“General! General! Something terrible has happened!”

  The Lord of the Breaking Army was quite the performer, conjuring sweat with his magical powers and speaking in a panicked tone.

  The two soldiers guarding outside the tent exchanged puzzled glances. Wasn’t this fellow calm just a moment ago? Why was he suddenly so frantic upon entering the tent?

  Yet, they couldn’t say anything; everything was left for Xu Fang to decide.

  The ‘Xu Fang’ was snoring loudly when he suddenly heard the urgent shout from the Lord of the Breaking Army. He jolted upright, rubbing his eyes, and barked, “What’s all this racket? Can’t you let me sleep? Don’t you know I have a banquet to attend tomorrow?”

  The Lord of the Breaking Army immediately replied, “General, something terrible has happened! You might not be able to attend the Peach Banquet this time…”

  “Hmm? What’s going on?”

  Sun Wukong’s sleepiness vanished in an instant. He grabbed the Lord of the Breaking Army by the collar and shouted, “What nonsense are you spouting? Why can’t I go to the Peach Banquet?!”

  Currently, he was in the guise of Xu Fang, and if this heavenly soldier said he couldn’t attend the banquet, it was tantamount to saying his brother couldn’t attend either!

  Sun Wukong had to get to the bottom of this.

  “General, it’s all because of that rascally monkey, Sun Wukong…”

  The Lord of the Breaking Army feigned a look of anger, but before he could finish, Sun Wukong kicked him and sent him tumbling backward, “What are you talking about? How is this related to Sun Wukong?”

  As luck would have it, the Lord of the Breaking Army was simply unfortunate. Sun Wukong’s kick was so powerful that it sent him rolling several times. However, in order to win favor with the Jade Emperor, he had to maintain a facade of loyalty to Xu Fang. He continued, “General, you may not know, but the Emperor declared that the Peach Banquet is a celestial event, not something an ordinary demon monkey can attend. Yet you, at the Lingxiao Palace, argued passionately for that demon monkey, which enraged the Emperor and stripped you of your qualification to attend the banquet…”

  Sun Wukong’s eyes widened in shock.

  In his mind, he ranked first, with Xu Fang in second; at the very least, they should both have the right to attend the banquet!

  But now, this heavenly soldier was telling him he had no right to attend, and that his brother had been angered by his defense of him, resulting in the loss of his banquet qualification!

  A surge of rage ignited instantly!

  Sun Wukong’s eyes turned red, as if flames were burning within them!

  “Old Jade Emperor, you’re going too far!”

  With a furious roar, Sun Wukong could no longer suppress himself. In a flash, he transformed into a streak of light and burst out of the camp!

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  “Just a mere demon monkey, easily fooled by a simple trick.”

  The Lord of the Breaking Army smirked, then cast an invisibility spell and swaggered out of the Divine Strategy Camp.

  Of course, the commotion caused by Sun Wukong did not go unnoticed by the heavenly soldiers.

  The Lord of the Martial Star saw ‘Xu Fang’ soaring into the sky, and was taken aback.

  In a matter of moments, the two soldiers who had been immobilized by the Lord of the Breaking Army were discovered, and the Lord of the Martial Star quickly understood: an outsider had infiltrated the Divine Strategy Camp!

  “Wait, a brother just entered the tent. It seems he’s one of the immobilized ones!”

  The alert soldier guarding the tent quickly noticed something was off.

  The Lord of the Breaking Army’s face darkened further. “How could an outsider infiltrate the prestigious Divine Strategy Camp? The General and that thief are not in the tent; they must have gone after that thief…”

  After saying this, he hurriedly instructed the soldiers to maintain their posts, then took out a jade slip. After casting a spell and speaking a few words, he crushed it.

  This jade slip was a means of communication between him and Xu Fang. If something urgent arose and he couldn’t reach Xu Fang, crushing the slip would allow Xu Fang to sense it immediately.

  However, the Lord of the Martial Star was unaware that for the past month, the one in the camp was not Xu Fang; he merely assumed Xu Fang had gone after the thief and was inquiring whether he should assist.

  ……

  Meanwhile, after Sun Wukong left the Divine Strategy Camp, his eyes burned with fury as he fixed his gaze on the Heavenly Court.

  “I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, yet I’m still referred to as an ordinary demon monkey! My brother defended me and got his qualification stripped! Old Jade Emperor, you go too far!”

  Sun Wukong took a deep breath. Though furious, he had not yet lost his mind and realized he needed to inform Xu Fang about this.

  He knew Xu Fang was disguised as him in the Peach Garden, so he flew directly toward the Peach Garden.

  ……

  In the Peach Garden, the fragrance of peaches filled the air.

  Sun Wukong somersaulted into the Peach Garden, savoring the sweet aroma, but he noticed no one was around.

  This was due to Xu Fang and the Earth God having gone to greet the Seven Fairies, leaving Sun Wukong unaware of anyone's presence.

  As Sun Wukong inhaled the peach scent, he didn’t have time to ponder why Xu Fang was absent.

  “Old Jade Emperor, since you have no regard for me, you can’t blame me for what comes next!”

  Sun Wukong gazed at the lush, fruit-laden peach trees in the garden, nearly drooling. “Since the Heavenly Court has wronged my brother and me, today I will take matters into my own hands and pluck those peaches! Let’s see what the Jade Emperor will do when I steal his peaches for the banquet!”

  His plan was flawless: steal all the peaches from the garden, then share them privately with Xu Fang. In this way, if the Jade Emperor wouldn’t allow them to eat the peaches, they would simply take them themselves!

  Fueled by this rebellious thought, Sun Wukong’s monkey instincts surged. Unable to restrain his impulses any longer, he leaped onto a peach tree, plucking a ripe, large peach and biting into it with a satisfying crunch, juice splattering everywhere!

  While munching on the peach, Sun Wukong used his powers to cause the peaches around him to fall, gathering them into his arms.

  ……

  At the entrance of the Peach Garden.

  Xu Fang, accompanied by the Earth God and the other laborers, welcomed the Seven Fairies. Little did he know that the Peach Garden he had painstakingly guarded for a month was now being raided.

  “Great Sage, it’s getting late; we should go inside and pick some peaches…”

  The Seven Fairies bowed to Xu Fang, who nodded in response. Just then, Xu Fang’s heart skipped a beat as he sensed the jade slip he left for the Lord of the Martial Star had been crushed.

  A voice resonated in Xu Fang’s mind—it was the Lord of the Martial Star!

  Upon hearing it, Xu Fang’s expression darkened. “Ladies, please feel free; I have urgent matters to attend to, so I must take my leave…”

  With that, Xu Fang transformed into a streak of light and headed back toward the Divine Strategy Camp.

  Instinctively, he sensed that this matter was not as simple as it seemed!

  According to the Lord of the Martial Star, a spy had infiltrated the camp, and the inquiry about whether Xu Fang had gone after the thief made Xu Fang uneasy.

  Sun Wukong, could it be that he fell into a trap?