Interlude – Log Entry: The Monk Who Turned Back
[System Fragment Playback Initiated]Accessing Ghost Log: Xuanzang – Iteration #3Security Tier: Broken Vow Memory]
It begins with wind.
Not soft. Not fresh.The kind that scrapes.
Xuanzang — or the one he was then — walks alone. No Wukong. No Wujing. No laughter from Bajie. Only the endless white of desert salt.
He carries a scripture fragment strapped to his back.
It weeps Qi.
His hands are cracked from sealing it.
His system pings him with a cruel irony:
[Congratulations, Pilgrim.][You have reached Point of No Return.][Objective Failed: Unable to bear karmic load. Suggested Action: Die.]
He does not die.
He just sits.
🌬️ In Silence
He unrolls the scripture fragment.
It reads only a single phrase.
"The Way continues only for those who do not name it."
He had named it.
He had named the Way peace, salvation, ascension, reward.
All of them lies.
Because the truth was simpler:
He had wanted to be the one who finished the pilgrimage.Not for Heaven.Not for Earth.But for the feeling of not failing again.
🔁 Dialogue Playback
Someone approaches.
A woman. Thin robes, golden sash, blind in one eye.
Her system signature is muted, but old.
[Unknown Entity – Echo of Predecessor Class: Dustwalker (Monk-Killer)]"Sitting's no good," she says, tone dry. "That sand will calcify your spine before you hit Enlightenment."
Xuanzang doesn't answer.
"You're Xuanzang, aren't you?" she asks. "One of them."
"One of who?" he says, voice thin.
"Monks who walk West. Always West. Always alone. Until you crack."
She crouches beside him, not unkindly.
"I killed one of you once. Maybe two. Couldn't tell. You all look the same when your Qi rots from the inside."
She stands, brushing off dust.
"You'll go back," she says, turning.
"No one ever dies at the edge."
🪷 And Then...
Xuanzang stares into the horizon.
One hand grips the scripture fragment.
The other, quietly… reaches for the dismiss system command.
His lips form the words:
"I revoke my karmic path."
But he never finishes them.
Because the system speaks first.
[Do you remember why you started?][Do you remember what you hoped would be waiting at the end?]
He doesn't answer.
He just cries.
Quietly.
And the fragment fades into white.
🕯️ End of Playback
[You are now Xuanzang – Iteration #4][System Anchor: Reincarnated with Fractured Memory Integrity – Vow Unrestored][You must not turn back again.]
Xuanzang wakes beside the fire in the present.
Wukong is nearby. Still. Watchful.
He says nothing.
But hands him tea.
And for a long time, the monk says nothing either.
Just holds the cup.
As if trying to decide whether to drink —Or weep into it.