Chapter 66

On this day, Xu Mo came down from the mountain after practicing his mental discipline, returned to his dwelling, and found that the five monkeys were all gone. He called out a few times, but there was no response. This was indeed unusual, as the five monkeys, even when they went out, would not stray too far from the dwelling, and one of them would usually stay behind. This time, all five had gone out and were far from the dwelling, which was quite rare.

Xu Mo looked up at the sky; it was already past noon. He couldn't help but frown slightly. The mango family had adapted to human eating habits and usually started cooking soup around this time.

Xu Mo then checked the shelter where the five monkeys lived. The shelter was naturally empty and looked a bit messy, but monkeys' living spaces were never very clean, so this didn't reveal much.

Leaving the shelter, he walked a dozen steps to the right and reached a clay stove. A pottery pot was still on the stove. Xu Mo squatted down and grabbed a handful of the cold wood ash from the stove. He lifted the lid of the pot, which was filled with water. A cleaned and skinned mountain chicken was soaking in the water, and some seasonings were floating on the surface.

The mountain chicken had been in the water for too long and had started to emit a foul odor. Some small scavenging insects had even crawled in, moving around in the water and on the chicken.

Xu Mo casually poured out the contents of the pot, becoming even more worried. From the clues left behind, it seemed the five monkeys had left in a hurry. What had happened to them, and why hadn't they returned after so long?

Despite his different state of mind, he had grown close to the monkeys over time, and his concern made him anxious. After sitting and waiting for a moment, he couldn't bear the worry and decided to search for them in the mountains.

He first searched the valley where he lived. Although the valley was large, his keen senses allowed him to detect any movement within a few hundred meters, so his search was relatively quick.

He soon searched the entire valley but found no trace of the five monkeys. Xu Mo thought for a moment, recalling the first time he met Mango. "Mango and the others originally lived in another valley. They only came to this side because of me. Could they have returned to their original home?"

Xu Mo frowned, remembering that he had met the five monkeys on the way. He never knew exactly where they had lived before, but they wouldn't have gone far from the other valley.

Without further hesitation, he set off for the other valley. He had been there a few times to identify herbs, but after a few visits, he found that the herbs on this side were similar to those on the other side, so he lost interest and stopped going.

Despite this, he was familiar with most of the terrain. He climbed over the mountain between the two valleys and followed the slope downward. At the bottom, he followed the north-south river, calling out the names of the five monkeys as he walked.

Following the river, he reached the foot of the other mountain. Turning left, he walked in a small circle. When he was about fifty meters from the slope, he suddenly heard several shrill monkey screams, filled with anger.

Xu Mo's heart raced, unable to tell if the screams came from Mango's family. He quickened his pace and headed toward the source of the sound.

Not far away, he saw Mango's family backed against an old mango tree, facing off against a few other monkeys. Mango held Xu Mo's dagger in her hand, baring her teeth and growling at the other monkeys, her face fierce. The dagger was stained with blood, which dripped onto the grass. A few feet away, another monkey lay on its back, its hands clutching its stomach, unconscious.

The monkey had a five to six centimeter-long wound on its abdomen, bleeding profusely. Another monkey squatted beside it, trying to touch the wound but too afraid to do so, only wailing in distress.

The other monkeys, clearly a family, numbered seven, including the one on the ground. They were originally stronger than Mango's family, but Mango had used the skills she learned from killing chickens and rabbits to stab one of them, scaring the others and preventing them from advancing. They stared at the dagger in Mango's hand, making loud noises and posturing, but clearly feeling uneasy.

Mango's family, backed against the tree, seemed to be guarding something and were unwilling to make the first move.

On the other side, a small monkey with a white ring around its left eye, resembling a monocle, looked very clever. The white-eyed monkey suddenly darted to the right, trying to approach the mango tree from another angle. Longyan, who was guarding that side, saw the white-eyed monkey, growled, and pounced. The white-eyed monkey did not back down, meeting Longyan head-on, and they began to fight, biting and scratching each other.

The two monkeys were about the same size and evenly matched, both fighting fiercely. The other monkeys on both sides, wary of each other's strength, did not join in, but stood by, cheering for their own side and threatening the others with growls and screams.

Xu Mo watched for a moment, finding it boring. Moreover, he didn't want the monkeys to get hurt. He shouted and quickly walked over.

Mango's family, hearing his voice, rejoiced and began to cheer loudly, their morale rising. The other monkeys, seeing Xu Mo, were clearly startled.

The white-eyed monkey, frightened, was immediately overpowered by Longyan and pinned to the ground. As Xu Mo approached, the other monkeys retreated, leaving the injured monkey on the ground.

The monkey that had been guarding the injured one retreated a bit, then screamed at Xu Mo, baring its teeth in a threatening manner, as if warning him not to approach the injured monkey.

The white-eyed monkey, terrified, tried to escape but was held down by Longyan, who scratched and bit it, leaving several new wounds.

Before Xu Mo reached the old mango tree, he smelled a familiar aroma of alcohol, the same as the one Grape had given him to thank him for healing Mango's injury.

Xu Mo was surprised but didn't have time to think about why the mango tree was emitting the scent of alcohol. He walked over to Longyan and the white-eyed monkey. The white-eyed monkey, seeing him approach, struggled even harder, letting out a series of shrill screams. The other monkeys, hearing its cries, also began to scream, filling the valley with their shrill calls.

Mango's family, on the other hand, were elated and joined in the cheering, their mood clearly different from the other monkeys, filled with the joy of victory.

"Alright, let it go," Xu Mo said, reaching out to lift Longyan.

The white-eyed monkey, now free, screamed again, got up, and ran away without looking back.

Xu Mo put Longyan down and walked over to check the injured monkey. The monkey had fainted from fear, but its injuries were not severe, just a superficial cut that didn't need stitches. Xu Mo found some herbs nearby and applied them to the wound.

The monkey, having never been injured like this before, was likely scared and remained unconscious. Xu Mo lifted it and placed it on a large rock, gesturing for the other monkeys to take it away.

The other monkeys, however, didn't understand his gesture and none of them dared to come forward. Mango, feeling triumphant, called out to them, and an old monkey on the other side responded, calling to the other monkeys. Xu Mo couldn't understand what they were saying.

After a moment, two of the monkeys left and went deeper into the forest, while the others remained in place.

The valley fell silent, even Mango's family stopped calling.

Xu Mo was puzzled. It seemed that the two families of monkeys had recently reached some kind of agreement, but he couldn't guess what it was.

Fortunately, the two monkeys returned soon, each carrying something in their arms.

From a distance, Xu Mo saw that one monkey was holding several large, juicy peaches, still with green leaves, clearly freshly picked. The peaches looked plump and juicy, each larger than Xu Mo's fist, and he didn't know what variety they were.

The other monkey was holding several bunches of purple grapes, as good-looking as the peaches.

The two monkeys walked a few steps forward, placed the peaches and grapes on the ground, and then retreated.

The old monkey called out to Xu Mo, pointing to the peaches and grapes on the ground, then to the injured monkey.

At this point, Xu Mo finally understood. The old monkey thought he had captured the injured monkey and was unwilling to return it, so he had sent the other two monkeys to pick peaches and grapes to trade for the injured monkey.

Realizing this, Xu Mo couldn't help but laugh. The old monkey's approach was similar to using goods to ransom a prisoner of war.

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