Chapter 909: The Monkey
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
This spiritual mountain was in the far east of Mount Lingyuan, an isolated island off the coast, but it brimmed with spiritual energy and was an amazingly fertile paradise.
But this island paradise was like an appearing and disappearing mirage over the sea. Ordinary people would not be able to spot it easily, making it somewhat similar to the images on the Ying Sea.
The Fengxi Grand Sage had received the treasure from the master of the island and could hence navigate his way around and locate the place with ease.
He screamed at the top of his voice as he charged out of the void and bounded towards the spiritual mountain in the middle of the sea. "We're in trouble! We're in trouble! Big Senior, Master has been captured by the humans!"
On this mountain, he did not dare to be presumptuous. The violet demonic flames enveloping him had vanished, and his body rapidly shrank in size. His originally colossal figure that towered over the spiritual mountain had been reduced to the size of a regular elephant.
As he yelled, he heard a sluggish voice coming from the spiritual mountain that interrupted him in annoyance. "Leave him to die."
The Fengxi Grand Sage opened his mouth wide, not daring to say anything else. He landed on the mountain and entered one of the tunnels, advancing along the path before being quickly greeted by an enormous pavillion with unassuming and shabby architecture.
A huge stone altar stood in the center of the main hall, and on it lay a resting figure, not rising even when the Fengxi Grand Sage charged in.
The Fengxi Grand Sage's ferocious and terrifying disposition became much gentler when speaking to this back-facing figure. He did not dare to raise his voice, and approached the figure in trepidation. He whispered lightly, "Look, Brother Monkey. He's still our master ..."
"Master?" The figure chuckled and finally sat up. He straightened his back and stretched his waist before turning around. He stared straight at the Fengxi Grand Sage with a forced smile plastered on his hairy face.
He was not particularly big with the average height of an ordinary human, but he was certainly no human. He was unmistakably a demonic monkey, but unlike the Crimson Gorilla Ape Demons, Nine Netherworld Ghost Monkeys, or the Six-Horned Divine Monkeys, he resembled any other ordinary monkey.
As the Monkey turned around, the Fengxi Grand Sage became even more cautious. He bowed on all fours and cracked a wide smile on his green, tusked face.
The Monkey looked at him and chuckled, flaunting his fangs. "You fool. You should know that after that old trickster gave us this, our master-disciple relationship was already severed."
He lifted his furry paws and peeled through his scalp to reveal a golden hoop.
Upon seeing it, the Fengxi Grand Sage widened his grin and muttered awkwardly, "Master was certainly unfair, really unfair."
The Monkey waved his hands and replied, "That is why, him getting abducted by humans is everything that I can wish for. It would be best if he's eaten. If there comes a day when I'm finally rid of this accursed thing, the first thing I'll do is to settle this score with him."
Although the Monkey's tone was relatively mild, his words sent uncontrollable shivers down the Fengxi Grand Sage's massive body.
With that, the Monkey stared at the Fengxi Grand Sage with his interest greatly aroused and asked, "What kind of humans abducted him? That old fox is incredibly sneaky. He manages to slip away every time I want to find him."
The golden hoop on his head was planted by the Golden Cicada Master who laid a curse on it. Both the Monkey's demonic soul and original form would be subjected to total control at the Golden Cicada Master's whim and fancy, causing excruciating pain that only the Golden Cicada Master himself can stop. The Monkey has no way of resisting.
However, the curse is only effective once in a limited period of time. Hence, after the Monkey regains his strength and begins hunting the Golden Cicada Master down for revenge, with the latter unwilling to enter a scuffle, the Golden Cicada Master would hide himself until the period of time expires before revealing his whereabouts, driving the Monkey insane.
That being said, the Monkey has a stubborn and savage temper. Despite being puppeteered by the Golden Hoop Incantation, he would not succumb to the Golden Cicada Master willingly or obey his orders. Even though the Golden Cicada Master can restrain him with the Golden Hoop Incantation, he cannot kill him, hence the Golden Cicada Master usually avoids him entirely.
The Monkey was ridiculously frustrated, but as long as the Golden Hoop Incantation was in place, he was helpless against the Golden Cicada Master. After failing with multiple attempts, he no longer actively seeks out his nemesis and simply throws him to the back of his mind. Both seemingly intend to avoid each other the best they possibly can.
Watching as the Monkey glared at him with exuberant energy, the Fengxi Grand Sage hesitated for a moment before sputtering, "Actually, Master was not captured by the humans. It was his four Dharma Avatars that fell into the hands of the Celestial Sect's Leader ... Ouch!"
The Monkey knocked on his head before he could even complete his sentence. "You idiot, don't say such misleading nonsense. You made me rejoice for nothing."
The Fengxi Grand Sage felt as though his skull was about to be shattered, but still did not dare to howl in pain. The Monkey was already moderating his strength - if he actually wanted to use greater force, the Fengxi Grand Sage's brains would have been reduced to a pile of minced meat.
"Brother Monkey, Brother Monkey, don't be annoyed. I'm really here to feed you information." The Fengxi Grand Sage snickered, "Think about it. The opponent this time round is so formidable. If Master wants to deal with him, he has no choice but to have you join the battle as well."
He peered up at the Monkey and uttered meekly, "Master hasn't used the Golden Hoop Incantation at all recently."
The Monkey flipped his eyelids. His expression remained unchanged, calm as ever, but it concealed an overbearing aura of obstinance that could bend anyone into submission.
"So what? Even if he wants me to fight, must I obey his wishes? Have him curse me to his heart's content, I won't listen to him anyway. If he can't curse me to death, I'll join his opponent in making him suffer."
The Fengxi Grand Sage withdrew his neck. "But Third Junior is also in the hands of the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders."
The Monkey finally wavered a little and looked at the Fengxi Grand Sage. "Is that true?"
The Fengxi Grand Sage nodded frantically. The Monkey probed further, "Is the wound on your forehead also due to the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders?"
"It was gashed by his disciple." The Fengxi Grand Sage replied aggrievedly.
The Monkey stared at him for a moment before he cracked another forced smile. "This wound did not harm your core essence. Even though your self-healing abilities pale in comparison to Third Junior, the wound should have healed by now. Did you carry your wound all the way back just to convince me to seek vengeance for you?"
The Fengxi Grand Sage smiled submissively. "Brother Monkey, I forgot about this. I was in a hurry to meet you and completely forgot about the wound on my forehead."
He rolled his eyes and exclaimed indignantly, "Brother Monkey, you don't know how presumptuous the members of the Celestial Sect of Wonders are. But even if they don't show Master any respect, they would at least save you some shame, wouldn't they? I already proclaimed your name yet they still attacked me and seized Third Junior."
"The Celestial Sect's Leader still said, feel free to find your Brother Monkey if you dare, I'll capture you both and then, it'll be enough for me to whip up a feast with you three - a roasted pig, snake soup, and monkey brains! Isn't this infuriating?"
The Monkey looked at the Fengxi Grand Sage and sneered, "Continue cooking up that tale of yours. Even if others don't know you, do you think I wouldn't know what sort of fool you are? You could have fled before the Celestial Sect's Leader even showed his face, running away before even knowing how he looks like."
No matter how thick the Fengxi Grand Sage's skin was, he was still considerably frazzled by these comments. His blackish-purple face flushed beet-red. "Brother ... Brother Monkey, how can you say such things?"
The Monkey scratched behind his ears and flicked his nails. "Third Junior, Fourth Junior and you have all told me about the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders. If the rumours are true, you would have been captured in a few seconds if trash like you actually encountered him. Would you even have the chance to spout nonsense to the likes of him?"
The Fengxi Grand Sage grunted, "But Brother Monkey, Third Junior's capture and my injury at the hands of his disciples are all completely true. I'm afraid Master can't escape unscathed either. We can only depend on you to salvage the situation for us ... Ouch!"
As he said this, the Monkey took another good knock on his head and said, "You only want to spectate at the sidelines and scavenge some leftovers from the Golden Cicada Master, don't you?"
The Fengxi Grand Sage chuckled sheepishly and grunted, "Even outsiders like the White Tiger and Xiangliu have a share, yet us disciples don't have anything. Master is really unfair about this."
Upon noticing the Monkey peering at him from the corner of his eyes, the Fengxi Grand Sage scrambled to elaborate, "Even if we don't have ample confidence to overcome the Cardinal Tribulations, this thing here should at least give us some assurance."
"It's your business whether you want to find the Golden Cicada Master. I couldn't care less." The Monkey finally stood up on the stone altar and jumped down, strolling out of the cavern leisurely. "If the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders did in fact capture Third Junior, then I'll find him and demand Third Junior back."
The Fengxi Grand Sage tailed him and replied smilingly, "Brother Monkey, I certainly wasn't lying when I told you how obnoxious the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders was. He rampaged lawlessly through the Lingyuan Mountains and did anything he pleased. I don't wish to say this but your comrades are really worthless, allowing a human to run amuck through their own ancestral grounds. That Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage might have incredible mastery levels, but he's like a meek servant tailing behind the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, greatly humiliating the entire Immemorial Ape Demon Tribe."
The Monkey continued on, laughing nonchalantly when he heard this. "Those with true capabilities can flaunt them wherever they go, what's so surprising about that? But after hearing what you said, I'm becoming more interested in meeting him."
Amidst the laughter, the Monkey arrived outside the cavern and tapped the ground of the spiritual mountain gently with his foot, vanishing in a somersault with the Fengxi Grand Sage following behind hurriedly. But at this moment in time, on the summit of the Nine Netherworld Peak in the Lingyuan Mountains, Lin Feng stood amidst the void with his eyes lightly shut, seemingly reposing.
Beside him, Shi Tianhao, Wang Lin, Yang Qing, Li Yuanfang, Luo Qingwu and Tun Tun formed a circle. In the center of the circle, the emerald Grand Moon Primordial Water had transformed into a ball of water that shielded Zhou Yuncong inside.
Yang Qing appeared tense, but heaved a sigh of relief after a while. "His mental state is just a little weak and requires our protection for the time being, otherwise he may not be able to control his own Yang Incinerating Entity, which may easily cause his body to ignite spontaneously."
Lin Feng stood at a side, not opening his eyes, having already examined Zhou Yuncong when he delivered his soul back into his physical body. His examination was much more thorough, not only inspecting Zhou Yuncong's bodily conditions but also checking whether the Golden Cicada Master had left any hidden marks or played any crafty tricks.
There was indeed nothing out of the ordinary. However, by putting a stop to the Golden Cicada Master's secret spell ceremony and seizing his altar, Lin Feng has harvested a considerable amount of rewards.