The Mind of the Proboscis Monkey

The pungent and salty smell surged straight into the monkey's brain, waking it up abruptly. It tried to escape but found its limbs tightly bound, rendering it immobile.

However, despite being bound, it unexpectedly got a drink of water, albeit with a scent that made it nauseous. At least it could save its life.

After gulping down a bottle of "water," the monkey kept coughing, its nose twitching continuously, whether out of anger or gratitude.

Lu Zhe patted its head reassuringly. "Look, I saved your life. How do you plan to repay me?"

The monkey squirmed incessantly, then suddenly spat out with a "blegh."

Luckily, Lu Zhe reacted swiftly, avoiding getting spat on. But the mess was still there.

Shen Bing frowned, taking a couple of steps back in disgust.

However, Lu Zhe's expression changed.

He noticed that besides liquid, what the monkey vomited also contained what it had eaten!

A patch of white stuff!

Resembling porridge.

What is this, plantains?

Strong curiosity led Lu Zhe to stick a finger into the vomit, and then a message popped up in his mind!

"Ding! Important resource discovered, bananas…"

"No way!" Lu Zhe's eyes lit up with exaggerated excitement!

Plantains, bananas!

Although only one word different, they held completely different meanings. The taste and nutritional value of bananas far surpassed plantains; they could serve as both a fruit and a staple food. Their nutritional content was incredibly rich.

Just the discovery of this one species could elevate the island's cuisine to another level.

Shen Bing wrinkled her brow. "What's that stuff? It's so disgusting, yet you touched it!"

"If I tell you, you might not believe it. This is bananas!"

"Bananas? How do you know it's bananas?"

"Well…I've vomited before, and this is what digested bananas look like."

Shen Bing still seemed skeptical. "Are you sure there are bananas on this island?"

"That's up to it to answer!"

With that, Lu Zhe grabbed the monkey's nose. "Let me ask you again, I saved your life. How do you plan to repay me?"

The monkey continued to dry heave, accompanied by squeaky cries, but facing Lu Zhe, it showed a look of fear.

Lu Zhe patted its shoulder. "Through your positive attitude and sincere expression, I see your sincerity!

So, here's the deal: I saved your life, and you lead me to find bananas, deal?!"

The monkey blinked, seeming to understand and not understand.

Communication hit a snag.

Lu Zhe felt somewhat helpless, but at this moment, he had no other choice but to hope that the monkey could understand him.

Shen Bing asked, "Lu Zhe, what's your plan next?"

Lu Zhe pondered, "I want it to lead us to find bananas. Bananas are crucial to us; they can last a long time. If we bring a few bunches onto the bamboo raft, even if we have to stay on it for several days, we'll have fresh food every day."

Shen Bing sighed. "Do you speak monkey language?!"

Lu Zhe shook his head. "We can only try to communicate with it, so we also need to express our sincerity!"

With that, Lu Zhe untied the rope around its hind legs, then tied a long rope around its long nose again.

"Listen, with this rope tied around your nose, as long as you behave and don't run, it won't hurt, understand?"

The long-nosed monkey squeaked again.

Lu Zhe nodded and said to Shen Bing, "It understands!"

Then, he said to the long-nosed monkey, "You can start now, please lead us to find the bananas!"

Then, Lu Zhe and Shen Bing held hands, leading a long-nosed monkey, reminiscent of Frodo and Sam leading Gollum to destroy the One Ring.

And this time, the long-nosed monkey really couldn't escape.

But the direction it led Lu Zhe and Shen Bing seemed a bit off!

Lu Zhe originally thought the bananas would be in the center of the island.

But the long-nosed monkey led them in another direction.

First east, then north!

This was the direction to the north shore!

Shen Bing frowned, "Why do I feel like this guy is playing us?"

"Impossible!" Lu Zhe was full of disbelief, "Its expression is so innocent, it wouldn't be that bad!"

"Hard to say!"

The sun grew hotter, but Shen Bing felt a chill down her spine.

Looking at the monkey, she felt more and more disgusted.

She even felt the urge to kill the monkey!

But not Lu Zhe!

He still obediently followed the long-nosed monkey's instructions, bypassing the northeast cape, and once again arrived at the northern mountain.

"Why did this guy bring us here?"

"Can't find enough resin, we also need to come here to look for pine resin, we'll come anyway."

"Lu Zhe, be careful, I feel like it's deliberately leading us to a dangerous place, if it can't kill us, it will find something that can kill us, and then take advantage of the chaos to escape!"

Lu Zhe stopped, "Black bear?"

That's right, a black bear!

Malayan sun bears are called "sun bears" by some people in some places, and black bears are called "moon bears"!

This was the territory of the black bear!

Compared to the Malayan sun bear, it was taller and more powerful, encountering it would definitely be troublesome!

What's more important is:

Lu Zhe had a small conflict with the black bears in this territory before.

He took their bamboo shoots!

But Lu Zhe waved his hand confidently, "It's okay, if we really encounter them, I'll talk to them, I believe they will understand us."

The two of them and the monkey walked through the jungle, the long-nosed monkey cautiously looking around, ready to flee at any moment.

Shen Bing also tightened the stick in her hand, ready to fight.

Soon, the long-nosed monkey led them to a tree hollow.

The tree had a diameter of over two meters, towering so high that you couldn't see the end, estimated to be over a hundred years old!

The tree hollow was at its base, not very large, but big enough to fit a bear of medium build.

It emitted a strong bear scent, but there was no sign of a bear.

Wasn't this guy supposed to be nocturnal?

Where did it go in broad daylight?

Lu Zhe tied the monkey to a small tree next to the tree hollow, tying it tightly to prevent it from escaping.

Then he began to check the surroundings!

"Where are the bananas, there's none at all!"

But it wasn't like there was nothing!

"Look, there's something here!"

Lu Zhe walked over and took a look. Inside the tree hollow, next to it, there was a pile of bamboo shoots, presumably its food accumulated over many days.

"Why can't this fellow get something else to eat? Why always bamboo shoots?"

"Are we taking them?"

"Yeah!" Lu Zhe looked at the shoots. "Some are fresh, some are already rotten, not very good. Eating them would upset our stomachs! Here's the plan: since we finished the last batch of shoots, I'll pick some to keep. Whatever we can't finish, we can feed to the cows. As for the rotten ones, we'll destroy them in a humane way, so that Brother Bear doesn't eat them and get sick!"

"Well, you're quite compassionate..."

"Of course!"

With Lu Zhe and Shen Bing working together, they gathered another basket of bamboo shoots.

The leftovers were smashed, mashed, mixed with soil, to prevent the bear from eating them!

At that moment, a gust of wind blew, and Lu Zhe keenly sensed the smell of the bear.

It's back!

Lu Zhe quickly grabbed Shen Bing's hand. "It might be coming back. Let's take advantage of the wind direction, so it doesn't smell us and hurry away!"

Shen Bing nodded. "Okay!"

The two of them carried four baskets of bamboo shoots and quickly left the tree hollow.