Yan Shouyi ran ahead with Tian Jue'er slung over his shoulder, while Long Feicheng and Zhuge Ji pursued from behind. Yan Shouyi glanced back, noticing someone was missing from their group, and shouted,
"Don't you two know to bring Ye Tianyuan along?!" Da Feng Novel Network
Long Feicheng retorted, "Brother Yan, you say that easily. Jue'er is heavy, and Ye Tianyuan is even heavier. How about you give Jue'er to me, and you carry Ye Tianyuan?"
"Fine, take her!"
Yan Shouyi actually tossed Tian Jue'er to Long Feicheng and turned back. He didn't worry about Tian Jue'er getting hurt, as she was protected by the Yuansheng Gu.
Long Feicheng, caught off guard, with his slender arms and legs, couldn't possibly hold the gluttonous Tian Jue'er and the dozens of pounds of rations she carried. The moment he caught Tian Jue'er, he heard a "keng" sound, and then he knelt on the ground, holding Tian Jue'er, his face pale as he said,
"It's... it's over. My back seems to be broken..."
Zhuge Ji quickly extended a helping hand. Long Feicheng, thinking he was coming to help him up, was touched. "Little Jiji, I haven't doted on you for nothing!"
Unexpectedly, Zhuge Ji was going for Tian Jue'er!
Long Feicheng's mentality crumbled. "You ungrateful wretch, I'm going to abandon your sister too!"
Zhuge Ji wanted to impress Tian Jue'er. He bent down and let out a low growl, but not only did he fail to lift Tian Jue'er, he was dragged down by her and knelt to the ground with a thud.
For a moment, an awkward atmosphere filled the space between the three of them.
Tian Jue'er sighed and stood up on her own. "I'll do it myself..."
Saying that, she picked up Long Feicheng and slung him over her shoulder, then grabbed Zhuge Ji with one hand and ran forward!
Zhuge Ji was shocked. "Jue'er, why are you so strong?!"
As Tian Jue'er ran with Long Feicheng on her shoulder, she explained, "The clan leader said the more I eat, the stronger I get..."
Alright, the logic was simple, but Zhuge Ji still felt it was too simplistic.
She was thought to be the weakest girl in the group, but she possessed innate super strength, carrying a grown man and dragging another, all with ease, without even a blush or a pant.
Half the monkeys chased after them, while the other half went after Yan Shouyi and Ye Tianyuan.
The moment Yan Shouyi looked back, he was met with a hail of bullets.
He quickly cast a Golden Light Incantation on himself.
If the founder of the Heavenly Constellation Golden Light Incantation knew that in later generations, someone would use such a divine spell to defend against monkey droppings, they would probably be so angry they'd leap out of their coffin.
This time, the Golden Light Incantation wasn't cast on Yan Shouyi's body but formed a protective shield. All attacks stopped upon contact with the shield.
Ye Tianyuan was limping into the forest, the trees providing some cover, saving him from the onslaught.
However, he wasn't running fast and would eventually be caught by the monkey troop.
Just as he was despairing, he saw an even more despairing sight!
A pile of droppings, as tall as a person, was rapidly approaching him!
Ye Tianyuan stammered, "Droppings... droppings have come to life?!"
"Come to life my foot!"
Yan Shouyi arrived in front of Ye Tianyuan and pulled him into the protective range of the Golden Light Incantation.
Ye Tianyuan then saw clearly that it was their leader who had returned to save him.
He was immediately overwhelmed with gratitude.
If it weren't for Yan Shouyi, he would have been overwhelmed by the monkeys, and death would have been preferable.
The monkeys' ammunition was limited. After a round of long-range magical attacks, they changed their strategy and picked up their weapons, preparing for close combat.
Yan Shouyi dispelled the Golden Light Incantation and saw monkeys covering the entire mountainside, completely surrounding them.
The monkeys bared their teeth menacingly. A squirrel passing by to watch the spectacle was caught and beaten, then used for wiping their bottoms.
"What a bunch of mountain tyrants!" Yan Shouyi cursed.
The bald, brown-furred monkey stepped forward. It seemed to know that Yan Shouyi was the leader of this group of humans, so it decided to deal with him first.
"Ji ji ji!"
The brown-furred monkey railed at Yan Shouyi, causing the monkeys next to it to shake their heads, clearly finding the insults too vulgar to bear.
Yan Shouyi's temper flared. As the saying goes, when the tiger is absent, the monkey reigns supreme. Now that Yan Shouyi was here, he would show the monkey troop what a tiger was!
So, while the brown-furred monkey was cursing, Yan Shouyi suddenly stepped forward and let out a roar!
"ROAR—"
Visible sound waves emanated from Yan Shouyi's mouth, shaking the earth and causing the trees to sway. Several monkeys that couldn't hold on fell from the trees.
Even more terrifying, the sound waves entered the monkeys' ears, making them dizzy and disoriented.
This was the Buddhist Lion's Roar, a skill secretly taught to Yan Shouyi by the monk Miao Ji!
With a single roar, the brown-furred monkey felt nauseous and rolled around on the tree, clutching its ears.
Yan Shouyi seized the opportunity, leaped up, and reached the brown-furred monkey, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck from behind.
The brown-furred monkey, falling into enemy hands, was terrified after recovering from its shock. It cowered, not daring to move.
"Is this monkey the king? Everyone stop!"
Yan Shouyi shouted at the monkey troop, "If you don't behave, it's going to be in trouble!"
The monkeys couldn't understand Yan Shouyi, but they continued to chatter around him.
Seeing this, Yan Shouyi leaned down and whispered into the brown-furred monkey's ear, "You don't want to become a bald monkey, do you? Then make them all quiet down."
The brown-furred monkey seemed to understand Yan Shouyi's threat, trembled with fear, and quickly let out a cry. The monkey troop instantly fell silent.
"It seems to understand human speech?" Ye Tianyuan exclaimed.
It was said that monkeys were intelligent, but the most capable were only trained monkeys, able to understand simple human commands and perform corresponding actions.
However, this brown-furred monkey didn't seem that simple; it even understood Yan Shouyi's threat.
This was clearly not an ordinary monkey.
Could it be a monkey spirit?
Yan Shouyi observed it for a while but dismissed the idea, as the brown-furred monkey looked very young, and it took at least several decades for a monkey to cultivate into a spirit.
Or perhaps...
Someone had trained it?
As Yan Shouyi held the brown-furred monkey, filled with surprise, he suddenly heard someone call from ahead,
"Spare the monkey!"
Yan Shouyi looked in the direction of the voice and saw two monkeys standing on the treetops ahead.
Well...
To be precise, it was a golden-furred monkey and a short figure dressed like a monkey.
The short figure wore a tiger-skin skirt, had an afro, a whip around his waist, and a long staff in his hand, with a golden iron ring around his neck.
He squatted on the tree, but his posture was different from that of a normal person, resembling a monkey's. He also seemed to have hyperactive tendencies, scratching his ears and cheeks from time to time.
If one didn't look closely, they might indeed mistake him for a monkey!
Yan Shouyi looked at the short figure and asked, "Immortal? Monster?... Or mentally ill?"
The short figure angrily retorted, "I am a monkey trainer!"
A monkey trainer?!
Yan Shouyi's spirit lifted, and all his doubts were instantly cleared.
A monkey trainer, from the literal meaning, one could understand his identity.
Monkey trainers also belonged to folk sects. Ordinary monkey trainers merely trained monkeys to perform acrobatics for tips.
However, truly skilled monkey trainers usually lived in the mountains and forests, living alongside monkeys. To be precise, a monkey trainer was the king of the monkey troop. Those monkeys were the trainer's eyes and ears, completely obeying him. They were very intelligent, and monkeys under the trainer's care could easily cultivate into spirits.
According to Wang Jiwang's philosophy, monkey trainers and beast tamers could be considered a category – pet raising!
There was a monkey trainer on Mount Emei, which explained why the brown-furred monkey in Yan Shouyi's hand was so intelligent. Clearly, the entire monkey troop was under the monkey trainer's command, and the brown-furred monkey was a trusted subordinate.
After observing the short monkey trainer, Yan Shouyi noticed the golden-furred monkey beside him. The golden-furred monkey was much older and already exuded a demonic aura, indicating it was a true monkey spirit.
The monkey trainer pointed his staff at Yan Shouyi and threatened,
"Release my monkey quickly, or you'll regret it!"
Yan Shouyi held the brown-furred monkey but did not let go, retorting, "What will you do if I don't?"
The monkey trainer was momentarily speechless. He could tell that Yan Shouyi was no ordinary person, otherwise, he wouldn't be so composed on a treetop more than ten meters high.
After a moment of hesitation, the monkey trainer said in a deep voice, "Have you witnessed the monkey troop's biological attacks?"
Yan Shouyi's mouth twitched.
So, this troop's bad habit was taught by you, you scoundrel?
You trained them to throw poop at people?!
Yan Shouyi sneered, "I believe your monkey troop is out of ammunition now."
The monkey trainer was stunned and looked at the brown-furred monkey with a questioning gaze. The brown-furred monkey avoided his eyes.
The monkey trainer was instantly furious. The current situation was like the commander arriving, but his soldiers had already fired all their ammunition.
How awkward!
Just as the monkey trainer was at a loss, Yan Shouyi suddenly released his hand, letting the brown-furred monkey go.
The monkey trainer looked confused. "Your excellency, what is this?"
"Forget it, it was just a misunderstanding. I'll release this monkey, and you make sure your troop stops bothering us. We'll call it even, how about it?"
"...Agreed!"
The monkey trainer was also a straightforward person. He called the brown-furred monkey over but ignored it. Instead, he said a few words to the golden-furred monkey beside him.
Then, the golden-furred monkey walked directly to the brown-furred monkey and slapped it twice across the face!
The brown-furred monkey took the beating but dared not get angry, lowering its head to accept the scolding from the golden-furred monkey.
After the golden-furred monkey finished scolding, the brown-furred monkey suddenly walked up to Yan Shouyi, bowed deeply, and then raised its hand—and saluted impeccably!
Ye Tianyuan, standing below the tree, stared with his mouth wide open.
So, what was said online wasn't just a joke!
This monkey really saluted!
The monkey trainer smiled. "This can be considered meeting as adversaries. Judging by your appearance, you are likely not an ordinary person. Let's be friends."
"My name is Qi Dongqiang!"
The monkey trainer then pointed to the golden-furred monkey beside him and said, "This is Huanhuan, the king of this monkey troop!"