Under the moonlight, Six-Ears slowly rose and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
A few drops of fresh blood fell from his fingertips onto the gray cobblestones beneath his feet, blooming into a plum blossom.
His gaze swept over the three Skyward Rangers, saturated with a certain longing.
A light breeze swept by.
For some reason, the lead Skyward Ranger suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He instinctively took a step back, glancing nervously at the other two.
One Skyward Ranger hesitated, then spoke: "His spiritual power... seems off."
"Wh—what do you mean, off? He's just a little demon at the Spirit-Focusing Realm. It's normal for his power to be low."
"It's not low... it's nonexistent."
At those words, all three Skyward Rangers couldn't help but swallow dryly, slowly shifting into a defensive stance.
Six-Ears, standing in the middle, tilted his head slightly and grinned at them.
Ever since the great war six hundred years ago, the Heavenly Court has declined. The number of Skyward Rangers it dispatches is only a tenth of what it once was, and it has never recovered. Yet, in terms of individual combat strength, today's Skyward Rangers are far stronger than those before the war.
The reason is simple: in a world where demon clans rule every mountain, sending out weak Skyward Rangers would be nothing short of feeding sheep to tigers.
Of the three Skyward Rangers present, two were already at mid Spirit-Refinement Stage, and the leader was at Spirit-Refinement peak—just one step away from the Spirit-Transformation Stage.
Yet even with such strength, these three Skyward Rangers, at this distance, could not sense the slightest ripple of spiritual power from their opponent... This was more than just hiding one's cultivation; it was absolute suppression.
In an instant, the attitude of the three Skyward Rangers changed completely.
Large beads of sweat slid slowly down their foreheads. The lead Skyward Ranger tightened his grip on his sword and asked softly, "You... which Demon King do you serve as a general?"
"Hmm?" Six-Ears narrowed his eyes to slits, gazing at them with deep meaning.
The lead Skyward Ranger mustered a bit of courage and said quietly, "This is the border of Great Tang. According to the Heavenly Court's agreement with King Bullhorn, Nine-Headed Wyrm, King Roc, King Liontusk, and King Gloomape, demon clans are forbidden to enter. If you've wandered in by mistake, please leave quickly, lest... lest we disturb the peace."
"Disturb the peace?" Six-Ears clearly found this even more amusing, his smile widening.
Seeing this, the three Skyward Rangers frowned slightly, exchanging confused glances.
Suddenly, Six-Ears spoke: "Do you live here too?"
"Huh?"
Pointing in the direction he had come from, Six-Ears licked his lips and said, "I followed them from over there, and then I found this place. What about you? Where do you live? Are there a lot of people like you there?"
For a moment, the three Skyward Rangers were completely baffled by his questions.
"What's going on? Is he really just a little demon? He seems clueless about everything."
"Maybe... maybe he's just pretending to be dumb."
The lead Skyward Ranger's unease deepened. He stammered, "If you won't leave, and His Majesty blames us, if war breaks out again... If this all starts because of you, I'm afraid things won't end well for you either, right? There's nothing here you want anyway—if you go, we'll just pretend we never saw you. How about it?"
Six-Ears raised his eyebrows slightly. "Are you afraid of me?"
At that, the three Skyward Rangers widened their eyes and took another step back.
"How about this: you answer one question for me, and I'll let you go." Six-Ears tilted his head, speaking bluntly. "The place where you live—is it far from here?"
No one answered.
For a moment, the whole scene froze; the three Skyward Rangers exchanged uneasy glances.
"Answer me."
Suddenly, a powerful aura burst forth from Six-Ears, surging higher and higher as if it had no end.
"Are you... the Monkey King?"
All three Skyward Rangers were stunned.
The thing they feared most had come true.
Faintly, their hands and feet began to tremble.
Expressionless, Six-Ears repeated, "An-swer-me."
The lead Skyward Ranger could hold out no longer. Resigned, he took a deep breath and said, "Very... very far."
"Very far? Then... are there many people like you where you live?"
"A lot... a lot,"
"Do you come here often?"
"Sometimes."
"How can I get more people like you to come here?"
This bizarre exchange left the three Skyward Rangers completely at a loss, yet they had no choice but to answer.
After a long pause, the lead Skyward Ranger summoned his courage and asked, "You said... you said if we answered your questions, you'd let us go. Is that true?"
Six-Ears nodded slightly, still staring at them expressionlessly.
Swallowing hard, the lead Ranger glanced at his two subordinates, then steeled himself and said, "If you keep your word, so will we. When we return, we won't report this, and no word will leak out. If you smash that temple over there, Heaven will immediately send someone down."
"That one?" Six-Ears pointed at a nearby building.
"Yes, that's the one."
"Alright, I understand." Six-Ears took a deep breath and stood motionless, staring at the earth temple as if lost in thought.
One Skyward Ranger asked cautiously, "C-can we go now?"
His eyes were full of hope.
But that hope was dashed.
Just as he finished speaking, Six-Ears spun and lunged at one of the Skyward Rangers, gripping the man's face with both hands and instantly draining his vital energy.
In the next moment, Six-Ears flipped through the air and landed behind another Ranger, forcibly twisting his head backward and draining his energy.
Then he moved to the lead Ranger, seizing his throat in a single motion.
All these actions happened in an instant—so fast that the three Skyward Rangers couldn't even react!