025. Miscalculation!

"Really?"

Yol's face was full of smiles as she spoke in a teasing tone: "It seems Merlin still has many virtues waiting for me to discover! From now on, I'll have to observe you closely!"

"Please don't. That would make me very embarrassed."

Merlin retorted speechlessly, rolling his eyes at Yol. Having a woman who had practically watched him grow up say such things was genuinely a bit awkward!

Right now, Merlin looked at the monkey hide with some disdain. The quality after processing was barely usable.

This method of handmade fur crafting was a crude technique for treating fur that Merlin had seen online in his past life.

Although some tanning materials were missing, it would still suffice for personal use.

As long as it kept him warm while sleeping at night, being ugly didn't matter.

Standing before the monkey hide, his sharp sense of smell caught a faint aroma of Monkey Wine wafting from it. He thought to himself: "Has the monkey king marinated himself from long-term drinking?"

Still, that was fine. Even with such simple tanning, there was no raw animal smell.

The fur had dried completely. Merlin cut it, removed it, rolled it up, and handed it to Yol.

He then picked up two large bamboo tubes with their openings sealed by wooden plugs, and said to Yol: "Let's go. Let's see your final results."

Yol glanced curiously at the two bamboo tubes in Merlin's arms, catching a whiff of wine, and asked uncertainly: "What's this?"

Merlin smiled mysteriously: "I'll tell you later."

Yol gave a helpless smile.

Soon, the three arrived at the tree.

Merlin looked at the trunk, where palm-sized downward-slanting holes had been carved every half meter, and smiled at Yol: "You're really meticulous. This way, going up and down will be much easier."

Yol nodded and smiled helplessly: "I could only make simple footholds for climbing."

Merlin chuckled, set the bamboo tubes on the ground, grabbed the holes, and climbed up to the branches. There, he saw a round tree hollow about one and a half meters in diameter, tilting slightly upward.

He crouched down and entered through the opening. After about two meters, a tree cavity three meters long, wide, and high appeared before him.

The hollow was pitch black inside.

The ground near the entrance wasn't very even, but deeper in, it was clearly more carefully arranged. The backpack and suitcase were stacked on the left side of the floor.

His gaze shifted. Merlin touched the ground with his right hand, feeling a damp texture. A look of understanding crossed his eyes: "As expected, this is unavoidable. After all, this is a living tree. In this condition, resting at night will definitely be uncomfortable. Sigh!"

Merlin sighed: "Plans can't keep up with changes. I was too naive. Is this what they mean by ideals being full and reality being harsh? Am I also a dreamer?"

His face twisted into an awkward expression.

A flicker of thought passed through Merlin's eyes. It seemed this place couldn't be lived in tonight. So he picked up the backpack and suitcase and backed out of the hollow.

Merlin opened the backpack, dropped a coil of finger-thick rope down, and shouted to Yol below: "Tie the bamboo tubes with the rope, and I'll pull them up."

One end of the rope landed in front of Yol.

"Okay." Yol responded and did as told.

Soon, two tubes of Monkey Wine were pulled up, and Merlin stored them in the tree hollow.

Jumping down to the ground, he said helplessly to Yol: "My plan failed. The tree hollow is damp and unlivable. It'll probably need to air-dry for a few days before we can stay there."

Yol blinked. "Then shall we sleep by the pond tonight? With a fire going, it should be fine."

Merlin shook his head and smiled mysteriously: "Don't worry. I have a way. Wait here for me."

With that, Merlin turned and left.

Lami looked up at Yol, confused: "We can't live in the tree hollow anymore?"

Yol's face was awkward as she smiled helplessly: "It seems we can't!"

Not long after, Merlin brought back a bundle of bamboo from a nearby grove—each stalk as thick as a thigh and over ten meters long.

He tied them with rope and hauled them up to the tree hollow's entrance.

Then, using his blade, he cut them into three-meter and two-and-a-half-meter lengths, carrying them inside and stacking them haphazardly in a crisscross pattern.

He filled the tree hollow to the brim, a precaution to keep other animals from stealing the nest.

After finishing, Merlin climbed down from the tree.

He hoisted the Backpack from the ground, picked up the suitcase, and grabbed the long blade leaning against the trunk.

Then he looked at Yol:

"Let's go. I'll take you somewhere."

Yol also shouldered her Backpack, but she took the suitcase from Merlin's hand, smiled as she returned the dagger, and asked curiously:

"Where are we going?"

Merlin sighed. "A wily rabbit has three burrows—somewhere that can shelter us from the wind and rain, of course!"

Seeing Merlin's mysterious, evasive manner, Yol blinked:

"Looks like you worked pretty hard this afternoon too!"

She slid the dagger back into the strap on her right leg. Merlin smiled but said nothing, just tilted his head at her and led the way.

Yol and Lami walked beside him.

Along the way, the three chatted and laughed.

Passing through a dense bamboo grove, he casually chopped down a three-meter-long stalk as thick as a calf.

Before long, the trees around them rang with the chittering cries of monkeys.

Yol tightly held Lami's hand, her gaze alert as she scanned their surroundings. But as they pressed forward, the monkeys only hollered, making no move to attack.

Yol was utterly baffled. Wild monkeys had a fierce sense of territory, yet this was clearly abnormal. She glanced at Merlin to her right. In the moonlight, his back was straight, as if he had no fear of being ambushed by the monkey troop.

"Is it because of Merlin?"

Just then, a dark shape flashed down from a nearby treetop—a slender monkey landed lightly, slowly approaching until it blocked their path. It let out soft, chittering calls, gentle gurgles from its throat, and panted softly.

It crawled up to Merlin, raising its rump and tail, gazing at him with adoring eyes.

It stretched out a forepaw to lightly touch Merlin's shoe. In the moonlight, Yol stared dumbfounded, the corner of her mouth twitching violently.

And then Lami muttered quietly, "I think Mother told me about this kind of situation before.

It's like a monkey courtship display."

With her suspicion confirmed, Yol looked at Merlin's soft, moonlit face with a very peculiar expression.

Her tone was odd: "So you're really that charming?"

But Merlin's gaze remained calm. He looked down as the female monkey turned and presented her rear to him.

The next moment, he lifted his right foot and kicked out fiercely. Bam! The female monkey let out a screech, flying three meters away. Then Merlin swept a cold glare around and barked in a low, harsh voice:

"Scram!"

Instantly, a frantic rustling erupted from the trees as the monkeys scattered in all directions.

The female monkey he'd kicked wailed continuously, tail tucked, fleeing in panic.

Yol hesitated, then asked, "They seem really afraid of you?"

Merlin sighed. "I found this place this afternoon and got attacked by the monkey king."

"See?" Merlin jutted his chin toward the rolled-up monkey pelt in Yol's arms. "That fur you're holding—it's the king's."

Yol's mind turned, and she began to piece it together, but still found it hard to grasp:

"So these monkeys think you're the new king? That's why that female came to court you? But you're not even the same species?"

"Who knows?" Merlin sighed helplessly. "Maybe they just see me as a hairless monkey."

But inwardly, Merlin suspected that the original monkey king had been a mutant, which might have made these monkeys more adaptable than usual.

Besides, the rough difference between humans and monkeys was just... having fur or not.

And in this world, all kinds of animals had evolved to be very intelligent due to their harsh environment.

Their intelligence was generally extraordinary, showing itself in a greater understanding of human nature.

Soon, they arrived at the ancient, gnarled tree. Yol's mouth fell slightly open. Under the moon, the giant tree seemed to glow, breathtakingly beautiful and majestic:

"So beautiful!"

Merlin smiled and led them into the tree hollow. Inside, there was a faint, hazy light. Then Lami suddenly stopped, pointing at the ground ahead:

"A corpse! So gross."

Merlin twitched the corner of his mouth, looking at the skinned, crimson monkey king lying five meters ahead—a massive five-meter-long monkey carcass.

Seeing the monkey king, Yol's eyes flickered with hesitation. She turned to Merlin:

"You were hurt before?"

Looking at the enormous monkey king corpse before her, and recalling Brother Merlin's earlier mention of being ambushed by the monkey king, Yol felt a lingering fear in her heart. Her beautiful eyes immediately noticed that Merlin's collar was somewhat torn and stained with blood.

"It must have hurt a lot back then, right?"

Merlin gave a light smile: "Small matter. What matters is that I won in the end."

Yol opened her mouth, wanting to tell him not to take risks in the future, but the words stuck in her throat. After a few seconds, she said solemnly:

"Take me along from now on. I'm strong, I can help take the hits for you."

"Haha!"

Merlin let out a soft 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 set his Backpack on the ground, used a lighter to ignite the grass, and with a whoosh, flames immediately sprang up.

Lami spoke up in confusion:

"Brother Merlin, is there a purpose to burning this spot?"

Merlin explained: "Monkeys definitely have lice. This is the monkey king's bed—the dry grass isn't clean. We don't want bugs biting us later."

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

Yol then spotted a wooden stick in the tree hollow, went over to pick it up, and came back to poke at the grass pile, ensuring the bedding burned thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Merlin went to the slope on the right side of the hollow and moved aside the stones covering a recess.

He used a cup he'd cut from bamboo to scoop up the remaining Monkey Wine inside.

At that moment, Lami followed up, her crisp voice curious:

"Brother Merlin, is this wine?"

Merlin nodded with a smile:

"Monkey Wine."

With that, he handed the bamboo cup over. "Drink. Take a big gulp."

Lami took it, a hint of hesitation in her eyes. Mother had never let her drink before.

But she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and raised the bamboo cup for a big gulp.

The moment she drank, however, her eyes flew wide open in surprise. The wine didn't burn her throat or taste like liquor at all—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?"