"Your Birdie is safe. After you left, a ghost messenger from the Underworld came and took her soul away," Skylar Loft said, his gaze vacant as he stared at the ground. "But I know that wasn't a real ghost messenger. Because she died because of you, the Underworld wouldn't take her soul. Someone must have disguised themselves as a ghost messenger and slipped past the local spirits to take her soul."
Simon collapsed to the ground, his body trembling slightly. His wide eyes could no longer take in the grass and trees around him.
"She was... taken away by someone unknown... Was it Master?" he suddenly widened his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Not the old man," Skylar Loft slowly shook his head. "I asked him. If it were him, he wouldn’t have needed to lie to me."
"Heh... Not him... Then who? Who is it? Hahaha, who else could it be?" Covering his face, Simon laughed painfully, trembling. "Who could it be? Hahaha."
Skylar Loft struggled to his feet, swallowed hard, and looked at the soul-lost Simon. "Brother, listen to me—don’t go back. You can come to my Cloudrise Pavilion. I also have the scrolls for Seventy-Two Transformations. There, I’ll teach you."
"You’ll teach me?" Simon sneered, slowly climbing to his feet and backing away step by step. "You’ll teach me? Heh."
"Brother..." At this point, Skylar Loft could no longer find words to say.
Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating Simon’s tear-streaked face.
Feathery rain began to fall from the sky.
Simon slowly shook his head, backing away step by step. He reached out and picked up his Cloudwalker Staff. "You're right. I shouldn't go back to the Crescent Moon Three Stars Cave. I shouldn't go back at all."
"We can go to my Cloudrise Pavilion."
"No!" Simon tore off the Taoist robe emblazoned with the words 'Crescent Moon Three Stars Cave' at the collar and threw it fiercely to the ground. "I'm not going anywhere! Not anywhere!"
Turning around, he walked a few steps, gritted his teeth, and then broke into a run.
Watching his retreating figure, Skylar Loft reached out, but didn't know how to stop him, or what reason to give.
The wind swept past his ears as he howled at the top of his lungs, running faster and faster, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Why? Why does it have to be like this!"
Swinging his Cloudwalker Staff with all his might, he brought it crashing down. A centuries-old giant tree toppled before him with a thunderous roar.
"Why does it have to be like this—!"
In the fierce wind and sudden rain, he swung his Cloudwalker Staff aimlessly, roaring hysterically, smashing everything in front of him to pieces.
He had never escaped the shackles of fate. The harder he struggled, the deeper he sank.
Amidst the raging wind and torrential rain, he swung his Cloudwalker Staff in wild frenzy—no form, no technique.
His cries of anguish tore through the storm, raw and helpless.
That piercing wail echoed across heaven and earth.
Even having reached the Spirit Channeling Stage, he was no different from that monkey he once was.
Even mastering the Seventy-Two Transformations, what could he do? He was still that helpless monkey who wept beneath the moon.
How could he possibly stand against the Grand Supreme Elder?
But—was it truly impossible to change any of this?
Confused thoughts and suppressed fury drove him mad, and he lashed out even more wildly, as if bent on destroying the very heavens and earth.
Until his strength was spent, the Cloudwalker Staff slipped from his grasp, and he collapsed in the rain, pounding the earth in helpless frustration.
The downpour beat against his back, streaming through his fur, mingling with his tears as they scattered upon the ground.
He wept in despair, baring his teeth in rage, pounding the muddy earth with his fists—each blow splashing rainwater and leaving deep pits.
His battered fists were already covered in wounds.
Until he could muster not a trace of strength.
"Why... why... why is it like this... Birdie... my Birdie... where have you gone... where have you gone..." Amid the torrential rain, he clutched the lone feather, sobbing into his hands.
His shoulders trembled in the rain.
From beginning to end, he had always been that little monkey Birdie met on Blossom Mountain—the one chased by tigers, with nowhere to hide. He had never changed.
A pair of white boots slowly approached, blocking the rain that fell upon him.
He looked up. Through the drifting rain, he saw that familiar face—holding an umbrella, yet standing alone in the storm.
"Who are you crying for? As long as we're alive, there's hope." Her face bore a fragile smile tinged with bitterness; biting her lip, she said, "We're all the same—each of us has an enemy we cannot defeat. But no matter how many years it takes, one day, we will overcome."
Simon slowly bowed his head in silence. For a long, long time, the two simply stood in the rain, letting the downpour fall upon them.
"Yang Chan."
"Mm."
"Does our deal... still stand?"
"Of course."
...
Skylar Loft sat numbly in the rain, letting the icy drops pelt him, his long hair whipped by the wind and soaked, covering his face.
He reached to his waist and clumsily pulled out a string of jade slips, selecting one and pressing it to his lips.
"Master..." He parted his lips to speak, but stopped, falling silent in the rain for a long time before trembling as he whispered, "Junior brother... is gone."
...
"I understand... Let him go."
Ten thousand miles away, an old man stood alone atop a pavilion, his figure steeped in loneliness.
After a long while, the old man raised his head, gazing at the rolling clouds above. Stroking his long beard, he let out a slow sigh: "A change is coming."
[End of Kunlun Mountain Arc]