Chapter 11: The Spirit Monkey

Chapter 11: The Spirit Monkey

"Miss, do you still remember? That's where you fell from." In front of the two guards, Xiaolian pointed to a spot with a gentle tone.

The mountain cherries had already withered, and there was a patch of snow-blue azaleas blooming brilliantly under the bright sunshine.

Xin You took a step forward.

"Miss!" Xiaolian nervously pulled her back.

The two guards also voiced their warnings.

"Don't worry, I won't get too close." Xin You stopped moving forward, merely leaning slightly to look down.

Although Thousand Sakura Mountain wasn't particularly high, it was dense with grass and trees, making the view dizzying.

Xin You listened carefully and faintly heard the sound of water splashing.

"Is there a waterfall below?"

One of the guards replied, "Yes. The waterfall forms a deep pool that connects to a river. When we couldn't find Miss Kou at the bottom of the cliff, we thought she might have been swept away by the water, so we followed the current for quite a distance."

This was also why the people from Shaoqing Mansion didn't suspect anything when they found Xin You in the small village after not finding Kou Qingqing at the bottom of the cliff.

"It seems the jade pendant must have fallen out when I tumbled down." Xin You showed a hint of hesitation on her face before becoming resolute. "Let's go down to the cliff base and take a look."

The guard who had spoken earlier tried to dissuade her, "Miss, there's no path down this side. We need to go around to the other end, which is quite far and difficult to navigate."

Another guard added, "Yes, Miss, you are precious. If you get hurt, we can't bear the responsibility. And if you encounter snakes or wild boars, it would be even more dangerous."

Xin You glanced at Xiaolian.

Xiaolian directly handed them a handful of gold leaves.

The two guards were nearly blinded by the gold leaves glinting in the sunlight, and their objections got stuck in their throats.

"Brothers, please help our Miss."

"Oh, although the path down isn't easy, we've walked it several times in the past few days, so we're familiar with it," one of the guards said, his eyes still unfocused.

The other guard couldn't refuse the gold leaves either.

Was this just a handful of gold leaves? No, it was clearly a beautiful wife waiting right around the corner!

"Just be careful, Miss, and stay behind us."

The four of them descended the mountain. Xiaolian woke up the squinting coachman and gave him a piece of silver.

The coachman was more straightforward than the guards, smiling and saying, "Please return as soon as possible, Miss."

Perhaps happiness comes from comparison. Thinking about the silver the coachman received, the guards felt invigorated and walked briskly.

It took some time to go around, but Xin You finally saw the scenery at the bottom of the cliff.

The view was filled with shades of green and vibrant wildflowers. The waterfall cascaded down the cliff, splashing against the rocks like shattered jade, then merging into the rippling pool.

In the distance, the river connected to the pool, flowing away, nourishing countless villagers.

As Xin You surveyed the surroundings, she suddenly saw a black shadow rushing towards her.

One of the guards reacted quickly, swinging his staff at the shadow.

The black shadow rolled on the ground to avoid the staff, emitting squeaks.

"You again, beast!" The guard recognized the shadow and swung his staff angrily.

The monkey ran away nimbly but didn't leave, squeaking at them, infuriating the guards.

Xin You sensed something and asked, "Have you seen this monkey before?"

"Yes. When we came around looking for Miss, this beast appeared and caused trouble. It even threw wild fruits at us when we ignored it."

The other guard rubbed his shoulder, even more annoyed.

That day, he was hit by a fruit on his shoulder, leaving a stain that wouldn't wash off easily.

"Wait a moment, Miss. Let me catch this beast and skin it so it doesn't cause any more trouble."

"Forget it. It's a living creature, and dealing with it would waste too much time." Xin You pointed. "Please search along the riverbank, while Xiaolian and I will look around the pool."

The two guards exchanged glances, thinking this arrangement was reasonable.

The terrain at the bottom was rugged. If the Miss followed them around and twisted her ankle, it would be hard to explain. Better to let her rest in place.

And they were happy to take it easy. They hadn't found the Miss herself, so how could they find a tiny jade pendant? They would circle around for the sake of the gold leaves and report back.

"What if the beast hurts the Miss?" Despite agreeing with Xin You's plan, the appearance of the monkey made the guards hesitant to leave.

Xin You took the staff from the guard, speaking lightly, "Xiaolian and I can handle a monkey. Don't worry, hurry and help me find the jade pendant. If we can't find it, we'll be content and head back sooner."

The guards no longer hesitated and went along the riverbank.

Watching them walk away, Xiaolian whispered, "We've searched this area thoroughly."

Xin You looked at the squeaking monkey, her expression inscrutable. "Maybe there are corners we haven't found yet."

For some reason, the appearance of this monkey gave her a sudden premonition that they would find Miss Kou.

Perhaps it was because this scene reminded her of the story her mother had told her about a monkey.

Seeing Xin You looking at it, the monkey rushed over.

"Miss, be careful!" Without thinking, Xiaolian instinctively stepped in front of Xin You but felt her wrist pulled, and she was dragged aside.

"Don't worry, it doesn't seem to want to hurt anyone." Xin You looked at the approaching monkey and said gently.

Xiaolian didn’t share this view, staring nervously at the monkey: "But it threw wild fruits at people earlier."

"Not now," Xin You said, watching the monkey waving its arms in front of them. She then asked, "Do you want to tell us something?"

The monkey seemed to understand, chirped once, ran a short distance, turned back, saw Xin You standing still, and chirped again.

Seeing this, even Xiaolian had a bold guess: "Could it be leading us somewhere—"

She paused, her face changing color: "Miss, is it Miss?"

She couldn't believe it, her heart racing. Despite her earlier fear of the monkey hurting someone, she now rushed forward without hesitation.

Seeing Xiaolian move, the monkey turned and ran ahead, leaping onto a tree.

It was a tree rooted on the cliff face, with a canopy like an umbrella, lush and leafy.

"Chirp chirp—" The monkey hung from the tree, calling out to them.

Xiaolian was puzzled and looked at Xin You: "What does this monkey mean?"

She had thought the monkey was intelligent and would lead her to the miss, but instead, it climbed up a tree.

Xin You looked up at the tree, her heart sinking slightly: "Perhaps it wants us to climb the tree."

"Climb the tree?" Xiaolian was stunned. "But we don't know how to climb trees!"

"I do."

Xiaolian turned sharply to Xin You, thinking she had heard wrong: "You can climb? Climb what?"

Xin You wiped her hands on her dress, jogged a few steps, jumped, grabbed the trunk, and climbed up nimbly. Then she looked down and answered Xiaolian: "I can climb trees."