A Misstep!

"Really?"

Yol smiled brightly, her tone teasing as she said:

"Looks like you still have plenty of good qualities for me to discover, Merlin!

"I'll have to keep a close eye on you from now on!"

"Please don't. You'll make me feel awkward."

Merlin retorted helplessly and rolled his eyes at Yol. Hearing a woman who had practically watched him grow up say something like that was genuinely a little awkward!

Just then, Merlin looked at the monkey hide with some distaste. The finished product was barely usable.

This method of making homemade fur was a crude technique Merlin had seen online in his previous life.

He didn't have some of the materials needed for tanning, but it would do for his own use.

As long as it kept him warm at night, he didn't mind if it looked a little ugly.

Standing in front of the hide, Merlin's keen sense of smell picked up a faint aroma of Monkey Wine coming from it. He thought, Did the Monkey King drink so much that the smell's soaked right into his hide?

Still, that was pretty good. Even with such a simple tanning process, it didn't have that raw, gamey smell.

The hide had dried completely. Merlin cut it down, took it off, then rolled it up and handed it to Yol.

He picked up the two large bamboo tubes, each with an opening plugged by a wooden stopper, and said to Yol:

"Come on. Let's go see the final result."

Yol glanced curiously at the two bamboo tubes in Merlin's arms. They smelled faintly of wine, and she asked uncertainly:

"What are those?"

Merlin smiled mysteriously. "I'll tell you in a bit."

Yol smiled helplessly.

Soon, the three of them reached the tree.

Merlin looked at the palm-sized footholds carved into the trunk every half meter, each one sloping downward, and smiled at Yol.

"You were thorough. This'll make it easier for us to climb up and down."

Yol nodded and smiled helplessly.

"I could only manage to make some simple footholds for climbing."

Merlin smiled, set the bamboo tubes on the ground, and climbed up by gripping the footholds. When he reached the branches, he saw a circular hollow in the trunk, a meter and a half across and slanting gently upward.

He crouched and went inside. About two meters in, a tree hollow three meters long, wide, and high came into view.

It was pitch-black inside.

The ground near the entrance wasn't very level, but the inner part had clearly been prepared with care. The backpack and suitcase had been stacked on the ground to the left.

Merlin's eyes shifted. He pressed his right hand against the ground and immediately felt the dampness. A knowing look appeared in his eyes.

"Just as I thought. There's no avoiding it. This is a living tree, after all.

"It won't be comfortable to sleep here tonight. Sigh!"

Merlin sighed. "Plans never keep up with changes. Looks like I was still being too optimistic.

"Is this what they mean when they say that ideals are beautiful, but reality is harsh?

"Am I a dreamer, too?"

His face twisted into an awkward expression.

A thoughtful look crossed Merlin's eyes. It seemed no one could sleep here tonight, so he picked up the backpack and suitcase and climbed back out.

Merlin opened the backpack and lowered a coil of rope, about as thick as an index finger. Then he called down to Yol:

"Tie the bamboo tubes to the rope. I'll pull them up."

One end of the rope landed right in front of Yol.

"Okay," Yol answered, and did as he asked.

Before long, the two barrels of Monkey Wine had been pulled up, and Merlin stored them in the tree hollow.

He jumped down and said to Yol with a helpless look:

"My plan didn't work out. The hollow's damp, so we can't stay there. We'll probably have to let it dry out for a few days before it's livable."

Yol blinked. "Then how about we sleep by the pool tonight? We'll have a fire, so it should be fine."

Merlin shook his head, then smiled mysteriously.

"Don't worry. I have a solution. Wait here for me."

With that, Merlin turned and walked away.

Lami looked up at Yol, bewildered. "We can't stay in the tree hollow?"

Yol gave an awkward smile. "Looks like we can't."

Not long after, Merlin returned from the bamboo grove with a bundle of bamboo poles as thick as a thigh and over ten meters long.

He tied them with rope and brought them up to the entrance of the hollow.

Then he cut them into lengths of three meters and two and a half meters, brought them inside, and stacked them crosswise in a haphazard pile.

He filled the hollow with them to keep some animal from taking over the place.

When he finished, Merlin climbed back down.

He picked up his backpack, took the suitcase, and grabbed the saber leaning against the trunk.

Then he looked at Yol.

"Come on. I'll take you somewhere."

Yol shouldered her backpack, but took the suitcase from Merlin and returned his dagger with a smile. Then she asked curiously:

"Where are we going?"

Merlin sighed. "Even a wily hare has three burrows. Naturally, we're going to a place where we can shelter from the wind and rain."

Seeing how mysterious Merlin was being, Yol blinked.

"Looks like you've had a busy afternoon, too!"

Merlin slid the dagger back into the sheath strapped to his right thigh. He smiled without replying, then tipped his head for her to follow and led the way.

Yol and Lami walked beside him.

The three chatted and laughed as they went.

As they passed through a lush bamboo grove, they cut down a bamboo pole about as thick as a calf and three meters long.

Before long, chattering cries rang out from the trees around them.

Yol held Lami close and watched their surroundings warily. But as they continued on, the monkeys only called out; none of them tried to attack.

Yol was utterly puzzled. Wild monkeys were fiercely territorial, yet this was clearly unusual. She turned to look at Merlin on her right. In the moonlight, he walked with his back straight, seemingly unconcerned about being attacked by the monkeys around them.

Is it because of Merlin?

Just then, a dark shape flashed past. A slender monkey leaped down from a nearby branch and slowly came to a stop in front of them, blocking their way. It made soft chattering sounds, gently murmuring and panting.

It crawled up to Merlin, raised its backside and tail, and gazed at him longingly.

It reached out a forepaw and gently touched the toe of Merlin's shoe. Watching under the moonlight, Yol stared blankly, then her mouth suddenly twitched violently.

Just then, Lami muttered quietly, "I think Mom told me about this kind of thing before.

"It looks like a monkey trying to find a mate."

Now that her suspicions had been confirmed, Yol looked at Merlin's softly outlined face in the moonlight with a distinctly peculiar expression.

Her voice sounded strange.

"So you're really that charming?"

But Merlin's expression remained calm. He lowered his eyes and watched the female monkey turn around, presenting her backside to him.

The next moment, he drew his right leg back and kicked with all his might. Thump! The female monkey let out a scream and flew three meters away. Merlin swept his cold gaze around and gave a low, stern shout.

"Get lost!"

A flurry of rustling erupted all around them. The monkeys in the trees scattered at once.

The female monkey Merlin had kicked continued to howl. With its tail between its legs, it fled.

Yol hesitated before speaking. "They seem to be afraid of you?"

Merlin sighed. "I found this place this afternoon and got attacked by the Monkey King."

"Look!" Merlin nodded at the monkey hide bundled in Yol's arms. "That fur you're holding came from the Monkey King."

Yol thought it over and began to understand, but she still didn't quite get it.

"Could it be that the monkeys have mistaken you for the new Monkey King? Is that why the female monkey came over to fawn on you? But you're not even the same species!"

"Who knows?" Merlin sighed helplessly. "Maybe they think I'm a hairless monkey!"

Still, Merlin vaguely suspected it might be because the former Monkey King had been a mutant, which could have made the others more accepting.

Besides, the rough distinction between humans and monkeys was simply whether or not they had fur.

And because of their environment, the animals in this world had also evolved to be exceptionally clever.

Their intelligence was generally far beyond the ordinary. The clearest sign was that they were much more human-like.

Before long, they reached the ancient, gnarled tree. Yol's mouth fell open. In the moonlight, the giant tree seemed to glow, breathtakingly beautiful and magnificent.

"It's beautiful!"

Merlin smiled and led them into the tree hollow. A hazy light glimmered inside. Then Lami suddenly stopped and pointed to the ground ahead.

"There's a corpse! That's so gross."

Merlin's mouth twitched as he looked at the skinned, blood-red Monkey King, a massive five-meter-long monkey carcass five meters ahead.

When Yol saw the Monkey King's corpse, hesitation crossed her eyes. She turned to Merlin.

"Were you hurt earlier?"

Looking at the enormous corpse and remembering Merlin's story about being ambushed by the Monkey King, Yol couldn't help feeling afraid in retrospect. Her lovely eyes noticed that Merlin's collar was torn, with bloodstains on it.

"That must have really hurt, right?"

Merlin smiled lightly. "It's nothing. What matters is that I won."

Yol parted her lips. She wanted to tell him not to take risks in the future, but couldn't bring herself to say it. A few seconds later, she said solemnly:

"Take me with you next time. I'm strong, so I can help take the hits."

"Ha!"

Merlin let out a soft laugh, then shook his head.

"No need to rush. Starting tomorrow, I'll teach you how to fight."

They reached a level spot inside the hollow where dried grass had been laid out. Merlin set down his backpack and used a lighter to ignite the grass. With a whoosh, flames sprang up.

Lami asked curiously:

"Brother Merlin, why are you burning this?"

Merlin explained, "The monkeys must have lice. This was the Monkey King's bed, and the grass isn't clean. We don't want to get bitten by bugs."

Lami nodded repeatedly. Just hearing about lice made her feel uncomfortable.

Yol found a stick inside the tree hollow, picked it up, and used it to stir the pile of grass, helping the mat burn thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Merlin went to the slope on the right side of the hollow and moved the stone covering a hollow in the ground.

Using a cup he had made from a cut piece of bamboo, Merlin scooped up the remaining Monkey Wine.

Lami followed him over, her voice bright with curiosity.

"Brother Merlin, is that wine?"

Merlin smiled and nodded.

"Monkey Wine."

As he spoke, he held out the bamboo cup.

"Drink up. Take big gulps."

Lami took it, looking conflicted. Mom hadn't let her drink alcohol before.

But she gritted her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut, and raised the bamboo cup to take a big gulp.

After just one sip, though, her eyes flew open in surprise. The drink didn't burn her throat or taste like alcohol; instead, it was more like some kind of sweet fruit juice.

Lami's eyes sparkled. She quickly finished the whole cup of Monkey Wine, licked her lips, and looked at Merlin.

"Brother, can I have another cup?"