In the quiet courtyard, a gentle breeze drifted by, ruffling his graying temples.
Elder Stillwater extended a hand toward the stone bench beside him and smiled slightly. "Sit. Today, it's rare to have both junior brothers visit my Stillwater Valley, so as your senior, I invited you as well. It's good for us disciples to gather now and then."
Leaning on his staff, the Monkey King stood in the elegant courtyard and bowed slightly. "Greetings, senior brothers."
Danny Crimson lazily yawned, propped his chin on his hand, and casually pointed to the stone bench. "Sit down, don't just stand there."
"Go ahead and sit," Elder Sky added.
The Monkey King leaned on his staff and walked over step by step, settling onto the stone bench.
Elder Stillwater rolled up his sleeves, brewed a cup of tea, and pushed it forward gently. "It's been a long time since so many of us disciples of Crescent Star Cave have gathered together like this."
The Monkey King gripped the teacup in both hands, softly blew away the steaming mist, and occasionally glanced at Elder Sky and Danny Crimson.
Danny Crimson shot Elder Stillwater a glance. "It's not that we haven't gathered—just not with you. Hey, hasn't it been fifty or sixty years since you last returned to the Monastery? Shouldn't you go back?"
"I did go back once a dozen years ago—you just happened to be away," Elder Stillwater replied mildly.
"A dozen years? Hah!" Danny Crimson tilted his head back and downed a large cup of tea in one gulp, then wiped his mouth and pushed the cup toward Elder Stillwater. "I may be a rough man—walking the Traveler's Path—but I've never forgotten to honor my master. Every three or four years, I make sure to go back and pay my respects to the old man."
Elder Stillwater smiled, refilled his cup, and pushed it back. "Even when I return, I can't see Master. Whether I go or not makes no difference—a Jade Tablet message suffices."
Danny Crimson immediately frowned. "That's because you refuse to heal yourself. Even if you can't see, you should let Master see you—at least remind him he still has a disciple like you."
He shot the Monkey King a glance. "And you? How long until you plan to go back?"
The Monkey King smiled awkwardly, lowered his eyes, and cradled his teacup, offering no reply.
"He'll return when the time is right," Elder Stillwater interjected, stroking his long beard.
Elder Sky took a deep breath, picked up the long staff wrapped in coarse cloth leaning against the pillar, and handed it to the Monkey King. "Master asked me to give this to you."
Simon took it, untied the rope, and unwrapped the cloth—inside was a brand-new Cloudwalker Staff, noticeably heavier than the last.
"Please thank Master on my behalf," the Monkey King said with a respectful bow. "Did Master say anything else?"
"Master said Lord Lao has already left. If you wish to return to the Monastery to cultivate, you may do so at any time."
"Anything... else?"
Elder Sky slowly shook his head.
The Monkey King blinked, clutching the staff tightly to his chest. "Then, please thank Master for me."
Elder Sky sighed lightly. "It's just as well you don't return—it saves our senior brother from worrying about his little disciple, Belle, all the time."
"Is Belle doing well?" the Monkey King asked, head lowered.
"She's fine. Diligent in her cultivation, making good progress. But she doesn't know about your situation—she keeps coming to ask me if Miles Moon has returned to the Monastery, or if your reply has arrived."
The Monkey King nodded slightly, pursed his lips, and blinked. "That's good. As long as she's well."
After a brief silence, Elder Sky fixed his gaze on the Monkey King. "It's not easy for you out here, is it? Are you really not going back?"
The Monkey King lowered his head, then raised it, repeating this several times without speaking. Holding the Cloudwalker Staff, his eyes reddened slightly.
"I understand," Elder Sky said with a dry laugh, sipping his tea.
After a long hesitation, the Monkey King spoke. "Fifth Brother, I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"Why is it that, when I've done nothing, Lord Lao has singled me out?"
The little pavilion fell silent.
Danny Crimson and Elder Sky looked at the Monkey King in quiet silence, while Elder Stillwater kept his eyes closed, saying nothing.
After a long while, Elder Sky sighed softly. "You have done something."
He turned to Elder Stillwater. "You arrived three hundred years early, didn't you?"
The Monkey King's heart gave a faint tremor, and he gripped the Cloudwalker Staff even tighter.
Elder Sky let out a long sigh. "My cultivation is shallow; I can't calculate the Heavenly Way. But Second Brother can. We were all puzzled why Master would accept you—at first he refused so decisively, then changed his mind. Your temperament... isn't really suited for cultivation. That's not Master's usual style."
After a brief pause, stroking his long beard, Elder Sky continued, "Later, Lord Lao sent people to watch Crescent Star Cave, then you had trouble on Avalon Mountain, and Eighth Brother came back alone in disgrace. We all realized something was wrong. But Master said nothing, and even our senior brother, who clearly knew, wouldn't speak. So we had Second Brother burn some of his own cultivation to probe the truth."
Having finished, Elder Sky lowered his head with a faint smile, then glanced at Elder Stillwater.
Elder Stillwater smiled lightly, clasped his hands on the table, and sighed. "Only after calculating did we discover you became a disciple three hundred years too early. And what's more, you're not even the one who was supposed to come. You probably know this better than any of us, don't you?"
The Monkey King gripped the Cloudwalker Staff even tighter and nodded blankly.
Elder Stillwater gave a helpless smile. "And that's where the problem lies. Do you know what the Heavenly Way is?"
The Monkey King looked up at him and shook his head.
"The Heavenly Way is the law by which this world operates. All things that cannot be changed are called the Heavenly Way. That's why the fifth stage is called 'Heavenly Way.' Lord Lao and the Buddha both cultivate at this level. They are closest to the laws of creation. Lord Lao masters the Law of Non-Action, the very core of the Heavenly Way. The Buddha masters the Law of No-Self, transforming into pure emptiness."
"But the Heavenly Way isn't just 'Non-Action' and 'No-Self.' It includes everything that must happen and everything that must not. The Buddhists say: cause and effect. Once the cause is set, the effect must follow." Elder Stillwater shook his sleeves and stood up. A leaf drifted down in the courtyard, and he caught it between two fingers. "Just like this leaf—when it grows, when it falls—all is predestined. That, too, is the Heavenly Way. Even the timing of your apprenticeship is part of it."
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"So you're saying, because I became a disciple too early, that's why...?"
"To be precise, it's not just about apprenticeship. Let me give you an example: if the Heavenly Way decrees someone cannot die, but they do—do you know what happens then?"
The Monkey King stared at him quietly.
Elder Stillwater smiled gently. "If he dies, his descendants vanish. Suppose each descendant would have two more, then his life or death changes the existence of countless future generations. Likewise, if someone meant to die lives on and has descendants, the result also changes the bloodline of countless people. This is an extreme example, but what I mean is: in the Heavenly Way, even the slightest change—like plucking a leaf that shouldn't fall yet—can affect the world thousands of years later."
He gave a dry laugh. "Many wish to change the Heavenly Way, and many can even calculate it to some extent. But no matter how hard they try, it's impossible. Because they themselves are part of the Heavenly Way—even their predictions are already predestined. In the end, it's all meaningless."
The Monkey King narrowed his eyes and asked, "But I'm not part of the Heavenly Way, so everything I do can change it, right?"
"Yes."
"The Heavenly Way doesn't allow even the slightest change?"
"No." Elder Stillwater rubbed the dry leaf in his hand and waved it off. "The Heavenly Way allows change—it constantly corrects itself. But those who control the Heavenly Way won't allow it to change, because if it does, it's no longer the Heavenly Way they control. In other words, they lose their grasp. Do you understand now?"
Hugging the Cloudwalker Staff tightly, the Monkey King slowly bowed his head and pressed his lips together, thinking for a long time. "So, he has to restore everything to its original place?"
"Not exactly the original place. The Heavenly Way is layered, with multiple predetermined paths. But except for Lord Lao, no one else can see more than one. So he has many ways to handle things. With you, though, he must be extra cautious. Because you are tied to a major event three hundred years in the future, the impact is unimaginable. And since you are the source, your potential for disruption is the greatest—every action you take could bring disaster. What he needs to do is stop your disruptions, destroy any factors that could lead you astray, and restore the trajectory."
In the quiet courtyard, a gentle breeze brushed the Monkey King's cheek, stirring his fur.
He lowered his head, rubbing his fingers over the intricate patterns on the Cloudwalker Staff for a long, long time, lost in thought.
After a while, he raised his head, took a deep breath, and asked, lips pressed together, "Master knew all this long ago, didn't he? At first he refused to accept me as a disciple for fear of entangling with cause and effect. Later, he accepted me to stir things up—to break the Heavenly Way. That must have been Master's plan, right?"