get closer, I can smell a strong smell. The sour smell.

Thinking about finally having to live like a "human", Monkey felt somewhat relieved.

The lights were on in the kitchen next door. Looking through the crack in the door, one could see two Taoist disciples, one young and one young, dressed in simple clothes, wearing aprons and busy inside. Smoke from the roof was rising.

After skipping the kitchen, Monkey went straight to the well outside the house to fetch water. He took off his clothes and started washing in the open air without caring about it.

It stands to reason that bathing in the open air is inappropriate, but fortunately he is a monkey, and the monkey hair is used to cover his shame.

In the middle of washing, the young Taoist disciple in the kitchen dragged the bucket and opened the door. As soon as he saw the monkey, he immediately shrank back in fear. The monkey vaguely heard the two people in the kitchen talking about him.

Monkey has long been used to being treated differently, and he is too lazy to say anything. He just washes himself off, which is quite happy.

At this time, a middle-aged Taoist priest with a long beard stood on the attic corridor in the distance, holding his hands behind his back and watching the monkey from a distance.

This man was wearing a green Taoist robe, with long black hair, but white temples, deep crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, and a golden "cloud" embroidered on the cuffs. His aura showed that he had a very high status in this temple.

Beside him, a young Taoist priest bowed and said: "Master, that is the disciple that Master accepted yesterday."

"This monkey has been kneeling outside the door for a whole spring and autumn. I have seen it a few times as a teacher, but..." The long-bearded middle-aged Taoist priest narrowed his eyes slightly, opened them wide for a moment, and then sighed: " Even the master's mind-reading skills were ineffective, and he was talking nonsense. He knelt outside the door for a whole spring and autumn without leaving, which shows that this monkey has a deep obsession. With such a mind... why did the master break the rules and accept him as a disciple, and he was still a disciple? It’s really puzzling.”

The young Taoist priest lowered his head and laughed softly: "In my opinion, it's just a whim of Master. Wait..."

The middle-aged Taoist priest stared sideways, and the young Taoist priest suddenly shut his mouth.

The middle-aged Taoist priest slowly raised his head and said: "As a master, as a senior brother, even if you say a few words about the monkey head, it is understandable. On the other hand, if you make random remarks about my uncle and master, if others listen, don't blame me for punishing you. !”

"I will follow my master's teachings! I will follow my master's teachings!" The young Taoist priest quickly lowered his head and handed over his hands.

The middle-aged Taoist priest turned around and walked slowly into the inner room, and asked casually: "Does that monkey head have a name?"

The young Taoist priest hurriedly followed in: "To tell the master, my surname is Sun and my first name is Wukong. The wind chime came and hung up last night, saying it was made by the master."

"Oh? Are you going to attend the lecture today?"

"Never mentioned."

"It doesn't matter if you don't come, I'll be happy to be in peace and quiet."