Chapter 36: The Monkey Will Not Be Crushed Beneath the Five Elements Mountain
From that moment on, you never again attended Diviner Jing Tian's lectures; you had no need for the art of divination.
You could see the future.
However, you also had some doubts: could the future you saw be changed?
Diviner Jing Tian's words were profound and mysterious, but you grasped a bit of their meaning.
Fate is predetermined; even if major variables appear, other events will eventually counterbalance them, converging the future toward that "preordained outcome"…
You shook your head; these matters had little to do with you.
At least, that was what you thought at the time…
"Senior Brother!"
Fu Xuan's voice always rang out punctually in the afternoon; after finishing her studies at the Divination Commission, she would come to your academy to play.
After all, the fun here with you—her senior brother—was far greater than at the Divination Commission.
You had several comics and short stories that you had personally copied.
Little Fu Xuan was especially interested in romantic stories in which people changed their fate through their own efforts.
"The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains," "Jingwei Fills the Sea," "Nuwa Repairs the Heavens"…
The spirit of humanity overcoming nature—unyielding and indomitable—always made little Fu Xuan shed tears as she listened.
"Senior Brother~"
Fu Xuan, her eyes brimming with tears, would call out softly, as if the fates of the characters in those stories…
Had deeply moved her and inspired her greatly.
The Divination Commission had many courses; the path of divination was difficult to master and required an especially large amount of calculation and measurement.
The principles were not hard, but one had to be meticulous, and the computational burden was particularly heavy…
This was very different from the divination you had experienced.
But it did not matter. What mattered was…
Little Fu Xuan, exhausted from studying, would always completely relax while listening to stories at your academy, then tilt her head and fall asleep on the stone table…
Studying was still far too tiring.
You would always carry the sleeping future Great Diviner and take her home; after all, in your view, sleeping on a stone table made it far too easy to catch a cold.
Even if she were a long-lived species…
Little Fu Xuan was very diligent, studying divination with great care and often engaging in fierce debates with Diviner Jing Tian.
However, as an unofficial member of the Divination Commission, you could not help her much.
You could only tell her stories to help her stressed mind relax when she was exhausted…
Time gradually passed, and little Fu Xuan's student life continued unknowingly for five years…
It was a bright afternoon; the Xianzhou was passing through a star cluster at that time.
The temperature was a bit high…
You listened to the cicadas, brewed a pot of light tea, and sat at the stone table, quietly waiting for your junior sister to return from the Divination Commission.
Recently, she had become fascinated with listening to you tell the story of Journey to the West, about the Tang monk from the Eastern Land of the Great Tang traveling west with three disciples to obtain the scriptures…
Especially the part where the Monkey King wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, which made the girl's heart race.
Unyielding and indomitable before fate, he fought his way to the Lingxiao Palace in pursuit of the freedom he longed for…
"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven… truly lives up to the name!"
Little Fu Xuan's large eyes shone with admiration.
Today, you were supposed to tell the chapter where the Monkey King wreaks havoc in the Heavenly Palace, only to be suppressed beneath the Five Elements Mountain…
You checked the time and felt a little surprised.
Normally, Fu Xuan would have arrived by now.
You wondered what had happened today…
You silently calculated in your mind, and your precognition concluded that the girl had gone to the Ancient Sea—where ten-year-old Fu Xuan sat by the Ancient Sea, sobbing.
You were puzzled: what was going on?
What had that old diviner Jing Tian said?
You went straight to the Ancient Sea; the girl seemed a bit startled by your arrival, quickly stopped crying, and said she was fine.
"I'm fine, Senior Brother, don't worry…"
She clearly could not lie; her eyes shifted away.
You knew she was always straightforward, unable to hide anything, always saying what she thought.
But today was very strange—no matter how you asked, she found it hard to speak.
You could not help feeling uneasy, and then you remembered the history between Diviner Jing Tian and her.
Diviner Jing Tian already knew through divination that Fu Xuan would become the new Diviner of the Xianzhou.
And that Diviner Jing Tian himself would die in battle because of Fu Xuan's decisions.
Could it be that…?
Had Diviner Jing Tian already told Fu Xuan this?
You looked at the pair of eyes beside you, staring at the Ancient Sea, filled with confusion.
You thought your guess was probably correct.
"Senior Brother…"
"Will that monkey become the true Great Sage Equal to Heaven after wreaking havoc in the Heavenly Palace?"
Fu Xuan suddenly asked.
You paused slightly, about to tell Fu Xuan that the monkey was ultimately suppressed beneath the Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years…
And eventually followed Xuanzang westward to obtain the scriptures…
But you noticed a trace of confusion in the serious eyes of the girl.
This ending for the monkey might not be the version she liked.
You thought for a moment; at that time, she probably needed an unrestrained monkey…
"Of course—he was a free and unbridled monkey…"
"He would surely become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."
You lied.
But from the rekindled light in the girl's eyes, you understood that this was the monkey Fu Xuan needed.
A monkey who did not yield to fate, whose heart pursued only what he desired, and who achieved a good ending.
Little Fu Xuan smiled through her tears.
Fate…
Can be changed.
The human will is not altered by external things.
"Mmm! Senior Brother, Master said I've basically mastered the art of divination…"
"What I need now is practice."
Fu Xuan said that Diviner Jing Tian's final lesson was to perform a divination for an event whose outcome was already fixed.
"What kind of event is certain to happen, Senior Brother?"
"Mmm…"
You pondered for a moment: what kind of things were certain to happen?
You thought about it for a long time…
Loved ones who swore never to part would also depart someday; stars that shine eternally in the vast universe would also fall; oceans would turn into land, and deserts might become oases…
There was nothing that was absolutely certain to happen.
You looked at the girl, whose eyes awaited your answer.
You shook your head.
"Junior Sister, nothing is destined to happen and must happen."
Fate is unpredictable; even the most precise methods of divination must leave a minimum margin for change.
This was the worldview you held in your heart.
You did not believe in fate.
"Then… wouldn't I fail the Master's final lesson?"
You thought for a moment, gazing at the surging Ancient Sea.
"The Master's intention…"
"Should be to make you accept fate…"
The girl fell silent…
At ten years old, her mind was not yet fully mature; at that moment, she was still unsure whether she should believe in the results of divination.
You roughly guided her way of thinking; as a mentor, and as a mentor to a child, you could not bear to see the light in her young eyes fade.
The Ancient Sea crashed against the shore; your conversation ended there.
You did not know whether doing this was right, but you understood that the girl's inner thoughts were not consistent with those of Diviner Jing Tian…
Nevertheless, you supported her ideas and her path even more…