Sun Wukong sneered and turned to stride ahead.
"Move, move, move! Stop dawdling!"
The group continued on their journey.
Cui'er stayed by Tang Monk's side, occasionally handing him a handkerchief to wipe away his sweat, occasionally pulling a cooked sweet potato from her bamboo basket to stave off his hunger.
Tang Monk initially tried to refuse, but seeing her sincerity, he eventually accepted with a smile.
The more Sun Wukong watched, the more irritated he became.
When they stopped to rest at noon, he finally could not hold back any longer and dragged Chu Yang deep into a pine grove.
"Talk! What exactly are you trying to do?"
Leaning against a tree trunk, Chu Yang plucked a pine needle and spun it between his fingers.
"Brother Monkey, don't you think... she's being very obedient now?"
"Obedient my ass!" Sun Wukong lowered his voice. "Old Sun saw through her little scheme at a glance! She just wants to get closer to Master so she can find a chance to strike!"
Chu Yang nodded.
"Right. So if we keep a close watch on her, she won't get a chance."
Sun Wukong glared at him.
"You're trying to suffocate her?"
"More or less." Chu Yang smiled. "Her original plan was to appear in three different forms, one layer after another, provoking you into killing people and driving a wedge between you and Master. But now, after changing form only once, she's been 'taken in' by us. She has no chance to turn into an old woman or an old man again—because she's one of us now."
Sun Wukong stood stunned for a long while.
"You brat... you want her to trap herself to death?"
Chu Yang snapped the pine needle in two.
"The more she wants to get close to Master, the more