Only the roar of the waterfall remained in Water Curtain Cave.
Great Mao Lord Mao Ying stood quietly where he was, the White Jade Fly-Whisk resting neatly in the crook of his arm.
He looked at Wukong, his face expressionless, his voice level.
"This is your karmic consequence, Great Sage. Perhaps your failure to save them was also their allotted fate."
"When you erased their names from the register of fate with a stroke of your brush, most of the monkey kind died unjust deaths, cast outside the Five Elements, forever denied reincarnation."
A flash of golden light passed before Great Mao Lord's eyes, and his arm was clamped in an iron grip.
Wukong suddenly closed the distance, seized Great Mao Lord's arm, and looked at him, asking urgently:
"Great Mao Lord, you are the Lord of Fate. You oversee the Register of Life and Death for all beneath heaven."
"Tell me, how can my monkeys and their descendants enter reincarnation?"
Great Mao Lord's expression did not change in the slightest. He merely shook his head.
"Great Sage, I have no way."
For an instant, the cave fell silent.
Even the waterfall seemed to have gone quiet.
Great Mao Lord lowered his eyes and continued:
"Though I am the Lord of Fate and oversee the Register of Life and Death for all beneath heaven, the names of the monkey kind are countless, their fates woven together like a net."
"Erasing them is easy. Adding them back is difficult."
"I cannot conjure up the allotted fates of an entire race out of nothing."
"I cannot restore the Death Register entries you struck out with your own hand. Nor can anyone else."
He raised his head, meeting Wukong's eyes once more.
"The reason this game is called Director of Fate..."
"Is to