╮(╯▽╰)╭ You seriously don't know even this?
Although that yellow-robed little monk had a face resembling Maitreya, from his few words, the huge macaque he had scared away, and the way he referred to himself as "this patriarch," it wasn't difficult to guess that he was undoubtedly the master of Little Western Heaven—in other words, Yellow-Brow Patriarch himself!
Of course, it was quite possible that he wasn't human?
As for why he insisted on disguising himself as Buddha of the East, or rather, as the little Maitreya, while simultaneously seeming extremely abrupt and incongruous in many aspects, from his appearance to his movements and choice of words, Annie had no idea. She had no time to think about it, either.
After all, at that very moment, he had already charged right up to her, so those minor questions were no longer important for now.
However...
"!?"
Just as he charged to within three steps of Annie, with the mace's thunderous blow about to descend, the ice beneath the yellow-robed little Maitreya—Yellow-Brow himself—unexpectedly cracked open for no apparent reason?
Then, unable to bear his weight, he was caught completely off guard. His entire body fell straight into the lake's bone-chilling water with a loud splash.
"Hee!"
(-)
Seeing this, Annie hurriedly jumped two steps away to avoid being splashed by the icy water. At the same time, she pulled down one eyelid with her free hand and made a huge face at him:
"Little monk!"
() o
"Who told you to run around on the ice carrying something that heavy? Look at you now—you fell into an ice hole, didn't you?"
(⊙⊙)
"Serves you right!"
(*) Hahahaha!
After laughing at him without the slightest restraint, she didn't forget to quickly retreat several more steps.
That was because the yellow-robed little Maitreya—the