So he said to Du Heng, "Don't rush, let me go and negotiate with them first!"

Upon hearing Lu Yuan's words, everyone began to tense up.

Xiao Shan gently tugged at Lu Yuan's arm, saying, "Be careful! Don't provoke these apes!"

Lu Yuan chuckled softly and patted the other person on the shoulder: "Don't worry! I know about this!"

So, Lu Yuan walked up to the ape and pointed at the ape on the ground, making a waking-up gesture.

It took the white-robed ape a while to react, and a look of joy immediately appeared on its face. Then it made a few strange movements with Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan was a little confused after reading it, because he didn't know what the other party meant.

So, after mobilizing their think tank, they finally deciphered the other party's sign language.

"You mean he's completely cured? Is that what you mean?"

The white-robed ape nodded immediately after seeing Lu Yuan's actions.

The two sides then reached a consensus through this very difficult method of communication.

Lu Yuan treated the wounded, while the apes no longer posed a threat to their lives, but they had to be guarded around them.

This was already the biggest concession the other party had made, and it was something Lu Yuan had negotiated with them with great effort.

After all, it's already quite good that everyone's lives were saved; the only price to pay is freedom, which is still acceptable.

And so, after daybreak, Lu Yuan led the group back to the banana plantation under the escort of these apes.

And Lu Yuan and the others finally learned how the apes had gotten here this time.

They found a ladder-like structure leading into the valley, where they discovered a giant tree lying across the valley.

Based on their observations along the way, Lu Yuan and his team guessed that the ape-like boy who had just been rescued must be a very important person.

The ape in white robes was a priest.

Of course, that's according to their name. As for how these apes called them, Lu Yuan and the others didn't know.

Moreover, these priests held extremely high prestige within the ape colony, essentially equivalent to high-ranking eunuchs in ancient imperial courts.

The kind of person who is second only to one person and above ten thousand others.

And so they returned to their cave once more.

However, this time, in order to prevent Lu Yuan and his group from escaping, the apes specifically dispatched dozens of apes to guard this place.

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The military personnel trapped in the central area launched a surprise attack one night.

However, the final result was still failure, and the entire military now has fewer than thirty people left.

The remaining twenty-odd people are still surrounded. These apes are guarding them, not fighting, and just trying to starve them to death.

Time passed day by day. Finally, these people broke down.

Hearing a burst of gunfire from the distant banana grove, Lu Yuan and his companions shook their heads helplessly.

"Oh! These people are so pitiful! They shouldn't have come!"

Lu Yuan and the others are trapped here like prisoners.

Their main task is to help treat any injured apes. If they don't cooperate, the apes will get very angry and push them into a swamp.

With no other option, Lu Yuan could only continue to cooperate with them and constantly think of ways to escape.

But it's clear that they've now been treated as free hospitals and free doctors by these apes.

After stitching up the last ape with a head injury, Du Heng looked at his surgical kit and saw that he was out of gauze. He said somewhat dejectedly, "I'm out of gauze."

"No, we can't go on like this! We're out of gauze! If the next patient comes, we'll be all gone!"

Lu Yuan understood everyone's predicament, but after trying a few times, he found that these apes were all so resilient that they stayed close by almost every step of the way.

"How about... we go and talk to these apes again?"

After saying that, Lu Yuan turned to leave the cave, but as he stepped outside, he felt a chilly wind blowing towards him.

"Autumn has arrived before we knew it! Oh well! I'd better go take a look!"

After explaining his situation to the two guards at the entrance, Lu Yuan was led by them towards the location of the elder.

Their guesses last time were pretty accurate: the ape-like creature was of high status, considered an elder and a priest in the region.

Lu Yuan also found that the sheer number of this ape-like group exceeded his expectations.

These apes have reached a population of millions, but they are not all united, and they also wage wars, often fighting over good farmland and food.

Looking at the tall altar in the distance, Lu Yuan felt a sense that they were about to be replaced by these apes.

"It's like Rise of the Planet of the Apes! These apes are about to rise up! Will we humans become their slaves in the future?"

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan felt a surge of tension.

If that's really the case, then they are truly in danger.

However, their current strength is really too weak. They are no match for these tall and agile apes.

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