Let Nathan Young exchange himself for General Lee?
Not far away, a few Spirit-Transformation Heavenly Generals had already quietly carried the unconscious King Southwell back to the flagship, but Monkey had yet to speak or make a decision.
It wasn't that Monkey couldn't make a decision—he'd already decided long ago. He was just hesitating over how to say it.
After all, Blossom Mountain and Nathan Young do have some history together—they're not ordinary enemies. But precisely because of that, some decisions are harder to make. It seems that getting too entangled with people from the opposing camp can be troublesome.
180,000 Celestial soldiers, a city full of demons—everyone, both above and below, stared dumbfounded at Monkey, waiting.
After a long while, Monkey finally spoke: "I can guarantee not to kill him, but I can't accept exchanging you for him."
"Why?"
Monkey snorted with laughter. "Isn't it obvious? Using you as a bargaining chip is nowhere near as useful as using General Lee."
"But don't forget, there's still the Heavenly Court behind South Heaven Gate!" Nathan Young said in a low voice. "I can't influence the Jade Emperor's decision, but my father can. Do you really think that capturing my father will make the Jade Emperor let you off? He won't. The Heavenly Court has never exchanged prisoners of war. Threatening Heaven will only bring fiercer retaliation. If you take me hostage, my father might be able to mediate out of filial feeling."
"Is this advice for me? Sorry, but I'll stick to my original decision. General Lee is in my hands—after you withdraw your troops, I'll propose suitable terms for his exchange. You can trade him back then."
General Lee was able to hand over the young Nathan Young to the Dragon King for the sake of the people of Chentang Pass—would he now, for the Heavenly Court, ignore Nathan Young and keep attacking Blossom Mountain?
Maybe not—after all, times have changed. But Monkey didn't want to take that risk. In the short term, holding General Lee is much safer than holding Nathan Young. With General Lee in hand, he could exchange for Nathan Young whenever he wished, but if he only had Nathan Young, there was no guarantee he'd get General Lee back.
Thinking this, Monkey tightened his grip on Li Jing and prepared to fly toward Demon City on Blossom Mountain.
Just then, Nathan Young darted in front of Monkey, blocking his way and refusing to move.
"Step aside!" Monkey barked.
After hesitating for quite a while, it wasn't until Monkey tightened his grip until General Lee was nearly unable to breathe that Nathan Young finally had to step aside.
As he passed Nathan Young, Monkey said quietly, "You're a good son. I'd love to honor your father-son bond, but our positions are different—sorry."
With that, he flew toward Demon City, taking General Lee with him.
In truth, the defeat stemmed from Nathan Young's recklessness and General Lee's concern for his son.
If Nathan Young had retreated straight to the flagship after losing, or if General Lee hadn't come out to stop him, then with 180,000 Celestial soldiers surging forward, even if Monkey had Three Heads, Six Arms and Heaven-and-Earth powers, Blossom Mountain wouldn't have come through unscathed like this.
"What does he mean by this?" King Roc asked first.
But now, with the commander captured, South Heaven Gate has already lost without a fight.
Only after Monkey left did King Northmore and King Virūḍhaka approach Nathan Young. "Third Prince, I'm afraid we must report this to the High Sky Throne Hall immediately."
"No." Nathan Young gazed into the distance at General Lee, still captive in Monkey's hands, and said softly, "We can't report to the High Sky Throne Hall. The Jade Emperor won't agree to any exchange; then my father will be in danger. We have to solve this ourselves!"
With that, Nathan Young took General Lee's Exquisite Pagoda into his palm and turned to fly toward the flagship. The two kings had no choice but to follow, occasionally glancing back.
When Monkey landed atop the city wall with General Lee, the entire Demon City erupted in thunderous cheers.
One by one, the demons began shouting and dancing with joy—no one expected that this battle would leave Blossom Mountain completely unscathed.
Rhino charged forward, tying up the badly wounded General Lee like a rice dumpling, and even kicked him twice for good measure as the little demons lifted him away.
Shortbeak kept pounding Monkey's shoulder, completely forgetting the dignified image he'd always tried to maintain before the demon crowd.
Louis Quickpaw hopped up onto the parapet, bouncing around so much that everyone feared he'd tumble off at any moment.
Belle happily clung to Monkey's arm, cheering.
As for Anna Yang, she had already left early to avoid facing General Lee.
Tina Ao and Jade Cauldron Immortal never dared show themselves on the city wall.
Just as the whole city was celebrating, a demon suddenly noticed someone outside the city walls.
"Hey, who's that? Surely they're not here to join us at a time like this?"
The two demons beside him looked down and saw a young man with long, messy hair, a huge gold earring on one ear, bare-chested and wearing loose trousers, walking toward the city gate.
Though he looked human, his attire wasn't that of a cultivator, nor an ordinary person. He could be a fully transformed demon—after all, demon aesthetics differ from humans—but he was completely unarmed.
In this world, even the weakest little demon always carries a stick or something for protection—it's instinct. Living in such an uncertain world, not having a weapon at hand makes demons uneasy.
Moreover, with the Celestial Army approaching, every demon on Blossom Mountain was either inside the city or hiding in the underground city—there shouldn't be anyone outside the walls.
As he drew nearer, more and more demons on the wall noticed him; a few, especially vigilant, immediately drew their bows and aimed at him.
"Who goes there?" someone shouted.
The Nine-Headed Wyrm raised both hands high, waving as he continued toward the city gate, laughing, "Don't be afraid, everyone! I'm just passing through—a demon passing by. Hahaha, my name's Nine-Headed Wyrm. I wanted to meet your king."
"Don't be afraid?" The demons on the wall were both amused and exasperated.
What kind of logic is that? He's the one under a hail of arrows, and he's telling them not to be afraid?
"Whatever your name is, if you're here to join us, someone will deal with you later. Our king isn't someone you can just meet whenever you want!"
Hearing the commotion, Monkey turned and asked, "What's going on?"
"King, some fool who doesn't know his place says he wants to see you."
"See me?" Monkey walked to the edge of the wooden wall and leaned out to look.
A guard pointed at the distant Nine-Headed Wyrm, "Right, he said his name was Nine-Headed something?"
"Nine-Headed?" Monkey was taken aback. "Could it be the Nine-Headed Wyrm?"
"Uh, I think that's his name."
Monkey was completely stunned.
Who is the Nine-Headed Wyrm? Of course Monkey knows—but why would he show up here, and at this moment?
Seeing Monkey leaning out, the Nine-Headed Wyrm waved his arms even harder and called out, "Hey! Hello! Handsome Monkey King, I came here just to meet you. Hahaha!"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Monkey's eyes narrowed slightly.
With a light push, the Nine-Headed Wyrm soared up to the city wall. The demon soldiers were startled, bowstrings taut and ready to fire.
"Stand down!" Monkey barked, turning his head.
Only then did the demon soldiers slowly lower their arrows.
Landing before Monkey, the Nine-Headed Wyrm grinned and clasped his hands in greeting. "Thank you, Handsome Monkey King."
"No need to thank me. If you really are the Nine-Headed Wyrm, these arrows would be useless against you. If you aren't, then even reaching me wouldn't matter." Monkey waved dismissively, and the demons guarding him—including Shortbeak—stepped aside.
"Oh? So the Handsome Monkey King has heard of me."
"Your reputation precedes you," Monkey replied coolly.
"That's truly an honor." The Nine-Headed Wyrm glanced over the demons on the wooden wall, his gaze finally settling on Belle. "Oh, this young lady is really quite pretty."
At that, Belle immediately shrank behind Monkey, and the surrounding demons tensed up.
Monkey kept smiling, but his eyes subtly changed.
Seeing Monkey's shift in expression, the Nine-Headed Wyrm quickly said, "I get it, I get it—don't worry, I understand. A friend's woman is off-limits. I may be free-spirited, but I'm not a scoundrel, Handsome Monkey King. Please don't misunderstand."
Monkey maintained his polite smile and looked at the Nine-Headed Wyrm, saying slowly, "Go on, what brings you here?"
"Nothing, really. Just passing by, wanted to say hello and get acquainted."
"Oh? Passing by while the Celestial Army is besieging Blossom Mountain?"
The Nine-Headed Wyrm nodded seriously. "That's right, passing by at this very moment. I think I'm not so timid as to avoid passing through just because the Celestial Army is here."
He pointed at the distant South Heaven Gate fleet and said, "Want to bet I could 'pass through' their battle lines right now?"
Monkey glanced at the fleet as well. "I believe you. So now that we've met, Brother Nine-Headed, what do you plan to do next?"
That was almost a polite way of telling him to leave.
The Nine-Headed Wyrm's face darkened. "That's it? Just met and done? Even a passer-by is a guest, Handsome Monkey King—you should at least offer me a cup of tea. If not, so be it, but I doubt Blossom Mountain is so poor it can't spare a little tea."
"Tea? That's no problem. Shortbeak, go ahead and prepare some hot water."
"Yes, sir." Shortbeak, who'd been waiting nearby, turned and hurried off.
"That's more like it." The Nine-Headed Wyrm started smiling again.
While he wasn't paying attention, Monkey quietly cast a spell, sending a mental order straight to Louis Quickpaw's mind.
"Go quickly and tell Anna Yang: Featherbug—the Nine-Headed Wyrm—is here."
Watching from afar as the Nine-Headed Wyrm and Monkey walked down from the city wall together, the Drake King's face turned very grim.
"What does he mean by this?" King Roc asked first.
"The Nine-Headed Wyrm is a strange one. If you tried to ask 'why' about everything he does, you'd never keep up," King Bullhorn sighed.
The other demon kings vaguely sensed that even King Bullhorn was starting to lose heart.
They'd come hoping to reap some benefits, but now it seemed there was nothing to gain. Instead, the Nine-Headed Wyrm had managed to get inside the city.
What was going on here?
Could it be that, seeing such a fine demon city with pills and magical artifacts, they were really just going to leave?
"So what do we do now?" King Liontusk asked.