The Hero Returns

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Inside a cramped, barely four-meter-square room, empty booze bottles were scattered on the floor.

Three large, healthy individuals could be seen lying around amid the messy bottles, too. The already cramped room now resembled a chaotic mess when the three of them were tangled in their slumber like this.

Snore, kuh…

Snooooore—

Su-hyeun was abruptly roused up from his slumber, and the first thing he heard was someone's loud snoring.

He didn't have to turn his head to figure out whose grand snoring that was.

"The smell of booze, it's…" Su-hyeun muttered out of drowsiness without even realizing it.

The aroma of booze that seemed so sweet and piquant last night began stinging Su-hyeun's nose rather nastily upon waking up from a good night's sleep. It made his innards tumble somewhat.

It wasn't as if he wanted to throw up or he had a hangover, but even so, the smell of the booze didn't seem that pleasant anymore.

He scrunched his face for a bit, then while blocking his nose, he finally noticed that someone was missing from the room.

"First Brother?"

The Bull Demon King wasn't here. He must've woken first.

Su-hyeun cautiously got up to make sure the other two wouldn't wake up.

Creak…

Despite being so cautious, though, he couldn't do anything about the old door hinges creaking rather audibly. He checked to see Sun Wukong toss around in his sleep before he resumed his exodus from the house.

"You're up?"

Su-hyeun shifted his gaze to a spot next to a large bowl with freshly drawn water when he heard that question.

That was where he found the Bull Demon King, who had woken up not too long ago himself, drinking some water.

"Yes, brother. Just now, I—"

"What about a hangover, though?"

"I may not be a fan of drinking, but I can handle it just fine. Honestly, it feels like I can handle it even better these days."

"Perhaps I should've brought even stronger alcohol in that case." The Bull Demon King took another sip of the water that he scooped up with a smaller steel bowl, then handed it over to Su-hyeun. The latter wet his throat then settled down on a small wooden chair nearby.

The Bull Demon King asked, "Are others still asleep?"

"Yes, they are."

"But they need to wake up soon so that uncle can return. Perhaps it's time that we rouse them up."

"I'm sure that's not necessa—"

"But there isn't a lot of time left, is there?"

Su-hyeun, who was about to dissuade his First Brother, couldn't continue with the rest of his sentence.

Not a lot of time left—it felt like that simple line contained so many meanings.

"How much do you know, First Brother?"

"After I reached this age, I've begun seeing things that even I'd like to not see in the first place," the Bull Demon King chuckled softly. But that chuckle slowly lowered in tone, eventually turning into a bitter grin instead. "Outwardly, he looks much older than me, and that's why we call him 'uncle,' but in actual age, I'm several tens of thousands of years older than him. Well, when you reach my age, that sort of gap stops mattering altogether, really."

"I heard that you were the first to meet Master Subhuti."

"Yes. I was the first, the Roc Demon King was the second, and Wukong was the third. That was the order of our meeting with uncle, and our ages matched it, so we decided to become sworn brothers like that, too."

To the trio of Yogoes, Master Subhuti was like their father who helped them connect the thread of brotherhood.

When only counting the years, the Bull Demon King was far older than Master Subhuti, who used to be a human being. Even so, the Yogoe deeply respected and adored the latter. That side of him was easy to see during last night's drinking party.

"We weren't able to see him for a very long time. We didn't know why, and uncle remained far away from us for too long. He did eventually return to our side quite recently, but…even then, there is another parting on the horizon waiting for us."

"First Brother, is saying goodbye getting difficult even for you?"

"An empty spot is bound to be noticed no matter how big or small it is, after all. The old saying goes like, 'you don't remember the filled seats, but you are aware of the empty ones.'"

Thunk—

It was at that moment the door Su-hyeun had cautiously closed behind him was flung wide open. Sun Wukong and the Roc Demon King had woken up and were trudging outside the building.

"Let's eat breakfast," yawned Sun Wukong.

The first thing Sun Wukong did as soon as he opened his eyes was to rub his belly and sound his internal clock. The Roc Demon King was also trudging outside while rubbing his eyes in drowsiness.

"Wukong," called another voice, "come and enjoy your breakfast."

Master Subhuti was walking up to them from some distance away.

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The meal was plain and simple. Some roots and wild vegetables freshly picked from the forest, plus some potatoes sourced from the village, took care of their needs.

Sun Wukong complained about the lack of meat, prompting Master Subhuti to say something, "Didn't our teacher tell us to refrain from consuming meat?"

Master Subhuti's teacher could only be the one currently teaching Sun Wukong, the one who gave him the current trial: Buddha.

Sun Wukong listened to Subhuti, then, while stuffing a potato in his mouth, continued to grumble, "Even so, you and little brother are here, so—"

"Coming up with this and that excuse to stray from the path will inevitably lead you to the path of no return. Even if the wild vegetables taste bitter, endure it and satiate yourself."

"Ugh…Okay," Sun Wukong made a dissatisfied face. Still, he reached for the lightly boiled and seasoned vegetables.

This was Su-hyeun's first time seeing Master Subhuti and Sun Wukong together. He found the Monkey King being so obedient like this incredibly unusual to behold and continued to stare at the scene with mystified eyes.

And so, as breakfast drew to a close…

"Well, then, why don't we find out how much better you've gotten a little later, Wukong?" Master Subhuti asked while taking away the plates.

Sun Wukong's ears visibly perked up at that. He had been feeling down after sating his hunger with some measly vegetables and potatoes. Still, his energy perked right back up after hearing that challenge. "But it's not gonna be that easy this time, you know?"

He even spoke in a provocative tone.

Master Subhuti simply chuckled affably, then replied, "I already heard that from you back when you first acquired the Somersault cloud and then when you acquired the Ruyi Jingu Bang, too."

"No, it will be different this time for real!"

"I pray that this declaration, which is your 11th, by the way, will indeed come true."

One couldn't win in a verbal exchange against Master Subhuti.

Sun Wukong fumed in anger. Nonetheless, he was clearly filled with anticipation and excitement, judging from how he gripped Ruyi Jingu Bang, which was slung on his back, with so much strength.

After Master Subhuti tidied up the plates, he called out to Su-hyeun next, "Can we speak in private for a moment?"

"Of course."

Su-hyeun followed Master Subhuti and left the spot, but they didn't actually go that far.

The location they reached was a nearby thicket. Sun Wukong had dashed to some distance away while carrying his polearm, while the Roc Demon King had never been interested in sparring with Subhuti, to begin with.

As for the Bull Demon King, after breakfast, he climbed on the hut's roof, lay down, and then watched the clouds drift by.

"Won't they hear us?" Su-hyeun asked, cognizant of both the Bull Demon King and the Roc Demon King nearby.

He didn't know what Subhuti wanted to discuss right now, but if it was related to either Osiris or the system, weren't those topics the old god wanted to keep as secrets from the Yogoe siblings?

Unlike Sun Wukong, who was already somewhere pretty far away, this distance was close enough for the remaining two to overhear the contents of their discussion.

"Don't worry, they aren't the types to eavesdrop on our chat. Also, I've already placed some restrictions, so it should be fine."

Shu-wuwuwu—

The surrounding air began flowing in bizarre directions.

A short while later, it began spinning dizzyingly and unstably over the area, effectively blocking out all sounds from escaping. The sorcery technique to freely control the atmosphere wasn't that easy to pull off. Yet, Master Subhuti did it as if it was as simple as flipping his hand around.

"Alright, then, regarding what I'm about to say to you," Master Subhuti shifted his gaze over to the Bull Demon King lying on the roof and expressionlessly watching the skies above, "please do not miss a single word and commit them to your memories."

As soon as he said that…

[The 202nd floor's trial is now commencing.]

A new message floated up in front of Su-hyeun's eyes.

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Sun Wukong was currently in deep meditation.

For a while now, he had been emptying his mind.

Buddha taught him how to do this, saying that having too many thoughts would make one easier to read.

Thankfully, even Sun Wukong found it easy to pull off; he was not the kind of person to think too much about anything in his daily life, making it relatively simple for him to empty his mind.

And so, after quite sometime later…

"As I thought, you were here."

Master Subhuti had arrived. He was accompanied by Su-hyeun and the Bull Demon King. As this was his first time coming here, Su-hyeun began looking around his new surroundings.

"I knew you'd also come here, uncle."

"Well, this is your favorite place in the whole world, after all. Even so, is it alright to do it here?"

"Of course not! We can't fight here. I only came here because it relaxes me, you know?"

The view of the mountainscape below, as seen from the peak, was truly beautiful. Flowers boasting a rainbow spectrum of colors like red, yellow, and blue hues were growing in abundance and in perfect harmony, while all sorts of enticing fruits were dangling on the branches.

It was the Mountain of Flower and Fruit—a mountain filled with flowers and fruits, a location so beautiful that it was even referred to as the mountain of the heavenly immortals.

It was Sun Wukong's birthplace, his former home, where his first family used to live.

"Uncle."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not going to lose today. For real," declared Sun Wukong, his eyes gleaming sharply. His usual mischievous, grinning face was nowhere to be found now. It was incredibly rare to see him be so serious about an upcoming fight to this degree.

Master Subhuti stared at Sun Wukong's determined expression, then grinned so subtly that it was almost impossible to spot.

He then turned around to head toward the foot of the mountain. "In that case, follow me."

Whoosh—

Once Subhuti left, Sun Wukong and the others also began moving to the new spot.

The location was at the foot of some nameless mountain range quite a distance away from the Mountain of Flower and Fruit. A large open plain could be found here, with all the trees already cleared out. However, no one was certain what this space was originally meant for.

Land—

Sun Wukong landed in the middle of this open plain, then pulled out his Ruyi Jingu Bang. He proceeded to spin his limbs around and massaged them in various spots to loosen his muscles, something he couldn't do during his meditation earlier.

Su-hyeun, the Bull Demon King, and the Roc Demon King were all riding on the Somersault cloud in a location high up in the sky to look down below.

"Looks like they are about to start," the Roc Demon King muttered while propping his chin up with his hand.

After a short exercise to loosen himself, Sun Wukong dashed forward while wielding his Ruyi Jingu Bang.

Paaahk—

Whoooosh, BANG—!

His polearm lengthened in an instant to smash down on the ground; it spun around with a speed of a lightning flash, smashing into the side of the mountain range to carve out a new cliff there.

Kwa-ruuuuumble—

Pow—!

However, it was also at that very moment that Sun Wukong's head was greatly shaken around. It was all because of Master Subhuti's punch that flew in from right next to the Monkey King's position.

"This time," Sun Wukong began with the same intensity in emotion as earlier. Right afterward, Ruyi Jingu Bang shortened at a breakneck pace and spun around in a threatening manner. He said, "That ain't gonna work on me!"

BAAAANG—!

Gu-wuwuwuwu—

Master Subhuti's palm strike collided with Ruyi Jingu Bang, spending out powerful shockwaves to the surroundings.

"Oh-hoh?" Subhuti made an ever-so-slightly surprised face because the impact force he felt from the polearm was fairly noticeable.

But that wasn't all.

"It's only the beginning, uncle!"

Giii-iiing—

The golden fillet revealed itself on Sun Wukong's forehead next.

Master Subhuti's eyes narrowed when he witnessed this scene; the golden fillet was a device that sealed away Sun Wukong's true nature, as well as his hidden strength. Therefore, the fact that it showed up in the open like this indicated that the seal's power had gotten weaker temporarily.

"This might get a bit dangerous," said Subhuti as he slid his hand inside his robe to pull out a small fan.

Although it didn't even really qualify as a proper weapon, the moment he gripped it, the atmosphere or the energy he emitted transformed in an instant.

Sun Wukong also noticed this and smirked deeply, "You better watch out, uncle."

"Sure thing. Hurry up and come at me."

"Well, then…"

Thud—

Sun Wukong's right foot stepped forward. "Here I come!"

Poof!

He vanished from the spot. However, he wasn't using something like the Earth Shrink Technique.

Ka-booooom—!

The ground was overturned, and the plumes of dust exploded into the air.

They began moving so fast that it was nearly impossible to follow them with the naked eyes.

Su-hyeun, who had been spectating with his normal vision, hurriedly activated Insight. They had gotten so fast that following them with his bare eyes was practically impossible now.

"Isn't this amazing?"

"Sorry?"

The Bull Demon King suddenly said something while watching Sun Wukong and Master Subhuti duke it out, "That immature child has managed to grow this much already. Even our Second Brother has let go of his hatred toward humans and can live among them now."

"Huh?" Su-hyeun glanced at the Roc Demon King. He didn't seem to have heard what the Bull Demon King said, as he was still spectating on the fight below with his chin propped up.

"No, wait. He can't hear us, is that it?" Su-hyeun thought.

The Bull Demon King was addressing Su-hyeun right now.

It might have sounded like a monologue, but the truth was, he had something to say.

"And now…only I remain, it seems."

Only I…

The Bull Demon King muttered that softly and slowly closed his eyes..