The little monkey possessed a natural intelligence, and ever since Sakura began tending to its injuries, Damao had become remarkably obedient. Every time she brought out the medical kit to change the dressing, Damao would quietly hop onto the table and squat, gently extending the injured paw for Sakura to apply medicine and wrap the bandages. In daily life, aside from sleeping and sunbathing, the creature was almost inseparable from her.

When Sakura was cooking in the kitchen, Damao would perch on the cutting board, watching. If Sakura said, "Salt," it would instantly leap to the spice rack and hand her the salt container. Of course, this capable assistance was the result of a rather arduous period of training. Initially, Damao couldn't distinguish between oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar at all. Once, it mistakenly handed Sakura soy sauce instead of vinegar. Without even sniffing, Sakura poured two large spoonfuls of soy sauce into the sweet and sour spare ribs, ultimately turning the dish into salted ribs, much to Sakura’s annoyance—while the little monkey actually chuckled beside her. Having learned that lesson, Sakura put considerable thought into a clever trick: she stored the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar in bottles of distinct shapes, then painstakingly taught Damao what each contained. Within days of implementing this reform, Damao accurately learned to identify every seasoning, a remarkable achievement even for a monkey. From then on, whenever Sakura stir-fried, Damao would squat nearby, acting as an efficient little helper. The bond between the human and the monkey deepened day by day.

Presently, Sakura was deeply distressed over Xing'er's blood-drinking episodes. Xiaohao, unable to withstand her relentless cross-examination, had retreated on his own, hoping to defuse the conflict through cold indifference. Just as Sakura was consumed by regret, Damao suddenly appeared at the window, tapping on the glass to be let in. Given their shared history, Sakura trusted Damao implicitly. Thus, when the monkey scampered to the door, beckoning her to follow, Sakura, clutching Xing'er, followed without hesitation.

The little monkey glanced back every three steps, terrified that Sakura might fall behind. Although Sakura didn't know where Damao was leading her, she wasn't terribly afraid, reasoning that nothing could be more horrifying than having given birth to a child who consumed human flesh. In her current state, she felt she could even descend into the depths of Hell, especially since Hell wasn't so easily accessed.

Wandering lost in these thoughts, they soon arrived at the elevator lobby. The lift looked remarkably ancient, lacking automatic closing metal doors; instead, a curtain of antique bronze sliding doors stood silently guarding the entrance. Damao dashed forward, pulling the sliding door open with a shua sound, and slipped inside, settling down instantly. Sakura glanced warily around, confirming no one else was present besides herself and Damao, then stepped in, still holding Xing'er. Damao promptly slid both doors shut, leaped to the control panel, and pressed the activation button. The elevator abruptly plummeted, arriving at the lowest level with a jarring guang dang hard landing that sent both Sakura and Damao swaying.

With two swift shua sounds, the two sliding doors mysteriously opened automatically, startling Sakura into stumbling back two steps, clutching Xing'er tightly as she retreated to a corner of the elevator in shock.

Damao cautiously poked its head out of the elevator. Then, with another shua shua, the automatically opened doors suddenly slid shut again. Fortunately, Damao reacted quickly, retracting its head just as the sliding door narrowly missed its snout, gliding across to the other side and slamming shut with a dang lang. Had the monkey been slightly slower, its head would surely have been sliced in two. Sakura felt her heart pound wildly against her ribs, one hand pressed to her chest, as she whispered to Xing'er, "It's alright, it's alright. Everything will be alright."