"Because I was unwilling to simply die like that, this sliver of lingering consciousness remained, perpetually cycling through the same space and events. My final battle with the Six-Eared Macaque concluded twenty years ago; both of us have long since perished," Goku told me, almost word by word.

Seeing my astonishment rather than my reply, he continued, "Only when I fight the Six-Eared Macaque to the point of utter exhaustion do I recall the events of that time. The reason I am trapped in this endless loop is to wait for you."

"Wait for me?" I whispered.

Goku nodded. "That's right. The first time I saw you, I felt you bore a striking resemblance to Master. Regardless of whether you are the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, you must carry a crucially important mission. It was my recklessness back then that led to the deaths of Master and all my martial brothers, so I owe Master a profound debt. It is also to save your world that I maintained this looping consciousness, awaiting your arrival. What I can teach you, I have taught. Though this is but one ten-billionth of my power, it should be enough for you to utilize."

Seeing that Goku seemed to have finished speaking and was about to depart, I quickly pressed him, "What do you mean? How did you cause the deaths of Tang Monk and Pigsy? Weren't they killed by the Six-Eared Macaque?"

Goku sighed. "In our world, there was never a true Six-Eared Macaque. That creature was merely an embodiment of a vile thought within me. When I struck down the Six-Eared Macaque back then, it was actually the Buddha helping me excise the root of my inner turmoil. But when that turmoil resurfaces, the Six-Eared Macaque reappears."

I asked, confused, "Haven't you already attained Buddhahood? Why would you still harbor inner turmoil?"

Goku didn't answer directly, but offered a tragic smile. "Haven't you found it strange that the story of the Journey to the West is set in the Tang Dynasty, yet here we are, still on the journey?"

I nodded. "When you let slip earlier that you were going to save Master, I guessed you were still on the quest. But I truly cannot comprehend why."

Goku sighed again. "Our world is entirely a creation of human imagination. Therefore, our world cannot evolve; it merely cycles through the infinite narrative of the pilgrimage. No matter how colorful the journey becomes, we eventually grow weary. So, to end it all, I chose self-annihilation. Though beings formed of residual thought cannot be killed by external forces, when we choose to self-destruct, we are truly extinguished. Back then, I only sought my own release, but I never expected that the affliction born from me—that Six-Eared Macaque—would go on to kill Master and the others. In reality, even if they were killed, they would resurrect with the turning of time. However, the Six-Eared Macaque possessed all my awareness and conveyed my intentions to Master and the others, so they respected my choice and chose death."

He paused, then added, "In truth, they hadn't grown as weary of this world as I had. I unilaterally caused their deaths, so I owe them."

Saying this, Goku actually shed tears of regret.

I choked up too. Although I knew that the four figures of the Tang Monk party fundamentally shouldn't exist in reality, since they had existed, I had every right to grieve for them.

The vital essence within Goku grew increasingly dissipated. His once lustrous fur began to wither.

He seemed to gather his last reserves of strength and told me, "There is one more thing I wasn't entirely truthful about earlier. To form a conceptual body, mere thought isn't enough; the thought must have an object to anchor itself to. Human society, from ancient times to the present, has researched this method of physical anchoring for concepts. China succeeded at one point, but all their efforts were destroyed by a certain Emperor. Those artisans fled to Japan and constructed the physical anchors for our Master and us disciples. That is why you see us here. Every immortal and every demon in the world exists, but they are all manufactured. While even I don't know the ultimate purpose of the one who created these things, he must be a figure possessing the power of creation. If you seek to confront him, you must be extremely cautious..."

I watched as Goku's fur gradually turned white, making him look years older in an instant, his voice growing fainter. I urgently asked, "What is the relationship between the so-called Four Great True Gods and that Creator? Why did they kill Nie Chuan? And what exactly did you mean by the Qiankun Tribulation?"

As I spoke, Goku’s fur transitioned from white to gray, and finally, he became a motionless, petrified stone statue.

Goku was dead. I couldn't perceive the slightest spark of life in him.

"Master..."

At that moment, Da Xiong and Nie Chuan both burst into tears. It turned out they had been awakened by our conversation and had heard everything.

Recalling our brief time together that day, my own eyes reddened. The excitement we felt the moment we became the Great Sage's apprentices—that sense of fulfillment was still vivid before me.

Though our bond was short, the Great Sage had left us with a dreamlike, beautiful memory.

The light outside the cave slowly dimmed, and the surrounding scenery dissolved into nothingness. The most obvious sign was the cave wall Da Xiong was leaning against suddenly vanishing, nearly causing him to trip head over heels. Then, before our eyes, everything gradually faded into an empty darkness.

I was shocked, thinking: Isn't this the psychic space created by the Ghost Tower Master? Why is it annihilating now because of Goku's death? Does this psychic space lose its meaning upon Goku's demise?

Though I couldn't fathom it, I knew that this time, Goku was truly gone. The Samsara of the Journey to the West had ended forever. In either the real world or the psychic world, there would be no more figure known as Sun Wukong.

Carrying an immeasurable sadness, a faint glimmer of light suddenly appeared before us.

Upon closer inspection, we found ourselves back in that same empty room—the one where we had first discovered Goku.

However, Goku was nowhere to be seen. In front of us lay a grinning skeleton.

This skeleton sat with its hands resting on its knees, posed as if in meditation. Beside it sat an oil lamp whose flame was smaller than a soybean.

"Look, this isn't a human corpse," Nie Chuan said, crouching before the remains and pointing to its mouth.

I looked, and indeed, the skull protruded more than a human's, the jaw was shorter, and the canines were far more developed than a human's.

By my assessment, this was the corpse of a primate—to put it plainly, a monkey's skeleton.

The moment this realization dawned, the three of us knelt before the monkey's bones, bowing respectfully three times. Then I spoke, "Master, rest in peace. We will certainly take your remains out and bury them in a beautiful, scenic place, much like Flower Fruit Mountain."

Clearly, all three of us understood that this skeleton was the manufactured psychic anchor Goku had mentioned before his death.

After bowing to Sun Wukong's remains, Da Xiong reverently placed the small skeleton into the sterilization bag he carried, dividing it into three parts to fit into our backpacks.

As we stood up, the light from the oil lamp had become extremely faint, finally sputtering out with a faint hiss.

Darkness enveloped us, forcing us to turn on our flashlights.

Da Xiong then asked me, "Do you think everything we just experienced was just a dream?"

I shot him a look. "You said we experienced it together. If it were a dream, could three people appear in the exact same one?"

Nie Chuan interjected, "Whether it was a dream or not, we can test it by using the Invisibility Spell and the Fire Fist the Great Sage taught us!"

Da Xiong nodded, chanted the mantra, and truly vanished before our eyes.

Ten seconds later, he reappeared in the same spot, his face streamed with tears. He knelt on the ground and addressed the sky, "Master, I will never forget. I am your disciple, Sun Wukong's disciple, and I vow never to disgrace you."

As he spoke with such emotion, we all wiped away tears.

Whatever we said about our experiences to others, they wouldn't believe it, as it was utterly illogical in the real world. But as long as we followed our Master's teachings and kept his deeds in our hearts, Goku would live on forever within us. And I would utilize the powers he left behind to rescue those in need, which would be the finest inheritance of our Master's spirit of vanquishing demons and protecting the righteous path.

With that thought, I wiped my eyes. "Let's keep moving. The Creator who made these psychic anchors—nothing he manufactured has ever benefited humanity. A small fraction served to solidify feudal rule, but the majority were monsters that brought disaster to regions. Therefore, we must destroy the means by which he creates these fiends."

Da Xiong also dabbed his eyes. "That's right. I believe that old man on the top floor of the Ghost Tower must know a great deal. Let's go question him."

Nie Chuan stated, "If that old man is one of the Four Great True Gods, then let's confront him. We are different now; it should be time for a direct clash."

I looked at the two of them. We were clearly all imbued with Goku's fearless and resolute aura. While our strength had increased, it didn't mean we could necessarily challenge the Four Great True Gods, but we were Goku's disciples; therefore, there was no reason to retreat.

Carrying Goku's remains, the three of us walked directly toward the entrance to the next floor down.

As we neared the entrance, we saw a tall, dark silhouette standing there, blocking our path.

Upon closer inspection, it was a bull-headed monster.

It was enveloped in a black miasma, making its appearance completely indistinct, but its voice reached our ears with perfect clarity: "It was you who let the monkey's Yuanshen go, wasn't it! How dare you!"