Heavy rain poured down, drumming on the broken roof tiles and sending up a spray of water.
Amid the steady patter, rainwater slid down the eaves and gathered in front of the door, forming a curtain of beads.
The air in the room was thick with dampness. Anna Yang sat blankly on a stool in the doorway, gazing outside.
The distant mountains grew increasingly blurred in the pouring rain.
After a long while, she lowered her head, breathed warm air into her palm, and covered her mouth, lost in thought, her eyes slightly dazed.
Soon, a small figure clad in a straw cape and hat hurried through the rain from afar, splashing through the puddles at the door with obvious effort.
In a flash, the small figure darted into the room, whipped off the hat, and revealed a furry face.
"Not back yet?" Louis Quickpaw asked urgently as he adjusted his straw cape, looking up.
"No," Anna replied coldly.
She still wasn’t used to being so close to a group of demons. In truth, it wasn’t closeness so much as the ease of conversation—yet she simply couldn’t get used to it.
Just a few years ago, she and her brother were still hunting demons across the world; now she lived among them, and did so with surprising ease.
The way those demons looked at her was almost no different from how they looked at each other. Should she be happy about that?
She truly couldn’t say.
It was a small earthen house, furnished with only a few broken pieces. To call it bare would not be an exaggeration, though at least it was tidy.
The Monkey King, his whole body wrapped in bandages, sat crookedly on the bed against the wall, watching Louis Quickpaw from afar.
Beside him sat Ruby, the young fox demon.
After hanging his straw cape and hat on the wall, Louis Quickpaw tidied his clothes and stepped up to the Monkey King, bowing. "Great King."
"I told you, stop calling me Great King."
"But you are the Great King. Sooner or later, you’ll be the Great King. I’m just getting used to it early."
"How do you know I’ll be the Great King sooner or later?" The Monkey King shot him a look.
Louis Quickpaw shut his mouth, disappointed.
Louis Quickpaw wasn’t much of a fighter, at least not by demon standards. Yet for some reason, he was obsessed with founding a kingdom. Maybe it was all the books he’d read—he’d taken on the mindset of a human scholar, believing that serving a 'Great King' and helping him realize grand ambitions was the greatest joy in life.
To this day, the Monkey King still couldn’t figure out where a demon had managed to read so many human books. From a demon’s perspective, Louis Quickpaw was hardly pursuing his proper calling.
A streak of lightning flashed past the window, illuminating the faces of the demons inside. Amid the thunder, the Monkey King turned to study the ever-calm Ruby.
Under his gaze, Ruby blinked and touched her fair cheek, confusion filling her eyes.
"It's nothing. I just wondered why you aren’t afraid."
"Afraid of thunder?" Ruby looked out the window, bewildered.
In appearance, Ruby was almost indistinguishable from a ten-year-old human girl—except for the pair of fox ears poking out beneath her red hair. But in substance, she was far from a child.
Since morning, she’d been busy nonstop. Apparently, nearly all of the Monkey King’s daily needs over the past two days had been handled by Ruby.
Thinking back, the Monkey King realized he’d never been so helpless in front of Ruby. But it was precisely this time that he discovered the young fox demon he’d always protected was fiercely independent.
Even the Monkey King's change of clothes had been handled by those small hands. Clearly, he shouldn’t treat a demon as if she were just an ordinary human child.
This made the Monkey King think of Belle from Crescent Star Cave—about the same age, just as independent. Was it that all children in this world grew up so quickly?
He couldn’t help but wonder.
Soon, through the misty rain, a small glowing orb quietly descended at the door. As its spiritual light faded, Miles Moon hurried into the room.
"How is it?" Anna Yang asked anxiously.
The demons in the room all widened their eyes, waiting in silence.
Glancing at the Monkey King, Miles Moon pursed his lips and said, "Another batch of Heavenly troops has arrived. For some reason, there are more and more of them near Dragon’s Pool. By rights, they should have withdrawn two days ago."
"What are they doing?" the Monkey King asked.
"Searching. I don’t know what exactly they’re looking for. I thought about disguising myself as a Heavenly soldier and sneaking in to get information, but decided against it. The Heavenly Fleet isn’t like the South Heaven Gate troops—if they have passwords or something, it could backfire. There are plenty of experts in the Fleet, after all."
"Searching," the Monkey King muttered, lowering his head. "Maybe they’re searching for me."
Miles Moon simply stared, saying nothing.
That night, Shortbeak, who was in charge of covering the retreat, survived by sheer luck—because the Heavenly Fleet’s only target was the Monkey King.
The Heavenly Fleet isn’t like the South Heaven Gate Legion. They need military merit too, but orders come first. If the command is to pursue the Monkey King at any cost, they won’t even spare a glance for other demons.
"Will they search all the way out here?" Louis Quickpaw asked, tilting his head.
"Probably not." Miles Moon said, though he sounded uncertain. "Strictly speaking, this is Crescent Star Cave’s territory. They’re unlikely to offend us over a ‘small matter’ like Dragon’s Pool."
"Only the valley is Crescent Star Cave’s domain—this hillside isn’t." Anna Yang, still seated in the doorway, replied coldly. Instantly, the room fell silent.
Everyone glanced at the Monkey King, but he just lowered his head in silence, his fists loosely clenched.
After a long moment, he suddenly asked, "How many escaped this time?"
"Quite a few," Miles Moon replied. "Those on the warships are fine, and the minor demons who left early scattered. But those who stayed behind with you were almost all killed or wounded."
"Did the Celestial Army not pursue the demons who left early?"
Miles Moon shook his head. "No. They don’t seem interested in the minor demons."
After a brief silence, Miles Moon sighed deeply. "But now the casualties are heavy. With their latest arrival, many minor demons didn’t have time to leave Dragon’s Pool. So..."
(Irrelevant system message; skip translation.)
The Monkey King bowed his head, blinking in silence for a long moment before murmuring, "Let’s enter the valley. If we can save even one, it’s worth it. But with so many demons, will Erik Yang mind?"
"Don’t worry, Uncle Stillwater won’t mind. But we’d better not go too deep—he likes peace and quiet."
"Either way, you should go ahead and let him know. We can only enter if he agrees."
"Alright."
Without hesitation, Miles Moon stepped out into the rain.
For a Spirit-Refinement Stage cultivator like him—especially one trained at Crescent Star Cave—walking through the rain without getting wet was the simplest thing in the world.
There are many kinds of Spirit-Refinement Stage cultivators. Most don’t know much magic, but those from renowned schools, like Miles Moon, master countless techniques. In fact, even most Spirit-Transformation cultivators in the Celestial Army can’t compare.