Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 104 - 97: White Ape Howls at the Heavens

In the mountains and forests, what matters most is being quick and light on your feet. Armor’s pretty heavy—no way is it as convenient as regular clothes for getting around.

But just as he was thinking about this, Lu Chang’sheng pulled out a couple more things.

A pouch of lime, and a small jar.

"Had some free time, so I cooked up a few little gadgets. They help keep the bugs away too."

Lu Chang’sheng grinned as he spoke.

Before coming here, he’d specifically grabbed some herbs from old Guan Fu, which could be made into a special kind of insect repellent ointment.

"Bro, you better not be joking about this! My version is a secret recipe, time-tested and scam-free!"

Yu Hai looked skeptical as hell.

But the three women nearby actually perked up, since when Lu Chang’sheng opened the jar, there was no harsh smell—instead, it had a strangely pleasant aroma.

"Mine’s a secret recipe too, though can’t say it’s time-tested."

Lu Chang’sheng had no intention of trekking a hundred miles out of Black Mountain Prefecture just to test a batch of ointment in the woods.

Still, he had once tested it at a snake breeder’s shop back at Xiao Market, and it worked pretty well.

Medicine and poison go hand in hand. These days, his medical technique had already reached Great Success, so he knew all about pharmacology—mixing up some insect repellent ointment was no big deal.

Seeing Lu Chang’sheng start to apply the stuff, the three women couldn’t resist anymore and asked him for some.

Yu Hai wouldn’t take any—he totally believed that only his own ointment was the real deal.

But halfway along the trail, a swarm of tiny bugs suddenly jumped out from the trees, freaking everyone out. These little things were barely bigger than mosquitoes and blended right into the gray tree bark.

Ancient Mountain immediately backed away in a hurry.

"Careful, these bugs aren’t afraid of normal insect repellent!"

Before he even finished, Yu Hai—who was up front—had a dozen of the bugs latch onto him.

Ancient Mountain quickly fished out a fire striker, blew it alight, and rushed forward.

The bugs seemed to fear the flame—instantly, they all crawled out of Yu Hai’s clothes and shot off into the woods.

Ancient Mountain wasn’t about to slack off, turning quickly to the others. He’d noticed a few bugs heading their way too. But as soon as he turned, he froze dead in his tracks.

Not a single bug had landed on Lu Chang’sheng and the others.

"Bro, just how many types of bugs can your ointment keep away?" Ancient Mountain asked, taking a deep breath.

This was the first time he’d really taken Lu Chang’sheng’s ointment seriously.

"Should be around sixty-eight, I think!"

Lu Chang’sheng replied.

The truth was, he didn’t know the exact number. Sixty-eight were the ones he was certain about—probably plenty more he wasn’t.

Ancient Mountain clicked his tongue in amazement at that.

The three women also looked even more impressed, their eyes softening as they glanced at Lu Chang’sheng.

The group had all met each other a few times, so they were pretty familiar. But Lu Chang’sheng was joining their team for the first time, so he was a total outsider—of course they were watching him carefully.

It’s nothing personal; whenever a newcomer joins, everyone does this kind of evaluation.

Right then, a miserable wail echoed through the woods.

Lu Chang’sheng gave Yu Hai a worried look, "Old Yu, you gonna be okay?"

The way that wailing sounded, it was actually a little scary.

Ancient Mountain shook his head, "Those earlier bugs were blood-sucking worms—not too toxic. The main damage is from blood loss. But in a bit, Old Yu’s face might look... different."

Everyone relaxed when they heard that, then got curious just how "different" he’d look.

Kong Fei, Song Cai’Er, Xu Zhuqing, and Yu Hai had come a few times before, but never entered the valley and never ran into these bugs.

Only Ancient Mountain, who’s been here forever, actually knew about them.

When the team finally neared the valley, they suddenly noticed that things had gotten weirdly quiet.

During the first half of the trip, Yu Hai would be shouting something every few minutes.

Looking back, they saw a big pig’s head shambling along behind them. Yu Hai’s eyes—never big to begin with—were now swollen almost shut from the swelling.

Even his lips weren’t spared.

Lu Chang’sheng suddenly remembered a classic scene from an old TV show and couldn’t hold back: "Old Yu, at a time like this, why’re you still munching on flower sausage?"

Flower sausage is a specialty from Jinghua Prefecture—pig intestines stuffed with pig blood and minced pork, then steamed till puffy and curved.

Fresh out of the pot, they do swell up and spiral around a bit.

Yu Hai froze, mumbled something unintelligible in protest—honestly, looking like a pig’s head right now, no way he’d be saying anything clearly.

The others glanced at those swollen, meaty lips—yup, looked just like flower sausage. They couldn’t help but burst out laughing; even the tense mood lightened up.

As they made their way deeper, you could just make out traces of monkey activity here and there.

They hid out in a rocky cave, peeking through a few round holes to watch what was going on ahead.

This was Elder Gu’s longtime lookout spot for scoping out the valley—secluded, safe, great view.

Several hundred yards away, in an open mountain hollow, monkeys were scattered all about—some climbing and playing, some chasing and wrestling, some just sprawled on rocks, taking it easy.

Farther back was a sheer cliff, maybe twenty-five feet high, with a stream tumbling down. You could hear the water splashing with a crisp "ding-dong."

Behind the falls, a huge white-furred ape was sitting on a boulder, completely motionless, like a statue.

"Wow, that’s one big ape!"

The white ape was a beast—thickly built, arms so long they nearly touched the ground.

That was the exotic beast—the White Ape. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Behind it, there was a cave opening, taller than a person, and the odd aroma in the air seemed to be drifting out from there.