Chapter 29: The Monkey Who Knows Martial Arts

Taro walked into the village and saw a large crowd gathered up ahead, as if they were watching something exciting. As he approached, he overheard people talking about words like "master," "expert," "monster," and "exorcist."

 "Excuse me, what's going on here?" Taro tapped a young man who was standing outside and asked.

 "Who are you? When did you arrive in our village?" The young man turned around, surprised.

 "I was just passing by and came to get some water. It looks like... you've run into some trouble here?" Taro smiled and said.

 "A traveler, huh!" The young man clicked his tongue, looked Taro up and down, and turned back to face the crowd. "There's a well over there, go drink and leave quickly! We've got something important to do today!"

 "I'm not in a hurry for water. I was just wondering what's going on. Maybe I can help." Taro said, looking toward the center of the crowd where he saw a muscular man standing, surrounded by villagers. "That person isn't from your village, is he?"

 "You'd better not cause any trouble! That's our village chief's guest, an expert he brought in from somewhere! Can you compare to an expert like that?" The young man waved his hand impatiently.

 Someone nearby noticed their conversation, and a middle-aged woman scolded the young man.

 "He's a guest passing through our village. What kind of talk is that?"

 Then, she turned to Taro and explained.

 "Here's the thing—about a month ago, some wild beasts on the mountain became unusually aggressive. Several of the men from our village have died trying to go up there! People who ran back said there are 'wild men' on the mountain now! They say these wild men can control the beasts and are extremely vicious! So, our village chief went out of town and hired this expert to come back!"

 "Wild men?" Taro nodded. He smiled and said. "Thank you for the explanation." Afterward, he walked over to the well the young man had pointed out, throwing down the bucket that was resting on the edge.

 After drinking the cool water and quenching his thirst, Taro didn't leave right away. At this moment, the men of the village, along with the expert they had hired, were heading toward the mountain forest outside the village.

 Taro got a better look at the expert. He was bald, with a sturdy build and a serious expression. From his posture and walking style, it was clear he had some martial arts training. But what was most unusual was... he had a third eye on his forehead!

 "A descendant of the three-eyed people, like Tienshinhan?"

 Taro's mind stirred, and he followed behind the group. Since he had encountered this person, he might as well follow and see. He was curious about this unexpected appearance of someone similar to Tienshinhan. If this three-eyed man turned out to be weak and couldn't handle the so-called wild men on the mountain, Taro wouldn't mind stepping in to help.

 Taro quietly trailed behind the group, entering the mountain and stepping into the forest.

 Once they entered the forest, Taro immediately sensed an unusual atmosphere.

 "What's this feeling? It's not the presence of a person, but... an unsettling atmosphere that instinctively makes me uncomfortable? Strange, strange."

 Taro kept a calm expression and continued to follow the villagers and the three-eyed expert deeper into the forest. The trees became denser, and the atmosphere grew increasingly eerie.

 Roar!

 Suddenly, a fierce beast leaped out from the forest and charged toward the villagers, its mouth wide open, teeth bared, looking terrifying!

 The villagers were startled and began to panic.

 "Come at me!"

 The three-eyed expert shouted loudly, his three eyes widening. His muscles swelled, straining his clothes as he braced himself. He didn't avoid the beast but instead charged directly at it!

 The beast's claws ripped through the air, aiming for his head!

 Bang!

 The three-eyed expert skillfully dodged the beast's claws and, with his two fists like giant hammers, struck the beast's neck and nose with tremendous force!

 "Good!"

 "So powerful!"

 "To think he can fight such a fierce beast with his bare hands!"

 The villagers were amazed, realizing that this was the great expert the village chief had hired. They all felt assured. No matter how strong the beasts on the mountain were, could they be stronger than such a martial artist?

 The beast let out a miserable howl, flying backward to the ground. It growled in pain, glaring at the three-eyed expert, drooling and baring its sharp teeth, its massive eyes gleaming with murderous intent.

 "Heh heh, do you really want to die?"

 The three-eyed expert sneered, though in his mind, he was impressed by the beast's great strength. He walked slowly toward the creature, which stood its ground, its face contorted with rage.

 "Hmm? What's that? This energy... it's strange! Not powerful, but definitely odd."

 Taro, who had been following behind the crowd, suddenly felt something shift in the air. He turned his gaze to the forest near the beast.

 The beast looked up and twitched its head, as if sensing something terrifying. It flicked its tail, whimpered, and bolted off at incredible speed.

 "Why did it run away?" The villagers looked at each other, then began praising the three-eyed expert again.

 "It must have been the expert's aura that scared it off!"

 "Of course! It was definitely that!"

 The three-eyed expert: "..."

 He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Sure enough, he noticed his ears twitching. Heavy footsteps were approaching. Birds were fleeing the forest.

 Thud, thud, thud…

 The footsteps grew louder. Sweat began to bead on the expert's forehead. His three eyes fixed on the deep forest ahead as he whispered to the villagers behind him.

 "You should all move back. There's danger ahead!"

 Though the villagers were puzzled, they obeyed and stepped back.

 "Hey, weren't you just a passerby? Why did you follow us?" Finally, someone noticed Taro, surprised to see him.

 "I've practiced a bit of martial arts myself, so I thought I'd come and see if I could help." Taro smiled and said, his eyes now on the figure slowly emerging from the dense forest.

 "Martial arts? Can't tell at all! But you better not get too ambitious. Leave it to the expert. You saw for yourself, he defeated that fierce beast with his bare hands—he's amazing!" A villager patted Taro on the shoulder.

 Taro didn't reply. At this moment, the creature finally emerged.

 It was a towering giant ape!

 The three-eyed expert stared at the massive, muscular ape with murderous eyes, its "hee hee hee" laughter filling the air. A heavy pressure pressed down on him, and he couldn't help but swallow nervously.

 "What an ugly monkey!"

 "It looks kind of scary…"

 "What's there to be afraid of? The expert will surely deal with it!"

 "It's just a beast. How powerful can it be?"

 He gritted his teeth, thinking to himself. He'd earned a good sum of money today; there was no way he could fail now. He took a deep breath and rushed at the creature with all his might!

 But what happened next was truly unbelievable!

 Facing the three-eyed expert's attack, the giant ape actually... caught it! It charged toward the expert's punch and caught it with its enormous palm!

 After catching the punch, it grabbed the expert's arm with its other hand, lifted his entire body, and forcefully threw him to the ground!

 The three-eyed expert felt intense pain all over his body but still struggled to roll back to his feet—

 Bang!

 A massive foot landed exactly where the expert had just been lying, causing the ground to crack and spiderweb-like fissures to spread.

 "Beast!" The three-eyed expert's eye twitched, and he roared, charging again.

 But the beast seemed to be toying with him, continuously blocking his attacks while laughing its eerie "hee hee hee" laugh. The expert grew more desperate, his movements becoming increasingly chaotic. Eventually, the beast caught both his arms!

 "Martial arts? This wild monkey knows martial arts?"

 Taro raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had observed carefully and realized that this giant ape wasn't like the animal-human hybrids from the Dragon Ball world, but was simply a wild beast. However, its attacks didn't seem like those of a mindless creature; it had the faint aura of a martial artist, though there were obvious oddities, as if it hadn't mastered the martial arts fully.

 "Hee hee hee…" The beast grinned savagely, holding the three-eyed expert's arms. The expert was terrified to the core, the stench from the beast's gaping maw splashing on his face, making him want to vomit.

 "Damn it!" The three-eyed expert's face turned bright red as he struggled to free his arms, but he couldn't break free, sweat pouring from his face.

 "Hey, this... the expert can't beat this monster!"

 "We should leave..." The villagers saw the situation turning against them and began to reconsider. With such a terrifying ape on the mountain, they wondered if they should even consider leaving the village.

 The beast tossed the three-eyed expert aside, kicking him hard in the abdomen and sending him flying into a nearby tree.

 How could a beast know martial arts? Taro thought to himself as he walked toward the creature. Villagers who had been preparing to flee saw him and trembled, shouting.

 "Hey, do you want to die? Run! That guy couldn't even win! You will die too!"

 Taro seemed to not hear them at all, continuing to walk right up to the giant ape and gazing up at it.

 "Hee hee hee…" The beast noticed the small figure in front of it, lowered its head, and grinned savagely, its eyes flashing with malice. It swiped a paw toward Taro's head!

 Taro casually tilted his head and avoided the attack with ease.

 The three-eyed expert, who had gotten back up, widened his eyes in shock upon seeing this.

 The beast grinned again, and its paw that missed swung around, aiming for the back of Taro's head. Taro's expression remained unchanged as he raised one hand, placing two fingers gently on the beast's thick, furry arm. To his surprise, the beast's arm couldn't move at all!

 Roar!!

The giant ape's eyes turned bloodshot, its teeth grinding, and the muscles on its arm bulged unnaturally. Despite the immense strength, the beast couldn't reach Taro's head, which was just inches away.

 The beast snorted, but Taro's fingers remained as unmoving as steel.

 Taro smiled faintly, turning his fingers into a palm and lightly smacking the giant ape's arm. The beast felt an overwhelming force travel up its arm, causing it to spin uncontrollably. With a bang, it crashed to the ground!

 "Is… is that even human…"

 The villagers and the three-eyed expert, who had just gotten up, all stared in awe, their mouths hanging open. They were so shocked they couldn't even speak.