“Why did you stop?”

The rainforest was dim; the man holding them hostage didn’t see the little monkey, just saw Lu Lingxi stop and immediately scolded him in a loud voice.

Lu Lingxi didn’t say anything, waved his hand quickly at the little monkey and walked forward with his head down. He still remembered the little monkey’s warning in the morning and was worried that the man might recognise the little monkey. Although the monkey was nimble, the man had a gun in his hand. The little monkey understood Lu Lingxi’s movement and quickly jumped to a nearby tree. It hid behind the dense leaves of the tree. The man walked over, raised his head and saw nothing.

The group of three walked forward for a while, and the man thought it was time to contact the boss. He was very familiar with this rainforest, and he could judge the right direction even in the dark. According to their speed, it would be time to meet the boss in half an hour. He was about to take out the satellite phone from his bag, when suddenly a strong gust of wind hit the back of his head. The man instinctively rolled to the ground as a huge black shadow landed behind him. The man was stunned subconsciously, but Wang Chaoliang reacted extremely quickly and took the opportunity to rush over, desperately pinning down the man who was about to get up.

“Xiao Xi, the gun!”

Wang Qingliang’s mobility was limited, and after shouting, he opened his mouth and bit the man’s arm holding the gun.

The man struggled to push Wang Chaoliang away, and his other hand clenched into a fist and slammed Wang Chaoliang’s face fiercely. Wang Qingliang let out a muffled grunt but continued biting and refused to let go. Lu Lingxi had already run up to the man’s side and fought with the man for the gun.

The black shadow that had attacked the man earlier also took the opportunity to make trouble and jumped onto the man’s face, squealing. It was a large monkey half a human size.

“Fuck, the beast is looking for death!”

The man cursed through gritted teeth, stomping his legs in an attempt to overturn the man and the monkey on top of him. In the confusion Lu Lingxi stepped hard on the man’s hand holding the gun. The man had to let go of the gun in pain, and it was snatched away by Lu Lingxi. In the blink of an eye, a few more dark shadows jumped down from the trees. Monkeys of all sizes squealed excitedly, pouncing on the man and scratching or slapping him, while a few small monkeys stood in the forefront, baring their teeth, grabbing some unknown fruits and hitting the man hard. The man roared angrily.

Lu Lingxi took the gun but he didn’t know how to use it, so he didn’t think much about it and tucked it into the back of his clothes, then pulled a finger-thick vine from the ground that looked very strong. Taking advantage of the man’s inability to get up under the pressure of the monkeys and Wang Chaoliang, he went around, tied the man’s exposed legs together and tied a knot vigorously.

“Uncle Wang.”

Lu Lingxi hurriedly pulled Wang Chaoliang up and untied the ropes around his hands. With the monkeys helping, the two men took the rope and bound the man on the ground, peeling off the man’s socks and stuffing them into his mouth in the process.

“There, it’s okay.” Wang Chaoliang’s face and mouth were covered in blood, and he wiped it haphazardly, patting Lu Lingxi soothingly.

Lu Lingxi looked at him worriedly, “Are you alright, Uncle Wang?”

Wang Chaoliang laughed, “Yes, your Uncle Wang is very tough, this little injury is nothing.”

It was only now that the two of them had completely stabilised their minds and could talk. Earlier Lu Lingxi’s heart had been pounding so hard that he acted completely on instinct. Wang Chaoliang was not much better than Lu Lingxi; after all, he was old and had been beaten up a lot along the way, and almost couldn’t hold on under the psychological burden. At least thanks to his usual outdoor work, he was still physically active. He also kept in mind the fact that he had brought Xiao Xi here and had to bring him back intact. Only with this thought did he manage to carry on.

The two men looked at the tied man. The man looked quite miserable; his face was swollen and his clothes were torn into strips by the monkeys, revealing bloody marks all over his body. Several small monkeys were still hitting the man, as if they thought it was a fun game. The little monkey in the lead was the one Lu Lingxi knew, and it was squealing while throwing fruits and pointing at the man.

“What’s going on here?” Wang Chaoliang was both happy and puzzled, “Has this man offended the monkeys before?”

Speaking of which, it was really lucky that he and Lu Lingxi were able to get out of danger. If he hadn’t taken advantage of the man being caught unawares by the sudden attack or without the help of these monkeys, it would have been completely impossible for him and Xiao Xi to escape the man’s hands.

Lu Lingxi couldn’t say for sure, but what he was certain about was that these monkeys were the helpers called by the little monkey. But why the little monkey wanted to save him, he didn’t know.

“Zi-zi.”

The leading monkey jumped up the tree and called out to the monkeys. The monkeys on the ground responded, and even the few small monkeys who were happily beating the man also stopped their actions and responded with the same squeak. The little monkey that Lu Lingxi knew squeaked and jumped into Lu Lingxi’s arms, its furry paws hugging Lu Lingxi’s neck as it rubbed against him affectionately. Lu Lingxi’s eyes curved, his heart feeling unusually soft. He stroked the soft fur of the little monkey. His heartbeat gradually returned to normal.

“Uncle Wang, let’s call the village.”

The man who was tied up carried a satellite phone with him, which was just right for contacting the village.

Wang Chaoliang immediately went forward to pick up the man’s bag. He had just taken out the satellite phone when the monkeys around him suddenly panicked and fled in all directions to the surrounding trees. A giant, black-coloured python, as big as a basin in diameter, emerged silently out of the grass, its head held high as it showed its tongue and looked at them with a cold gaze.

Lu Lingxi’s heart sank; he stood there, not daring to move. Even the little monkey in his arms was clinging to his body in fear, completely losing its previous lively appearance. The man on the ground, sensing the unusual atmosphere, craned his neck and saw the python; swinging his body frantically, he tried to move away from it.

Just as the two sides confronted each other, the leading monkey suddenly jumped to its feet and provoked the python. After its squeak, a rainfall of fruit thrown by the monkeys hit the python’s body.

“Run.”

Wang Chaoliang gasped, shouted hoarsely and pulled Lu Lingxi to run. The little monkey hugged Lu Lingxi obediently, and in his haste Lu Lingxi only had time to glance back at the monkeys. After a few waves of attacks the monkeys also scattered, as if their previous attacks were creating an opportunity for him and Wang Chaoliang to escape. Just that man…

Lu Lingxi didn’t think any further, stumbling all the way and running forward desperately. He didn’t know how long he ran, he only felt that his heart was about to jump out of his throat. “Xiao Xi… let’s take a break.” Wang Chaoliang said intermittently, “There seems to be no movement behind.”

The two men held onto the tree trunk and went limp, panting heavily.

“The snake shouldn’t have followed us.” Wang Chaoliang looked around in shock.

Lu Lingxi, holding the little monkey, also looked around, but nothing could be seen clearly in the darkness. The little monkey held on to Lu Lingxi with both paws and refused to let go. Lu Lingxi knew that the little monkey was probably terrified too as it was the first time it had seen such a thick and long python. “It’s alright.” He coaxed the little monkey like a child, and the little monkey squeaked petulantly.

“That man…” Wang Chaoliang started and didn’t say more. Although he hated drug dealers, he only thought of handing the man over to the police, but didn’t think of throwing him to a giant python.

Lu Lingxi understood what Wang Chaoliang meant. He hesitated for a long time and finally whispered, “…he… he is a bad guy.”

“Yes, he is a bad guy.” Wang Chaoliang let out a sigh of relief, stroked Lu Lingxi’s hair and said firmly, “He is a bad guy… Xiao Xi, don’t think about it.”

Lu Lingxi nodded gently. Wang Chaoliang tried to change the subject, “Xiao Xi, look what kind of tree is this? Strange, I haven’t seen it at all before.”

Wang Chaoliang was talking about the tree that the two of them were leaning against. Lu Lingxi didn’t pay attention when he was leaning against it, but when he followed Wang Chaoliang’s line of sight, he realised that the tree was as thick as seven or eight adult men, and he estimated that it would take four or five people to surround it.

He didn’t know much about trees and subconsciously spread out his mental scan; the white panel floated out in front of him.

Plant name: First-class copaiba balsam tree

Plant needs: None

Plant vitality: dead.

“The plant is dead, consume the power of nature to save it?”

Lu Lingxi was taken aback by the prompt at the bottom. He didn’t expect that this very solid tree was actually dead. Although he had never heard the name of this tree, he believed that the panel couldn’t be wrong. At this time, it was completely dark, and Lu Lingxi couldn’t see the specific situation of the tree clearly. He thought it was probably that the tree had just died, so it looked okay from the outside, but in fact, the problem was in the heart of the tree. He didn’t hesitate and quickly chose “yes”. It would take at least a few hundred years for this tree to grow to such a large size, and it was a plant that had evolved naturally. It would be a pity if it died like this.

As he clicked “yes”, the little monkey in his arms suddenly became excited, grabbing Lu Lingxi’s collar and squeaking, one paw even pointing in the direction of the tree. Lu Lingxi knew that animals’ senses were very keen, and whenever the big willow tree in Lingshui Village evolved in the past, the animals in the village would get very excited while the villagers didn’t notice anything unusual. He touched the little monkey’s furry head, and it kept squeaking as it grabbed his finger and pointed at the tree trunk.

“What?” Lu Lingxi still didn’t understand what the little monkey meant.

The little monkey was a bit anxious and simply jumped onto the tree, scratched the bark and searched for a long time. Finally its hand was covered with some light yellow oil-like substance and the little monkey happily brought it to Lu Lingxi’s face. Seeing that Lu Lingxi still didn’t understand, the little monkey jumped to the ground and half-crouched there, stretching out two little paws as if making a fire.

Lu Lingxi blinked and said in a flash of intuition, “This can be lit?”

The little monkey bared its teeth and continued to make several fire-lighting motions, squeaking and jumping into his arms, wiping the oily stuff on its paws onto Lu Lingxi’s clothes. Lu Lingxi didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh, grabbing the little monkey’s hand to keep it from moving around. Although they were now away from the python crisis, the only satellite phone that could contact the village had been lost in the previous escape. Unable to contact the village and unable to see anything, the two dared not continue walking in the rainforest in the dark.

Lu Lingxi simply relaxed, held the little monkey’s paw and asked Wang Chaoliang what exactly it was. “Uncle Wang, is it resin?”

Wang Chaoliang and Lu Lingxi had a similar mentality. Now they could change nothing, so they could just relax and take a rest. Wang Chaoliang came over and carefully looked at the liquid for a long time, shaking his head uncertainly, “It’s not resin. Do you smell it? Does it smell like industrial oil?”

“Industrial oil?” Lu Lingxi smelled it, but couldn’t tell what industrial oil smelled like.

Wang Chaoliang laughed, “If I could ignite it and burn it, I would know. It’s a pity….”

Although the light of the fire could give them some peace of mind, it would be a problem if it attracted the other drug dealers. They were running around in a daze just now and they didn’t know where they had gone.

“Forget it, safety comes first.” Wang Chaoliang suppressed his professional impulse and laughed bitterly, “We’ve almost lost our lives, and we’re still thinking about this thing.”

Lu Lingxi first smiled, then said seriously, “I think Big Brother Yan will definitely find us.”

It had been a few hours since he and Wang Chaoliang had been taken hostage, and he was sure that Yan Yue must have gotten the news and was now looking for him in the rainforest. As long as they didn’t run into the other drug dealers, they would definitely wait for Yan Yue.

“Good, then we’ll wait here for Yan Yue.”

While the two of them leaned against the big tree in the dark and talked about plants, Yan Yue and his party were standing at the place where they had encountered the python earlier.

“There is a satellite phone and tattered clothes found on the ground. There are traces of human activity directly in front of us, and a trail of a huge snake as well as signs of a human being dragged on the left. The preliminary judgement is that they encountered a giant python, one person was dragged away by the giant python, and the remaining two escaped.” Wu Jiang looked around the area and quickly analysed what had happened before. He showed the clothes he had picked up to Yan Yue. “It’s the clothes of a local ethnic minority. We can optimistically estimate that the one dragged away by the python was the drug dealer and the ones who escaped were your friends.”

Yan Yue knew it was just a possibility, but at this point he was clinging to this possibility like a drowning man. He needed someone to keep telling him that Xiao Xi was okay, that Xiao Xi would be fine. 

While no one was paying attention, Wu Jiang asked in a low voice, “Those snakes of yours?”

Yan Yue shook his head. The aura of the python was too strong around here; the snakes were so affected that they hid and didn’t dare to come over at all.

“Then let’s look along the traces of activities in front of us first.” Wu Jiang decided.

Yan Yue nodded and turned to leave when he suddenly heard a monkey squeaking in the tree. He looked over, raising his flashlight, and saw a monkey half a human size hanging from the trunk of a tree, baring its teeth at him and screaming. Yan Yue’s heart fluttered as the monkey jumped to another tree and kept leaping forward.

“Follow it.” Yan Yue instinctively felt that the monkey was showing them the way and took the lead in running after it.

Wu Jiang looked at Yan Yue’s back inexplicably and muttered, “First it was a snake, now it’s a monkey, are you guys from the circus?” Despite his sarcasm, he called his men and followed Yan Yue.

As they went deeper and deeper into the rainforest, Xiaohui, who was squatting on Fang Lei’s shoulder, suddenly meowed.

Fang Lei was overjoyed and said hurriedly, “Xiaohui says it’s just ahead.”

The expression on Wu Jiang’s face became even more bizarre.

“Here we are, it’s just ahead.” Fang Lei affirmed.

The group of people quickly stopped. Because they weren’t sure which two people had escaped, they didn’t dare to make too much noise, for fear that if there was the drug dealer among those who had escaped, the other party would be desperate if he knew the police were coming. Although Yan Yue was anxious, he could only endure and approach slowly.

The rainforest at night was quiet and the little monkey was the first to hear their footsteps and squeaked. 

Lu Lingxi looked over warily and faintly heard the movement of someone coming. He and Wang Chaoliang looked at each other. Holding back the fear in their hearts, Lu Lingxi said loudly, “Who is it? Don’t come any closer, we have guns.” As he spoke, he took out the gun stuck behind his waist into his hand and struggled to point it at the jungle in front of him.

The next moment, Yan Yue’s ecstatic voice came, “Xiao Xi!”

“Big Brother Yan.” Lu Lingxi blinked, then reacted and ran towards the place where the sound came from with a gun in his hand.

The two of them were not far away and it took only a minute or two to run, but this distance was the longest distance in Yan Yue’s life. It wasn’t until he held Lu Lingxi in his arms that he was shocked to realise that he had been holding his breath and seemed to be unable to even feel his heartbeat.

“Xiao Xi.” Yan Yue shakily called Lu Lingxi’s name, shivering as he touched Lu Lingxi’s face and back, as if only this way could he make sure his baby was in his arms. “Xiao Xi…”

“Big Brother Yan, I’m here.” Lu Lingxi replied as he hugged Yan Yue.

Yan Yue wanted to smile, but unbeknownst to him, his eyes were wet.

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