prey
Chapter Sixteen
The sky was dim and the moonlight was hazy; if it weren't for the faint red glow emanating from those eyes, I wouldn't have noticed them at all.
Those eyes were fixed on me without blinking. When I realized it, I froze, not daring to even breathe.
These are clearly not human eyes!
What could it be?
Wolf?
No, I know that wolves are beasts of the grasslands, living in packs and never alone.
tiger?
I don't know if there are tigers in Bozhou, but when I was a child, my aunt told me stories of ferocious tigers eating people and heroes fighting tigers. Although I have never seen one with my own eyes, I know that the ferocious beast has a king's mark on its forehead and is the overlord of the forest.
What if it really is a tiger?
I probably can't outrun it. I heard that thing can climb trees, so there's no way I can escape.
Having developed some brute strength through martial arts training, I had absolutely no chance of dealing with a tiger. But what other way out was there but to fight to the death?
I maintained my fully charged posture, my eyes fixed on the pair of eyes that were watching me. My hands silently groped on the ground, but unfortunately, it was just a pile of pebbles and gravel. I finally found a slightly larger pebble, which I held tightly in my hand. I held my breath, ready to throw it at the beast's eyes when it pounced.
Throwing stones at tiles is a game I've played since I was a child. My aim is at least 99% accurate, if not 100%. However, the opponent was a tiger...
Those eyes suddenly moved!
It moved forward slightly, but I was absolutely certain I wasn't mistaken. I took a deep breath and gripped the pebble.
As I drenched in sweat, those eyes moved back and forth in my direction, flashing briefly before settling back to stillness.
As I watched the distance shorten, I mentally calculated the time to throw the stone. However, when the object suddenly found no cover and was completely exposed, my heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly calmed down. Although I still gripped the stone tightly and kept my knees bent and still, I remained motionless.
It wasn't a tiger. It quickly hid behind another tree, but the opportunity I had just had allowed me to see it clearly: it was only about half a person's height and had a hunched posture. It was clearly standing on two legs. Just based on this last point alone, I believe even a tiger spirit wouldn't have this ability.
It looks more like a monkey.
Having probably acted rashly, the thing hid behind a tree and remained motionless for a long time.
But I gradually grew impatient. After all, maintaining one posture for a long time is tiring, let alone being ready to go. The wind in the forest was chilly, and my nose was so itchy that I almost couldn't help but sneeze again.
This standoff wasn't going to work, so I decided to take the initiative. I lowered myself even further, almost crawling, towards the spot where the thing had last disappeared.
I wasn't moving fast either. After walking for a short while, and just as I was about to reach my destination, the thing suddenly darted out from behind a tree and pounced on me. Startled, I instantly threw the stone I had been holding. In an instant, I heard a "thud," followed by the "bang" and "squeak" of something hitting the ground.
A scream followed by another, and the thing jumped up, hopping around wildly a few steps away from me, making a constant "squeaking" sound.
I stood up and looked in the moonlight. Sure enough, it was a hairy monkey. I don't know where my stone hit it, but it was jumping around happily, completely oblivious to my approaching steps.
When I was only three steps away from the monkey, it suddenly stopped, jumped back several feet away, squatted on the ground, looked up at me, and its "squeaking" decreased considerably.
I tiptoed closer to it like a thief, even though I immediately realized that it was watching me, so why was I being sneaky? But I just couldn't get rid of that posture.
After closing the distance again, I stopped and stared at the monkey.
The monkey made a new move; it stood up again on its two hind legs, facing me with its head tilted slightly forward: "Squeak."
Huh? What does that mean?
I scratched my head, and it quickly scratched its ears and cheeks, hopping around on its left and right legs a few times, not giving up, and took a small step towards me: "Squeak."
Oh my god, I can't even understand the local dialect of Lan Feiyu and the others in Bozhou, let alone the monkey language of Bozhou.
The monkey tried to keep going. It stood still, stretched out its front paw, pointed at me and said "Squeak," then pointed at itself and said "Squeak."
I suddenly realized what it meant and repeated its actions, saying, "You, me, is that right?"
The monkey nodded repeatedly, happily crawled on all fours, spun around twice, then stood up, pointed at me, then at itself, slowly turned around, and walked forward.
After taking two steps, it stopped. Seeing that I didn't move, it turned around and chirped, making a "follow me" gesture.
Somewhat bewildered, I took a step forward in disbelief, pressed my index finger against my chest, and asked the monkey, "You want me to follow you?"
The monkey nodded very decisively, chirping, then waved its paws, bringing its palms together and placing them on one side of its head. It closed its eyes briefly, then immediately opened them again, silently watching me.
I actually understood: "You, you're taking me somewhere I can sleep?"
This time the monkey laughed... baring its teeth and squinting its eyes; it must have been laughing.
It jumped to my side, tugged at my hand, let go, and then went forward again, turning back several times to wave at me, who was stunned and speechless with shock. I slapped my forehead: If there's no escaping it, I might as well go with it!
This day was truly thrilling. I never imagined that my sworn sisters, whom I had just sworn sisterhood with yesterday, would turn on me so cruelly today. Just when I was in trouble, a magical monkey appeared out of nowhere. After I attacked it, it repaid evil with kindness and offered to lead me to a safe place for the night.
Back in the capital, I never imagined that I would believe in a monkey in this lifetime.
The monkey led me along the stream. I could hear the water, but I couldn't see what was under my feet five steps away. Even if there was a cliff ahead, I couldn't see it. My vigilance in the darkness made me walk slower and slower until I could only move one step at a time.
Seeing this, the monkey nimbly jumped back to my side, grabbed my hand, and led the way.
I sighed and said to the monkey, "Zhi Zha, I believe you, but please don't harm me. I was just harmed today, otherwise I wouldn't have ended up like this."
The monkey, seemingly understanding, responded with two "squeaks".
I followed the monkey nervously through the dark forest. After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, it suddenly stopped. My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly looked around. To my surprise, I spotted a faint glimmer of light right next to me!
The monkey let go of my hand, walked to the light, and suddenly raised its voice: "Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" three times.
With the heavy thud of the object being moved, the light grew brighter and brighter, and to my astonishment, a human figure appeared.
The monkey chattered as it hopped toward me, and then a figure spoke—a young woman's voice: "State your name."
“…Zhao Xi,” I answered obediently, then asked in return, “Who are you? The owner of this squeaky monkey?”
"Come in." The figure didn't answer, but stepped aside.
It was only then that I noticed that it was actually the entrance to a cave, and the light was coming from inside the cave.
I stepped inside with a lot of suspicion, and Zhizhi followed me in. After we were all inside, the woman guarding the cave entrance pushed a huge rock taller than a person to seal the entrance again.
"Such brute force!" I was stunned for a moment, thinking to myself, "It would take me quite a bit of effort to push that rock."
At this moment, I came face to face with the woman. She seemed to be a year or two older than me and was half a head taller. Her long hair was casually tied back in a bun to one side. By the light of the fire in the cave, I could see that she had the appearance of a Central Asian with prominent brow bones and a high nose. Her expressionless face seemed to be etched with a sharp edge. Her eyes were almond-shaped, and upon closer inspection, they seemed to gleam with a wild, green light.
His appearance was unusual, but he was dressed like a typical hunter, with a small dagger wrapped around his waist—I couldn't help but think that there was a similar one on the vest that Lan Feiyu had given me, but unfortunately I threw it away with my outer garment before going into the river.
Could the second daughter also be Lan Feiyu's companion?
If that's the case, wouldn't I have just escaped one danger only to fall into another? Besides, the cave entrance is blocked by rocks, so there's no way to escape.
The monkey seemed to sense my nervousness and jumped over to tug at my sleeve. Now that the flames were illuminating the way, I realized that I had hit the poor thing on the forehead, where a small bump had appeared.
I felt both guilty and grateful. I knelt down and blew on the squeak's wound, saying, "Squeak."
A cold, clear voice came from above me: "What are you doing here? You are not the 'prey' this time."
Hmm? "Prey"? What's that?
Before she could ask, an even sweeter, gentler female voice came from inside the cave: "Miss Yuanzi, is this younger sister also abducted?"
I got up and saw that an older woman had walked out of the room at some point. She had long hair and was wearing a bright red gauze dress. Although the hem of the dress was already tattered and there were many marks of being torn by hooks on the upper body, this outfit did not look like something that should appear in the forest, even for a noble lady.
The girl with the kite-shaped hairpin softened her expression and said to the woman in the gauze skirt, "I don't know, she should be Han Chinese. Have you seen her before?"
The woman in the gauze dress looked at me. I noticed her oval face, crescent-shaped eyebrows, and peach blossom eyes. Her whole appearance was round and gentle, and her voice was soft as well: "I've never seen you before. Young lady, where did you hide during the day? Have you seen any other girls similar to you on your journey?"
I shook my head and sneezed at the opportune moment.
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