Chapter 241 The monkeys are very intelligent.

The monkeys' level of intelligence and understanding far exceeded Ning Jinli's expectations.

Moreover, it is truly touching to gain trust across species; even Xiao Qidi was moved by the scene.

Ning Jinli gently stroked the two skinny little monkeys in her arms. "Qidi, get me the medicine box."

Without saying a word, Xiao Qidi turned around and went to the tent, quickly bringing back a first-aid kit for the wilderness.

This first-aid kit is for military use only, and because it is intended for special forces members as a precaution, both the tools and medicines are top-of-the-line emergency supplies.

Primates and humans are very similar, so theoretically, these drugs should have the same good effect on these monkeys.

Ning Jinli opened the medicine box, took out tools and medicine, and skillfully cleaned and disinfected the wounds of the two skinny monkeys.

The two skinny little monkeys were half-conscious, wincing in pain.

The other dozen or so monkeys watched from the sidelines, baring their teeth and hissing softly, their faces full of tension and worry. Some of them were even jumping up and down in a hurry, vaguely showing signs of wanting to attack Ning Jinli.

The white-browed old monkey turned its head and mumbled a few words before the troop of monkeys quieted down.

Ning Jinli discovered that the two skinny monkeys had thorns remaining in their most severe wounds. Not only were the thorns deeply embedded, but the broken-off thorns also seemed to be quite long.

So she asked Xiao Qidi to turn on two flashlights to provide her with light.

The moment the flashlight came on, all the dozen or so pairs of eyes of the monkey troop stared straight at it.

The white-browed old monkey, in particular, had its eyes visibly wide open.

This is exactly the kind of Pokémon that they described as emitting a dazzling light, just like the crippled strategist described.

Don't tell me monkeys have never seen this thing before.

Even people of this era have never seen anything like it. Upon hearing that something can emit light at night, and that it is not a flame or anything like that, they would certainly assume that it is a priceless treasure.

The monkey troop was dispatched on a mission to seize the treasure.

The cripple even demanded that they do whatever it takes, even if it means ganging up on and killing the man and woman.

Monkeys are not to be underestimated in combat, especially those that are slightly thinner and shorter than normal people. When they go berserk, even the pirates of Blackwater Village dare not fight them one-on-one.

Moreover, they possess extremely high intelligence and certain combat strategies, and their sheer numbers make them virtually impossible for ordinary people to handle.

Of course, the cripple also considered that a young couple carrying such a treasure and still able to hide in such a godforsaken place must be quite skilled.

Therefore, after careful consideration, it was not unreasonable for him to believe that his monkey troop in Xunyang might be able to kill the man and woman if they risked their lives at any cost.

What he didn't know was that the abilities of the man and woman far exceeded his knowledge and imagination.

At this moment, Xiao Qidi held up flashlights with both hands to shine light, while Ning Jinli focused intently on removing the sharp spikes embedded in the little skinny monkey's body. She didn't notice that many monkeys were eyeing the flashlights with longing.

This "treasure" is naturally of no use to the monkeys.

But if they fail to retrieve them, they will surely be punished by the crippled strategist with beatings and starvation.

"Phew... all done." Ning Jinli breathed a sigh of relief, holding up the two five-centimeter-long, bloody thorns she had just pulled out. "If such long thorns hadn't broken off inside, this monkey wouldn't have survived."

After the spikes were pulled out, the two little skinny monkeys were noticeably better. Although they were still in pain, they realized that Ning Jinli was helping them, so they stopped baring their teeth and their eyes became much more docile.

Next, we apply medicine and bandage the wound.

Xiao Qidi continued to help hand things to Ning Jinli, casually placing two flashlights on the ground beside him.

The white-browed old monkey stared at the flashlight, a complex expression flickering in his eyes.

Meanwhile, several relatively strong monkeys quietly approached the flashlight, and then, taking advantage of Xiao Qidi's inattention, quickly snatched the flashlight and ran back to the monkey troop.

Immediately afterwards, the monkeys let out a roar that sounded like cheers.

The monkey that snatched the flashlight held it high and grinned, showing off its big buck teeth.

"Huh? What are they doing?" Xiao Qidi looked at the strangely behaving monkeys with a puzzled expression.

Ning Jinli glanced at it and said with a smile, "Monkeys are naturally curious, they've never seen anything like this before."

The two of them didn't bother to care. After all, flashlights weren't anything special to them, so they let the monkeys play with them if they wanted.

The monkeys cheered and jumped for joy. Some monkeys whispered and gestured to the white-browed old monkey, and even pointed in the direction they had left.

The white-browed old monkey glanced at the two people carefully bandaging the little skinny monkey's wounds, then at the "treasure" he had already obtained. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly revealed a fierce glint in his eyes and roared at the monkeys.

The roar wasn't loud, but it was incredibly intimidating.

The monkeys immediately fell silent.

Many of the monkeys clearly showed expressions of surprise and confusion on their faces.

The white-browed old monkey made continuous sounds, rhythmic and paused, while gesturing with its hands.

Several monkeys in the troop bared their teeth at it in dissatisfaction, but the white-browed old monkey suppressed them with its imposing presence.

"Jinli, they seem to be communicating about something," Xiao Qidi said in a low voice. "I didn't expect monkeys to be so well-organized and capable of communication. I've really learned something new."

Ning Jinli said, "Monkeys are social animals, just like humans, with complex social and gregarious characteristics. Moreover, these monkeys seem to be more intelligent, but unfortunately I can't understand what they are communicating."

Just then, the white-browed old monkey roared a few times at the monkey who had snatched the flashlight.

The monkey, clutching a flashlight, looked reluctant.

The white-browed old monkey went straight up and started pounding its head, making it run away in a panic, clutching its head.

In the end, the monkey put the two flashlights back to Xiao Qidi. When it returned to the monkey troop, it looked back every few steps, its face full of resentment and reluctance.

"Hahahaha!" Ning Jinli laughed out loud. "I know, the old monkey was scolding it for taking our things, so it gave it a good scolding and a few beatings, and ordered it to return them. These monkeys are really interesting."

Xiao Qidi nodded, "It is truly rare to find someone so understanding and even polite."

By now, Ning Jinli had finished treating the two skinny little monkeys' injuries.

She believed that the white-browed old monkey could understand her to some extent, so she patiently said, "These two little monkeys are alright, but be careful not to run around. Take good care of them, and when you leave later, be slow and careful."

The words had barely left his mouth.

The white-browed old monkey suddenly stood up and bowed three times to Ning Jinli in a human-like manner.

Ning Jinli was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth.

Then, the white-browed old monkey gestured and shouted something to the monkey troop before turning around and jumping up into a big tree.

The monkeys immediately became restless, jumping and leaping about, and several monkeys even tried to follow.

The white-browed old monkey turned around and roared a few times. The monkeys that wanted to follow lowered their heads and silently returned to the ground.

This scene made Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi vaguely feel that it was very unusual, far more strange than the behavior of the monkey troop before.

The meaning behind the previous series of actions could be inferred, but the current situation is truly unpredictable.

The white-browed old monkey let out a long cry, its voice deep and melancholic, seemingly carrying some indescribable sorrow.

The monkeys responded in hushed tones, their voices sounding equally distressed.

The white-browed old monkey then climbed to the treetop, glanced back once more, and then disappeared into the gaps between the branches and vines.

"What do you mean?" Ning Jinli asked, puzzled. "It left, leaving the other monkeys here?"

Xiao Qidi pondered, "That seems to be the case, but why would it do that?"

The white-browed old monkey disappeared.

The monkeys erupted in chaos, roaring and leaping even more restlessly.

Several monkeys grabbed Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi's legs, yelling and gesturing in the direction the white-browed old monkey had left.

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Ning Jinli tentatively asked, "Do you mean it's dangerous?"

The monkeys squealed and nodded vigorously, just like humans.

Xiao Qidi immediately followed up, asking, "What danger is there?"

The monkeys scratched their heads, thought about it seriously, then exchanged ideas with each other before scattering to make room, leaving behind two monkeys, one big and one small.

The smaller monkey hunched over, rubbing its eyes a couple of times, and then swayed around in a daze.

"You represent the White-Browed Old Monkey, right?" Ning Jinli asked.

The smaller monkeys nodded repeatedly.

Then another, larger monkey tried to stand up straight and imitated human walking.

“This represents people,” Xiao Qidi said.

The larger monkeys took a few steps and then began to limp.

Xiao Qidi said "Oh" and added, "He's also a cripple."

Immediately afterwards, the big monkey walked upright and limped to the little monkey, who shrank its neck, showing a submissive and fearful attitude.

The big monkey picked up a branch from the ground and whipped the little monkey.

Of course, it's just pretending to be very forceful.

The little monkey also chirped in pain.

Then, the big monkey, looking quite human, took the vine, tied the little monkey's hands together, and swung the other end of the vine onto a tree branch.

The little monkey continued to cooperate, leaping high and grabbing the branch with both hands.

The demonstration here is rather rough, but the two monkeys did their best, since they simply couldn't recreate overly complex movements.

But Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi both understood that this meant the White-Browed Old Monkey would be tied up and hung up by a lame person.

The big monkey continued to mimic whipping motions with the twig.

After being beaten, the little monkey lay on the ground, making a pitiful, dying crawling gesture.

"The way he looks like he's been beaten is really lifelike," Xiao Qidi couldn't help but praise.

Ning Jinli frowned. "The reason they can imitate so well must be because... they get beaten up all the time."

Xiao Qidi said solemnly, "It should be so. It seems that these monkeys were trained by that lame man, and as for that man, he must be a member of the local pirate gang."

Based on the monkeys' behavior and demonstrations, the two quickly deduced some clues.

As for the white-browed monkey leaving the troop behind to return alone, it was probably to prevent the other monkeys from being beaten and abused as well.

What a loyal and compassionate monkey leader!

There are countless people in the world who can't even compare to it.

Xiao Qidi couldn't help but look at him with new respect.

"Qidi, let's go rescue the old monkey!" Ning Jinli made the decision without hesitation.

Xiao Qidi nodded in agreement without hesitation.

Just as the two were about to follow the direction the white-browed old monkey had left in and search for it based on its tracks, a monkey tugged at their clothes and pointed to the ground.

The two stopped.

The monkeys immediately sprang into action, gathering branches and drawing crooked, uneven marks on the ground.

Before long, with the cooperation of more than a dozen monkeys, a rather crude map appeared before Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi.

Upon closer inspection, the two were surprised to find that the area covered was even more extensive than the area that the special operations team had surveyed with drones in recent days.

Furthermore, in some places the terrain was too complex to be surveyed temporarily, but the monkeys drew hidden passages within.

"Hiss..." Ning Jinli gasped, "Your intelligence has truly refreshed my understanding time and time again. Compared to humans, you're probably only lacking the ability to speak human language."

"Jinli, look, this is where we are." Xiao Qidi pointed to the corner of the map, where a crooked triangle was drawn, and the surrounding situation was highly similar to the map surveyed by the drone.

When their attention finally fell on this spot.

A monkey immediately poked the triangle with a long twig, pointed at Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi, and then moved the twig, laboriously drawing a long, crooked line.

The long route twists and turns, bypassing many locations, including hidden routes, before finally arriving at the location of the two zigzag lines at the top of the map.

Ning Jinli discovered that this area perfectly filled in a central region that had not yet been explored due to environmental constraints.

It turns out that a river bend was hidden in that dense, impenetrable jungle.

The monkey poked the middle of the river bend with a twig while jumping around and making rapid noises.

Ning Jinli snapped her fingers. "I understand! The fact that the White-browed Old Monkey went to that place proves that it's where your master is hiding!"

Xiao Qidi added, "It seems to be the lair of the river pirate gang as well."

“You wait here,” Ning Jinli said to the monkeys. “Don’t run around or cause any damage. We promise to rescue the old monkey.”

The monkeys all stood up straight and bowed to her.

——

The night was dark and the wind was high.

The lame strategist was dozing off on the edge of the bed, wrapped in a fur blanket.

A familiar creaking sound from the wooden planks startled him awake.

He yawned, turned the oil lamp up a bit, and got up to open the window.

A gust of cold wind blew in, making him shiver. "I'm freezing... Come inside!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the white-browed old monkey leaped in.

The lame man closed the window and began to inquire about the situation.

The white-browed old monkey made a series of squeaking and gesturing at him, and as the cripple watched, his expression grew increasingly strange.

"What? You're saying that the man and woman are both really, really good people, and you don't want to steal their treasure?"

"Squeak...squeak..."

The white-browed old monkey lowered its head.

The lame man's eyelids twitched, he bent slightly, and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me, have you found the treasure?"

The white-browed old monkey raised its forelimbs and gestured wildly again.

The cripple was instantly enraged.

"You got it and then gave it back to them? You son of a bitch! You're asking for it!"

He cursed angrily, kicked the white-browed old monkey away, and then picked up the whip that was placed on the table next to him.

The white-browed old monkey bumped into the corner of the wall and convulsed in pain, but it still got up, lowered its head and returned to the lame man's feet, whimpering softly and carefully continuing to gesture with its forelimbs.