Chapter 4: The King Awakens

After feasting on the Great King, they turned their greedy eyes toward me...

I woke from the dream—again.

Tears streamed down my face.

I’d spent my whole life imitating the Great King.

Imitating his way of speaking, his style, his wild arrogance.

But in the end... I only got his form.

I could never become him.

The beautiful monkey king who dared to set sail from nothing—that was him.

The Great Sage who dared to challenge authority, shake the heavens—that was him.

But even so, he entrusted Silver Hollow Mountain to me again and again.

So how long am I going to keep being a coward?

Thinking of this, I propped up my aging body and walked out of the cavern. The sky was dim.

I rubbed my eyes.

When my vision cleared, the darkness seemed even deeper.

I saw all the mountain monkeys, listless.

I saw strands of dark purple light, harvesting the lives of mortals.

Strangely, those purple halos—deadly to mortals—felt almost pleasant when they touched me.

I immediately thought of the strange energy Percy mentioned.

I looked up at the sky—cracks seemed to be forming in the darkness.

Dark purple light spilled down from those cracks, clawing and reaching.

Like cracks in ice.

As if, in the next moment, it would all shatter.

Above the sky, the gods and saints were greedily soaking up the dark purple halos.

Absorbing the life of billions of living beings.

“No!”

I rushed out of the cavern in a frenzy, picking up a dying monkey.

I poured my own life into its body.

But its body was like a broken basket—the life I poured in just kept leaking out.

Unwilling to give up, I turned to another monkey.

One.

Another.

And another...

Until I’d drained all my energy and collapsed.

“Great King, Great King, these mountain monkeys... I can’t protect them anymore...”

Two helpless tears streamed down my face.

At the blurry edge of my vision, I seemed to see the Great King again.

He shook his head, helpless. “You silly monkey, Old Sam never told you to treat yourself like this. If you really can’t protect them... just go to Crescent Hollow...”

I jumped up suddenly.

“Crescent Hollow!”

I moved all the dying monkeys into the Waterfall Cavern.

I used up all my powers to build a barrier for them.

Hidden in the cavern, they were cut off from the world. The purple halos couldn’t harm them for now.

I pushed the old canoe into the sea and looked back at Silver Hollow Mountain.

I don’t know where Crescent Hollow really is.

I don’t know how long that barrier will last.

I don’t know what Silver Hollow Mountain will look like when I return.

I don’t even know if I’ll ever come back...

The sea is endless.

I drifted farther and farther away, as insignificant as a speck of dust.

When the angry sea and waves came, the canoe was destroyed in an instant.

After my body was swallowed by the sea, my world had no sky or earth.

And I myself was powerless...

For the first time, I felt the despair and fear the Great King must have felt back then.

I embraced that despair.

I struggled with that fear.

I don’t know how much time passed before a distant singing suddenly reached my ears.

I opened my eyes suddenly.

A woodcutter appeared before me.