You Knew Heartbreak Was Always Inevitable

When Zhu Bajie heard his master's muttering, he was not annoyed at all. Instead, he deftly formed a Purification Spell.

As he wiped, he tilted his head and kept murmuring, "See? Master's rule: our shoes must be spotless. It's been this way for countless years, without a single exception."

Chen Wei stood to one side, nodding repeatedly in agreement.

Xuanzang's obsession with cleanliness was known throughout the Three Realms.

The histories in the Bright Hall's archives recorded it plainly: the Sandalwood Merit Buddha loved cleanliness and would not suffer a speck of dust.

Seeing this, Yang Niansan could not lose her temper. She could only stand there and wait.

In truth.

Xuanzang was not disgusted by the dust on his soles. He was deliberately stalling.

A mighty Buddha of Spirit Mountain, he had never yielded so much as half a step before the gods and Buddhas of all the heavens. Yet he dreaded meeting the queen in West Liang City. He recalled passing through the West Liang Kingdom on his journey west, when her sweet, lilting cries of "Royal Younger Brother" had nearly shattered his Buddhist resolve. He had almost shed his Brocade Kasaya and stayed there to ascend the throne.

Returning to that old haunt today, Xuanzang naturally felt guilty and afraid.

As for why he had insisted on bringing Zhu Bajie?

Xuanzang understood perfectly well. Of his old scripture-seeking companions, Wukong had a fiery temper and knew only how to swing his staff and fight. Wujing was wooden, good only for carrying the luggage and chiming in that something was an excellent idea. Wuneng alone had once known all the ways of the mortal world's romantic playgrounds and understood women best.

To deal with a queen whose lovesick resentment had become an illness, he could only count on Bajie's silver tongue.

Time slipped by.

After spending a full two incense sticks' worth of time, master and disciple finally polished their shoes to a brilliant shine.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Yang Niansan urged, "Master, shouldn't we be setting off?"

Rolling his prayer beads between his fingers, Xuanzang surveyed the desolate mountains around them, his brow furrowed. "Bajie! These barren mountains and treacherous waters are dangerous. Do not be careless. Go and see whether any demons have taken up residence nearby. If there are, we must root out every last trace of evil!"

"There aren't any! It's perfectly peaceful!" How could Zhu Bajie fail to see through his master's fear? He immediately shook his head.

Xuanzang's expression darkened slightly, and his voice grew sterner. "Bajie! Do not be negligent. Search carefully!"

"Master, there really aren't any!" Zhu Bajie curled his lip and spread his hands. "With two mighty Buddhas like us arriving, every ghoul and fiend has already burrowed three feet underground. Why would any of them show their faces?"

At that, Yang Niansan saw through Xuanzang's predicament.

She concealed half her face behind her fan's ribs, struggling not to laugh. "Come along, Master! Every karmic entanglement must reach its end someday, mustn't it?"

Xuanzang sighed helplessly and could only steel himself and start walking. "Let's go, let's go... Which way was West Liang City again? Bajie, why don't we abandon the clouds and travel on foot? We can relive those austere days of begging for alms on our journey west. What do you say? Let's go..."

Before the last word had finished leaving his lips.

Yang Niansan swept out a mysterious golden light. The void shattered-a mighty spatial translocation art!

Chen Wei was swept into the passage through the void. His Sea of Consciousness shook violently, and horror filled his heart.

A supreme divine ability involving the Great Dao of Space was beyond the reach of ordinary immortals. Yang Niansan was no Heavenly Immortal!

The subordinate had concealed her talents; her superior was shaken.

The stars wheeled and shifted, all in the blink of an eye.

Inside the Golden Throne Hall of the West Liang Palace.

Buddhist incense hung like gauze, and all was still and silent.

Queen Yulin held a pale, moon-white silk handkerchief, her head bowed as she carefully wiped a golden statue of Xuanzang on the table.

Without warning, four figures appeared out of thin air.

Yulin's wrist trembled, and the handkerchief fluttered down. She hastily turned, and when her gaze fell upon the gaunt figure who haunted her every dream, boundless tides surged in her eyes.

A thousand words caught in her throat, finally becoming a single lovesick cry:

"Royal Younger Brother!"

"Amitabha." Xuanzang lowered his eyes, not daring to meet her burning gaze. All he could do was sigh deeply. "Benefactor, it has been many years."

Old ties met again, and eyes reddened all the more.

"Quick, move back! Don't get in the way!" Yang Niansan was the shrewdest of them all. She immediately grabbed Chen Wei's sleeve and darted behind a vermilion-painted pillar in the hall.

As she tugged him along, their bodies passed extremely close together.

Chen Wei caught a faint fragrance at the tip of his nose. He instinctively sniffed, and his hand accidentally slipped around her waist.

To his surprise, Yang Niansan reacted strongly. Two rosy clouds rose on her fair cheeks, and even the roots of her ears flushed scarlet.

She struck Chen Wei's shoulder haphazardly with her folding fan and scolded in flustered embarrassment, "Keep a proper hold on it!"

Chen Wei looked utterly bewildered.

Hold what?

He hadn't held so much as a hair this whole time!

Just then, Yulin moved lightly toward Xuanzang, stopping only when she was three steps away.

Close enough to touch, yet worlds apart-a distance she could not cross.

"Royal Younger Brother," Yulin said, mist gathering in her eyes, "are you unwilling even to look at me?"

Xuanzang continued chanting, falling back on Buddhist teachings. "Benefactor, you are attached to appearances. All things in this world are illusions."

At those ice-cold Buddhist words.

Yulin laughed instead of growing angry, then let out a long, wistful sigh. "I know. You pretend not to hear, but I still know. Everything I offer, you refuse. I know, I know... Yet I keep trying to coax a smile from you."

Xuanzang remained silent.

Zhu Bajie inwardly clicked his tongue, unable to stop himself from grumbling that the Queen of West Liang truly was difficult to deal with.

Her lovesick resentment had sunk into her bones. Hers was a love that plunged headlong and never turned back, utterly devoted unto death.

Had it been him trapped in the Daughter Kingdom back then, faced with such a lovely woman and a whole city's riches, he would have taken the offered slope and climbed straight down. He would have shed his kasaya without hesitation and plunged headfirst into that tender haven.

Why go to the Western Heaven just to swallow wind and sand?

Why become some blasted Buddha?

Cultivate and cultivate, until all four elements were empty, and he could not even keep a woman who cared whether he was cold or warm. What joy was there in sitting high upon a lotus throne in Thunderclap Monastery?

Wasn't enjoying himself the whole point of coasting through his days in the Heavenly Court?

Yet his master just had to be a block of elm wood that would never see the light.

Seeing Xuanzang stand there like a clay idol or wooden carving, Yulin's brows knotted with a hundred sorrows. She lifted her feet slightly and moved two steps closer.

"Royal Younger Brother,"

"The years have drifted by, seas have become mulberry fields, and I have guarded this royal city alone, filling it with golden statues of you, seeking only one definite answer!"

Xuanzang still kept his eyes lowered.

Yulin gave a desolate smile. "Is there anything special about me in your heart? Loving you is a lonely secret. How I wish you would be honest with me."

Her questions had cornered him. There was nowhere left to retreat.

With matters having come to this, Xuanzang slowly raised his head, his Buddha's eyes showing neither sorrow nor joy. "Amitabha. You knew heartbreak was always inevitable, so why did you love so deeply? Since love is always so hard to relinquish, why cling to that little warmth? There are things you need not ask now, and people you need never wait for!"

"Benefactor, have you considered the million ordinary people of West Liang City?"

"Which weighs more: one person's private feelings, or the life and future of a nation?"

"Because you have sunk so deeply into lovesick resentment, you have thrown the great affairs of the state into disorder, draining the mountains and rivers of their splendor and severing the water veins! Because of what you call your lonely secret, every living soul in this kingdom faces the danger of a broken lineage and a fallen nation. The city's mortals live in constant fear, utterly despondent and suffering beyond words. They have even begun to doubt the workings of Heaven's Dao and the destined cycle of reincarnation!"

Behind the pillar.

Chen Wei inwardly hailed him as a true expert. As expected of a mighty figure of Spirit Mountain, he had shattered personal romance with a grand narrative.

Brilliant. Truly brilliant.

Unexpectedly, Yang Niansan glanced sidelong at Chen Wei and asked in a leisurely tone, "Sir, what do you think of this?"

"I think the master is right!" Chen Wei blurted without thinking. "For the queen of the Daughter Kingdom to disregard her people for her own selfish desires is truly contrary to Heaven's Dao."

"Sir, what I was asking was whether you think Yulin is devoted in love."

"Hopelessly foolish!"

"What if a woman said such things to your face, sir?" Yang Niansan moved a little closer, looking Chen Wei straight in the eyes.