The sun had just set, and in the camp of the scout corps, only a handful of sentries remained on duty.
Tina Ao circled the area for a long time but couldn’t find the person she was looking for. Helpless, she stopped a junior demon clerk carrying a large bundle of bamboo slips out of the camp.
"Shadow... I mean, where did your boss Shadow run off to?"
The little demon thought for a moment and replied, "Boss took the whole squad out this afternoon, and they still haven’t come back yet."
"Took everyone out? Do you know where they went?"
The little demon shook his head.
"Alright then, carry on with your work," Tina Ao said.
The little demon hugged the bamboo slips and continued on his way out.
Raising her head to gaze at the star-filled sky, Tina Ao lowered her eyes to glance at the jade tablet in her palm.
Just moments ago, the East Sea Dragon King had urgently notified Tina Ao: her cousin Aiden Ao from the Western Sea had run away from home and might be heading to Blossom Mountain. She was told to keep an eye out.
Tina Ao knew Aiden Ao’s temperament well—once he got stubborn, no one could hold him back.
This made Tina Ao think of Aiden’s sister, Ao Cunxin, and she sighed helplessly, “They really are siblings—exactly the same temperament.”
It looked like she wouldn’t be able to find Shadow today. Tomorrow then—she’d just come earlier.
Actually, even if she didn’t notify the scout corps, it probably wouldn’t matter. No matter how clueless Aiden Ao was, if he made it here, he’d know to give his own name or Anna Yang’s. Someone would naturally inform them.
Thinking this, Tina Ao casually tossed the jade tablet and turned to head back.
......
In the woods, Aiden Ao was strung up upside down, tightly bound and beaten black and blue.
"You bunch of bastards, how dare you—how dare you hit me, and on the face too? When I see the Handsome Monkey King, I’ll make sure he... Ow!"
"Make sure he does what? You dare mention our King again?" Rhino snarled, swinging his fist menacingly.
"Stop—stop hitting me... If you keep going, I’ll die!"
Seeing him beg for mercy, Rhino finally stomped off and squatted beside Shadow, glaring at Aiden Ao with disgust. He lowered his voice and asked, "What do we do with him next?"
Shadow, with his back to Aiden Ao, calmly roasted a wild chicken and said, "By the rules, next comes torture. First, we get his identity, then his purpose here, and then we decide what to do."
The bat demon squatting on the other side glanced at Aiden Ao, lowering his voice with ill intent, "Looking at him, he’ll probably spill with just a question. In that case, there’s no need for torture."
Shadow glanced sideways at the bat demon, handed the skewer of roast chicken to Rhino, then bent down, pulled off his own boots, and with a wicked grin, handed his foul-smelling sock to the bat demon. "Then let’s make sure he can’t spill."
The bat demon immediately understood, nodded, grabbed the sock, and walked toward Aiden Ao.
"What are you doing?" Aiden Ao stared wide-eyed at the black sock, shouting, "Don’t come over! Don’t come over! I’m from the Western Sea... Mmm... mmmmmm..."
The bat demon stuffed the stinking sock into Aiden Ao’s mouth, then tied his mouth shut with a rope.
Afterwards, he wiped a bit of Aiden Ao’s saliva onto his own luxurious gold-trimmed white robe. "Alright, now we can start the torture. Whenever he tells us his real identity, we’ll stop. But this guy’s got a backbone, so you’ll have to go hard on him."
"Got it!"
"What did he just say—‘West’ what?" Shadow turned and asked.
"West..." The bat demon thought for a moment. "Didn’t catch it. Should we untie him and ask again?"
"Mmmm!" Aiden Ao stared at the bat demon and nodded vigorously.
Watching the agitated Aiden Ao, Shadow raised his brow and smiled, "Forget it. You all carry on."
Aiden Ao felt like he could die from despair.
Right in front of him, Shadow sniffed the roast chicken and remarked offhandedly, "Hmm, about a third done. Hey you, go get some spices for me. It won’t taste good without them. We’re camping here tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll send him to the dungeon."
"Got it!"
"Mmmmmmm—!"
......
At this moment, in the bustling underground smeltery, the Monkey King was standing by the window of a small stone-walled cubicle, studying a parchment design under the dim red glow of firelight.
It had been almost a month. For nearly a month, the Monkey King had appeared here every day. Sometimes he stayed just a few hours, sometimes the whole day.
All of Blossom Mountain’s resources were being funneled here, and the sense of importance made the craftsmen excited. But why had the Monkey King’s attitude changed so drastically?
No one knew the answer.
Before, although the Monkey King personally pushed for the development and production of firearms, it was only one of many concerns. He would check progress, but rarely get involved himself. He might allocate resources, but never to the extent of pulling people from alchemy to support the firearms project. He’d reward outstanding craftsmen, but never raise their pay above others in similar positions.
But now, overnight, the Monkey King’s attitude had changed completely. The shift was so drastic that even the veteran craftsmen felt dizzy.
He stood by the window for a long time, studying the design, until the wooden door behind him screeched open. Only then did the Monkey King begin rolling up the parchment, saying casually, "Call..."
He didn’t finish the sentence, because when he turned, he saw Anna Yang standing behind him.
"What’s wrong? Can’t even tell it’s me?" Anna Yang smiled faintly.
"It’s you?" The Monkey King didn’t smile. He rubbed his temples, moistened his dry lips, tossed the design onto the pile of scrolls on the battered wooden desk, and sat on the floor, looking utterly exhausted.
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"Is it so strange that it’s me?"
Anna Yang sat down as well, looking around the makeshift office.
It was a temporary cubicle, only about two zhang square. Aside from a battered long desk, there was no other furniture, yet it didn’t feel empty—scrolls and containers were piled everywhere, like a junk heap.
As for this cubicle, building it here was really a last resort.
The Monkey King had asked for a temporary cubicle inside the smeltery, and insisted it couldn’t be too noisy. Other than building it into the rock wall, where else could it go?
That meant it could never be very big—the wooden supports wouldn’t hold.
As for that battered desk.
It wasn’t that Blossom Mountain couldn’t provide a decent desk for his work, but in a place this hot and corrosive, everything looked battered. Even a new desk would end up like this after a few months.
Besides, sometimes the Monkey King did dangerous experiments here—what wood could stand up to him?
And then there was the mess.
At Blossom Mountain, no one dared touch the Monkey King’s things. The only one with special privilege was Belle. After the Monkey King started working here, Belle came to tidy up, but the result was that even he couldn’t find what he needed.
After that, Belle didn’t dare tidy up for him anymore, so the mess just stayed.
After a brief silence, the Monkey King asked, "Did you come because there’s news from the High Sky Throne Hall?"
"Not yet—the High Sky Throne Hall is still in chaos." Anna Yang tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and craned her neck to look around. "But if I had to guess, both sides will probably compromise in the end."
As she spoke, Anna Yang glanced at the Monkey King, noticing his expression had grown even more serious.
Others didn’t know why the Monkey King had been acting so strange lately, but Anna Yang did.
Because the Heavenly Fleet was coming.
When news came that the Heavenly Fleet would join the campaign against Blossom Mountain, the Monkey King lost his appetite for two whole days. Not because he feared the Heavenly Fleet, but... it was too fast. They were arriving so quickly, there wasn’t even time to catch his breath.
He’d just captured General Lee and thought he’d won a few years of peace. Who could have guessed the Heavenly Fleet would show up so soon?
The Monkey King wasn’t afraid of the South Heaven Gate—he never had been. They were just a bunch of pampered soldiers, lacking combat experience and unwilling to risk their lives. If their casualties exceeded twenty percent, they’d retreat for sure.
But on the Monkey King’s side, every demon fought with their life hanging by a thread.
With enough magical weapons and pills, they were self-sufficient. Even without capturing General Lee, the Monkey King was confident he could withstand the Celestial Army and win in the end.
But what about now, with the Heavenly Fleet coming?
Looking at the Heavenly Fleet’s battle history, there were cases where they suffered over ninety percent casualties and still fought to the end—and won.
What does that even mean?
Take a typical mortal army. If casualties exceed ten percent, morale starts to waver; over thirty percent, and morale collapses. If they keep fighting after forty percent losses, it’s either a siege with no escape or a blood feud that won’t end until everyone’s dead.
On Blossom Mountain, the Monkey King was sure his demons could hold out even with ninety percent casualties—but that was because, if they lost, they couldn’t run. Their only choice was to fight or die.
But the Heavenly Fleet fighting on with ninety percent casualties—what was that about? Did immortals really have to go that far?
Of course, asking that now was pointless. The Monkey King only knew that his time was running out—maybe three months, maybe half a year, at most two years before the Heavenly Fleet arrived at his gates.
The news was still under wraps—aside from a few core members, no one at Blossom Mountain knew.
Taking a deep breath, the Monkey King asked, "No news from Heaven—so does Nathan Young have anything to say?"