Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told – Chapter 115: A Dream

Grandpa found out that Dad had taken me to the mortal world, so he scolded Dad. While Dad was being reprimanded, the big green ox in the Tushita Palace secretly laughed, and that’s when I started to hate it.
My dad was also an ox, but much prettier than that big green ox. When Dad smiled, the corners of his mouth stretched upward, making his earlobes tremble. Whenever that happened, I loved to tug at his ears.
Mom loved Dad very much. They spoke little, but I could tell from their eyes. As long as Dad was around, Mom’s eyes wouldn’t leave him. But I wasn’t jealous at all—we were a family.
Dad didn’t come often, saying he had important matters to attend to. I asked him, “Only matters in the heavens are important. What important matters could there be on earth?” Dad smiled and told me he had met a powerful monkey, as well as a roc, a dragon, and a lion. Together, they were doing even greater things than those in the heavens.
I didn’t know what a monkey was. Dad told me to ask Grandpa. Before leaving, he chuckled and said, “Sun Wukong is that monkey! You should call him uncle. One day you’ll hear his name.”
It seemed like Dad admired this monkey uncle very much. But before I could hear about him, Grandpa sent me to my second uncle.
My second uncle was also a Taoist priest. Grandpa should have called him senior brother, but he always referred to him as “Lingbao, Lingbao,” only calling him “senior brother” when asking for his help. My second uncle loved me very much, but this time he left me in a strange place.
This place was huge—almost as big as the mortal world Dad had taken me to. Anyway, it was extremely large. My second uncle left me in a strange palace called the “Fire Cloud Palace.”
There were only four people in the Fire Cloud Palace: my second uncle, me, Da Hong, and Xiao Hong.
Da Hong and Xiao Hong were captured by my second uncle. They were both very afraid of him, but the moment they saw me, they rushed at me. I liked them too—Da Hong and Xiao Hong, with their bright red colors, always seemed to be on fire, giving off a warm glow. Before long, I fell in love with the Fire Cloud Palace. Although I missed Mom and Grandpa, my second uncle told me that boys had to train hard to avoid being bullied. I listened to him. Though he was strict sometimes, it was always for my own good.
The Fire Cloud Palace was in the heavens of this world, constantly moving from east to west and from west to east. People kept kneeling in worship before it. Later, I learned that the Fire Cloud Palace was the sun of this world, and this world was created by my second uncle.

The Fire Cloud Palace is filled with fire everywhere—Big Red and Little Red are also fire. I sleep in the fire every day; it’s extremely comfortable. My second master said that with a Pure Yang constitution, I don’t belong to any of the five elements, so I can only practice with fire throughout my life—keep practicing!

I swallow fire and spit fire every day, practice using a fire spear, and fight with Big Red and Little Red. I never stop practicing like this, day after day… I don’t know how many days have passed—hundred or two hundred? One day, my second master took me outside. He said Dad was very sad and wanted to see me.

Dad would be sad? My dad, who only knew how to smile foolishly, could actually be sad too. I ran to the Tushita Palace and indeed saw Dad, standing there dumbfounded in front of Grandpa. When Grandpa saw me come, he sighed and left, leaving only Dad and me.

When Dad saw me, his eyes lit up a bit. He tried to smile, but all that came out was a faint bitter smile. I asked Dad what was wrong. Dad shook his head, sighed, and left. Suddenly, I felt Dad was worthless—such an adult acting like he was about to cry.

Since they wouldn’t tell me, I went around asking around. Sure enough, I found out everything from Mom.

It turned out that that monkey named Sun Wukong had gone to heaven. Even the heavenly soldiers couldn’t defeat him, so the Jade Emperor had to grant him the title “Great Sage Equal to Heaven.” Tsk tsk, what a glorious title—Great Sage Equal to Heaven! It sounds so nice! In the future, my title should also include the word “Sage.”

But that monkey forgot his roots. Once the Jade Emperor gave him some benefits, he stopped working hard and refused to rebel against heaven together with Dad and the others. It’s strange—Mom, Grandpa, and the masters all live in heaven, so why does Dad still want to oppose heaven?

Mom told me that Dad and the others weren’t rebelling against heaven or the heavenly court. She couldn’t explain exactly what it was, but it was beneficial to us anyway. Mom spoke in a confusing way, and I didn’t understand.

The next day, Dad left again. He told Mom he wanted to regroup and no longer rely on others. I shouted, “Dad, I’ll help you when I grow up.” Dad smiled, but for some reason, I no longer wanted to pull his ears. Mom disagreed with Dad. She was worried he would cause trouble and wouldn’t let him rebel again. Dad couldn’t persuade Mom, so he took her out of the palace together.

I hadn’t mastered my skills yet, and my second master wouldn’t let me go out, so he brought me back to the Fire Cloud Palace.

I practiced even harder, day and night without stopping. I learned all the spear techniques that my first master had taught me. His mnemonic rhyme was originally meant for cultivating the Three Flavors True Fire, but I could never quite master it.

My second master asked me, “Do you really want to learn these Three True Flames?” I nodded without hesitation. My second master said that these Three True Flames were extremely powerful; once mastered, even Sun Wukong, who once caused chaos in heaven, wouldn’t be a match for me.
Oh, so Sun Wukong caused chaos in heaven. I suddenly thought that monkey was foolish. If I had known this earlier, why would I have done it? Now he truly had no place left in the world.
Hearing that I could defeat this monkey, I naturally wanted to learn even more. The monkey made my father sad, and I wanted to kill him to avenge my father. My second master looked into my eyes and said, “Learning these Three True Flames will cost you a lot—it will cause you pain.” I told him I didn’t care; I could endure any hardship. My second master murmured that there were many things more painful than hardship.
That night, I slept soundly for the first time in a long time. In my dream, I ate lots of delicious food and felt full of strength and energy.
When I woke up, I found that my Three True Flames had been refined. I was overjoyed and asked my second master what had happened. He told me it was nothing. I could see he was very tired, seemingly also a bit sad. Suddenly, I realized that Da Hong and Xiao Hong were gone.
Was this the price of refining the Three True Flames? If so, I would rather not have them! I wanted to cry, but in this Fire Cloud Palace, there were no tears at all.
My second master told me he regretted asking me. Da Hong and Xiao Hong were meant for me from the start; it was all fate.
I had nothing to say. I lied to myself, thinking Da Hong and Xiao Hong had flown away and hadn’t been eaten by me. I wasn’t sad anymore, but I hated that monkey even more. If not for him… I didn’t know what would have happened.
My second master told me that the monkey had already been suppressed under a huge mountain by the Buddha. I didn’t need to take revenge; someone else had already avenged my father.
Hearing this, I wasn’t happy at all. How could that monkey, who dared to cause chaos in heaven and was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, be captured? Deep down, I hoped he could break free from the mountain and fight in heaven again. My second master seemed to see my thoughts and called me childish.
Yes, was I still a child? After all these years, why hadn’t I grown up?
My second master said I was born in heaven. One year on earth equals just one day in heaven. Children grow faster on earth. But I could no longer grow. Having refined the Three True Flames, I had become a Taiyi Golden Immortal, and my body would remain unchanged from then on. Although I could transform into any form, this core would never change.

It’s fine if nothing changes. If Da Hong and Xiao Hong return, they should still be able to recognize me. By this time, I had reached a high level of cultivation. One day, my grandfather came to take me out of the palace and gave me a golden pill—the finest medicine from his alchemy furnace. My grandfather and my second uncle no longer quarreled as before; both wore solemn and sorrowful expressions. I initially thought it was because of my departure, but later I learned that their concerns were actually focused on that monkey. My grandfather said, “That monkey is trapped under the Five Elements Mountain. Should we go and rescue him?” My second uncle pondered for a long time before saying, “It’s not appropriate…” My grandfather sighed, “It’s the same as before—without knowing the truth, we suffer harm.” My second uncle said, “He brought this upon himself; he deserves it, but we can’t blame others.” He added that since the monkey had committed sins, it truly deserved punishment. If I met him, I would still beat him up.