After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

The man who stood up looked at the others.

Do you know how assassin training is conducted?

"After Master Sun joined the assassin organization, the organization gave him a cat as a pet. Whenever Master Sun was covered in wounds from the assassin training, he endured it all just because he had this pet to keep him company. Until one day, his master ordered Master Sun to kill his cat."

An old man couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

"Isn't that too cruel?"

The man who stood up had a serious expression.

"This is part of assassin training. Only those who can kill even their pets, with whom they live day and night, will not feel pity for the old, weak, sick, or disabled as targets, and will be able to treat every target equally."

Zhou Yan, inside Little Yama's body, hurriedly said.

"Enough, that's a lie. Don't let this idiot keep talking."

Little Yama asked in confusion.

"Really?"

Zhou Yan responded with a wry smile.

"I've never seen any assassin or assassination skills in Sun Wukong's attribute panel."

Sun Youxing's attribute panel is full of Taoist cultivation skills. It's impossible for someone like him to encounter an assassin from an ancient assassin organization after killing the orphanage director. He'd be more likely to encounter a Taoist who's just playing around in the mortal world.

Little Yama coughed.

"Wait a moment."

Just as he was getting excited, he was about to start talking about how Sun Youxing had offended someone, and the assassin organization had no choice but to betray him. In a fit of rage, Sun Youxing wiped out his entire organization. Afterwards, feeling that he had committed too many murders, he had to find a secluded place to live in seclusion. The man looked blankly at Little Yama.

Little Yama ignored the look the man was giving him and instead asked the person next to him.

"Does anyone know anything about Abbot Sun's past, which contradicts the assassin's account?"

A gaunt old man raised his hand.

Little Yama nodded his chin at the old man.

"You said."

The old man scratched his head.

“I, I’ve come here to burn incense before. I saw that Abbot Sun was good-looking, so I asked him if he wanted to find a woman to settle down with.”

Taoist priests are allowed to marry.

“At that time, I asked Master Sun what kind of woman he liked, and Master Sun said that he did not like women.”

The people around him had strange expressions.

The gaunt old man added a sentence.

"He doesn't like men either, he just wants to be alone. Then I asked, in such a desolate place, doesn't Abbot Sun want a family or something?"

The gaunt old man began to shake his head.

“Master Sun said that he used to attend a very famous high school, where he became the student council president with excellent grades. The vice president of the student council was the daughter of a very famous local entrepreneur. This girl liked him, but did not want to confess her feelings. Master Sun also liked this girl, but he thought that confessing would put him in a disadvantageous position, since his family was not as well-off as this girl's. So he kept quiet about confessing his feelings…”

The man who had just called Master Sun an assassin immediately cursed.

"You're talking nonsense! Abbot Sun is an assassin!"

The gaunt old man stretched his neck and said.

"What do you know? The expression on that girl's face when Master Sun said that was definitely not fake! The old man has been looking at people all his life, he wouldn't be wrong!"

The man looked at the star Wuqu.

You must believe me!

Wuqu Star looked at Dongdou Star Lord, who then clenched his fingers a few times.

"You've both been fooled."

Although the Seven Stars of the Eastern Dipper could not calculate Sun Youxing's origins, judging from his intuition alone, Sun Youxing's fate did not seem to have the characteristics of a cursed lone star or an assassin.

Therefore, Master Sun must have been making up stories to deceive these busybodies in the past.

Dongdou Xingjun looked at the others who hadn't spoken yet.

Does anyone else know about Abbot Sun's past?

A short, thin man stood up and said.

"I've also heard the story of Master Sun. Master Sun said that he was actually a winner in life in the past. He had a cute blonde childhood sweetheart who liked him, a charming senior from the literature department who was very close to him, a cousin who could sing and liked to be with him, and a random girl who suddenly appeared, but Master Sun fell in love with her at first sight."

"Dongdou Xingjun interjected."

"Was that random girl named Megumi Kato?"

The skinny man looked completely bewildered.

Who is Sacred Beauty?

Dongdou Xingjun: "..."

Sun Wukong, if you keep spouting this nonsense, someone will sue you for plagiarism.

The little Yama King beside him said helplessly.

"This is also a lie. Does anyone else know about Abbot Sun's past?"

A young woman in her thirties, whose features still faintly revealed her former charm but whose face was now gaunt, stood up.

"I... I committed a crime before, and to avoid the police, I stayed with Abbot Sun for a long time..."

Having heard too much nonsense, Wu Quxing said without much hope.

　"~咎柶∨∈—<仨□芜?′粶咝sOUo： "You tell me what you know first."

The young woman took a breath and said in a trembling voice.

"I... I've never heard Abbot Sun speak, but when I'm bored, I sometimes browse through Abbot Sun's bookshelf. Some books are permanent, always there, while others are constantly being replaced. I once read a book with a passage written on it."

The young woman looked timidly at Wu Quxing.

"With a thousand wondrous methods at your fingertips, can you attain immortality?"

The faces of Wuqu Star, Little Yama, and Dongdou Star Lord were terrified.

This has the flavor of Sun Wukong. When Sun Wukong sought the Dao and learned the Dharma from Patriarch Subhuti, Patriarch Subhuti taught Sun Wukong various magical arts, and Sun Wukong would always ask, "Can I attain immortality?"

Little Yama stepped forward and asked again.

"And then? Is there any other information?"

Little Yama gave Wu Quxing a look, and Wu Quxing took out a cigarette. The woman hurriedly said...

"I... I don't smoke, but could you give me some food?"

"Dongdou Xingjun assured me."

"Later I'll take you back to Zhongzhou City. As for you, I'll arrange a job for you and make sure you have enough to eat and drink."

The woman swallowed hard and continued.

"Later, I also saw some annotations about praying to gods and Buddhas, and it also said how to prolong life and take good care of one's body. Once I... I was reading a book when Abbot Sun found out. I didn't feel ashamed at the time, and I asked Abbot Sun, 'Does he want to live forever? Does he want to live forever?'"

“Master Sun wasn’t angry. He told me that he had witnessed his parents and brothers grow old, get sick, and die. He was terrified of death and afraid that he would suddenly disappear. So he gave up many things and devoted himself to seeking immortality. That’s why he built this Taoist temple on such a remote mountain to ensure that he wouldn’t be tempted by other things.”

That's true. When Sun Wukong crossed the sea to seek immortality, it was because he saw that his monkey subjects had died. After learning about death from the old monkey, Sun Wukong realized that he didn't want to die. He wanted to live a carefree and happy life.

If what the others said was obviously false, then at least Little Yama, Wuqu Star, and Dongdou Star Lord didn't find this woman's words to be false.

That's just how Sun Wukong is.

Sun Wukong would indeed do that.

Chapter Thirty: The Ginseng Fruit Tree

"So, Master Sun's obsession is actually that he cannot attain immortality?"

Little Yama spoke up.

The two stars, Wuqu and Dongdou, who were standing in front of Xiao Yanjun, nodded in agreement, and everyone thought the speculation was reasonable.

When Sun Wukong saw that his monkey followers had died, he was so frightened that he didn't even want to stay in Flower Fruit Mountain, a place where he could live a carefree life. He risked his life to cross the sea to seek immortality and ask questions. Later, he met a woodcutter singing a song of immortals on Fangcun Mountain, so he went up to him and flattered him, saying soft words, wanting to become his disciple.

This once proud Monkey King was so shameless in his pursuit of immortality that he abandoned all pretense of dignity, demonstrating just how alluring the prospect of immortality was for Sun Wukong.

Dongdou Xingjun walked towards the bedroom where Sun Youxing was sitting cross-legged.

揂∠±［℃跁∴↑二≈￠±零〈＠坞中≮±。 qun:“I'll go look at the books on the bookshelf.”

Wu Quxing nodded his chin at the young woman who had stood up.

Is there anything else you want to say?

The young woman who stood up thought for a moment.

“I remember, Master Sun, the path to immortality... it seems he wasn’t the only one who walked it. Occasionally he would go down the mountain, and after a day or two he would come back with some new books, as well as meat, vegetables and seasonings.”

“When I occasionally go to Master Sun’s room to read, I will find that the newly brought books have annotations in other handwriting. It seems that Master Sun talked about immortality with someone I have never met, and that they collected and studied something together.”

Wu Quxing then called out to the person next to the young woman.

Have you ever heard of anyone around you who wants to live forever?

Many people smiled wryly, and the oldest man sighed in response.

“When I used to work at the senior citizens’ club, eight out of ten elderly people believed in health products, such as quantum powder and dried longevity insects. As long as it was said to prolong life and reverse aging, people would buy it no matter how ridiculous the claim was. Even if others told them it was a scam, and their children told them it was unscientific and not to waste their money, many old men were still happy to buy it.”

The oldest man laughed heartily.

"Can you believe it? Someone would walk five kilometers to collect a prize for two eggs. An old man who would walk back and forth ten times down the street and cry over a lost penny would actually spend thousands of dollars without batting an eye on some random, unregulated health product."

The old man asked the Martial Star (武曲星). [The question is incomplete and requires further context.]

"Do these people count?"

Wu Quxing: "..." Zero

Little Yama reminded him from the side.

"Immortality is something almost everyone desires; if you were to use that as a criterion for selection, you'd have to search the entire globe."

The Martial Star claps its hands.

"Alright, alright, does anyone else know anything about Abbot Sun? There's a reward for sharing; the more information you provide, the bigger the reward."

Wu Quxing held up the unopened pack of cigarettes in his hand. (驷)

"This is just a trivial reward."

The people below started to get excited.

……

Sun Youxing's bedroom.

Dongdou Xingjun walked past Sun Youxing and went to the bookshelf next to Sun Youxing's bed.

The bookshelf was filled with books, including the Tao Te Ching, the Huang Ting Jing, various Taoist classics, and books on unorthodox practices. Dong Dou Xing Jun even saw a handwritten book about raising ghost children.

However, someone added a note in pen at the end of the book.

"This kind of evil art can bring harm to people, gain wealth and power, but it is no different from immortality. It is useless to learn it, useless to learn it."

Not only will it grant immortality, but if you don't have the right methods for raising a ghost child, you'll probably die suddenly after four or five years.

Such unorthodox skills are too easy to lead to an accident and death. Sun Youxing himself seeks immortality, so there is really no reason for him to use such short-lived magic.

Dongdou Xingjun then took out several more books and flipped through them one by one. These books contained annotations by Sun Youxing, and also included Sun Youxing's insights after visiting various wise and virtuous people in famous mountains and rivers and listening to their teachings.

Of course, nowadays, mortals have had their cultivation talents diminished by Nuwa, and each major sect is getting worse with each generation. Sun Youxing has lived for over eighty years and has consulted countless people, but his books are still full of annotations such as "of no benefit to longevity," "of no benefit to longevity," and "of no benefit to longevity."

"Did you find anything?"

The voice of Little Yama came from behind.

Dongdou Xingjun said without turning his head.

"These books are all classic texts on cultivation, and there are some somewhat unclear annotations in them. It's clear that Sun Youxing really worked hard back then in order to achieve immortality."

The Little Yama King behind the Eastern Dipper Star Lord looked at Sun Youxing.