Monkey was momentarily stunned. He slowly turned to glance at Rosemary, who had long since lost consciousness, and widened his eyes.
In the gentle breeze, Rosemary lay utterly still, a faint sweet smile lingering at the corner of her lips, so peaceful she seemed merely asleep.
If Rosemary were left behind, her fate was all too clear—even without guessing, Monkey knew exactly what awaited her.
After a long silence, Monkey bared his teeth in a crooked smile and teased, "They say women are petty—can't the primordial mother set a special example?"
"Do you agree, or not?"
"I don't agree." Slinging the Golden Staff over his shoulder, Monkey dug at his ear and answered without hesitation, "I'm taking all of them with me—including Rosemary."
"She is the Queen of my Women's Kingdom—what does she have to do with you? Don't go too far."
"Before she was your Queen, she was already my personal maid! The one going too far is you!" Monkey's voice rose with the wind, every strand of fur bristling—his presence radiated a palpable, intimidating force.
The entire Traveling Palace fell silent again.
Monkey widened his eyes, carefully observing everything around him, quietly waiting.
After a long moment, Nuwa's laughter echoed, light and crisp.
"A 'personal' maid? Where does that 'personal' part come from? If she truly served at your side, how could you have failed to recognize her at first? The Women's Kingdom is full of my avatars—if you're going to lie, at least prepare your script."
Monkey's brows twitched as his lie was exposed so directly. He dropped all pretense, adopting a rogue's swagger and growled, "I want the antidote and the girl—it's that simple."
"Are you trying to play the rascal?"
"Why not?" Monkey spun the Golden Staff and immediately assumed a fighting stance. "I play the rascal all the time. Zhenyuan, Lord Tongtian, and Victor Yuanshi—they didn't like it, challenged me to a wheel-battle, and I beat them all black and blue. Even Lord Lao is my defeated foe. How does your cultivation compare to theirs?"
"Don't refuse the wine of courtesy only to drink the wine of penalty! In ten days to half a month, without the antidote, they will surely perish!"
Monkey bared his fangs in a grin, laughing, "Who's refusing the wine of courtesy and drinking the wine of penalty? That's still up in the air." He chuckled. "Thanks for telling me the deadline—ten days to half a month is plenty. If you won't give me the cure, I'll just go to Lord Lao. There's no poison in this world he can't break."
"You—!"
"Heh, either give me the antidote now and we all leave in peace, or I'll cure them myself and come back to settle accounts with you!"
"Then let's see you try!"
In the next moment, water erupted from the wells of the Traveling Palace like fountains, soaring skyward. The rivers and lakes surrounding the palace also defied gravity, rising and converging in midair.
"So she really made a move?"
Soon, the airborne water gathered into a massive, translucent form—a gigantic half-serpent, half-human!
"Do you really think you can do anything to me just by hiding your true body? Isn’t that a bit naive?"
The giant half-serpent ignored Monkey’s mockery. With a hysterical roar, it stretched out its hand and lunged at Monkey.
Facing the howling attack, Monkey gritted his teeth, leapt into the air, and swung his Golden Staff straight at the serpent’s palm.
At the instant they collided, the serpent’s palm—large as Monkey’s own body—exploded under the force of his blow.
Yet this half-serpent, formed from spring water, was nothing but a puppet, feeling no pain. Even under Monkey’s heavy strikes, it kept howling and advancing, its body shattered again and again like a string of firecrackers.
The colossal creature dissolved into a downpour, cascading from the sky.
Under the violent impact, the once icy liquid was beaten into scalding hot water. Steam billowed up, quickly spreading to blanket everything.
Amid the torrential rain, Monkey swiftly turned and pointed a finger, casting a shield over Tripitaka and the others to block the boiling water.
Then, he focused intently, trying to sense everything around him.
In the blinding white mist, he could clearly hear the anguished screams of the Women’s Kingdom soldiers below.
Probably some lower-level cultivators were caught off guard by the scalding rain. At a moment like this, who had time to care about them?
Swaying slightly, Monkey retreated toward Tripitaka and the others.
"Is that all? The mighty Mother Nuwa is disappointingly weak."
No one replied.
Just then, Monkey suddenly noticed that the scattered droplets were quietly gathering in midair, forming more and more half-serpent figures of various sizes. One, barely three feet tall, had already crept within ten feet of the unconscious Tripitaka and his companions!
"Damn it!" Without hesitation, Monkey lunged at Tripitaka’s group and smashed the small serpent puppet to mist before landing.
But the game had only just begun; the enemy gave him no chance to catch his breath.