The night was bleak and hazy, the moon half-hidden behind clouds and mist, revealing only a blurred outline.
The Monkey Enclosure was dark and silent, with several streetlamps hanging like mosquito traps. Their light reached no farther than two meters, and rather than bringing illumination, they only added to the eerie gloom.
Zhang Yuanqing, who had heard the monkey speak, could no longer move his feet.
Stop-Killing Palace Lord and Princess Yinyao ahead of him also stopped. They looked at Zhang Yuanqing, then at the monkey.
At that moment, the large monkey on the rockery spoke again:
"If it can't be placed in the Inventory, it can't acknowledge a master. This is a rule-type item you created; in ancient times, it would have been a bonded artifact. Unless its original master dies, a bonded artifact will never acknowledge someone else as its master. Celestial Master Zhang, you're making things difficult for me."
The large monkey paused for several seconds before continuing:
"I told it that I had important matters to deal with and would be leaving for a while. Maybe a few days, maybe a few months, maybe even a few years. During that time, you would serve as the administrator. It agreed.
"Dog Elder, if you don't wish to take on this responsibility, I can think of another way. But you know what is being suppressed in the Zoo. I wouldn't feel at ease handing it over to someone unreliable, and neither would you."
This was a conversation from twenty years ago, perhaps even longer—a conversation recorded by the monkeys in the enclosure.
And the two people speaking were Celestial Master Zhang and Dog Elder.
As usual, the monkey paused for a few seconds before continuing:
"You four should never have entered that ruin. You entered it and released