I grew increasingly curious about the monkey's former owner, and I also became interested in the parallel world it came from.
But the monkey apparently did not want to say much more, and we fell silent.
I followed the direction it pointed. It said Tom Cat had told it about this location—the location of "me," who had been listed as Number Four. It was not sure whether the information was true, which was why it knew the place but could not be certain it was not a trap.
"If there's danger later, run on your own," I told the monkey.
The monkey said, "I can protect myself. Just take care of yourself."
I smiled. It reminded me of that monkey again—the battle-loving monkey.
But at this moment, that monkey was still at our base, along with the doctor I knew well.
"What are you laughing at?" The monkey seemed a little displeased. Perhaps it thought I was mocking it.
I hurriedly said, "Nothing. I just thought of an old friend. It's a monkey too."
"Oh? You actually have a monkey friend?" It became interested as well.
"Yes, it's a Stone Monkey. There are many legends about it in our world."
The monkey said, "You're not talking about the Stone Monkey from Journey to the West, are you?"
I was stunned. "You know Journey to the West too?"
"What's so strange about that? Our world has that book too, and its story should be more or less the same as yours. But we don't believe such a monkey truly existed. If there really were such a monkey, it would be far too pathetic."
Pathetic? Where had that come from?
"It's your friend?"
"Yes. We haven't known each other for very long, but I suppose we can barely be considered friends."
"Can