Sun Wukong, carrying the princess's fan, arrived alongside the plump Ox.

At the farmhouse, Sun Wukong suddenly materialized, bursting in noisily and energetically.

To everyone's surprise, however, Ah Shan and Fat Ox were following right behind him—a truly unexpected delight amidst the surprise.

Ever since they had returned to the Journey to the West world, Ah Shan and Fat Ox had seemed to "vanish" from that realm, leaving not a trace behind.

Even when Chu Xiaoyu had activated his "Divine Eye Vision" to peer into the void, he had been unable to track their whereabouts.

"Sir, we're back."

Seeing Ah Shan and Fat Ox suddenly return, Chu Xiaoyu looked at the two of them with a puzzled expression. "Where have you two been? Could it be that you ran into some kind of trouble?"

Ah Shan nodded and said, "Indeed, just as you said, Sir. Ever since the last time we returned, Fat Ox and I ran into a bit of minor trouble. If First Senior Brother hadn't found us and broken that sealing barrier, both Fat Ox and I would still be trapped inside that confinement zone."

"A confinement barrier? What on earth is this all about?" Chu Xiaoyu asked, greatly puzzled.

Ah Shan shot a couple of glares at Fat Ox and complained, "It's all his fault for wandering around blindly for no reason, and in the end, I got dragged down with him. He got us both trapped."

"Hmph, hmph! That serves you right. Who told you not to listen properly? If I hadn't been driven out by that hateful bald monk, hmph, I reckon you two would still be stuck in there. That pitch-black cave was quite enough to give you a taste of real misery."

Sun Wukong spoke with a huffy and indignant look on his face.

Chu Xiaoyu then turned to Sun Wukong and asked, "What happened to you this time? You just said you were driven out? Uh... could it be that you ran into the White Bone Demon?"

According to the script of Journey to the West, when the monkey faced the three trials of the White Bone Demon, he first used his golden-hooped cudgel to beat to death the transformed old man, then the old woman, and finally the daughter.

Because of this, Monk Xuanzang misunderstood Sun Wukong as a ruthless, stubborn monkey who slaughtered the innocent, and consequently drove him out of the pilgrim party heading to the Western Heaven.

Now, judging by the monkey's rowdy and flustered demeanor, it must have been precisely this.

"Sigh, Sir, you probably don't know yet, do you? First Senior Brother was driven out by that monk! The monk said First Senior Brother has a cruel disposition and kills innocent people indiscriminately. Pah! If you ask me, that monk cannot tell right from wrong, nor can he distinguish a human from a demon. With a monk like that, it's better not to follow him at all."

Along the way back, Sun Wukong had already recounted his encounter to Ah Shan and Fat Ox.

Both Ah Shan and Fat Ox felt a deep sense of injustice on Sun Wukong's behalf.

That ungrateful monk who reversed black and white and confused right from wrong would definitely suffer for it sooner or later.

Once the journey to the Western Heaven lost the protection of First Senior Brother, relying solely on that pig demon and Friar Sand, those three would never amount to anything.

Ah Shan and Fat Ox unanimously shared this view.

Sun Wukong, still burning with suppressed anger, assumed a slovenly and indolent posture as he flopped onto the sofa, dangling a bottle of soda from his mouth and taking sullen, intermittent sips.

Giving the monkey's pathetic-looking state a faint, sideways glance, Chu Xiaoyu smiled slightly. "Oh, so you went through the 'Three Strikes on the White Bone Demon,' did you? Monkey, how is it? What does it feel like to be misunderstood? Pretty frustrating, isn't it?"

"Hmph! It's that damned bald monk who doesn't know what's good for him! With my sharp sense of smell, old Sun saw through it at a single glance: that old man, that old woman, and even the final daughter were all transformations of that damned White Bone Demon—mere illusions! But that accursed bald monk, he actually..."

At this point, Sun Wukong was so enraged that he could not go on.

"Anyway... old Sun has already broken ties with that bald monk. I won't take that kind of crap anymore. Whatever happens, happens!"

"First Senior Brother, does that mean you really intend to quit? Hehe, in that case, Ah Shan, we'll have one more playmate from now on!"

Fat Ox looked rather as if he were taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune.

Sun Wukong didn't speak, still maintaining his huffy expression.

Chu Xiaoyu had no intention of comforting him right away. Instead, he asked, "Wukong, regardless of who is right or wrong in this matter, let me ask you this: if you truly quit like this, are you genuinely at peace with it in your heart? Think about the journey you've walked so far, and think about the things you said before. Can you really walk away with a clear conscience?"

Choosing to remain just a vulgar, crude monkey was definitely not Sun Wukong's original intention.

Chu Xiaoyu had once discussed a certain matter with him: once he successfully escorted Xuanzang to the Western Heaven to retrieve the scriptures, he would achieve consummation of his merit, and would eventually be conferred the title of "Victor Fighting Buddha" by the Tathagata of the Great Ears, thereby erasing his status as a mere beast of the demon realm.

It would show those high-and-mighty celestial gods in the heavenly palaces that even if he, Sun Wukong, was born a grand demon, so what? Relying on his own abilities, he would finally rank among the immortals and become a person above others.

Those who had once looked down upon him and written off the monkey would one day have their faces thoroughly and repeatedly slapped by reality.

"Master, your disciple's mood is very depressed right now. Can we not talk about this matter anymore?"

Seeing that the monkey's spirits were truly at rock bottom, Chu Xiaoyu smiled and said no more.

As for Ah Shan and Fat Ox, having been pointlessly trapped in that secret realm's barrier cave for half a year, they had nearly starved to death amidst days of sheer, agonizing boredom.

Now that they were finally liberated, the two little rascals could hardly wait to turn Chu Xiaoyu's farmhouse upside down.

Ah, it's wonderful! They could finally return to this mysterious manor belonging to Sir.

Ah Shan hurried off excitedly to chatter with Su Daji.

Fat Ox, however, seemed somewhat interested in Yan Beigui, the errand-running "waiter."

When Fat Ox learned that Yan Beigui was actually a swordsman, he was quite surprised.

To have a swordsman famous throughout Yanjing working as a menial restaurant server was truly a terrible waste of natural talent.

Sir's move was indeed pure and transcendent.

Although Yan Beigui was a swordsman, in Fat Ox's eyes, he was no different from any ordinary, commonplace human being.

Those who practiced martial arts simply weren't in the same tier or weight class as those who cultivated immortality.

He wasn't boasting; Fat Ox had every confidence that he could pinch Yan Beigui to death with just a single little finger.

In the backyard, Ah Shan and Su Daji were swinging together on a swing set.

"Sister Daji, during the days I was away, thank you so much for taking care of Sir's daily life and meals. Thank you."

Ah Shan, feeling as happy as a two-hundred-pound child, kept expressing her gratitude to Su Daji.

Su Daji's face suddenly flushed red, and she said with some embarrassment, "Ah Shan, you're too polite. Taking care of Sir's daily life is my bounden duty; you really don't need to thank me like this."

"No matter what, I still have to thank you! Sister Daji, you probably don't know this, but Sir can be very self-disciplined sometimes, yet at other times... if there's no one around to supervise him, his daily routine becomes an absolute mess. He sleeps during the day and prowls around like a wildcat at night... he has a whole mountain range of bad habits!"

Ah Shan chattered away, rattling off all sorts of past misdeeds committed by "Sir" Chu Xiaoyu.