< Chapter 57: Great Victory, Great Leftover >
Monkey Head Gang.
The monkey corpses were all laid out in one place, arranged in a row. The high-ranking members of the gang gathered, each looking at the numerous monkey corpses on the ground with grim expressions.
An elder bowed his head, examining for a moment, then performed a hand seal to draw out the toxins from the monkey corpses. The toxins were pitch black, floating in the air like a puff of black smoke, making the air vaguely hot.
“It’s fire poison.”
“This will be hard to investigate.”
Huoshi Mountain was filled with endless geothermal heat, blazing flames, and fire poison. One could say that fire poison was very abundant. When Huoshi Mountain wasn’t sealed off, any cultivator who entered the Red Flame Demon Molten Cave could gather fire poison.
With such abundant raw materials, cultivators found it very easy to produce fire poison, making it difficult for the high-ranking members of the Monkey Head Gang to follow this clue and investigate.
Yuan Er’s face was very somber.
He had just mobilized all the elders to explain the major crisis the gang was facing. At a time when they urgently needed monkeys to demonstrate their value, a third of his monkey pets had died directly!
The elders all looked at Yuan Er. Their gazes were filled with worry, as well as expectation and scrutiny.
Compared to his father Yuan Yi, Yuan Er had not been in power for many years and had not achieved much, making it hard to win people over.
Now, with the entire gang facing a crisis, could this young cultivator manage the helm?
“Leader, what should we do now?” an elder asked directly, testing him.
Yuan Er thought for a moment. “We can’t afford to lose monkey pets!”
“Without demonstrating our value, the business of picking Huoshi fruits will no longer be ours.”
“Hurry and go capture or buy other monkeys to supplement our strength!”
The elders frowned one after another.
“Even if we do that, we won’t be able to train these monkeys to maturity in a short time.”
“At best, it’s better than nothing.”
“No, I think acting rashly will make things worse. If the training is insufficient, and these monkeys fail in picking Huoshi fruits during the festival, causing explosions in the Huoshi forest, the consequences would be worse for us!”
“You might not know this yet, but there are very few monkeys on the market now. Many monkeys near the immortal city have been captured and killed,” an elder spoke up.
“Is that so?” The others were astonished, and Yuan Er also looked over inquiringly.
The elder who spoke nodded. “Recently, the Monster Hunting Association has received a large number of orders to capture wild monkeys alive.”
“Even on the black market, there’s a high price for monkey pets.”
Yuan Er squinted his eyes immediately. “Who is buying them?”
“Could it be the same people who poisoned our monkey pets?”
The elders frowned in deep thought.
They all felt a chill.
“Boss, someone is targeting us.”
“This is a setup. Someone is scheming to harm us!”
“Who could it be?”
An elder stared at Yuan Er. “Boss, the enemy has reached this level of aggression, what are we hesitating for?”
“Find them and eliminate them!”
“If the old boss were still alive, he definitely wouldn’t hesitate.”
Yuan Er’s face turned ashen, and he almost cursed out loud, “Nonsense!”
How were they supposed to fight?
Given the current situation, it was highly likely that the force poisoning their monkey pets was none other than the Flying Disk Workshop.
The workshop’s owner, Chen Cha, was the mechanical cultivator who designed and manufactured the Mechanical Explosive Monkeys.
If the Monkey Head Gang performed poorly during the Huoshi Festival, his Mechanical Explosive Monkeys would naturally dominate the market, seizing the fire persimmon business and earning huge profits.
Chen Cha wasn’t the crucial issue; the key was Fei Si, the one behind him.
Fei Si, a Golden Core cultivator, was known for his vicious and ruthless nature. Anyone who had lived long enough in Puppet Immortal City knew about him.
Yuan Er was extremely worried that if his investigation led to Chen Cha, it would put him in an awkward position.
Pursuing the matter was certainly not an option.
But if he didn’t pursue it, it would make him seem weak and disappoint others. His position as the gang leader would be seriously undermined.
Immediately, Yuan Er glared fiercely at the elder who had suggested going to war, filled with the urge to strangle him on the spot.
He knew this elder had always coveted the position of gang leader.
Such was the nature of the gang.
It wasn’t a family or a sect. There were no blood ties or bonds between master and disciple; it was all about interests. The strongest led, and whoever could make everyone rich took charge!
The elder was adept at power plays, and with one squeeze, he had put Yuan Er in a dilemma.
Yuan Er quickly thought, feigning deep contemplation, “That’s not the main issue right now.”
He looked at the numerous monkey corpses on the ground and said, “These monkeys, many of them are Uncle Monkey’s descendants. With such a significant incident, we must first seek his elder’s opinion.”
In an instant, the tension of coercion and intimidation dissipated.
Although the old gang leader Yuan Yi had passed away, he left behind his spirit pet—Yuan Dasheng!
This Fire Fusion Demon Ape had fought alongside Yuan Yi, starting from scratch and gradually establishing the foundation of the Monkey Head Gang. Now, it was the backbone of the gang!
At the mention of Yuan Dasheng, all the elders were subdued.
Most couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of reverence.
Yuan Er secretly breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave. “Uncle Monkey is sleeping; I’ll go wake him.”
Everyone hurriedly said, “Let Uncle Monkey sleep until noon. Don’t disturb its peaceful dream.”
Yuan Er insisted, “That’s for you. If I wake it up, there won’t be any problem. Don’t follow me, or you might irritate Uncle Monkey, and it’ll beat you up.”
Yuan Er leisurely walked away, and none of the elders dared to follow.
Yuan Er left alone, his back radiating a sense of triumph.
Many elders couldn’t help but grumble internally, “He’s really riding on the monkey’s coattails!”
Yuan Er entered the tent.
There he saw an old ape lying on its side, sleeping soundly.
It was enormous, with thick deep red fur and an extremely robust body.
Its body was covered with scars of various sizes, adding to the old ape’s rugged and formidable aura.
Yuan Er instinctively lightened his steps, approached it, and gently called out, “Uncle Dasheng, Uncle Dasheng.”
“Dasheng, Dasheng…”
Yuan Dasheng’s breathing was long and steady. Amidst the calls, he vaguely dreamt of his old master, Yuan Yi.
Yuan Yi, in tattered clothes and with a disheveled appearance, came back holding a wooden bucket, his face beaming with joy. “Look what I managed to get!”
“It’s leftovers from Yan Hong Lou. I arrived just in time before they threw it out and managed to grab a whole bucket of it!”
“We’re in luck, we’re in luck.”
Yuan Yi ran to the ape’s side and placed the wooden bucket on the ground.
“I gave you the perfect name! Dasheng, Dasheng. Every meal, you get to eat so many leftovers. How fortunate!”
The ape was still growing and had a huge appetite.
It had long smelled the aroma and impatiently plunged its head into the bucket, devouring the food without stopping.
Soon, it had finished all the food.
Just as it sat down, it heard Yuan Yi’s stomach growling.
It was momentarily stunned.
Yuan Yi grinned, “Hehe, I’ve already eaten, I’ve already eaten!”
The ape’s cheeks puffed up, holding the last mouthful of food.
It began to chew more slowly.