The days passed by, one after another, as the Westward journey stretched on endlessly.
Whenever night fell and the party gathered around the campfire, Monkey would always take out the pair of Emerald Mandarin Ducks and study them intently, lost in thought.
That junior sister called Clara Heart was truly abnormal. It wasn’t strange for Master Sage Subhuti to take her as a disciple—he’d always enjoyed teaching, and before Monkey, he’d already had nine disciples. Nor was it strange for the retired Lord Lao to accept her; after all, every attendant in Tusita Palace was his disciple. What difference did one more make?
But for two great powers to claim the same disciple—that was truly odd. In the entire cultivation world, such a thing was almost unheard of. Even when Anna Yang switched sects, Lingyunzi had to bring gifts to formally pay respects. What virtue or ability did Clara Heart possess to maintain two masters at once—especially when neither seemed to mind at all?
Not only did they not mind, they spoiled her—treated her as a precious treasure. You could see it in how Clara Heart was surrounded by artifacts; whether at Crescent Star Cave or among the Tusita Palace attendants, who else received such favor?
Looking back now, Clara Heart’s own actions were also unusual. For instance, she and Monkey were like sworn enemies—every meeting ended in an argument—so why did she rush to his aid the moment she heard he was in danger? Was it the fine tradition of Crescent Star Cave at work?
Monkey asked himself: if Clara Heart ever ran into trouble and came to him for help, he’d act out of sect loyalty and lend a hand, but he’d never show her a kind face. Yet that day, Clara’s behavior was unmistakably meek...
She ought to have been a pampered little princess... How could someone like that yield so easily?
The more Monkey thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
There were plenty of other clues, too—like those strange things she’d said to him in the past.
Monkey could restore his Heaven’s Way cultivation at any moment; he was, without question, the second most powerful being in the Three Realms. With such status, he rarely needed to care about anyone else’s feelings. For this reason, all the oddities surrounding Clara Heart weren’t unknown to him—he simply hadn’t bothered to think about them, never intended to.
If not for the Westward Quest, he’d probably have chosen brute force to solve anything that displeased him. After all, violence was his specialty—and the simplest way to resolve trouble. He certainly didn’t have Tripitaka’s patience for understanding every person and finding the most appropriate solution.
Yet now, with those two ordinary Emerald Mandarin Ducks lying before him...
This must be some kind of hint from Nuwa. Monkey could no longer ignore all the strange things about Clara Heart.
What sort of circumstances could cause so many anomalies to appear in one person?
The more he thought, the more it seemed there was only one answer that fit everything: she must be the reincarnation of ‘someone.’
“Could those old ghosts... really have the power to reassemble a soul that’s already been scattered to oblivion? Is that even possible?” Monkey kept turning the Jade Tablet over and over in his hands, his eyes narrowing to slits.
Suddenly, he recalled all his unpleasant encounters with Clara Heart—the biting sarcasm, the things he’d said, the time she stormed off at Blossom Mountain...
The more he remembered, the more his scalp tingled.
“If it’s really true, what am I supposed to do... She must hate me now. Why couldn’t I have been a little more careful?” he thought, suddenly clutching his head.
“Isn’t asking her the most straightforward way?” Marshal Silver sat down beside him with a bowl of hot soup, drawling, “If you’re wrong, at worst you’ll lose a little face. If you don’t ask, you’ll lose every chance. You’d fight your way up to the Thirty-Three Heavens for her—surely you can swallow your pride and just ask?”
“Swallow my pride…” Monkey shook his head and gave a helpless laugh. “If we’re talking about losing face, six hundred years ago I was crushed under Five Elements Mountain—I lost all my dignity then. No one ever told you, did they? I even begged Lord Buddha: as long as he’d let me go, I’d be his dog. Too bad… he didn’t want me.”
Marshal Silver lowered his gaze, glancing at the Jade Tablet in Monkey’s hand. “So what are you still hesitating for?”
“I’m hesitating because those old men might be setting me up again. It wouldn’t be the first time. They create these ambiguous puzzles—maybe even make Clara Heart believe she’s Belle or Birdie… Didn’t Lord Lao try that once? The ‘Que’er’ in Tusita Palace was the result of a failed experiment.” Monkey looked up at the star-filled sky. “And then there’s the sword hanging over my head.”
“What sword?”
“Lord Buddha.” Monkey drew out the words, smiling wryly. “Of all beings under Heaven, he’s the only one I worry about. Being second is far harder than being third. The one at the top has no one above him—he can focus all his attention on you. If I make a single misstep… well, the bodies will pile up. Better to wait until the Westward Quest is over and everything’s stable. If I dig into this now and my guess is right, and I accidentally drag her in—then what?”
Marshal Silver clapped Monkey on the shoulder and chuckled, “You really underestimate Lord Buddha, don’t you? If he’s truly Buddha, anything you can guess, he’ll have already anticipated. The truth will come out—whether you know it or not, the Western Paradise will know. If it’s necessary, someone will bring her in, no matter what you want. So you might as well find out early. As for whether it’s all a scheme… that, you’ll have to confirm for yourself.”
With that, Marshal Silver got up and walked away.
Watching Marshal Silver’s departing back, Monkey glanced at Tripitaka, who was packing in the distance, then looked down at the Jade Tablet in his own hand and sighed helplessly. "If I ask… and she says ‘yes,’ what am I supposed to say? Do I believe her—or not?”
All these tangled thoughts made Monkey’s scalp tingle yet again.
Now, another mystery was at hand. And he didn’t even know if he ought to take action to solve it.
No wonder cultivators had grown to dislike the Traveler’s Path. For those clueless about the Enlightened Path, even someone with a bit of foundation like Monkey could barely keep up—how could anyone else hope to manage?
Gazing at the star-filled sky for a long time, Monkey could only sigh.
……
Just as Monkey was wandering the wasteland, tormented by sudden revelations, in the skies above the Southern Lands, wind and rain were quickly gathering.
Beneath the starry sky, the entire town had become a field of ruins.
“Who are you, and why are you hunting Skyward Rangers?” A Heavenly General, drenched in blood, stood in the empty street, sword in hand, shouting. At his feet lay several dead Pegasus.
His legs were trembling.
Six full squads of Skyward Rangers—eighteen men—had come searching for their missing comrades. Now, only he remained, and he hadn’t even seen what his enemy looked like. How could he not be terrified?
Suddenly, a figure darted past the street corner. The Skyward Ranger’s hair stood on end; he roared, “Show yourself! Get out here—! Hiding like this, what kind of hero are you?”
But a light breeze swept by, two leaves floated up, and no one paid him any attention.
The whole town was eerily quiet, with only the sound of the wind.
Staring at the eaves clawing like evil spirits in the night, he felt a faint sense of fear and slowly retreated, gripping his sword.
His eyes swept nervously around.
Up in the clouds, a young Heavenly General who’d been watching the town gripped his sword at his waist, about to move forward, when a colleague grabbed him from behind.
"Don’t go," the bearded Heavenly General behind him stared grimly at the town below. "This is probably not as simple as we think. Let’s watch a bit longer."
"If this keeps up, he’ll be killed for sure."
"If you go, you might die too. Then who will be left to report back?"
"Sorry, I can’t abandon a comrade!"
With that, the young Heavenly General tried to break free, but the bearded general held him fast, refusing to let go.
As the two generals argued in the clouds, another incident erupted in the town below.
On the long street, the Skyward Ranger finally cracked under the terror in his heart, spun around, and bolted. Just as he was about to leap into the air and flee this nightmare, a shadow flashed before him.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Before he could even see the figure’s face, his spiritual power burst out of him like a breached dam, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
The two in the clouds were stunned.
Their eyes widened in horror as they watched the long street below, where a dark-gold-furred demon crouched atop the Skyward Ranger, sucking his blood.
"What is that thing?" The young Heavenly General quickly turned his face away.
Beside him, the bearded general gripped his arm even tighter, his body trembling as he muttered, "Stay calm, stay calm... That’s a demon, and... most likely a Demon King. Don’t act rashly, or we’ll both die here."
At last, when the demon finished drinking, stretched, and sat lazily on the ground, the two in the clouds finally saw his face clearly in the moonlight—
"Is that... is that Simon Sun, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?" The young Heavenly General’s eye twitched, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Go, now..." the bearded general whispered, "He’s a Da Luo Immortal—at this distance, if he wants, he can spot us in an instant."
All illusions gone, the two generals turned and suppressed their auras, fleeing quietly toward South Heaven Gate.
...
Meanwhile, in the ruined town, Damon Six-Ears suddenly noticed something stirring under the wrecked Silver Chariot at the street corner.
He hesitated briefly, then strode over with his hands on his hips.
He’d noticed it long ago, but since it posed no threat, he hadn’t bothered with it.
Swaggering over, Damon Six-Ears soon spotted a patch of gray-black canvas on the chariot, something writhing beneath it.
He lifted the canvas, revealing a goat demon tied up tight.
At the sight of Damon Six-Ears, the goat demon froze, blinking dumbly. "You’re... you’re the Great Sage, honored sir?"