The demoness finished speaking.
After hearing her out, Wukong stood on the long staircase and scoffed.
"Old Sun is a monkey. I can't be bothered with all this love and resentment between men and women."
As he spoke, he slammed the Golden Cudgel down from his shoulder, planting it against the ground with a bang.
"But Old Sun isn't blind. I can see."
Wukong raised his left hand and pointed down the long staircase.
Beneath the gray sun, countless women gazed upward. Every one of them was smiling.
Like rows of puppets arranged in poses on a shelf.
Wukong's finger swept slowly over the crowd.
"You say no one here controls them, no one confines them."
"They can laugh when they want, cry when they want."
"Go wherever they want."
He lifted his eyes, his finger sweeping over the crowd.
"But why don't you look down? All you've done is find another way to control them."
The demoness hovering in midair said nothing.
Wukong took a step forward as he spoke, his eyes narrowing, his voice cold as iron as he demanded, "Do they truly all want to sleep forever and never wake?"
"Did they tell you about these sufferings themselves, or did you speak for them?"
"Is this so-called joy something they wanted, or something you forced on them?"
At that, he turned the Golden Cudgel slightly, scraping its shaft across the ground.
"What a damned dream."
"It's still nothing but a cage!"
The demoness looked down at Wukong after hearing him out. Suddenly, she gave a soft laugh.
"A cage?"
Her laughter was quiet at first, but the next instant, she thrust a hand toward the crowd below.
"Then ask them!"
Her voice suddenly turned shrill.
The gray sun shuddered with it, and all the black threads hanging