Early the next morning, the sky had only just begun to brighten.
The three little monkeys were curled up in a corner of the shrine, hugging one another as they slept soundly.
Maodou's straw hat covered his face, and he let out a faint snore.
Huangdou held his wooden stick in his arms, still swinging it around in his dreams.
Lvdou hugged half an unfinished ear of corn, with a kernel crumb still stuck at the corner of his mouth.
Inuyasha looked at the three little monkeys, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"They really don't care where they sleep."
Sakura packed up their things, walked up to the shrine, and gently patted Maodou on the head.
"Maodou, wake up."
Maodou's straw hat shifted, and a sleepy face poked out from underneath.
"Mm... is it morning?"
"It's morning. We're going down the mountain to take a look. You wait for us here."
Maodou woke up at once and sprang up from the ground.
"No way! We're going too!"
Huangdou and Lvdou woke as well, rubbing their eyes as they stood up.
"Yeah! We're going too!"
"We're going to find Lord Ape God ourselves!"
The three little monkeys lined up in a row, tilting their heads back, their eyes full of determination.
Inuyasha glanced at Sakura.
Sakura thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine, but you have to behave. No running around."
"Got it, got it!"
Maodou nodded again and again, his straw hat bobbing up and down.
The three children led the three little monkeys down the mountain path.
The village at the foot of the mountain was not large, with only twenty or thirty households scattered here and there among the fields.
The morning mist had not yet fully dispersed. Cooking smoke rose from the chimneys of each home,