After hearing the monkey's story, I glanced at Zhou Peng, who was already under control, and my feelings became complicated.
Not far from Zhou Peng was the corpse of the female savage, her shattered head a complete mess, as if a bowl of brains with half a bottle of chili oil had been sprinkled into her bones.
In such a scene, a normal person would feel extremely uncomfortable just by looking at the picture, let alone being drawn to the smell of blood. If Zhou Peng really wanted to play tricks, there were many ways he could have done it, and there was absolutely no need for him to choose this path of tormenting himself.
As we were discussing countermeasures, the sky gradually brightened, and Zhou Peng became restless.
Seeing his state, Song Laosan hardened his heart and said to me, "Xiao Duan, we're going to find the savage camp next. You've seen Zhou Peng's condition; he's lost his mind. If we take him with us, his roars will definitely alert the savages and might even attract other wild animals. Maybe we should just leave him here."
"No, that would be too immoral!" After thinking for a moment, I still rejected Song Laosan's plan: "I know Zhou Peng is a burden, and I know that abandoning him is the best choice for us, but no matter what, this is still a human life! There are no laws in this jungle, but that doesn't mean there are no laws in this world. What if Zhou Peng accidentally leaves this jungle?"
Song Laosan raised an eyebrow slightly: "You mean, just kill him?"
"What are you thinking? My grandfather taught me that when a person is desperate, they can do anything, but they must never be without a bottom line! I won't kill anyone, at least not an innocent person! Zhou Peng is the guide we hired. Although we don't know what disease he has, this matter is directly related to you and me. If I really kill someone, I'm afraid I really can't hold onto my bottom line. Moreover, if this gets out, we'll easily be blackmailed by Sasha and Ivan. We can't kill everyone just because we're robbing a tomb, can we?"
After telling Song Laosan my thoughts, I held up two fingers: "I've come up with two plans. The first is to give Zhou Peng a small amount of sedative to try and restore his mental state. That way, he can at least help us communicate with Sasha and Ivan; otherwise, the team will be even more chaotic. If a small amount of sedative doesn't work, we'll increase the dosage to knock him unconscious. Then we'll take him with us, and after we achieve our goal, we'll take him out of this area and send him to the hospital for treatment."
"Okay, I'll listen to you. I know he's a problem, but I can't bring myself to kill him. You're right, it's bad karma to do such a thing, and we're not executioners."
After I persuaded Song Laosan to stop, he gestured to Sasha and Ivan for a long time before they understood what he meant. He then held Zhou Peng down and fed him the medicine.
As the sun peeked over the horizon, Zhou Peng finally calmed down. Once he regained his senses and understood his situation, he looked at us in horror: "Mr. Song! Mr. Duan! What do you mean by this? Why are you tying me up?"
Seeing that Zhou Peng could call me by name, I walked up to him and asked, "Zhou Peng, have you regained consciousness?"
Zhou Peng was taken aback by my question: "Regained consciousness? Haven't I always been perfectly normal?"
The monkey stared at the culprit who had nearly violated him and asked with wide eyes, "You really don't remember anything that happened last night?"
"last night?"
Zhou Peng muttered those two words, then his face turned pained: "I remember I was keeping watch with Sasha and Ivan last night, and then... and then I don't remember anything, but why did you tie me up?"
The monkey immediately started cursing: "You have the nerve to ask? You son of a bitch last night..."
I interrupted the monkey and explained calmly, "You fell asleep while on night watch last night and then sleepwalked. We were afraid you would encounter danger, and since the people on night watch couldn't keep an eye on you, we tied you up."
The reason I said this is because I'm afraid Zhou Peng will be frightened if he finds out what he did last night. Given his current mental state, he's really not suited to be stimulated any further. If he were to go crazy again just as he's recovered, it would be a huge loss.
After listening to my explanation, Zhou Peng shook his head vigorously: "Sleepwalking? I've never had this problem before... It's probably because I've been too tired lately, plus I've been sick, and I've been under too much psychological pressure."
"Here's the thing, I discussed it with Third Master, and your condition has been really unstable these past few days, so we've decided that we'll have to keep you tied up for the rest of the journey."
After explaining the plan, I immediately reassured you, "But please don't overthink it. You might feel a little humiliated by what we're doing, but I assure you it's not to hurt you; it's actually to protect you. We're very close to our destination now, and we expect to be able to leave this place in a couple of days. For everyone's safety, we can only ask you to make do, but we will give you appropriate compensation. We will pay double the amount we promised you before."
"Okay, let's do it your way. We've encountered too many dangers since we came into the mountains. Without your protection, I wouldn't be able to leave this hellish place."
Zhou Peng took a deep breath: "Once I leave this place, I will never go into the jungle again in my life. And when I buy a house in the future, I won't even allow a single tree in the yard!"
Zhou Peng's recovery was undoubtedly good news for us, especially the Jin Dynasty rusted knife found in the wild man's hands, which made me even more certain that there must be a Jin Dynasty tomb in this mountain. So, as soon as the sun rose, our group set off.
The fight the night before was fierce, but we still managed to gain the upper hand thanks to our superior firearms.
Many of the savages were injured while fleeing, and the bloodstains they left behind made it easier for us to track them down.
With Sasha, an experienced hunter, leading the way, no trace of the wild man could escape his eyes. We searched along the way in the dense forest and soon found the wild man's activity area.
In front of a thicket, Sasha waved for us to stop and pointed to the marks on the ground ahead, saying, "The animals in the forest mark their territory by scent. They rarely take fixed routes, but there are obvious trampling marks on the grass ahead, which are clearly man-made. So this should be a route that the savages must take. We can set up an ambush here."
“This old man looks like he’s gone crazy from hunting. We’re not here to catch savages, so why are we setting up an ambush?”
The monkey rolled its eyes and gestured with its chin toward Zhou Peng: "Tell him to lead us along this road to the savages' lair. Since those savages have what we need, let's strike at their heart and wipe them out in one fell swoop!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com