Chapter 30: The Setting Sun Is Beautiful

Chapter 30: The Sunset is Beautiful

The sound of "crackle, crackle" continued incessantly. As the Black Boar approached the Old Monkey, the Old Monkey's body began to undergo a transformation, emitting a disturbing, unsettling sound, as if his bones were snapping one after another.

"Boom!" The Black Boar landed a punch squarely on the Old Monkey.

The Old Monkey spat out a mouthful of blood. Simultaneously, the fur all over his body began to turn a faint red, as blood started to seep out from the pores of his skin.

The Black Boar's punch accelerated the Old Monkey's backward flight, and his body began to change even more rapidly. Accompanied by that teeth-grinding, eerie sound, the Old Monkey's bones seemed to melt; his body grew soft, twisting and turning in mid-air like a water snake.

"What kind of tricks are you playing?" The Black Boar continued his pursuit, throwing another punch aimed at the Old Monkey.

However, this strike, infused with massive demonic power, felt as if it had plunged into a quagmire, sinking deep into the Old Monkey's body. The Old Monkey wore a strange smile that sent a shiver down the Black Boar’s spine.

"Great Sage Seal!" With blood dripping from every inch of his fur, the Old Monkey let out a roar. A violent surge of demonic power erupted from his body, expanding outward in a massive, turbulent wave. It engulfed the surrounding Wild Boar soldiers, killing hundreds of them instantly—they didn't even have time to scream.

Amidst the blood mist, the Old Monkey resembled a crimson setting sun. His body had become as thin as a sheet of paper. This sheet, fluttering with the surging demonic power, wrapped itself firmly around the Black Boar’s arm.

As the turbulent power dissipated, the air seemed to stagnate, and the entire space froze for a moment. The Old Monkey’s body rapidly spread from the Black Boar’s arm to envelop his entire frame.

In the instant the Old Monkey unleashed his final reserves of power, the Black Boar’s defensive aura had been weakened by more than half. Now, terrified, he tried to pull his arm back, but the force of his struggle only accelerated the speed at which the paper-thin skin of the Old Monkey wrapped around him.

The Old Monkey’s demonic core had been shattered by his own hand back when Zhou Yu helped him break the seal, and his flesh and blood had turned to nothingness along with his final burst of power. Now, only this skin remained, clinging to the Black Boar like a tight-fitting suit made of monkey hide.

"Boom."

The Black Boar fell from mid-air, crashing into the ground and creating a deep crater amidst a cloud of dust.

"Grandpa Monkey!" The Colored Monkey, witnessing everything from nearby, was consumed by rage at the Old Monkey's death. His eyes turned blood-red as he gripped his golden staff and leaped, covering over twenty yards in a single bound.

"Extend!" The golden staff surged instantly, thrusting straight toward the Black Boar’s head—the only part not covered by the skin.

The Black Boar struggled to flip his body over on the ground, spitting out a dim, fading demonic orb from his mouth.

"Break!" With the Colored Monkey’s shout, the golden staff pierced through the orb. The turbulence from the explosion hammered against the Colored Monkey’s body, but he seemed oblivious to the pain, charging forward relentlessly.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous crash, the Colored Monkey slammed his staff onto the Black Boar’s head, driving him deep into the mud. The protective aura around the Black Boar vanished with that single blow.

"Die!" The Colored Monkey roared, thrusting his staff into the mud and heaving with all his might, launching the Black Boar into the air.

"Expand!"

The Colored Monkey shouted again, and the tip of the golden staff grew immensely large. He swung the staff with savage force, smashing the Black Boar high into the sky.

With a "thump," the Colored Monkey channeled his demonic power into his legs and erupted forward, leaving a crater in the ground. A ripple of energy expanded outward as he vanished like a streak of lightning, leaping high into the air to pursue the flying Black Boar.

High above, the Colored Monkey caught up to the Black Boar and raised his staff, bringing it down with desperate force.

The Black Boar’s protective aura was shattered, and his lower body had been pulverized by the previous blow. With only a single breath left, he saw the Colored Monkey raising the staff again and whimpered in a tearful voice, "Grandpa Monkey, have mercy..."

"Boom!"

The Colored Monkey had no desire to hear a word; he brought the staff down directly.

The Black Boar’s head was smashed into a pulp, blood and brains splattering and floating in mid-air like rain. His body plummeted like a falling star, crashing into the ground and leaving a massive crater.

As the dust settled, the Wild Boar soldiers gathered around, staring at the pile of mangled flesh in the pit with terror in their eyes.

A golden light descended, and the Colored Monkey appeared in the crater.

"Clang, clatter."

The Wild Boar soldiers dropped their weapons, the sound echoing across the field.

With a "swish," the soldiers knelt in unison around the pit toward the Colored Monkey. In his hand, the Colored Monkey gently clutched the remaining piece of the Old Monkey's skin, a single tear of blood rolling from his crimson eyes.

The sun in the distance was about to dip below the horizon, shedding its final glow, but the Old Monkey was already gone.

With the Old Monkey’s death and the Black Boar reduced to a pile of gore before their eyes, the Wild Boar soldiers were completely broken. First, those near the Colored Monkey dropped their weapons, and then the sound spread like a tide until every single soldier had discarded their arms and prostrated themselves on the ground.

At some point, the winter wind had sharpened, dispersing the scent of blood and ruffling the Colored Monkey’s golden fur, revealing the skin and flesh beneath.

The Colored Monkey tucked the old skin into his chest, looked at the prostrate soldiers, and slowly raised his golden staff.

"Grow!"

With a violent roar, the staff instantly expanded. He brought it crashing down upon the soldiers before him.

"Boom!"

A dozen soldiers were crushed into mud. The remaining soldiers were stunned, paralyzed with fear—why kill them when they had already surrendered and shown their loyalty?

As if sensing their confusion, the Colored Monkey shouted, "Isn't it a bit too late to surrender now? Grandpa Monkey! I will avenge you!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Colored Monkey continued to smash down, turning over a hundred soldiers into slush. The earth had turned into a muddy, crimson bog.

"Ah! Run for your lives!" The soldiers further away scrambled to their feet, screaming as they fled in all directions. The Colored Monkey made his golden staff huge and long, sweeping it across the field and crushing dozens more.

As the rest fled into the distance, the Colored Monkey chased them while shouldering the massive staff, looking completely deranged.

Zhou Yu did not stop him. He merely sighed, recalled his clones, and left only two to help untie the monkeys. Once freed, the monkeys huddled on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, heartbroken to the core.

Zhou Yu sighed inwardly; the Old Monkey must have been a benevolent demon king.

Fatty approached Zhou Yu cautiously and said, "Great King, although the Monkey King has every reason to be enraged, this is not the way. If he keeps this up, all the Wild Boar soldiers will flee, and how will we defend against the surrounding demon tribes later?"

Zhou Yu looked at Fatty deeply. He couldn't tell if the fat pig was genuinely worried about the tribe's defense or if he was simply afraid that if all the soldiers were slaughtered, he would be left leading only the weak and the infirm.

Turning his gaze away from Fatty, Zhou Yu watched the Colored Monkey chasing a lone soldier, sighed helplessly, and rose to chase after him.

The Colored Monkey was filled with rage, but there is always a limit to one's strength. He had fought the Wild Boar King earlier, exhausting nearly all his demonic power to kill him. Although he had replenished some energy with food, he hadn't fully recovered before charging into the boar herd.

The Colored Monkey didn't know how to exert maximum lethality with minimum effort, so he had been fighting like his life depended on it, exhausting his internal reserves. By the end, he was running on empty, chasing a common soldier and missing three times, his steps growing unsteady.

Zhou Yu arrived behind him and gently knocked him unconscious with a single blow, catching his falling body. He beckoned to Fatty.

When the panting Fatty arrived, Zhou Yu said, "I don't care what method you use, gather all the scattered soldiers immediately."

After saying this, Zhou Yu cast a spell to create two more clones and added, "These two will follow you. If those soldiers don't listen, tell them to kill."

Fatty nodded without a word and led the two clones away, gathering his group of old and infirm soldiers to issue orders.

Zhou Yu carried the Colored Monkey back to the troop and laid him gently on the ground. The monkeys gathered around, examining him carefully.

"Ah!" A monkey gasped, recognizing him. "It's Skinny Monkey!"

More monkeys recognized him and began frantically checking his body for injuries.

"He's fine, just exhausted," Zhou Yu said. "I was worried he’d put himself in danger, so I knocked him out."

An elderly monkey emerged from the crowd, knelt before Zhou Yu, and kowtowed deeply. Zhou Yu quickly crouched to help him up, but the old monkey refused to move, calling him a benefactor. The other monkeys followed suit, kneeling to express their gratitude.

Finding himself with no other choice, Zhou Yu knelt as well and kowtowed back to the monkeys.

"Benefactor, what are you doing?" the old monkey asked in surprise.

"If you won't get up, I have no choice but to kneel with you," Zhou Yu replied.

Although this old monkey was weak and aged, he held great prestige, second only to the late Old Monkey King. He quickly stood up and said, "Children, get up! How can we let our benefactor kneel to us?"

The monkeys stood up at once. Some of the younger ones surrounded Zhou Yu, tugging at his clothes and looking at him with awe. They had witnessed him holding off the boar army single-handedly; in their eyes, he was a great and powerful hero.

"Uncle," a small monkey said, tugging at Zhou Yu's sleeve with his finger in his mouth, looking incredibly cute.

Zhou Yu smiled, bent down to pick him up, and asked, "Little one, what's your name?"

The little monkey bit his finger and pouted, "My name is Kong Kong."

Zhou Yu was taken aback and said, "That's a very domineering name."

"Quick! Bring it over!" A few boar soldiers approached, carrying food and water. They set the items down and stood to the side, looking sheepish. They had previously bullied these monkeys, but now that the Boar King was dead, they had followed Fatty to submit to Zhou Yu and the Colored Monkey. Facing this reversal of status, they felt quite awkward.

"You guys..." Zhou Yu asked, knowing the answer.

A soldier quickly said, "Reporting to the Great King! We are under the command of Leader Fatty. He ordered us to bring this food for our dear monkey brothers."

The soldier was thick-skinned indeed, fitting for one of Fatty’s subordinates, calling them "monkey brothers" with practiced ease. Zhou Yu nodded, looking at the soldier with satisfaction; he raised his estimation of Fatty—truly a clever pig.

"Go back to your duties," Zhou Yu said. "And send someone to the Rocky Ridge to bring back Gray Monkey and Little Flower."

"Understood, Great King! We shall attend to it at once!" The soldiers turned and left.

A few young monkeys emerged from the group, and one said to Zhou Yu, "Benefactor, if the boars go to find Gray Monkey and Little Flower, they might scare them. Let us go instead."

Zhou Yu nodded and pointed to the food on the ground. "Take some to eat on your way."

The monkeys didn't stand on ceremony; they took some fruit and left. Zhou Yu then signaled the monkeys to divide the food. Having suffered for so long and barely eaten, the monkeys stared at the pile, feeling as if they were in a dream.

Zhou Yu grabbed several fruits, stuffed them into Kong Kong’s hands, and gave some to the other small monkeys. The children began to giggle, enlivening the atmosphere. The adults also stepped forward to take their share.

Zhou Yu noticed that the monkeys gave the food to the elders and the young first, keeping only the lesser portions for themselves. He nodded to himself—if this tribe at Rocky Ridge had a strong leader, they could truly become a top-tier clan among the demons.

He felt a tug on his clothes and looked down to see little Kong Kong holding an apple. Seeing Zhou Yu look at him, the little one squinted and pouted, "Kong Kong saved this for you."

Zhou Yu patted the little monkey’s head, took the apple, and began to eat.

"Damn it! Didn't save any for me!" the Colored Monkey grumbled as he woke up and saw Zhou Yu eating. No sooner had he spoken than a small, furry hand reached out, offering him an apple.

The Colored Monkey was stunned, taking the apple from the cute little monkey.

"Kong Kong saved one for you too," the little one said.

Looking at the cute monkey, the grief in the Colored Monkey’s heart for the Old Monkey dimmed slightly. He took a hard bite of the apple, savoring the sweetness of the juice, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of satisfaction.

The sun had completely set.

"What are you looking at?" the Colored Monkey asked.

Zhou Yu was staring blankly toward the west. He replied, "Looking at the sunset."

"What's so good about the sunset?" the Colored Monkey asked.

"There's nothing particularly special about the sunset, but it can still shine," Zhou Yu turned to look at the Colored Monkey and said, "Therefore, the sunset is beautiful."