On the winding mountain path, Zhuge Ji and the brown-furred monkey met eyes.
Why had Jue’er turned into a monkey?!
Zhuge Ji recoiled as if shocked, retreating more than a dozen paces, and looked at the brown-furred monkey from afar.
The brown-furred monkey, in turn, continued to stare at Zhuge Ji with a look of surprise, its actions shifting from scratching its backside with one hand to scratching with both.
Only then did Zhuge Ji regain his senses. Monkeys were common on Mount Emei, and most were short-tailed macaques, also known as rhesus monkeys, which were very intelligent.
“Hey! You startled me!”
Zhuge Ji patted his chest. He had thought Tian Jue’er had transformed into a monkey.
Having collected himself, he sized up the brown-furred monkey with a friendly gaze. The monkey seemed to sense Zhuge Ji’s goodwill and grinned at him.
“What a cute little spirit!” Zhuge Ji mused, though he had no particular interest in monkeys. He prepared to walk past the brown-furred monkey to catch up with Tian Jue’er sooner.
But as he reached the monkey, it suddenly extended a hand towards him.
“What?… Oh, you want food?”
Zhuge Ji did indeed have food, and a whole backpack full of it. It was, in fact, packed for Tian Jue’er.
Tian Jue’er’s appetite had reached gluttonous levels. When she was with Wu Tianfeng, she was accustomed to “not having enough to eat or wear.” Now, the Folk Customs Research Association treated her very well, buying her whatever she wanted, which had essentially granted Tian Jue’er freedom in snacking.
Fearing a lack of food on Mount Emei, they had made special purchases. Tian Jue’er’s snacks alone filled three backpacks, containing bread, biscuits, various braised delicacies, even pickled chicken feet, potato chips, and of course, the indispensable “fat boy’s happy water.”
Actually, Tian Jue’er disliked carbonated drinks because they filled her stomach, so the “fat boy’s happy water” was meant for Zhuge Ji.
Zhuge Ji unslung his backpack, pulled out a bag of bread, and tossed it to the brown-furred monkey.
Upon receiving the bread, the brown-furred monkey let out a delighted “Gee gee gee!” It skillfully tore open the packaging and stuffed the bread into its mouth.
The entire bag of bread was devoured by the monkey in a few mouthfuls, leaving a scattering of crumbs. It paid them no mind and continued to extend its hand to Zhuge Ji.
“You really think I’m a pushover, huh!”
Zhuge Ji reluctantly took out another pack of biscuits. Under the monkey’s appreciative “Gee gee gee!” laughter, it was quickly consumed.
“Jee jee jee!”
The brown-furred monkey reached out to Zhuge Ji again.
Zhuge Ji was getting a bit annoyed. He tugged at the backpack’s zipper and said, “That’s enough. This is my goddess’s food. I’ll give you one more… thing!”
The brown-furred monkey scampered and jumped, even walking on its hands, as if performing for Zhuge Ji.
Seeing this, Zhuge Ji was amused, thinking that two bags of snacks were not a bad deal for a show.
However, while reaching for the snacks, Zhuge Ji’s mischievous side kicked in, and he grabbed a pack of super spicy pickled chicken feet.
“Here! The last pack!”
“Gee gee gee!”
The brown-furred monkey happily accepted the pickled chicken feet. Zhuge Ji paid his “toll” and hurried forward, unable to resist looking back.
He saw the brown-furred monkey tear open the package with its mouth, and the spicy pickling juice immediately splashed into its eyes.
“Hiss…”
The monkey’s eyes stung, and it couldn’t open them. It then rubbed its eyes with its juice-covered hands, only making the burning sensation worse.
The brown-furred monkey didn’t understand. Although its eyes burned, it was afraid other monkeys would snatch the snacks, so it hastily stuffed the chicken feet into its mouth.
This proved to be a terrible mistake. The monkey was instantly sent flying by the spice!
The fur on its head stood on end. The strange taste made it scratch its body uncontrollably, and its monkey face turned a deep red!
“Hahahaha!”
Zhuge Ji, walking ahead, laughed uncontrollably. “Greedy as always, and now you’ve fallen for it!”
The clever brown-furred monkey seemed to realize it had been tricked. It stuffed the remaining chicken feet into its mouth and bared its teeth at Zhuge Ji.
“Hey, don’t bother me again. I have nothing else to give you!”
Zhuge Ji turned and ran.
“Jee jee jee!”
The enraged brown-furred monkey immediately changed its demeanor, chattering and chasing after Zhuge Ji.
Zhuge Ji hadn’t expected the monkey to be so fast. He inwardly cursed his bad luck. Before he could react, the brown-furred monkey jumped onto his head and began hitting his forehead with its hands.
Zhuge Ji quickly shook the monkey off and said indignantly, “I already gave you food. Why are you still bothering me?”
The brown-furred monkey seemed to be holding something. It suddenly flung it at Zhuge Ji’s face. Zhuge Ji yelped, feeling a fiery pain in his eyes.
This damned brown-furred monkey had a trick up its sleeve – pickled chicken feet juice!
I was careless, I didn’t dodge!
The young monkey fought dirty and launched a sneak attack!
Seeing Zhuge Ji in a predicament, the brown-furred monkey scratched its ears and eyes while letting out a mocking “Gee gee gee!”
Zhuge Ji quickly took out mineral water to wash his eyes and took a while to recover. Seeing the monkey still laughing incessantly, Zhuge Ji became furious.
Where was the cute little spirit he had spoken of?
This brown-furred monkey was nothing short of a road-blocking bully!
Zhuge Ji shouted, “Go away! Don’t block my path!”
The road-blocking bully wouldn’t let Zhuge Ji go easily. It swiftly reached out and grabbed for Zhuge Ji’s backpack.
This backpack contained all the delicious snacks!
Zhuge Ji pulled at his bag, wrestling with the brown-furred monkey.
However, humans were, after all, slightly smarter than monkeys. Zhuge Ji freed one hand and, with a loud “Slap,” smacked the brown-furred monkey.
The monkey froze in place.
Its mouth fell open, then it released its grip on the backpack and slowly covered its face, looking at Zhuge Ji in disbelief.
Its expression seemed to say: You dared to hit me? My own father never hit me!
Zhuge Ji burst into laughter. “Feeling better now, got beaten up?”
Slap!
Taking Zhuge Ji by surprise, the brown-furred monkey returned the slap!
Now it was Zhuge Ji’s turn to be stunned.
I was hit by a monkey?
And a slap to the face, no less!
If this got out, how would I ever face anyone in the Zhuge family?!
Zhuge Ji angrily raised his hand and slapped the brown-furred monkey again.
The brown-furred monkey, not to be outdone, slapped Zhuge Ji back.
And so, man and monkey stood on the winding mountain path in the wilderness, slapping each other’s faces.
Five minutes later, Yan Shouyi and the others, who had gone back for the missing team members, returned to find Zhuge Ji and the brown-furred monkey, their faces swollen like pig heads, still exchanging slaps…
They immediately fell silent.
“What are you two doing?” Long Feicheng exclaimed.
Zhuge Ji was close to tears. “Brother Xiao Long, this monkey wanted to steal Jue’er’s snacks. It wouldn’t let me leave if I didn’t give it any!”
“Damn it, can’t a living person be outsmarted? It’s just a monkey, watch this!”
Long Feicheng leaped forward, circled behind the brown-furred monkey, and kicked its rear end when it wasn’t paying attention.
The monkey yelped in pain and jumped up, chattering and rubbing its backside while baring its teeth at Long Feicheng.
Long Feicheng chuckled. “See? Problem solved!”