Chapter Forty-Seven: "Wukong"

“Moon splashes across the starry river,
The road stretches far and wide,
When the winds and smoke have faded,
A solitary shadow lingers at the edge—
Who said I possess extraordinary skill?
Who made me torn between love and hate?
In the end, my heart is broken, inch by inch.”
The melody was captivating!
The audience’s eyes lit up; from the very first line, they were inexplicably drawn in.

Ren Qian made it clear from the start—this song was called "Wukong," and its protagonist was the great hero Sun Wukong from Journey to the West. Yet, why would the Great Sage be plagued by love and hate? Why would his heart be shattered?

Unbeknownst to themselves, they fell into the trap woven by both lyrics and melody, unable to resist holding their breath and focusing all their attention on the song.

“This… what a strange way of singing! It’s nothing like those classic songs of the past. Usually, there’s a guqin or pipa accompaniment, and the singer croons softly. The techniques are all the same, formulaic.

But the moment Ren Qian began, the Great Sage bore his mark. You have to admit, Ren Qian’s musical talent is simply astounding.”

Dai Quan watched Ren Qian at the center of the band with a complicated expression. From a professional perspective, he was even more shocked.

“Is this the Great Sage’s inner monologue?”

“Is it about the Great Sage pressed beneath Five Finger Mountain?”

The onlookers, moved by the melody and lyrics, began to dig into the song’s details—a sign of recognition, a sign of resonance.

Ren Qian slowly exhaled.

Moon splashes across the starry river—a triumphant gaze as the Great Sage returns home, having mastered his skills.

A solitary shadow lingers—his collision with the rulers of Heaven, the deep loneliness and helplessness.

...

“Fantastical world hangs overhead,
Let go of grudges and hatred,
Abandon enlightenment, depart from confusion,
The six dusts remain unchanged,
Let anger, sadness, and wildness reign,
Man, ghost, monster—
All the same, just debts owed to the heart.”

“Bravo!”

Thunderous applause rained down on the ears of the prickly band, their faces dark and sour. Their own "Wukong," by comparison, sounded like mere monkeys showing off before the true Great Sage.

Though they wanted to accuse Ren Qian of pandering to the masses with nontraditional singing to fool those lacking musical knowledge, this very style brought resonance, even making their own spines tingle.

“Call out to the Buddha—
No shore upon turning back!”

In Wukong’s mouth, he rarely honored the Buddha by name, so here, “Buddha” is sung with twists and turns, laden with deep unwillingness and resentment.

Yet, “No shore upon turning back” is filled with Wukong’s helplessness and bitterness—

On the long road to fetch the scriptures, the Great Sage who once wreaked havoc in Heaven gradually fades away.

He became the Wukong who is occasionally bullied by monsters along the journey.

He became the “Victorious Fighting Buddha” who attained enlightenment.

“Glad you hide your faults and extol virtue,
On this journey you subdue demons and monsters,
From beginning to end, your merit is complete,
You are promoted to the rank of Victorious Fighting Buddha.”

After the coronation at the Great Thunderclap Temple, the Buddhist order merely gained another monkey; yet the world lost a spirit of irrepressible passion, never to return.

“Kneel to one as master—
Life and death no longer matter.
Good and evil, truth and falsehood blur in the world,
Fates scatter and gather, never clear,
Hard to sever—”

The Five Finger Mountain may be heavy enough to pin his body, but it cannot bind his heart. He could still be unruly, the unruly Monkey King, impossible to tame.

But he was wrong. He should never have bowed his head just to escape the mountain’s shackles.

He thought the golden circlet was only a physical restraint, to be broken by the Buddha after the journey.

He never expected that the title “Victorious Fighting Buddha” would become an even greater shackle.

“No shore upon turning back.”

He finally awakened.

From the very beginning, he should have watched coldly from beneath Five Finger Mountain, letting gods and Buddhas rise and fall, until mountains crumbled, seas dried up, and the halls of gods and Buddhas turned to ruins.

But, ultimately, he was just a monkey. Just a monkey longing for freedom, not one skilled in scheming.

“You must change your ways, harbor kindness,
Your freedom is empty, is delusion.
Put away your monkeyish habits.
In this life, you never truly escaped Five Finger Mountain.”

So said the Buddha.

“I want—
What use is this iron staff?
I have—
What good are these transformations?
Still restless,
Still troubled,
The golden circlet weighs upon me,
Words left unsaid.”

This passage delves deeper into Wukong’s journey.

At first, he only wanted to be the immortal Monkey King, equal in longevity to Heaven.

Later, as his abilities grew and Heaven sent armies to subdue him, he learned the importance of background, and sought an official post to protect his kin.

But he soon discovered the duplicity of gods and immortals, saw their malice.

So he rebelled, raising havoc in Heaven, seeking to overturn the Jade Emperor and take his place.

But he never foresaw that the three thousand worlds were, in the end, a network of officials protecting their own.

The Eastern Heavenly Court colluded with the distant Western Paradise, joining forces to imprison him for five hundred years.

How laughable! How tragic!

He was a lonely hero, filled with endless resentment, but his passion could only cool through five hundred years of wind and rain.

Who pitied him in those centuries? Who remembered him? Did any descendant from Flower Fruit Mountain ever cross mountains and rivers to find their Monkey King?

Given all this, what was the point of replacing the Jade Emperor?

Given all this, what was the point of immortality?

On that endless road, he was always a solitary hero, struggling to save all monsters.

Yet he never thought—

Which monster wanted him to save them? Which monster would save him?

“I want—
This iron staff to drunkenly dance with demons,
I have—
These transformations to confuse and muddle,
Shatter the heavenly palace,
Unrestrained and defiant,
The world is evil and perilous,
In the end, escape is impossible…”

Finally, in the closing verses, the song no longer lingers on Wukong’s tangled feelings, his wandering cries, but lays bare the enlightened Wukong.

My Golden Staff can’t change the world—let it be a toy for me and my monkey kin after I’ve had my fill of wine.

My seventy-two transformations can’t create a bright new world—let them amuse demons and monsters when idle.

“This strike—
Will wipe you from existence!!”

This is the real Wukong!

The audience, long suppressed, felt a sudden surge of emotion. From childhood to adulthood, their journey mirrored that of the Great Sage.

Every mature adult once housed a soaring, spirited Great Sage in their heart.

Once, they believed they could traverse heaven and earth, do anything. Later, they found they could not break the rules of the adult world, so they adapted, and lost their Great Sage.

This song stirred them, awakened resonance—they found their lost Great Sage.

It was as if the Great Sage himself had delivered a blow to their numbed hearts, echoing the final lyrics: “This strike—will wipe you from existence!”

“Bravo! What a song! Truly remarkable!”

Applause thundered on. The prickly band beside them slunk away, unable to lift their heads.

“Ren God, sing another?”

“Ren God, one more! One more! One more!”

The crowd’s voices grew louder, more students and passersby gathered, until the area was packed tight.

“Ahem… The cherry blossoms are beautiful lately. I’ll write a song inspired by them.

But first, Dai Quan needs to fetch a piano from the music academy.

Everyone, please wait a bit—I’ll compose the melody and jot down the lyrics in the meantime.”

Another round of applause.

Ren Qian felt awkward, surrounded by spectators clearly intent on not letting him leave unless he sang again.