✓𝐀𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 『𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔』

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 7

Late Night Visitor

“𝑨 𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕”
– 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

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In the depths of the night, Sun Wukong stealthily infiltrated the woman's apartment, his senses assaulted by the pungent odor of alcohol permeating the air. The foul scent pricked at his nostrils, eliciting a grimace of disdain.

"Has she been drinking?" he muttered to himself as he made his way towards the living room, where he found the woman sprawled out on the couch, deep in slumber. His gaze shifted to the jar of alcohol on the coffee table, accompanied by a spilled glass that marred the pristine floor.

"What a mess," Wukong lamented, shaking his head as he stooped to retrieve the glass. As he glanced at his reflection in the distorted cylinder, a wave of memories washed over him, prompting a wistful chuckle.

With a sigh, Wukong seized the wine jar and made his way to the sink, pouring out the remaining contents that had already been depleted by half.

"Mmh... ape... I'll get you..." a voice echoed in his mind, sending a shiver down his spine. His fur bristled at the memory, evoking a sense of nostalgia for simpler times when he had accompanied a mysterious individual who had kept his life endlessly entertained.

"You're still holding onto that, huh," he murmured softly to himself, returning the jar to the coffee table to create the illusion that the woman had consumed the entirety of the remaining beverage.

"You're mocking me again..." the words lingered in the air, triggering a sense of deja vu for the Monkey King. It was a phrase he had heard before, typically uttered whenever he showcased his prowess by outmaneuvering his opponent with lightning speed.

"You're mocking me again," she retorted, her gaze piercing as she stood outside the carriage.

"Mocking? Ha, you should be thanking me for finishing them off. Without my help, those ruffians would have made short work of you," Sun Wukong retorted between bites of a banana pilfered from her supplies.

The woman whirled around, brandishing her weapon at him, halting the carriage in its tracks as tension crackled between them. "If only you weren't an immortal nuisance, I would have dispatched you to the underworld ages ago."

He smirked, banana-stuffed mouth giving him a mischievous appearance. "But you can't, so you're stuck with me!"

Wukong's lips curled into a smirk as the memory played out in his mind. His hand reached out towards her, only to retract at the last moment. They were mere players in the grand tapestry of fate, two beings inexorably linked by circumstance. They had carved their own paths in the universe, each leaving a mark that resonated through time.

If only he could alter their shared destiny... If only he could break free from the chains that bound them together, this relentless cycle of fate. He wasn't meant to be here, standing in her presence. Their paths were never meant to intersect.

Wukong turned away, his resolve wavering as he grappled with the weight of his existence. He was a being of immense power and potential, yet he found himself powerless in the face of their intertwined fates.

The woman stirred from her slumber, the darkness of the room enveloping her as she blinked away the remnants of sleep. A throbbing headache immediately seized hold of her, threatening to overwhelm her senses with waves of nausea. Desperately suppressing the discomfort, she forced herself to assess her surroundings, her vision still blurry from the haze of exhaustion.

A vague silhouette loomed nearby, prompting her to jerk upright in alarm, her heart racing with adrenaline. Rubbing her eyes to dispel the fog, Ying Xiu scanned the room once more, but the mysterious figure had vanished into thin air. With a stifled groan, she sat upright, steeling herself against the possibility of an intruder lurking in the shadows.

"Meow."

Her gaze fell upon her half-adopted cat, Wonton, who sat nearby, his tail twitching nervously. Relief flooded through her as she chuckled softly, reaching out a trembling hand to pat his fur. "Hungry, Wonton?" she murmured, her voice laced with fatigue. The cat's response was a mere flick of his tail before darting off towards the kitchen, leaving her alone once more.

A pang of guilt tugged at her heart as she watched him go, realizing she had neglected her furry companion in favor of indulging in alcohol the night before. She dismissed the thought with a shake of her head, attributing Wonton's sudden departure to typical feline behavior rather than any perceived resentment towards her.

Turning her attention to the jar of wine gifted to her by Pigsy, she couldn't help but feel a surge of gratitude towards the man despite his occasional gruff demeanor. Despite his rough exterior, he had shown kindness in offering her solace after her dismissal from work.

Searching for her glass, she discovered it inexplicably placed in the sink, adding to her confusion. Shrugging off the peculiar occurrence, she returned to the coffee table to stow away the wine, only to be met with an unexpected revelation—the jar was significantly lighter than expected, its contents mysteriously depleted overnight.

"What the heck..." the woman's confusion deepened as she stared at the empty wine jar, her mind struggling to piece together the events of the previous night. Had she really consumed the entire contents of the jar? The mere thought made her head throb with renewed intensity.

With a sigh, Ying Xiu shook her head, dismissing the lingering remnants of her hangover-induced haze. She couldn't afford to dwell on her actions now; she had to focus on the present and figure out her next steps. Pushing aside the lingering sense of disorientation, she resolved to confront the challenges that lay ahead.

Rising from her makeshift bed, she padded across the room to the kitchen, her movements sluggish and unsteady. As she reached for a glass of water to soothe her parched throat, her gaze fell upon the clock on the wall, its glowing digits serving as a harsh reminder of the passage of time.

"7:30 AM," she muttered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper.

With a sense of urgency coursing through her veins, Ying Xiu hurriedly went about her morning routine, determined to salvage what remained of the day. Despite the setback of losing her job, she refused to let it define her. If anything, it only fueled her resolve to prove herself capable of overcoming adversity.

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