The two were surrounded by monkeys at the entrance of the path.

The monkey that led the way chattered away at the other monkeys, recounting its tragic experiences.

Their expressions were quite varied, ranging from joy and anxiety to tearful grievances at the end.

The other monkeys listened while occasionally glancing at Li Xin'er and her companion. Their initial anger turned into fear and apprehension as they silently moved closer to each other, wary of one another.

Seeing that they had said enough, Li Xin'er urged the monkey who had led the way:

"Finished communicating? What about what you promised me? Hurry up, I have something to do later."

The monkey cast a pitiful look at a monkey twice its size.

The monkey had a tuft of golden hair on its head and a very noticeable ring of white hair around its face. Judging from the reactions of the other monkeys, it was probably the leader of the group.

Li Xin'er decisively changed her target, addressing the old monkey directly:

"If you don't acknowledge it, fine, we'll just leave. Then the antidote will be gone!"

The little monkey got anxious upon hearing this, and squeaked, grabbing the monkey leader's arm and shaking it pleadingly.

It doesn't want to die yet! Big Flower hasn't given it any babies yet!

The eldest monkey disdainfully flung its arm away, glared at it, and then tossed the little monkey far away.

Go stand aside, you're embarrassing the monkey.

The leader of the monkeys glanced at the composed Li Xin'er, then squeaked twice at a black monkey beside him, giving instructions.

The black monkey took off running down the narrow path.

Seeing this, Li Xin'er was no longer in a hurry, and waited calmly, letting a group of monkeys chatter and scrutinize her from the side.

Compared to her ease, Lu Jin'an was much more vigilant, her muscles tense as she watched the surrounding movements.

He knew Li Xin'er was very capable and had the ability to avoid risks, but he still preferred to take control himself so as not to be passive in case of emergencies.

Within minutes, a commotion was heard below, and a group of more than a dozen people, carrying farm tools such as hoes and sickles, climbed up the path.

The man at the head, who looked to be in his fifties and had a weathered appearance with many wrinkles on his face, looked at Li Xin'er and her companion with hostility.

"Are you the ones who poisoned Gou Dan?"

"Poisoning?"

Li Xin'er chuckled and asked in return, then shook her head.

"No, it just happened to steal the bananas we poisoned."

As soon as she spoke, the expressions of the villagers who had initially looked furious instantly changed.

If his initial demeanor suggested a troublesome nature stemming from a poor, remote area, now he's portrayed as a simple, honest person.

The eldest monkey then walked up to the old man and squeaked out a few words of explanation.

The old man went from shock to a hint of arrogance, finally glaring at Gou Dan, the instigator hiding to the side. He then turned to Li Xin'er and the other woman, bowing apologetically.

"I'm sorry, old man, I misunderstood at first."

If they were aggressive, Li Xin'er wouldn't mind being even aggressiver, but since they were behaving well now, Li Xin'er was happy that they were easy to communicate with.

"It promised to bring us to get its treasure."

The old man looked troubled upon hearing this, "Dog Egg's precious..."

When Li Xin'er saw that the others all had similar expressions, they seemed troubled and hesitant.

Could it be that they are unwilling to give away Gou Dan's precious treasure?

Li Xin'er said, "Just tell me what's on your mind."

The old man smiled sheepishly, "Dog Egg stole your food, so it should compensate you, but the 'treasure' it mentioned is just some useless little stones, or..."

He paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts and considering how to say it appropriately.

Next to the old man was a younger man with dark skin. Although he had single eyelids, his eyes were exceptionally large, clear, and innocent.

The young man, with a "what's the use" attitude, simply spoke up.

"Dog Egg and the others' treasures were dug out from those plague-ridden corpses. If you take them, you might catch a disease."

"Anyway, it's nothing good!"

The old man nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's exactly what Zhuangwazi said."

He felt bad that people had been tricked into coming by Gou Dan, and added apologetically:

"Girl, do you think we can make up for it in other ways?"

"We don't have anything fancy here, just some farm crops. We can offer fifty pounds of potatoes, or..."

"village head!"

"Father!"

Before he could finish speaking, the others, impatient, blurted out their own words, interrupting him.

The strong boy looked anxious. "Dad! What will we do if we give them all that food?"

Since the outbreak of the epidemic in the village, the surrounding mountains have also been affected. Apart from the original grain reserves, there is no food anywhere else.

Upon seeing this, Li Xin'er couldn't help but exchange a glance with Lu Jin'an.

It seems they're stuck here, completely unaware of anything happening outside.

Li Xin'er has plenty of food, so she wouldn't compete with them for rations.

"I'd like to take a look at the stone you mentioned."

The village chief was surprised. He had already said it came from the corpses of those plague-stricken people, and that any normal person should keep their distance. He hadn't expected this girl to still want to see it.

"That plague..."

"Don't worry, I roughly know what it is. Let me check to make sure it's the kind I know."

Seeing that she had made up her mind, the village chief stopped trying to persuade her and nodded.

"Okay, then come with us."

After saying that, he turned and shouted to Gou Dan, who was hiding in the distance:

"Dog Egg, you lead the way, let's go to your place."

Each of the monkeys had its own territory in the village. Everyone else disliked the stone, but in the end, the monkeys kept it themselves.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!