What’s going on?
Does she know too?
Yang Qi searched his mory carefully, certain that he had never seen this little girl before.
She looked to be only six or seven years old, so it was even more unlikely they would have had any contact.
Fortunately, a woman in her thirties sat next to the little girl—her mother, it seed, her face etched with obvious fatigue. She noticed her daughter’s odd behavior, gently pulled the girl’s hand, and whispered sothing to her.
Only then did the little girl retract her gaze, lowering her head to fiddle with the stuffed rabbit in her arms.
Yang Qi breathed a sigh of relief and looked away, but his perception remained focused on them.
After the bullet train began running smoothly, Yang Qi noticed that the little girl would still sneak glances at him whenever her mother wasn’t looking or was dozing off.
When the train arrived at the Provincial Capital, passengers stood up one after another to grab their luggage and prepare to disembark.
Yang Qi noticed that the mother and daughter were also getting off at this stop.
As her mother led her by the hand, the little girl kept looking back at him from ti to ti, until they disappeared around a corner.
’My aura has changed a bit since I started cultivating, but isn’t my charm getting a little too widespread?’
Yang Qi muttered to himself, scanning his surroundings.
Many of the girls walking toward him were sizing him up, so secretly, others openly, their eyes filled with admiration and affection.
This was a "side effect" of his cultivation that Yang Qi had grown accustod to. ’Is it just more obvious today?’
He pushed the thought aside, took out his phone, and made a voice call to Zhou Jing.
Following Zhou Jing’s directions, Yang Qi went to the designated station exit.
He didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes before a flashy red BMW slowly pulled up and stopped in front of him.
The window rolled down, revealing a pretty face brimming with youthful energy. It was Zhou Jing, whom he had t before.
Today, her hair was in a high ponytail and she was wearing casual sportswear, making her look exceptionally energetic.
"Over here!"
Zhou Jing waved with a smile.
Yang Qi opened the car door and got into the passenger seat.
The car was filled with a faint, fresh fragrance.
"Sorry to trouble you," Yang Qi said politely as he fastened his seatbelt.
"No trouble, no trouble at all! It’s my pleasure."
Zhou Jing started the car and rged into traffic. As she skillfully handled the steering wheel, she couldn’t help but turn her head to glance at Yang Qi a few tis.
"Don’t look at , watch the road," Yang Qi reminded her.
"Oh, right, okay~"
Zhou Jing’s face flushed slightly as she quickly turned back to face forward. But after a few seconds, she couldn’t resist sneaking another peek. Finally, unable to contain her curiosity, she spoke up.
"Um... Yang Druid, I feel like... you’re even more handso than when I saw you in Donghua? Your skin is amazing, too. What brand of skincare products do you use?"
"That...? Maybe it’s the face mask I put on before I left? I don’t really look into that stuff."
Yang Qi gave a casual reply, then changed the subject. "Let’s talk about the gibbon first. What exactly is going on?"
"Alright, alright."
Zhou Jing stuck out her tongue playfully, then her expression turned serious. "The one with the problem is an adult male Western black-crested gibbon nad Ah Wu. About a week ago, his appetite dropped significantly. He just didn’t want to eat."
"After the veterinarian examined him, all his vitals ca back normal, and they couldn’t find any external injuries or obvious illnesses."
"Then, two days ago, he started refusing all food. He wouldn’t even touch his favorite bananas or the special fruit puree, only drinking a tiny bit of water. His spirits have been getting lower and lower, and he just stares outside blankly."
She paused, then continued, "The zoo has tried everything: changing his food, adjusting the environntal enrichnt, even trying to play sounds from their native habitat. Nothing’s worked."
"Although Ah Wu has no organic diseases, if this continues, it will eventually beco a major problem. My aunt found out and recomnded you to the zoo."
’So it really was Tong Xiaoyue!’
Yang Qi thought to himself and nodded. "I understand. I hope I can help."
...
The car soon entered the urban area of the Provincial Capital. After another twenty-minute drive, they arrived at the Red Star Zoo, located in the suburbs.
It was much larger than the Donghua Zoo, and its buildings and environnt also seed more modern and professional.
Led by Zhou Jing, Yang Qi went directly to a small conference room in the zoo’s research and administration area.
Five or six people were already seated inside—so were veterinarians in white coats, others were researchers in casual clothes with a calm and serious deanor.
When they saw Zhou Jing enter with Yang Qi, everyone’s gaze fell on him, filled with scrutiny and curiosity.
Just as Zhou Jing was about to make introductions, a middle-aged man sitting next to the head seat spoke up first. He looked to be in his forties or fifties, wore black-rimd glasses, and had a scholarly air about him.
"You must be Yang Qi, Mr. Yang from the Donghua Zoo? Mr. Yang, have you conducted in-depth research on the ethology and physiology of gibbons, especially Western black-crested gibbons?"
Zhou Jing quickly whispered a reminder, "This is Huang Leqing, Teacher Huang. He’s one of the nation’s leading experts on gibbons and a consultant for our zoo."
Yang Qi understood imdiately.
He instantly understood. This man was "outside help" just like him, but the difference was that he was a proper academic expert. In this man’s eyes, Yang Qi was probably just a zoo employee with so "unorthodox" experience.
Knowing the other man’s identity, Yang Qi wasn’t intimidated. He replied calmly, "Hello, Teacher Huang. I can’t say I’ve researched gibbons, but I do have so familiarity with them. However, I have a bit of my own experience when it cos to communicating with animals and trying to understand the motives behind their behavior."
"Animal communication?"
Huang Leqing’s brow furrowed. The term sounded far too "unscientific."
Upon hearing this, the other veterinarians and researchers in the room had varied reactions. So wore amused expressions, while others simply shook their heads.
They clearly didn’t approve of such a thod, even finding it to be a bit of a joke.
The atmosphere suddenly beca a little awkward.
Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and Tong Xiaoyue walked in.
"Vice Director Tong."
"Professor Tong."
"Teacher Tong."
"..."
Everyone in the conference room stood up to greet her.
"Teacher Tong."
Yang Qi called out as well.
Tong Xiaoyue nodded to the crowd, her gaze landing on Yang Qi with a smile. "You’re here. Let’s go. We’ll head to the site and see the situation for ourselves."
"Okay."
Yang Qi responded imdiately and quickly followed her.
Zhou Jing hurried to follow as well.
Seeing this, Huang Leqing and the others, despite their private reservations, had no choice but to suppress their doubts and get up to follow, since Tong Xiaoyue had spoken.
The group soon arrived at the Gibbon Hall.
The environnt here was designed to simulate a tropical rainforest, with dense vegetation and open space.
In a relatively separate enclosure, separated by transparent, high-strength glass and tal railings, Yang Qi saw the gibbon in question, Ah Wu.
He was alone beneath a thick perch, his arms wrapped around his knees. His back was to the visitor walkway, and he faced a huge glass wall that looked out onto the sky and trees.
His figure looked sowhat hunched from behind, his fur seed to have lost its sheen, and he was completely still. He just stared blankly at the sky outside the glass, showing no reaction to the group approaching from behind him.
In an adjacent, connected enclosure, a female gibbon was pacing back and forth restlessly, casting worried glances at him from ti to ti.
Tong Xiaoyue walked up to the enclosure, pointed at Ah Wu inside, and briefly explained the male gibbon’s recent abnormal behavior and the physical ailnts that had been ruled out. Then she looked at Yang Qi and asked directly.
"Do you want to go in for a closer look? Do you need any special preparations, or is there anything we can do to assist?"
Getting close to a depressed and potentially aggressive wild animal was risky.
"I need to go in."
Yang Qi nodded decisively. "No special preparations needed. I’ll go in by myself."
"By yourself?"
Huang Leqing couldn’t help but speak up, his tone filled with disapproval.
"Teacher Huang, let him try."
Tong Xiaoyue raised a hand to cut off whatever else Huang Leqing was about to say. Then, she motioned for a staff mber to open the service-passage door.
Under the astonished, confused, and even nervous gazes of Huang Leqing and the others, Yang Qi walked into the enclosure alone, his steps steady.
He didn’t approach Ah Wu right away.
Yang Qi stopped about five or six ters away from the male gibbon. Channeling his Magical Power, he quietly activated the Basic Spirit Communication Technique.
"Hey, what are you looking at? Did a big bird fly by?" Yang Qi asked, his tone light and curious.
Ah Wu’s body seed to tremble ever so slightly, but he didn’t turn around. He just let out a low, almost inaudible call from his throat, subconsciously responding in the "language" of gibbons.
[No.]
The mont he responded, he seed to freeze, taking a few beats to process what had just happened.
’This Two-legged Beast...’
’He seems to understand what I’m saying?’
’And he can "talk" back in a similar way?’
Ah Wu whipped his head around, his tired and bewildered brown eyes staring at Yang Qi in astonishnt.
He released the arms hugging his knees and began gesturing excitedly with his long arms, letting out a series of rapid, clear calls.
[You... you can speak the language of us apes?]
[You can understand ?]
Yang Qi didn’t directly answer his astonished questions. Instead, he followed up on his own previous question, continuing to ask gently.
"I heard you haven’t been eating lately. Why is that? Can you tell about it? Maybe I can help you figure sothing out."
The astonishnt in Ah Wu’s eyes slowly faded, replaced by a deep, inconsolable lancholy.
He lowered his head, his long fingers unconsciously picking at the bark of a nearby perch. After a long silence, he finally lifted his gaze to Yang Qi, gestured, and let out a low, clear call.
[I want to see her.]
"Who do you want to see?" Yang Qi’s spirits lifted. ’A breakthrough!’
’As long as he’s willing to share his thoughts, there’s a chance to communicate and solve the problem.’
Ah Wu seed a little shy. He scratched his cheek and let out another call.
[My mate.]
’Mate?’
Yang Qi was puzzled. He looked over at the female gibbon in the next enclosure, who was watching them with concern, and asked, "Isn’t your mate right there? She’s very worried about you."
[Not her.]
Ah Wu shook his head, his gaze drifting into the distance as if piercing through the glass wall to so nonexistent place far away. His call was now tinged with reminiscence and an even deeper longing.
[It’s my first mate. I want to see her.]
First mate?
’A first love?!’
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