The answers to Xu Qian's first two questions were related to the person named Anda. As for the third question, Xu Qian learned from the 'woman' that not every monkey wanted to exchange with humans; in fact, most monkeys were unwilling to exchange. Monkeys actually disliked the inflexible bodies of humans. Only a small number of monkeys, due to special circumstances such as physical injury or extremely poor physical condition, would choose to find Lord Anda to exchange with. In other words, they would settle for second best, and this 'second best' was the human body.
As for when the 'exchange' began, the story starts with a ruthless hunt.
About forty years ago, Monkey Ridge was even more lush than it is now. Because of its rugged terrain, it was always a sparsely populated area where the monkeys lived a very peaceful life. Until one day, the sound of a hunting lodge rang out throughout the forest...
In the following years, the monkeys were hunted to near extinction by humans. Then, a new young monkey king led the remaining monkeys to this cave, where they discovered the sacred tree. The sacred tree provided them with a safe home and clean water, and the monkeys were grateful and made offerings to it.
Later, under the influence of the sacred tree, a completely new monkey race was born. They gradually developed intelligence and unique social relationships, and their new life seemed to have restarted. But just then, due to an accident, a stranger carrying hunting wood/gear tracked them to their new home...
Humanity's insatiable greed dealt another devastating blow to this already fragile new monkey species. They used extremely cruel methods to rip out their brains, and countless young lives died under the firewood before they even had a chance to see the world clearly. All of this atrocity was caused by the mere mention of 'delicious food'.
The angry and powerless monkey king roared, watching helplessly as his people were killed once again, their blood staining their new home, but he was powerless to do anything about it.
At this moment, the divine tree awakened. The kind and compassionate divine tree bestowed divine power upon the Monkey King. The plunder and counter-plunder were instantly reversed. The monkeys became powerful humans, while the humans became weak and pitiful monkeys. The 'Monkey King' dug out 'their' brains in the same way, and then 'their' homeland.
That's the end of the story.
Xu Qian felt extremely complicated, with a feeling that was hard to describe in words.
Survival of the fittest—what a cruel statement.
Xu Qian didn't want to involve those humans, nor did he want to involve those monkeys; either side seemed too heavy.
Xu Qian wanted to be a kind person, but he couldn't be a true saint because a 'person' is a 'person,' and human hearts are biased. Fortunately, there was no 'what if,' so he didn't need to take sides. Now he only had one thought: to rescue Sangzi.
If you want to stop the 'exchange', you must get the Azure Light Token from Anda. That thing is a treasure of the monkey clan, guarded by each priest, and has the same status as the big tree.
Xu Qian had to go find Anda.
Meanwhile, the old man took the little girl back to Nanbin Village.
Meng Ziqiu had been waiting for news from Xu Qian for a long time. With the shift change time approaching, he still hadn't seen him return, which made him extremely anxious!
"Xiao Meng, I'll do it. You go and get some sleep."
Just then, the shift worker arrived, and Meng Ziqiu forced a dry laugh. "I'm going outside to pee."
"Okay, go ahead." The man didn't mind, but seeing that he was the only one on night watch, he casually asked, "Nephew, you can't hold on any longer, can you? Well, you're just a young man, still growing."
Meng Ziqiu nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, he's still growing, so we can't let him stay up too late."
Once outside, the biting wind was so strong that it made him shiver.
Just then, a figure appeared in the distance. Meng Ziqiu rubbed his eyes and hurried forward, "You! You...you're finally back!"
"Nothing happened, right?" Xu Qian looked up and asked him.
Meng Ziqiu shook his head and asked again, "What about your side? Have you found anything?"
Xu Qian thought about it carefully and realized he had discovered quite a lot, too much to say in a short time. "Let's go in first."
“Wait a minute,” Meng Ziqiu reached out and grabbed him, “I just told them you went to bed early…”
Xu Qian tilted his head and looked at him, then made a decision in his heart, "Forget it, let's just talk it out, this is very important."
“…Huh? Ah!” Meng Ziqiu saw him walk straight into the house and quickly followed.
After Xu Qian came in, he didn't say much. Instead, he called everyone else in the room to his feet and said that he had found Sangzi. As soon as he said this, the room immediately became noisy, and everyone jumped up.
"What?! Sangzi has been found?! Where is he?!"
"And what about him, him, the rest of us?"
Xu Qian took a deep breath and recounted the events at the Monkey Cave, adding and subtracting details. Putting aside his ability to become invisible and the Mind-Regulating Pill, although the fact that Sangzi had become a monkey was surreal, Xu Qian had evidence. He had taken pictures of the general layout of the Monkey Cave with his phone, including the densely packed 'nests' and the dying Sangzi inside.
"Then why didn't you bring Sangzi back?"
Xu Qian glanced at the person who had just spoken. He wanted to bring him along, but bringing a monkey wouldn't save Sangzi. They needed to find a way to get Anda to take out the Azure Light Token.
The man, after being glanced at, belatedly realized what was happening and, with puffed-up cheeks, fell silent.
Uncle Zhang, who was quick to accept advice, was indeed worldly-wise. He immediately offered his suggestion, "You said they're also after us, so why can't we take advantage of that?"
For example, pretend to be captured by them, and then take the opportunity to steal the Azure Light Token.
"That old man is cunning. He said he wanted to 'pick' a few good ones..." In other words, several people might be put in danger as a result, just like the old man said, and be pushed off the cliff.
Uncle Zhang thought for a moment and then said, "How about this, let's see how they make their move first. We're all experienced here, so we'll act according to the situation."
Xu Qian also had his own plan. The reason he revealed it now was mainly to give this group of people a general idea and let them know what kind of "people" their opponents were. Fortunately, the result was better than he had imagined, and the level of acceptance from the group far exceeded his expectations.
Wow, people who've seen the world are really something else!
Little did anyone know, Uncle Zhang, who appeared calm on the surface, was also feeling uneasy inside. It seemed that things were starting to look promising, but this "prospect" was anything but joyful. A monkey that could turn people into monkeys? A monkey that could turn people into monkeys?
This is unheard of! Absolutely unheard of!
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