Crescent Star Cave.
In the Hall of Silent Meditation, Master Sage Subhuti and Elder Gale played chess as they always had.
Subhuti brushed aside his sleeve and gently placed a piece on the board.
Elder Gale stared at the chessboard, expressionless. After a long while, he made his move.
So it went, over and over.
From time to time, Subhuti would glance up at Elder Gale, but Elder Gale never once took his eyes off the board. Even when he was utterly defeated, his pieces scattered and his defenses broken, he neither admitted defeat nor changed his expression—he simply remained silent.
When the game ended, Elder Gale bowed his head and quietly tidied up the chessboard.
Subhuti leaned back, took a sip of tea, and said softly, "All things are fated. You shouldn't dwell on it too much."
Elder Gale bowed slightly. "I understand, Master."
After collecting all the pieces into the basket, Elder Gale picked up another piece, ready to place it on the board—only to see Subhuti wave his hand lightly.
"No more. Your heart isn't in it."
Elder Gale silently returned the piece to the basket.
With a long sigh, Subhuti braced himself on his knees and slowly stood, shaking out his sleeves. "Starting tomorrow, I will enter seclusion. From then on, you will oversee all matters in the cave."
"Seclusion?" Elder Gale was slightly taken aback. "Master, why are you suddenly entering seclusion?"
Turning slowly, Subhuti said quietly, "Seclusion is just a pretext. Tomorrow, your tenth junior brother, Simon Sun, will return to the cave and ask me to break the seal on the Book of Life and Death."
"That seal cannot be broken by you, Master. If that's the case, why bother making excuses to avoid him?"
Subhuti brushed aside his sleeve, reached out, and gently opened the window, letting in a breeze.
Gazing at the bright moon outside, he sighed softly. "Better to avoid him. Knowing the outcome, not seeing him spares us sorrow in the days to come."
In the flickering firelight, Elder Gale sat quietly, his eyes vacant.
He said nothing.
The raging wind swept everything in the hall askew.
Early the next morning, just as Subhuti had said, Simon Sun dragged Stillwater, Skylar Loft, and Ewan to Crescent Star Cave.
More than a century had passed, yet Crescent Star Cave looked nearly unchanged.
If you looked closely, perhaps a tree here was new, or a tree there was gone—nothing more.
As for all the new faces... Simon had spent over a year here, suffering the sect’s hostility. He’d never made many friends, so there was little sentimentality. In fact, when Simon appeared at the temple gate, he nearly scared the gatekeeper sick.
Everyone in the cave knew their Tenth Martial Uncle was a monkey demon, but this was the first time most had seen him. A fully armed Demon King—how could ordinary disciples, who’d never trained outside and only just reached Spirit-Absorption, not be terrified?
Fortunately, the other Martial Uncles beside him had only recently been punished with confinement here; the disciples recognized them, so chaos was avoided.
Once inside, Simon hurried straight to Subhuti’s Hall of Silent Meditation—only to find the main doors tightly shut.
At the sight of Simon and his group, Eugene—standing guard outside—was first stunned, then quickly bowed in greeting.
"Disciple Eugene greets Master and all Martial Uncles."
More than a hundred years had passed.
A century ago, Eugene had only been a Spirit-Absorption disciple. His honest nature earned Subhuti’s favor, so he was kept close and tasked with guarding the Scripture Tower. Now, Eugene had reached Spirit-Refinement. He looked just as he had a hundred years ago, except for a newly grown beard that made him seem more mature.
Before Ewan—Eugene’s own master—could speak, Simon strode up, gripped Eugene’s elbow to stop him bowing, and pointed at the doors. "What’s going on? Where’s the old man?"
Eugene shot Ewan a furtive glance, hesitated, and answered in a low voice, "Master is in seclusion."
"Seclusion? Who are you trying to fool? Tell the truth—did the old man say he wouldn’t see me?"
Eugene kept silent.
Ewan stepped up to Eugene, lowered his voice, and asked, "Master, when did you enter seclusion?"
With his own master speaking, Eugene dared not evade. He answered honestly.
"Master entered seclusion last night."
"Last night?" Simon snorted with laughter.
"See? I told you he wouldn’t help. Coming here was pointless," Skylar Loft said with a shrug.
Simon closed his eyes and sensed for a moment. Eventually, he had to open them and admit, "He’s not inside."
"If he were, would you really try to force your way in?" Skylar Loft teased.
Simon didn’t answer that.
His suddenly grave expression made his brothers shiver, regretting they’d come along.
After a moment’s thought, Simon turned to Eugene. "Elder Gale is here, right?"
"Elder Gale is in the cave."
"Take me to him," Simon said, raising his hand.
"Why do you want to see Elder Gale?"
"I want to ask what Master really means by all this."
At that, Skylar Loft’s face twitched.
...
In True Origin Hall, Simon and Elder Gale sat cross-legged, facing each other. The other three brothers sat to the sides.
Ewan quietly brewed tea for everyone.
The atmosphere was painfully stiff.
Suppressing his impatience, Simon took a sip of tea and asked softly, "Eldest Brother, did Master say anything to you before going into seclusion?"
"Master said he can’t help with what you want," Elder Gale replied, expressionless.
"He already knows why I’m looking for him?"
"I suppose so."
Simon pressed his lips together, baring his teeth at Elder Gale. "So he already knows what’s written in Birdie’s entry in the Book of Life and Death?"
"As a disciple, it's not my place to speculate."
After a brief silence, Simon asked, "Where is Master cultivating in seclusion?"
"I don't know."
"He didn’t even say where?"
"Does Master need to report his actions to his disciples?"
Simon’s brow twitched—he was losing his patience.
He took a deep breath, forced a smile, and said, "Eldest Brother, I came back to see Master because it's urgent."
"I know. You haven’t returned in over a hundred years—if it weren’t urgent, you wouldn’t have come."
"Can we not dwell on the past? We both know why those old grievances exist... I truly have urgent business."
"I know."
With that, Elder Gale remained as indifferent as ever.
The tea before him had grown cold, but he hadn’t touched it once.
Simon pressed his lips together, his hands repeatedly clenching into fists.
He was on the verge of erupting.
Skylar Loft quickly slid his cushion closer to Simon, tugged at his sleeve, and whispered, "We’ve known this for ages—no point getting angry."
Elder Gale straightened slightly and said coolly, "There’s still much to do in the cave. If there’s nothing else, I’ll see you out."
At those words, Simon’s expression froze.
After a moment, he sneered, "So you’re kicking me out, Eldest Brother?"
"You could say that."
In an instant—before anyone could react—Simon sprang up, his staff pointed at Elder Gale’s nose. Furious, he shouted, "I must see Master today! Even if I have to tear down the whole Crescent Star Cave, he’ll have to come out!"
The raging wind swept everything in the hall askew.
The brothers stared in shock.
Amid the chaos, Elder Gale calmly stroked his long beard and looked up, coldly meeting Simon’s gaze.
"Want to fight?"