Gu Qing could, of course, understand the monkeys.
Of the several hundred monkeys among the cliffs, he... did not know a single one, but he knew their ancestors, and had been very close to them.
He and the ancestors of these monkeys could be called companions, fellow workers.
"The monkeys and I built this little wooden house together."
Gu Qing brought his two wives down beneath the cliff, pointed at the wooden house, and said, "Later, for a while, this was the meeting hall. Whenever the elders of the various peaks had matters to discuss, they came here."
Zhen Tao said, "The wooden house where you stored all that green tea?"
Gu Qing said, "At first, it was all black tea."
The monkeys that had followed them there began calling from the trees.
Gu Qing ignored them and took the women sightseeing elsewhere among the peaks, giving particular attention to an unnamed little stream.
"The horse was kept here back then. Junior Brother Yuan Qu and Ping Yongjia often stood here balancing bricks on their heads."
"Were the rules on Divine End Peak that strict?"
"Martial Aunt wanted to test her sword."
"Zhao Layue really was as fierce as the rumors say."
"Speaking of which, after all these years, you still call her Martial Aunt? You never changed it to Senior Sister?"
"Master said that year in Jing Garden that everything would stay as it was."
"True Person Jingyang really does have a temperament that lets nothing in the world weigh on his heart."
"...He was lazy."
The family of three chatted casually, and before long they had finished touring Divine End Peak.
Of the Green Mountain Nine Peaks, Divine End Peak was the most solitary. It had little in the way of sights, and now there was