She handed the hooligan a handful of copper coins smeared with grease.
The street thug weighed the protection money in his hand and felt deeply satisfied. In this line of work, one needed a sharp eye. Bullying the weak, fearing the strong, and throwing one's weight around were a rogue's proper duties—nothing shameful about it. The thug had a very precise understanding of his own position. Bullying women and children might be disgraceful, but there was no risk involved.
"Good. If anyone dares bully you two, just call for me! I, Zhang Mazi, will protect you!"
He thumped his hairy black chest until it boomed.
"Squeak squeak~ Protect us~"
The monkey bounced about happily, thoroughly enjoying the act of paying protection money. It was only a handful of copper coins. Dig up a chunk of copper ore and hand it to the White Dragon, and she could pinch out a whole pile of them. No matter how much they spent every day, they could never finish. The monkey had only ever seen the White Dragon toss copper coins around and occasionally spend silver; it had never seen her use gold or jewels.
Bai Yujun sat on a bamboo stool, absentmindedly tending the fire.
Her gaze swept toward the towering golden imperial palace several streets away.
The gray monkey shaded his eyes with a paw and followed his companion's gaze. He too saw that resplendent palace of gold and jade. He could not tell what was so beautiful about it, only that it was certainly different from forests, mountain caves, and underground dens.
"Bai, let's break in! You be the emperor, and I'll be the general!"
"Emperor? No interest. I only want to take a look at the palace library. I've searched for so long without finding any useful clues. If