Chapter 203 Dongxue Village Part 5

The five Tanzanies, the four monks and Wen began riding westward into the village. As the sun set over the mountains in front of the people, they knew they had to find shelter as quickly as possible. 

Wen said, "At the foot of the mountain, there is a big tree where we can spend the night. There is also an underground waterhole that we could use for drinking and cooking. Generally speaking, savages will not go there. From there, it takes three hours until we arrive at Dongxue Village." 

Just as the tall mountain shadow fell over their heads, they came to the foot of the tree. The five Tanzanies marveled at the tree. The massive tree, hundreds of feet tall, was the largest tree the five Tanzanies had ever seen. Huge roots grew above the ground, several yards from the base of the tree, and snaked in all directions around the tree. Some tree roots are as high as chest height.

Wen dismounted and said, "Everyone, help collect firewood." He looked at the tree and felt a sense of relief, because he knew he was very close to home. "There should be an open space between the tree roots. We usually sleep there for extra protection." He turned to look at the five Tanzanies. "But make sure everyone sleeps close together in case the savages decide to attack us. 

Hajime turned to look at Wen and said, "I thought you said the savages wouldn't attack us." 

"So far they haven't, but with a new leader, who knows," Wen said. 

Yul looked at Hajime and saw Hajime's tired face. He wiped the sweat and dirt from Hajime's forehead and said, "You go and rest. I'll help others collect firewood." He grabbed Hajime's hand and put his other hand into his robe. Then, Yul took out two jujubes from his inner robe and put them in Hajime's hand. "Go sit down." 

Hajime looked at the two jujubes in his hand and asked, "Don't worry about the child, I won't let anything happen to the child." He felt his left abdomen being kicked hard, and he snorted softly. 

Yul picked up Hajime and brought him to a relatively flat surface of tree roots. He looked at Hajime and said, "I'll say it once and I won't say it again. Just listen." Yul saw Hajime raise his head and stare at Yul. "The child is important, but you are more important." He smiled quickly at Hajime, and then walked towards Abrafo and the others. 

Hajime looked at Yul's back with a smile and looked down at the two jujubes in his hand. He sighed and whispered, "Thank you..." He took out his handkerchief, wrapped the two jujubes and stuffed them into his belt. 

U-ri said, "I will use these twigs to make a fire first and prepare to cook." 

Yul said, "Keep an eye on Hajime for me." 

U-ri turned and looked at Hajime, who was sitting a few yards away. "Don't worry. Now that he's here, he's not going anywhere else." 

That night after dinner, the five Tanzanies sat around the campfire. 

Yul said, "After this, we will not go back to the temple with the other monks, because you two are already here." 

Hajime asked, "Where are we going?" 

Yul said, "We're going to Dreake." 

U-ri quickly swallowed the last bit of food, excitement rising rapidly inside him. "Dreake... you mean I will have the opportunity to go to that library? The library Baishui mentioned? I will read everything I could and copy it into the Book of Life." 

Hajime asked, "I thought you returned that book to Baishui." 

U-ri smiled guiltily and said, "He didn't ask for it, so I didn't give it back to him. Moreover, I learned that the book of life has endless pages. During our journey, I have been recording what we saw and witnessed." He looked at Yul. "Included your rice farming." 

Michio asked, "So that sordid journal is actually the Book of Life?" 

U-ri smiled and said, "Yes, that's true. I just covered up the cover of the book so as not to draw attention to it." 

Hajime smiled at U-ri and said, "I'd love to see what Baishui and Jiāo are doing." 

Abrafo said, "Reunions are always fun and exciting, but we..." 

Hajime asked, "What's the matter?" 

Abrafo sighed and said, "This time, if we want the fourth key, we really need Baishui's help." 

Hajime asked, "Where is the fourth key?" 

Yul sighed and said, "Our fourth key is located on Kinigan Island." 

Hajime's body suddenly became cold. "Huoyan's prison cell," Hajime said with a defeated voice.

U-ri asked with trembling lips, "Is the key frozen with him? Huoyan cannot be released, Master Budi said it himself." 

Yul said, "I don't know. As before, the map only shows the location, but not the specific location of the key, so I really don't know if our fourth key is frozen with Huoyan or somewhere on Kinigan Island." 

Abrafo said, "That's why we need Baishui. As the son of the gatekeeper of the South Sea, he should be able to take us to Kinigan Island." 

U-ri said with a heavy heart, "I'm afraid His Majesty will not allow us to enter Kinigan Island." 

Wen walked over to the five Tanzanies and sat next to U-ri. He asked, "What are you afraid of?" 

U-ri laughed and said, "We just talked about the past and expressed our fears." 

"Well, there's another fear to add to your list of fears," Wen said. 

Michio asked, "What kind of fear is that?" 

Wen said, "Don't be captured by savages, otherwise you will be roasted alive." 

Hajime asked doubtfully, "Roasted alive?" 

Wen said, "Savages are cannibals." 

U-ri began coughing violently. He patted his chest and cleared his throat. "They won't eat the old man, right?" 

Wen looked at the five Tanzanies and said, "They like to eat children, but they will eat the enemies they catch." He looked at Hajime. "They also like to eat fat people like you, people with a lot of belly fat." 

Hajime glared at Wen. "Are you saying I'm fat?" Hajime said angrily, clenching his fists, but Yul quickly grabbed Hajime's hand. 

Seeing that Hajime's female hormones began to rise, Abrafo quickly changed the subject and said, "Brother Wen, please tell us more about the savages." 

"Yes...yes...we need to know so we can better help your village," Michio said. 

Wen asked, "What do you want to know?" 

"Like what they look like. What they like to eat besides humans. Anything you think might be helpful to us. You can even tell us about their tribal history," Abrafo said. 

Wen thought for a while and said, "Savages are people whose bodies look like ordinary people but whose faces look like monkeys." He sighed. "As Master Budi said, they are a group of people known as the Taka. No one knows why they became like this, but legend has it that they are cursed people." 

"Curse? By whom?" Abrafo asked. 

Wen grabbed a small piece of wood and stuck it into the fire. He said, "According to legend, the Taka people were once just ordinary people like you. Every harvest season, many monkeys came to steal their crops. The most severely affected was the leader of the Taka tribe, so he started ordering farmers to set traps to catch monkeys, and within ten days, hundreds of monkeys had been captured." 

"Hmm...why are so many monkeys being captured? As far as I know, monkeys are intelligent animals, and they are not so easy to capture," U-ri said. "So, they must have used a trick." 

Wen turned to U-ri and said, "You are right." 

Abrafo asked, "What trick are they using? Maybe I can learn to use it to trick the next person who wants to annoy me." He smiled when he suddenly thought of Bong. 

Wen said firmly, "I forbid you to use the Taka people's trick of catching monkeys on others." 

Abrafo asked, "Why not?" 

Wen said, "Because the methods they used were so inhumane. They captured baby monkeys to lure their mothers. Not only that, but they also tortured these baby monkeys by poking them with a stick and used torches to burn off their fur. The purpose of this is to make the babies cry so that the mothers will come to save them." 

Abrafo was speechless. He shook his head and said, "Never mind. Please pretend you didn't hear what I said." 

Hajime asked, "Are there any other tortures?" 

Wen said sadly, "That was just the beginning of seducing female monkeys and other adult monkeys. The most inhumane method they used was to blindfold the young monkeys, cut off their fingers, and then put them in a cage. Many days passed and it was believed that every monkey in that monkey tribe was captured. The Taka blindfolded every monkey and cut off their fingers. Instead of ended their suffering by killing them the Taka set those fingerless monkeys free." 

Wen continued, "The monkey's cry continued for ten days. Ten days later, those monkeys finally died of injuries and hunger. Since that monkey tribe was wiped out, the Taka people began to give birth to babies without fingers, like those monkeys. If babies were born fingerless, the babies will be normal looking. If babies were born with fingers, the babies will have long fur all over their body and with the face of a monkey. Over many generations, the Taka began to give birth to fewer and fewer fingerless babies and more monkey-like babies." He looked at the five Tanzanies. "Like what you see today, but every now and then they would give birth to a baby without fingers. If a baby was born fingerless, the baby would be considered an evil and bad omen by the tribe, so they would roast the baby as an offering for the God of death." 

Michio sighed, "Amitabha..." 

Hajime frowned sadly, "Being born into such a tribe is indeed an ominous sign of evil. Why should innocent people be punished for the mistakes of their ancestors?" 

Wen looked at Hajime and said, "Karma always has a due date, it's just a matter of when."

Michio said, "One's own happiness cannot be based on the misfortune of others. Therefore, the Buddha taught us that if we truly love ourselves, we will never hurt others."