Chapter 17 I will be very gentle

After the monkeys appeared, they ran and jumped to the wall at the edge of Monkey Mountain and then, one by one, they stacked up like Arhats.

These were the hardier adult monkeys from within Monkey Mountain, possessing considerable strength and with particularly agile movements. It didn't take long before they managed, by following the perimeter wall, to construct a 'monkey ladder' several meters in height. The top of this monkey ladder was less than half a meter from the top of the wall.

By this time, the sky had turned dark, and the zoo had long since closed. There was no one around Monkey Mountain. Otherwise, if someone were to see this scene, it would certainly cause quite the commotion.

"Chitter chitter..."

The Monkey King tugged at Suming, then leaped up to grab a branch, swinging on it like Tarzan. In just a few swings, he reached the side of the monkey ladder, scurried up nimbly to the top, and with an effortless jump, clung onto the protective railing above the wall and flipped out from Monkey Mountain.

"Jailbreak!"

Suming was startled. If the Monkey King ran away, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.

Moreover, having lived for many years in the zoo where everything was provided for, the Monkey King had long lost the wild instincts of a wild animal. Out in the wild, although seemingly free, he would absolutely be unable to adapt.

Whether for the public interest, private reasons, or for the Monkey King himself, loafing around in the zoo seemed like the best choice.

Suming was about to catch up and use his spiritual power to control the Monkey King, bringing him back. Unexpectedly, after flipping over the wall, the Monkey King did not immediately flee but instead gestured Suming by waving his hand through the fence.

"You want me to follow you?" Suming was slightly stunned, then he went through the zookeeper's passage and squeezed out of Monkey Mountain.

In no time at all, the Monkey King had run ahead several dozen meters. With one hand grabbing a branch and his other hand waiving at Suming, Suming quickly locked the exit door and hurried after him with big strides.

So, with the Monkey King leading the way and Suming following behind, they traversed the wooded pathways of the zoo, heading towards the mountains at the back.

Along the way, the Monkey King seemed to be extremely familiar with the zoo's environment, taking familiar shortcuts through streets and alleys. When he occasionally encountered a few zoo staff members coming towards them, he could hide in the shadows of the trees. Once Suming cheerfully greeted them and they were well past, the Monkey King leaped out again and continued running forward.

After leaving the animal areas and entering the forest zone, they encountered no obstacles, and it wasn't long before they reached the rear mountain wall of the zoo.

The Monkey King scaled a tree and in a flash flipped over the perimeter wall.

Suming hurriedly scrambled clumsily up the tree and reached the top of the wall.

About to jump down, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.

The rear mountain wall of the zoo was originally a mere two-meter-high earthen fence which tourists often scaled to sneak in without paying. Later, the zoo spent money to rebuild the wall, and now it towered over three meters high.

Crouching on top of the wall, Suming gritted his teeth, aimed for a patch of grass on the ground outside the wall, and took a leap, jumping straight down.

With a slight bend in his legs, Suming was prepared to take a tumble, but to his surprise, he landed steadily. He swayed slightly and then stood up straight again.

Suming was astonished, "Huh, my agility seems to have greatly improved!"

Lots of unexplainable things had happened recently, seemingly connected to his 'Animal Companion' abilities.

But at this moment he couldn't be worried about those, as Suming caught up to the Monkey King once again.

The Monkey King wasn't in a hurry to escape, running a distance then pausing as if waiting for Suming to keep up. Soon, the two of them entered the back mountains swiftly.

The zoo's back mountain was an undeveloped tail end of the Qinling Mountain range, seldom visited by people, with no proper paths and covered in craggy stones and wild forests.

Previously, Suming couldn't have chased a monkey in the mountains, or even walked far at a leisurely pace by himself.

But now, Suming was able to just about keep up with the Monkey King, indeed his agility had greatly increased over before, and his stamina seemed to be enhanced as well.

Two figures, one man and one monkey, had been running through the mountains for nearly an hour. Just as Suming felt that his energy was reaching its limit, the Monkey King finally stopped, clambering up an old tree and sitting on it, swinging its tail back and forth.

This place was a small valley with a mountain stream babbling down, forming a small waterfall at a slope about two to three meters high, and below the waterfall was a tiny pond spanning several meters.

Suming, however, had no time to admire the scenery, plopping down on the ground, he gasped for air, "I'm exhausted, huff huff huff..."

"Chatter chatter chatter..." the Monkey King hopped around in the tree, pointing at the large tree below it.

Only then did Suming notice that from the interior of the large tree wafted a rich fragrance, identical to that of the Hundred-Fruit Wine they had just sampled.

Approaching the old tree, he saw its trunk, which would take two people to encircle with their arms, featured a hollowed-out section filled with lots of rotting, fermenting fruit.

Drip-drop, a drop of emerald liquid fell from the hollow, the very Monkey Wine he had just tasted!

Suming suddenly realized that this was where the old Monkey King made his wine!

It seemed this fellow had long since found a way to escape the zoo, but clever as it was, it knew life in the zoo was carefree with food, drink, and no danger, like living in paradise. So, it continued to reside in the zoo and sneaked out to brew wine when bored.

Underneath the tree sat an iron drum, apparently stolen from who knows where, collecting the drips of Hundred-Fruit Wine, and it was already nearly half full of the liquid.

"Worthy of a creature that could evolve into a human, impressive!" Suming gave a thumbs up.

The old Monkey King scratched its head, then pointed at the drum and then at Suming.

"All for me?" Suming asked.

"Squeak squeak..." the Monkey King nodded.

"Generous! Your business is now my business from now on!" Suming laughed heartily; compared to humans, these animals were truly honorable.

The iron drum was already filled with more than half a drum of Hundred-Fruit Wine, weighing probably around ten kilograms or so.

The fermenting fruit would take half a day to produce a single drop of Hundred-Fruit Wine, and it was unclear how long it had taken to accumulate this much.

"I'll bring bottles tomorrow and take more wine back," Suming thought.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak..." But the old Monkey King hastily scrambled to remove the rotten fruits from the tree hole, flinging them far into the forest.

"Oh, you mean these fruits can't produce any more wine?"

"Squeak..." the Monkey King nodded, appearing to not only be adept at brewing wine but also quite experienced and skilled at it.

With that in mind, there was no need to wait until tomorrow. Suming simply picked up the iron drum and, along with the Monkey King, returned to the zoo.

The Monkey King didn't need Suming to lead it and stealthily snuck back into Monkey Mountain to continue its lazy, carefree days.

Suming carried the drum of wine back to Whisperwind Pavilion and went to the convenience store to buy a case of cola, emptied the cola, and filled the bottles with Monkey Wine.

He filled four large bottles and one small one.

Outside the Fengshui Pavilion by the lakeside, from Miao Yi to Miao Si, under Hei's guidance, they patrolled responsibly, pairs of pupils glowing faintly in the darkness, watching the movements on the lake's surface.

Swinging half a bottle of Hundred-Fruit Wine, Suming walked unsteadily onto the lakeside platform and laughed loudly at the water.

"Hehehe, alligator turtles, oh alligator turtles, don't be afraid, I'll be very gentle!"