Monkey fur scattered across the ground, swept up by the breeze Clara Heart brought in, dissolved into drifting ash—a moment that felt as if it had crossed endless ages.
At this moment, Six-Ears Damon's face looked impossibly old.
Clara staggered back in fright. "You... what's wrong with you?"
Six-Ears Damon didn't answer. He just glared at Clara, issuing low, hostile growls—his whole demeanor like a beast ready to pounce at any moment.
Clara froze, then quickly retreated two more steps, turning as if to flee.
"Don't go..."
A hoarse voice echoed out, making Clara halt in her tracks.
It was Six-Ears Damon's voice—sounding like an old man barely recovered from illness, all bluster and no strength.
"Don't go..." Damon spoke again, his gaze growing unfocused. "Even if you leave, King Earth-Store will just bring you back again."
"King Earth-Store?" Clara suddenly remembered what happened before she lost consciousness and whirled around to ask, "Aiden? Where's Aiden Chen?"
"Aiden Chen isn't with me. King Earth-Store took him away."
"Tell him to return Aiden Chen! He's just a child!"
Staring at Clara Heart's angry face, Six-Ears Damon struggled to smile. "Getting mad at me is pointless. The Buddhist Order—when have they ever listened to me?"
They stared at each other in silence: Clara Heart, seething with fury; Six-Ears Damon, wracked with pain but still forcing a smile.
After a long silence, Clara Heart said coldly, "If you won't go, I'll go get him myself."
"Stop..." Six-Ears Damon said, his voice weak. "We're underground in Lionback Kingdom. Don't go out, don't make noise... If those demon lords realize how far I've declined... I might not survive. I'm your senior, recognized by our master. If I let you go, you should at least consider my situation. Besides, if they dared to take him, they won't let him go."
"I don't believe they'd really go that far!"
"Let them. In all Three Realms, who does the Buddhist Order fear?"
Clara Heart was stunned, her anger turning to shock.
That's right—the Buddhist Order isn't like the Daoist sects. They're loosely organized, but deeply conservative, from top to bottom.