Chapter 288: 281 Chapter 288: 281 By the time Qi Da appeared, Zheng Tan was already prepared, and when he heard some noises drawing nearer, Zheng Tan didn’t just stand there exchanging stares with Qi Da.

Outnumbered, not running would be idiotic.

Qi Da had originally planned to strike an even more flamboyant pose, but in the blink of an eye, he saw that Black Cat sprinting away.

In Qi Da’s impression, Zheng Tan was fierce, difficult to get along with, had a nasty temper, and was quick to throw punches, so Qi Da always thought Zheng Tan would bravely engage in a one-against-many fight with the companions he had summoned, but the current situation dumbfounded Qi Da.

Two seconds later, Qi Da snapped back to reality and quickly chased after him, even though his companions hadn’t arrived yet, but having that cat on his true home turf without seeking revenge didn’t sit right. Chase!

Zheng Tan ran fast and also kept an eye on the surroundings to avoid forgetting the path in his blind haste. He couldn’t run back now, the monkeys were all on that side, so Zheng Tan kept moving forward.

The mountain was mostly covered with dense forests and there were various bushes below.

Running on the ground, Zheng Tan was leaving the noises behind him farther and farther, only Qi Da was a bit closer. However, Qi Da wasn’t idle while chasing; he kept making a series of noises, probably continuing to summon his companions.

Ermao had previously mentioned that there weren’t many monkeys seen on the mountain, but now, Zheng Tan fully realized that this place, indeed, had lots of monkeys.

Although the pursuers behind him hadn’t caught up, Zheng Tan heard noises ahead as well.

All the monkeys around that could hear Qi Da’s voice were gathering this way, sending a chill through Zheng Tan’s heart. Just by listening, he could tell there were quite a few monkeys, probably twenty or thirty, maybe even more.

Two or three monkeys, Zheng Tan could handle; too many, and he wasn’t sure, especially since this was the monkeys’ home field.

Some monkeys were already getting close from the side.

Snap!

Something that looked like a pinecone fell at Zheng Tan’s feet, he glanced at it with the corner of his eye but didn’t pay much attention and continued running.

Snap! Snap!

A succession of unknown objects were thrown at him, presumably because these monkeys often practiced throwing things and had not bad aim. If Zheng Tan hadn’t been running but had stayed still instead, the monkeys probably would have hit their mark ninety percent of the time.

Several objects hit Zheng Tan; it wasn’t painful, but it was annoying. Moreover, with Qi Da’s sounds that sounded like schadenfreude from behind, it really irritated Zheng Tan.

Faced with blockades ahead, pursuers from behind, and attacks from the side, Zheng Tan suddenly leaped up, climbing up a large tree next to him. He didn’t continue forward but used the momentum to turn back, running the other way on the tree.

The monkeys on the side picking up things to throw at Zheng Tan were so surprised by the scene that they momentarily couldn’t react on what to do next, maintaining their throwing posture but their gaze followed Zheng Tan’s movements.

Qi Da, closely following, suddenly stopped his shouting when he saw the figure rushing from the tree ahead, grabbing onto a tree branch to stop himself. He was surprised that the Black Cat could jump so agilely from tree to tree just like them monkeys, and seeing that rushing figure, Qi Da inexplicably felt timid, but glancing around at the few companions he had, Qi Da’s courage bulged again, and he yelled at Zheng Tan.

Whether he was trying to intimidate or swearing, Zheng Tan totally couldn’t understand. Fu Lei used to target the guy he hated most in fights and beat them severely; Zheng Tan planned to do the same. Now that he couldn’t avoid encountering that group of monkeys and probably couldn’t avoid a group fight either, all he wanted was to give the most deserving Qi Da a good beating.

Qi Da dodged Zheng Tan’s kick but not his slap, so, the prankster was directly smacked off the tree.

Being a monkey on his home turf also had its advantages; Qi Da grabbed a tree branch and landed steadily on the ground, stepped back, touched his shoulder that just got slapped, shouted at Zheng Tan who was about four meters away, and then casually picked up a pinecone that other monkeys had thrown and tossed it at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan saw Qi Da glance toward the ground next to him and knew what he was up to; he had initially planned to dodge, but seeing a tree branch about three centimeters in diameter and roughly half a meter long at his feet, he just grabbed it, clutched the branch tightly with both paws, aimed at the incoming pinecone, and swung.

Snap!

The pinecone was sent flying back and hit Qi Da right on the forehead.

When Zheng Tan had gripped the branch, he hadn’t fully gotten into the swing of things; the swing was too high, and the pinecone had hit Qi Da’s forehead because he was mesmerized watching it sent high up and then falling down, forgetting to react, and got hit by the descending pinecone.

The monkeys perched on the trees around started to shout, some seemed to jump around excitedly, and one even clapped its hands.

Zheng Tan: “…” Why are these monkeys getting excited when Qi Da is hit?

Right now, Qi Da also felt stupefied. Although his companions weren’t knowledgeable, cultured, or well-informed, Qi Da always considered himself a worldly, highbrow intellectual among monkeys. He had seen many cats, but never a four-limbed intact cat walk like that, and moreover, that Black Cat was clutching such a thick branch—did cats even have that much strength?!

Suddenly, Qi Da had a bad feeling.

This mountainous area had several stations designed to handle various emergencies—should any traveler encounter an accident or other problems, help would be readily available. Besides assisting travelers, these stations also guarded against poachers and forest fires during the dry season and, of course, kept an eye on the monkeys in the mountains.

At that moment, an on-duty staff member at a nearby station was startled by a waveform graph of sounds from a certain area displayed on the screen. Having worked there for years, they could link the different sounds made by the monkeys to their emotions thanks to training provided by some researchers at the base. Seeing the waveform graphs, the staff member quickly nudged another colleague who was napping.

“Something’s odd!”

The just-awakened colleague yawned but didn’t dally, fearing someone might be targeting the monkeys.

Although they couldn’t accurately distinguish from the somewhat distorted and noisy audio which kind of calls the monkeys were making, there were several types of alarm calls. Typically, if there were poachers around or if large predators threatened to pose a severe danger, the monkeys would emit alarm calls filled with fear and caution. Their documents listed one particular alarm call emitted by the monkeys during intense conflicts, accompanied by behaviors such as facing off, retreating, trembling, and looking around in terror, ready to flee. If they encountered that waveform graph, there definitely would be trouble, and the staff members would rush over, but now…
“Those monkeys seem excited?” These waveforms and audio puzzled them.

To judge more accurately, the duty personnel pulled out a set of waveform data that a professor who studied local wild monkeys had given them. It showed what emotional state corresponded to which waveform—a guide that, though not 100 percent accurate, had proved mostly correct over the years and was of great reference value.

“Yes, those monkeys are indeed excited.”

“Should we go check it out?”

“No need to go, those monkeys probably found something fun again.”

“I’ll go take a look, just to be safe,” said the staff member, printing a copy of the waveform shown on the instrument as a record.

“Never mind, I’ll go too—better safe than sorry, and I can lend a hand if something’s up. Sigh, tending to monkeys is no easy task.”

Zheng Tan was unaware that someone had noticed something going on here; he had just knocked back whatever fruit Qi Da had thrown at him. His throws hadn’t hit Qi Da mainly because the fellow was on his guard now, dodging quickly. Additionally, Zheng Tan wasn’t very good at controlling the direction of his strikes; at most, he could only hit the object toward the target, certainly not with the same luck and precision as the first time.

Of course, for the surrounding monkeys who were watching, accuracy didn’t matter; what mattered was that Zheng Tan had struck the object out.

Zheng Tan now finally understood what these monkeys were excited about. He recognized a few familiar monkeys; maybe to people, all monkeys look the same, but Zheng Tan could still spot some differences. Those familiar monkeys were the ones he had seen at the base when he had followed Ermao and the others up the mountain. Back then, these monkeys were watching the students at the base play soccer. He heard that the monkeys often watched the students play badminton and exercise ball too, sometimes even cheering, just like when Zheng Tan knocked back Qi Da’s pine cone, those monkeys loudly cheered.

This left Zheng Tan speechless; he had been prepared for a tough battle, not expecting it to turn out this way. Then again, he had pictured these monkeys as more dangerous than they were—after all, this was a tourist area. Although the monkeys were wild, they had frequent contact with humans and were generally more gentle. Even if they were mischievous and occasionally played pranks, they wouldn’t attack people or other animals. The villagers had quite a few cats, and it was probably the same. Even though they had come at Qi Da’s call, they hadn’t shown much hostility toward Zheng Tan, especially now that Zheng Tan had been swinging branches well, akin to the students playing badminton at the base, thereby turning these monkeys instantly from fighters to comedians.

What could he say? How should he put it?

Look at Qi Da, then at the surrounding monkeys.

Sigh!

If you want to put it artistically, it’s like, “He who touches pitch will be defiled.” Or more plainly, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Isn’t that why they say monkey friends are comedians?

Comedian monkeys make for plenty of laughs.

Suddenly, a monkey noticed some movement nearby and made a few calls; other monkeys also looked in that direction.

It was the two duty staff members.

Zheng Tan realized that people were coming and tossed aside the branch, quickly darting away.

After Zheng Tan left, an adult monkey—often seen at the base watching—came down from a tree to pick up the branch. Immediately, a little companion threw a pine cone.

The monkey with the stick pouted its lips and swung!

Smack!

Though it took some effort and the swing wasn’t directed at Qi Da, miraculously, the pine cone was hit and flew directly towards Qi Da, striking his unprepared leg.

The surrounding monkeys, slapping branches and their legs, leaped up and down, joyfully shouting.

Qi Da: “…” Really feels like crying.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tan, who had initially planned to head straight back, caught a scent that was somewhat familiar but not entirely so.

Changing the direction he was headed, Zheng Tan went toward that smell. (To be continued. If you like this work, please consider voting at qidian.com where your support greatly motivates us. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep