This was the warning of Father God Himself!
The meat that even Father God praised—it would be a ghost of a lie if that flavor turned out bad.
It was just... he wondered how big the true form of that Kunpeng was, and whether it would be enough to divide among thirteen people?
No!
He also wondered if that Kunpeng belonged to a flock; if so, they could catch a few more and let the lads get a taste!
Chapter 28: Tongtian: Leave the monkey to me, you can rest assured
At this moment, Kunpeng, who had returned to the crowd with a gloomy face, suddenly felt a chill shoot straight from the base of his tail to his crown.
Kunpeng looked around in all directions and found that the burly men surrounding the person who had humiliated him just now were all staring at him with extremely strange gazes.
Their pupils flashed with sharp light.
It even seemed as though the corners of their mouths were dripping with a bit of glistening fluid?
Eh? Why couldn't he wipe it clean no matter how hard he tried?
He strained his ears to listen—what barbecue? Braised in soy sauce? Clear-stewed?
What on earth were all of these?
Rage instantly surged up in Kunpeng, and he believed that this must be related to the person who had humiliated him, namely Li Hao.
He had the urge to fly into a rage, but he dared not do so no matter what.
Leaving aside the fact that the fellow who had humiliated him was very tall, fierce, and looked rather difficult to mess with—
In a head-on confrontation, Kunpeng truly lacked any certainty of winning, and he would only ever dare to make a move through a sneak attack or ambush.
Just take those burly men alone; every single one of them was muscular and possessed a fierce countenance.
He couldn't afford to provoke them! He couldn't afford to provoke them!
As the saying goes, forbearance for a moment brings calm and peace, and stepping back opens up a vast ocean and sky.
Kunpeng decisively made the wisest choice.
He suppressed the anger in his heart, shrank back as much as he could, and reduced his own presence.
He chickened out!
Kunpeng backed down, but the Ancestor Witches had no such intentions, and they chatted among themselves.
They discussed how to strike and when would be the best time to do it.
To be honest, they were already growing somewhat impatient.
Had this not been the Purple Heaven Palace, and had they not still needed to show some respect to the sage,
they probably would have already swarmed forward and captured Kunpeng.
As a small interlude came to an end, Li Hao figured that it was about time.
He lifted the Six-Eared Macaque out of his arms and placed it in front of the first meditation mat.
"This meditation mat belongs to you. You can sit on it if you want to, or leave it if you don't—either way is fine!"
After saying that, he turned to look at Tongtian.
"Brother, this little monkey is very pitiful. Once we leave, please help look after it."
Tongtian patted his chest in assurance. "Brother, rest easy! Everything is on me!"
Although it was a solemn promise, Li Hao did not take it seriously.
Who didn't know? Tongtian had the least say among the Three Pure Ones.
The only reason he said that was simply to use this opening to warn Laozi and Yuanshi.
To ensure absolute safety, Li Hao smiled and patted Yuanshi on the shoulder.
"With your words, Brother, I can rest easy! I'm leaving it all to you!"
As he spoke, he even leaned close to Yuanshi's ear and whispered, "You know the rules. If the little monkey is bullied, see if I don't mess you up until you're dead!"
Before these words, Yuanshi had still felt quite disdainful in his heart.
He believed that Li Hao had poor judgment and was entrusting the task to the wrong person.
Before he could mock for long, however, this blow came down right on his head.
Yuanshi was also a person of extreme pride, so naturally he was unwilling to accept being threatened like this.
Yet what could he do even if he was unwilling?
He was well aware that the fellow before him now looked gentle and easygoing, but all of that was merely a facade.
This fellow was a pure robber and bandit.
The words he spoke were things he would genuinely carry out.
Acting on the philosophy that a wise man submits to circumstances, Yuanshi nodded slightly and agreed.
In his heart, however, he was comforting himself.
I am merely making a tactical retreat.
A gentleman takes ten years to exact his revenge.
Showing weakness now is only for the sake of exacting revenge all the sooner.
I am certainly not chickening out!
Who am I, Yuanshi?
How could I possibly chicken out?
Having obtained a satisfying answer, Li Hao finally let go of Yuanshi and prepared to walk back to the side of the Ancestor Witches.
He felt as though the hem of his trousers had been hooked by something.
Perplexed, he lowered his head and saw that the Six-Eared Macaque was holding onto the hem of his trousers with one hand.
At the same time, it tilted its head up to look at him, its little gaze filled with entreaty.
It looked just like a child begging not to be left behind.
Not understanding what was going on, Li Hao asked curiously,
"What is it? Is there something else?"
The Six-Eared Macaque shook its head slightly and clenched its teeth, as if having made some major decision.
The struggle in its gaze instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of nonchalance, ease, or perhaps relief.
"I... I'm not listening to the sermon! I want to go with you!"
Li Hao squatted down and stroked the head of the Six-Eared Macaque. "You have to listen to the sermon. You went through so much trouble and almost died—wasn't it all just to listen to the sermon?"
The Six-Eared Macaque shook its head with a wronged expression and said stubbornly, "I... I want to follow you!"
Li Hao smiled. "Listening to the sermon and following me don't conflict, you know!"
"You can just come find me after you finish listening to the sermon!"
"Besides, listening to the sermon might be of immense help to you. Following me is different; I don't have any cultivation techniques suitable for you."
The Six-Eared Macaque still shook its head stubbornly, its little furry hands tightly clutching the hem of Li Hao's trousers.
Li Hao was instantly driven to utter helplessness!
This Six-Eared Macaque was simply far too stubborn!
No matter how nicely or reasonably he talked, why wouldn't it listen?
On second thought, however, it seemed to make sense.
If it weren't stubborn, would it have used its Divine Power to eavesdrop on the sermon just out of a desire to seek the Dao?
It was the same for listening to the sermon, and it was just as true now for wanting to follow him.
To put it bluntly, if it weren't stubborn, it wouldn't be the Six-Eared Macaque.
Looking at the Six-Eared Macaque, Li Hao sighed, having no idea what to do.
At that moment, Houtu stepped forward, scooped up the Six-Eared Macaque in her arms, and stroked the little monkey's soft fur.
She said in a soft and gentle voice, "Little Brother, if it's unwilling to leave, just take it along. As for this sermon, if it doesn't listen, then it doesn't listen. In the vast Primordial Era, are we afraid of failing to find a suitable cultivation technique for it?"
In truth, Houtu was not doing this because she liked the Six-Eared Macaque.
The primary reason still lay with Li Hao; she saw that her precious little brother was quite fond of this macaque.
She had previously wanted to suggest this very idea, but alas, her little brother seemed to think otherwise.
How could Houtu have raised any objections?
Now that this little monkey was willing to follow them and her little brother looked somewhat troubled,
she had no choice but to step forward and sort the matter out roughly.
As soon as Li Hao heard these words, it instantly struck him.
It seemed that this reasoning made sense!
As long as the Six-Eared Macaque didn't eavesdrop, Hongjun naturally would have no reason to utter words like "The Dao is not imparted to the six-eared," right?
Of course, one could not rule out that old silver-fox Hongjun might scheme against the Six-Eared Macaque in devious ways.
If those words were truly never spoken, then given the innate foundation of the Six-Eared Macaque, from whom could it not seek the Dao and learn the Dharma by simply looking around?
Couldn't Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian, who were closest by, all accomplish this?
Especially Tongtian; this fellow was definitely an animal fanatic.
And he had to be the severely obsessed kind among them.
Among his disciples, there were rabbits, fish, things as small as mice, and things as large as Great Pengs—everything imaginable was present.
If someone claimed this guy wasn't a severe animal fanatic, who would believe it?
To step back ten thousand steps, even if he weren't, he still didn't dislike animals, after all—he intercepted a sliver of vitality for all living beings, didn't he?
Before you continue