A Finger Swipe Like a Senzu Bean?!

The moment the mountain gate pushed open, Goten thought he had come to the wrong place.

He had imagined what Lingtai Fangcun Mountain would look like—swirling with immortal mist, adorned with jade palaces, filled with exotic birds and beasts, and echoing with celestial music.

But what appeared before his eyes was merely an ordinary little mountain.

A path paved with bluestone slabs wound its way upward, flanked by vegetable patches growing greens, radishes, and beans.

A young acolyte in coarse cloth robes was watering the vegetables; upon seeing them enter, he merely glanced up before lowering his head to continue his work.

"Is... is this really Lingtai Fangcun Mountain?" Goten couldn't help but ask.

Patriarch Bodhi walked in front, saying without looking back, "What else did you expect it to be?"

"I thought... there would be immortal energy radiating out..."

"Immortal energy?" Patriarch Bodhi stopped in his tracks and looked back at him. "The soil beneath your feet, the air you breathe, the three-hundred-year-old pine tree you see—the spiritual energy is all within them. Just because you cannot perceive it does not mean it does not exist."

Goten was stunned.

He looked down at the bluestone slabs beneath his feet, then back at the greens and radishes by the roadside.

Cannot perceive—does not mean it does not exist.

This sentence seemed to flip a switch inside him.

The Saiyan energy within his body stirred slightly—not the explosive surge of battle, but more like a sneeze.

It was a strange resonance, as if something were responding to this mountain.

A flicker of imperceptible amusement crossed Patriarch Bodhi's eyes. "Come in. Hand that girl you are carrying over to me."

Goten carried Zixia on his back and followed him through the mountain gate.

Zhi Zun Bao followed behind him, with Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing bringing up the rear.

Passing through the vegetable patch and walking by a massive old locust tree, Goten suddenly stopped—he saw something.

On the inner stone wall of the mountain gate, a line of text was carved.

It wasn't carved with a blade—it looked as if it had been written into the stone with a finger.

The strokes were deeply embedded into the stone wall, each character as large as a fist. The line read:

"Next time I come, I'll bring a jug of good wine."

There was no name at the signature—only a simple sketch: a circle with three hairs. Goten stared at the drawing for a long time.

"That was written by Sun Wukong," Patriarch Bodhi's voice came from ahead, his tone as flat as if he were discussing the day's weather.

Goten was stunned. "He... has he been back?"

"No," Patriarch Bodhi's voice lowered slightly. "He carved this the day he left."

Goten looked at the line again.

Next time I come, I'll bring a jug of good wine.

He had left so nonchalantly—as if he were merely going on a long journey.

But he never returned.

"Let's go," Zhi Zun Bao patted Goten on the shoulder. Goten withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.

But Zhi Zun Bao did not follow immediately. He stood before the inscription, reached out, and gently touched those three strokes—those three hairs.

The moment his fingertips touched the stone surface, he caught a glimpse of a scene in a trance.

A figure covered in golden fur sat on the rock outside the mountain gate, holding a jug of wine, speaking to the setting sun:

"Old man, this Old Sun is leaving. Next time I return—I'll bring you wine from the heavens."

The vision dissipated. Zhi Zun Bao's hand remained on the stone wall. He pulled his hand back and looked down at his fingertips.

Strange. He hadn't touched that jug of wine—yet he knew the taste of it. It was sweet. Very sweet.

"Hey—Zhi Zun Bao!" Goten's voice came from ahead. Zhi Zun Bao snapped out of it and hurried to catch up.

The Three-Star Cave was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

From the exterior, it looked like an ordinary little mountain cave—the stone gate was no more than two people wide, and the lintel was covered in moss. But once inside—it was a world of its own.

A vast hall, spacious enough to hold hundreds of people.

The dome was so high it seemed bottomless, and sunlight spilled down from cracks above, forming pillars of light that illuminated the hall without the need for any lamps.

In the center of the hall stood a stone platform, about a person's height, its surface covered in dense, intricate runes—those runes glowed with a faint golden light under the pillars of light, flowing slowly as if they were living things.

"Wow..." Goten couldn't help but let out a sigh of wonder.

Zhu Bajie actually knelt down—not just figuratively, his knees had truly gone weak. "My heavens—this is even more magnificent than the Marshal's mansion back in the day—"

Sha Wujing didn't speak, but he was equally dumbstruck.

Zhi Zun Bao scanned the hall, his expression becoming incredibly complex.

He felt that everything here should be familiar to him—yet he couldn't recall where he had seen it. It was like having a very long dream; upon waking, only a vague sensation remained, while the specific details were entirely forgotten.

"Place her on the stone platform," Patriarch Bodhi gestured toward the platform in the center of the hall.

Goten carefully placed Zixia onto the stone platform.

Zixia's complexion was as pale as paper. Although the wound on her shoulder had been bound with cloth strips by Goten, the blood had already seeped through several layers.

Patriarch Bodhi walked to the side of the stone platform and extended two fingers, gently tracing them an inch above the wound on Zixia's shoulder.

A soft golden light flowed from his fingertips, resembling fireflies in the night or molten gold, slowly seeping into Zixia's wound.

Zixia's brows furrowed slightly, then her entire body relaxed. Her pale complexion began to regain its rosy hue at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Her breathing became steady. Her tightly clenched fists also loosened.

"Three days," Patriarch Bodhi said, withdrawing his fingers. "She will wake up in three days. A full recovery will take seven."

Goten's jaw nearly hit the floor. He hadn't done anything—just a flick of the fingers—and she was healed?

He thought of the Senzu Beans from the Dragon Ball World; eating just one could restore all one's stamina. But those were Senzu Beans, which had to be specially grown and stored. Yet Patriarch Bodhi had simply... moved his fingers.