The always gentle, kindly smile—so it turns out, everything can be a lie.
She smiled faintly, eyes blurred with tears.
If I am Birdie reincarnated, then what attitude does Crescent Star Cave take toward me?
Master, and the elders—do they all know? Have they already decided to stand by and watch?
Before her, warm sunlight bathed the scene; a breeze stirred the swaying branches. So even this, it turns out, could be a lie.
And Monkey King? Is he a lie too?
She remembered the stubbornness of kneeling before the vermillion doors, the resolve to fight the Celestial Army alone, the ferocious face, and the frenzy within the Hall of Life and Death...
"Do you know what she means to me?"
She pressed her lips tightly, tears falling one by one.
She had abandoned her sect, crossed a hundred thousand miles, and in the moment she awoke to see that furry face, she thought the long journey was finally over, that this place would be her haven.
But she was wrong. For her, fate was only just beginning.
She sat there in a daze, gazing into the distant sky.
"Should I tell Monkey everything?"
Suddenly, she remembered the promise Monkey made to her in Lingyan, a promise he had never fulfilled.
Let him choose—pick between me and Birdie...
But what if... what if he really chooses Birdie?
Belle didn't dare to gamble. She had already lost everything—only this hope remained.
She smiled faintly.
"If I disappear, Monkey will finally get the 'Birdie' he's dreamed of day and night, and his heart will be at peace. The 'old sir' can restore the Heavenly Dao and won't trouble Monkey anymore. Master won't have to be angry about this disobedient disciple..."
"Maybe... maybe I really shouldn't exist."
She slowly rose to her feet, moving blankly, like a walking corpse, step by step toward the direction of Qi Tian Palace.
The thorns along the way scraped her hands, but she felt nothing.
She still wore a faint smile.
The night wind was chilling.
In this moment, heaven and earth felt vast and empty, with nothing to rely on.
This girl, step by step leading herself into a dead end, a girl with nothing left, could only desperately clutch onto her last shred of hope, walking alone toward the final resting place the heavens had prepared for her.
...
Starry night.
Outside Qi Tian Palace, Skylar Loft, dressed in a purple Daoist robe, hurried over, followed by demon guards who quickly led him past the myriad demon halls step by step to the study.
"Great Sage, Skylar Loft has arrived."
"Please, come in."
As the main doors swung open, Skylar Loft saw Monkey, Elder Stillwater, and Ewan inside, each with furrowed brows.
"So, how is it? Did you find anything? I was just released by Master Subhuti." Raising his hands, Skylar Loft stepped over the threshold.
Ewan pointed at the yellowed paper on the table: "It's right there."
Skylar Loft hurriedly picked up the paper, pausing in surprise: "It's blank? What happened?"
Elder Stillwater said softly, "There are dual Buddhist and Daoist seals on it. Unless you master both arts or are Birdie herself, no one can read what’s written. Skylar, didn’t you study Buddhism? Why don’t you give it a try?"
Skylar Loft frowned, licking his lips awkwardly: "What Buddhist practice? I hadn’t even formally entered before I left. If Master Subhuti comes, there might be some hope."
"Master Subhuti?" Monkey’s eyes widened. "Right, Master Subhuti did study Buddhism."
"Master Subhuti never truly achieved Buddhist cultivation, and besides, he may not be willing to help with this," Ewan said.
"I’ll go ask him… maybe…" Monkey’s gaze swept across his three senior brothers.
Elder Stillwater fell silent.
Ewan looked away from Monkey.
Skylar Loft murmured, "Stop dreaming. We know our own master well enough. If he was going to help, he would have done so long ago, not waited until today."
"So what now? Is there really no way?" Monkey roared.
All three senior brothers fell silent.
After a long pause, Monkey gritted his teeth and said, "This seal must have been placed by Lord Lao. As long as I can get to him, I’ll know everything."
At these words, everyone present was slightly startled.
Before they could respond, Monkey hurried into the inner chamber. Soon, he returned holding a wooden box, which he handed to Elder Stillwater.
"Second Brother, take a look at this pill."
With that, he widened his eyes, looking expectantly.
The other two senior brothers stared at him in shock.
Elder Stillwater rolled up his sleeves, reached out to take the wooden box, opened it, sniffed, and lightly touched the pill with his hand.
Rubbing his fingers together, Elder Stillwater asked softly, "Where did you get this pill, Junior Brother?"
"I got it from Lord Skygate. If you take it, you can break through your cultivation!"
"The Sevenfold Cloud-Veil Pill?"
All three present were startled.
"You all know about it?" Monkey was also surprised.
"Yeah." Skylar Loft shook his head helplessly and said softly, "Who in the Three Realms doesn’t know Lord Skygate has the Sevenfold Cloud-Veil Pill? Back then, he claimed he’d give it to anyone who dared to try it. But after seeing the pill’s properties, no one ever dared to test it. This thing is not much different from poison."
As he spoke, Skylar Loft spread his hands.
"What do you say?" Monkey pressed.
Elder Stillwater stroked his beard and said in a low voice, "This pill can indeed break through the Traveler’s Path ceiling, but it’s deadly. It draws in spiritual power like a cave-in—who would dare try it? Besides, you need at least Celestial Adept cultivation to survive it. The killing qi alone is enough to overwhelm the user, not to mention the heavenly tribulation that comes with it."
"Not necessarily. If you kill enough, maybe..."
Before Monkey could finish, Skylar Loft had already taken the Sevenfold Cloud-Veil Pill from Elder Stillwater, put it back in the pill box, handed it back to Monkey, and sighed, "Forget it, Junior Brother. This method is too extreme. This pill is a last resort, only for the dead horse treated as a live one. No one knows its upper limit—if you take it and only jump from Celestial Adept to Great Luo Immortal, that’s fine. But if you go higher... Even Heaven’s entire Celestial Army might not be enough to vent the killing qi. In thousands of years, no Traveler has ever reached Great Luo Immortal. Think about it and you’ll understand."
"To put it plainly, this is just some crazy thing Lord Skygate came up with. If it were truly useful, why do you think no one accepted his offer? As far as I know, he’s only half a Traveler himself—why didn’t he take it?"
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Monkey tightly gripped the pill box and fell silent.
After a long pause, Ewan spoke: "Junior Brother, there’s something Senior Brother isn’t sure if I should say."
"Please, Senior Brother, go ahead."
"Now we’ve confirmed Birdie has a record in the Book of Life and Death. Whether she’s reincarnated or resurrected, it’s not yet clear. If she’s resurrected, you really don’t need to keep searching. If someone went to such lengths to revive her, they must have a plan. Even if you don’t look for her, sooner or later that person will bring Birdie to you."
"If you want to break this seal by force, it might take a hundred and eighty years, but it’s not impossible. It’s just that... If she’s reincarnated... If she’s reincarnated and hasn’t cultivated, then after a hundred years, she’s likely gone through many cycles. Break one seal, and you’ll have to break the next, over and over, never reaching the end... If she’s reincarnated and has cultivated, can you really bring yourself to kill her present self just to reclaim her soul for your old promise?"
Monkey paused, lost in thought.
"Besides, I still don’t believe Birdie is already in Lord Lao’s hands. Even if this seal was placed by Lord Lao, it was likely done after he went to the Netherworld to check the Book of Life and Death. Birdie’s soul wasn’t taken away by Lord Lao; that much is certain. Whoever had the power to snatch her soul from the Land Warden and slip her into reincarnation, and then trick the Judges to send her into the wheel, won’t just let her drift. The odds she’s a cultivator are extremely high. Have you really thought this through?"
Monkey couldn’t help but fall silent.
Lowering her head slightly, Ewan said softly, "Let things take their course. Since that person went to such lengths, he surely has ways to keep Lord Lao from finding Birdie's soul. Likewise, after all this effort, sooner or later, he’ll come looking for you."
"No." Monkey shook his head fiercely and declared, "Lord Lao placed this seal to keep me from learning her whereabouts... She’s a crack in the Heavenly Dao, and if Lord Lao gets ahead of me... No matter what, I must confirm her safety first."
His clenched fist made a muffled sound.
"First, I’ll seek out Master Subhuti. Whether it works or not, I have to try."
"If that fails, then I’ll go to Spirit Mountain."
"If that still fails, I’ll cultivate Buddhism myself."
"There must be a way. There must be a way!"