Half a month later, at Blossom Mountain.
Rain poured down in a steady drizzle, shrouding the world in a misty haze.
A small figure, one hand holding a bamboo hat and the other clutching a raincoat, darted through the rain, his eyes nearly shut from the pounding raindrops.
Soon, this handsome young boy landed outside a cave, hurriedly shook off his rain gear to reveal a silver Daoist robe, and dashed into the cave, kneeling on the ground.
"Disciple greets Master!"
In the part of the cave untouched by rain, Lord Lao stood with his back to the boy, hands clasped behind him, quietly gazing at the rain-laden clouds above. Beside him stood a boy in a golden Daoist robe.
The Silver Boy was slightly startled when he saw the Golden Boy.
"I received the message you sent. That demon monkey—has he truly devoted his main energy to teaching the demons to read and write?"
"Yes, Master. It is indeed so. I am also quite puzzled, unable to guess what he is truly planning."
Lord Lao took a deep breath, shook his sleeve, and extended a hand. A single raindrop happened to fall from above, hovering in his palm. Lost in thought, he did not speak, but gently moved his fingers, gathering more raindrops in his palm, which slowly merged and shifted with the motion of his hand, soon forming a vague human-like figure.
The two boys beside him stood quietly, staring at the figure, not daring to make a sound.
In this silence, the features of the rain-formed figure gradually became clear—it was covered in fur.
After gazing at the figure for a long time, Lord Lao sighed deeply and flicked his hand, dispersing the newly shaped figure into mist that drifted away on the wind.
"I never expected this. He actually played this card. Outside the Heavenly Dao, his moves are truly impossible to predict." Lord Lao stroked his long beard and chuckled with a sigh.
"Master, do you need me to interfere and prevent him from succeeding?"
Lord Lao slowly shook his head, eyes fixed on the splashing water at the cave entrance, and said, "A beast's leash should be tightened bit by bit. If we make too much noise and force him into a life-and-death struggle, in the end... what benefit is there for me?"
"Master speaks wisely."
"The demon monkey is cunning, and I fear your cultivation is still shallow, so I brought your senior brother with you this time. From now on, you two will be stationed here. Every move the demon monkey makes must be investigated and reported promptly. Do not slack off... and do not alert him."
"Yes, Master!"
Turning slowly to glance at the two, Lord Lao said calmly, "This matter is of great importance. Even if the demon monkey notices, it does not matter. Just do not let word leak further—avoid unnecessary trouble. Remember this well."
"Your disciple will remember Master’s teachings."
Lord Lao nodded and vanished with a sweep of his sleeve.
Only the Golden and Silver Boys remained at the damp cave entrance.
The Golden Boy tilted his head and sighed, "Even if the demon monkey notices? He’s only at the Spirit-Refinement Stage. How could we let him notice? Master worries too much."
The Silver Boy brushed water off himself and stood up, cupping his hands to the Golden Boy with a faint smile. "I didn’t expect Master to bring you along, Senior Brother."
"Hmph." The Golden Boy glanced at him with disdain, folding his arms. "Before we left, Master reminded me again and again: every detail, big or small, must be checked and reported. Yet you waited three whole months to report that the demon monkey was pouring his energy into teaching—how could he not send me?"
The Silver Boy’s face flushed bright red.
It was indeed his oversight. From every angle, it seemed like nothing but the monkey’s game, and he could not understand why Master cared so much.
After holding back for a long while, he finally spoke: "I am slow-witted and do not understand the secret behind the demon monkey’s scholarly pursuits. Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."
The Golden Boy opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, then said, "Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand! Master wants you to report every detail, but you decided to filter things yourself—that alone is a serious mistake. Why worry about his secrets?"
With that, he turned and left, leaving the Silver Boy standing alone at the cave entrance.
In truth, the Golden Boy didn’t understand either. But seeing Lord Lao’s expression, even a fool could tell there was more to this matter. He just wanted to act like a senior and lecture his junior, but faced with such a question, he found himself unable to continue.
Only after the Golden Boy’s figure disappeared into the depths of the cave did the Silver Boy mutter, "Even Master didn’t blame me, so why should you? If you ask me, you haven’t figured it out either."
With that, he made a face toward the cave’s depths and followed after him.
The rainy season on Blossom Mountain was especially long. Early the next morning, as the sky cleared, the Golden and Silver Boys hurried out, afraid another rain cloud from the sea would arrive and leave them soaked and bedraggled again.
Their cave was located thirty li northeast of Cascade Cave, just ten li beyond Shortbeak’s twenty-li patrol range. Judging by the situation, they would have to move again soon.
As Shortbeak grew more familiar with Blossom Mountain, he was gradually expanding his patrol range. Though his cultivation made it difficult for him to discover them, people can always become careless—if they slipped up and were discovered, it would be trouble.
Lord Lao had said, "Even if the demon monkey notices, it does not matter." But in the end, they were here to monitor him. If the target knew they were being watched, their work would become much harder. Should the demon monkey start playing tricks, neither of them could bear the consequences.
Soon, under the Silver Boy’s guidance, the Golden Boy circled around, using rocks and foliage to evade the second group of hidden sentries and slipped into Blossom Mountain’s inner perimeter, finally stopping in a patch of grass one li outside Cascade Cave.
He glanced at the Silver Boy, who was crouched in the grass, alert and cautious. The Golden Boy parted the tall grass and peered outside—dense trees surrounded them, but he saw nothing.
"Aren’t you being a bit too nervous?"
Thinking this, he leaned forward to stand up, but the Silver Boy yanked him back.
"What are you doing?"
"Shh!"
Following the Silver Boy’s gesture, he saw the branches stir slightly—a figure leapt down from a tree. It was a bat demon.
"I think I just heard something."
A snake demon silently emerged from behind a nearby rock.
"I think I heard it too."
Both demons, weapons in hand, advanced step by step toward the grass where the boys were hiding.
Hiding in the grass, the Golden Boy was already sweating with fear, while the Silver Boy remained much calmer. He picked up a pebble and flicked it at a nearby branch.
Instantly, the branches rustled.
"There they are!"
The two demons rushed toward the branch, but it wasn’t just them—sounds came from all directions. In moments, more than five demons emerged from every corner.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the Silver Boy tugged the Golden Boy’s sleeve and the two sprinted back the way they came.
They hadn’t gone far before three more demons appeared ahead.
At the last possible moment, the two darted into a nearby patch of reeds.
Soon, two groups of demons converged, searching back and forth less than five zhang in front of them. The Golden Boy was drenched in cold sweat from fear.
Glancing sideways, he saw the Silver Boy’s face was also slick with cold sweat.
They held their breath and waited. After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the demons gave up and left, and the two boys finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Half an hour later, twenty li from Cascade Cave, by a small stream, the Silver Boy rolled up his sleeves and filled a gourd with water at the bank, while the Golden Boy, still shaken, sat nearby in a daze.
After filling the gourd, the Silver Boy walked over and handed it to the Golden Boy. "Have some water."
The Golden Boy quickly grabbed the gourd and gulped down the water, soaking his shirt in the process. After a while, he lowered the gourd, wiped his mouth, and gasped, "What just happened? Why didn’t I sense their presence at all?"
"I don’t know either." The Silver Boy let down his sleeves, sat beside him, and said expressionlessly, "They seem to have some kind of stealth technique. They’re clearly just demons at the Spirit Channeling Stage, but if you’re not careful, they can hide their demonic aura so well that even we at the Spirit-Refinement Stage can barely sense them. Some of the obvious sentries are just for show—the real ones are hidden even deeper. Now, one li is my limit."
The Golden Boy wiped his sweat and turned to ask, "You haven’t been discovered by them, have you? If they’ve noticed, things will get tricky from now on."
"I don’t think so."
"Don’t think?"
"It wasn’t like this when I first arrived—the demons were easy to sense. But then I noticed their demonic aura fading, and not just that, even their spiritual energy faded. It took me a lot of effort to figure out how to sense them accurately... and even then, it’s limited. Some of the stronger ones, I can only sense within ten zhang. Ten zhang—one careless move and we’re exposed. Master gave us a treasure to hide our spiritual energy, but not one for invisibility." He snatched the gourd from the Golden Boy and took a drink himself.
As for transformation techniques, both of them, as Spirit-Refinement Stage disciples under Lord Lao, naturally knew them. But once used, spiritual energy would leak out. A strange fluctuation of power on Blossom Mountain... that would only make it more likely for Anna Yang and the monkey to notice.
If they reached the Spirit-Transformation Stage, maybe they could manage it. As Spirit-Refinement cultivators, it’s best not to try.
"Why didn’t you tell me earlier?"
Thinking back to what had just happened, the Golden Boy was still shaken.
"I warned you again and again to be careful this morning—did you listen?" After a pause and a lick of his lips, the Silver Boy stared at the dark mouth of the gourd. "The demons here aren’t stronger than those of other factions, but they’re the hardest I’ve ever dealt with. Their defenses are tight, their vigilance is high, and they have stealth techniques. I haven’t just been doing nothing here, you know."
Hearing this, the Golden Boy lowered his head and said nothing.
After a long silence, the Golden Boy looked up and said, "Tomorrow, let’s scatter the Boundary Sand."
"You brought Boundary Sand?"
"Mm." The Golden Boy nodded silently. "Master must know how tricky the demon monkey is—that’s why he had me bring Boundary Sand. At least this way, we’ll know when they come and go."
While the two boys were busily discussing, a young monkey yawned lazily atop a nearby tree.
......
In a dim stone chamber, the monkey rummaged through a pile of bamboo slips.
Anna Yang quietly approached the doorway and said softly, "They’re here again."
"Who?"
"Mm, today there’s one wearing a golden Daoist robe."