Chapter Thirty-Four: The White Monkey

"Whoosh." Lu Zhe slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a heavy breath. This was the fortieth day he’d spent living in the depths of these remote mountains and forests.

Whenever he recalled what had happened twenty days ago, a chill crept down his spine.

It was twenty days ago when he encountered a pack of wolves. That day, he fought them in a bloody battle, managing to kill eight blue wolves with his own hands, but not without suffering grievous wounds. As his consciousness began to blur, the pain in his head grew unbearable, and after that, everything faded into oblivion. When he awoke, all he saw was a ground soaked in fresh blood, the corpses of blue wolves strewn everywhere. Strangely, the wounds he’d sustained from their bites had somehow healed. It was utterly inexplicable, but...

Lu Zhe glanced at his waist. There, a row of polished, gleaming fangs hung quietly at his side. Still, he had gained quite a few blue wolf teeth. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself—he’d hit the jackpot.

He stood up, feeling the rich spiritual energy surging through him, took a deep breath, and gazed into the dense forest ahead. In a soft voice, he said, "Fifty more days to go. Let’s keep going."

With that, he sprinted into the depths of the woods, leaving the small waterfall behind.

Deeper in the forest, Lu Zhe wandered aimlessly. This was how he spent his days here—aside from cultivating, eating, and drinking, he simply roamed the wilderness without purpose.

Suddenly, he heard a series of sharp "chee chee" cries. With his keen hearing, he immediately looked to his left front, where he saw nothing but trees.

Since there was nothing else to do, he decided to investigate. The most powerful beast lord in this forest was likely only at the third rank, and with his current strength, as long as he didn’t provoke it, escape shouldn’t be a problem.

Having made up his mind, Lu Zhe hurried toward the source of the sound.

The cries of "chee chee, chee chee" grew louder and more urgent, betraying considerable distress.

Before long, the sound was so close it seemed to ring in his ears. Lu Zhe crept behind a thicket of brambles, gently parted the branches, and peered inside.

There were three monkeys: one yellow and two white, one large and two small. The yellow monkey stood about three feet tall and had four arms. One of the white monkeys was a small one, only about a foot and a couple of inches high. Behind the small white monkey lay another white monkey, as large as the yellow one, sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood—clearly gravely wounded, if not already dead.

"Four-Armed Yellow Ape?" Lu Zhe recalled the information from the "Beast" volume of the "Chronicles of Miraculous Creatures" and muttered in doubt.

"But I don’t remember seeing a white monkey like that in the ‘Beast’ volume," he mused, glancing at the two white monkeys. Soon after, he mocked himself quietly: the "Beast" volume was already incomplete, with much of its content lost to time—perhaps this creature was among the missing records.

Lu Zhe watched the little white monkey, which was shrieking anxiously, guarding the larger white monkey, refusing to move an inch. It was clear the small one was trying to protect its fallen companion.

The Four-Armed Yellow Ape was waving its limbs and shouting loudly, as if trying to intimidate the others, but made no move to attack.

Curiously, the little white monkey showed no fear, standing its ground and continuing its desperate cries.

Lu Zhe observed the scene with a faint, bitter smile. "That white monkey is quite human in its loyalty," he murmured.

At that moment, his eye was drawn to a patch of unusual grass growing to his left. The grass was tall, green, and had sawtooth edges.

"Sawtooth Woodgrass?" Lu Zhe crouched by the patch, inspecting the grass closely.

If memory served, the "Objects" volume of the "Chronicles of Miraculous Creatures" stated that when this grass was set alight, the smoke it produced was the most detested scent in the world to the Four-Armed Yellow Ape. Lu Zhe grinned quietly. Heaven was lending him a hand.

He quickly plucked several stalks of the grass, gathered a few stones, and, with a few quick strikes, set the grass alight.

Once the grass was burning, Lu Zhe plucked a few more stalks and tossed them onto the fire. Soon, a blue-green smoke began to curl up from the smoldering pile.

Holding his breath, he picked up a broad leaf and began to fan the smoke toward the monkeys.

The smoke drifted in their direction. The Four-Armed Yellow Ape kept on howling, but soon, as if it had caught a whiff of the smoke, it let out a roar, clapped a hand over its nose, and bolted away at full speed.

The little white monkey, seeing the Four-Armed Yellow Ape flee, let out two sharp cries, then hurried back to the fallen white monkey’s side, gently licking its fur and whimpering in sorrow.

Lu Zhe sighed softly, watching the small white monkey mourn. "That white monkey must be its parent, or at least family," he thought to himself.

Moved by compassion, Lu Zhe stepped out from his hiding spot. No sooner had he emerged than the little white monkey fixed its gaze on him, baring its teeth and shrieking in warning.

Lu Zhe smiled wryly, ignoring the monkey’s threats, and walked straight toward the large white monkey lying on the ground.

The small white monkey quickly darted to block his path, baring its teeth and screeching defiantly.

He smiled and shrugged, gesturing toward the large white monkey and then spreading his empty hands, signaling that he meant no harm.

The little monkey continued to screech but kept its eyes fixed on Lu Zhe’s waist. Following its gaze, Lu Zhe realized it was eyeing his wolf fangs and chuckled, "Clever little thing."

He set all the wolf fangs from his belt on the ground, hopped up and down, and patted himself down to show he carried no other weapons.

The little white monkey shrieked a few more times, but finally relented and stopped blocking him.

Lu Zhe stepped past the small monkey, crouched by the large white monkey, and rolled it over—only to be shocked by what he saw.

There was a fist-sized hole in the white monkey’s back, the blood already dried. It must have been dead for some time.

"This isn’t something the Four-Armed Yellow Ape could have done. Who could it have been?" Lu Zhe wondered silently.

The little white monkey hopped over to him, watching closely. Lu Zhe glanced at it and shook his head.

At the sight, the small white monkey let out a heartbroken wail, then returned to the large white monkey’s side, licking its fur as tears filled its eyes.

Lu Zhe sighed again, sorrow welling up inside him. Such loyalty and devotion were truly rare, even among humans.

While Lu Zhe mourned, the little white monkey, after licking the fallen one for a while, suddenly scampered off a short distance, crouched down, and began digging in the earth with its hands.

Lu Zhe realized what the monkey intended, so he squatted down beside it and helped dig.

After a while, they had made a large enough pit to bury the big white monkey.

The little white monkey dashed over to the corpse and tried pushing it toward the grave, but the body was far too heavy for it to move.

Lu Zhe quickly stepped over, bent down, and lifted the large monkey into his arms, carrying it to the grave with the little white monkey trailing close behind.

Once the burial was finished, Lu Zhe picked some wild fruits from a nearby tree and placed them in front of the monkey’s grave. He then stepped back, sat some distance away, and watched the small white monkey.

The little white monkey stood before the grave for a long time, unmoving, even as the sun set behind the mountains. Lu Zhe looked on and quietly said, "Such loyalty, such devotion."

He was about to leave when he heard the "chee chee" cry behind him. Turning around, he saw the little white monkey had come up close, watching him with bright, expectant eyes.

Lu Zhe felt a stir of doubt. "What do you want?" he asked.

Without answering, the monkey leapt onto his shoulder in a few agile bounds, its tail swaying.

Lu Zhe looked at the monkey in surprise. "You want to come with me?"

The monkey let out two soft cries and nestled onto his shoulder.

Lu Zhe smiled. Raising his eyes to the twilight sky, he murmured with a hint of melancholy, "We are both children with nowhere to go."

He gently knocked the little monkey’s head and said with a laugh, "From now on, I’ll call you Little White."

With that, he strode into the depths of the forest.

(Haha, at last I've broken through a hundred thousand words! A small milestone for a gentleman—please add to your collection and recommend to others!)