This small pool lay in the South Four Mountains. By the sequence, it was the fourth mountain south of Earth Valley, at a position slightly southeast.
Du Ke favored this little pool because it truly resembled a pool from an immortal realm. Layers of shrubs and trees blocked out the sunlight, making the area around it as dim as night. Yet it was precisely these dim conditions that gave the pool its magic. Some kind of plankton in the water seemed to emit a pale blue glow, drifting about with the current and casting a faint sheen over the surroundings.
A small flower with symmetrical leaves also grew along the pool's edge. He named it the Glow Lotus, not because it resembled an epiphyllum in any way.
Rather, the Glow Lotus bloomed beside the pool as though it were flowering at night, giving off a faint pink glow that echoed the pale blue light in the water and created a dreamlike, fairyland atmosphere.
Du Ke first inspected the surrounding area to make sure no dangerous magical beasts were lurking nearby.
Only then did he materialize an experimental bench, scoop up some of the glowing water, and use a microscope to observe the microorganisms within. He soon discovered that the pale blue light came from a tiny species of algae—more precisely, from an organ inside the algae. Yet when he compared it with non-glowing water, he found the same algae there too. It simply did not emit light.
After studying it for a while longer, he made another discovery. The algae could not glow on their own; they only gave off pale blue light after consuming some substance in the pool.
"Could this substance exist only in this pool?" Du Ke put away the experimental bench and looked at the little pool again. It sat amid a field of jagged rocks. A brook babbled upstream, while a small river flowed gently downstream.
The glowing algae existed only in the little pool. Occasionally, a patch of glowing water could be seen flowing into the river, only to lose its light soon afterward.
There were no glowing algae at all in the upstream brook.
"Let's search upstream and see whether some substance is flowing down from there." With an explorer's curiosity, Du Ke carefully made his way upstream. Along the way, he encountered all kinds of trees tangled in dead vines, making the already dim forest even darker—almost comparable to night.
Before long, Du Ke discovered a peculiar passage. It was only wide enough for one person and stretched along the brook. It seemed to have been carved out over countless years by some animal walking through the dead vines and branches.
The passage extended all the way to the mountainside, where a cave appeared before Du Ke.
The cave entrance split into two paths. One was the path beside the brook, while the other extended deeper into the mountain. Du Ke saw that the brook flowed out from this cave. He shone his flashlight inside and found that the cave was not large; calling it a shallow hollow would have been more accurate. He could see the wall at the very back at a glance. Other than several raised platforms resembling stalagmites, there were no signs of magical beasts.
"Let's take a look. What am I afraid of? I have Teleportation Magic!" After sensing the spirit insect parasitizing his palm, Du Ke gathered his courage and walked into the cave.
When he reached those stalagmite platforms, his eyes widened in shock. "Someone has been here!"
The stalagmite platforms were naturally formed, but between them ran connecting pipes like water tubes, carved from some kind of wood. They clearly could not have been made by animals. These wooden pipes linked the platforms one after another according to their heights. Murky liquid flowed slowly through them, with bits of residue visible in the liquid.
The lowest stalagmite platform was the source of the brook outside the cave.
Above the highest stalagmite platform hung a downward-pointing stalactite. Water from some unknown source connected to the cave ceiling flowed through that stalactite into the platform, then descended step by step before flowing into the brook outside.
"This..." Du Ke vigilantly swept his gaze around, but found no other traces of human activity. He had no idea whether people had once lived here and abandoned the place, or whether its residents had merely left temporarily.
"If there are indigenous humans here, what did they make this for?"
Thinking this, Du Ke moved closer to the stalagmite platforms and examined them one by one. Only then did he realize something was wrong. The highest platform was like a large water vat, stuffed full of all kinds of fruit. The fruit had already rotted. The second platform was the same. Five or six platforms in a row were filled with fresh or rotten fruit, left to be washed by the flowing water.
Starting from the seventh stalagmite platform, there was no more fruit, only murky liquid inside.
By the last few platforms, the liquid had gradually become clear.
"Are they... brewing wine?" A possibility suddenly struck Du Ke. Otherwise, who would waste fruit like this for no reason? "There must be indigenous humans living in this mountain. Their brewing method looks extremely primitive, so they probably haven't developed any advanced civilization... And they must have come here recently. There's very fresh fruit inside, as though it was just picked."
He paused.
Then he began to doubt himself. "But that doesn't seem right either. With these stalagmite platforms flowing from one to another, how could they brew wine? Wouldn't all the wine just flow into the brook... Could the substance that makes the glowing algae in the brook shine be produced by the fermentation of these fruits?"
Just then.
Some kind of animal cry suddenly sounded outside the cave. The cries were chaotic, as if a large group of animals were calling out at once. Du Ke's heart stirred. "Could the indigenous humans be back? I need to hide!"
He was not afraid of these "primitive people"; he simply wanted to observe them in secret. He swiftly replicated the cave wall's rock, transformed himself into a large boulder embedded in the wall, left a small hole for observation, and set up a night-vision camera to record video.
The chaotic cries drew closer and closer.
Soon, the first indigenous human entered the cave. There was no light inside, and Du Ke did not dare turn on his flashlight, so he could only observe through night-vision equipment. He quickly realized that these indigenous humans did not look human at all. They were monkeys or apes covered in fur—though not entirely covered, since their heads did not have a single hair. Their appearance was bizarre and ugly.
After entering, these Bald Monkeys rushed to the stalagmite platforms and scooped up the sediment settled in the water from the lowest one, hurriedly stuffing it into their mouths.
One Monkey King with an enormous body roared at the bald-headed monkeys collecting the sediment, frightening them into scattering in all directions.
The Monkey King smugly occupied the best stalagmite platform. He did not collect the sediment himself, instead making several female monkeys gather it for him and feed it to him mouthful by mouthful. Only after he had eaten his fill did he allow the other monkeys to eat. They did not eat much either, only taking a few bites each. Once they were done, they all lay on the ground rolling around in satisfaction. Some male and female monkeys even began mating right there.
"Hard on the eyes."
Watching the monkeys engage in indecent acts, Du Ke felt sick.
The Monkey King was especially disgusting. Not only did he keep several female monkeys for himself, but whenever he saw another male monkey mating, he would run over, drive the male away, and take over himself. It was utterly promiscuous.
The entire orgy lasted nearly an hour. At a command from the Monkey King, all the monkeys headed out of the cave. Just as Du Ke thought they were leaving, he discovered that they returned, each monkey carrying a pile of fruit in its arms. Under the Monkey King's command, they orderly tossed the fruit into the stalagmite platforms—it was clearly their "wine-brewing" process.