Monkey Head Gang headquarters.
Yuan Er glared angrily at the messenger.
"What did you say? You want me to hand over the monkey corpses? To the Flying Disc Workshop for refining?!"
His fury was palpable, bloodshot eyes glaring as if he would devour someone.
The messenger remained impassive.
"This is an order from Lord Fei Si. You Monkey Head Gang members have greatly disappointed him."
"So many monkey pets have died—how can you carry the burden of the lord's expectations?"
"Instead, it would be better to make good use of these monkey corpses to produce more mechanical monkeys."
"This year’s Fire Persimmon Festival is no ordinary occasion! Even the city lord is watching closely. You must think of the bigger picture."
The mention of the "bigger picture" made Yuan Er's face go pale.
Gritting his teeth, he said, "I... I need time to consider..."
The messenger interrupted, "This matter requires no consideration—just execution. This is an order!"
Then, catching sight of Yuan Dasheng lying like a crouching bear nearby, the messenger's pupils narrowed slightly as he softened his tone, "However, I understand your dilemma. I’ll give you some time to adjust."
"I’ll be waiting outside. This time, I won’t leave empty-handed."
"I hope you’ll come around soon."
The messenger left the room, closing the door behind him.
After he left, Yuan Er grabbed everything within reach and hurled it to the ground in rage.
The loud crashes echoed out the door, but only elicited a cold sneer from the messenger outside.
"Outrageous! This is simply outrageous!"
Yuan Er roared, "It’s the Flying Disc Workshop behind this!"
"They’re the ones buying up wild monkeys, offering huge bounties, luring demon cultivators to ambush and kill our monkey pets. They even tried to assassinate me!"
"They’ve set their sights on the fire persimmon harvesting business. They’re trying to uproot our Monkey Head Gang."
Yuan Er’s furious shouts gradually turned into a tone of despair.
Yuan Dasheng, however, remained calm throughout.
Since the assassination attempt on Yuan Er, it had moved in to stay with him.
To prevent its soul from being forcibly taken, it regularly harmed its own soul, avoiding the soul-drawing mechanism (Yuan Dasheng’s theory).
Watching Yuan Er, Yuan Dasheng was reminded of the past.
Back when Yuan Yi was ambushed and severely wounded.
The assailant had left a message brazenly and said, "You, a mere beggar, dreaming of marrying my family’s young mistress? Ha!"
"Give up your foolish dreams."
"To be clear, I was sent by the young mistress herself."
"This time, consider it a lesson. Don’t waste time on daydreams. Look at yourself."
Seeing Yuan Yi, bedridden and barely breathing, Yuan Dasheng was filled with rage and wanted to rush over and fight the enemy.
Yuan Yi clung to it tightly, "Dasheng, Dasheng! Calm down."
"Anger won’t solve anything!"
"I am determined to marry Miss Zhang. Only through marriage can we establish a foothold for our gang and form alliances with other gangs."
"So even if I’m humiliated, ambushed, I’ll act as if none of it ever happened."
Yuan Dasheng glared at Yuan Yi, shaking him off and throwing things around in a fit of rage, his fury so intense that it seemed to distort the air around them.
Yuan Yi leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, blood seeping through his bandages again.
He waited patiently for Yuan Dasheng to calm down before approaching him.
Resting a hand on his shoulder, his voice hoarse and heavy, "Dasheng, I know you’re angry."
"My humiliation enrages you even more than if it had happened to you!"
"But I’m telling you, I’m telling you..."
"Being born lowly is not a shame. A true man must be resilient!"
"I will marry that woman. Her father has already shown an inclination to cooperate with our Monkey Head Gang. It’s not her decision to make."
"We can’t make a scene, or we’ll ruin everything."
"But I promise you, today’s humiliation, I’ll return it tenfold someday."
"We must endure this hardship, Dasheng." Yuan Yi patted the ape’s shoulder, "We must climb, we must fight our way up. One day, we’ll stand tall, very tall!"
Under Yuan Yi’s calming influence, the ape’s red face and raised brows gradually relaxed, revealing a look of age and weariness.
Its monkey descendants had been poisoned, denied even the dignity of burial, their bodies to be used as materials for the enemy’s machines.
Yuan Dasheng’s chest burned with an unquenchable rage, yet his face remained utterly calm.
Quietly watching the enraged Yuan Er smash everything, he thought of his old friend, who had once fought by his side.
But, sadly, that friend was gone now.
Thus, in his anger, he felt a touch of sorrow as well.
Slowly, he rose, walked to Yuan Er’s side, and placed his hand gently on the latter’s shoulder.
Yuan Er trembled, turning to see Yuan Dasheng, and immediately collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down his face, "Uncle Monkey!"
...
Lava Immortal Palace.
The puppet Ning Zhuo had been waiting quietly for some time.
Finally, he was convinced that Yuan Dasheng would no longer enter the Immortal Palace.
"The plan worked!" Ning Zhuo thought.
Whether it was the high prices he offered to lure demon cultivators into continually attacking the Monkey Head Gang’s monkey pets, or the deliberately failed assassination attempt on Yuan Er, it was all to apply pressure on Yuan Dasheng.
Now, it seemed the plan was successful.
Yuan Dasheng, sensing the looming crisis and that the Monkey Head Gang was being targeted, had no time to explore the Immortal Palace.
"This way, the Four Great Powers won’t discover Yuan Dasheng for a while."
"Meanwhile, Yuan Dasheng’s inability to find other competitors will also lead him to misjudge the situation in the Immortal Palace."
"And I myself, am I not also in the midst of a storm?"
The arrival of Divine Constable Division member Zhu Xuanji was much sooner than Ning Zhuo anticipated.
Although he was prepared.
"The Divine Constable Division members primarily cultivate two major techniques: the Heart-Warning Technique and the Origin Tracing Technique."
"The former is the source of the heart-warning bell, while the latter can uncover closely related items."
If Ning Zhuo bombed the Immortal Palace, he would be exposed under the Origin Tracing Technique.
To avoid this, Ning Zhuo proactively showed himself, meeting Chen Cha in person, and deliberately exposing the mechanical fire explosive monkeys.
Now, this arrangement had taken effect.
"But how long can I keep this up?" Ning Zhuo didn’t know. Perhaps, in the next second, he’d be exposed and hunted down.
He had long accepted this risk.
He could only seize every second and continue moving forward.
"Now, I just have to wait for the Fire Persimmon Festival."
...
Zhu Xuanji and Chi Dun concealed their presence as they left the Black Market.
Chi Dun was puzzled, "Lord Zhu, what’s going on? Under your Heaven-Piercing Eyes, they can’t lie. But no one has purchased a large amount of fire essence recently."
Zhu Xuanji was silent for a while before smiling slightly, "It seems the culprit came prepared."
"Just by observing the mechanical monkeys, you can tell the culprit is actively guarding against our division’s Origin Tracing Technique."
"Across all the markets in Fire Persimmon City, there hasn’t been a significant, suspicious purchase of fire essence. Either it was acquired in bulk from elsewhere, or it was bought in small quantities over time."
"Either way, it’s been meticulously planned."
Chi Dun asked, "What do we do next?"
Zhu Xuanji stroked his chin and sighed, "Next, we prepare for the Fire Persimmon Festival!"