Monkey grinned at them, eyes wide, gradually raising his aura as if it had no limit.
Of all those present, the strongest were only at the Spirit-Refinement Stage, still far from Spirit-Transformation. Even if Prince Adrian, the Little White Dragon, appeared, he could escape unharmed—let alone with Monkey and the others here.
If before, they merely felt wary of Monkey, now that wariness had completely turned into fear.
The young women stared at Monkey in terror. The squad leader had already stopped breathing, her body trembling slightly.
“Run!” With a shrill scream, the armed girls scattered in all directions.
Monkey just watched, grinning, until the girls were almost out of sight. Then, with a heavy thud of the Golden Staff, he unleashed his power.
“Come back!”
With a crisp shout, a wild wind swept through, whipping the forest leaves into a vortex with Monkey at its center.
In the next instant, all the girls were lifted into the air, as if someone had grabbed them by the neck and yanked them upward. Their feet left the ground. No matter how they struggled, they couldn’t break free. Dizzy and disoriented, their bodies were swept through the woods like dry leaves in the storm, then slammed hard to the ground.
When they opened their eyes again, that furry face was already inches away.
If Monkey weren’t here, Tripitaka would probably have tried to resolve things in a much gentler way. But there was no 'if.' Monkey was clearly not someone Tripitaka could fully control.
Seeing that the women had been completely terrified, Monkey crouched down, gripping the squad leader’s throat with his hand. "I’ll ask a question, you answer it," he said.
The woman nodded slightly, her eyes reddening, though she fought hard not to cry.
"Is there a Mother-and-Child River here?"
"N-no, there isn’t."
"No?"
"I don’t know what this Mother-and-Child River you’re talking about is."
"No Mother-and-Child River, no men—how do you reproduce?"
The woman glanced nervously at her sisters behind her and whispered, "We have a Mother Lake. If you drink its water, you can become pregnant..."
"And if the child is a boy?"
"If it’s a boy, he’s sent for sacrifice, as is customary..."
The other women standing behind her froze in shock.
If it’s not what they want, they just send it back to the furnace... Why does this feel so familiar?
Monkey sighed softly and continued, "I’ve heard there’s some kind of monster in your Women’s Kingdom. What is it, exactly? A demon?"
"I don’t understand what you’re talking about." The woman turned her face away.
"How many people here have reached the Spirit-Refinement Stage, like you?"
The woman shook her head slightly. "I don’t know."
"What about Spirit-Transformation Stage and above?"
"I don’t know."
"You don’t know anything?"
"I’m just a junior captain. How could I possibly know so much?"
"Then what’s the cultivation level of your strongest person?"
The woman squeezed her eyes shut, clearly unable to answer.
Hoisting the Golden Staff onto his shoulder, Monkey said quietly, "Alright. Then take me to this general of yours."
Turning back, Monkey asked Tripitaka, "That business about sacrifice—you’re definitely planning to intervene, right? Isn’t this exactly what your universal salvation is supposed to address?"
The question left Tripitaka at a loss.
Everyone else around them remained silent.
"You don’t want to intervene? Then what happens to your universal salvation?"
After a long moment, Tripitaka nodded quietly.
Should he really step in? Truthfully, Tripitaka himself didn’t know.
He wasn’t afraid of trouble or danger, but he feared his hopes would be dashed. Just like back in the Cartwright Kingdom, even if the monks let bygones be bygones when they left, did those who died feel the same?
Marshal Silver looked at Monkey in surprise.
Was this what Monkey meant that night when he said, 'The Dao must be proven, and the sooner the better'?
Turning to the women warriors, Monkey said, "Lead the way."
With no other choice, Tripitaka braced himself and followed Monkey deeper into the forest. It felt very much like being forced onto the stage.
...
These women warriors sent to intercept them didn’t hold high positions in the Women’s Kingdom—in fact, their status was rather low, and they knew little. Still, Monkey managed to glean plenty of basic information from them.
The outermost ring of the Women’s Kingdom was a thin band of forest, encircling the entire realm. Inside that lay plains and hills, dotted with watchtowers—most of them unmanned, empty more often than not.
Normally, they relied on trained eagles as sentinels. These were ordinary birds, tracking intruders from miles outside the border. With no demonic aura or spiritual power, even powerful cultivators wouldn’t notice them.
Once they judged the intruder’s strength, they sent out a matching force to intercept. Most outsiders never returned. Because Monkey’s group hid their true power and looked like travelers, they hadn’t sent a strong squad—hence today’s fiasco.
That didn’t matter much. But when Monkey took the Women’s Kingdom’s map from them, he couldn’t help but freeze.
The entire territory was a perfect circle!
Not only that—outer ring, forest; second ring, hills; third, plains; fourth, walled city-states; at the very center, a small lake. Laying the map flat, it looked just like an archery target, with rings clearly marked.
No, it wasn’t just layered—the whole thing was perfectly symmetrical, left to right and top to bottom! It felt as if this land wasn’t natural at all, but some power, some faction, had forcibly created a paradise here for their own purpose.
But who would do such a thing?
Monkey simply couldn’t figure it out.
In all the Three Realms, only a handful of powers could carve out a paradise in the wasteland. From what the women said, it couldn’t be the Buddhist Order. According to Marshal Silver, it shouldn’t be the Heavenly Court either. Daoism already had Avalon Mountain, so they’d have no reason to make another, and besides, Daoism couldn’t intimidate Buddhism. As for demons—before Blossom Mountain rose, they didn’t know anything. Even if demons had built it, it would have to be after Blossom Mountain’s rise. Could this be some branch of Blossom Mountain?
But according to Marshal Silver, this forbidden land had existed for ages—even he didn’t know when it first appeared...
Who could it possibly be?
The more Monkey thought about it, the more confused he became.
Soon, the group passed through the outer forest.
A picturesque scene unfolded before their eyes.
Under the bright sunlight, butterflies danced over emerald grass. Herds of cattle and sheep grazed on distant hills.
The whole world was filled with a gentle, soothing air, making everyone feel infinitely relaxed...
Just as Monkey’s group was marveling at the scenery, countless figures sped toward them from afar, surrounding them in an instant.
They were soldiers dressed much like the women warriors they’d captured earlier, each carrying a longbow or short blade. All were young women, striking and beautiful.
The previously captured warriors seized the chance to rejoin their ranks, quickly turning their weapons on Monkey again.
Both sides stood in tense standoff, sizing each other up.
Perhaps because they often dealt with men who wandered in by accident, these women showed little curiosity toward the intruders—mostly just hostility. On the other hand, Prince Adrian, the Little White Dragon, stretched his neck, intensely curious about this kingdom of women.
Monkey quickly gauged their strength.
Compared to the first squad, these hundred-plus soldiers were much stronger—both in numbers and in skill. Several were even Spirit-Transformation cultivators. Still, they weren’t enough to make Monkey concerned.
Just as Monkey hefted his Golden Staff to his shoulder, ready to speak, he suddenly paused.
“Welcome, Your Majesty the Queen!”
The women surrounding them called out, parting to form a corridor. In the distance, a figure flew straight toward them along a perfect line.
It was a woman with waist-length brown hair.
Her eyes blazed like fire, her face exquisitely beautiful, her skin gleaming like snow and ice. The fitted gray-black leather armor edged with gold made her look both agile and formidable.
Prince Adrian was mesmerized by her; Monkey, however, only frowned slightly.
He could sense clearly that she was a demon—though she gave off no demonic aura, she was definitely not human. He couldn’t tell what kind of demon, but her strength was undeniable; she could easily defeat Marshal Silver.
Could this be the rumored 'monster'?
Monkey gripped his Golden Staff tighter.
He was just about to seize her so Tripitaka could debate the matter of sacrifice, when she suddenly stopped midair.
Staring at Monkey, her eyes widened in disbelief. She spoke.
“You are... the Great Sage?”
[End of chapter]