Chapter 326: The Gods Have Died, the Demons Have Been Extinguished

Facing Lin Liu's helplessness, Houzi and the Heavenly Emperor could not comfort him even if they wanted to.

After all, those who could be liberated have been liberated; if the dreamer is truly alive in the mortal world, then only four people remain alive in heaven and earth: Lin Liu himself, the Heavenly Emperor, Houzi, and Li Ziliang still imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.

Among them, Lin Liu and Houzi cannot be awakened by the "Alarm Clock," so there is no way to verify whether the dreamer's owner is them.

The Heavenly Emperor, however, had already been tested before, and clearly he is not.

Could it be Li Ziliang? 【You thought of that Great Shun Taizu whom you have kept locked in the Heavenly Prison all along; although you don't really believe it, things have come to this, you might as well go down the dark path!】

【Then you ordered Houzi to go liberate Li Ziliang, who is far away in the Southern Continent.】

【"Yes! Master!"】

【Houzi accepted the order with a complex heart and departed……】

【Not long afterward, Houzi returned to the Divine Tomb riding a golden light, his face bearing a sorrowful expression.】

【"Reporting to Master, Li Ziliang has already killed himself in prison……"】

【He committed suicide.】

【You lowered your hopeful eyes……】

【Another person has died in vain; now only three people remain in heaven and earth.】

【"Is it you?"】

【You muttered to yourself, and in the midst of all thoughts turning to ash, you raised your gaze toward the not‑far cliff.】

【This cliff is very familiar to you, for in your previous life you came here to seek immortality!】

【The location of your "Divine Tomb" was not chosen at random; this place is precisely where Lingtai Fangcun Shan is located, or rather, the void opposite the cliff is the true Lingtai Fangcun Shan.】

【You chose this site for the Divine Tomb precisely hoping to attract the attention of the Patriarch Bodhi… but now it seems the Patriarch Bodhi does not concern himself with worldly affairs.】

【The cliff remains a cliff, and Lingtai Fangcun Shan has never intended to open to the outside……】

【As the most mysterious existence in this realm, Patriarch Bodhi is naturally a major suspect—even more so than Houzi—and he surely knows many secrets; theoretically, all your questions could be answered by him!】

【But the problem is, you simply cannot get hold of him……】

【For years you have already tried your luck, but each time the result is the same: you cannot see him, nor can you enter.】

【It was like this when you were a mortal, it is like this now that you are a true god, you are like this, others are like this, and even the Heavenly Emperor, when he first heard you mention something called 'Patriarch Bodhi' here, just stared blankly and shook his head……】

【Never heard of it, never seen it, never entered it.】

【From true gods down to mortals, regardless of cultivation or status, aside from Houzi, none have any affinity with the so‑called Lingtai Fangcun Shan!】

【Even this lifetime's Houzi has little affinity with it……】

【"Master, are you suspecting that Patriarch Bodhi?"】

【Seeing you gazing blankly at the cliff, Houzi naturally understands your thoughts, but he can only shake his head: "It's useless; I've already tried long ago……"】

【He sighed helplessly: "Although I can still see Fangcun Shan, this time Patriarch Bodhi does not allow me to enter, nor does he answer my other questions."】

【"……Why?"】

【You murmured the question.】

【"He said……"】

【Houzi hesitated a moment, then replied: "He said I have lost my original heart!"】

【"Patriarch Bodhi said, 'Lingtai Fangcun is the heart, the crescent moon and three stars are also the heart; since I have lost my original heart, I naturally cannot enter the place where the heart resides.'"】

【"Original heart?"】

【You stared blankly: "What is Houzi's original heart?"】

【After a moment, you thought of the answer: it is immortality, bringing all the monkeys of Mount Huaguo to immortality together!】

【And now?】

【You gaze at your disciple who has long been mingling with power and desire; although he has not overly stained himself with worldly corruption, bearing the sense of 'rising from the mire unstained,' he is clearly very different from that former boat‑rowing wild monkey who single‑mindedly pursued the Dao.】

【As for the original wish to lead the monkeys and their descendants to immortality… that has long been overwritten by what you instilled in him: 'Leave the dream, return to reality.''】

【He no longer thinks of living carefree in the world with a bunch of monkeys and their descendants; instead, he wants to go to the truly existing 'Eternal Primordial'.】

【His original heart has long been changed by you!】

【Having realized this, your already bewildered heart feels ever more guilty……】

【You begin to reflect on your life, wondering whether it has been utterly unproductive; because you have been busy before and after, busy until now, appearing busy but actually accomplishing nothing useful.】

【You have not completed the game's clearance mission; you have not brought lasting happiness to the people; you have not found a way for ordinary monkeys and their descendants to achieve immortality, and you still have not.】

【Clearance is hopeless, the mortal world is destroyed, Houzi cannot see Patriarch Bodhi……】

【In the midst of utter despair, you finally begin to give your final instructions.】

【"After I die, heaven and earth will fall into stillness."】

【You spoke bitterly: "I have failed; this heaven and earth no longer have a future……"】

【Hearing your words of self‑destruction, Houzi widened his eyes: "Master! You……"】 【The Heavenly Emperor also wanted to speak but held back, for you indeed deserve to die; now that it has come to this, using death to put an end to this ruined heaven and earth is not a bad plan……】

【Facing their different reactions, you said nothing, only closed your eyes, and your vital energy gradually waned.】

【"Next time, just don't toss and turn anymore."】

【The Heavenly Emperor finally spoke, his voice deep: "Let this side‑line perish if it must; when you restart later, remember to treat all the people of the world a little better, prolong the prosperous age, if you can't find a clearance method you can search slowly, don't rush."】

【"Because the people of the world are unlike you; they have only one life…… remember to cherish it."】

【Your body finally trembled, as if you had heard, yet as if you had not……】

【……】

【In the 267th year of the New Heavenly Court, the Holy Lord Lin Liu of the New Heavenly Court exterminated the world; whether mortal or true god, all were swept clean, leaving heaven and earth empty and silent!】

【Under the sway of self‑reproach and despair, the Holy Lord gave up his life, and the New Heavenly Court consequently perished utterly; from the time the Eight Banners entered the pass and unified the four great continents, to the slaughter of all in heaven and earth and finally his own suicide, the state lasted a total of 267 years, ending in one generation……】

【After your death, your grieving disciple buried you in the Divine Tomb; then, together with the Heavenly Emperor, he also buried the eight‑hundred‑plus corpses of the New Heavenly Court gods you brought, as well as the corpse of Li Ziliang who had killed himself in the Heavenly Prison, each in the Divine Tomb.】

【After doing all that, the Heavenly Emperor, having lost the will to live, also voluntarily let Houzi use the "Alarm Clock" to liberate him, and his corpse was likewise buried by Houzi in the graveyard……】

And gazing at the densely packed graves of the gods, and again at the lifeless expanse of heaven and earth, the monkey remained dazed for a long time.

Among all wise beings in heaven and earth, only it remained.

A different kind of loneliness welled up, making the monkey, accustomed to mingling in the human world, involuntarily shiver…

A thousand mountains, no bird in flight; ten thousand paths, no human trace.

"What's the point of me still being alive?"

The monkey gave a self‑mocking smile, slowly dug a grave for itself, and placed it beside its master Lin Liu.

It lay on its back in the pit, as divine power stirred the earth and covered it.

Moments later, the vitality beneath the soil also dissipated…

Between heaven and earth, no living person remained.

Day after day passed like this.

Until seven days later, the soil of a grave suddenly stirred, a pale… a hand covered in gold hair slowly stretched out…

The monkey dazedly crawled out of the grave, looked at the still lifeless cemetery, then at its own hands, and a great doubt arose in its heart.

Gods are dead, demons are annihilated—why am I still alive?

It quickly realized its own uniqueness, and inexplicably heard calls echoing in its mind… calls?

It instinctively turned its head, gazing upon the 'Lingtai Fangcun Shan' that existed only in its eyes!

The mountain was still that mountain; the only difference was a white, hazy figure standing before it, as if waiting for it.

Although it didn't know what had happened, driven by instinct the monkey still staggered to its feet and stepped toward that white, hazy figure…

On a certain day in the reign of Dashun, on a small island somewhere in East Victory Divine Continent, a Nine Aperture Immortal Stone suddenly burst open, giving birth to a stone egg that, transformed by the wind, became a monkey glittering with golden light!

Back at its birthplace, the monkey, face blank, forgot what it had forgotten, yet seemed to still remember something…

"Master…"

It frowned and murmured repeatedly; although it couldn't recall the specifics, it always remembered those two words.

Afterward, it instinctively turned its golden‑light‑filled eyes toward the direction of Southern Jambu Continent: that was a mysteriously familiar fishing village, yet none of the faces there felt familiar to it…

In disappointment, it then looked toward Western Ox-Heaven Continent: there stood a verdant peak, ancient trees towering, auspicious clouds swirling, upon it a cave dwelling, within which seemed to be a person…

Not long after, it did as fate had recorded: it boarded a bamboo raft, brought fruit, and set out alone toward that direction!

And the distant Tai Bai Xingjun of the Heavenly Realm, even in deep sleep, opened his eyes, his gaze also filled with confusion, but after thinking left and right he still couldn't figure it out… ultimately he had no choice but to keep seeking his colleagues' wine feast, not returning until drunk! The daily life of a true god is always so plain and unadorned, moreover boring…

……

You died, and your wrong choice led to a wrong ending… you took the true existence in the dark as an 'alarm clock', awakening all beings in heaven and earth; whether mortal or true god, all were 'saved' by you, and you successfully 'salvaged' all beings…

However, your 'salvation of all beings' ultimately was not completely successful; in the face of unknown information, you failed to find the 'Lord of Dreams' you sought, and thus could only end in failure despite effort.

Finally, self‑reproach and despair filled your heart, driving you toward the death you had expected… but in fact you needn't bear these negative emotions, for your salvation actually was effective—you just couldn't see it…

Then came the monkey.

Your understanding of it is still incomplete; judging from its final experience, it seems it does not truly die, which oddly resembles your own restart…

To unravel the mysteries surrounding it, you still need to keep digging deeper; your current knowledge of it is merely superficial.

Saving all beings is what you want, uncovering the monkey's secret is what you want, and to clear the game you must have both!

Ultimately, all that matters is hoping that after your restart you can go further, so as to uncover more information…

Should time flow backward, returning to a previous point in life?

……

(End of chapter)