Chapter 50: Farewell, Monkey
When they saw the corpse, both Chaolu and Zhu Dafu froze.
This…
“Isn’t that the skinny guy from that gang of criminals?” Zhu Dafu stammered. “Could it be that they’ve chased us here?”
He was terrified.
Terrified that he might be caught again, forced back into a life no better than livestock.
That would be worse than death!
Even graver than his fear was Chaolu’s expression. Chaolu raised her knife and pointed it directly at the corpse.
Zhu Dafu: ?
What’s the point of aiming at a dead body? Afraid it’ll suddenly jump up?
Well… maybe it could, like turning into a zombie or something.
“I remember this man,” Chaolu’s low voice sounded. “I personally shot him dead. He shouldn’t be here.”
Even if he had turned into a zombie, he couldn’t have come this far.
“…Huh?”
The words left Zhu Dafu completely dumbfounded.
What did that mean?
His brain took a moment to process, and then a chill crept up from the soles of his feet, spreading through his whole body.
Why did that sound so sinister?
Like a vengeful ghost come to claim a life…
The instant that thought formed, Monkey’s “corpse” in the distance twitched.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Zhu Dafu screamed, stumbling backward in panic until he fell hard onto the ground.
“It—it moved!”
He pointed at Monkey with a trembling finger, stuttering so badly his words fell apart.
Chaolu narrowed her eyes, her face growing even more serious.
Not far away, Monkey rose from the ground in an unnatural, bone-twisting contortion no human body should be capable of. He hung his head low, pausing for a moment.
Just as he was about to lift his head, the next second Chaolu charged forward and slashed at Monkey’s neck!
But the blade struck as if it had hit metal—only sinking half an inch before it jammed, refusing to go any deeper.
Chaolu’s heart jolted in shock.
As expected, something was wrong!
She immediately tried to pull her blade back, but in the next instant a hand clamped tightly around the weapon.
Monkey slowly lifted his drooping head. His blood-red eyes, like a serpent’s, locked onto Chaolu’s.
“Little one, we meet again. No need to be so—”
Riiiip!
Chaolu yanked the blade upward with all her strength, slicing it viciously across Monkey’s face. A diagonal gash split open across his features.
Monkey: “…”
Seizing the moment of his stunned pause, Chaolu quickly pulled back to create distance.
“What are you?”
Her brows furrowed as she fixed her gaze on him.
Then she thought for a beat and realized her wording was… rather rude. It might provoke him further.
So she steadied herself, reorganized her words, and tried again:
“Excuse me, what… are you?”
Monkey: “…”
Zhu Dafu: “…”
Not that it sounded all that much more polite.
“Heh. Little one, you shot me dead with your own arrow. Have you forgotten?”
Monkey let out a cold laugh, his scarlet eyes boring into Chaolu with chilling malice.
Chaolu’s frown deepened. “You should be dead.”
Something about him was off… terribly off.
Not like a living person at all.
When she touched him just now, she’d realized his skin had no warmth whatsoever—and even without touching, the fact that he was dressed so lightly in this weather was proof enough that something was wrong.
“I am dead,” Monkey chuckled. “And I have you to thank for that—otherwise, how could I have evolved?”
Evolved?
Chaolu and Zhu Dafu both stared at him suspiciously.
Looking more closely, they finally noticed that Monkey’s teeth had become unnaturally sharp, like a shark’s—since he kept grinning wide, they could even see bloody sinews stuck between the gaps, like strands of half-chewed flesh that hadn’t been cleaned away.
A terrible suspicion formed in Chaolu’s mind.
“You… eat people?”
“Of course.”
Monkey said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Chaolu’s face darkened.
Evolve, my ass!
More like he’d turned into some kind of zombie-plus!
Her expression hardened as she raised her blade at him.
“You’ve been following us all this way… to take revenge on me?”
“You’re half right.”
Monkey smiled, narrowing the distance between them step by step.
“True, it’s thanks to you that I could evolve. But… I still have to settle the score for that arrow!”
The moment the words left his mouth, he suddenly lunged, moving so fast he appeared right beside Chaolu in an instant. His hand shot out and clamped tightly around her throat!
He was too fast—by the time Chaolu realized what was happening, she was already trapped in his grip.
“Chaolu!”
Zhu Dafu shouted in panic.
He was terrified too, but still stumbled forward, trembling, and charged at Monkey…
“Ahh!”
Only to be swatted aside with a single slap, sent flying and crashing heavily to the ground. He lay there for a long while, unable to get up.
It seemed… he might have wrenched his waist.
“Chaolu…” Zhu Dafu tried to push himself up, but the pain was so sharp it drenched him in cold sweat.
“Find… Chaoyang…”
Chaolu forced out two hoarse words from her throat, then suddenly tightened her legs and scissored them around Monkey’s.
With one powerful motion, the two of them toppled together into the raging river!
By the time Zhu Dafu managed to struggle to his feet, clutching his aching waist, Chaolu and Monkey had already vanished beneath the current.
Zhu Dafu stood there in a daze for several seconds before tears welled up. He wiped at his face as he stumbled along the riverbank.
He had to find the others!
…
…
Meanwhile, Mibao and the other two had decided to head upstream.
If nothing had gone wrong, Chaolu and the others should still be somewhere near the school.
“Xiao Hei, if there’s any danger nearby, you have to let us know, okay?”
Before setting off, Mibao patted Xiao Hei’s little head and gave him a solemn warning.
Xiao Hei: “…”
Good thing he wasn’t an actual cat, otherwise how could he handle this kind of work?
Even though he was reluctant, for the sake of his own freedom, Xiao Hei still carried out his duty diligently, scanning the surroundings like a professional alarm system.
“Meow!”
At the sound of that cry, Mibao and the others immediately knew danger was near. They quickly ducked into hiding with Xiao Hei leading the way.
When the danger had passed, they followed him back out again.
“Xiao Hei is amazing!”
Ye Duo couldn’t help but praise.
With Xiao Hei along, they had traveled for over an hour without running into a single threat.
Xiao Hei was so exhausted he didn’t even feel like speaking.
Heh.
What choice did he have? His little host was still just a baby chick, and this place was crawling with danger. If he didn’t give it his all, his little host could get snuffed out any second!
And if the host died, then fine—that was just one life gone.
But he would end up sealed again!
The host only risked his life… but what he stood to lose was freedom itself!
The little black cat was so angry it started marching in perfect goose-steps as it walked.
But Ye Duo and Chaoyang didn’t know any better. They just thought the little black cat was adorable—look at that, it could even goose-step!
Kind of… cute, actually.
“Meow?”
Suddenly, Xiao Hei stopped in his tracks.
The three following behind him froze as well.
But Xiao Hei didn’t immediately move on. He just stood there, hesitating.
Seeing this, Mibao walked up beside the kitten, crouched down, and patted his head.
“What is it, Xiao Hei?”
[There’s something ahead. But it seems… human.]
And there was no smell of rot.
“Someone? Could it be Sister Chaolu?”
Mibao’s eyes lit up, and she immediately darted forward in excitement.
Xiao Hei nearly jumped out of his fur, terrified, and dashed after her in a panic!
Why are you running off like that?!
Humans can be dangerous too, you know!
Ugh—taking care of kids really is the biggest headache, meow!
