The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 150 Immortal guides the way
Children's world is always bright, as they emerge from that dark and cold dungeon.

They cheered because Du Yuan had demonstrated the Shrinking Earth Technique with them.

This pleased Du Yuan greatly, as it allowed them to temporarily forget what had happened.

In addition, Du Yuan had not yet figured out how to settle them down.

So they simply led them around a small hill, moving back and forth endlessly.

This made the children's laughter almost fill the entire hill.

This strange sight left the monkeys in the trees dumbfounded. They couldn't understand why these "hairless monkeys" appeared and disappeared, and they began to roar anxiously from the branches.

The monkey's surprise only made the children under the tree laugh and giggle.

Seeing that intimidation was ineffective and they couldn't catch up, the monkeys grew increasingly anxious, leaping and bounding among the branches. Finally, they all gathered under an old banyan tree, howling incessantly into the deep hollow of the tree.

Amidst the hissing, from deep within the tree hollow, an old monkey carrying a tattered sack slowly strolled out. It held a scroll in its hands, turning the pages as it walked, its expression one of deep concentration.

It wasn't until the monkeys' clamor almost pierced its eardrums that it sighed helplessly, closed the book, and listened intently.

A moment later, a look of extremely human-like astonishment appeared on the old monkey's face—

A group of hairless monkeys that can disappear and reappear out of thin air? And a leader who looks like a formidable "monkey king"?!

The old monkey paused for a moment, then leaped onto a tree branch. Its seemingly aged body was more agile than even the youngest and strongest monkey.

In a few leaps and bounds, it left the monkey troop far behind. Once it reached a high point, it eagerly searched for the "monkey king" that its people had spoken of.

Finally, its eyes lit up—Du Yuan and the group of children he was leading came into view. But it did not rush forward rashly. Instead, it held its breath and stared intently, wanting to see with its own eyes the “appearing and disappearing” that the tribespeople had mentioned.

The next moment, an astonishing scene unfolded: the figure that was just a step away under an old tree suddenly appeared beneath its feet! Before it could even react, the other party vanished in an instant!

Witnessing this, the old monkey's pupils contracted, and it hurriedly rummaged through its tattered cloth bag behind it, pulling out a scroll. It quickly flipped through the pages, finally stopping at the middle page—a page with very little text, only a picture occupying the center:
In the painting, an immortal, standing on auspicious clouds and radiating light from his back, is bestowing divine teachings upon a kneeling tiger. Beside the painting are four bold, powerful characters—

The fairy guides the way!

The old monkey instantly became excited.

"A sage points the way! A sage points the way!"

Just as he was about to jump down to find the Monkey King Immortal, he suddenly slapped his forehead and pulled out another book.

After flipping through a few pages, I found what I was looking for—the painting depicted two people, one fawning and offering gifts, the other dressed in fine clothes, with a note next to it that read, "To ask someone for a favor, you must give a gift!"

Seeing this, the old monkey nodded repeatedly and let out a long roar.

The monkeys all over the mountains started moving.
-
At the summit, Du Yuan led the tired children to stop and rest while gazing at the distant mountain scenery.

Just as Du Yuan was pondering how to settle the children, a sudden "cooing" sound broke the silence. Du Yuan looked in the direction of the sound and saw several children avoiding his gaze, stealing glances at him shyly.

Du Yuan smiled knowingly, and was about to take some dry rations from his storage seal when he suddenly realized: there were only a few flatbreads and some dried meat inside. It might be enough to feed him for a few days, but what about the more than one hundred children in front of him?
In that instant, Du Yuan deeply understood the principle that "an army marches on its stomach." With so many people, the need to feed them became a real challenge.

"It seems we still need to take them to the nearby county town as soon as possible."

The thought had barely formed when several children suddenly pointed at the woods and exclaimed in surprise:

"Sir! Something's coming!"

Before she finished speaking, a sudden commotion arose in the woods, with branches and leaves rustling. The children panicked and quickly hid behind Du Yuan.

When Du Yuan turned around, she saw a monkey nimbly dart out of the woods, carrying several peaches in its arms! The peaches were bright red, plump, and large, looking exceptionally delicious.

Instantly, many children who weren't hungry started having rumbling stomachs.

Du Yuan raised an eyebrow: "What is this?"

Immediately afterwards, more monkeys emerged from the forest: some carried huge lotus leaves filled with mountain spring water on their heads, walking unsteadily; others carried ripe bananas; and still others held treasures such as gold nuggets and agate.

In short, every monkey that came along was carrying something.

The children ignored the gold and agate, their eyes fixed on the fresh fruits and vegetables, their mouths watering. Only fear of the monkeys kept them from approaching; instead, they all looked up at Du Yuan, their eyes filled with longing.

Seeing this, Du Yuan smiled and ruffled the hair of a child beside her:

"Eat without worry, these were specially delivered by them."

The children cheered and rushed out. The monkeys also curiously observed these "hairless little monkeys," poking and touching each other, having a great time!

The children and monkeys all had a wonderful time.

Du Yuan was happy to watch from the sidelines.

However, after watching for a while, Du Yuan turned back and said to the woods:
"You sent these things here, is there something you want from me?"

Upon hearing this, an old monkey carrying a tattered sack walked out with a sheepish grin.

Upon approaching Du Yuan, it recalled the illustrations in the book and respectfully bowed and clasped its hands towards Du Yuan.

He also uttered a somewhat broken human tongue:

"Immortal, I am a monkey from the mountains. I wish to cultivate myself. Please guide me."

As he spoke, he pulled out a book he had been reading before, pointing to the pictures of immortals and tigers and saying repeatedly:

"The immortal points the way! The immortal points the way!"

Du Yuan finally understood what the old monkey was asking for.

He immediately shook his head, amused. How could it be such a thing!

This made the old monkey so anxious that he scratched his head and thought that Du Yuan was unwilling.

So it hurriedly pulled a crooked gourd out of the tattered bag.

It looks like it made it itself, because the workmanship is very rough.

"Immortal, monkey, gift!"

From afar, Du Yuan could smell a strong aroma of wine.

Monkey wine?!

This made Du Yuan's eyes light up as she took it.

I'd heard that monkeys could brew wine, but I never thought I'd actually see it in person!

After looking around and marveling at it, Du Yuan was about to return it. But then, her eyes lit up when she saw the old monkey and the little monkeys behind it playing happily with the children!
Du Yuan pointed at the old monkey several times with the wine gourd before saying:
"I have a broad and promising road here. Would you be willing to take a turn on it?"

(End of this chapter)