The black-haired elder watched from the shadows, deeply intrigued.
Beneath the dreamlike, ethereal Moon Tree, Monkey was still busy experimenting.
After trying several times—sometimes real, sometimes false, sometimes substantial, sometimes illusory—Monkey was mostly convinced that Matchmaker Elliot's words were true.
After all, privately investigating romantic fate is generally forbidden in Heaven, but it’s not an unforgivable taboo. Many immortals familiar with the Matchmaker can inquire with just a bit of persuasion. Otherwise, why would news of Marshal Tianpeng’s budding romance always spread so quickly?
It stands to reason that Matchmaker Elliot wouldn’t risk his life by deceiving Monkey about something like this, making trouble for himself.
As for why Monkey used force... it was simply because what he wanted to check was too important to wait even a moment longer.
Of course, even more importantly, he still had an imperial pardon token on him.
The Moon Tree’s readings were accurate, and Matchmaker Elliot hadn’t tried any tricks. Thus, one thing was basically confirmed: Birdie had neither reincarnated nor been revived. Or if she had, no new romantic bond had formed... This conclusion was better than nothing.
In other words, it was also possible that Birdie had reincarnated and liked someone, but that person didn’t like her back. In such a case of unrequited love, the Moon Tree wouldn’t show her flower—not even a bud.
Though he was a bit disappointed not to find Birdie’s whereabouts through the Moon Tree, it didn’t really matter. He never intended to rely on the Moon Tree to locate Birdie’s soul. In the end, the Book of Life and Death was the reliable source.
Now, the real reason for this trip—the question that made Monkey most anxious—was at hand.
He quietly moved closer to the trembling Matchmaker and asked in a low voice, "Suppose—suppose this situation: Person A and Person B love each other. Then B dies and is reincarnated as Person C. A still loves B, but C falls in love with A. Strictly speaking, B and C are the same person, so that’s mutual love, right? How does the Moon Tree handle this?"
It was a bizarre question, but with his life in Monkey’s hands, the Matchmaker dared not slack off. After a brief thought, he furrowed his brows and replied, "That would be an ill-fated bond."
"Ill-fated bond... Why does that sound so awkward? Fine, ill-fated it is. In short, in that situation, is there a flower?"
The Matchmaker thought again and said, "Such cases are extremely rare, but yes, there would be a flower. However, it would be a yellow one."
"All right, as long as you say there is, let’s test for that now."
Following Monkey’s instructions, the Matchmaker performed the spell again. Monkey tested in order: Birdie, himself, Belle. The final result: still no reaction.
Only now did Monkey finally breathe a little easier.
No flower appeared. At least this proved one thing: Belle was not Birdie reincarnated. If she really were, then with Monkey as A, Birdie as B, and Belle as C, the three should have produced a yellow flower representing an ill-fated bond.
Looks like he was just overthinking it. Didn’t Grandmaster White already say that neither he nor Belle had a flower on the Moon Tree?