Morning dew rolled slowly along the leaves and dripped to the ground.
The demons in the courtyard pricked up their ears, listening intently in utter silence.
In the main hall, the Monkey King stood dumbfounded, staring at Anna Yang, his mind a complete blank.
"Why did you suddenly..."
"Didn’t you say anything else was fine? Wasn’t that your own promise?" Anna Yang stared at the Monkey King, dazed. "Is this request not allowed either?"
Standing there in a daze for a long time, the Monkey King furrowed his brow and said, "Can we... not talk about this now... not because of this issue..."
"Do you think this is a trivial matter?" Anna Yang asked blankly.
"I know we’ll have to face this sooner or later... but... but... I can’t explain it... maybe you could ask for something else..."
Anna Yang’s eyes widened. She smiled blankly and took several steps back.
"Can’t explain? What a convenient excuse. Is this really the result I waited over a hundred years for?"
"I’m truly grateful for everything you’ve done over the past century, but..."
"Grateful?" Anna Yang covered her lips with the back of her hand, tears streaming down like rain.
A loud bang echoed through the hall.
The great hall’s doors burst open.
Head bowed, Anna Yang wrapped herself tightly in her cloak and hurried through the courtyard, never once looking back as she left the temple.
In the dim hall, the Monkey King still stood quietly, watching her retreating figure.
The demons were all stunned.
It took them a moment to recover. Several demons quickly followed after the Holy Mother, while the rest turned in bewilderment to gaze at the Great Sage Equal to Heaven standing in the main hall.
"What... should we do?"
Head bowed, Anna Yang hurried onto the suspension bridge.