Outside Huangkang Winery.
A fully armed team was quietly making its way toward the winery gates.
Leading the team was Ma Tianxing, a director of the Xingyan Group.
This was the Second Exploration Team, led by Ma Tianxing. Every member was equipped with the group's finest gear, earned through their battle achievements, and the team's personnel had changed several times over.
Ma Tianxing abruptly stopped and raised a hand, signaling everyone to hold their positions. Then he beckoned to a small-framed member of the team. When she came over, he instructed, "Tian Ming, you have half an hour. Scout around the winery and see what kinds of monsters are inside."
Tian Ming was one of the few women on the team. Agile and quick, she served as the Second Exploration Team's scout, responsible for gathering intelligence before each operation.
She sprang into motion and quickly approached the winery's perimeter wall, making barely a sound as she ran. Before long, she reached a tree close to the wall. With a few quick climbs, she was up in its branches, looking inside.
The winery grounds were strewn with monkeys, sprawled every which way. Their fur was flame-red, and a few wine barrels lay beside them, with pale purplish-red wine trickling out.
The winery produced wine from grapes, which was much loved by the locals and suited their tastes.
The owner was a wine lover himself. He had opened the winery simply so he could enjoy the most delicious wine.
He had even rented a plot of land nearby for growing grapes. Once they ripened, he selected the finest ones for winemaking. The winery produced just over thirty barrels a year, more than twenty of which were bottled and supplied to local dignitaries.
The wine's quality had attracted this group of monkeys—and the Xingyan Group's Second Exploration Team as well.
The Second Exploration Team's mission this time was to collect as much wine from the winery as possible. It could serve as one of the prizes at the group's Third Martial Arts Tournament.
As soon as the team received the order from the decision-makers, they changed their original route plan and mapped out the fastest way to reach the winery.
After spotting the monkeys sprawled across the grounds, Tian Ming climbed down, picked up a small stone, then climbed back into the tree.
She swung her arm and tossed the stone into an open patch of ground inside the winery. Only a few monkeys tilted their heads and looked toward where it landed. When nothing seemed amiss, they felt around for the barrels beside them, lifted them, and gulped down a few mouthfuls before closing their eyes and drifting back to sleep.
Tian Ming twisted her mouth to one side, then climbed down again and ran to a tree in another direction outside the wall. She took out her binoculars and peered through the open doors and windows of the low buildings inside the winery.
A few more monkeys lay inside the rooms, their fur just as fiery red as the ones outside. There seemed to be little difference between them.
Tian Ming tried throwing a slightly larger stone. The result was the same as before.
Looks like these monkeys are all dead drunk, she thought.
To be absolutely sure, Tian Ming went to check the last side as well. But everywhere she looked, she saw nothing but drunken monkeys.
After counting them, Tian Ming returned to the team and said helplessly, "There may not be much wine left in the winery. The monkeys have wasted most of it."
Ma Tianxing said regretfully, "If there isn't much, we'll just take whatever we can. Are there any other monsters in there besides the monkeys?"
Tian Ming's expression turned serious. "From my initial scouting, there should only be monkeys inside the buildings. No other monsters. There are around thirty to forty monkeys—could be fewer, but not more."
"As for their features, they're covered in bright red fur, like they're on fire. They're all drunk and barely react to anything around them. I couldn't see inside some of the locked rooms, so I don't know whether there might be any second-order monsters hiding in them. I estimated one per room."
"Based on what we know, a group of monsters like this must have a leader. The warehouse is the most likely place for it to be."
After learning how the monkeys were distributed around the winery, Ma Tianxing gathered all the team members and said, "Next, we'll clear out the winery by taking them out quietly. Everyone use a dagger. Get inside as quietly as you can, one person to each monkey. First, kill all the monkeys in the open area outside the warehouse. Don't let them make a sound."
"Once that's done, pair up and check every room in the office building. Don't leave a single one behind."
"Finally, we'll deal with any monkeys left in the warehouse."
"Move out."
"Understood."
At Ma Tianxing's command, every team member answered in a low voice.
Everything went smoothly. Within forty minutes, everyone had completed their assigned tasks, with only the warehouse left.
The whole team gathered outside the warehouse, waiting for the order to rush in. Even Ma Tianxing felt the weight of the situation before he gave the order to open the door.
If there were a huge number of monsters inside, or even one exceptionally powerful one, would he be able to bring everyone back?
Still, the door had to be opened. Otherwise, the winery would remain a major threat along the road to the county seat.
"Open it!" At his command, the warehouse doors slowly swung open.
What everyone saw was a fiery red monkey, noticeably larger than the others—about the size of a gorilla.
Its fur looked even more like a ball of flames than the monkeys outside. Even the tips of its fur showed a faint purplish red, exactly the color of grape wine.
The warehouse was filled with the rich aroma of wine. Just breathing it in felt intoxicating.
Like the others, this monkey lay motionless on the floor, paying no attention even as the doors opened.
The explorers exchanged bewildered looks. They could hardly believe every monster in the winery was such an easy target.
Ma Tianxing drew the two one-handed hatchets he was best with and stepped up to the monkey's neck. He swung his right-hand hatchet down hard.
At that moment, the monkey's eyes snapped open. It jerked its body backward, clamped its teeth around the blade, and kicked its hind legs upward. Its body flipped over, taking Ma Tianxing with it while he still held on to the hatchet.
It all happened so suddenly that Ma Tianxing didn't have time to react.
The monkey released the blade and slapped at Ma Tianxing.
Caught off guard, Ma Tianxing took the blow head-on and went flying, landing hard at the warehouse entrance.
The team members finally reacted. They drew their preferred weapons and surrounded the monkey.
Although the monkey's eyes were open, it still looked groggy. Its steps were unsteady, and it swayed from side to side, as if it still hadn't sobered up.
The team members attacked one after another, but the monkey somehow avoided every serious blow. Their attacks barely managed to get through its fur.
Like a drunken boxer, the monkey knocked down a team member with every strike.
Only after two team members had been knocked down did Ma Tianxing get to his feet. He rubbed his cheek and rejoined the fight.
The two sides remained locked in a stalemate.
After more than ten minutes, the sound of a manhole cover opening suddenly came from inside the warehouse. But the explorers, caught up in the fight, didn't notice.