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"Really?"
Yol beamed, her tone teasing as she said:
"It seems you have many virtues waiting for me to discover, Merlin!
"I'll have to observe you carefully from now on!"
"Please don't. That would make things very awkward for me."
Merlin retorted speechlessly, rolling his eyes at Yol. Coming from a woman who had practically watched him grow up, hearing such words was indeed a bit embarrassing!
At this moment, Merlin looked at the monkey skin with a hint of disdain in his eyes. The quality of the processed fur was limited to merely "usable."
This method of hand-crafting fur was a rustic technique Merlin had seen on the internet in his previous life.
Although he lacked some tanning materials, it was good enough for personal use.
As long as it kept them warm at night, it didn't matter if it was ugly.
Standing in front of the monkey skin, Merlin's keen sense of smell picked up a faint scent of Monkey Wine emanating from the pelt. He thought to himself:
Did the Monkey King drink so much over such a long period that he marinated himself in the flavor?
However, this was actually quite good. Even with such simple tanning, there was none of that primitive, raw hide stench.
The fur was completely dry. Merlin cut the pelt down, rolled it up, and handed it to Yol.
He then picked up the two large bamboo cylinders, their openings plugged with wooden stoppers, and said to Yol:
"Let's go. Time to see your final product."
Yol glanced curiously at the two bamboo cylinders in Merlin's arms, noticing the scent of wine, and asked uncertainly:
"What's that?"
Merlin smiled mysteriously. "I'll tell you later."
Yol smiled helplessly.
Soon, the three of them arrived under the tree.
Merlin looked at the palm-sized, downward-sloping notches carved into the trunk every half meter. He looked at Yol and smiled:
"You're thoughtful. This will make it much easier for us to climb up and down."
Yol nodded and smiled with resignation.
"I could only make simple footholds for climbing."
Merlin smiled, placed the bamboo cylinders on the ground, grabbed the footholds, and climbed up to the branch. There, he saw a circular tree hollow, one and a half meters in diameter, sloping slightly upward.
Squatting down, he entered the opening. After about two meters, a tree hollow roughly three meters in length, width, and height appeared before his eyes.
It was pitch black inside.
Although the ground at the entrance wasn't very level, the interior was clearly done with care. The backpack and suitcase were stacked on the ground to the left.
His gaze shifting slightly, Merlin touched the ground with his right hand. A damp sensation immediately met his fingers, and a look of realization appeared in his eyes.
"Sure enough, this was unavoidable. After all, this is a living tree.
"Under these conditions, resting here at night will definitely be uncomfortable. Sigh!"
Merlin sighed. "Plans can't keep up with changes. It seems I took some things for granted.
"Is this what they mean by 'ideals are plump, but reality is bony'?
"Am I just a dreamer?"
His face involuntarily scrunched up in embarrassment.
A thought flashed through Merlin's eyes. It seemed no one could sleep here tonight, so he picked up the backpack and suitcase and exited the hollow.
Opening the backpack, Merlin lowered a coil of rope about the thickness of an index finger, then shouted to Yol below:
"Tie the rope to the bamboo cylinders. I'll pull them up."
One end of the rope landed in front of Yol.
"Okay." Yol responded and did as asked.
Before long, the two buckets of Monkey Wine were pulled up, and Merlin stored them inside the tree hollow.
Jumping down from the tree, he said helplessly to Yol:
"My plan was a miscalculation. The tree hollow is damp and uninhabitable. We probably need to let it air dry for a few days before we can sleep there."
Yol blinked. "Then shall we sleep by the pool tonight? With the fire, it shouldn't be a big problem."
Merlin shook his head, then smiled somewhat mysteriously:
"Don't panic. I have a way. You guys wait for me here first."
With that, Merlin turned and left.
Lami looked up at Yol, somewhat bewildered. "We can't live in the tree hollow?"
Yol looked embarrassed and smiled helplessly. "I'm afraid not!"
Not long after, Merlin returned from the nearby bamboo forest with a bundle of thigh-thick bamboo poles, each over ten meters long.
He tied them with rope and brought them up to the tree hollow entrance.
Then, using his sword, he cut them into lengths of three meters and two and a half meters, bringing them inside to stack them in an irregular crisscross pattern.
He filled the tree hollow to prevent any animals from occupying the nest in their absence.
After finishing, Merlin climbed down the tree.
Shouldering the backpack, picking up the suitcase, and grabbing the sword leaning against the trunk.
He looked at Yol:
"Let's go! I'll take you somewhere."
Yol also shouldered her backpack but took the suitcase from Merlin's hand. Smiling, she returned his dagger and asked curiously:
"Where are we going?"
Merlin sighed. "A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Naturally, to a place where we can rest, sheltered from the wind and rain!"
Seeing Merlin acting mysterious and refusing to explain clearly, Yol blinked:
"It seems you worked hard this afternoon too!"
Sheathing the dagger into the holster on his right leg, Merlin smiled without speaking. He just tilted his head at her, signaling them to follow, and led the way.
Yol and Lami followed beside him.
The three chatted and laughed along the way.
Passing through a lush bamboo forest, he cut down a three-meter-long bamboo pole about the thickness of a calf.
After a while, the screeching sounds of monkeys—Squeak, squeak—rang out from the surrounding trees.
Yol held Lami tightly, looking around vigilantly. But as they continued to advance, the monkeys around them only howled and showed no intention of attacking.
Yol was extremely puzzled. Wild monkeys were extremely territorial, but the current situation was clearly abnormal. She looked at Merlin on her right. Under the moonlight, Merlin's back was straight, seemingly unconcerned about being attacked by the surrounding monkey troop.
Is it because of Merlin?
Just then, with a flash of shadow, a slender monkey jumped down from a nearby treetop. It slowly approached the three of them, blocking their path. From its mouth came soft squeaks, its throat gently gurgling and panting.
Crawling prostrate before Merlin, it raised its buttocks and tail, staring at Merlin with affectionate eyes.
Extending a front paw, it gently touched the top of Merlin's shoe. Under the moonlight, Yol stared blankly, the corner of her mouth suddenly twitching violently.
At this moment, Lami murmured softly, "This situation... I remember Mom telling me about it.
"It looks like a monkey courting ritual."
With her guess confirmed, Yol looked at Merlin's gentle face, highlighted by the moonlight, with a particularly subtle gaze.
Her tone was somewhat strange:
"So you're this charming?"
However, Merlin's gaze remained calm. He looked down at the female monkey turning her backside toward him.
In the next instant, he drew his right leg back and kicked out furiously.
Bang!
With a wretched scream, the female monkey was kicked more than three meters away. Merlin then scanned the surroundings with cold eyes and let out a gloomy, chilling rebuke:
"Scram!"
Instantly, urgent rustling sounds erupted from the surroundings as the monkeys in the trees scattered immediately.
The female monkey kicked away by Merlin continued to wail, tucking her tail between her legs and fleeing in panic.
Yol asked hesitantly, "They seem very afraid of you?"
Merlin sighed. "I found this place this afternoon and was attacked by the Monkey King."
"There!" Merlin jutted his chin toward the rolled-up monkey skin in Yol's arms. "That fur in your arms belonged to the Monkey King."
Yol's thoughts spun, and she suddenly understood a little, but she was still very confused:
"Could it be that these monkeys have recognized you as the new Monkey King? Is that why a female monkey came to court you just now? But you're different species!"
"Who knows?" Merlin sighed helplessly. "Maybe they just see me as a hairless monkey!"
However, Merlin vaguely felt that perhaps because the original Monkey King was a variant, the monkeys' capacity for acceptance might have become stronger.
Besides, the rough difference between humans and monkeys was merely... whether they had fur or not.
Moreover, the various animals in this world had evolved to be exceptionally intelligent due to environmental influences.
Their intelligence was generally extraordinary, manifested by their more human-like behavior.
Before long, arriving under the gnarled ancient tree, Yol's mouth opened slightly. Under the moon, the giant tree seemed to be glowing, incredibly beautiful and magnificent:
"So beautiful!"
Merlin smiled and led them into the tree hollow. Inside, there was a hazy glow. Suddenly, Lami beside him stopped and pointed at the ground ahead:
"There's a dead body! So disgusting."
Merlin twitched the corner of his mouth, looking at the crimson carcass of the Monkey King—a massive, five-meter-long skinned monkey body lying five meters ahead.
Seeing the Monkey King, a trace of hesitation appeared in Yol's eyes. She turned her head to look at Merlin:
"Were you injured earlier?"
Looking at the enormous monkey corpse in front of her and recalling Merlin mentioning the sneak attack, Yol felt a lingering fear. Her beautiful eyes immediately noticed that Merlin's collar was torn and stained with some blood.
"It must have hurt a lot back then, right?"
Merlin chuckled lightly. "Small matter. The result is that I won."
Yol opened her mouth, wanting to tell him not to take risks in the future, but the words wouldn't come out. After a few seconds, she said solemnly:
"Take me with you next time. I'm very strong; I can help take hits for you."
"Aha!"
Merlin let out a light laugh, but then shook his head:
"No rush. Starting tomorrow, I'll teach you combat techniques."
Arriving at a flat spot in the tree hollow padded with dry grass, Merlin placed the backpack on the ground. He used a lighter to ignite the dry grass, and with a whoosh, flames flared up instantly.
Lami asked in confusion:
"Merlin-niichan, do you have a purpose for burning this?"
Merlin explained, "Monkeys definitely have lice. This was the Monkey King's bed, so the dry grass isn't clean. I'm avoiding us getting bitten by bugs later."
Lami nodded repeatedly. The thought of lice made her uncomfortable.
Yol found a wooden stick in the tree hollow, picked it up, and went over to poke the grass pile, ensuring the bedding burned completely clean.
Meanwhile, Merlin went to the slope on the right side of the cave and moved the stone slab covering the trough.
He used the cup made from the cut bamboo to scoop up the remaining Monkey Wine.
Lami followed him, her crisp voice asking curiously:
"Merlin-niichan, is this wine?"
Merlin nodded with a smile.
"Monkey Wine."
Saying this, he handed over the bamboo cup in his hand. "Drink it. Take big gulps."
Lami took it, hesitation in her eyes. Mom never let her drink alcohol before.
But gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, she lifted the bamboo cup and drank deeply.
However, after just one mouthful, her eyes widened in amazement. The wine didn't burn her throat nor taste like alcohol; instead, it was more like some kind of sweet fruit juice.
Lami's eyes sparkled. She quickly finished the large cup of Monkey Wine, licked her lips, and looked at Merlin:
"Brother, can I have another cup?"