In the quiet courtyard, a gentle breeze swept by, lifting the graying hair at the temples.
Elder Stillwater extended a hand toward the stone chair beside him, smiling faintly. "Sit down. Today, it’s rare to have my two junior brothers visit Stillwater Valley, so as your senior, I’ve invited you as well. It’s good for brothers to gather."
Leaning on his staff, the Monkey King stood in the elegant courtyard and gave a slight bow. "Greetings, senior brothers."
Danny Crimson yawned lazily, propped his chin on his hand, and gestured at the stone chair. "Sit down, don’t just stand there."
"Sit down," Elder Sky added.
Step by step, the Monkey King walked over with his staff and sat down on the stone chair.
Elder Stillwater rolled up his sleeves, brewed a cup of tea, and pushed it forward, speaking softly: "It’s been a long time since so many brothers from Crescent Star Cave have gathered together."
The Monkey King held the teacup in both hands, gently blowing away the steaming mist, his eyes occasionally glancing at Elder Sky and Danny Crimson.
Danny Crimson shot Elder Stillwater a look. "It’s not that we haven’t gathered—it’s just that we haven’t gathered with you. Hey, I’d say you haven’t returned to the monastery for fifty or sixty years, right? Isn’t it about time you went back?"
"I went back once a decade or so ago. You just happened to be away at the time," Elder Stillwater replied calmly.
"A decade or so? Heh." Danny Crimson tipped his head back and downed a large cup of tea in one gulp, 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 return and pay my respects."
Elder Stillwater smiled, refilled his cup, and pushed it back. "Even if I return, I cannot see the master. Whether I go back or not makes no difference—a Jade Tablet is enough to keep in touch."
"Tsk!" Danny Crimson immediately frowned. "That’s your own fault for not healing yourself. Even if you can’t see, you should still let the master see you. At least let him know he still has a disciple like you."
As he spoke, he glanced at the Monkey King. "What about you? How long before you go back?"
The Monkey King gave an awkward smile, lowered his eyes, and cradled his teacup, not responding.
"He’ll go back when it’s time," Elder Stillwater interjected, stroking his long beard.
Elder Sky took a deep breath, then picked up the long staff wrapped in coarse cloth leaning against a pillar and handed it to the Monkey King. "The master asked me to give this to you."
Taking it in hand, the Monkey King untied the cords and unfolded the coarse cloth, revealing a brand-new Cloudwalker Staff, noticeably heavier than the previous one.
"Please thank the master for me," the Monkey King said, bowing. "Did he say anything else?"
"The master said Lord Lao has left. If you wish to return to the monastery to cultivate, you may do so at any time."
"Is there... anything else?"
Elder Sky slowly shook his head.
The Monkey King blinked, gripped the staff in his palm, and hugged it to his chest. "Then, please thank the master for me."
Elder Sky sighed lightly. "It’s just as well you don’t go back—otherwise our senior brother would spend every day worrying about his little disciple, Belle."
"Is Belle doing well?" the Monkey King asked, head lowered.
"She’s fine. Working hard at her cultivation and making good progress. She doesn’t know about your situation yet—she often comes to ask me if Miles Moon has returned or if any of your letters have arrived."
The Monkey King nodded slightly, pursed his lips, and blinked. "As long as she’s well, that’s enough."
After a brief silence, Elder Sky fixed his gaze on the Monkey King. "Life out here must be hard for you, right? Are you sure you don’t want to return?"
The Monkey King lowered his head, then raised it, repeating this several times without speaking. Hugging the Cloudwalker Staff, his eyes reddened slightly.
"I understand," Elder Sky said with a strained laugh, taking a sip of tea.
After hesitating for a long time, the Monkey King spoke: "Fifth Brother, there’s something I wish to ask."
"Go ahead."
"Why is it that, even though I’ve done nothing, Lord Lao has his eye on me?"
The small pavilion instantly fell silent.
Danny Crimson and Elder Sky both looked quietly at the Monkey King, while Elder Stillwater kept his eyes closed, saying nothing.
After a long while, Elder Sky sighed softly. "You did do something."
He turned to glance at Elder Stillwater. "You arrived three hundred years early, didn’t you?"
The Monkey King’s heart trembled slightly, and he gripped the Cloudwalker Staff even tighter.
Elder Sky let out a long sigh and spoke slowly: "My cultivation is still shallow; I can’t calculate the Heavenly Way. But Second Brother can. Earlier, several of us were puzzled why the master chose to accept you. At first, he refused so decisively, then suddenly took you in. Your temperament... honestly isn’t well-suited for immortal cultivation. That’s not the master’s usual style."
After a brief pause, stroking his beard, Elder Sky continued: "Later, when Lord Lao sent people to watch Crescent Star Cave, you caused trouble at Kunlun Mountain, and our Eighth Brother slunk back alone, we realized something was wrong. But the master wouldn’t talk, and our senior brother clearly knew but wouldn’t say. So, we asked Second Brother to burn some of his own cultivation to probe the truth."
After speaking, Elder Sky lowered his head with a smile, then glanced up at Elder Stillwater.
Elder Stillwater gave a faint smile, clasped his hands on the table, and sighed. "Only when I calculated did I realize you became a disciple three hundred years too early—and you’re not even the one who was supposed to come. I suspect you understand this better than any of us."
The Monkey King gripped the Cloudwalker Staff even tighter and nodded blankly.
Elder Stillwater smiled helplessly. "So that’s the problem. 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. Everything that cannot be changed is called the Heavenly Way. That’s why the Fifth Tier is called ‘Heavenly Way’—Lord Lao and the Buddha both cultivate it. They are the ones closest to the laws of Heaven and Earth. Lord Lao masters the law of ‘non-action,’ knowing the core of the Heavenly Way; the Buddha masters the law of ‘selflessness,’ becoming one with emptiness."
"But the Heavenly Way isn’t just ‘non-action’ and ‘selflessness’—it includes everything that must and must not happen. The Buddhists say: cause and effect. If the cause is real, the effect is inevitable." Elder Stillwater shook out his sleeve and stood up; in the courtyard, a fallen leaf drifted down, and he caught it between two fingers. "Just like this leaf—when it grows, when it falls, it’s all destined. This, too, is the Heavenly Way. Even the timing of your apprenticeship is part of it."
"You mean, because I became a disciple early, that’s why...?"
"To be precise, it’s not just your apprenticeship. Let me give you an example: if the Heavenly Way decrees someone cannot die, but they die anyway—do you know what would happen?"
The Monkey King stared at him quietly.
Elder Stillwater smiled slightly. "If he dies, then his descendants will disappear. Suppose each of his descendants was meant to have two children—his death changes the existence of countless people generations later. Likewise, if someone meant to die lives instead, and has children, the bloodline changes for countless generations. This is an extreme example, but what I mean is: in the trajectory of the Heavenly Way, even the slightest change—even if I pluck a leaf that wasn’t meant to fall yet—can affect the world’s pattern thousands of years from now."
He gave a strained laugh. "Of course, many wish to change the Heavenly Way, and many can measure it to an extent, but no matter how hard they try, it’s impossible. Because they themselves are part of the Heavenly Way—even their calculations are predetermined by it. In the end, it’s all meaningless."
The Monkey King narrowed his eyes and asked slowly, "But I’m not part of the Heavenly Way—so everything I do will change it, right?"
"Yes."
"The Heavenly Way doesn’t allow any change at all?"
"No." Elder Stillwater rubbed the withered leaf in his hand and waved it dismissively. "The Heavenly Way allows change and constantly self-corrects. But those who control the Heavenly Way cannot allow it to change, because then it’s no longer the Heavenly Way they control. In other words, they lose their grasp on it. Do you understand now?"
Hugging the Cloudwalker Staff tightly, the Monkey King slowly lowered his head, pursed his lips, and after a long time asked, "So, he has to restore everything to its original place?"
"Not exactly the original place. The Heavenly Way has many overlapping tracks—there are several predetermined paths, but everyone except Lord Lao can only calculate one of them. So he has many ways to handle things. But with you, he must be extremely cautious, because you’re tied to a major event three hundred years from now, with unimaginable consequences. You are the source, and your potential to disrupt the Heavenly Way is greatest—every action could bring disaster. What he needs to do is stop your disruption, destroy anything that could cause you to deviate, and reset the track."
In the quiet courtyard, the wind gently brushed the Monkey King's cheek, ruffling his fur.
He lowered his head, rubbing 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, pursed his lips, and asked, "The master knew all this from the start, didn’t he? He refused to take me on at first to avoid entangling with karma. Later, he accepted me to stir things up, to let me break the Heavenly Way. That must have been his plan, right?"