Chapter 436: Those 'Failed Monkeys

The voice stopped.

No longer pursued.

Nor did they continue to persuade.

They simply withdrew in silence.

Like loosening the hand that choked his neck, it gave Shihou a moment to catch his breath.

This move was more poisonous than any attack.

Because it gave Shihou an illusion——

The other side wasn't forcing him.

They were waiting for him to figure it out himself.

Shihou sat in the void, his chest rising and falling heavily.

He gripped his knees, nails digging into flesh, numb with pain.

He stared into the darkness, and the darkness stared back.

Very quiet.

Quiet enough to make one's skin crawl.

Just then——

The darkness lit up.

Not that Thunderbolt-like light, but a point of light that slowly brightened.

Gentle.

Lukewarm.

Like someone lighting a candle.

A figure walked out of the darkness.

Shihou's pupils shrank sharply.

It was a monkey.

About his height, with dull fur, wearing tattered Golden Armor.

Its left arm was severed at the shoulder, the wound a scab of blackened blood.

But the monkey's gaze was calm.

No pain.

No resentment.

Even carrying a hint of relieved smile.

It walked up to Shihou, crouched, and met his eyes.

It spoke.

Its voice hoarse like a broken bellows: "Brother... stop struggling."

Shihou's back straightened.

The Golden Armored Monkey curled its lips: "I fought for three thousand years. To the edge of the Universe. Finally realized——can't win."

The words fell.

Light rose again in the darkness.

One.

Two.

Ten.

A hundred.

Hundreds, even thousands of figures emerged from the darkness.

Some wore monk's robes, their faces painted with Buddhist patterns.

Some were wrapped in mechanical prosthetics, red light flashing in their eye sockets.

Some were covered in blood, dragging broken tails.

Some were left with only half a body, the other half as if bitten off by something.

But they all shared one thing——

Monkey.

All monkeys.

Shihou's breath stopped.

His head buzzed.

Because he recognized these figures.

Not by their faces.

But by their aura.

That stubborn, life‑or‑death spirit seeping from the bones.

Exactly like his.

These were all 'him'.

Sun Wukong from different times and spaces.

A monkey draped in a monk's robe stepped forward, palms together, tone gentle like an old monk:

"I laid down the butcher's knife, tried to convert with Buddhist teachings. I tried for ten thousand years——to no avail.

"That thing……cannot be dealt with by any Principle. In the end I chose Nirvana."

The mechanical monkey's eye sockets flashed red twice, emitting an electronic voice: "My plan—

Developing the ultimate weapon—spanning a million years—result—target possesses Concept immunity—plan failed—system suggests—terminate operation—"

Another monkey, its whole body covered with scorch marks from fire, its throat hoarse as if a saw had been ripped: "I went up with all the monkey cubs of Mount Huaguo.

I tried to kill it with my life. I piled up for thirty thousand years… the monkeys were gone, the enemy remained. I hid, survived for a hundred thousand years. In the end I found—survival was useless."

They opened their mouths one after another.

Each sentence was a fragment of despair.

Every face bore the same ending.

Can't defeat it.

Can't defeat it.

Still can't defeat it.

Stone Monkey's fist trembled.

He wanted to say "fart".

He wanted to say "you're worthless".

He wanted to say "I'm different from you".

But the words got stuck in his throat; not a single word could come out.

Because the faces of these "worthless" ones all looked exactly like his.

Golden Armored Monkey reached out, patting his shoulder.

The pressure was light.

As if afraid of hurting him.

"Brother," it smiled, "do you think you're stronger than us?"

Stone Monkey said nothing.

Golden Armored Monkey didn't press him either.

It just crouched there, its gaze calm as a pool of Dead Water.

"I'm the same as you."

"Also think I can endure."

"Also think I can pierce everything."

"What's the result?"

It lifted the charred wound at its broken arm and shook it: "This is what I left after hard‑hitting it.

One strike. Just one strike. Half of my body is gone. My Monkey Heart is shattered. My Dao… is scattered."

It smiled bitterly: "I've just realized that some things cannot be changed just by Unyielding."

Stone Monkey's Adam's apple rolled.

"You… do you regret?"

The voice was very low.

So low that even he felt guilty listening to himself.

Golden Armored Monkey was stunned for a moment.

Then it smiled.

The smile was relieved.

"No regrets."

Its voice was light and airy, like a breeze: "Because after letting go… it doesn't hurt. It's not tiring. No longer have to watch others die for me."

It paused, its gaze a bit dazed: "This feeling—better than winning."

Stone Monkey's hand clenched tighter.

His nails dug into flesh, blood dripping down the gaps.

He wanted to ask "What about the Master?"

He wanted to ask "What about the ones you care about?"

But he couldn't speak it out.

Because he feared the answer.

Golden Armored Monkey stood up, dusting off its body.

"Come on, brother."

It extended a hand, palm up: "Come with us. It's quiet here. No war, no tears. You deserve to rest."

Stone Monkey stared at that hand for a long time.

The hand was very rough.

The palm was covered with old calluses.

Exactly like his own.

His hand slowly rose.

One inch.

One inch.

Just as his fingertip was about to touch the other's palm—

He heard that sound.

It wasn't a dark sound.

It was a light point.

It came from inside the light point on his chest that was about to go out.

... Don't... believe...

Only three words.

It was as light as a mosquito's buzz.

But Shi Hou trembled all over.

His hand stopped.

The Golden Armored Monkey's face darkened slightly: "Are you still hesitating?"

Shi Hou didn't speak.

He lowered his head, staring at his own chest.

The light point was jumping.

It jumped very slowly, weakly, like it was about to die.

But it was still jumping.

Still there.

Shi Hou's lips moved.

You……

He raised his head, looking at the dense crowd of figures: "You really don't regret it?"

The Golden Armored Monkey nodded.

The other monkeys also nodded one after another.

No regrets.

Really no regrets.

Letting go is right.

Shi Hou stared at their eyes for a long time.

Then he laughed.

He laughed coldly.

You're deceiving me.

The Golden Armored Monkey's face froze.

Shi Hou stood up, pointing at their eyes: "Your eyes are full of death."

A living person's eyes move.

Your eyes don't move.

You haven't let go.

You are——

He said each word with a pause: "You've been killed."

His words fell.

All the monkeys looked at him in unison.

The relieved smile on their faces froze at the same moment.

Then——

It split open.

Not the face splitting open.

But their whole bodies split open down the middle.

Like a clay dummy, struck with a blow from the back.

There was no blood in the crack.

Only a grayish, cement-like substance flowed out.

The Golden Armored Monkey's face began to twist.

The contents of its eye sockets turned into two clumps of black mist.

Its voice changed.

No longer gentle.

It became a piercing, metallic screech: "How did you——discover——"

Shi Hou spat a mouthful of bloody foam: "Your acting sucks."

He pointed at his own chest: "My lousy heart, no matter how unreliable, won't deceive me."

The light point on his chest jumped faster.

Although it was still weak.

But it was jumping desperately.

Like it was desperately shouting: "Don't believe! Don't believe! It's all fake!"

Shi Hou grinned, revealing a row of monkey teeth.

You want me to give up.

Fine.

But you need to show some real skill.

Don't try to fool me with this fake junk.

He kicked the Golden Armored Monkey in the chest.

That figure instantly exploded into a cloud of black mist, dissipating into the void.

The silhouettes of the other monkeys also shattered one after another.

Shihou stood in place, breathing heavily.

The light point on his chest lit up a trace.

Only a trace.

But within that trace, a surge of scorching heat was wrapped.

It was left by the one who shouted "Monkeyhead" at him.

The darkness stayed quiet for a long time.

So long that Shihou thought the other wouldn't speak again.

Then—

That voice sounded again.

No longer equal.

No longer gentle.

It was a naked, ice-cold to the extreme malice.

"Interesting."

"You are indeed harder to deal with than they are."

"But—"

The voice paused, carrying a kind of morbid excitement: "I have plenty of time."

Shihou's spine straightened.

The darkness began to move.

Not retreat.

It was a surge.

Like a tide, it surged toward him from all directions.

This time it was not gentle.

It was to devour.

To completely devour him.

Shihou clenched his fists.

The light point on his chest was jumping wildly.

It was shouting.

Shouting desperately.

Shihou couldn't hear what it was shouting.

But he knew—

It was shouting "Don't die."