"Welcome, welcome! I hope you're ready for a day of authentic monkey living!"
"I am not ready," Cāng Jì said flatly. "I will never be ready. This is torture."
"Nonsense!" The Monkey King clapped his hands together. "It builds character! Next time, you will be nicer to us! Now, let us begin with the morning routine!"
He gestured to the howling monkeys around them. "First, we greet the sun! You have already heard the wake-up call. Lovely, isn't it?"
"It sounds like a dying crane giving its last wishes," Cāng Jì muttered, his fists clenched by his sides.
"Next!" Hóu Wáng continued, ignoring him completely, "we forage for breakfast! No cooking here, sparkles. We grab what's ripe and we eat it fresh!"
He pointed to a cluster of massive fruit trees growing nearby. Bright orange mangoes hung from the branches, swaying in the breeze.
"You will need to catch them mid-swing," Hóu Wáng explained cheerfully. "It's easy! Even our toddlers can do it!"
