Chapter 3
Wind swept through the forest.
Every animal around us let out a low cry,
their way of showing respect to a native of the mountains.
I reached out, stroked the leading monkey, and asked softly,
“Did you come to welcome me home?”
It nodded and bobbed its head with delight.
Only the old creatures who had lived for a thousand years could speak the human tongue in this forest.
Most of the animals, however, could understand me.
“I’m only passing through for work today. I’ll come play with you when I’m on vacation.”
The monk-faced monkey rubbed its head against my hand.
Fortunately, every guest who hadn’t managed to run away had fainted from fright.
Otherwise, I would never have been able to explain this scene.
“They’ll wake up soon,” I said. “You should go.”
The animals obediently withdrew into the depths of the forest.
Everything returned to calm.
Wu Yan was the first to wake.
She was the young idol Zhuang Qiu had knocked down earlier.
She had only just debuted and was still quite young.
“Sister Wan, where did those monsters go?”
“What monsters?” I blinked at her. “This is a forest. There are animals here, not monsters.”
In a sense, I wasn’t lying.
“But I clearly saw—ow!”
Wu Yan cried out in pain when I took hold of her ankle.
“You hurt your ankle. I’m going to apply some medicated spray, so don’t move.”
“Th-thank you, Sister Wan.”
The distraction made Wu Yan forget her questions about the monsters.
She looked dejected.
It was almost impossible for an able-bodied person to survive here.
With a sprained ankle, she was practically doomed.
Just then, Zhuang Qiu and the others returned.
The moment Wu Yan saw her, fury flared in her eyes. “Zhuang Qiu! You have the nerve to come back?!”
Zhuang Qiu feigned surprise. “Yanyan, what are you talking about?”
“You shoved me aside to save yourself! Don’t pretend you don’t know!”
“Did I? I don’t remember.”
“You’re still pretending!”
Wu Yan was so furious that she lunged for her face.
Zhuang Qiu looked helplessly at the other guests. “I swear I never touched her. Who knows why she fell over all by herself?”
The miniature cameras in everyone’s collars recorded every word Zhuang Qiu said without missing a frame.
Faced with Wu Yan’s accusation, Zhuang Qiu’s eyes darted.
“If you insist I pushed you, where’s your proof? Did anyone see it? No, right? No one saw a thing. You’re slandering me—”
“I saw it.”
I spoke up, cutting her performance short.
“After you shoved Wu Yan down, you even gave her an arrogant look.”
“Nonsense!”
Zhuang Qiu’s expression darkened at once.
“The two of you planned this together to frame me!”
“Wu Yan and I had never even met before today. How could we have planned anything?”
Unable to argue her way out, Zhuang Qiu turned her attack on me instead.
“Doesn’t anyone else think Wan Youling is the suspicious one here?”