bookpub Chapter 136: Monkey King
Chapter 136: Monkey King
With the plans for the new clothes set, Lassim was about to ask Cirra if she wanted to leave when he noticed Maelin looking at him with a peculiar gaze.
Maelin leaned up against the counter and fixed her gaze on Cirra, "You know… maybe our young friend here can help pay off his debt by assisting with THAT plant," she suggested, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
Cirra, caught off guard, blinked a few times, her mind racing to catch up.
At Maelin’s pointed look, realization dawned, and she nodded slowly. "Ah, right, THAT one."
Lassim, feeling like he had just walked into the middle of what his mother always referred to as ’the maid’s gossip’, raised his eyebrows.
"So… either of you want to fill me in here or…?" he asked curiously.
Cirra cleared her throat, shifting her stance, almost as if she was about to start teaching him another language lesson. It seemed she had the proper posture of a professor or teacher. He wondered if that was a past profession of hers at some point.
"Well, this starts with a tale of a formerly great, yet small beast tribe led by a Monkey King," she began, her voice taking on the timbre of a storyteller. "This king had a good relationship with the surrounding towns nearby, including this one, for many years. But about thirteen years ago, his demeanor changed abruptly. He became reclusive, and his tribe… something terrible happened."
She paused for effect, glancing at Maelin, who nodded for her to continue. "After a few months of isolation, a mass die-off occurred among his troop. But curiously, about a week later, they were spotted again, alive, yet not the same. Their eyes were glazed over with a white sheen, and they mindlessly followed every command of their monkey king."
Lassim listened intently.
"Seemingly, under his orders, they began to attack and scavenge nearby towns of their foods and wines, leading to the current hostility between the towns and this tribe," Cirra added.
"So, what does this have to do with a plant?" Lassim interjected.
Cirra nodded, acknowledging his confusion. "I’m getting there," she assured him. "The key to this mystery came from a regular we’ve sold potions to over at the Marshlight. He returned one day with wounds across his back and legs so severe we thought they had festered for over a week. But he claimed they were fresh, inflicted just two hours before by these...
zombie monkeys, after a visit to his old friend, the Monkey King."
She leaned closer, lowering her voice as if the walls themselves might listen. "You see, this regular had been a long time drinking friend of the monkey king. He’d travel the various nearby kingdoms or even those far away in