PCJ – Chapter 298 Capture the Monkey King First

Upon hearing that the peaches were delicious, the mute, without even wiping his mouth, took a big bite out of a peach. The peaches were already ripe, and the fuzz had mostly disappeared. If you didn’t care about the details, it was actually quite fine.

“Mmm, delicious, delicious,” the mute said, smiling as he ate the peach in large bites.

Zhang Wenrong, Zhang Jiagen, and Zhang Hangao also came over. Upon hearing about the monkey capture, even these three young men couldn’t contain their excitement.

“Jiaohua, have you caught the monkeys yet?” Zhang Wenrong called out loudly from afar.

“Not yet. They’ve all run away before I got here. Fat Cat was of no use at all,” Zhang Jiaohua replied, a bit frustrated. He then tossed a peach to each of the three men, “These peaches are delicious. Have one.”

Everyone in Meizi Pond knew about the wild peaches in the back mountain. In the past, kids from Meizi Pond would often come here to pick peach pits. After cracking the pits, the peach kernels inside could be sold to peddlers. These kernels were a type of Chinese medicinal material and could fetch a higher price when sold to peddlers. Zhang Jiaohua had also picked peach pits here before, but everyone knew the wild peaches were not very tasty.

“What’s so special about these peaches?” Zhang Wenrong frowned, knowing the taste of these wild peaches from before.

Zhang Jiagen noticed something different, “Wait a minute. When were the wild peaches here ever this big?”

Zhang Jiagen wiped his sleeve and took a bite, “I told you, these peaches are different from before. No wonder the monkeys kept coming to the back mountain every day. It turns out the peaches here have become so delicious. Monkeys really do have a natural love for peaches, and while our village hasn’t realized the peaches have improved, they knew it first.”

Zhang Hangao wiped his hand and took a bite, “Delicious, even better than honey peaches. So fragrant! The monkeys must have come because they smelled the peach aroma.”

“Hey, mute, be careful, don’t fall… Ouch!” Zhang Wenrong saw that the mute, trying to reach a higher peach, let go of both hands and wobbled on the branch. Just as he was about to stop him, the mute slipped and fell from the tree, catching a branch halfway down before landing heavily on the ground.

“Ah! Be careful!” Zhang Jiaohua also exclaimed in alarm.

The mute fell heavily to the ground but made no sound.

Zhang Jiaohua and the others quickly rushed over to check on him.

“Mute!” Zhang Jiaohua grabbed the mute’s shoulders and shook him vigorously.

“Uh, Jiaohua, let go, you’re squeezing the air out of me,” the mute shook his head and seemed fine.

In fact, at the moment the mute fell, Zhang Jiaohua had seen Jinhu and the others rush over in a panic to catch the mute and gently lay him down. It was the initial impact with the branch that caused the significant jolt, not the final fall.

“Are you alright? How could you be so reckless? How could you let go of both hands while on a tree?” Zhang Jiaohua was terrified. He had been the one to ask the mute to climb the tree, and if anything had happened, he wouldn’t know what to do.

“This is nothing. It wasn’t very high,” the mute said nonchalantly. “When I fell, it felt like landing on cotton. I’m fine!”

“Really fine?” Zhang Jiaohua checked the mute thoroughly and didn’t find any injuries, so he finally relaxed.

“Of course, I’m fine!” The mute stood up and tried to climb the tree again.

Zhang Jiaohua quickly pulled him back, “Let me do it.”

“It’s nothing. I’m really fine,” the mute insisted.

Zhang Jiagen ran back with a basket, picked a basket of wild peaches, and the group then returned to the garden.

“I say, catching a monkey isn’t too difficult. With such delicious peaches here, those monkeys will definitely come back. As long as we set up an ambush in advance, we should be able to catch one or two stragglers,” Zhang Wenrong said after eating some peaches.

“As long as we catch the monkey king, the whole group will be captured,” Zhang Hangao added.

“The problem is how to catch the monkeys on the trees. They don’t need to come down. Even the mountain-driving dogs can’t climb trees. Fat Cat and the others can climb trees, but they can’t block the monkeys. We might as well be using black cats on the trees,” Zhang Jiagen shook his head.

“It would be great if we had a fishing net. We could just trap the monkeys when they come, catching them all in one go,” the mute suggested.

Zhang Wenrong tapped the mute on the head, “And how are you going to use a fishing net to catch monkeys in the trees?”

The mute scratched his head, “How would I know?”

Zhang Jiaohua had an idea, “I’ll figure out a way. I’ll go get a fishing net.”

“I have a cast net at home, hasn’t been used for a long time. I’ll go get it,” Zhang Hangao said.

“Alright, since no one’s using your cast net, it won’t hurt to borrow it,” Zhang Wenrong said.

Zhang Hangao immediately ran home to get the cast net.

“Jiaohua, is there anything else you need? I’ll get it for you,” Zhang Wenrong asked.

“Just a bundle of rope, and we’ll be all set,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

Monkeys rarely came out at night, so there was generally no worry about them stealing peaches at night.

At dawn, Zhang Jiaohua set out. This time, Zhang Wenrong and the others hid far away with the mountain-driving dogs to avoid being spotted by the monkeys. Fat Cat also withdrew, leaving the area around the peaches completely empty.

Besides monkeys, sparrows were also very sensitive. They arrived early in the morning to steal peaches. These sparrows were even more selective than the monkeys, only eating the ripest, sweetest parts on top of the peaches. They left their marks on almost every large, ripe peach. If it weren’t for the fear of startling the monkeys, Zhang Jiaohua would have used a slingshot to shoot down these sparrows.

Every child has seen “Little Soldier Zhang Ga” a few times, right? If you didn’t have a slingshot, could you even call yourself a child? Although Zhang Jiaohua was different from ordinary children, he still had a slingshot. However, he rarely used it since the incident.

The sparrows chirped happily on the peach trees, flitting about and enjoying a sweet morning.

“Chirp chirp chirp…”

A monkey quietly sneaked over from the trees, looking around the peach tree, and plucked a peach to eat. The sparrows were not afraid of the monkey and even boldly flew around it, knowing the monkey couldn’t do anything to them.

The monkey, not being foolish, knew it couldn’t deal with the sparrows, so it ignored them and quickly devoured the peach.

After finishing one peach, the monkey disappeared. Soon, a large group of macaques arrived, quickly taking over the peach trees and chasing away the chirping sparrows.

The macaque leader, walking at the end, checked for danger for a while. Once assured it was safe, it emerged and took over the largest peach tree to enjoy the delicious peaches.

Zhang Jiaohua waved his hand, and a fishing net, crumpled into a ball, slowly floated into the air and approached the macaque leader. The macaques, though not completely unalert, had some of them occasionally scanning their surroundings. They never expected the attack to come from above. The macaque leader suddenly stopped eating, feeling an inexplicable anxiety. This instinctive alertness was what had allowed it to survive until now.

But there was nothing around. The net was hidden among the thick peach leaves.

Confused, the macaque leader looked around. The feeling of imminent danger was so clear, but no danger signals could be seen.

“Chirp chirp…”

The macaque leader emitted an anxious signal. All the macaques stopped and looked around, not understanding why the leader had given the warning. They instinctively obeyed the leader’s commands. After a while, they found nothing.

The macaque leader knew that most of the peaches here were ripe. If not enjoyed now, they would have to wait until next year. Since the village was so close, if it weren’t for the peaches being so enticing, they wouldn’t risk coming here.

The macaque leader thought the danger it sensed came from the nearby village. But without seeing any humans, it still didn’t want to give up the delicious peaches.

Whoosh!

“Chirp chirp!” The macaque leader suddenly sensed danger. When it looked up, a net fell from the sky. Before it could react, the fishing net had already covered it. The net tightened suddenly, and a rope wrapped around it several times. It was pulled tight, trapping the macaque leader inside.

“Chirp chirp!”

The sudden danger made the macaque leader issue a desperate cry for help.

The macaques immediately rushed towards the macaque leader, but they saw the leader being quickly lifted from the largest peach tree. The fishing net flew directly towards the garden. The monkeys, undeterred, followed closely, even though the area was now treeless. They abandoned climbing and pursued from the ground, oblivious to their self-inflicted trap.

The macaque leader, in the fishing net, became extremely agitated, scratching at the net with its claws, but the net and rope tightened more and more, rendering it immobile.

“Meow meow!”

Fat Cat joyfully emerged from the forest.

Zhuanshan Leopard and a pack of mountain-driving dogs also charged out.

The macaque leader finally realized it had been tricked. It hated these two enemies deeply, especially Fat Cat, whom it wished to tear apart. Unfortunately, it had let Fat Cat escape last time. As for Zhuanshan Leopard, the macaque leader also loathed it, knowing it couldn’t deal with the annoying mountain-driving dogs.