Su Wanwan was completely stunned.
She looked at Tang Monk again.
Tang Monk stood by the stairs, still rolling a string of prayer beads between his fingers. His expression was somewhat complicated, but in the end, he let out a soft sigh. "Benefactor Chu's words... are not entirely without reason."
The moment those words came out, Su Wanwan felt as though she had been nailed to the spot.
She was not crazy.
Neither were they.
Rather—the whole matter had been different from what she had thought from the very root.
Her throat tightened, and after a long while, she managed to force out a question. "You knew all along?"
"Brother Monkey and I found out earlier," Chu Yang said. "Master learned later, but he more or less understands now."
"Why... why is it like this?"
"Why?" Chu Yang smiled, but there was a chill in it. "Because many so-called 'major events' in this world have never been just events. They are also about face, declarations, rules set for the Three Realms to see. Buddhism wants to spread its scriptures eastward and establish a merit that shakes the Three Realms, so it needs a story grand enough to match. That story needs sincerity, hardship, Eighty-One Tribulations, demons blocking the way, gods and Buddhas offering aid, and finally, merit brought to completion."
"But if the story is to be good, it cannot go too smoothly," Sun Wukong added from the side. "So there have to be some bumps in the road."
"Then those demons..." Su Wanwan's voice tightened. "Ones like Yueze, could they also have been—"
"What happened with Yueze was not entirely that," Chu Yang cut her off. "Some troubles really did get out of control, and some evil things truly were not arranged by anyone. But if you are asking