"Could this new Six-Eared Macaque really plan to capture my second brother and then threaten me into cooperating with him?"
"Is he truly so confident, not fearing I would readily agree only to turn on him later, once the Journey to the West tribulation officially begins?"
"Or perhaps this fellow has some other trick up his sleeve!"
With these thoughts, Sun Kong dared not delay. He immediately used the records of his second brother, Wu Zhiqi, being captured, which had been rewarded to him by the system.
He continued his search and deduction.
Soon.
He obtained results that truly surprised him!
After searching.
Near the Chang Shui River, Sun Kong found traces suggesting Wu Zhiqi had been lured into a trap and ambushed.
He also discovered that the attackers indeed included the new Six-Eared Macaque.
However, this new Six-Eared Macaque's cultivation was not just weak; it was eerily so.
Despite only being at the Great Perfection of Golden Immortal, he could threaten Wu Zhiqi and, using methods Sun Kong couldn't comprehend, cripple half of Wu Zhiqi's cultivation.
Poor Wu Zhiqi, acting on Sun Kong's orders to investigate what the new Six-Eared Macaque was up to, had fallen into trouble due to carelessness.
Apart from the traces of him being brutally interrogated nearby.
His cultivation being crippled meant he had likely fallen to the realm of Heavenly Immortal. Re-cultivating from this point would be difficult.
Sun Kong had to admit that he bore a significant responsibility in this matter as well!
"My poor second brother, he is too loyal to me. To avoid being humiliated by the new Six-Eared Macaque and others, and to protect me, his elder brother, he was still defiant even at the moment of his capture."
"He declared that my elder brother Sun was invincible in the Great Desolation."
"He also said that no matter what schemes the new Six-Eared Macaque and his ilk had, they could never escape my elder brother Sun's eyes and were destined to fail."
"Such boundless loyalty and protection, it's truly heart-wrenching. Alas, while my brotherhood with you has indeed brought you benefits, it was not without some selfish motive on my part."
"How could I possibly accept such respect and affection from you?"
"Alas, after I find you this time, I, your elder brother Sun, will certainly be more enthusiastic and find ways to help you improve your cultivation further."
"Only then can I be worthy of this rare and peerless brotherhood!"
Since his transmigration, Sun Kong had often acted with self-interest, shamelessness, prioritizing himself, and then considering others.
Only this time, infected by his second brother Wu Zhiqi's loyalty, he couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion.
He resolved to treat them as true brothers from now on.
Then.
Turning back, seeing that his general search had yielded no new clues, he immediately employed the "Marquis Wu's Seven Stars Array" for deduction.
Although, previously, the Heavenly Court had been shielded, and the new Six-Eared Macaque was suspected to possess a spiritual treasure that even he couldn't discern, which could block his deductions.
However, since the new Six-Eared Macaque had long since left this area of Chang Shui River, the surrounding hundreds of miles were no longer protected by such shielding.
As fast as lightning.
In just a few breaths, Sun Kong deduced some crucial clues.
The conclusion was that while Wu Zhiqi had fallen into trouble due to underestimating his opponent, the specific process of luring him was extremely strange and coincidental.
According to his deduction, Wu Zhiqi had not intended to come near Chang'an City. Instead, he was investigating from the extreme north of the Heavenly Realm.
He tracked all the way to a wormhole at the junction of the Heavenly Realm and the Earthly Immortal Realm.
Logically, that wormhole was hundreds of millions of miles away from the Human Realm, making a trap unlikely.
Furthermore, it was much farther from Chang'an City. Even if Wu Zhiqi had acted recklessly, he wouldn't have fallen into a scheme.
But things were precisely that strange.
Just as Wu Zhiqi was about to explore that wormhole, some peculiar tiny beings, neither like monsters nor like cultivators, suddenly appeared near it.
They were no taller than three inches, as if they had come from a land of miniatures.
However, as far as Sun Kong knew, the Great Desolation had all sorts of races, but no such country of miniatures. These beings must have been newly created through some special method!
One by one, they attacked him.
These tiny beings were not powerful, with an average strength of about Middle-grade Earthly Immortal.
But their sheer numbers were overwhelming.
Initially, it was just a few to a few dozen.
Later, hundreds, thousands, and even millions emerged. They attacked Wu Zhiqi like vampires, making him unable to defend himself.
More importantly, after Wu Zhiqi was enraged, they led him away from the wormhole and to the north of Chang'an City in the Human Realm.
The Chang Shui River!
It was here that Wu Zhiqi could have easily eliminated these strange tiny beings. But at the last moment, he was ambushed by the pre-positioned new Six-Eared Macaque.
The specifics of the process hardly needed elaboration.
Because, with just one move, Wu Zhiqi, who was many times stronger than the new Six-Eared Macaque, was captured by the latter using some incomprehensible method.
And then.
Wu Zhiqi's cultivation was crippled by half, falling to the Upper-grade Heavenly Immortal realm.
Before Wu Zhiqi could resist, or before anyone could deduce these events later, the new Six-Eared Macaque sneered, took Wu Zhiqi with him, and used his own external deduction shielding to conceal their whereabouts, making them impossible to find.
It was truly malicious.
It was truly insidious!
"Who is this new Six-Eared Macaque serving? His methods are so cruel and sinister that even my 'Marquis Wu's Seven Stars Array' encounters constant obstacles."
"Well, even though I can't find my second brother directly right now, going to that wormhole first is definitely the right move."
"A wormhole that makes the new Six-Eared Macaque so nervous, and where so many strange tiny beings appear, must surely be a dangerous place."
"Let this handsome prince investigate it!"
Composing himself, Sun Kong did not linger. After a brief search of the other seven rivers and five canals yielded no other discoveries, he quickly rode the Chaos Somesault Cloud.
In just a few ascents and descents.
Sun Kong arrived near the wormhole where, according to his deduction, Wu Zhiqi had first encountered the strange events. Here, he found no trace of the new Six-Eared Macaque, nor did he sense the presence of those tiny beings.
Instead, he detected a scent that surprised him.
That scent was none other than something very similar to Jin Chanzi, but with a slight difference.
Jin Chanzi was, after all, one of the ten ancient demon insects, the Six-Winged Golden Cicada.
Later, he became the second disciple of the Tathagata Buddha, with an unusually high status.
The scent here, however, was more like a degraded variant of a Six-Winged Golden Cicada, perhaps a Four-Winged Golden Cicada. Not only was it far less potent than Jin Chanzi's, but it even made Sun Kong chuckle uncontrollably!
"Could this new Six-Eared Macaque plan to use Four-Winged Golden Cicadas to nurture a new Jin Chanzi, and have him reincarnate as the new Tang Monk?"
"If that's the case, I have to admire him. He dares to use such heaven-defying creative power to attempt to build his own Journey to the West team."
"Doesn't he know that this kind of thing will not be recognized by the Heavenly Dao?"
As Sun Kong was expressing his surprise.
He saw the wormhole wriggle!