At that moment, the werewolf was fiercely battling the long-armed black ape.
The black ape fought desperately, frantically wielding his iron rod with large, sweeping movements, focusing solely on attacking.
In contrast, the werewolf, valuing its life more, could not bring itself to fight with the abandon of the long-armed black ape and failed to subdue it temporarily.
However, it had its own plans, knowing that the black ape, bursting forth with all its might, could not maintain this indefinitely. The werewolf waited for the moment when the ape would tire, seeing that as its chance to counterattack.
The werewolf was smugly confident of its victory, but it overlooked the strange green wolf charging from behind.
As the long-armed black ape was exhausted and about to slash with its knife, the werewolf, in terror, noticed that the green wolf behind it shimmered spiritually, transforming into a golden monkey with a fuzzy face and mouth like a thunder god.
The golden monkey, touching its ear and pulling out a silver-hooped iron rod, suddenly straightened it and then thrust it violently towards that fatal spot.
All these events happened in the blink of an eye. The werewolf tried to draw its sword for defense, but it was too late.
Splutch~
A muffled sound, and the pain that reached deep into its soul made the werewolf tighten its body. It stiffly turned its head, giving the shameless golden monkey a direct stare with its bloodshot eyes, as a tear of blood dripped down.
The agony of the mortal wound was indescribable, the iron rod withdrawn and the demon's soul dispersed!
Thus perished a fearsome werewolf, humiliated and miserably killed by this previously unknown golden monkey.
"Awoo, awoo..."
Upon the werewolf's death, the wolf pack howled. As far as the golden monkey could see, the other werewolves tucked their tails and fled like frightened birds or scattered mice, quickly dispersing.
This sudden change left the monkey troop stunned. After a glance at the fearsomely dying werewolf and then at the silver-hooped iron rod in the golden monkey's hand, stained with greenish-red matter, a glint of realization flickered in their eyes, nearly feeling as if they had learned some remarkable new technique.
"We... won!"
It wasn't clear which monkey shouted, but the troop was suddenly awakened, plunging into a sea of cheers.
"We won!"
"The werewolf is dead!"
"It was the golden monkey, the golden monkey killed it!"
"Golden monkey, golden monkey......"
The monkeys cheered, circling around the golden monkey, repeatedly shouting its name. Those who were slow were blocked outside, desperately scratching their ears and scrambling around in agitation.
Sun Wukong put away his iron rod, looking at his bloodied kind around him, some with tears still at the corners of their eyes, now dancing joyfully, watching him with eyes full of adoration.
Such foolish monkeys, the wolf pack had only retreated temporarily, where was the victory?
With this time, it would be wise to hurry and escape rather than cheer so foolishly.
"Golden monkey, golden monkey, come be our king!"
"Yes yes yes, let the golden monkey be the king!"
"Golden monkey, the king!"
"Golden monkey, the king......"
The monkeys shouted, drowning out other sounds. Watching this excited troop, Sun Wukong didn't know how to respond for a moment.
One could only say they were adorably foolish!
At this point, the long-armed black ape came over, and the troop of monkeys automatically made way.
Arriving in front of Sun Wukong, the long-armed black ape bowed deeply, expressing gratitude, "If not for your timely intervention to strike down the demon wolf, today our Huaguo Mountain monkey troop might have been annihilated. I thank you deeply!"
Sun Wukong didn't step aside but instead calmly accepted the black ape's bow. He then helped him up, saying, "Elder Black Ape, you are too kind. We originated from the same source; it's only right for us to help each other!"
He only wanted to remind Black Ape of this point and then hurry away.
But seeing the expectant faces of the monkeys around him, his heart inexplicably softened.
At this moment, the Long-Armed Black Ape, recalling what Sun Wukong had previously said, suddenly felt joy and asked, "Could there really be a second Huaguo Mountain?"
Sun Wukong nodded and repeated the words of the white ape. He guessed, "I believe that you are the descendants of the group of monkeys that left Huaguo Mountain back then, though why you forgot your original purpose is unknown."
At this, Sun Wukong paused, suddenly struck by a thought.
The white ape bringing him here, could it have sensed these monkeys were in crisis and arranged this intentionally?
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed possible, and Sun Wukong secretly smirked, having already accepted this fact.
Engrossed in thought, the Long-Armed Black Ape then muttered to himself, "Due to repeated calamities befalling our tribe, only one in ten of our ancient monkeys survived, and that one was dim-witted. In our generation, all we knew was to head west, searching for something."
That settled it.
It was exactly those monkeys.
They were searching for the Legendary Monkey King.
It was somewhat strange, knowing that the group of monkeys he faced had all received the true transmission of the Great Saint and were individually powerful, yet they had all been slaughtered.
Who exactly was capable of such a feat!
"After leaving the Flower Fruit Mountain, what exactly did that group of old monkeys go through!"
"And who killed that group of old monkeys!"
Unable to figure it out, Sun Wukong sighed heavily and couldn't help but ask, "As far as I know, each of those monkeys was powerful and had received the true teachings of the Great Saint. Why have you descendants become so weak that you can't even fend off this small pack of wolves?"
Having received the transmission of the cultivation technique from White Ape, he thought that the old monkeys should also be that powerful, but it appeared that the Great Saint's cultivation technique was clearly lost.
"Cultivation Technique... Our monkey tribe has not passed down any cultivation techniques!"
The long-armed black ape touched a long scar on his face, "In the hundred-year memory, after our ancestor became foolish, we never came into contact with any cultivation techniques again, and all our fighting skills are learned through our own exploration. It was only during a battle of life and death that I grasped the essence of the spiritual platform, which has allowed our tribe to barely survive the werewolf's pursuits."
"Throughout these hundred years, siblings either died or fled. We have constantly moved locations with our tribe, and our numbers have been reducing. Now, we have fewer than three hundred left."
The long-armed black ape sighed repeatedly, his face marked by the passage of time.
Listening, Sun Wukong felt a pang of distress and looked at the monkey troop with a softer gaze.
Compared to himself, these monkeys were in a much more tragic state, looking at each one so emaciated, and he wondered how they had managed to survive at all.
"But now things are different!" The long-armed black ape suddenly lifted his head and looked at Sun Wukong full of hope, excitedly saying, "As long as you become the new Monkey King and pass down the cultivation technique, the whole tribe will have the foundation to protect itself. Even if we cannot withstand the slaughter, we might gain a bit more life on the run."
"You are the hope of the monkey tribe."
"We will go find the old ancestor now, and then you will be our new Monkey King!"
The more the long-armed black ape spoke, the more excited he became, finally grabbing Sun Wukong and heading toward the cave, while the surrounding monkeys cheered, leaving Sun Wukong baffled.
Completely confused.
He had become the new Monkey King?
These monkeys were way too casual!
Sun Wukong looked dumbfounded at the long-armed black ape, whose face was glowing red, as it led him to sit on the stone bed.
What exactly had transpired...
...that made this tribe so readily trust an outsider of their kind and, without any hesitation, wanted him to be their king.
Looking at the pairs of eyes filled with light, his initial resistance gradually began to fade, and Sun Wukong felt a weight on his shoulders, accompanied by an indescribable sense of responsibility.
Soon.
Sun Wukong returned to the cave.
The accompanying monkeys were chased out by the long-armed black ape, and the territory still had many wolf corpses and bodies of their companions. If they weren't cleaned up promptly, the intense sun might cause an outbreak of disease.
The process of appointing the Monkey King was also very simple, merely leading Sun Wukong in front of the old monkeys to bow three times, and he was declared the new Monkey King.
That was it!
It was over just like that.
"Hoo hoo loo..."
The old monkeys were still sleeping. The long-armed black ape seemed accustomed to this, pulling Sun Wukong aside and starting to discuss the current situation of the monkey troop.
Currently, there were just over two hundred monkeys left in the troop, apart from the old monkeys and him, all were young and able.
There was a hunting group of ten monkeys that had not yet returned.
There were ten injured, and today's casualties were yet to be counted!
There are still twenty female monkeys and thirty-four young monkeys.
The number of those able to fight was less than two hundred.
Listening to the figures quoted by the long-armed black ape, Sun Wukong's heart clenched. The monkey tribe had already dwindled to such a dire state. If left unattended, the descendants of Flower Fruit Mountain were likely to perish.
Sun Wukong was silent, his initial resistance crumbling bit by bit, a sudden surge of inexplicable mission drove into his heart.
Maybe, he should teach them some martial arts. Even if they couldn't return to the glory of the monkey tribe, just preserving a small life would be great.
With that thought, Sun Wukong was multitasking, sensing the rhythm imprints in the spiritual platform, looking for stick techniques he could teach.
Meanwhile, he listened as the long-armed black ape continued to report, "This area is under Black Wind Mountain's territory, twenty miles away there's a Zen Temple that was burned by a great fire, where the werewolf leader lives, his Taoist name: Ling Xuzi!"
The long-armed black ape had just finished speaking.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside the cave, with faint cheering sounds, the long-armed black ape's heart stirred, knowing the hunting group of ten monkeys had returned.
"Elder Black Ape, I heard that there's a golden monkey in the tribe..."
With the words, a white figure burst into the cave.