The monkey king on the eastern mountain ordered a little monkey to carry a basket of immortal fruits to Mount Huaguo and offer them to Sun Wukong.
Carrying the fairy fruit, the monkey gladly accepted the order and went. Twenty days later, the monkey returned, still holding the basket of immortal fruit.
“Why did the Monkey King not accept our gift?” The monkey king on the eastern mountain asked the little monkey.
“It’s not that he didn’t accept it, but I didn’t walk to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits.” The little monkey looked dejected.
“Why?” The East Mountain Monkey King was furious.
“Dear Monkey King, when I set out from our East Mountain with the immortal fruit on my back and went to Mount Huaguo, in ten days, I went over eighteen big mountains and crossed eighteen big rivers, but I still didn’t see the shadow of Mount Huaguo. Then asked an old man who passed by, how far is the road to Mount Huaguo. He replied that he would have to go over eighteen mountains, and then cross eighteen rivers. But I was on the way, tired and lonely, no longer have the courage and confidence to go on. So I had to return the same way.” The little monkey argued.
The monkey king had no choice but to send another little monkey to Mount Hague once again carrying the basket of immortal fruit. Forty days later, the dusty little monkey returned and brought back a string of onyx beads that the Monkey King had given to the Monkey King of Eastern Mountain.
“How did you cross the obstacles of the journey? Did you not feel tired and lonely?” The King of Eastern Mountain Monkeys found the young monkey who had returned to resume his mission in high spirits, without any sense of fatigue, and could not help but ask.
“Dear King, I encountered many mountains and rivers along the way, but they did not pose any threat to me at all.”
“Why?”
“Because, every time I crossed a big mountain, I patted myself on the shoulder and said, ‘You are amazing! Whenever I crossed a river, I patted myself on the chest and said, ‘You’re good! In this way, without realizing it, I came to Mount Huaguo. So, I think the journey was very pleasant, although I was alone, but did not feel tired and lonely.”
