In the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, the little furball monkey lived happily. Yes, the very one born straight out of a stone egg.
He ran, jumped, climbed, spun, and always landed on his feet like a feline with sharpened senses. He leapt from tree to tree at full speed, swung on vines, dashed down rocks, and rolled through the ferns laughing.
He munched on sweet flowers, chewed prickly herbs, drank fresh stream water, and hunted for the juiciest fruits—even the ones hanging way up high on branches that looked mighty fragile.
He was never alone. He raced with a flying gibbon. The baboon was his favorite cousin, and the civet would sometimes scratch his back with her fluffy tail. At night, he slept in a hammock strung high in a tree.
Not far from there, on a flat patch of rock, lived another monkey. Older, slower, with a wrinkled snout and a wild grey beard. They called him Shifu Houzi, the monkey master, who spent his days grumbling.
"Tsss... bouncing and leaping is all well and good... but it doesn't fill an empty belly," he muttered, tapping his stomach.
He didn't like being bothered—unless it was to bring him ripe fruit. He grumbled all the time, but everyone knew he had a good heart and, above all, an elephant's memory. He knew every fresh-water spot and even which herbs not to eat.
So they listened to him… between two squabbles.
But the little furball monkey didn't know him yet.
One morning, as he climbed to the very top of a wild fig tree, he spotted from afar a scattered group of monkeys. A troop, big and small, rolling nuts, jumping into leaf piles, and chasing each other while laughing like mad.
He watched them for a long time, hidden in the branches. So discreet that only his eyes peeked out between the leaves.
He had never seen so many at once.
He didn't dare come down right away. He wondered if he was like them—or if they'd chase him off.
But then a young baboon rolled too far and landed right at his feet. They looked at each other. The little monkey let out a soft chuckle, shy at first... then a loud one. The baboon laughed too.
And that was that.
In a blink, he had found a crew. A real one.
From a shadowy corner, Shifu Houzi raised his eyes, grunted for form's sake... but kept an eye on them.
One day, the sun blazed so hot you could've fried an egg on the rock next door. The young monkeys had gathered under the gnarled pine trees, tongues out, fur matted with sweat.
They played sluggishly, tossing twigs and dragging themselves over each other like soggy mops. The little monkey tried a somersault… but landed flat on his belly.
"Whose idea was it to be born with fur in the middle of summer?" he groaned.
Then came a genius cry:
"To the water! To the water!"
In a flash, the whole gang ran to the mountain stream. Why hadn't he thought of it before? The water was a real fountain of freshness.
They dove, slid, splashed. Then, after a while, one of the curious ones looked up the current.
"Hey... do any of you know where this water comes from?"
"No clue," said another, rubbing his snout. "But it must come from somewhere, right?"
"Since we've got nothing to do, and it's too hot to play... how about we follow the stream to its source?"
"Great idea!" someone shouted.
Quicker than you can climb a coconut tree, the whole gang was on their feet again. Males and females, young and old, cousins, siblings… everyone rushed off in a deafening stampede.
Even Shifu Houzi followed from a distance, grumbling about slippery stones, cramped bushes, and especially "the absurd idea of chasing water on such a scorching day!"
He figured there wasn't much of anything interesting up there anyway.
They climbed and climbed, following the stream that wound through the trees, until they suddenly came upon something magnificent.
A waterfall. Tall, wide, gleaming like a curtain of pearls. The water thundered down onto the rocks, then flowed into the valley.
Everyone stood speechless for a full three seconds. Except Shifu Houzi, who wasn't too impressed.
All the monkeys started clapping, stomping their paws, and jumping all around. They threw leaves, and whatever else was lying on the ground... which wasn't always clean.
A lovely young she-monkey joined in, just in time to get hit in the head by something mushy and smelly. Poor her.
"It's a giant waterfall! Look how strong the water crashes down!" cried a big monkey.
An old macaque, eyes glowing, shouted:
"It's a magic curtain, I tell you! A curtain hiding a secret!"
And another one added:
"If one of us dares to pass through that curtain—without getting knocked out—we'll make him king. King of the Monkeys!"
"King! King! King!" they chanted, pounding the ground.
They repeated the call three times. And on the third… silence fell. Brief. No one really dared step forward. They stared at the rocks being smashed below, swallowing hard.
Then…
"I'll go! I'll go!" rang out a clear voice.
The little furball monkey had leapt from the crowd. Standing tall, fists on his hips, full of confidence.
Even Shifu Houzi stopped chewing his leaf.
"Well... he's either doomed or crowned," he muttered. "Who knows."
Watch him closely!
The little monkey closed his eyes, curled up like a spring… and with a single leap, jumped straight through the waterfall.
The water parted around him with a loud splash, then everything fell silent again.
He opened his eyes. Blinked. Straightened up.
He now stood on a rocky ledge high above the river and its distant banks.
And surprise: everything was perfectly dry!
There was something else, further into the cave.
He froze a moment, mouth half-open. Then stepped forward, senses on high alert.
There was a bridge made of dark, smooth metal. Thick iron plating, sturdy and solid. Not a speck of rust, despite its age. Water ran beneath the bridge, through a wide stone fissure, then escaped far below, outside.
The little monkey shivered—not from fear, but excitement.
He had passed through a wall of water and found a hidden world.
And this was only the beginning.
Abel Maria : Royal Road & Webnovel