Inside Tusita Palace, Clara Heart and Lord Lao stared each other down, while Birdie turned away, quietly brewing tea and pretending not to notice.
After a long moment, Clara Heart’s brows slowly drew together, while Lord Lao’s knitted into an awkward frown.
“When I look for you, you’re nowhere to be found. But when he calls, you show up instantly?”
At this, Lord Lao coughed twice, stroked his long beard, and forced a sheepish smile. “Your master has been a bit busy lately, you see?”
Clara Heart tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “Busy with what? Go on, I’m listening.”
“Just a small matter.”
“Mm? And then?”
“Something that doesn’t concern you.”
“If it’s truly unrelated, you can explain it. Unless, of course, you’re feeling guilty.” Clara Heart slowly folded her hands, her eyes narrowing into slits as she stared Lord Lao down, determined to get to the bottom of things.
After holding out for a while, Lord Lao gave up and sighed softly. “Your master just doesn’t want you clashing with your senior brother.”
“Why not?” Clara Heart pressed on, expression unchanged.
“That monkey…” Lord Lao faltered, pursed his lips, and frowned. “Ah, you know he’s not easy to deal with. Why bother? This Tusita Palace is peaceful, Crescent Star Cave is elegant, let that monkey do whatever he wants. Out of sight, out of mind—why invite trouble?”
With that, Lord Lao spread his hands and fixed his gaze on Clara Heart.
Once again, master and disciple locked eyes, and the hall fell into sudden silence.
Birdie quietly finished brewing tea, slid two cups of clear tea before them, bowed slightly to Lord Lao, and then took her leave.
Yet the standoff between master and disciple continued.
Clara Heart’s gaze grew more and more suspicious, while Lord Lao’s eyes grew increasingly evasive.
After a long silence, just as Lord Lao was about to give in and confess everything, Clara Heart suddenly snorted, pursed her lips, and said with some displeasure, “Master, who is this Belle?”
“Eh? Why do you ask?”
“I hadn’t heard the name before—just asking. I overheard you mention her; that monkey seems to care a lot.”
Lord Lao quietly breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice, “Belle is the fourth disciple of Master Sage Subhuti’s chief disciple.”
“The Senior Brother’s fourth disciple? So she’s my junior martial niece?”
Lord Lao nodded slightly.
“Does she have some special relationship with that monkey?”
Lord Lao spread his hands. “You could call them lovers.”
“‘Could’? How can you ‘call’ someone a lover? Either they are, or they aren’t.”
Lord Lao stroked his beard, thought a moment, and replied, “Then yes, they are.”
“So they’re lovers. Then what about the Third Saintess sealed beneath Mount Hua—what’s her relationship with him?”
Lord Lao frowned and considered. “They’ve bowed to Heaven and Earth together, so she should count as his wife.”
At this, Clara Heart gave a soft “Oh,” and muttered to herself, “So in the end, he’s just a flower monkey.”
Lord Lao nearly choked on his tea.
“What? Am I wrong?” Clara shot Lord Lao a displeased look. “Cultivators are supposed to be pure and restrained. Even those on the Traveler’s Path should be the same. Sure, unaffiliated cultivators aren’t bound by Heavenly law, and many have families, but to have a wife and still keep a lover—especially your own junior martial niece—that’s really not admirable. Don’t you agree, Master?”
Lord Lao gave a couple of dry laughs and nodded silently. “I agree, I agree.”
Suddenly, Clara changed the subject. “I just heard that he once stormed Heaven for Belle. From that angle, at least, he seems to have been sincere.”
As she spoke, she snuck a glance at Lord Lao.
Lord Lao lowered his head, sipping his tea in silence. He seemed to be deliberately holding back from speaking.
“Master…” Clara Heart drew out her words, feigning nonchalance. “I heard it was you who made Belle’s soul scatter to the winds. What’s the story there?”
This time, Lord Lao truly choked on his tea, coughing it all over the floor.
Clara Heart remained kneeling by his side, watching without moving.
Staring at the tea stains on the floor, Lord Lao glanced down at his own robe and sighed softly, “Ah, so careless… I’ve stained my clothes.”
With that, Lord Lao rose and strode quickly out of the hall.
He moved with casual speed—so fast, in fact, that before Clara Heart could react, he’d already crossed the threshold.
By the time Clara Heart came to her senses and chased after him, he’d vanished around a corner—leaving the courtyard utterly empty.
Glancing around, Clara Heart snorted, pursed her lips in annoyance, and muttered, “Escaping by tea—what a clumsy trick! That old man’s definitely hiding something from me. Fine, if you won’t tell me, I’ll find out myself. If all else fails, I’ll just ask the monkey directly!”
With that, she turned and left.
Up on the rooftop, Lord Lao slowly poked his head out to watch Clara Heart’s departing figure. “Why is that girl so relentlessly curious?”
He glanced to the side. “Why are you up here too?”
At that moment, Master Sage Subhuti was beside him, smiling faintly. “Heh, just look at you. She’ll find out sooner or later—what are you so afraid of?”
“I’m afraid because I’m thin-skinned. Not like you—your face is thicker than a city wall.” Lord Lao shot Subhuti a resentful look. “If it’s all going to come out anyway, why don’t you just tell her yourself? Is it fun, making her run in circles?”
Subhuti sighed deeply and shook his head. “I just can’t say it. Let her figure it out herself—when she does, she’ll come confront us.”
……
Meanwhile, the capital of the Kingdom of Precious Elephant was already in total chaos. Except for the gate where Marshal Silver stood, every city gate was jammed with fleeing civilians and routed soldiers.
Hiding atop the city tower, the King of Precious Elephant was so terrified his legs had gone weak. Propped up by a few generals, he barely managed to stand, clutching the Chancellor’s hand and repeatedly asking, “What do we do? What do we do? What should we do now?”
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The Chancellor was just as panicked.
Not just the Chancellor—even the ministers, generals, and lowly soldiers who accompanied the king atop the tower were terrified. Who wouldn’t be, seeing a hundred-zhang-tall giant standing right before them?
They didn’t know where this giant had come from, but everyone was certain he was connected to the prince-consort.
Everyone knew the prince-consort could use demon magic—some had even witnessed it firsthand. But those were just minor tricks: moving objects with a gesture, flying through the air, nothing more. Even snatching a general’s head in the midst of an army wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.
Earlier, they’d thought that as long as the army pressed in, even if the prince-consort had three heads and six arms, he couldn’t possibly hold out. Worse comes to worst, if they invited a high monk or a seasoned Daoist, maybe they could subdue the demon. After all, there were plenty of folk tales about breaking demon magic with ox blood or dog blood.
But now, it was clear things were nothing like that at all…
Faced with a hundred-zhang giant, who wouldn’t go weak in the knees? If the king hadn’t grabbed him, the Chancellor might have led the charge to run himself.
A few soldiers, taking advantage of the chaos, tried to sneak out the main gate. But as soon as they stepped outside the tower, they came running back, wailing in terror.
“What are you doing?” a general barked.
The soldiers pointed trembling toward Marshal Silver’s direction. “He… he’s watching us.”
The general, skeptical, stepped outside, looked up—and bolted back inside, tripping over the threshold in his panic.
“What’s going on?” another general demanded sharply.
“He… he really is watching the tower!”
At that, a chill swept through everyone in the room.
After a long silence, the Chancellor bent low and asked cautiously, “Your Majesty, what… what should we do now?”
After standing dumbly for ages, the King of Precious Elephant pursed his lips and muttered, “Go… bring the princess and those demon spawn here.”
“Yes…” a general nodded, leading several attendants out.
At that moment, Monkey was already gliding over the fire-lit capital, his face twisted with rage—he didn’t even glance at Marshal Silver.
He took out the other half of the jade slip he’d given Tripitaka, locked onto Tripitaka’s location, and in an instant crashed down onto the hillside where the monk was held.
Sand and gravel flew; the ground seemed to tremble, and the dust rippled outward like waves, sweeping over the hillside in moments.
At the center of the crash, Monkey slowly rose to his feet, glaring at Kui-Wolf, who was holding Tripitaka hostage.
“Who are you?” That was Monkey’s first question to Kui-Wolf.
Right now, Kui-Wolf was so stunned by Monkey’s overwhelming spiritual power that he couldn’t even close his mouth.
The Traveler’s Path values strength; the Enlightened Path values precision. The intensity of spiritual power from the Traveler’s Path and the Enlightened Path simply can’t be compared.
All these years, he’d been a demon in the mortal world and a general in Heaven, facing countless monsters. Yet even the War God of the Three Realms, General Erlang, never radiated such power.
Startled, he unconsciously tightened his grip on Tripitaka’s throat.
Monkey had just begun to step forward when he froze mid-stride.
The two stood locked in a tense stalemate.
By now, Kui-Wolf was completely panicked.
He’d never imagined that kidnapping a monk would draw out such a mysterious figure. Was this guy another bodyguard for the monk? Just who was this monk, anyway?
Earlier, he’d sensed a dragon and two Celestial Sage-level demons guarding the monk, and already felt something was off. Now, with this newcomer, things were far beyond his comprehension.
After a long pause, Kui-Wolf swallowed nervously, eyes wide, and asked, “Who… who are you people, really?”