Volume 1: Unsayable Chapter 3: The Dao That Can Be Spoken

The Stone Monkey stood on a bridge, still shaken, wondering: Was this bridge an iron plate bridge or the Bridge of No Return?
The sound of water behind him reminded him that he was still alive, in this world of Journey to the West.
The bridge was three zhang long. The Stone Monkey stepped forward one by one, and with each step, his soul endured tremendous shock!
The Dao!
Whose Dao?
These words were engraved deep in the Stone Monkey’s heart!
“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. Nothingness is the origin of heaven and earth; Being is the mother of all things…”
“Heaven and earth show no mercy, treating all things as mere straw dogs; the sages show no mercy, treating the people as mere straw dogs…”
“Formless in form, without any image…”
In his past life, the Stone Monkey had read some classics and histories, and he recognized that what was being read was Laozi’s Tao Te Ching. Laozi, the Venerable of Morality, the Supreme Elder! How could his Dao appear here?
As doubts lingered in the Stone Monkey’s mind, the entire Tao Te Ching was recited, and it seemed as though something had been added to his heart.
A feeling indescribable by words—so comforting, so soothing.
What was this feeling?
Soon, another voice gave him the answer: “The eighty-one chapters of the Tao Te Ching add three thousand elements of creation. Talents like these are rare, truly rare… hehe…”
Was this feeling creation? Recalling the words in Journey to the West, the term “creation” appeared frequently, so it likely wasn’t something bad.
The voice continued, again speaking of the Dao!
Whose Dao this time?
“As I heard, at one time the Buddha was in the country of Shrewa, in the Jeta Grove. At that time, the World-Honored One, along with the bhikshus, resided in a bamboo forest. Those bhikshus…”
“Now, seeing the guide of the world, you open my wise eyes. You teach the pure Dharma, helping me free myself from all attachments. Now, encountering this noble being from heaven, you enable me to attain non-existence. May I, in the future, achieve the same fruit as that noble being…”
The Stone Monkey was confused by this long passage of Buddhist scriptures. He had never read such profound Buddhist texts before; he would merely say “Amitabha” in his heart after each section.
As he listened, the Stone Monkey gradually became influenced by these scriptures and began to understand their meaning. It turned out to be the Buddha’s autobiography, detailing his many past and present deeds.
After listening for a long time, the Stone Monkey seemed to have an epiphany. Comparing his past life to the Buddha’s, he couldn’t help but recall those words: One cannot lose one’s past and future—things that never existed in the first place, who can take them away from him?

In the world of Journey to the West, as seen in his past life, it was naturally illusory. Yet now, the real world of his past life was intangible and had become a distant memory. Comparing these two worlds, the present one seemed far more real to the Stone Monkey.

His past life was like a dream. Aside from those useful memories, what else did he need?

As he thought about this, the Stone Monkey’s mood suddenly cleared up.

A person might fall in love with a flying bird, but the moment after, they can no longer see it. For such a person, the meaning of that bird exists only in the spirit.

This scripture was recited for two whole hours. To the Stone Monkey’s surprise, he hadn’t taken a single step during that time. The water flowing beneath the bridge seemed to have stopped, yet it still moved extremely slowly.

It was a strong sense of temporal disorientation—dozens of moments in a single thought, and nine hundred cycles of birth and death in one moment. Which is fast, and which is slow? Speed, slowness, life, and death all depend on the mind.

Finally, when the scripture was finished, the Stone Monkey felt a sense of clarity in his mind. Past, present, future…

“You must know that the causes sown in the past, over countless eons, never fade away. In the past… the four volumes of the ‘Sutra of Past and Present Causes and Effects’ added six thousand transformations—correct, indeed.”

The voice sounded quite approving of the Stone Monkey.

The Stone Monkey felt as if he were trapped in a puzzle. He was eager to find time to sort out the confusing doubts in his mind, but the voice never stopped, leaving him no chance to distract himself.

Then, more scriptures were recited!

Whose scriptures were these this time?

“In the Northern Seas, there is a fish called Kun. Kun is so vast that its length is unknown—thousands of miles. When it transforms into a bird, it is called Peng. Peng’s back is also unknown in length—thousands of miles. When it flies in anger…”

“Free and Easy Wandering”!

“In Free and Easy Wandering” was widely spread in the Stone Monkey’s past life, and he liked it very much. Although he couldn’t recite it all, he understood deeply Zhuangzi’s longing for freedom.

A spirit of ninety thousand miles swept across the three thousand streams of Pu Water. A pure heart returned to nature, eventually forming the “Nan Hua Sutra.” Wandering freely in the world with its tail trailing in the mud…

In this cave that resembled an illusion, with the sound of rushing water behind him, a dreamlike immortal abode before him, and the clear sounds of scriptures in his ears, he heard the utterly free and unrestrained “Free and Easy Wandering”… The Stone Monkey’s heart seemed to want to take flight. He had read this scripture hundreds of times in his past life, but he had never felt anything like this before.

After reading the thirty-three chapters of “Free and Easy Wandering,” the Stone Monkey had just crossed a thirty-foot-long iron bridge. Standing at the bridge’s end, he remained still for a long time, still immersed in the aftertaste of the scripture.

The voice remained silent for a long time before finally sighing and saying, “One volume of ‘Free and Easy Wandering’ gives rise to nine thousand possibilities. Your talent is boundless—fortune or misfortune? Be careful of yourself.”
The Stone Monkey, lost in his dreams of soaring through the heavens, was suddenly pulled back by this voice. He immediately asked, “Who are you?”
The Water Curtain Cave, spanning a thousand feet in every direction, was empty—where could anyone be?
The Stone Monkey walked inside, and as he had expected, there stood a stone tablet in the cave, inscribed with ten large characters: “Flower-Fruit Mountain, a blessed land; Water Curtain Cave, a heavenly abode.”
The tables, chairs, bowls, and pots inside were all made of stone, with everything needed for daily life available.
At that moment, the Stone Monkey remembered something. He didn’t know how long he had been inside the cave—had the monkey group outside left?
He quickly stepped out of the cave and leaped onto the cliff.
The monkeys were still there. Seeing the Stone Monkey emerge from the water, they were greatly astonished.
After thinking for a while, the Stone Monkey decided to follow the plan. He shouted, “Great fortune! Great fortune!” Sure enough, the monkeys surrounded him and asked, “What’s inside? How deep is the water?”
The Stone Monkey replied, “No water! No water! It’s actually an iron bridge. Beyond the bridge lies a naturally created home.”
The monkeys asked, “How do you know it’s a home?” The Stone Monkey smiled and said, “The water flows beneath the bridge, pouring down to block the entrance. There are flowers and trees by the bridge—it’s a stone house. Inside, there are stone nests, stone stoves, stone bowls, stone basins, stone beds, and stone benches. In the middle, there’s a stone tablet inscribed with ‘Flower-Fruit Mountain, a blessed land; Water Curtain Cave, a heavenly abode.’ This truly is a place for us to settle. It’s spacious enough to accommodate thousands of people. Let’s all move in here so we don’t have to suffer from the elements…”
The monkeys were overjoyed and cried, “Let you go in first! Let you go in first!”
The Stone Monkey leaped back into the Water Curtain Cave, and a few brave monkeys followed. In less than half an hour, over a thousand monkeys had entered the cave without any sense of crowding.
Seeing countless interesting things inside, the monkeys fought over them, causing chaos.
The Stone Monkey climbed onto the stone chair in the center and shouted, “Stop all of you!” Immediately, the monkeys stopped whatever they were doing, and silence fell.
“Do you still remember what we agreed upon? Whoever finds the source of the stream shall be crowned king. I’ve not only found the source but also discovered this heavenly abode for us all, so that our kind will no longer suffer from wind and rain. Why not crown me king?”
Upon hearing this, the monkeys all knelt down, bowing their heads in submission, even the four old monkeys.

Just now, on that cliff, all the monkeys saw the Stone Monkey’s feet slip, causing him to fall. Yet, as if by divine intervention, he soared into the air and disappeared into the waterfall. Remembering the Stone Monkey’s words, “I have come to become the king of this Flower-Fruit Mountain,” and considering that he was born from a magical stone, they all began to feel a sense of awe toward him.

Seeing the other monkeys submit to him, the Stone Monkey felt a great concern resolved. He divided the group into four teams, each led by an elder monkey, instructing them to gather fruits and water, pick flowers and vines, and decorate Water Curtain Cave with colorful blossoms and decorations.

After arranging everything for the monkeys, the Stone Monkey found a stone chamber for himself, closed the door, and began to ponder the mysteries of Water Curtain Cave.

Inside the cave, there were inscriptions and possessions, clearly not natural formations. When he ordered the young monkeys to clean the cave earlier, he discovered unextinguished embers in a stone stove! It might be understandable for monkeys with limited wisdom to think it was a natural creation, but the Stone Monkey, having read “Journey to the West” in his past life, naturally thought further.

Water Curtain Cave was not only not a natural cave but also had been inhabited. It became empty just before the Stone Monkey jumped in—clearly, it was a great gift meant for him. The master of Water Curtain Cave and the one who taught him were likely the same person. Who could this be? Was this cave created specifically for me?

By leaving behind a cave and imparting to him three completely different teachings, the Stone Monkey seemed to have gained much. Yet he knew that Water Curtain Cave was the foundation of the Monkey King. It was from here that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who caused chaos in the Heavenly Palace, began to build his power step by step before challenging the heavens.

Having come from modern society, the Stone Monkey understood that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Though the Monkey King appeared glorious on the surface, he had also suffered greatly—five hundred years of torment under the Five Elements Mountain, a journey to obtain scriptures that restricted his freedom, the uncomfortable headband that kept him uneasy, and the pilgrims with their own motives… All of this began with the chaos in the Heavenly Palace. And the role of Water Curtain Cave in this cannot be underestimated. Without it, the Stone Monkey could not have become king, nor could he have conceived the idea of seeking immortals overseas, let alone retrieving treasures from the Dragon Palace or causing havoc in the underworld and heavenly realms. The more he thought about it, the more mysterious it seemed, yet he couldn’t figure out the answer.

Since arriving on Flower-Fruit Mountain, nearly a month had passed. The memories of his past life, spanning nearly twenty years, were gradually fading. He felt that being able to come to this divine world that captivated his heart was a great blessing bestowed upon him by heaven.

And by transforming into the protagonist of Journey to the West—Sun Wukong—he fulfilled his own desires. In just this one month, he had fully accepted the fact that he had become a monkey; all the bonds of modern society over the past twenty years vanished instantly, leaving only a bold spirit free to soar as the birds do in the vast sky.
Upon arriving at the Water Curtain Cave, it was merely the beginning of the story of Journey to the West—just a glimpse of what lay ahead. Yet even this glimpse was enough to arouse the Stone Monkey’s intense curiosity.
Water Curtain Cave, the mentor, Water Curtain Cave, the mentor… Even in his dreams, the Stone Monkey kept repeating these words unconsciously.