Late at night, all the core members of Blossom Mountain were urgently gathered together.
"We still have a hundred thousand troops."
"But you told me just yesterday we had a hundred and fifty thousand."
"Fifty thousand are wounded," said Louis Quickpaw.
The demon generals exchanged glances, one after another.
Monkey King took a deep breath, lowered his head to stare at the sand table, and after a long while, sighed, "Do the wounded not count?"
"If we bring the wounded, we won't be able to escape."
"Even without the wounded, we still can't escape." Monkey's ten fingers pressed deep into the sand table, lips tightening as he said, "Move all the wounded into the deepest levels of Underworld City."
"Are we really going to defend Blossom Mountain to the death?" Shortbeak asked, folding his hands.
"What do you think those righteous gods are?"
Monkey swept his gaze around. None of the demon generals answered.
Lowering his head, Monkey spoke softly: "There won't be many regular troops coming. Most likely just the South Heaven Gate Fleet. The Heavenly Guards are responsible for garrison duty, and there’s no precedent for them to be mobilized. But those righteous gods will bring their own Heavenly Generals. Even if we start evacuating now, we won’t get far. They have all sorts of strange artifacts that can easily track our whereabouts. Whether we defend Blossom Mountain to the death or try to flee, we won’t escape. If we scatter and run, we’ll be even easier to crush. So, this war... there’s a real chance we’ll be wiped out. Everyone needs to prepare themselves mentally."
For a moment, the cavern was so quiet that only the heavy breathing of the demons could be heard.
"Will it really come to that?" Remy asked cautiously.
Monkey didn’t answer. He turned his face and asked the Azurewave Dragon King, "Old Dragon King, where are the Six Demon Kings now?"
The Azurewave Dragon King bowed and replied in a low voice, "They say they’ve run into some trouble on the road, and fear it’ll take another month to reach Blossom Mountain."
"Hmph, a month." Monkey immediately stretched out his hand, palm open before the Dragon King. "Give me the Jade Tablet you use to contact them."
The old Dragon King hesitated slightly, then reached into his sleeve, took out the Jade Tablet, and handed it to Monkey.
Taking the Jade Tablet, Monkey handed it to Anna Yang at his side: "Confirm their location."
Anna Yang took the Jade Tablet, formed a seal with both hands, and channeled spiritual power into it. In an instant, complex patterns appeared on its surface.
"They're just across the shore," Anna Yang reported.
Monkey chuckled coldly. "Just across the shore. Back when I had no cultivation, how long did it take me to cross the sea? Seven or eight days, I think. And these guys need a whole month?" He took the Jade Tablet from Anna Yang, crushed it to dust in his palm, and declared, "Enough. We can't count on anyone else. We'll rely on ourselves and stick to our original plan."
"Yes, sir!" the demon generals chorused.
When the others had dispersed, Anna Yang whispered, "Maybe you should consider seeking help from Crescent Star Cave."
"Do you think that's possible?" Monkey asked.
"You could at least ask Skylar Loft," Anna Yang replied.
At this point, any desperate measure was worth a try.
After a moment's hesitation, Monkey rummaged through his pouch and found Skylar Loft's Jade Tablet. He brought it to his lips and spoke softly, "Senior Brother Skylar, Senior Brother Skylar?"
After a long pause, Skylar Loft's voice came from the other end of the Jade Tablet: "Wukong, little brother. We're all here with Second Brother."
"All of you?" Monkey asked in surprise.
"All the senior brothers are here," Skylar Loft replied.
Monkey hesitated for a moment, then said urgently, "Things are getting difficult on my end. I wanted to see if you could help."
"I know your situation pretty well," Skylar Loft replied, "but... our eldest senior brother is here too..."
Skylar Loft fell silent. Both ends of the Jade Tablet were quiet.
After a long silence, Monkey said quietly, "I understand. Anyway, thank you."
"No need..." Skylar Loft replied.
......
In Stillwater Valley, in the courtyard, Elder Sky, Danny Crimson, Elder Gale, Elder Stillwater, and Skylar Loft sat together. Besides these five familiar to Monkey, there were four others: a kindly-faced middle-aged man of about forty, a couple in their thirties, and a young man in his twenties.
These four must be the inner disciples of Master Sage Subhuti whom Monkey had never met—Fourth Disciple Ian Circle, Sixth Disciple Yu Qing, Seventh Disciple Star Yan, and Ninth Disciple Meng Xiang.
Setting down the Jade Tablet, Skylar Loft laughed softly and said, "Eldest brother, you see, I’ve already refused. We really just came here to visit Second Brother."
"Is that so?" Elder Sky looked at him expressionlessly, one hand idly turning the teacup in front of him without ever actually lifting it to drink.
"Isn’t it? Hahaha, heh heh heh..." Skylar Loft laughed, but his voice grew increasingly dry, ending in two coughs as he swallowed and bowed his head.
Star Yan, gazing out over Stillwater Valley, slowly turned her face and said, "I just don’t get it—what’s wrong with saving a fellow disciple? Why all the evasiveness? Eldest brother, if I’m not mistaken, your fourth disciple Belle is at Blossom Mountain, isn’t she? Aren’t you worried as her master?"
Monkey’s seventh senior sister, Star Yan, looked regal and glamorous, nothing like an ordinary cultivator.
At her words, Skylar Loft quickly shook his head, signaling her to stop, but Star Yan paid him no mind.
Elder Sky took a deep breath, stroked his long beard without expression, and said, "Wukong’s gathering of demons this time, angering Heaven and bringing war, is his destined fate. Master has instructed us not to interfere."
He then slowly looked toward Elder Stillwater and said, "We are not to interfere, nor to help."
Was this about the Plague Toxin affair?
Elder Stillwater turned his head, pretending not to hear, and did not answer.
Star Yan snorted coldly. "If you didn’t want to bear responsibility, you shouldn’t have accepted him as a disciple in the first place. When Master insisted on taking Wukong in, did any of us present truly approve? Now you say we mustn’t interfere—what’s that supposed to mean? Is Crescent Star Cave to be scattered like this?"