At night, in the meditation room beside the Snowy Path mountain gate, a certain big macaque—in other words, the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey—was squatting in a corner with his head in his hands. His face and body were covered in bruises.
The reason he looked like that, of course, was his last-minute attempt to flee at Mirror Lake!
After they drove off that Yellow Brows and returned, Tibbers had grabbed him and given him a thorough beating. If they hadn't still needed him to guide them, he'd be in pieces by now, not merely covered in bruises.
Meanwhile!
Besides Annie, Tibbers, and the pitiful Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey, there was also a beautiful older sister in a red dress, with silvery-white skin, lying beside the bonfire they'd lit in the room despite the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. She didn't look entirely human.
And who was she? None other than Kang Jinlong, the dragon Tibbers had beaten into the bottom of the lake!
That's right!
After driving off Yellow Brows, Annie had fished the dragon out of the lake, just in case there was something to be gained. Once Kang Jinlong had recovered her human form, Annie had brought her back and treated her.
But she was still unconscious. They had no idea when she might wake up.
"..."
(￣~￣) Chew!
Annie sat in a chair, holding something in her hands and taking big bites.
"..."
Meanwhile, Tibbers stood nearby with its willow staff in its arms, occasionally glancing warily at Kang Jinlong's faintly twitching eyelids. She seemed liable to wake at any moment.
Of course, it wasn't worried she might suddenly lash out and hurt someone. It was worried she'd wake up and, without stopping to ask questions, charge at a certain troublesome little master who was busy eating—and then get