Inside General Erlang Manor, Anna Yang stood quietly. Outside, the screams and clash of battle had intensified. Anna even saw the ancient giant trees she had planted a millennium ago begin to lean, then crash to the ground.
The swirling dust swept past her, but Warren Wu stood firm before her, refusing to yield even a single step.
In the distance, she saw Erik Yang leap into the sky, then plunge down with his Trident Saber. A shockwave rippled outward. The walls and doors shielding Anna trembled as if they might collapse at any moment. Then came the roar of King Roc.
Outside the gate, Many-Eyes the Centipede shouted loudly, "Her Holiness the Holy Mother! I’ve come to receive you!"
After a long moment, Anna looked at Warren Wu and said, "My brother is wounded—he can't beat them. Let me go. Many-Eyes isn’t loyal to either of those two, but he’s absolutely loyal to demonkind. He won’t harm me."
Warren Wu said quietly, "Third Saintess, please don’t make things difficult for me."
"Let me pass!"
With that sharp command, Many-Eyes outside instantly sensed Anna’s position and struck out with a palm. The entire wall collapsed at once.
Through the swirling dust, Anna, Warren Wu, and the other Guang River Estuary soldiers stood silently.
Anna strode past Warren Wu without hesitation. This time, he did not try to stop her—he had seen that outside the walls, Erik Yang was already covered in wounds, kneeling on one knee, blood slowly trailing from the corner of his mouth, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.
"Go. Where are they now?" Without pausing, Anna swept past Many-Eyes and instantly took flight.
Seeing this, the demon generals quickly disengaged from battle. Many-Eyes, King Roc, and King Liontusk followed close behind.
"Just got word—they’re all in the Western Ox Continent."
"We’re heading over now."
"Yes, ma’am!"
In an instant, all the demon generals withdrew. Outside the ravaged General Erlang Manor, only the wounded Guang River Estuary soldiers and Erik Yang remained.
The Seven Sages of Mount Mei all stared wide-eyed, as if waiting for him to announce the inevitable decision.
"Let her go. There’s no need for more pointless casualties."
At his words, the soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With everyone watching, Erik Yang leaned on his Trident Saber, limping back toward the manor. He smiled bitterly all the way. His back was slightly hunched; from a distance, he radiated powerlessness.
Who would have imagined it? The War God of the Three Realms, brought so low.
......
Everyone stared blankly at Tripitaka, at the fallen Monkey, at Damon Six-Ears—their minds utterly blank.
At this moment, only Damon Six-Ears was smiling. Perhaps, in his eyes, victory was already in the bag.
Every step Tripitaka took was unsteady, as if he might collapse at any moment.
Not far away, Marshal Silver half-extended his hands, unsure whether he should step forward to help.
Monkey slowly closed his eyes, a smile on his face. It was the expression of someone utterly exhausted, finally released.
Damon Six-Ears glanced back at Tripitaka and chuckled, "Do you think he was speaking to you? Maybe he was speaking to me instead?"
"Does it matter who he was speaking to?" Monkey replied quietly. "I'm tired."
At those words, Damon Six-Ears couldn't help but furrow his brow.
Behind him, Tripitaka kept walking west, step by step.
In the vast wilderness, the fierce wind swept fine sand past his sleeves, already stained with blood.
After all this way west, reaching this point—what outcome could there be? No one knew, but he had to keep walking.
Inside Great Thunderclap Temple, Lord Buddha smiled faintly, his lips moving in silent recitation. Suddenly, sutra chanting filled the air. It was as soft as midnight drizzle, so subtle it could easily be missed.
Yet that gentle chanting reached a hundred li away, threading straight into Tripitaka’s mind, binding him tight with countless fine strands, tightening bit by bit.
Countless images began to surge up in Tripitaka’s mind.
He saw his mother, who hanged herself, suspended from the beam; his blood-soaked father staring at him in anguish before dying; his grandfather glaring down at him from high steps...
Right before everyone’s eyes, Tripitaka’s lifeless eyes widened, his mouth falling open.
It was a pain that pierced straight to the heart.
"You wish to save all beings, but have you saved yourself?"
"Have you truly severed all worldly ties?"
"Your father is gone, your mother is gone—but what about your master? If you fall here, what will become of him?"
Tripitaka saw his master, Master Faming, who raised him, sighing before the Buddha and a lonely lamp, growing old before his eyes in the cold night until he became nothing but a pile of bones.
Suddenly, Tripitaka’s tears flowed silently, like a broken dam.
At this moment, his eyes were open, but he could no longer see the world around him—his mind was completely bound deep within his consciousness.
Everyone present was stunned.
In his mind, all images stopped. The light and shadows around him instantly dimmed.
Tripitaka stood there dazed, his foot raised, frozen in midair, unable to take another step.
In the void, a dagger carved with the wrathful visage of Buddha appeared, slowly drifting before Tripitaka.
"Does your heart ache? One cut is all it takes. Once your heart is dead, it will never hurt again."
Tripitaka stared dazedly at the floating dagger, trembling slightly.
Lord Buddha sighed softly, "Better to become a Buddha."
......
"Become a Buddha?" Master Tongtian snorted with laughter. "If Tripitaka becomes a Buddha, he’s lost. The Monkey loses. Damon Six-Ears loses too, doesn’t he?"
"We lose as well." Primordial Lord of Heaven took a sip of tea, his gaze cold.
Lord Lao said quietly, "No rush. Eight hundred years of obsession isn’t so easily dissolved."
......
By now, news from the Western Ox Continent battlefield had spread throughout Heaven. Every eye was watching, every voice whispering.
"If Tripitaka becomes a Buddha, doesn’t that mean the westward journey is a complete failure?"
"I heard that demon Monkey escorted Tripitaka west just to topple Lord Buddha. If this is how it ends, he’s truly lost everything."
"What does it matter if he loses? Does losing help us? We in Heaven still have to bow to others."
"Better to bow to the Buddhas than to that demon monkey, right? You didn’t live through what happened six hundred years ago. Even now, I shudder just thinking about it."
"That’s true. Sigh... It’s better than letting that demon monkey run wild."
"So if he loses, what happens to him in the end?"
"I heard one of them will be swallowed by Heavenly Tribulation, and the other will remain and become a Buddha."
Clara Heart listened quietly, then slowly stood up. Her gaze seemed a little dazed.
Birdie sat silently nearby, saying nothing.
Clara blinked and said blankly, "I... want to go to him."
"Go ahead..."
Maybe this was fate. Birdie, Belle, Clara—who could calmly sit here and wait for news of his death?
If anyone could, it would only be someone with Birdie’s memories, but not her true self.
Birdie lowered her head slightly and took a sip of tea.
"Tell my master for me."
"Alright."
Turning away, Clara rose into the air and flew down toward the mortal world.
......
Inside the pavilion, Saint Samuel gazed at the ever-shifting sky and asked, "Will he keep heading west?"
Buddha Leonard sat silently nearby, saying nothing.
"Wait and see," Earth-Store King said quietly. "Whatever happens, the result will be out soon. This is only the first round—even if he passes, it may not be the outcome he wants."
At this moment, the small pavilion was filled with the Four Great Buddhas of Spirit Mountain: Saint Samuel, Manjusri, Earth-Store King, Buddha Leonard. Lingji Buddha was there as well.
......
In the darkness, Master Fabian’s aged figure appeared before Tripitaka, leaning on his cane and speaking softly: "The red-dust world is a sea of suffering; better to become a Buddha."
In a flash, Fabian vanished. In his place appeared Elder Goldenpool, clutching his alms bowl, trembling as he said, "Tripitaka, since you could enlighten me, why not become a Buddha yourself?"
In an instant, Fabian’s figure turned into the prison warden—Buddha Leonard’s manifestation in the Great Tang Heaven’s Prison years ago—shouting through the bars: "Tripitaka, even now, you can’t let go of your obsession!"
Wave after wave of illusion crashed over him. Tripitaka squeezed his eyes shut, but still couldn’t escape.
On the lotus dais, Lord Buddha spoke again, lightly and indifferently: "Better to become a Buddha."
At once, Tripitaka’s body trembled.