Turning his head, the Monkey saw Lu Yu and spoke in a flat tone, "So the Scholar has co."
"Wasn’t it you who called for ?" Lu Yu said with a smile.
"What’s the deal with the old Monk? Was I wrong to kill that Demon? Wasn’t it all to protect his journey to the Western Heaven for the scriptures? Just over a dead Demon, he wanted to chase away. All these years, when has Old Sun ever suffered such indignity?" the Monkey complained.
Lu Yu then asked, "What exactly happened? Tell about it."
The Monkey recounted everything that had happened previously. When Lu Yu heard about Madam White Skeleton, he couldn’t help but sigh, and the image of the woman in red, like a fla, resurfaced in his mind. Even as the years changed, that stunning red remained etched in his mory.
"Perhaps he harbors guilt!" Lu Yu said softly.
The Monkey looked at Lu Yu, puzzled. He clearly felt that after he had spoken about these events, Lu Yu’s mood had not been good.
"The young lady ntioned by Madam White Skeleton is likely an old acquaintance of Golden Cicada and , a woman nad Bai Xiaoyao."
At that mont, the Monkey seed to understand Bajie’s words. There was soone in Golden Cicada’s heart, and that was why he had lost his composure at that ti.
Even after ten cycles of reincarnation, with mories continually resetting, the hidden brilliant red in the depths of one’s heart never faded. When the opportunity arose, the mories would surge like the tides, overwhelming that long-numbed heart and shattering its calm.
Thinking this, the Monkey sohow felt relieved. Since his youth, he had practiced his cultivation, never understanding the so-called affection between n and won, but through Tang Monk, he seed to vaguely grasp sothing.
"Love, ah!" Suddenly, the Monkey let out a long sigh, his voice carrying a special emotion.
Lu Yu looked at the Monkey in surprise, not expecting him to utter such a sentint. It seed that this experience had indeed left a profound impression on him.
"Who is this Bai Xiaoyao, that the old Monk is so fixated on her?" the Monkey asked. He was very curious about this woman who the old Monk couldn’t forget even after ten lives, and for whom Madam White Skeleton was willing to face death. She must be different from ordinary won.
The Monkey’s words took Lu Yu back to a distant mory. He recalled the ti when he, Golden Cicada, and Bai Xiaoyao first t and the trials they had been through. Experience new tales on .Côm
"She was indeed an extraordinary girl, always like a burning fla," Lu Yu said, his voice tinged with nostalgia.
Truth be told, Lu Yu was still shocked by Bai Xiaoyao’s ultimate choice; not everyone can renounce the temptation of immortality so easily, especially when such longevity cos at a cost.
But Bai Xiaoyao had chosen death without hesitation, accepting her end with equanimity, without blaming heaven or others in her final monts. Lu Yu knew that in that mont, Bai Xiaoyao had let go of the hatred in her heart and truly found liberation. Perhaps, this was the true Buddha Nature.
Lu Yu’s words eased so of the heaviness in the Monkey’s heart, who, being proud, was reluctant to make ands with Tang Monk.
"But maybe it’s for the best. Since you escaped from Five Elents Mountain, you haven’t really taken the ti to enjoy Huaguo Mountain. Take this chance to rest a bit. As for Tang Monk, given his troubled fate, he’ll seek you out sooner or later. Just wait patiently," Lu Yu consoled the Monkey.
"You’re right, Scholar. Let’s take out the treasured Monkey Wine and have a good drink. It’s been ages since we’ve drunk together," the Monkey suggested with a laugh.
Lu Yu looked at the Monkey with a smile, seeing the renowned Great Sage Equalling Heaven sowhat sheepish. He knew the Monkey was just looking for an excuse to drink, having tasted every jar of the treasured Monkey Wine of Huaguo Mountain.
Once, as fellow disciples, they sat atop Huaguo Mountain, drinking and chatting together. Now it was night, and darkness enveloped the land. A bright moon rose from over the sea, casting a silver veil upon the waters. Waves crashed against the cliffs, roaring mightily.
Lu Yu and the Monkey drank the fine wine in their hands, enjoying such a gathering for the first ti in a long while.
"Thinking back to when we went to sea to learn our arts, it feels like another lifeti," the Monkey said, gazing at Lu Yu with a sense of breathlessness.
"Indeed, centuries have passed without us noticing." Since achieving their cultivation, ti seed to have lost its significance for them. Over the long years, they had seen too many joys and sorrows of life, perhaps one reason Immortals choose a hermit’s existence.
"To several hundred years of friendship, let’s drink," the Monkey laughed, raising his cup.
Lu Yu clinked his cup in response, downing the wine. Throughout the endless years, to have a friend who knew you inside out and whom you could trust with your life was the greatest gain on the path of cultivation.
In their rrint, Lu Yu suddenly stood up, looked out at the vast Wang Yang Sea, and asked, "Monkey, show where you were born."
Pointing to a protruding platform on the mountain peak, the Monkey said, "Right there. I was once a stone, just over there."
Hearing this, Lu Yu began to closely examine the spot. When he first ca to Huaguo Mountain, he had asked the Monkey about it, but at that ti, with his cultivation only just beginning, he knew little of the many secrets of the Three Realms and couldn’t make much of it.
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