Chapter 13 – The Beast That Will Not Die

The forest past the Silent Town was dense and old, thick with moss that hummed faintly in Xuanzang's bones. No birds. No Qi-beasts. Only roots that curved like scars and air that smelled like memory.

[Warning: Wild Fragment Field Ahead][System Advisory: Defensive Protocols Recommended – Divine Entity Signature Detected]Name: ??? | Title: Once-Sacred | State: Refuses Death]

They all felt it before they saw it.

Wukong stiffened. His staff vibrated.

Sha Wujing bowed his head and whispered something under his breath. A prayer or apology.

Bajie squinted. "What kind of thing… bleeds without dying?"

Xuanzang answered quietly. "Something that was worshipped... and then wasn't."

🐾 The Hollow Grove

At the center of the ancient grove, the ground dropped away into a natural pit of stone and black water. Vines twisted around bones the size of wagons. And at the center of it all: a creature.

Enormous. Part ox, part dragon, part forgotten myth.

Chained by vines, but breathing.

Alive.

Suffering.

Its body was partially see-through — as if reality couldn't decide if it still belonged here. But every time it exhaled, the wind changed, and systems stuttered.

[Entity Detected: Heaven-Fallen Beast – Xiniu the Remembered]Karmic Classification: Pre-System Era Guardian]Fragment Containment: High Probability (Sutra Core is embedded)]

Xuanzang stepped forward.

And the beast spoke — not in words, but through the system.

"Who walks with breath unearned?""Who walks with fragments not given?"

The voice echoed in their heads.

"I was chained by Heaven before your world knew time.""I will die when the last prayer ends. And not before."

Wukong raised his staff. "We'll need to fight."

Xuanzang held up a hand.

"No. Not yet."

🌀 The Test of Worth

Xuanzang walked forward and bowed.

Not as a monk. As a pilgrim.

"Xiniu," he said. "You were worshipped once. Guarded roads, bore mountains. They used your back as the bridge to Heaven."

The beast's breath rumbled.

"Then they built new bridges. With code. And I became myth."

"Yes," Xuanzang whispered. "And I walk now… to gather those broken bridges."

[System Choice: Submit Trial or Attempt Forceful Extraction]Note: Trial may awaken dormant aspects of the Fragment – Risk: Moderate | Reward: Unique Spiritual Bond]

Xuanzang chose.

[Submit to Trial]

🪓 The Trial of Endurance

Suddenly, time shifted.

They were no longer in the grove.

They were on Xiniu's back, walking a road of clouds — and it never ended.

With each step, their spirit Qi bled away.

Wukong's rage turned into stillness.

Bajie grew thinner, more thoughtful.

Wujing stopped reciting his mantras.

Only Xuanzang walked steadily.

Because he remembered this.

Not from this life. But from a life before.

He had walked this path once — and failed.He turned back before the last cloud.He feared the cost of carrying sacred things.

But now, he did not stop.

He bowed with each step, bleeding karma like incense.

And the world shuddered.

🩸 The Beast Breaks Free

Back in the grove, Xiniu let out a sound that was neither roar nor cry — but release.

Chains fell.

Its body collapsed into starlight — no corpse, no scream. Only silence.

And at the center of the grove, where its heart had once pulsed, floated the fragment:

A single line carved into white bone, pulsing like breath.

[Fragment Claimed: Sutra of Endurance Unseen – Line 4 of 36]Ability Unlocked: Unseen Step – Move across Karmic Terrain without triggering observation (1 use/day).]

The party stood still.

Bajie was the first to speak.

"That… wasn't a fight."

Wukong nodded. "That was a burial."

🌌 Nightfall on the Grove

They camped beneath the broken boughs. Xuanzang said no words, but sat with the fragment in his lap, reading it in silence.

Wujing finally broke the stillness.

"He knew you."

Xuanzang looked up. "From a former life. Maybe."

Wukong turned his eyes to the stars. "We should keep moving."

Bajie nodded. "The West gets heavier with every step."

And from the trees came the sound of wind.

Or perhaps: wings.