Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 184 - 40: Mountain Apes_1

Chapter 184: Chapter 40: Mountain Apes_1

(263....084...458... To all book buddies, feel free to join the group if you want to. ps Friends passing by, please help me with a collection or recommendation, your support is my greatest motivation. Also, feel free to offer your suggestions, thank you. ps2: The book’s title has been changed, please see the related works.)

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp." A loud, rambunctious noise echoed from the distance. Although the sound was sharp and piercing, it carried a strange rhythm and fluctuation, revealing the most basic characteristics of a language. Of course, these were merely the most fundamental characteristics. Pannis furrowed his eyebrows, his keen sense of smell detected the scent of the mountain apes from over a hundred meters away. The smell was not exactly pleasant.

After receiving the early warning from the Night Owl, no one chose to run away. First, because it was the darkest time of the day making it difficult to move in the forest. Secondly, the forest was the territory of the mountain apes, the least ideal place for a battle. Better to hold the fort. But most importantly, mountain apes were not aggressively attacking creatures and there was a possibility of communicating via actions and gestures, so a fight may not occur. If a fight did occur, it would not pose a significant risk to life. Therefore, staying put was the best option, regardless of the reasons.

Soon, the mountain apes came near enough to be seen through the trees. They did not differ much from an ordinary ape in appearance, with the same brown-yellow fur and the upright forelimbs that hung down to the knees. The main difference was in the subtle details. Mountain apes spent more time walking upright compared to ordinary apes; they were noisier but demonstrated a level of discipline and restraint. Above all, they preferred walking on the ground rather than climbing trees. Some of them carried large bamboos on their backs, an action not seen among ordinary apes.

"Huh? Bamboos?" Pannis saw the bamboos on the apes’ backs, studied their body size and shrugged before sitting back down. "It’s OK, no need to worry, these are female mountain apes responsible for collecting plants. They won’t bother us unless we attack them."

"Are you sure?" Dora, staring at a group of apes not far away from them, asked skeptically, "Being caught off guard could be very dangerous."

"I’m very certain. Look at the bamboos on their backs, they serve as their gathering containers, with hollow interiors for holding fruits. Also, look closely at their bodily size, male apes would be stronger and slightly darker in color," explained Pannis. "Adopting a defensive stance could send a hostile signal and provoke an attack if they are sensitive. There’s no need to invite unnecessary fights. So just sit down and get comfortable."

"He is correct." Elrad chimed in, supporting Pannis’s viewpoint, "At moments like this, ignoring them is the best choice."

"Alright." Still dubious, Dora waved her hand to signal the mercenaries to sit back down. But her gaze, consciously or unconsciously, kept returning to the direction of the apes.

At the same time, the ape troop spotted the humans and halted their advance, clustering together and watching the humans with vigilance, communicating with hoots and howls. Observing that the humans didn’t attack like other magical beasts usually did, they resumed their advance. A few of the weaker apes returned the way they came, while the rest avoided the humans by going around the side of the mountain, disappearing into the jungle.

"It turned out just as you said." Dora sighed with relief, "Fortunately, no battle occurred. Despite these magical beasts only being of the Silver Rank, it could be a big problem if the battle were to summon a large number of male apes."

"Not so fast, we might still have a problem." Pannis frowned, watching the path the apes had come from, "Did you notice those few apes heading back the same way they came?"

"You mean, they are going back to alert the others?" Catherine was the first to understand the implication of Pannis’s words, "Are they that intelligent?"

"Among all the magical beasts, they’re one of the smartest." Pannis said solemnly, "Maybe we are too close to their habitat, that’s why they are so alert."

"You know where their habitat is?" Elrad exclaimed, "I haven’t found out through all my years."

"I don’t know either." Pannis shook his head, "I’m only speculating from their behavior."

"So, what will happen next if they went back to alert the others?" Lina looked into the distance, mirroring Pannis’s pose, but only saw an endless sea of trees, "Will they assemble a large force to attack us?"

"No, it won’t be that dramatic," Pannis shook his head, "In the worst-case scenario, the strong apes in their population will bring some robust apes to drive us away, prohibiting us from entering the Broken Skull Hills again. But they won’t mobilize an army for us."

"So what do we do?" Catherine was troubled, "It would be problematic if we can’t enter the Broken Skull Hills."

"At worst, we’ll take a detour that may cost us a few more days. But since we don’t have to worry about food supply..." Pannis spread his arms, wearing a relaxed smile on his face, "The chance of this happening is small to begin with. And even if it really happens, we have ways to solve it. Even if we fail to solve it and get driven out, we can still reach our destination by taking a detour. So there’s really no need to be so nervous."

"Alright, let’s continue eating." Trusting every judgement Pannis made, Catherine stopped looking nervous, "To face whatever comes, the first thing is to get your stomach full. Even if we have to fight, we need the strength. Stop staring, eat."

As a certain Mage scholar once observed in his study of mental processes, things that can go wrong will eventually go wrong. The more you worry about it, the more likely it is to happen. Indeed, no sooner had everyone finished their meal than the Night Owl, perched in the tree on guard duty, gave another warning. A group of more than ten mountain apes were hastily approaching.

"What a nuisance." Catherine reluctantly took off her shield: "Do we really have to fight?"

"Fighting seems inevitable." Pannis thought about it, then he suddenly laughed: "But don’t worry, we have a good way to solve this, although it still involves fighting."

"A good way?" Everyone looked suspiciously at Pannis as he pulled Illusion Fox aside, whispering something to it, occasionally pointing at Dora. At first, Illusion Fox was refusing and shaking its head, but it seemed to be persuaded by Pannis quickly, and also asked Pannis a question in return. Pannis took out a piece of paper and quickly drew a map to hand to Illusion Fox. The Illusion Fox’s face was amusing, trying to suppress a laugh as it accepted the paper.

"Hey, what are you two scheming?" Dora asked discontentedly, when both returned: "Why did you have to whisper?"

"Can’t tell." Pannis mysteriously shook his finger: "Absolutely can’t tell. If I tell, it would lose its effectiveness. Don’t worry, even if I wanted to harm you, Illusion Fox wouldn’t agree. Right?"

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"Thud, thud, thud." The distant mountain apes were not so much running as they were leaping. With the help of the vines and tree trunks in the dense forest, the ten apes seemed to fly, leaping several meters at a time. Their speed was surprisingly fast. Pannis’s previous worry was correct, at this speed, if we were being chased through the forest, we could never escape.

The ten male apes that were coming were obviously more robust than the previous group of female apes. The leader of them was over two meters tall, with strong limbs, and his body formed an inverted triangle. Even though he was covered with brownish-yellow long hair, you could still vaguely see the taut muscles underneath. They were robust, but they moved swiftly and agilely through the woods, their reactions were surprisingly fast as well.

"Roar, squeak, chirp." The cacophonous shrieks could be heard clearly from several tens of meters away. Catherine held her forehead with a troubled expression: "They are... too noisy."

"Actually this is not that bad." Pannis smirked: "You haven’t spied on their dwellings, now that’s truly bustling. Hundreds of apes, can make the entire dwelling place noisier than the market of the City of Knowledge. The key fact being that they can actually stand living there, which is pretty impressive."

"Ten Gold Rank apes, they really value us, don’t they?" Catherine gazed at the rushing ape group: "But it should be okay, we can win, after all, they are magical beasts without Aggression."

"No need to go through all that trouble." Pannis, with his arms crossed over his chest, stood beside Catherine in calm, and subtly winked at Illusion Fox. Illusion Fox exhaled in resignation, gestured with his hands a few times, and cast an unknown spell. After seeing Illusion Fox do all this, Pannis chuckled: "Soon their leader might ask for a duel, then it’ll be hard work for you, Catherine."

"I’m the one dueling? Fine, no problem." Catherine agreed without hesitation: "But are you so sure? I always feel like you are up to something shady again. Tell me, who are you planning to trick this time?"

"Haha, how could a good person like me do such a thing?" Pannis gazed up at the sky and casually whistled: "If I were to trick anyone, it would be those apes on the opposite side."

"I don’t believe that." Catherine replied, smilingly upset, as she glared at Pannis, not forgetting to admonish: "Remember not to go too far."

"Don’t worry." Pannis held up his hand: "Here they come."

The approaching apes leaped powerfully, jumping a distance of over ten meters in the air and came pouring down like a black cloud, crushing down in a dense mass, hitting the ground with a dull sound, stirring up countless broken rocks on the ground.

"Roar." The leading ape beat its chest with both hands, lifted its head and let out a loud roar, while the other nine formed a line behind it and roared in time. Watching every move of the apes, Pannis frowned unexpectedly, whispering to Catherine: "We’re in trouble. The leader of the apes has actually personally led the group. They’re not simple, high golden rank apes and they can use crude Aggression. They’re not easy to deal with."

"Do I have to fight it unarmed?" Catherine asked.

"How could that be?" Pannis shook his head: "Weapons can be used."

"Then I won’t lose." Catherine’s eyes burned with the will to fight, and she said confidently: "With a sword and shield in hand, I won’t lose to any enemy within the Gold Rank."

"Then I leave it all to you." Pannis patted Catherine’s shoulder, turned and walked towards the apes, imitating their actions. He beat his chest with both hands and let out a threatening roar.