Looking at Shirley Shi's tightly closed eyes, at the tears glistening at the corners, at her expression as if facing death, the Monkey King suddenly smiled.
"Heh. You really think I'm a killer?" The Monkey King let go, turned to leave, and said, "I didn't kill anyone, that's all there is to it. But if it happens again, I can't promise I won't. The Path of the Traveler is heavy with hostility, and I could use someone to practice on."
Shirley Shi suddenly opened her eyes wide, looking in astonishment at the Monkey King's departing figure.
It was only when the Monkey King walked a short distance away, picked up his Cloudwalker Staff and headed toward the cave dwelling, that she finally spoke: "Then do you actually know who the killer is?"
The Monkey King turned and asked, "If I said I knew, would you believe me?"
"I believe you!" Shirley Shi nodded vigorously.
"I really don't know."
Hearing this, Shirley Shi's gaze instantly dimmed.
Looking at the woman before him, as elegant as a tulip, the Monkey King hesitated for a long moment before saying quietly, "However, I do know who is suspicious."
"Who?"
"It's that guy, what's his name... Louis Wang. Today I saw him arguing in the forest with a woman in blue."
"Senior Brother?"
"What? Don't believe me?" The Monkey King slung the Cloudwalker Staff over his shoulder, grinning at Shirley Shi.
Shirley Shi slowly shook her head, a bit disappointed. "No, I believe you. I know a little about the two of them..."
"Alright, I've asked what I needed, and answered what I could. There's nothing more I can tell you."
That was his way of saying it was time to leave.
Shirley Shi nodded quietly and said in a soft voice, "Thank you, fellow Daoist. Take care."
With that, she turned and leapt into the forest, vanishing from sight.
Watching her disappear into the woods, the Monkey King clicked his tongue in admiration.
Just as he turned around, he saw Jade Cauldron seated at the cave entrance.
"Jade Cauldron, why aren't you inside with my senior brother, studying Daoist arts? What brings you out here?" The Monkey King slung the Cloudwalker Staff over his shoulder, sat beside him, and together they gazed up at the star-filled sky.
"Deep down, I'm still a traveler at heart. I prefer the Path of the Traveler." Jade Cauldron looked at the dark sky, pursed his lips, and nodded with a smile.
But the Monkey King let out a long sigh and lowered his head.
He wasn't like Master Sage Subhuti, and he disliked people like that—yet somehow, he wished he could be one.
The worst part was... he seemed unable to become that kind of person. This left him quietly frustrated.
If he was honest with himself, even though he'd warned himself countless times that Heather Yu's death had nothing to do with him,
in the end, he still felt sympathy. Even if only for a moment, he sympathized with Heather Yu. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said he knew.
The Way of Insight, the art of calculation and self-preservation, demands ruthlessness and detachment. If one cannot achieve that, no matter how careful, there will always be a flaw.
But this kind of ruthlessness and detachment—how many in the world can truly attain it? Even the Buddha, whom Skylar Loft described as heartless, still held a pursuit of Buddhist teachings in his heart.
At the entrance of Golden Mist Cave, one wore a smile, the other hung his head in gloom. The two sat side by side for a long time, until Jade Cauldron suddenly nudged the Monkey King's shoulder and said, "Hey, don't be so down. I actually think this is good. If you can only be yourself, why bother trying to be someone else?"
"Huh?" The Monkey King lifted his head to look at Jade Cauldron.
"It's something I realized a long time ago. Back then, I always tried to do things and think like my senior brothers. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't pull it off, and it just held me back. Later, one day, I understood, and then..."
"And then?"
Jade Cauldron suddenly burst out laughing, gazing at the stars above. "Then I became who I am now."
He turned, spread his hands, and grinned at the Monkey King.
Is this really so great? The Monkey King had no idea what Jade Cauldron was trying to say.
He muttered disdainfully in his heart, then lifted his head to look at the glittering stars.
"By the way, just now you couldn't sense her spiritual power?"
"That's right. The Way of Insight's spiritual power is delicate and gentle, perfectly controlled. The Path of the Traveler really lacks that advantage."
"Actually, I have a secret technique that can detect spiritual power," Jade Cauldron said with a grin.
"Oh?"
Jade Cauldron lowered his head, smiling as he pulled out a palm-sized disk from his sleeve. "When I first started cultivating, my ability to sense spiritual power was the worst among my brothers. Even after reaching the Transformation Realm, I was still a bit behind. So, I made this."
Taking the disk Jade Cauldron handed over, the Monkey King held it under the moonlight for a closer look.
It was wooden, shaped like a dish, with a slightly raised point on one end. In the center was a bagua, and around it were intricate red lines forming an array.
Under the moonlight, those fine lines glowed faintly.
"So... how does it detect?"
Jade Cauldron took the disk back from the Monkey King, pointed the tip at him, and said, "Don't move, relax, don't use your spiritual power. Yes, just like that."
As he spoke, he pressed a hand on the taiji symbol. Instantly, the red patterns around it seemed to come alive and started spinning. The strokes forming the trigrams flashed rapidly.
After a moment, the lights on the trigrams mostly stabilized, except for one that kept flickering back and forth.
"See that?"
"I see it," the Monkey King said, staring in amazement.
"Do you understand it?" Jade Cauldron asked proudly, handing the disk to the Monkey King.
Holding the disk in both hands, the Monkey King said blankly, "I get it. My spiritual power is between five hundred ten and five hundred thirty."
Jade Cauldron was surprised by this and hurriedly pointed at the disk, asking, "You really understood it?"
"The markings are numbers, right?" the Monkey King asked.
"Hey, you're pretty good at the Way of Insight. You read the bagua diagram perfectly." Jade Cauldron laughed cheerfully. "This is called the Spirit-Detecting Disk. I'll give it to you."
"How can I accept that?"
"It's fine, just a little thing. I can always make another."
The Monkey King didn't stand on ceremony and said at once, "Then thank you."
"This thing is actually pretty good. No matter how someone hides their spiritual power, if this tip points at them, even the faintest power can't escape. It's not as convenient as sensing it yourself, but it has an advantage: it measures spiritual power with perfect accuracy, unlike perception, which is all guesswork and can't be explained if it's off."
"It's really a fine thing," the Monkey King couldn't help but sigh, holding it in his palms like a precious treasure.
Jade Cauldron felt elated at the sight. In the cultivation world, his little inventions were considered unconventional, and even his senior brothers looked down on them.
Feeling pleased, he patted the Monkey King's shoulder and said cheerfully, "As long as you like it! I have plenty more of these little things. If you want, I'll give you a few more. Hahaha! Anyway, you'll be staying here for a while. You already have some foundation in the Way of Insight, so you can read any book in my cave. Learning more is never a bad thing."
Thanks to Jade Cauldron, the Monkey King's next few days became much more fulfilling.
The books and items in Golden Mist Cave had always been a mess, but ever since Anna Yang arrived, things suddenly got much tidier, everything sorted and put away carefully.
And when the Monkey King rummaged through them, he found many things quite different from those in Crescent Star Cave.
Jade Cauldron's cold treatment by his senior brothers, and the lack of visitors at his door, was not without reason. By standard measures, his inventions were all considered unorthodox, the sort of little gadgets that belonged to fringe practices.
It seems Jade Cauldron wasn't really lacking in talent; he just never put his heart into cultivating his power, instead becoming passionately devoted to arrays and magical artifacts. Most of his creations didn't require rare or precious materials—he simply made use of ordinary things.
Of course, when it came to power, they could mostly be ignored.
The days passed one after another, and that matter seemed to fade away. Half a month later, the Monkey King gently reminded Skylar Loft that it was time to return, but Skylar Loft casually replied, "It's not time yet, stay a few more days," and brushed it off, spending each day playing chess and drinking with Jade Cauldron.
The Monkey King was always thinking about Crescent Star Cave—in truth, he was thinking about Master Sage Subhuti, about the Seventy-Two Transformations and the Cloud Somersault.
But since Skylar Loft said it wasn't time yet, he decided to wait a little longer.
A month quickly passed, and the Monkey King couldn't help but mention it again to Skylar Loft. This time, Skylar Loft's excuse was, "We're still waiting for Master Taiyi's reply."
So another month went by, and the reply arrived. Master Taiyi sent someone directly to Golden Mist Cave. The Daoist who delivered the letter even said his master had waited for Skylar Loft for a long time, but since he never showed up, he had no choice but to send someone.
It was as if they felt the group had stayed on Kunlun Mountain too long—a subtle way of telling them to leave, the Monkey King thought.
But even after receiving the reply, Skylar Loft didn't budge.
"What is he trying to do?" the Monkey King couldn't help but wonder.
If it were only about learning the Seventy-Two Transformations and Cloud Somersault, that would be one thing. What the Monkey King really looked forward to was seeing what method Master Sage Subhuti would use to let a monkey with only Nascent Soul cultivation learn a technique that required Spirit Refinement.
But no matter how anxious the Monkey King grew, Skylar Loft always had some excuse.
If this kept up, after a year, the Monkey King might just end up learning the Seventy-Two Transformations here and going home.
Don't forget, Jade Cauldron Immortal also knows the Seventy-Two Transformations—and most importantly, he's especially easygoing.
This made the Monkey King begin to wonder if, as Anna Yang had said, he really had chosen the wrong master.
Three months after arriving at Kunlun Mountain, one morning, the Monkey King was practicing staff techniques outside the cave.
Suddenly, the sound of broken drums came from the sky.
The Monkey King froze, stood straight and listened carefully.
"Is that... a war drum?" The thought flashed through his mind, and the Monkey King was instantly startled.