Chapter 246: Ant in the Cage

That sentence pierced Sun Wukong's mind like a thorn.

"More than one Hongjun."

The hoarse voice behind the barrier fell silent.

The dark golden barrier flickered wildly for a few breaths before returning to Deathly Silence.

No sound came from within any longer.

As if no one had ever spoken.

Sun Wukong stood still where he was.

The Golden Cudgel lay across his front.

He was not in a hurry to smash it in.

Nor was he eager to leave.

Yao tugged his sleeve: "Monkey brother?"

"Don't rush."

Sun Wukong's voice was soft.

His Fiery Golden Eyes swept the surroundings.

The shrunken purple palace was still glowing.

That cold, emotionless will still shrouded this star region.

But it did not attack.

Nor did it drive away.

It only "watched".

Like the owner of a cage observing a stray cat that barged in.

Sun Wukong sensed this nuance.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"It isn't afraid of me."

Yao was startled: "What?"

"This will."

Sun Wukong pointed at the purple palace.

"It isn't afraid of old Sun Wukong intruding."

"It doesn't even care that I shattered the outer barrier."

"Because in its eyes—"

Sun Wukong's voice grew cold.

"I'm just an ant."

"Stumbled into someone's yard."

"Just stepped on the lawn."

Yao's complexion changed.

Her Illusory Dream Path had just been analyzing that will.

The result sent a chill down her spine.

The level of that will.

Higher than Hongjun.

Not just a bit higher.

It is higher by an entire dimension.

"Monkey brother, should we first—"

"Retreat?"

Sun Wukong turned his head to look at her.

His gaze carried a very familiar expression.

Yao had seen it countless times.

Every time she saw that expression.

It always meant something big was about to happen.

"If old Sun Wukong were to retreat,"

"He wouldn't be called Great Sage Equal to Heaven then."

He hoisted the Golden Cudgel onto his shoulder.

He turned, back to the purple palace.

"But I'm not stupid either."

Yao let out a sigh of relief.

Sun Wukong veered toward the side.

His steps were neither fast nor slow.

Like strolling.

He didn't touch the palace.

He didn't provoke that will.

He chose a smarter approach.

First, to observe.

In this Star Sea, how many cages are there exactly?

What is locked inside the cages?

Who is raising the cages?

The two concealed their aura.

Sun Wukong gathered the Equal Heaven Path to the extreme.

Even the aura of the master of Chaos Heavenly Dao was concealed.

In this unfamiliar Star Sea.

He and Yao were merely two insignificant specks of dust.

Drifting past one world bubble after another.

The first world.

Inside was a vast blue sea.

On the sea were fishing boats.

There were seagulls.

There were fishermen wearing animal skins singing on the deck.

The singing was off-key but cheerful.

"This is quite normal," Yao said.

Sun Wukong nodded.

This is a wild world bubble.

There was no Heavenly Dao overseeing it.

There were no order constraints.

Inside, the living beings lived in their own way.

They sang if they wanted to.

They danced if they wanted to.

That's pretty good.

The second world.

Inside was a vast desert.

The sand dunes undulated.

The blazing sun hung overhead.

A three-tailed scorpion was chasing a rabbit.

It chased for half a day but failed to catch it.

The scorpion lay exhausted in the sand, tongue out.

The rabbit glanced back and hopped twice.

It seemed to be mocking it.

That's also quite normal.

The third world.

Sun Wukong's steps stopped.

His gaze pierced the surface of the world bubble.

He saw the scene inside.

That was a city.

The city had houses.

There were streets.

There were people.

But everyone looked up at the same moment.

They all gazed in the same direction toward the sky.

Their facial expressions were identical.

They were expressionless.

They were vacant.

It was as if they had been painted on.

Another one.

Sun Wukong said softly.

Yao leaned in to take a look.

Her hand clenched involuntarily.

At the city's center stood an altar.

The altar was etched with countless dark-gold runes.

Exactly the same as the barrier outside.

Those runes emitted a faint light.

The light enveloped the entire city.

Every person in the city lay within the light's coverage.

Their footsteps.

Their words.

Even their breathing frequency.

All are the same.

"Marionette." Yao uttered four words.

Sun Wukong didn't speak.

He saw more.

Those dark-gold runes extended along the ground.

Passed through the city wall.

Continued spreading to the edge of this world.

Then it connected with that dark-gold thin thread outside.

"Not just thirty-seven."

Sun Wukong's voice was hoarse.

He recalled the words spoken by that aged, hoarse voice.

"That old guy said thirty-seven worlds were strung together."

"But I counted along the way."

"Just what I saw already exceeds a hundred."

He turned his head to look toward the depths of the Star Sea.

That dark-gold thin thread is still extending.

No one knows where its end is.

Yao bit her lip.

"Brother Monkey, the living beings of these worlds... all don't know they're being controlled?"

"Even if they knew, what could they do?"

Sun Wukong's voice carried a hint of fire.

"Look at their cultivation."

"The strongest of them is only an Earth Immortal."

"This level of order presses down."

"They can't even give rise to the thought of resistance."

"Just like the mortals in the Three Realms back then."

"Living under Hongjun's rules."

"They think this is Heaven."

"They think this is fate."

"They don't even know there's a bastard controlling everything above them!"

He spoke louder and louder.

The Golden Cudgel burned fiercely in his palm.

Yao grabbed his arm.

"Keep it down!"

Sun Wukong took a deep breath.

He forcibly suppressed his fire.

He knew now wasn't the time to lose his temper.

The level of that opposing will is too high.

He needs more information.

He needs to get to the bottom of this Star Sea.

Only then can he act.

"Go."

He pulled Yao and continued drifting deeper.

He avoided the coverage range of that dark-gold thin thread.

He weaved through those "wild" world bubbles.

He walked for about half an hour.

Yao suddenly grabbed his hand.

"Wait."

Her gaze changed.

Illusory Dream Great Dao spun wildly in the depths of her pupils.

"Over there."

She pointed to a blank void on the left that appeared empty.

"There's movement."

Sun Wukong looked in that direction.

Nothing at all.

Pitch-black void.

Not even a star.

But he trusted Yao.

He pushed his Fiery Golden Eyes to the limit.

Golden light poured into his pupils.

Then he saw it.

That region of "empty nothing" void was not empty.

It had been "painted" empty by something.

It was as if someone had taken a cloth and covered that area.

Under the cloth.

Something was moving.

Sun Wukong held his breath.

He tore open that layer of disguise bit by bit.

Then his whole body froze.

Under the cloth.

It was a thin line of dark gold.

Exactly the same as the line that linked those world bubbles.

But what was strung on this thin line was not world bubbles.

They were people.

To be precise.

They were corpses, one after another.

Those corpses were pierced through the chest by dark-gold runes.

Like skewered meat strung on iron spikes.

One next to another.

Arranged in a long line.

Each corpse's face was different.

Some were human.

Some were demon.

Some were of a race he had never seen before.

But all the corpses shared one trait.

Their foreheads.

Were etched with a symbol that had been crossed out.

That symbol was incomplete.

But Sun Wukong still recognized its shape.

His pupils shrank to pinpoints.

That symbol.

Matched the pattern of the Void Dao Seed within his body.

Exactly the same.

Yao's voice came from beside him.

It was soft.

And trembling.

"Brother Monkey……these people……"

"They all carry the aura of the Void."

"Most of it has faded……but the foundation remains."

"Are they……Master's people?"

Sun Wukong did not answer.

He stared at those corpses.

His lips began to turn pale.

A feeling more terrifying than killing intent surged up from his chest.

Just then.

The dark-gold thin line stringing the corpses suddenly lit up.

A voice came from the end of the line.

It was not old and hoarse.

Nor was it raspy.

It was a very young voice.

Carrying a smile.

"Interesting."

"There's still a 'Void' seed that survived."

"It ran to my fishing ground."