A Voice from Below
"It is far more effective when consumed hot. Drink up."
"Mmm, the immortal fragrance is certainly potent. It really is a fine treasure, isn't it?"
"Savor it slowly while we finish our conversation. As you well know, this Great King possesses deep patience."
At Sun Wukong's words, the Gumiho spat out her tea and burst into a fit of giggles.
"Ahaha! A stone monkey with deep patience? If Uncle Dog-God heard that, he would laugh his head off!"
"Whether that scoundrel laughs his head off or does backflips is none of my concern."
Sun Wukong focused his golden eyes, staring intently at the Gumiho.
"It has been a long time since I heard such an entertaining tale. Until you explain everything clearly, you will remain here with me for eternity. No matter what tricks you try, you will not leave without my permission."
"Whoa~ Is this how monkeys confess their love? How terrifying. My heart actually fluttered a little just now."
"...Damned fox."
The Gumiho smiled warmly, sipping her tea before speaking.
"Was it a little over a hundred years ago? It seems a talented child was born on our side."
"So you managed to observe them."
"Yes. One of our children sent to monitor the Lower Realm found them."
The Gumiho gently wagged her nine fluffy tails, pausing her words.
She slowly raised the teacup to her lips, closing her eyes as a faint blush rose on her cheeks.
She was stalling, savoring the rich aroma of the tea bit by bit.
Normally, the monkey would have flown into a fiery rage and barked at her by now.
Yet, he truly waited with patience for her next words.
After a brief silence, the Gumiho spoke.
"How unusual. You aren't losing your temper?"
"Speaking up would only waste more time."
"Fufu, since when did our little monkey get so clever?"
"I was merely humoring you all this time. There is nothing else to do here anyway."
"True... I suppose that is fair."
The Gumiho looked at the monkey with an expression that said she had teased him enough.
"It was a dream."
"A dream?"
The golden monkey's expression turned serious.
A dream.
It was a single word, but it was enough to understand everything.
"We yokai do not normally dream, do we?"
"Indeed."
Yokai were beings faithful to their primal desires.
This was also the reason why, on average, yokai were stronger than humans.
Their desire to grow stronger overwhelmingly surpassed the scale of human desires.
Since they were born faithful to their desires, even when they slept, they focused entirely on the desire of sleep itself.
Though that loses meaning once one reaches a higher realm.
As one's cultivation progressed, there was no need to eat or sleep.
Even at lower realms, they might experience highly fragmented dreams, but yokai lacked the idle imagination during sleep to have detailed, realistic dreams.
They were always hunted, always surviving.
Yet, a mutant yokai capable of dreaming had apparently been born.
Conversely, this meant they knew how to properly control their own desires.
"That talented child who appeared in the Lower Realm dreams vividly. That is how we were barely able to employ a loophole."
"...And the result? Did they hear your voice? Did it reach them?"
The Gumiho nodded.
Sun Wukong quietly closed his eyes.
His iron-like arm trembled slightly.
At last, there was hope of intervening in the Lower Realm.
"That is all I have to say. Well?"
"...Whatever you desire, I shall cooperate."
"Excellent. That is exactly the answer I wanted."
"What did the others say?"
"I have not told them yet. You are the first."
The golden-furred monkey.
The ruler of Mount Huaguo, the strongest and most malevolent great yokai who had swept away the majority of the immortals with his golden Ruyi Jingu Bang during the great war in the Upper Realm.
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong.
A brutal smile spread across his face, baring his fangs.
"Coming to me first was a highly wise decision. It seems our Fox Sovereign possesses a very discerning eye for the truly powerful."
"...If I had gone to the others first, you would have thrown a tantrum, wouldn't you?"
"Heheh, there is no need to show respect to such weaklings. Besides, proper protocol is of the utmost importance."
"You crazy monkey! A foolish stone monkey who still mimics humans even after a thousand years! You have known the others for so long, yet you always speak like that. Stop it. It is childish!"
Sun Wukong let her blunt insults slide in one ear and out the other. Lost in thought for a moment, he hesitated, which was highly uncharacteristic of him, before speaking with difficulty.
"Actually, I also heard a voice not long ago."
"Hmm? What voice?"
As the Gumiho tilted her head, Sun Wukong set down his teacup and spoke with an ambiguous expression.
"Recently, someone sent their voice from the Lower Realm to this place."
"...What?"
Dismay washed over the Gumiho's face.
The Dimensional Great Barrier separated the Lower and Upper Realms.
Even those in the Upper Realm dared not pierce it to exert influence on the Lower Realm, yet someone from below had sent their voice up?
Her face turned serious for a moment, but she soon smirked.
"Oh, come on. If you are going to lie, at least put some effort into it. That is completely unbelievable."
"I found it hard to believe myself, but it is the truth."
"Monkey, you know you gain nothing by lying to me about this, right?"
Sun Wukong stared back at her with the same unblinking expression.
"The voice was so faint that even I could not be certain. That is why, a while ago, I dispatched an avatar to wait at the location where the voice resonated loudest."
"...Is that lie actually true?"
"Yes. If that voice calls out once more, I will not miss it. Especially if it comes from the same place!"
The Gumiho wagged her voluminous tails for a moment, then paused and tilted her chin.
"Well, of course. If you have set your mind to wait, there is no way you would miss it."
"However, there was indeed something rather strange."
"What is it?"
"The one who sent their voice up here was searching for something."
"Searching for what?"
"They were looking for someone named... Bargas? I have absolutely no idea who that is. And this is despite the fact that nothing exists in this world that I do not know of."
Ignoring Sun Wukong's self-praise, the Gumiho tilted her head.
"Could they be referring to the dokkaebi? We do not communicate well with those dokkaebi fellows either. But has any dokkaebi ever had their name known in the Lower Realm? Perhaps a Dokkaebi King might be known?"
"To begin with, those dokkaebi do not have a king. And somehow, I do not think the owner of that voice was looking for one of them."
"Then what? What on earth are they looking for?"
The faint voice Sun Wukong had heard had repeatedly searched for a "Spirit King."
Later, as the voice grew fainter, it had desperately pleaded for even a "high-ranking spirit" to respond.
But by the time the meaning was deciphered and reached Sun Wukong's ears, the power and traces of the voice had already vanished.
"In any case, I will handle that matter on my end. I will let you know if there are any developments."
"Fine. I will leave that to you then."
The more ways to interfere with the Lower Realm, the better.
One thing that worries me, though...
Just as they were looking for ways to interfere, the Immortals had likely discovered their own loopholes to bypass the barrier.
Ilyang sometimes struggled to adapt to the sheer scale of this world.
He felt that way now.
"Excluding the few who escaped, the number of water bandits who surrendered peacefully, including the wounded, is approximately seven hundred."
"...Seven hundred people?"
"Yes. More of them managed to flee than expected. Still, we have captured about eighty percent of them, Young Master."
Ilyang let out a small chuckle despite himself.
In his previous world, a wealthy baron's private army was usually around two hundred men.
Yet, a single bandit group here had seven hundred.
It was an absurd number of people.
His common sense regarding scale was completely shattered.
As Ilyang sat there in disbelief, Manager Seo of the Jinseong Express continued his report.
"Furthermore, there are as many as thirty-eight wedge ships the water bandits arrived in, and six undamaged sailing vessels. There are also two sailing vessels with minor damage that are still perfectly usable... In practical terms, you have acquired eight sailing vessels and thirty-eight wedge ships as spoils of war, Great Hero."
"Oh..."
The scale of the confiscated fleet was too massive for a mere bandit group.
He had adapted to other aspects of this world, but the scale of things still amazed him.
"In addition, if we convert their weapons and other treasures into currency... it comes out to approximately seven thousand five hundred gold. Of course, that is assuming a quick liquidation."
As Manager Seo's lengthy explanation concluded, Ilyang whistled at the staggering sum.
"Whew~ That is quite a bit more than I anticipated. I am a bit dazed."
"Indeed. The raiding force was quite substantial, after all. A fleet raid of this magnitude is highly rare, even within the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union."
Manager Seo, who specialized in financial matters for the Jinseong Express, spoke politely to the youthful Ilyang.
"Moreover, Great Hero Ilyang, you have not merely acquired ships."
"What else is there?"
"There are the captured peak-stage experts. They are resources just as valuable as the vessels."
"Ah, you mean their ransoms."
Manager Seo nodded.
Compared to the ships and the ordinary bandits, the ransoms of the elite peak-stage experts were astronomical.
"There are nine peak-stage experts captured alive and intact. Calculating their lives at the current average market rate of three hundred gold per head, the pure ransom value of these peak-stage experts alone amounts to two thousand seven hundred gold."
"...Wow."
Slurp.
The ships and the ransoms.
Combined, it was a staggering sum of over ten thousand gold.
I could buy a low-grade elixir with this.
While Ilyang marveled at the sum, Manager Seo took a sip of tea to wet his dry throat after his long explanation.
By the time Ilyang finished the rough calculations in his head, Manager Seo spoke again with a serious and cautious expression.
"If you wish, Young Master, we at the Jinseong Express will do our utmost to liquidate these spoils for you. Naturally, we will perform this service free of any commission."
"Hmm..."
Ilyang stroked his chubby cheeks, lost in thought.
Simply put, using a trusted broker to handle the spoils was the best option.
It is certainly a good option, but...
Now that his income was much higher than expected, a more concrete greed began to take shape in his heart.
The desire to actually build a Magic Tower in this world.