Damon Six-Ears underwent a sudden change of heart. Though he and Monkey remained mortal enemies, at least his attitude toward the Westward Universal Salvation had completely shifted.
With things as they were now, should they steal the rain, or not?
For a moment, even Monkey found himself unable to decide.
But if they didn’t steal the rain, would Tripitaka have to spend his whole life digging wells in Phoenix County?
After much hesitation, Monkey finally gritted his teeth and said, "Steal! We'll steal it first and talk later—if we can't get past this hurdle, there won't be a future anyway!"
......
While Monkey was scheming to steal rain from Lionback Kingdom, Damon Six-Ears was still roaming the Three Realms like a child, doing all sorts of laughable and absurd things.
......
Dragging Aiden Chen along, Clara Heart pushed open Anna Yang's door and hurriedly said, "Sister Anna, before he comes back, let's leave quickly. We have to get out of here!"
"Leave?" Anna Yang looked utterly bewildered.
"Aren't you leaving?"
"Where would I go?"
"Go to..." For a moment, Clara couldn't even finish her sentence.
Yang Chan blinked in a daze and gave a bitter smile.
Should she return to Mount Hua and remain a captive? Go to Guang River Estuary? Or head west to find Monkey?
Yang Chan suddenly realized that, if she left Lionback Kingdom, she had nowhere she truly wanted to go.
After hesitating for a long while, Clara stammered, "Why don't you come back to Crescent Star Cave with me? Technically, you're a disciple there too, so there's nothing odd about returning to the sect. Besides, he said the Three Realms will be in chaos soon—if you stay at Crescent Star Cave, with Master there, at least he’ll have one less worry."
"One less worry for him?" Yang Chan smiled faintly, gazing at the teacup on the table before her. "Does he not already have enough to worry about? One more or less—what difference does it make? What matters is surviving. Surviving well."
In the small room, Clara stood quietly holding Aiden's hand, looking at Yang Chan, at a loss for words.
"You should go."
"What about you?"
"I'll stay."
"Stay... But what if he comes back? When that happens—"
Anna Yang lifted her head slightly, gazing at Clara Heart. With a long sigh, she said, "I'll handle it when the time comes. You should go. I know what I'm doing. Damon Six-Ears must be facing something right now. It's precisely at times like these that I need to stay. Otherwise, who will keep watch over the whole board for him?"
Upon hearing this, Clara Heart's gaze dimmed.
More than six hundred years have passed, but Anna Yang is still at the Spirit-Refinement Stage. It means she still relies on Peaches of Immortality and Ginseng Fruit to survive.
As for cultivation, Clara Heart's level is far better than Anna Yang's now. But what use is high cultivation?
No matter how high one's cultivation, unless you reach Master Sage Subhuti's realm, in front of Damon Six-Ears and Monkey, it's not much different from having none at all. In this situation, what matters more is wisdom.
And when it comes to wisdom and strategy, Clara Heart is far inferior to Anna Yang. Even Clara herself knows this gap.
After a long hesitation, Clara could only nod silently, then turned and left with Aiden Chen.
...
"She left?" Damon Six-Ears gripped the Jade Tablet, slightly stunned. "What about Anna Yang? Did she leave too?"
"Lady Holy Mother did not leave, and she shows no intention of leaving at all."
"No intention of leaving, huh..." Damon Six-Ears frowned at the sky for a long time, then suddenly laughed. "I thought none of them would stay, but one did. Not bad, not bad! Hahaha, this means they don't hate me that much. Hmm... What gift should I bring for the one who stayed?"
On the other end of the Jade Tablet, Gavin Goathorn was silent.
"Hey, I'm asking you—what gift should I bring?"
"Ah... uh... Great Sage, how would I know what gift to bring? I don't even have a wife..."
"Alright, I'll forgive you since you're old and lonely." Damon Six-Ears pursed his lips, tossed the Jade Tablet aside, and lay down on the grass with his arms behind his head, gazing at the sky.
If it were before, hearing that Clara Heart had left would have made him furious.
But now, thinking about it, he couldn't help but laugh again.
Life is strange that way. The old him would have only noticed Gavin Goathorn mentioning Clara's departure. But now, all he cared about was that Anna Yang stayed.
Why did Anna Yang stay?
Maybe she had some other reason. But thinking like that would just make him feel suffocated. It wouldn’t change anything, and might even make things worse.
So why think like that at all? Better to believe she stayed sincerely—how much better is that?
If memories are lacking, then just create some new ones together.
Feeling the wind around him, Damon Six-Ears closed his eyes with a faint smile and sighed, "Master truly is a great sage. Just one sentence, and he spoke straight to my heart."
...
At that moment, listening to Damon Six-Ears' bizarre actions, the Buddhas in Great Thunderclap Temple grew increasingly baffled. They looked at each other in confusion.
Yet Lord Buddha still sat calmly on his lotus throne, his smile only deepening.
A certain Arhat slowly walked to the center of the hall, pressed his palms together, and bowed. "Venerable, I have a question. May you enlighten us?"
At this question, the Buddhas all fell silent, each gazing at the Buddha, waiting for his answer.
After a long while, the Buddha finally shook his head and sighed softly. "No, even so, he cannot be ferried. The root of Universal Salvation is to guide all beings toward goodness—that much is true. Tripitaka’s quest for the Dharma had its own reason. But... countless ages ago, when Mother Nuwa created the world, there was no evil in heaven and earth. In the end, evil is everywhere. Doesn't this show that 'evil' is what beings truly seek?"
At this, the Buddha smiled faintly. "If I remember correctly, Damon Six-Ears hasn't absorbed any yin-evil qi for quite some time. It's about time for him to feed again."
...
At the edge of Phoenix County, Monkey was still wrestling with Damon Six-Ears’ sudden change, but prepared to steal Lionback’s rain.
Damon’s acts of kindness had softened his attitude toward the Westward Quest, but the immediate crisis remained: if he did nothing, Tripitaka might spend the rest of his life digging a dry well among dying elders.
After much agony, Monkey decided they needed to survive this bottleneck first; he would steal the rain and deal with the consequences later.
...
Thus, the story circles around Monkey and Damon—two Monkeys shaped by different forces—each orbiting Tripitaka’s fragile yet crucial Dao.
Heaven and Buddhism manipulate the conservation of rain, life, and karma to secure their own orders.
Daoist sages like Subhuti and Lord Lao tug gently from the margins, betting on the latent goodness in beings like Damon and the doctrinal potential of Tripitaka.
Through Phoenix County’s drought, Lionback’s looming sacrifice, Anna and Clara’s divided loyalties, and Damon’s first clumsy acts of kindness, the narrative asks whether Universal Salvation is truly possible in a world whose very structure rewards evil—and whether the small seeds of goodness in hearts like Damon’s and Tripitaka’s can grow strong enough to rewrite the cold ledgers that govern the Three Realms.
End of Chapter 749.