“What’re you stopping me for? Why not seize the opportunity and get rid of that monkey??”
After Jiangchen stopped her, Hanba frowned in confusion and chastised him. “What’re you stopping me for? Why not seize the opportunity and get rid of that monkey?”
Between the fear he instilled in her, the way he’d taunted her earlier, and the welts he’d left on her head, her grudge against him was completely irreconcilable.
“Grandmaster Su placed a mirage formation over there. If you want to wind up like him, feel free to go inside.”
It’s not that Jiangchen was kind-hearted, though. He saved her simply because she carried a piece of Denglong’s soul.
Earlier, as the Beast Region armies prepared to retreat, Jiangchen ordered her to go and kill their empress.
Amongst the Beast Region experts, she was the only one even remotely capable of threatening them, so he decided to take advantage of her vulnerable state and eliminate her, preventing her from causing trouble in the future.
But Hanba failed. Worse, she’d enraged that monkey.
If not her error, how could things have become so troublesome? They’d lost tens of thousands of their subordinates and Houqing even lost an arm, yet she still dared chastise him….
Jiangchen snorted coldly but made no further efforts to restrain her. He even nudged her forward a bit. “Go on then.”
A mirage formation.
When she heard that, Hanba no longer dared make any rash movements. It’s true that the Zombie Progenitors were more brawny than brainy, but even so, she knew how formidable mirage formations were.
Your deepest, darkest memories would resurface without warning….
She didn’t want that!
She forced a smile, stopped, then took a few steps backward. “How’d you get the demons to intervene?”
“We reached an agreement,” he said, his gaze still cold. “We’ve entered into an alliance. From now on, we fight and retreat as on. We’ll wipe out the Three Realms first, then worry about the demons.”
“But what about Gu Li……”
“Nevermind him,” snorted Jiangchen. “If he were here, he would’ve done the same thing.”
Hanba nodded slightly. Her gaze lingered on the monkey sitting at the ground and raving like a lunatic. Then she turned to look at the Beast Region army.
“So, should we go take care of them now?”
“We can’t.” Jiangchen shook his head calmly. “We don’t know the exact borders of the mirage formation. The demons haven’t moved, so we shouldn’t either. Although we formed an alliance, I’m still suspicious of them.”
“But what if they seize this chance and run away?” asked Hanba.
“How could they run? They consider themselves righteous; they couldn’t possibly just abandon the monkey,” said Jiangchen as if he had them all figured out. “Furthermore, even if they did run, they’d just be buying themselves a little extra time is all. They can flee Maple City, but can they flee the Three Realms?”
Just as Jiangchen suspected, the brave warriors of the Beast Region didn’t retreat. To the contrary, some of them circulated their spiritual power and moved to protect the Great Sage.
They watched the most dangerous of the demons and zombies intently for fear that they’d seize this chance to ambush the Great Sage.
Suddenly, one of them called out. “Hey, look! What’s the Great Sage doing now?”
The others turned to look and saw that the Great Sage had, for some unknown reason, picked up his staff. Then he got up, took a few steps forward, and immediately pressed his staff to his throat.
“Great Sage!” the people of the Beast Region called out frantically.
Meanwhile, Black Dragon looked on curiously. “What’s he up to?”
To his surprise, Su Yiyun’s expression was grave and incomparably dark as he watched the Great Sage.
When Black Dragon saw this, he arched his brows. “Brother Su.”
“Hm?” Su Yiyun came to his senses and got his expression back under control. “What is it?”
“Just now, you seemed rather displeased…..”
“Oh, I was just worried about cooperating with Jiangchen; he might be up to something,” said Su Yiyun.
Then he smiled. “I overthought things and put myself into a bad mood.”
“So that’s why,” nodded Black Dragon understandingly. “Brother Su, you’re truly giving your all for our demon race. If it were possible, I’d love nothing more than to ask the heavens to grant you an extra hundred years of longevity…..”
Su Yiyun tuned out halfway through Black Dragon’s pleasantries. He waved his hand as if to say, “no need to say anymore,” then smiled.
“I appreciate your good intentions. Right, what were you saying just now?”
“Brother Su, look at that monkey,” said Black Dragon, returning to the matter at hand.
He pointed at the Great Sage. “He’s been raving like a lunatic since entering the formation. Now he suddenly pressed his staff to his throat. Is he really going to commit suicide? What happened in there to push him to go this far?”
“Everyone has memories they treasure above all else, yet are afraid or unwilling to recall. My formation is designed to bring them to the surface. Clearly, the monkey is inextricably immersed in memories. As for what specifically he’s been through, he’s likely the only one who knows for sure.”
Whump.
The Great Sage pressed the Ruyi Jingu Bang pressed into his throat. It had no edge, but even so, he could use it to end his life on a moment’s notice.
“Is this the result you wanted?” asked the Great Sage. He gazed at that distant, shadowy figure, his smile bleak.
“That’s right, this is the result I want. What, are you afraid?” replied the voice, its tone now somewhat playful. For some reason, her voice was no longer ethereal. Instead, it sounded completely real.
“Then, can you at least come out and let me see you one last time?”
“I can’t,” said the voice decisively.
The corners of the Great Sage’s lips twitched, then he let out a long sigh.
Whump.
He lowered his staff, pushing it into the earth. “This illusion really is realistic.”
Then he circled the staff several times as memories mysteriously surfaced within the white smoke. These were the memories buried in the deepest recesses of his heart
For tens of thousands of years, he didn’t dare examine them, didn’t dare consider them. Now, though, those memories he’d carefully protected all that time were displayed right before his eyes.
He thought he’d go mad, but found himself shockingly calm.
He’d pretended to fall for the illusion for a chance to see her again, but in the end, things hadn’t gone according to plan. Now he finally understood: an illusion is an illusion. There was nothing real about it.
In that case…..
Why sit here longing for her any longer?
Suddenly, the Great Sage clenched his Ruyi Jingu Bang, leaped into the air, and swung it at the illusory figure.
“Break for me!”
