The night wind drifted softly.
A short distance away, the others—including the gravely wounded Jack Rivers—were all pretending to sleep.
Marshal Silver watched Monkey with a hint of surprise.
Monkey's eyes made it unmistakably clear: he was genuinely seeking advice.
Though Prince Adrian talked tough, would Anna Yang really do such a thing? Besides, she's still sealed beneath Mount Hua by Erik Yang—even if Anna agreed, Erik would have to agree too.
Marshal Silver knew both of them well. No matter how you look at it... it wasn't completely impossible—anything can happen in this world—but the odds were extremely low.
But the Monkey before him was already thoroughly rattled. Even the slightest possibility was enough to leave him restless and off balance.
"Just say what you need to say."
"But..." Monkey rubbed his eyes, then scratched his head. "I really don't know what to say..."
"What did you originally plan to say to her?"
"I originally planned..." Monkey's hand, still scratching his head, suddenly froze.
What had he originally planned to say?
Originally, he had intended to resolve everything—to end every danger, every problem—and then appear before her, clean and unburdened, to beg her forgiveness.
At that point, whether she chose to beat him or curse him, he would endure it all—cling to her no matter what. Pride meant nothing. Even if he had to kneel to her before the entire Three Realms and be mocked, he would accept it.
That was the debt he owed her.
But... but...
Monkey kept rubbing his eyes, blinking again and again.
Now, he truly had no idea what to do.
"Great Sage..."
Prince Adrian's voice came from behind.
Monkey spun around, picked up a stone, and looked ready to throw it again. Prince Adrian shrank back in fright, raised his hands, and shouted, "Just hear me out—one sentence, then I’ll shut up!"
Monkey gripped the stone and growled fiercely, "Speak!"
With that, Prince Adrian’s nerves settled a little. He folded his arms, hunched over, and grinned as he sidled up next to Monkey, whispering, "Don’t worry—remember that trick I told you for handling an angry wife?"
"What trick?"
"The old runaway-from-home move," Prince Adrian said, covering his mouth and smiling slyly. "Look, after six hundred years, any anger she had is long gone. If you come back, she’ll be overjoyed—there’s no way she’ll blame you. So you just walk up and say: ‘I’ve come to take you home.’"
‘I’ve come to take you home’?”
"Exactly. That one sentence says everything you can’t put into words."
"But how do I even bring up… the child?"
Prince Adrian waved his hand dismissively. "Don’t ask."
"What?"
"Why would you? If it’s really true, could you bring yourself to strike her?"
Monkey blinked blankly at Prince Adrian, lost for words.
"You couldn’t, right?" Prince Adrian folded his arms and shook his head. "On this front, you’re really not as experienced as me. Back in the day, I was the famous Little White Dragon of the Western Sea—never once caught by the flowers, always gliding past."
As he spoke, Prince Adrian struck a pose he thought was dashing, looking at Monkey with smug satisfaction.
Monkey stared at him, expressionless, and snorted, "If you’ve got something to say, spit it out. If you’ve got gas, let it out!"
"Alright!" Prince Adrian instantly dropped his bravado and reverted to his usual sly self, lowering his voice. "You see, you can’t ask her directly. If it’s true, you couldn’t hit her, but could you swallow such humiliation? And if it’s not true, asking would only make Anna Yang fight you to the death. You’d turn a good thing into a disaster."
"So what should I do?"
"Don’t worry, I’ve got a clever plan. Didn’t you just say the boy’s name is Aiden Chen and his father is Ian Liu, a scholar at Mount Hua’s foot?"
"You heard all that?" Monkey was startled.
"How could I not? You didn’t even set up a sound-blocking array." Prince Adrian pointed to the others lying in the distance. "They all heard every word, believe it or not."