Unease and the Monkey

"Listen to him."

As Liu Zhi finished detailing the situation for the next leg of the journey, Perkin's voice came from behind them.

Everyone turned to see Perkin flipping through something that resembled a notebook.

Seeing Liu Zhi look over, Perkin smiled at him, "I knew inviting you here was the best decision I ever made."

Liu Zhi stared at the notebook in Perkin's hand, hesitated, and gave up the idea of asking to study it. This was likely a clue to the plant Perkin was looking for. Liu Zhi didn't want anyone to know his own objective, and he figured Perkin wouldn't want his purpose for this trip revealed either.

Seeing Liu Zhi's gaze flick over him before returning to his own business, Perkin nodded with satisfaction. He had deliberately brought out the notebook. In reality, it was just the ship's log, with nothing truly written on it. The real information was all in Perkin's head. He just wanted to test Liu Zhi's attitude.

After all, Liu Zhi had the map now, and Perkin wasn't sure if Liu Zhi harbored any ill intentions.

It would be bad if Liu Zhi had his eyes on his precious plant and deliberately led them to their doom.

Now that Liu Zhi's attitude was satisfactory, he nodded and began to explain where they would go next.

While Liu Zhi studied the map, the ship easily found the giant rock formation that Liu Zhi had described as looking like a snake's head. Half of the rock was submerged in the river. If not for the sharp eyes of the female dart thrower, they might have missed it entirely.

"Everyone pay attention, observe the left bank carefully. If you see anything resembling a whale, stop and observe, don't just rush in," the boat captain shouted loudly.

The boat belonged to the captain's family. They didn't have specific roles like "captain"; the captain and his three sons handled the sails and steering, managing all aspects of the ship.

Even going upstream, they had managed to control the boat remarkably steadily. Liu Zhi, who had mixed in as a subordinate to the extraordinary Sailor, knew how difficult that was.

At the captain's call, everyone ran to the left side of the boat and peered intently towards the shore. Any large rock or tree would prompt serious examination to see if it resembled a whale.

Liu Zhi shook his head helplessly. If the whale-like marker were that easy to find, the records wouldn't have described it so vaguely.

Of course, Liu Zhi was also searching diligently, as this was crucial to his journey.

Just then, the guide Perkin had hired approached Liu Zhi.

He was a local native, with slightly reddish skin, adorned with white and blue paint patterns.

He sized Liu Zhi up. "I see traces of a curse on you. You have been cursed by the spirits."

Liu Zhi glanced sideways at the guide's neck, noticing pendants made of stone and teeth. Looking closer at the patterns on the pendants, Liu Zhi shook his head and said, "The curse on me has nothing to do with you."

Stymied by Liu Zhi's retort, the guide's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

But as Liu Zhi had said, even if there was a curse on him, it had nothing to do with the guide. It wasn't a curse set by the guide's ancestors. Even if the guide wanted to ask more, he had no proper reason.

The guide, slightly annoyed, shot Liu Zhi a look and walked over to the jungle expert.

The jungle expert, dressed in long sleeves and pants, was completely covered. He wore a backpack and various small tools, clearly someone who could survive in the wilderness for a long time.

Seeing the guide approach, the jungle expert asked in a low voice, "How is it?"

"He won't say anything, but I'm sure he has a curse on him. It should belong to Emperor Atahualpa."

"Golden City? No wonder he wouldn't show us the map. If I had a clue like that, I wouldn't let anyone see it either," the jungle expert immediately understood Liu Zhi's objective.

"Then should we..." the guide whispered.

"Keep an eye on him for now. We need to focus on this side first, don't bet on both and lose everything," the jungle expert said after a moment's thought.

Just then, the jungle expert seemed to feel something watching him.

Thinking he had been seen talking to the guide, he turned to look in the direction of the gaze.

He saw no one staring at him. Instead, a monkey in a nearby tree was grinning at him.

"Good thing it's just a monkey. But why would a monkey be here?" As a jungle survival expert, he knew the local fauna well. This type of monkey shouldn't normally be found by the river; it was too dangerous for them.

"Something's not right here, this monkey is problematic." The jungle survival expert tried to get a closer look, but suddenly, he threw everything else aside and shouted, "I see the whale! Everyone, come quickly!"

Hearing the jungle survival expert's shout, everyone rushed over. Following the direction he pointed, they all saw a huge rock submerged underwater. The rock's shadow overlapped with the tree shadows above the water, and with the refraction of the water's surface, it truly resembled a whale about to surface and spout water.

Liu Zhi and Perkin glanced at it and nodded in affirmation.

The boat captain shouted, "Control the sails, we're turning!"

The captain's sons quickly adjusted the sails, and the boat executed a sharp turn in place, gliding into a nearby river channel.

At that moment, the jungle survival expert suddenly remembered the monkey from earlier. He couldn't help but look back towards where he had first seen it, only to find that the monkey was gone.

Seeing the jungle survival expert's expression, the guide asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just feel uneasy."

"Really? If you have such a feeling, you must tell me in advance. This jungle is full of curses, and those with keen senses can feel them before they arrive."

The jungle survival expert nodded firmly, "Don't worry. I'm an expert in wilderness survival, I won't be careless."

As they spoke, Liu Zhi also wore a look of confusion. He didn't believe they had taken the wrong path, but for some reason, as the boat entered this river channel, Liu Zhi felt a sense of unease.

It was like facing an oncoming truck but being unable to escape.

He hadn't even felt this way when he was attacked by the Fishman prophet.

"Something's wrong, there's a problem here."