✓𝐀𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 『𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔』

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 59: Aide

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"I hope I'm not interrupting, but if you're making a plan to defeat the Lady Bone Demon, I might be able to help," Macaque makes way as the prisoner tumbles out of his shadow, planting face first on the stone floor.

He was just in time amidst all the planning their doing— though there wasn't much of a plan coming from them at all— and offers to help fix the situation. But of course, it wasn't entirely his idea to show up, nor make any sudden movements to change the course. The said persuader comes out after Bone Demon's henchman, cracking her knuckles after a few hours of sparring with the volunteer, "Don't think I'm done with you, buddy. I haven't even started yet."

Macaque rolls his eyes, but was actually relieved that she got out on her own will, "Xiu, I told you to stay put!"

The glint in the group's confused expressions returns as the woman stepped out into the light, her clothes no longer tattered and was replaced by a black and red tangzhuang, along with a belt that has temporary sheathes to keep the blades in tact.

She looks up from, her face quickly shifting to neutrality as her eyes prances to the five of them, "MK. Red. Guys!" Xiu giggles, feeling a lot more lively than she is in that stuffy shadow realm. The gang, with a slight hesitation from Redson, starting running towards her. She was about to welcome them with open arms, "— WAIT!!!" Xiu extends her palm outward, making them halt about a meter away from her, "Yeah, no. Bad idea. It might take a few years off your lifespans just by being near me."

"Where were you? W-Why are you with him?" MK glares towards the black furred simian, blaming him for what happened the day before.

"Long story short, he kept me isolated before I can go off on a killing spree," she smiles. The woman clasps her hands together, "So, where's the injured monkey?" The four of them looked at each other while Redson simply raises a brow. Their silence creates a pit of concern down her stomach as she raises a brow, her smile non-evident on her features, "Where's Wukong?"

"He... " MK rubbed the back of his neck, guilt rushing in his mind as he recalled the moment that the simian was taken control by the Lady Bone Demon.

The redhead sighs at his uncertainty and pushes out the answer she wants to hear, "He's possessed. And he's taken the Samadhi Fire for the Lady Bone Demon."

The remaining good mood written on her expression had all disappeared completely, followed by a hollowed gaze toward the black furred simian who only turned to the side as he was found guilty of refraining to inform her of that particular info.

Their prisoner started laughing hysterically, a crazed look glazed along his sadistic smile, "Sun Wukong is the perfect pawn for My Lady to conquer the last remaining pieces of her plans! It's quite helpful that he's stubborn as he is a fool to show up unacquainted with you lot. It's only a matter of time before My Lady starts eradicating everything! The destined outcome will be fulfilled at last!"

Xiu snaps her head towards him in fury, reaching for the hilt of her blades, taking slow steps towards the man, "Shut the f^ck up." Everyone freezes at the tone of her voice. "Shut all the way the f^ck up until you reach the top of Shut. F^ck. Mountain. where there are NO MORE F^CK UPS TO SHUT!!!" her eyes and tongue morphs into that of a snake.

Macaque's eyes widens as her anger dragged out Chimangjing's powers on her own and comes forth to pull her away from the Bone Demon's subordinate before the blades can come crashing down to his skull, "Come on, let's not be too hasty here." He levitates the weapon out of her hold and sheathes them back to their places beside her before it can decide to lock on a target.

The rest of their meeting consisted of inquiring about what happened on all sides, and amidst of that, Macaque had to be tied up by MK's request. He's not about to complain, but his back started getting really itchy that he has to pull his tail out of the binds just to scratch it. Seriously, there wasn't even any need to tie him with a dumb rope that he could easily get out of. The only reason why he's here in the first place is because of Xiu, and now the woman is currently focusing on herself at the corner just as he instructed her to do while listening to their conversation.

She couldn't believe that Wukong would risk his life just like that. Still, the woman expected him to return, harmed even, than the current reality. 'He's so going to have an earful later!' Xiu huffs through her nose. It hasn't even been that long since they finally got together and she lost him again. The thought sends her in a fury, darkening her aura even more. Redson tries to smooth things over by stoking the fire of hatred towards the Lady Bone Demon even more, which surprisingly, calms her down for a bit.

"We break into Lady Bone Demon's mech, get Mei outta there, then smash the mech into tiny little pieces before that terrifying demon knows what's hit her!" was the ultimate plan that MK has in mind currently.

"And what about Sun Wukong?" Xiu's eyes opens once again as soon as she heard the name from Redson. "If he shows up—"

"Then we fight monkey with monkey," the boy points to the black furred simian behind him, "This monkey."

"Look, I brought you the demon's lapdog, but I'm not up for being a hero, kid," he'd much rather hide and see how the pieces play their roles than to be on actual battlefield. Last time he did didn't really go so well, and he was near death again by the said simian when he messed with the Samadhi Fire.

"We don't need you to beat him, you just gotta keep him busy."

"I'm sure you know our differences in strength. And not gonna lie, I hate having to face the one who had managed to kill me once before," he furrowed his eyebrows. "He'd done it before, I'm certain that I won't last any longer like the last time."

MK was about to reply to that, but stops himself.

"So what? Chickening out, monkey boy?" Their eyes flickered to the woman on the corner. Xiu ditches her spot and saunters over, "I've experienced death more than you've ever had in your entire existence, most of it done by Wukong himself to stop me from my massacre." '—and by killing him,' she noted to herself. "If you're too afraid of risking your fur out there, then I'm stepping up the role. I'm not gonna let my monkey stay under the leash of some b**ch who thinks destiny consists of only her and her f^cked up version of the world.

"Are you sure you should be calling the shots about that? There's a reason why Monkey King doesn't want you involved, plus there's times where you're not even yourself due to the python taking over. You need more time more than everyone here..." he glances at them for a moment. By the looks on their faces, these group doesn't understand what's going on with her. "You need to be able to control the blades properly before facing off of them."

"If I die, then I die. That's nothing compared to all my deaths."

"Hey hey hey," Pigsy intervenes on the conversation, "No one's gonna die on this! Don't jinx that just 'cause you're comfortable with it."

"Y-Yeah, what the pig said," Redson nodded, as well as everyone else.

"I get that you can reincarnate, we all do," Macaque rolls his eyes, "but I think you should consider what your little boyfriend is going through every time you disappear from his life. He doesn't want anyone here to get hurt any further, especially you."

The woman contemplates on the options for no more than ten seconds, smiling as she crosses her arms, "Well, too bad for him, I'm stubborn to boot." And she loves him too much to leave him on that state for long.

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