"Great Sage, how goes the Westward Quest?"
Hearing this from the other end of the Jade Tablet, Monkey was momentarily taken aback.
Louis Quickpaw was a bit pedantic by nature and sometimes liked to play up his scholarly airs. Though he always met Monkey with elaborate bows, as if he wished he could cling to Monkey and never leave, he had almost never fawned over him like some flatterers.
This didn’t sound like something he’d say at all.
After a slight hesitation, Monkey replied offhandedly, "It’s all going fairly smoothly. Why, is something up?"
On the other end of the Jade Tablet, Louis Quickpaw coughed twice and said, "I just wanted to ask after the Great Sage’s recent situation, see if there’s anything I can help with. Or perhaps, if the Great Sage has anything he wants to say to me."
"No, you couldn’t help with something like this. With just those few men under you, they wouldn’t even be a match for Blackhair. Bringing them would be pointless. Surely you’re not going to drag your whole household along with me? Really, you don’t have anything else?"
"No, nothing. It’s just… it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I’ve started to miss the Great Sage. Hahahaha."
...
Southern Lands.
Inside the cave-manor, King Bullhorn watched Louis Quickpaw chatting and joking with Monkey over the Jade Tablet, sweating with anxiety as he gestured frantically from the side. But Louis pretended not to notice, even turning away to keep bantering with Monkey.
After a long while, the conversation finally ended and the Jade Tablet was set aside.
King Bullhorn could no longer contain his anger and burst out, "Chancellor Louis, couldn’t you just ask the Great Sage directly? Just one question—just one!"
At this, Louis Quickpaw snorted, shot King Bullhorn a disdainful look, and said sternly, "You, you—honestly, Bullhorn, you don’t understand the Way of a Minister. The teacher who taught you your letters ought to be caned."
"What?" King Bullhorn’s brows furrowed into a deep V as he glared at Louis Quickpaw.
Lowering his head, Louis Quickpaw fiddled with the tea set and said smugly, "Let me teach you. If the Great Sage wants to tell you something, he will—whether you ask or not. If he doesn’t want to, asking is useless. Between lord and minister, it’s best to let things take their course. Do your own job, don’t cross boundaries, don’t create trouble for your lord, don’t make your lord worry—that’s the Way of a Minister."
As he spoke, Louis Quickpaw extended a finger and tapped the table lightly, gazing at King Bullhorn.
"You!"
At that moment, King Bullhorn truly wanted to curse, even to strike him. If not for Louis Quickpaw’s title of Chancellor and his status as Monkey’s trusted confidant, he would have done so already.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Louis Quickpaw was still savoring the moment.
Swallowing hard, he continued, "All right, that’s enough about the Great Sage. As long as we’re sure there’s no misunderstanding with him, that’s all we need to ask. As for our current troubles… it’s obvious someone is impersonating the Great Sage to sow discord. The problem’s landed on our heads, so it’s ours to solve. The Great Sage is busy on the Westward Quest, protecting Tripitaka, with plenty on his plate. Our own issues—we shouldn’t even mention them to him, lest he worry. Once we’ve figured out which faction is behind the provocation, we’ll report to him then."
As he spoke, Louis Quickpaw’s face bloomed into a wide grin.
"Figure it out?" King Bullhorn snorted through clenched teeth. "How? We haven’t even found a trace! Are we supposed to storm the Netherworld and flip through the Book of Life and Death? From what I know, even Heaven can’t do that easily. When the Great Sage went, he had to negotiate terms; anyone else, the Buddhist Order wouldn’t even bother with!"
"See, see?" Louis Quickpaw spread his hands and chuckled, "You’re trying to drag the Great Sage into it again. A minister should know his place. This kind of thing—let’s not trouble the Great Sage. I’ve actually got a good plan to solve it."
"What plan?" At that, King Bullhorn perked up instantly.
Dipping his finger in tea, Louis Quickpaw tapped the tabletop and said, "He’s been here. He’s hit your territory too. He’s already gone to Lionback Kingdom. Azurewave Pool is uncertain, but if this pattern holds, Many-Eyes the Centipede is bound to be next. If we quietly notify Many-Eyes and set up an ambush…"
Soon after, King Bullhorn found an excuse to slip away with Red Boy.
Outside the cave-manor, Red Boy complained with a scowl, "Look at him grinning like that—things are nowhere near solved, so what’s he so happy about? He talks a big game, but who knows if it’ll even work."
"Who knows if it’ll work, but… he’s not wrong about one thing. As long as we’re reasonably sure it’s not the Great Sage, half the problem’s solved." King Bullhorn sighed softly, then continued, "Either way, this trip wasn’t wasted. Even Louis Quickpaw’s side got hit, and he’s the Great Sage’s die-hard loyalist. No way the Great Sage would target him. Add in what just happened… at least we can be sure it’s not the Great Sage settling old scores. From now on, let’s stay in touch with him and keep a close eye on all sides."
"Understood, Father."
With that, the father and son took to the air, flying toward the Western Isle.
...
At this moment, on the Western Isle.
Monkey rubbed the Jade Tablet, utterly baffled. "What’s up with Louis Quickpaw today?"
"Great Sage!" Not far away, Barry Bear waved frantically and shouted, "Tripitaka’s sermon is about to start—come on over!"
Just around the corner, the square was already packed with tens of thousands of people, a sea of humanity. It took a huge effort for the soldiers to maintain order.
"Yeah, yeah." Monkey grumbled, stowing the Jade Tablet and rolling his eyes. "What do I need to hear his sermon for, just to get converted? Please."
Despite his words, he still strode off in that direction.
He’d barely taken five steps when his feet suddenly halted.
Looking up, he saw dark clouds covering the sky, blotting out the sun.
"What’s going on? Is it going to rain?"
For a moment, the crowd gathered in the square all craned their necks, murmuring to each other.
Even Tripitaka, seated on the high platform, was taken aback.
"Is my old man really this shameless? Showing up now to stir up a storm." Prince Adrian, who’d just come back from who-knows-where munching on something, strolled over to Monkey, picking his teeth as he said lazily, "Great Sage, go teach him some manners."
"That’s not the Dragon King."
"It’s not?"
Monkey’s eyes narrowed to slits as he stared hard at the clouds overhead.
Just then, a thunderclap shook the sky, lightning illuminating half the heavens.
From the rapidly torn clouds burst King Macaque, drenched in blood, with Nathan Young and a dozen Heavenly Generals in battle formation hot on his heels.
Both sides clashed fiercely in midair.
"Immortals fighting?"
Everyone on the ground was stunned.
Nathan Young pointed, sending a bolt of spiritual energy flying from his fingertip—just as it was about to hit King Macaque, the king swung his staff and knocked it away.
The misdirected energy crashed into a house below, splitting it clean in two and bringing it down with a thunderous crash.
Only then did the people on the ground snap out of it and bolt for their lives, trampling each other in the chaos!
Screams rang out everywhere.
Tripitaka jumped to his feet on the platform, staring helplessly at the scene below.
The king, who’d made "doing good" his highest principle, gritted his teeth and quickly led his followers to join the rescue efforts.
"What now, Great Sage?" Prince Adrian spun around and asked urgently.
"Damn it!" Monkey snarled, transforming into a streak of golden light and leaping skyward to block both sides.
Suddenly, the world fell silent.
"Oh no… the fight’s reached the Dharma-Quest Kingdom."
Seeing Monkey appear out of nowhere, Nathan Young’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He quickly waved his hands in alarm.
The Heavenly Generals all stared at Monkey in terror, edging away in perfect synchrony, their battle array rapidly pulling back.
"Great Sage…" King Macaque, badly wounded, hovered behind Monkey. As soon as he opened his mouth, blood gushed out.
"Don’t speak." Monkey tilted his head back, gazing lazily at Nathan Young. "What’s he done wrong?"
Glancing at King Macaque behind Monkey, Nathan Young swallowed hard and stammered, "We… we just wanted him to cooperate with our investigation… that’s all…"
"Cooperate with the investigation? So you’ve got no evidence, huh?" Monkey burst out laughing.
He kept laughing at Nathan Young, louder and louder, until Nathan grew increasingly uneasy.
All the Heavenly Generals stared wide-eyed at Monkey, terrified.
Suddenly, Monkey’s smile vanished. He shouted, "Get lost—before I decide to start a massacre here!"
At his roar, not a single order or signal was needed—the Heavenly Generals turned tail and ran, all pride forgotten. Even Nathan Young was no exception.
In an instant, the entire Heavenly Army battle array had vanished—there wasn’t a soul left.
The people fleeing on the ground saw what happened in the sky and stopped in their tracks, cheering as the crisis ended.
Tripitaka let out a slow sigh of relief on the platform, though the king was still busy rescuing people.
Monkey glanced back at King Macaque, said nothing, and descended to his original spot.
King Macaque hesitated briefly, clutching his chest wound, then followed.
"What did you do?"
"I… Reporting to the Great Sage, I didn’t do anything. I just wanted out, so I disbanded my forces and went into hiding. Even lost contact with a few sworn brothers—otherwise things wouldn’t be so bad…"
Monkey glanced back again, kept descending, and said nothing.
King Macaque steadied his breath, frowning as he explained, "I honestly don’t know what got into them—they just showed up looking for trouble. Said if I stayed put, they’d let me go when the time came… but who trusts Heaven’s word? I figured I’d risk my life and break through to the Western Isle—my sworn brothers are all here, at least they wouldn’t leave me to die… Never expected to run into you, Great Sage…"
As soon as they touched down, Barry Bear hurried over, dropped to one knee, and saluted King Macaque. "Your servant greets the king!"
"You’re here too?" King Macaque was stunned, turning to Monkey in confusion.
"Take care of him, let him rest for a couple of days, then send him to Louis Quickpaw’s for shelter." Monkey said, heading toward Tripitaka. "I’ll sort out Heaven’s mess once I’m done here."
Behind him, King Macaque dropped to one knee and shouted, "Thank you, Great Sage!"