Chapter 64

The navel is one of the most sensitive parts of the human body, with the most acute sensations. Therefore, Xu Mo chose to start his tactile training on his navel, trying to sense the feeling of water gradually leaving his body in the absence of wind through his navel.

However, he had barely lain down for a short while and had not yet entered the right state when he suddenly heard a loud roar.

The sound came from the other side of the valley, sounding very much like a human cry, filled with intense fear and terror, a heart-wrenching, desperate scream that could only be emitted in a life-or-death situation or just before death.

The sound was deep and resonant, extremely loud, and when it roared, it shook the entire valley, making the earth tremble slightly. It was definitely not a human sound, but rather like the simultaneous skyward cries of dozens of hippos or wild bulls.

Xu Mo's heart tightened, and he couldn't help but stop, getting out of the pit and looking in the direction of the sound. But the sound only rang out once and then stopped. Xu Mo stared for a long time, but it did not appear again.

After some thought, Xu Mo decided to ignore it, returned to the pit, and resumed his tactile training.

Day after day, month after month, several months passed in the blink of an eye. During these months, Xu Mo tasted herbs and trained his sense of touch daily. His tactile sensitivity gradually improved, and his control over the properties of the herbs had reached a refined and subtle level.

All the plants in the valley had been thoroughly tasted, and he knew the medicinal properties of each one like the back of his hand. He used the herbs based on the needs of his injuries and the nature of the herbs, becoming a master of herbal medicine. He could now easily cure common external injuries.

However, there were countless herbs in the world, and the plants in the valley were only a tiny fraction of them. He was not content to stop here and decided to venture outside the valley to find other herbs.

The herbs he was currently tasting only included parts of plants. In traditional Chinese medicine, the components of herbal medicine not only include plants but also animal parts, soil components, mineral components, and even human body components, making it a vast and complex field.

However, he did not have the energy to explore all of these areas at once. Moreover, being overly ambitious was not a good thing. Just tasting all the herbs would take several years, if not more.

Thinking of the outside of the valley, he couldn't help but recall the desperate roar he had heard that day. The roar was clearly from an animal, but its volume was like that of dozens of hippos or wild bulls roaring together, indicating some ferocious beast.

Fortunately, the sound had not appeared again since that day. Xu Mo guessed that it might have been the dying roar of the beast.

Therefore, Xu Mo did not pay much attention to the beast. Now, recalling it, he felt a bit curious and wanted to see what kind of beast it was.

To his knowledge, there were no existing beasts in the world that could produce such a loud sound. Could it be that this mountain still harbored some ancient beasts?

Thinking of ancient beasts, his curiosity grew even more. Moreover, he guessed that the beast was likely already dead, so he was not afraid.

He picked up a basket he had woven in his spare time, using it as a medicine basket, and followed the direction of the sound from that day, hoping to find the beast's corpse and collect herbs along the way.

He passed through the wild mango forest, crossed the lake, and climbed over a hill. On the other side, which he had never been to before, the scenery was different. It was a long, narrow valley with a river running north to south, dividing the valley in half.

The valley was also filled with wild fruit trees. Xu Mo followed the slope, walking down and collecting herbs he had never seen before.

Suddenly, he heard a few faint moans. His hearing was now so acute that he could clearly hear the weak sounds from nearly a hundred meters away.

He listened carefully and determined that the sound was definitely not from a human but from an injured animal. He picked up his basket and followed the sound.

When he got closer, he found that the source of the moans was a monkey. He examined it closely, but it was hard to tell if it was the same one he had seen in the wild mango forest.

This monkey seemed larger than the one he had seen before, but it had been several months, so it could have grown.

The monkey had a few fruits scattered around it and lay weakly on the grass. Seeing Xu Mo, it became frightened, making "ji-ji" sounds and baring its teeth, trying to threaten him and prevent him from coming closer.

Xu Mo couldn't help but smile at the monkey's appearance and examined its body. The monkey's back was injured, and from Xu Mo's angle, he could clearly see several deep claw marks bleeding profusely, seemingly inflicted by a large animal's claws.

The monkey had been injured for some time, and the blood had stained the grass around it red.

The monkey was on the verge of death, having lost the strength to move.

Xu Mo put down his basket and approached. The monkey became even more frightened, baring its teeth and making "ji-ji" sounds, lifting its left paw as if to threaten him, but it was weak.

Xu Mo smiled at the monkey and said, "I'm here to treat you, don't be afraid." Ignoring whether the monkey understood, he bent down to examine its injuries.

The monkey's back had four deep claw marks, each exposing bone and with the flesh torn. From the marks, the claws of the animal that injured the monkey were long and thin. Among the animals Xu Mo knew, only large birds of prey like eagles could leave such marks.

However, he had been scratched by a black eagle before, which left only three claw marks on his shoulder, while the monkey had four, clearly not from an eagle.

Xu Mo couldn't help but shake his head. There might be other beasts in the world that could cause such injuries, but they were not within his knowledge.

With his current expertise in herbs, treating any external injury was not a problem, but the monkey's injuries were too deep and required stitching, which was not easy.

He thought for a moment and decided to first gather some herbs, chew them, and apply them to the monkey's wounds to stop the bleeding.

The herbs not only stopped the bleeding but also had a pain-relieving effect. As soon as the herbs were applied, the monkey felt a cool sensation on its back, and the pain subsided. It finally understood that Xu Mo was treating it and its expression changed, even lifting its small paw to gently touch Xu Mo's arm in gratitude.

The monkey had been injured for too long and should not be moved. Xu Mo gathered some dry grass, placed it under the monkey, and let it lie on it. He patted its head, gently pressed its body onto the grass, and gestured for it to stay there and not move.

The monkey looked at him with a pleading expression, showing some dependence, but it was unclear if it understood his instructions.

Xu Mo looked around, listened carefully to ensure there were no other beasts nearby, and then hurried back to his dwelling.

Back at his dwelling, he found some long fish bones left over from his meals, a thin hemp rope made from tree bark, and a large clay pot, and then ran back.

He returned to the spot, out of breath, and found the injured monkey still lying there. Four other monkeys had joined it, surrounding it and making "ji-ji" sounds.

The four monkeys consisted of one large and three smaller ones, seemingly a family. The largest female monkey, likely the injured one's mate, was the most anxious, trying several times to pull the injured monkey up, but the injured monkey stopped her with a snarl, causing her to pace around in distress.

Seeing this, Xu Mo felt a liking for the monkeys, thinking they were smart for staying in place as he had instructed.

The injured monkey saw Xu Mo and made "ji-ji" sounds, looking very happy, while the other four monkeys, fearing him, fled to the trees.

The injured monkey turned and made continuous "ji-ji" sounds to the other four, as if telling them not to be afraid.

The other four monkeys stopped at a distance, hiding in the branches, looking back curiously but not daring to approach.

Xu Mo approached, squatted down, and re-examined the injured monkey's wounds. The herbs had covered the wounds, and the monkey had stayed in place as instructed, so the wounds had not ruptured and continued to bleed.

Xu Mo took the clay pot to the lake, filled it with water, gathered some dry wood, set up a tripod, hung the pot, and started a fire to boil the water.

While he was fetching water, the four monkeys followed him curiously from a distance, watching his actions and whispering to each other, seemingly guessing what Xu Mo was doing.

Monkeys have a strong ability to imitate, and these four seemed to want to befriend Xu Mo. While he was gathering wood, they quietly picked up some dry wood and threw it to Xu Mo's feet, then looked up at him with a pleading expression, trying to please him.

However, they were still afraid and did not dare to come too close.