Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 623 "Change a Card"

"Three monkeys?" Zuo Jun raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about three monkeys, one covering its eyes, one covering its mouth, and the last one covering its ears?"

"You've seen it?!" Sun Hang felt a surge of excitement.

"The 'Three Wise Monkeys' originally originated from the Confucian classic *The Analects*, which states, 'Do not look at what is improper, do not listen to what is improper, do not speak what is improper.' Later, as Confucian culture spread to the surrounding areas of Xia Prefecture, handicrafts depicting the Three Wise Monkeys also appeared in regions and countries influenced by Confucian culture, such as Japan, Silla, and Southeast Asia. However, with the decline of Confucian culture, the Three Wise Monkeys cultural element is now extremely rare, and only the idiom 'Do not look at what is improper' has survived as a relatively infrequently used phrase," Zuo Jun said calmly.

“…” Sun Hang’s excitement turned into disappointment in an instant.

“I know about the existence of the Three Wise Monkeys, and there are related records in books and databases. Also, if you want Three Wise Monkey handicrafts, although they are difficult to find on the market, in the name of Tian Shu Tower, we should be able to help you find all the related items in the human activity area…” Zuo Jun said, “But if you ask me if I have ever seen a real Three Wise Monkey, then my answer is no.”

"In these records, have the Three Wise Monkeys ever been associated with any strange creatures?" Sun Hang asked, still somewhat unwilling to give up.

Zuo Jun shook his head.

……

……

Zuo Jun had no objection to going to Egypt to carry out the investigation mission. After discussing some details, Sun Hang and Professor Cao left the closed room, while Zuo Jun returned to the desk with only one candle and buried himself in those heavy books that were heavier than bricks.

Inside the elevator in Yuzhu, Professor Cao, who had been silent the whole way, finally let out a long sigh, then shook his head with a strange expression and muttered to himself, "How strange..."

"What's strange?" Sun Hang asked instinctively.

“I’ve never seen ‘Number One’ so good-tempered,” Professor Cao said. “His greatest hobby is reading, and his least favorite thing is talking to others… In the past, when we went to him with tasks, even though he would eventually accept them, he would often seem indifferent during the conversation, sometimes making us wonder if he was even listening to us… That’s why I told you before that his temper was a bit strange and that you should be prepared, but I didn’t expect this…”

"I never expected that I would have such a pleasant conversation with him?"

Professor Cao nodded.

"Does he treat everyone this way? Is Pei Zongjun the same?" Sun Hang asked.

"It's all the same. Old Pei is slightly better, but not by much," Professor Cao said. "If you say ten sentences and he replies with even one, you're lucky the sun rises in the west."

"Speaking of which, is Zuo Jun even human?"

“A hybrid of humans and monsters,” Professor Cao said, “a being more advanced than the original infected.”

"What do you mean?"

"You should know about those infected people who become distorted due to negative emotions, right?"

"know."

“We call those infected individuals who have no source of infection, or who are themselves the source of infection, native infected individuals,” Professor Cao said. “In a sense, Zuo Jun also belongs to the category of native infected individuals in a broad sense.”

What about the narrower definition?

“An infected person, as the name suggests, must have the ability to infect other humans or things,” Professor Cao said. “However, after we tried to extract the strange meme from Zuo Jun’s body, we found that this meme does not have any infectivity. Apart from Zuo Jun, it will produce a repulsive reaction with anything that exists in the material world. Since it does not have infectivity, it is obviously inaccurate to describe him as an infected person.”

"Oh." "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Nothing, just ask."

……

……

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Sun Hang once again stepped into the Xiaojiazhuang subway station after it was closed.

If we were to say who has changed the most in the past month, it would undoubtedly be Nur, the desert survivor brought back by Sun Hang last time. This guy has completely fallen into the comfortable life created by modern technology. For him, as long as he has a few tubes of blood drawn every day and some painless physical examinations, he can enjoy all kinds of food and entertainment that he has never seen or even thought of before, without any cost... No cold, no hunger, no injury or death...

This is clearly paradise—no, the desert survivors don't have the concept of "paradise." In their language, this is not a place of refuge for heretics, but a divine kingdom of perfect goodness and beauty!

Sun Hang clearly saw a hint of reluctance in his eyes—which is understandable. If most people were in Nur's position, they would never want to go back to that place where there was nothing but yellow sand.

“We need a guide,” Sun Hang patted Nur on the shoulder. “Only your hunter’s mark can help us.”

“I know.” Nur nodded. “But you promised me that you would let me live here forever after the mission was completed… Or, I can help you find a few more hunters this time. I think they would agree to your conditions.”

“We’ll talk about that later.” Sun Hang nodded. “Your task this time is simple: just help us find where your settlement is located.”

According to Nur, inside the remains of that giant sand worm, besides their settlement, there were at least three other settlements of remnants, meaning there were at least three priests... or rather, three artificial hunters left behind by the old civilization.

However, Sun Hang guessed that there must be some connection between these people. They must already know that he killed the priest of the Nur settlement. The two sides can be said to have completely broken off relations, and a battle is definitely unavoidable.

That guy was too arrogant last time, which allowed Sun Hang to take advantage of him. This guy obviously still has some trump cards up his sleeve, but unfortunately Sun Hang didn't give him the chance to play them.

This time, they are prepared, and the difficulty of the operation will definitely increase dramatically.

It was for this reason that Sun Hang did not bring the advance team members from the training camp, but instead brought this "expedition team" that he had carefully selected himself.

With Zuo Jun as the "Number One Hunter," their strength on paper is already at its maximum.

……

At 11:23 PM, the ghost train arrived at Xiaojiazhuang Station on time, but just as Sun Hang was about to swipe his card to board the train, Zuo Jun suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Change the card," Zuo Jun said to Sun Hang.

Sun Hang quickly realized that Zuo Jun had just activated a time rewind function, saving him from the situation where he was holding the subway card with insufficient balance.

What puzzled Sun Hang was why the three apes hadn't appeared when he was in mortal danger.

Is it because the Three Apes' priority is not as high as time rewind, or did the Three Apes guess that Zuo Jun would make a move, which is why they didn't take any action?

(End of this chapter)