Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Surrounded by curious monkeys, Jiang Yunsui silently hugged her knees and did not dare speak.
She cautiously glanced around and discovered that the monkeys had violently torn open her pack, Fat Grandpa’s, and Ji Si’s.
Her heart ached.
Their supplies were inside!
Originally, only Jiang Yunsui had owned this kind of two-strap backpack. Ji Yan’an noticed how useful it was and, knowing they would travel to Ailao Mountain, ordered several more made.
Everyone on this expedition had one. The packs held plenty, and wearing the weight across both shoulders was less tiring.
Now the monkey troop had ruined the dry rations they had not yet eaten.
Jiang Yunsui still did not dare complain.
One monkey came over and pawed at her. She gave it a small push.
“You’re too heavy.”
“Screech! Screech!”
This troop had dreadful tempers. The monkeys bared their teeth and shrieked at Little Mushroom.
Worst of all, they had stolen everyone’s belongings.
One monkey even tried to take her clothes.
Jiang Yunsui refused and began to struggle.
She lost her balance and fell from the tree.
“Aaaaah!”
She did not hit the ground. A hollow opened in the lower part of the enormous tree, and she fell straight inside.
“Ugh… what is that smell?”
Jiang Yunsui raised one hand. The hollow was quite spacious, but she seemed to have landed in something.
There was liquid, a powerful scent of fruit, and…
Wine.
Her little nose twitched. Yes, it was definitely wine.
She had never drunk any, but she had smelled it before.
“Cough, cough!”
Some had splashed into her mouth.
Dizzy, Jiang Yunsui looked up and saw monkeys peering down through the opening.
She stared in dismay. It was so high. How was she supposed to get out?
Suddenly, the troop outside began shrieking as if chaos had broken out.
Jiang Yunsui thought she could faintly hear Song Jin and the others.
They had indeed arrived.
The monkeys were clever, but not absurdly so. A troop of more than a hundred left an easy trail to follow.
The party tracked them to the den, and Fat Chef immediately recognized his backpack.
“It’s this troop!”
“Where’s Little Yunsui? Can anyone see her?”
“No. Deal with the monkeys first. They’ve noticed us.”
The troop ferociously attacked the intruders in its territory, rushing them in a mass.
“Beat the hell out of them!” Fat Chef roared. “These damned monkeys are bandits! They stole my backpack, stole my clothes, and even stole one of our people!”
“I’ll deal with the Monkey King,” Ji Yi said.
Capture the leader first, and the rest would lose direction and become easier to handle.
Ji Yi evaded the surrounding troop and rushed straight for the Monkey King.
Half an incense stick later, the Monkey King was dead.
The troop immediately fell into chaos. Abandoning their territory, the monkeys shrieked and scattered in every direction.
Everyone began searching for Jiang Yunsui.
“She’s not here. Could the monkeys have dropped her along the way?”
“Jiang Yunsui! Jiang Yunsui!”
Inside the tree, Jiang Yunsui, already somewhat drunk, shook her little head.
“They really are calling me.”
“Oh, right. My name is Jiang Yunsui.”
She hiccupped.
“I’m in here.”
“Jiang Yunsui is in here! Is anyone outside? Knock, knock, knock! Open the door!”
Her little face was flushed pink. She rapped her fingers against the inner wall of the tree and supplied her own sound effects.
“Jiang Yunsui is here. Little Mushroom is here.”
“Hm… there seems to be a door up there.”
After struggling for ages, Jiang Yunsui sprawled against the wall like a frog and paddled her limbs.
“Almost there! Little Mushroom is almost out.”
In reality, she had not climbed at all.
“Here. The voice is coming from this tree.”
Shen Qingzhu jumped onto the tree and peered down.
Jiang Yunsui tipped up her head. Her clear, wide eyes gazed at him as she tilted her head.
“Who are you?”
Shen Qingzhu fell silent.
Wonderful. The hollow reeked of wine. Had this little girl gotten drunk?
“Bring a rope.”
Shen Qingzhu lowered it into the hollow.
“Jiang Yunsui, grab the rope.”
Drunken Little Mushroom became exceptionally contrary. Whatever she was told to do, she refused.
She folded her arms, tilted her small neck, and declared, “I won’t!”
Shen Qingzhu’s mouth twitched. Forget it. He would not argue with a little drunk.
“Do you want to come up or not?”
Little Mushroom remained impervious to reason. “If you tell me to come up, then I won’t.”
Song Jin’s head appeared beside Shen Qingzhu’s. “What’s taking so long? Good heavens, why does it smell like wine?”
It smelled remarkably good, even better than any wine he had drunk before.
He let out a surprised sound. “Could this be the legendary Monkey Wine?”
“And the Little Unlucky One actually found it?”
“Let’s rescue her first,” Shen Qingzhu said.
Before long, Song Jin understood the problem too.
He stared down in disbelief. “Did the wine soak this Drunken Mushroom’s brain stupid?”
“If you don’t come up, you’ll be completely submerged.”
More than half her body had already sunk into the wine.
Fortunately, fruit filled the hollow. Otherwise, her entire body would have been immersed from the moment she fell in.
“Fine. Don’t come up. You’d better stay there forever.”
Jiang Yunsui immediately seized the rope.
“Why should I? I am coming up!”
Then her large eyes studied the rope in confusion. How was she supposed to put it around herself?
The loop at the end could tighten and loosen.
After several seconds of research, Little Mushroom slipped it around her neck.
“I’m ready. Pull me up!”
What a little fool.
Everyone above fell silent.
“What are you doing?” Song Jin demanded. “Tired of living? Planning to hang yourself?”
“You’re talking nonsense,” Jiang Yunsui slurred.
“Then why is the rope around your neck?”
The tiny creature defended herself. “Mushrooms don’t have necks.”
Shen Qingzhu pushed Song Jin aside. After much patient coaxing, he finally persuaded Jiang Yunsui to move the rope from her neck to her waist.
When they hauled her up, Little Mushroom’s eyes brimmed with tears. Her whole body was soaked and smeared with fruit pulp.
“Why are you crying?”
She clutched the rope. “I-I almost broke in half. My tummy hurts. Boohoo… I’m splitting apart.”
Shen Qingzhu quickly loosened the rope around her belly.
“Does it still hurt?”
Jiang Yunsui rubbed her stomach. “A tiny bit.”
“What a little fool.”
They brought Jiang Yunsui down, and everyone immediately crowded around.
“Little Yunsui, you frightened Fat Grandpa half to death!”
“Why do you smell so strongly of wine?”
Fat Chef moved to hug her, then saw her condition. Her clothes were soaked, and her wet hair clung to her face, mixed with bits of fruit. Her little cheeks were bright red.
She looked thoroughly bedraggled.
But she smelled wonderful.
Even Jiang Yunsui’s hiccups carried the fragrance of wine.
Song Jin pointed behind them at the enormous tree, whose swollen trunk resembled a vase.
“Guess what’s inside.”
Fat Chef looked from Jiang Yunsui to the tree, his eyes widening.
“It can’t be what I think it is.”