The old man and the little girl sneaked away from the village, following the path they had taken to enter. However, at the fork in the road where they left the village and entered the wasteland, they turned in a different direction and headed towards the other side of the wasteland.
The two walked quickly, and even after walking for quite a while, they were still able to maintain their pace.
Xu Qian followed them into the woods on the other side of the wasteland. The woods were full of trees, much taller than the ones in the mountains, and looked like a dark, dense mass.
Because there was almost no light and the two were walking extremely fast, Xu Qian was worried that something might happen, so he moved a little closer. But just as he got close to them, the old man suddenly stopped, quickly turned his back, and seemed to have sensed something. His round eyes shone with an astonishing light in the night, which startled Xu Qian. He thought to himself that the old man was quite perceptive, and those eyes were really too cunning!
"Dad?" the little girl looked at the old man.
"It's nothing." The old man looked away and continued walking.
Once inside the grove of tall trees, the two seemed even more agile. They placed their hands on a tree trunk and, like monkeys, leaped lightly to another tree, disappearing into the distance in no time.
Xu Qian was completely stunned. Is this how you play games?
Fortunately, he was no ordinary person either. While his opponent could jump on trees, he could fly in the air. He used his lightness skill to soar into the sky and followed the two yellow-named individuals.
After following them for about ten minutes, Xu Qian noticed that their movements were gradually slowing down and the trees were moving less frequently. So he slowed down as well, and just as his great lightness skill was about to land, he used a cloud-skimming technique to catch them without making a sound.
After landing, Xu Qian continued to use his invisibility. He saw the two people standing in front of a waterfall. He didn't know where they found the vines, but they used the momentum of the vines to jump directly into the waterfall.
Xu Qian surveyed his surroundings and, after confirming that Huang Ming had all gathered at the other end of the waterfall, used his great lightness skill to fly towards it.
Once inside the waterfall, Xu Qian discovered that it was actually a cave, with the waterfall itself serving as a natural defensive line. Without some tools, it would be very difficult to find and enter.
Since the two had already been inside for a while, Xu Qian didn't linger and continued to use his stealth ability to follow them.
After turning several corners, the situation inside the cave became increasingly clear. Looking at the scene before him, Xu Qian suddenly felt as if he had stumbled upon a monkey's den. The mountain was covered with monkeys. He wondered why he hadn't seen a single monkey in the mountains. It turned out they had all come here!
In the center of the cave stood a tree, an incredibly huge tree that emitted a green glow. Even Xu Qian had never seen such a large tree before.
The tree's canopy was lush and its branches spread out like a giant protective umbrella, completely covering the entire cave.
Xu Qian simply couldn't imagine whether such a 'tree' could still be called a tree.
But putting aside that strange tree, the monkeys living under it, and the people—yes, there's a small group of people in this cave—the people and monkeys here... are all too strange.
The man, like the old man, spoke human language, but the one he was talking to was a monkey, who was probably speaking monkey language? For a normal person, like Xu Qian, he couldn't understand what the two of them were whispering at all, but this... was too strange!
Just then, Xu Qian heard the little girl speak. Standing in front of her was a small monkey, about half the size of the little girl. The little girl called the monkey "Tami" and said, "Tami, Tami, I found a very handsome person today. Can we talk to Anda and exchange him for you?"
The little monkey that the girl called 'Tami' blinked, as if in response.
Only Xu Qian was wondering what the girl meant by 'huan', and what it meant by giving him 'huan' to this little monkey.
After the old man and the old monkey finished talking, they led the little girl and the little monkey in her arms toward the largest treehouse under the tree. There were treehouses of all sizes in the cave, some only a little over a meter high, while others were nearly six or seven meters high. They were heading toward the largest one.
Xu Qian followed them to the treehouse, where a man in a long black and white robe sat cross-legged. The robe was printed with some kind of pattern, resembling some ancient creature, but Xu Qian couldn't immediately identify what it was. His gaze then fell on the middle-aged man, who appeared to be only about thirty years old. However, there was an inexplicable depth in his eyes, as if an ancient soul resided within a young body—a feeling that was... quite incongruous.
"Lord Anda." The old man knelt down, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and bowed to the person in front of him.
The little girl bowed respectfully, but after the bow, she became less respectful and her tone became affectionate: "Lord Adachi, I have found someone for Tammy to replace. Please allow me, Lord Adachi."
Anda turned his gaze to the little monkey named 'Tami'. The little monkey squeaked twice, as if acknowledging the little girl's words. Then, Anda, as if chanting a spell, said something to the little monkey that was completely incomprehensible. Xu Qian could only listen while frowning.
After hearing the so-called 'spell', the little girl burst into laughter and left the treehouse hand in hand with the little monkey.
Xu Qian followed him out, completely bewildered. Just as he was feeling lost, a person he knew very well walked towards him—Sang Zi!
"Sugli—" The little girl ran towards 'Sangzi', and 'Sangzi' hugged the little girl tightly. An incredible tenderness appeared on Sangzi's face.
Xu Qian was absolutely certain that this person was not Sang Zi! Sang Zi would never show such a 'girlish' expression! This was nothing like Brother Sang!
And that was indeed the case. This 'Sangzi's' status bar was entirely set to unknown, just like the old man, the little girl, and even all the humans here. No, they shouldn't be human...
The old man looked at the two of them with a smile, then, as if remembering something, said, "Sugli, today is the third day, right? After today, the exchange will be complete."
The little girl cheered, "Once we finish, we can go out and play together! Sugeli, are you happy?"
Sugel, sporting the 'Sangzi' face, smiled and nodded, "Yes! We can go out together now."
Xu Qian's heart skipped a beat. So 'huan' meant 'exchange'. After today, 'Sangzi' would have completed the exchange with Su Geli in front of him. Was this 'exchange' the meaning he understood?
...Oh no, oh no, oh no, something terrible is about to happen!
Author's Note: The place just disappears when it comes to adventure storylines...
***
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