Under the moonlight, shadows of trees danced along the narrow path leading to Crescent Star Cave.
The Daoist disciple who had come to summon them walked at the front with a lantern; Clara Heart led Aiden Chen closely behind, while Yvonne Rain kept a distance of more than a zhang.
In the forest, insects, cicadas, and birds chirped and sang.
Aiden Chen occasionally lifted his gaze to look up at his immortal elder sister, Clara.
All the way, Clara Heart wore a composed expression, silent and reserved.
In her eyes, a faint trace of confusion lingered, as if she were a child about to face an uncertain path ahead.
Her hold on Aiden's hand alternated between tight and loose, revealing a trace of unease.
Before long, the four of them caught sight of the Hall of Silent Meditation, half nestled against the mountain, half built into the cave itself.
The hall was simple yet dignified, its dim firelight spilling from a window to one side.
The entrance to the Hall of Silent Meditation was modest in size.
Looking down the stone path before the entrance, eight stone pillars stood neatly in two rows within the old manor, forming a corridor like a long, narrow tunnel.
At the far end of that tunnel, Master Sage Subhuti sat cross-legged, alone, his head bowed as he fiddled with the chessboard before him.
The firelight flickered softly.
In that instant, Clara Heart was seized by a strange illusion.
It felt as though the person she was about to face was not the master who had watched her grow up, but a distant stranger whose features she could barely remember.
Perhaps it was this fear that kept her from visiting Lord Lao in Tusita Palace.
As for everything with the Monkey King, she could comfort herself that those memories were not truly hers. Birdie was Birdie, Belle was Belle, and Clara was Clara—three entirely different people, past lives and present.
But what about her two masters?
The Daoist disciple who had led the way stepped aside and gestured, "Aunt-Master, please."
Clara Heart nodded quietly, let go of Aiden Chen's hand, and stepped forward.
Aiden quickly followed after and grabbed Clara's hand.
Clara stopped, gently patting Aiden's head. "Go play with Sister Yvonne for a while. I have to talk with my master for a bit. I'll be back soon."
Aiden stared blankly at Clara, then turned to look at Yvonne.
Yvonne silently stepped forward and extended her hand.
"Go on," Clara said with a gentle smile.
Only then did Aiden nod and reach out to take Yvonne's hand.
With Aiden in tow, Yvonne slowly led him toward the courtyard in front of Stillheart Hall.
Aiden kept looking back every few steps. Clara smiled at him from afar.
After a while, when Aiden finally disappeared around the corner, Clara composed herself, turned, and walked toward Subhuti.
The fire crackled, bursting into little blooms of flame.
Clara stepped lightly onto the floorboards of Stillheart Hall.
Subhuti paused, holding a game piece in his hand, and slowly looked up.
"You're back?"
Clara walked in silently, head held high, without answering.
When she reached Subhuti, she shook out her sleeves, knelt on both knees, and bowed. "Disciple Clara pays respects to Master."
For a moment, Subhuti was stunned.
The smile on his face vanished, replaced by a hint of bewilderment.
Looking at Clara prostrated on the floor, after a brief silence, Subhuti smiled again. But this time, it was no longer the confident, inscrutable smile he once wore.
"Well, you go out for a bit and come back acting so formal?" He placed the game piece back in the basket, stroked his long beard, and sighed. "Though I am your master, you hardly ever show me such grand courtesy."
With that, Subhuti chuckled softly.
Clara remained perfectly still, maintaining her posture—no smile, no reply.
The laughter abruptly stopped.
After a moment, Subhuti cleared his throat twice. "Get up, that's enough formalities."
"Thank you, Master." Clara straightened up, still kneeling, her eyes lowered, not looking at Subhuti.
Silence settled over Stillheart Hall once again.
The wind whistled through the gap in the curtains, making the flames flicker.
Subhuti quietly watched Clara, while Clara stared at the scattered game pieces on the Go board before him.
Their shadows trembled faintly behind each of them.
After a long while, Subhuti reached out and moved the Go board aside, speaking softly, "Is there anything you wish to ask me?"
Clara shook her head. "I have nothing I want to ask."
"Today, anything you wish to ask, just ask. I will answer everything, hold nothing back."
"I have nothing I want to ask."
"There's nothing you want to know?"
"What I wanted to know, I already know. What I didn't want to know, I've learned as well."
"But there are still many things you don't know."
Clara lifted her head and met Subhuti's gaze, her face expressionless. "I don't want to know any more."
At that, Subhuti let out a rare, quiet chuckle.
He pursed his lips, furrowed his brow, folded his hands, and let out a long sigh.
"Some things, even if you don't want to know, I must make sure you do."
Clara's gaze dropped slightly, silent.
Her hand unconsciously gripped the hem of her skirt.
"There are many things you already know, but even more that you don't. Things neither you nor Belle know. It's time for master and disciple to talk, to finally discuss all that has happened in these long eight hundred years." Subhuti slowly closed his eyes, sighing like an old man. "You are a good child, and so is Belle. Birdie, I never met, but... she must be too. For Wukong to win the love of all three of you—what fortune is that?"
Clara slowly lifted her head and blinked at Subhuti. "With respect, Master, I haven't fallen in love with him, nor will I. The ones who loved him were Birdie and Belle. I am Clara."
Subhuti gave a dry laugh. "Since childhood, I've always spoiled you. That's because I owed you from a previous life. For the sake of the Three Realms, I put you and your senior brothers on the table as stakes, gambling with your Supreme Elder. The goal was to open a new game, to make it possible for Golden Cicada to achieve Dao. Do you understand my intentions, Clara?"
Clara gazed quietly at Subhuti, giving no answer.
The two stared at each other in silence for a long time. At last, Subhuti smiled faintly, bowed his head, and sighed, "It's normal not to understand. When I was your age, I didn't understand much of this either."
Outside, the wind howled. A few fallen leaves swirled in through the lattice window, landing on the polished floor.
Supporting himself on his knees, Subhuti slowly rose and sighed, "In truth, I am a bodhi tree. I have existed since the birth of the Three Realms."
Step by step, he walked to the window, waved his hand, and the fallen leaves on the floor rose with the swirling air, flying back out the way they came.
He reached out and lowered the bamboo shade he'd forgotten to drop.
Peeking through a gap in the bamboo shade, Subhuti gazed at the moonlit shadows of the trees outside. "When I was first born, I was just like them—unaware, unknowing. I simply grew, quietly."
"One day, I suddenly wanted to know what this world looked like. So I spent five thousand years growing a pair of eyes."
"Back then, there was only water, wind, and earth. No demons, no gods, no Buddhas."
"Looking at the barren world, I was disappointed."
"So I spent another five thousand years growing a pair of ears."
"Unfortunately, those ears could only hear thunder and the howling wind."
"From beginning to end, I couldn't see or sense a single companion."
"This world was unbearably lonely."
As he spoke, a faint smile appeared on Subhuti's lips—part mockery, part nostalgia.
Clara listened quietly from the side.
After a long while, Subhuti gazed at the green leaves outside the window and spoke softly, "Later, I met many others—your Supreme Elder, Zhenyuan, Lord Genesis, Lord Skygate... and Mother Nuwa."
"This world was meant to be rich and vibrant. So, together, we created everything else that was missing—birds, beasts, grasses, trees. Mother Nuwa even shaped humans after our own forms. Suddenly, the whole world was bustling with life."
"But... after the bustle, countless problems arose. We began to disagree." Subhuti pressed his lips together and suddenly laughed, turning around. "But that doesn't matter, because this world has its own law, the Heavenly Dao. No matter how powerful you are, you're just a worm in the belly of the Dao. Once everything was created, it slipped out of our control and grew freely. The world will never become exactly as we wish; it can only grow into its own shape."
"Sometimes I wonder if everything we did was pointless. Even without us, the world might have turned out the same." After a brief pause, Subhuti continued, "But later, things changed."
"What changed?" Clara asked softly.
"The change was... Lord Lao attained the Dao, mastering Non-Action. Soon after, Shakyamuni—a junior, really—also attained the Dao, his path was No-Self." Subhuti spread his hands, furrowed his brow as if wanting to say more, then pressed his lips and asked, "Do you know what Non-Action is?"
"Non-Action, yet nothing left undone. Knowing all, capable of all."
"Correct. Not complete, but close enough." Subhuti nodded. "Simply put, Lord Lao truly mastered the cosmos. Nothing in the Three Realms could escape his eyes or his calculation. The entire world became like the potted plants in Tusita Palace's courtyard—he could shape them however he wished."
"So..." Clara asked in confusion, "Did you all turn against him together?"
At this, Subhuti laughed and waved his hand, "Not at all. As for the causes and consequences, let me explain in detail."