"Brother Jun, how can I keep letting you cover all the expenses?"
Upon hearing Jun Moxiaoâs words, Lei Qinianâs old face flushed red, his expression becoming quite embarrassed.
"Brother Lei, donât be so polite with me. Weâre brothers here, no outsiders. Besides, my ancestor and the Lei Family share some history, so here, thereâs no need for such distinctions between us," Jun Moxiao said with a smile.
The pills in his storage ring were immense in quantity, more than enough to recruit a troop of monkeys.
As for the pills in Lei Qinianâs Storage Ring, he likely had a pitifully small amount, barely enough for his own survival in the Heavenly Moon Secret Region. Wanting to recruit these monkeys with that would be like trying to extinguish a burning cart of firewood with a cup of waterâcompletely insufficient.
"Sigh, alright then," Lei Qinian reluctantly nodded. He was indeed short on resources and didnât have many pills left.
Jun Moxiao took out some small bottles, about a dozen or so. Spotting the monkey with the highest cultivation base among them, one at the Nirvana Realm Sixth Level, Jun Moxiao clasped his hands in a salute and said loudly, "Brother Monkeys, this is a small token of goodwill from this little brother. Please allow us the convenience of picking the Laurel fruits."
After speaking, Jun Moxiao tossed the small bottles over.
This troop of monkeys was rather disciplined; only the Monkey Leader reached out to grab the small bottles, while the other monkeys surprisingly remained still.
The Monkey Leader opened a bottle, looked at the pills inside, and was extremely satisfied, immediately starting to chitter excitedly.
It opened all dozen or so small bottles, tossed out the pills, and over a hundred monkeys swarmed forward, each snatching a pill.
After getting the pills, they stuffed them into their mouths and swallowed them all.
Then, the Monkey Leader stepped back and pointed its staff at the Heavenly Moon Osmanthus Tree.
Jun Moxiao realized the Monkey Leader had agreed to let them pick the Laurel fruits.
Jun Moxiao didnât bring up the matter of recruitment yet, deciding to pick the Laurel fruits first.
He soared into the air, flew into the crown of the Cassia Tree, and began to pick the golden Laurel fruits.
This Cassia Tree bore a good number of golden Laurel fruits, well over ten. After picking them all, Jun Moxiao counted themâexactly twelve.
Four more than before.
This made Jun Moxiao very excited.
After descending from the air, he gave six of the Laurel fruits from his bag to Lei Qinian.
Although Lei Qinian said nothing, his sense of guilt intensified.
Once we find those thousand-year-old Laurel fruits, Iâll definitely give more to Jun Moxiao,
he secretly vowed.
After they divided the Laurel fruits, Jun Moxiao prepared to attempt recruiting this group of monkeys.
He didnât know if it would work, but he had to try anyway.
He had interacted with monkeys a few times before and discovered that these monkeys could understand human speech.
Since they could understand human speech, Jun Moxiao felt there was still hope for success.
"Esteemed Brother Monkey," Jun Moxiao began, licking his lips and gathering his courage, his hands clasped in a salute, his face sincere, "since my brother and I entered the Heavenly Moon Secret Region, weâve offended a formidable power. Now, we canât guarantee our safety from one day to the next, and our lives are in peril..."
The Monkey Leader clutched a small bottle, fiddling with it as if it hadnât heard Jun Moxiaoâs words, and discovered not a single pill was left inside.
Seeing this, Jun Moxiao quickly took out another small bottle, walked closer, and respectfully handed it over.
"Brother Monkey, I still have some here," Jun Moxiao said with a pleasant expression.
"CHIRP CHIRP?"
The monkeyâs eyes lit up. It snatched the small bottle, opened the cap to glance inside, and then began to chitter joyfully.
Seeing the Monkey Leader was in high spirits, Jun Moxiao plucked up his courage and said, "Brother Monkey, could I ask a favor of you?"
"CHIRP CHIRP?"
The Monkey Leader looked at Jun Moxiao, curiosity in its eyes.
"I know you Brother Monkeys enjoy eating the pills refined by us humans, and I have prepared a good many. So, Iâd like to propose a trade. You protect us for a period, and as for the pills? I can supply them plentifully. What do you say, Brother Monkey?" Jun Moxiao said slowly.
After speaking, he stared nervously at the Monkey Leaderâs furry face.
Lei Qinian also grew nervous.
After all, no one had ever attempted such a thing before.
He didnât know if these monkeys would agree to such a transaction.
The Monkey Leader stared intently at Jun Moxiao, a hint of surprise on its face.
It hadnât expected a Human Cultivator to make such a proposition.
Their monkey clan had a particularly large demand for pills; no Cultivator had ever dared to make such an offer.
To test the sincerity of Jun Moxiaoâs words, the Monkey Leader extended one finger.
Seeing a chance, Jun Moxiao was delighted and quickly asked, "Ten bottles?"
The Monkey Leader shook its head repeatedly.
"Then itâs a hundred bottles?"
After saying this, Jun Moxiaoâs heart skipped a beat.
These monkeys are truly rapacious!
he thought.
The Monkey Leader nodded.
Then it extended five fingers, gesturing in front of Jun Moxiao.
Jun Moxiao was a bit baffled, not understanding what this new gesture meant.
Lei Qinian, however, seemed to have an idea. He walked over and said in a low voice, "Brother Monkey, could it be one hundred bottles of pills to protect us for only five days?"
The Monkey Leader let out a couple of strange chirps, then gave a thumbs-up and nodded repeatedly at Lei Qinian.
Lei Qinian felt as if his heart were bleeding. These monkeys are truly extortionate!
One hundred bottles of pills for just five days of protectionâthis was indeed too much.
He didnât even have that many bottles of pills on him combined.
Now, they could only see if Jun Moxiao, Brother Jun, possessed that many pills.
Seeing this, Jun Moxiao was greatly relieved. Hiring over a hundred monkeys for five days for just one hundred bottles of pillsâwith each bottle containing roughly one hundred pillsâwas quite a bargain for him.
Compared to the inventory in his God-level storage ring, this was truly a drop in the ocean.
With this in mind, he took out fifty small bottles from his storage ring, handed them to the Monkey Leader, and said with a smile, "Brother Monkey, these fifty bottles are a deposit. On the fifth day, I will pay you the other half."
The Monkey Leaderâs face immediately flushed red. It shrieked in apparent anger.
The other monkeys also seemed to understand Jun Moxiaoâs words. They gathered around, continuously pounding the ground with their sticks.
At this, Jun Moxiao understood.
It seems these monkeys donât accept deposits. Either itâs full payment upfront, or they wonât accept the employment.
Thinking this, Jun Moxiao decided to take a gamble and see what the character of these monkeys was like.
He once again took out fifty small bottles and handed them all to the Monkey Leader.
The Monkey Leader accepted them, inspected them, and then nodded in satisfaction.
It distributed all one hundred bottles of pills to its subordinates.
It only kept the single bottle from before for itself.
Witnessing this, Jun Moxiao felt a surge of admiration.
This Monkey Leader is exceptionally righteous,
he thought,
even more so than the previous one.