The pale eyes of the man in gray finally darkened completely. He looked at Chu Yang as though, for the first time, he had truly taken this seemingly lazy young man seriously.
Chu Yang did not look at him again. He merely tilted his head toward Su Wanwan and lifted his chin. "Continue."
Su Wanwan had been startled by that as well, but then an exceedingly strange yet solid confidence surged up from within her.
It was hard to describe.
It was like gritting your teeth and forcing yourself to stand firm, only to suddenly realize, after standing there for a while, that someone behind you was truly holding the whole situation steady. That forced resolve slowly turned into genuine backbone.
She pressed her lips together and simply stepped another half-step forward, meeting the gray-clad man's gaze.
"I don't care how many leaders there are in your forest, nor how you usually divide territory, eat people, or rob things. Today, I'm saying only one thing."
"From now until we leave this forest, no one is to set their sights on Tang Monk."
"Anyone who tries dies."
She spoke those final three words with absolute clarity.
A bird hidden somewhere in the trees seemed to have been startled and fluttered out. Yet before it flew far, it seemed frightened by some other aura and hurriedly darted deeper into the shadows of the branches.
The man in gray said nothing for a long while.
The demons behind him were even tenser, each wearing a different expression. Some were annoyed, some furious, while others had clearly begun to feel wary.
After a long moment, the man in gray finally let out a soft breath and said with a faint, ambiguous smile, "Miss, you have quite the tone."
"What, you don't accept it?" Su