Chapter 7: Lay Traps Everywhere, the Wolf Pack Descends!

The troop of monkeys busied themselves, but the golden monkey inside the cave was idle, lounging against the rock wall with a fresh fruit in each hand, eating with juice streaming down his mouth. The colors on his monkey fur—azure, red, blue, green—were all present, truly a mystical sight.

"Ooh ooh ooh... delicious, delicious!"

Savoring the various flavors in his mouth, Sun Wukong's face was the picture of bliss.

How many years had it been? This was the life a monkey should be living!

Wild grass and sour peaches, never to be seen again!

"Crunch!"

He viciously bit into a ripe peach, savoring the sweet juice that filled his mouth before swallowing it whole, finally achieving a full belly for the first time in twenty years.

Belch~

He belched contentedly and, looking up, noticed the old monkey sitting on the spiritual platform had woken up and was watching him with profound eyes.

Sun Wukong gave an awkward smile and handed over the last two bananas, saying, "That... I hope you'll forgive me, ancestor, I was really very hungry."

The old monkey's eyes gradually clouded, and with a wave of his hand, he uttered mysteriously, "Grandson, your grandpa is not hungry!"

Sun Wukong: ......

I suspect you are scolding me!

"Cough cough!"

With a fake cough, Sun Wukong took back the bananas and tossed them aside, then said, "Ancestor, do you remember anything? Like the Flower Fruit Mountain, the Water Curtain Cave, or even the title 'Handsome Monkey King'?"

The old monkey hung his head and began to twist his Buddha Beads again, then said in a deep voice, "You must have heard stories about him..."

Great!

My emotions wasted, it's that story again, pointless to ask!

Speechless, Sun Wukong ignored the old monkey and sat down to sense the spiritual essence within his body.

This inspection surprised him, for he found that the spiritual essence within him had increased by a strand, subtly coalescing, and he would soon be able to form a Demon Core.

An unexpected joy indeed.

This battle was evidently the fastest way to improve. It seemed he would have to practice his staff techniques more often in the future.

Settling his focus, Sun Wukong began to sense the spiritual platform, first observing the transforming spiritual essence, which was vaguely solidifying and concealed a small, blurry figure.

Concentrating his gaze, it turned out to be a vague golden cicada.

This absolutely stunned Sun Wukong.

Where had this golden cicada come from? No one had taught him, so how had it suddenly appeared?

Wait a second!

Sun Wukong abruptly opened his eyes, looking at the old monkey sitting in the cave with some shock. "Old... ancestor, you didn't teach me the Golden Cicada Transformation, did you?"

"Huff... snore... huff snore..."

The old monkey had finished his story and was now snoring, in a deep sleep.

Sun Wukong, left with no alternative, reined in his spirit and continued observing the spiritual platform, sensing the instrument rune's essence.

"The instrument rune's essence hasn't changed, but its wonder is unknown; I must study it closely."

His consciousness sank into the spiritual essence and merged with it. A stream of information suddenly flashed into his mind, and Sun Wukong received it instantly. After digesting it, he found it was indeed the method for using the instrument rune's essence.

"Let's test its effects first!"

With a thought, Sun Wukong took out the iron staff again, then activated the instrument rune's essence. A golden light flashed on the staff, imbued with the power of spiritual essence.

With just a slight movement, a wild wind ripped through the cave. By conservative estimates, this added effect had increased the power of the staff tenfold.

It was just a pity that it consumed too much energy; after only ten breaths, it had expended most of his spiritual essence. It couldn't be used casually and had to be kept as a trump card.

As he pondered, Sun Wukong's mind focused on the Divine Skills rune's essence.

His consciousness sank in, and there was only a strand of nascent Supernatural Golden Light, in an early stage of development; it was unclear when it would mature.

He would have to wait!

"I wonder what kind of Divine Skills it will nurture!"

Sun Wukong mused to himself, then his consciousness exited the spiritual platform and returned to reality.

Darkness filled his vision, and Sun Wukong froze for a moment, only realizing it was night when he caught sight of the moonlight outside the cave.

After a day of busy preparation, the monkeys had readied a hundred sharp sticks, and they were now gathered outside the cave, excitedly discussing the much-anticipated formidable staff-fighting technique.

The long-armed black ape and the white ape were among them, walking around, and every now and then they cast a glance at the quiet cave.

Finally, a shadow moved inside the cave and, under the bright moonlight, the eagerly awaited golden monkey finally appeared outside the cave.

"Yo! Everyone's here! Are all the things ready?"

Stretching, Sun Wukong approached the group of monkeys, using the moonlight to inspect the sharp sticks on the ground.

The sizes varied; they could only be described as barely satisfactory.

The long-armed black ape and the white ape approached, wearing sheepish expressions, and asked, "Great King, can you teach us your skills now?"

Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "Not in a hurry, there are many monkeys who haven't arrived yet, let's wait a bit longer!"

The crowd of monkeys instantly fell silent, some walking about restlessly, scratching their ears and cheeks. If it weren't for the desire to learn that powerful skill, they would have dispersed long ago.

What do we do now?

Just patiently wait!

So they waited, and it turned out to be half a month.

Only when the last little monkey brought back the hundredth sharp stick did the group of monkeys cheer, with some even joyfully somersaulting in excitement.

Sun Wukong shook his head slightly at the sight.

This group of monkeys had a poor sense of teamwork; they didn't know how to help each other and needed some serious training.

"Great King! Great King! Can you teach us your skills now?"

"Yes, yes, we've completed the task!"

The scene was somewhat chaotic, with a few mischievous monkeys even squeezing up to Sun Wukong. Seeing this, the long-armed black ape stepped forward, grabbed them, and threw them back into the group of monkeys before shouting loudly, "Quiet! Quiet! The Great King has something to say."

After his announcement, he stepped aside, making way for Sun Wukong who stood behind him.

"Ahem!"

With a fake cough, Sun Wukong stepped closer to the group, looked at the pairs of shining eyes before him, cleared his throat, and said, "I will definitely teach this staff-fighting technique! But there's an urgent matter at hand that we must attend to. It concerns the survival of our race and must be treated with the utmost care."

??????

All of a sudden, why is it about life and death?

The monkey crowd wore puzzled expressions but didn't interrupt, quietly looking at the serious-faced Sun Wukong, curious about what he would say.

Among them, the long-armed black ape and the white ape seemed thoughtful, recalling the pack of green wolves that had been repelled during the day.

The wolves held grudges, and with that Ling Xuzi backing them, having suffered a great defeat at the hands of the monkeys today, they were likely to seek revenge soon...

And indeed, just as the two apes had anticipated, the retreating pack of wolves had already returned to Black Wind Mountain. A werewolf inquired about what happened, then went into the Black Mountain Cave Mansion to report the incident to the barbaric-faced man who was guzzling wine and devouring meat at the stone table, "Reporting to the three great kings, the wolf pack has failed, and Little Four has fallen too!"

"What!"

"Damned fools!"

The barbaric-faced man flew into a rage, reached out his hand to grab a ghost-headed saber and slashed it towards the stone table.

With a thunderous crack.

The granite table split in two, the food and dishes scattered and spilled all over the floor.

"Gather all the wolves! Tonight we shall exterminate those accursed monkeys!"

The barbaric-faced man roared, slinging the ghost-headed saber onto his shoulder as he stormed out of the cave.

It wasn't long before.

"Aooo~"

"Aoo aooo..."

Howls echoed throughout Black Wind Mountain, where blue eyes shimmered everywhere, followed by a tall figure appearing with three lean silhouettes trailing behind. The wolf shadows gathered behind the four dark figures, surging down Black Wind Mountain in a mighty throng.

...…

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Outside the dense forest, a golden monkey was slowly moving with a group of monkeys. As one got closer, it became evident that they were digging pits and setting traps, with sharp sticks being thrust into the bottoms of the pits, then covered with turf and dead leaves. The little monkeys meticulously cleared away any trace, and then they moved onto the next one.

From the outer edges of the jungle to the boundaries of the monkey's territory, Sun Wukong led the monkeys in creating a ten-meter-wide trap-laden boulevard. He also arranged lookout positions, stationed every five meters. The white ape and ten monkeys each led ten others, lying in ambush at various spots, armed with sharp sticks and, on Sun Wukong's suggestion, also coated them with monkey gold juice.

The long-armed black ape was responsible for logistics; he arranged for the sick, injured, and weak to be brought into the cave, where the monkey's food supply was stockpiled, guarded by ten robust male monkeys. In the unfortunate event of the monkey race's defeat, they would bear the responsibility of protecting and ensuring the continuity of the monkey lineage.