Chapter 77 Monkey Bones
Qi Xiaopang had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation. He was still holding the Monkey King's arm with a happy smile on his face. However, the little coal ball hanging on his heel was keenly aware of the cold and eerie aura in the air that was rushing towards Qi Xiaopang.
The little black dog, the size of a slipper, bravely stood in front of Qi Xiaopang and yelled at the little monkey, who no longer looked like a monkey, as black fog surged around him like waves.
Unfortunately, it was just a little puppy after all. No matter how hard his expression was or how loud his voice was, his barking was still crisp and childish, and it couldn't scare the black shadow that came to Qi Xiaopang step by step in a blink of an eye.
However, the surrounding monkeys subconsciously bared their fangs when they heard the dog barking.
At that moment, everyone's attention was focused on the sudden and imminent "family recognition drama." Only Qing Bai was still carefully examining the "shell" left on the brick platform by Qi Xiaopang after his recent escape. The clay sculpture, worshipped by the Chushan monkeys for years, had been shattered by this disaster, with red, black, and white scattered all over the floor.
The red ones are the broken red cloth knots tied to the outside of the clay statue, the black ones are the broken and cracked clay statue shell, and as for the abrupt white ones... they are a curled up skeleton.
The bones were fragmented but complete. Although curled up into a ball, the head, chest, limbs and tail were visible to the naked eye. Anyone who took a look could easily recognize that this was the skeleton of a baby monkey.
Qing Bai had heard before that Buddha statues are consecrated and 'enshrined' after they are made. The craftsmen would deliberately leave a cavity at the back of the statue, and then choose an auspicious day for a high monk to personally 'enshrine' the statue with earth. The things enshrined in it varied greatly, the most common being scriptures, grains, jewels, and metal livers and lungs, while rarer items included talismans, herbs, and relic powder... But who would have thought that the monkey statue squatting on the altar was covered in black mud, but inside was actually a handful of real monkey bones?
Seeing this, although Qing Bai's brows were knotted, he still sorted out the complicated relationship in front of him as quickly as possible - the Monkey King was most likely the mother of the little monkey. Many years ago, the old monk used some shameful method to extend the life of the little monkey for Old Man Tang. As for this clay statue and even this temple, they were shackles that imprisoned the little monkey... This could also explain the diametrically opposed attitudes of the monkeys and Old Man Tang when they pushed the clay statue nine years ago.
The Monkey King wanted his child to break free from its shackles and find spiritual freedom, so he naturally chose to endure the attacks and stop anyone who came to stop him. For Old Man Tang, this clay statue was a matter of life and death, so he naturally wished it would sit on its perpetually high platform, impervious to wind and rain, as stable as ever.
As for why Qi Xiaopang was "locked" in the clay statue, and after coming out he was dizzy and crying, claiming the monkey as his mother... He probably "saw" something in the clay statue, and after being kept there for too long, he got so used to it that he lost his mind and thought of himself as a little monkey.
Originally, this would be nothing. When you are too deeply immersed in the story and the emotions are too real, you will always feel dazed for a while when you suddenly return to reality. This is inevitable. You just need to wake up and go crazy to face the reality. But this time, it just happened that the monkey in question was also there during the process of waking up and going crazy. The monkey in question happened to be an underage and immature monkey. Who could tolerate "stealing the mother" in front of other monkeys?
This little monkey is quite reasonable. He didn't kill anyone directly even though they hadn't had an argument. Instead, he carefully considered and decided to help each other in a friendly way and "share his mother". Such a broad mind and such a pattern... who wouldn't be embarrassed by it?
Seeing that the little monkey Black Shadow was already getting close to Qi Xiaopang, if we continued to watch, the little monkey Black Shadow and Qi Xiaopang would really become a "loving family".
However, Qing Bai did not light up his fighting talent. When he was in human form, he could still use the radio gymnastics and military boxing he had practiced for more than ten years to perform some fancy moves. Now even those fancy moves are gone. Could it be possible that he could roll down and perform a set of meow punches on the incorporeal black shadow?
Qing Bai can only place his hopes on Jiu Nian or Ai Chan... Of course, Jiu Nian accounts for the majority of this hope, while the theoretical monk Ai Chan is just incidental.
However, this time, the theoretical monk truly impressed Qing Bai. When the shadow was getting closer and closer to Qi Xiaopang, and the man and the monkey were about to overlap, Ai Chan, who had somehow moved to the temple gate, suddenly called out loudly, "Little monkey!"
The sound was fast, urgent, and a little cracked, not at all like the sound of the cicada, which was usually steady, smiling, and spoke slowly. Then, a string of black beads wrapped in an unknown layer flew into the air and hung on Qi Xiaopang's neck accurately like a ring-tossing game in an amusement park.
The little monkey, surrounded by black mist, was shocked and took a step back as if he had touched a hot coal. Then he turned back immediately.
With a "click", Qi Xiaopang, who was trapped in the quilt, closed his eyes and trembled all over. When he opened his eyes again, the expression on his face was stiffer than the broken mud statue shell on the ground. The two hands holding the Monkey King's arms did not dare to move. His big eyes, no longer drowsy, had one big word written on one side - "Save me!"
Seeing that the man had regained consciousness, Qing Bai finally let go of the worry that had been hanging in his heart for a long time, and then turned his attention to Ai Chan... What could he do if he was so shameless as to insist on claiming to be his mother and clinging to her "thigh"? He was just an incompetent little kitten!
Besides, although the Monkey King is the leader of the monkey group and has the final say, he is surprisingly very maternal. Since he didn't get beaten after calling "Mom" so many times, I might as well hold him first. Since I'm here, I might as well find a monkey godmother. It won't be a wasted trip.
…But the beads Ai Chan is putting around Fatty Qi's neck look so much like the skullcaps the young monk in the crevice wore on his wrist. Didn't he say he buried them? Could it be buried in that lame red clay incense burner by the door?
The eyebrow lawsuit was over, but the two childhood friends were still staring at each other, neither of them saying a word, as if whoever spoke first would lose, although what stood between them was never a simple win or loss.
Qing Bai probably knew how this little monkey developed the habit of squatting outside people's windows in the middle of the night and playing "statue" with them.
Although they knew it, it was not appropriate for outsiders like them to urge their childhood friends who had not seen each other for a long time to greet and reminisce about the past. They could only act calmly and try not to put pressure on them.
Ai Chan was a mature adult after all, so she didn't make them wait too long.
He looked at the little monkey, whose face had been completely changed and no longer resembled a monkey, and then looked at the Monkey King with people hanging from both of his hands behind him. He lowered his eyes and head, and his hands, which were always clasped together subconsciously, also hung at his sides, his fingers tightly clenching the fabric of his clothes. This was a pure, ordinary person's gesture of apology.
Ai Chan maintained this apologetic posture and said, "I'm sorry, I..."
"Ah—what are you doing! Let go!!!"
Ai Chan's apology was interrupted by a scream. Everyone turned their attention and saw that Qi Xiaopang, who had just been carefully holding the Monkey King's arm, was actually wrestling with Old Man Tang and the Monkey King.
No, after a closer look, everyone realized that it couldn't be said that they were fighting in a ball. Instead, it should be said that Old Man Tang was trying to tear off the skull hanging on Qi Xiaopang's neck with a ferocious look on his face, and Qi Xiaopang was caught off guard and fell down. In order to avoid being strangled, he could only cover his neck with one hand and hold Old Man Tang's thief's hand with the other hand. Seeing this, Little Coal Ball was so anxious that he jumped up and bit Old Man Tang's calf. As for the Monkey King, it was purely implicated. After all, one of its arms was held by Qi Xiaopang, and the other one was holding Old Man Tang without letting go... In short, it was in a mess and in a very embarrassing situation.
"Give it to me! Give it to me! Give it to me quickly!" Old man Tang is still strong and healthy. With a gun hanging on his leg and the back of his neck being pulled, he can still fight with the young man Qi Xiaopang on equal terms.
Qi Xiaopang was caught off guard and lost the initiative, and was strangled until his eyes rolled back. After he finally managed to catch his breath, he opened his mouth and subconsciously shouted "Mom" again.
It is an instinct engraved in people’s DNA to call for their mothers when they are sad or in danger. It may be embarrassing but understandable...bullshit!
Just because a human can understand something doesn't mean a monkey can't! He's already regained his sanity and realized he's a human, not a monkey! Besides, his own child is watching him! It's understandable that he might cry out a few times when he's not thinking straight, but calling for "Mom" after he's recovered is a bit ungrateful! But after he's already called out for "Mom," it's like spilled water; he can't take it back...
Qi Xiaopang was fighting with Old Man Tang while thinking about all sorts of things, and didn't notice that when he said "Mom", the Monkey King, who was still in confusion, was obviously stunned for a moment. After taking a closer look at him, he stretched out his long arms and pulled Old Man Tang back mercilessly.
No matter how strong old man Tang was, he couldn't fight three people at once. He was quickly defeated and slid down on the ground like a puddle of mud, gasping for breath.
Qing Bai took a look and suddenly said, "He seems to have aged a lot suddenly."
In a short while, Mr. Tang, who had been quite energetic before, had become almost as old as the old man Tang they saw in the crevice, whose neck was basically buried in the ground and who was using all kinds of threats and inducements to beg the old monk to keep his life... or perhaps even older.
Jiu Nian's eyes swept over the handful of bones on the ground mixed with the fragments of the clay statue. He frowned slightly and whispered, "The clay statue is broken, and the life he forcefully extended is also gone."
"He's about to die?" Qing Bai thought for a moment and asked, "Can you give him some more?"
Jiu Nian tilted his head, a hint of doubt in his quiet eyes.
Qing Bai explained, "If he died here, it would be very troublesome...for the monkeys in Chushan."
After all, he looked like an energetic old man before going up the mountain, and the bodyguards and followers he brought with him were indeed beaten up by the monkeys. Even if Old Man Tang should have died long ago, in the eyes of those who didn't know the truth, it would only be "an old man encountered a vicious monkey on the way to burn incense, was tortured and died unfortunately", which would be a piece of social news, and there is a high probability that it would bring trouble to the monkeys in Chushan.
This is how things are in this world. People who do nothing when they are alive will only cause trouble to others even after they die.
"He won't die for a while." Jiu Nian said, "He still has debts to pay."
Qing Bai was relieved.
After saving his neck and beads, Fat Qi calmed down and bowed sincerely to the Monkey King. His gratitude was beyond words. After expressing his gratitude, he picked up the little coal ball that was staring at Old Man Tang with a fierce look and took off the beads that were almost taken away with the other hand. He ran to Ai Chan and said, "Hurry up and put it away! This thing is too precious. If it wasn't for the monkey mother's timely help, it would have been taken away!"
Now he changes his name to monkey mom... Fat Qi is really a good person.
Ai Chan took the Kabala under Old Man Tang's gloomy and frantic gaze. Silently, he gently brushed away the layer of mud covering the beads, revealing the gray-brown bone beads underneath. After staring at them for a long moment, he whispered, "Why are you grabbing this?"
Old Man Tang didn't say anything, but stared at Ai Chan with a dim gaze, wondering what bad idea he was up to.
Ai Chan didn't mind and continued, "You may not know that the last bead here is made from the master's brow bone."
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