Chapter 67

Old Monkey saw that Xu Mo was standing still and thought he was going to back out, so he "chirped" at him a few times, looking angry. The Mango family responded without any courtesy.

Seeing that the two groups of monkeys were about to argue again, Xu Mo quickly waved his hand to stop the Mango family, took a few steps back, and the old monkey's anger turned to joy. He called to the two adult monkeys beside him, seemingly giving them instructions. The two monkeys then bravely walked forward, lifted the monkey on the ground, and left without looking back.

Seeing them leave, the Mango family all cheered. Yangtao and Juzi walked forward, picked up the peaches and grapes on the ground, and started eating them right away. Longyan pounced to fight for the food.

Mango suddenly screamed at them, as if scolding them. The three monkeys that were fighting for food immediately stopped, lowered their heads, and dared not make a sound.

Mango called to them again, and the three monkeys obediently brought the peaches and grapes in their paws to Mango, who then handed them to Xu Mo. Xu Mo smiled, took them, but then put them back in Mango's paws. Mango's face lit up with joy and then shared the food with his family.

Mango held a peach, took a bite, and called to Xu Mo a few times, then walked behind the old mango tree and beckoned to Xu Mo.

Xu Mo guessed it had something to do with the mango wine from that day, so he walked forward. Behind the mango tree, there was a pile of branches and weeds that covered half of the tree. Mango used his paw to clear away the branches and weeds, revealing a bowl-sized tree hole.

Mango pointed to the tree hole with his paw, indicating Xu Mo to take a look.

In fact, when Mango cleared the tree hole, Xu Mo had already smelled a more intense wine aroma coming from it, and he could guess even without looking.

He lowered his head and looked into the tree hole. The hole was quite deep, though the opening was small, the inside was large and gourd-shaped, emitting a faint heat and a musty smell.

Amber-colored wild mango wine filled the tree hole, almost reaching the opening. A few wild mangoes floated in the wine.

Xu Mo was amazed, thinking: Could the wine in this tree hole actually be made by the Mango family?

His guess was correct. The wine in the tree hole was indeed made by the Mango family.

Originally, the tree hole was discovered by the Mango family and used to store food. They placed the wild mangoes they collected but couldn't finish in the tree hole. However, food was abundant on the mountain, and they often forgot about the stored mangoes. The tree hole was airtight, and over time, the wild mangoes rotted and fermented into wine.

The fermentation place was special. Although the old mango tree had a tree hole, it didn't die. Some of the water, residue, and even alcohol from the fermenting mangoes were absorbed by the tree, making the naturally produced wine even better than human-made wine.

After filling the tree hole with wild mangoes, the Mango family covered the opening with branches and weeds. Over time, they forgot about the place because they couldn't reach the food inside. When the wild mangoes naturally fermented into wine, the aroma attracted the monkeys, who followed the scent and rediscovered the place.

Thus, the wine in the tree hole became a specialty of the Mango family. The wine had a mild taste but a strong aroma, making it the most authentic fruit wine, which the Mango family loved.

They didn't know how the wild mangoes turned into wine, but they knew that putting wild mangoes in the tree hole would produce wine. Whenever the wine in the tree hole decreased, they instinctively knew to add more wild mangoes.

The day Xu Mo met Longyan in the valley, he was collecting wild mangoes to make wine.

The dispute with the other group of monkeys today was also caused by the wild mango wine in the tree hole.

The mountain area was large, and many groups of monkeys lived there, each with their own territory. The Mango family had their own territory, and they rarely ventured into others' territories, so even though they had a treasure, other monkeys didn't know about it.

The area around the old mango tree was originally the territory of the Mango family. They had occupied this place for a long time, and other monkeys rarely came here. However, after the Mango family moved to the other side of the valley with Xu Mo, this place was left empty.

The old monkey's family lived on the other side of the mountain, and although they had little interaction, they knew of each other's existence and never invaded each other's territory.

A few days ago, the white-eyed young monkey, while playing and chasing butterflies, accidentally crossed the boundary. The young monkey, about the same size as Longyan, was not very clear about the territorial boundaries and entered the Mango family's territory.

Monkeys sometimes mistakenly entered the Mango family's territory, but there were always monkeys on guard who would immediately notice and drive them away.

This time was different. The white-eyed young monkey, initially cautious, gradually became bolder as he went deeper and found no monkeys to stop him. Eventually, he smelled the wine aroma from the tree hole and followed it to the tree.

Excited, the white-eyed young monkey returned and told the old monkey, who then brought the rest of his family to the tree. Finding no sign of the Mango family, the old monkey assumed something had happened and decided to take over the place.

Although the Mango family had moved to the valley where Xu Mo lived, they still checked their old territory every two days. Yesterday, when Grape came to check, she found that their old home was occupied by another group of monkeys. Enraged, she started a fight and suffered a minor defeat.

Grape managed to escape and told Mango. At that time, Xu Mo was practicing his mental state on the mountain, and Mango didn't inform him. He then led his family, armed with knives used for slaughtering chickens and rabbits, to reclaim their territory.

Thus, the fight Xu Mo saw earlier occurred. Fortunately, Xu Mo arrived early; otherwise, the fight could have escalated.

Mango pointed to the tree hole again, indicating Xu Mo to drink the wine.

Xu Mo stared at the amber-colored wine in the tree hole, lost in thought. Although the natural fruit wine was delicious, it wasn't particularly special to him.

He thought: The Mango family and other monkeys love this fruit wine, and it is indeed good. With the abundance of fruit on the mountain, I could make some wine in my free time. It would add some variety to my life.

With his enhanced senses, making the wine even better wouldn't be difficult. The challenge was that he didn't know how to make wine. He only knew the terms "fermentation" and "distillation" and nothing about the process or techniques.

However, he wasn't discouraged. The Mango family could make such good wine with just a tree hole. My conditions are much better than theirs. Why can't I do it? If one attempt fails, I'll try again. Eventually, I'll succeed. I have plenty of time, so I'm not afraid of failure.

With this thought, he made a plan.

The Mango family, although they had driven away the old monkey's family, were afraid they would return and didn't dare to go back. Xu Mo didn't mind and wandered around, enjoying the scenery. The Mango family followed him, with Grape playing with the three young monkeys, and Mango always by his side.

Following the slope, Xu Mo soon reached a vertical stone wall. The wall was about 70 to 80 meters high and very smooth, as if cut by a giant, sharp knife.

At the bottom of the stone wall was a cave. The cave opening was not very large, roughly circular, with a diameter of about 1.5 meters.

The cave was deep, and looking inside, it was pitch black, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Xu Mo was surprised. The cave opening didn't seem to be naturally formed; it looked as if it was made by humans or dug by a giant rat.

Curious, he took a step forward to get a closer look. Suddenly, Mango let out a few sharp screams, grabbed Xu Mo's clothes, and pulled him back.

Xu Mo was startled and turned back to see Mango trembling with fear, pulling his clothes and making urgent "chirping" sounds, clearly trying to stop him from entering the cave.

Xu Mo felt a chill: What's in the cave that makes Mango so afraid?

He suddenly remembered: Was Mango injured in this cave? Does a fierce beast that injured Mango live in this cave?

Thinking of this, he became uneasy but couldn't resist his curiosity. He thought: I won't go in, just look from the entrance. Even if there's danger in the cave, it won't hurt me.

He freed himself from Mango's grip and walked forward. Mango's cries became more desperate, and his attempts to stop Xu Mo became more obvious. Xu Mo waved his hand, indicating that he was just going to look from the entrance.

Mango didn't understand and became even more anxious. Xu Mo smiled and ignored him, walking toward the cave entrance.