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“I knew you could do it since you were so confident! In all seriousness, since you told the public you’re
no longer mentally challenged, you’ve never disappointed us.”
Josiah could not help but glance at Winnie after he said those words.
He continued, “You’re amazing. You keep gaining new talents, and every new identity of yours is more
incredible than the last.”
Winnie smiled. Internally, she had accepted Josiah’s praise since he was speaking the truth.
Just as she was going to accept her praise as a matter of course, her smile faded as she realized that
Josiah’s words was not entirely accurate.
After she stopped acting like a mentally challenged person, she had not been able to deal with
everything smoothly. For instance, she could not get to the bottom of the needles which Yulissa had
used on Xavier.
She furrowed her brows. “Actually, I’m not as amazing as you said. Don’t we have a challenging issue
at hand? Oh, right. Have you gotten any information on the thing I asked you about?”
Josiah nodded. “How can I not obey your orders? You instructed me to ask around whether there are
monkeys in this mountain or not. I did just that, but when the villagers heard my question, they stared at
me like I’d lost my mind.”
Winnie was amused by Josiah’s words. She chuckled lightly. “Your briefcase had been snatched by a
monkey. Aren’t you curious about that animal?”
“There’s only hate! I do not find it interesting! I’m pretty sure my briefcase is in Yolanda’s hands. I’ve
already asked around. The villagers here confirmed that there are many wild animals in the mountain,
but there are no monkeys. The only monkey they’ve ever seen is the one from the Xander family.
Rumor has it that Old Mr. Xander saved the monkey from another mountain a few years ago. Initially,
he wanted to release it back into the mountain, but the monkey grew on him after a month and refused
to leave. Old Mr. Xander had no choice but to bring the monkey back to Yaleview. I have reasons to
believe that Yolanda was the one who instigated the monkey to take my briefcase.”
“I think so too.” Winnie patted Josiah’s shoulder. She continued, “Let’s wait. If we get to meet Old Mr.
Xander, we may be able to get your briefcase back.”
“Let’s go find it in the mountain. We still have time. The villagers said that Old Mr. Xander has many
herb fields, so even Yolanda may not be able to find him immediately. The main problem is that we
can’t get his phone number in such a short time! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be searching for him like a
headless chicken.”
The more Josiah spoke, the more frustrated he felt. “We just want to meet him! Why is it so hard?”
“Don’t get upset. We will meet him eventually,” Winnie said as she walked forward with her briefcase.
However, she did not enter the mountain. Instead, she selected a spacious land at the foot of the
mountain.
After making sure that there was no one around, she opened the silver briefcase she had been carrying
around.
Once the briefcase was opened, Josiah was baffled.
Other than a drone, there were many high-tech items he had never seen before.
“What are you trying to do? Are you trying to get an aerial view? But there are many trees in the
mountain. The forest is dense. You might not be able to see anything even if there are people inside.”
“I know, so I have something else prepared.”
“What is it?”
“Take this!” Winnie did not explain her plan to Josiah. Instead, she let him help her out.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe passed a small, black signal transmitter to Josiah before she turned on her laptop to set up her
equipment.
“Press the button on the left side. The green signal will light up. If it’s red, let me know.”
Josiah followed her instructions. “Right, the green light is on. What’s next? Should I tune this antenna?”
“No need. I have already set it up on the laptop. You can try to hold the signal transmitter higher.”
“And?”
Winnie pressed a button on her laptop. “It’s done.”
The moment she finished her words, the signal transmitter began to emit unique sound waves.
Josiah was still in a daze. “What are we doing? What do we do after this?”
“Wait!”
“Ah? Then, how long do we wait?” Josiah kept his hands up. “This is tiring. Can I just place it on a
random tree branch?”
“No!” Winnie rejected Josiah’s suggestion with a serious tone.
Josiah, refusing to give up, tried to reason with her. “Why? All I have to do is secure it in place.”
“No, I don’t want the monkey stealing my equipment. It’s expensive.”
“Ah? Are you trying to lure the monkey?” Josiah seemed to realize her intention.
“That’s right.”
“Okay, but are you sure that the monkey is on this mountain?”
“Of course. As an intelligent pet, it won’t stray too far from its master. The monkey will definitely come
here in five minutes. There are no other monkeys here, and the frequency of the sound waves emitted
from my signal transmitter is that of his kind, so he is bound to feel excited and thrilled.”
“Let’s hope you’re right. I can only do this for five minutes at most.”
They talked for a while. About three minutes later, they heard a slight commotion from the forest
nearby.
It sounded like an animal jumping from branch to branch.
Josiah whispered, “It’s definitely the monkey. It sounds like it.”
“Yes, it’s here. Once it picks up the apple on the slope, I’ll turn off the signal transmitter. Then, you get
out there and scare it away.”
Winnie placed an apple on a small mound not far away. That was her bait for the monkey. Then, she
and Josiah hid themselves.
The monkey came because it had heard the sounds made by his own kind. However, it could not find
any of its kind when it arrived. There was only a fresh, red apple.
The monkey could not withstand the temptation. It looked at its surroundings in confusion before it
picked up the apple with its hand.
Winnie immediately turned off the signal transmitter.
Confused, the monkey stood rooted to the spot, as it suddenly could not hear the sounds of its mates
anymore.
“What a dumb monkey!” Josiah was furious. How could he have allowed a dumb monkey to steal his
briefcase?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He let out a shout and jumped out of his hiding spot.
This gave the monkey a fright. It quickly jumped onto the tree and escaped.
Winnie was also frightened by Josiah. “Those not in the know will think you have some kind of deep
hatred toward that monkey.”
“I do! Did you place a tracking device on the apple? What if he eats the apple and discards it along the
way?”
“It’s fine. I applied something on the apple. Even if the monkey finishes the apple and throws it away,
the powder will remain on its fur. We have to get going. It’s moving rather quickly.”
Josiah walked over to take a look at Winnie’s laptop.
On the screen, there were two images. One was a drone’s aerial view in high definition, and the other
was a thermal imaging map from the drone’s perspective.
The thermal imaging map showed a red dot traveling quickly through the forest.
Josiah pointed at the red dot and asked, “That’s the monkey, right?”
“Yes!” Winnie had synced the footage to her phone. “Let’s go!”
“Okay!” Josiah say that Winnie needed to refer to her phone, so he took the initiative to carry the
briefcase for her.
They traversed the forest.
As they followed the monkey, they found that there were no proper paths for them to walk on. It was all
vines, brambles, and branches.
After seeing Winnie’s forehead cut by a thorny branch, Josiah pulled her back.
“This can’t do. We don’t know where we’re going, and we aren’t even walking on proper paths.”
Winnie had no intention of stopping. “Well, we’ll make one. Wherever out feet stand, there’s bound to
be a way. Look, the monkey has stopped. The thermal imaging map shows someone beside it. It has to
be Old Mr. Xander.”
Winnie let Josiah look at her phone.
Josiah said, “Can you set it to high definition?”
“Okay.” Winnie then set the aerial view footage to high definition.
Sure enough, the drone showed a flat piece of land in the mountain. There was a person. However,
their face could not be seen clearly from high above. Despite that, the vague image showed a hunched,
old man with a monkey-like animal by his side.
“Nice! The monkey has really gone to its master. You’re amazing!” Josiah did not hesitate to praise
Winnie.
However, right after that, he shouted, “Oh no! Someone’s coming. It’s probably Yolanda. She’s
definitely here to thank Old Mr. Xander.”
“Shoot! She’s faster than us. The monkey has already stopped moving. Did you save the trajectory of
its movements? It’s probably in the southeastern direction. In that case, we have a problem. Where is
that?”
“Easy!” Winnie said. She clicked the watch on her left wrist.
There was a smacking sound as the dial popped up, revealing an intricate compass inside.
Josiah was surprised. “Why do you have everything?”
“Being fully prepared is the way to success. I detest failure, so I’m always prepared. Let’s head in that
direction. We’ve to catch up to Yolanda.”
As Winnie said that, she pointed to a direction and led the way.
Ten minutes later, Winnie and Josiah finally reached Sebastian’s herb field.
Luckily, Sebastian had not left yet. He must have taken quite some time to arrange his farm tools, as he
had not left by the time Winnie and Josiah rushed over.
“Old Mr. Xander!” Winnie stood at the side of the herb field and called Sebastian, who was at the other
side.
Hearing that, Sebastian and Yolanda turned their heads toward the source of the voice.
Sebastian was slightly confused. However, Yolanda’s expression darkened. She held onto Sebastian’s
arm tightly.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmJosiah was afraid Yolanda would drag Sebastian away, so he immediately ran over to them.
Before Winnie could rush over, Josiah suddenly kneeled before Sebastian.
Winnie was rendered speechless.
“Ah? Young man, what’s this for? Quick! Get up!” Sebastian was even more confused by Josiah’s
action. The old man extended his hand to the latter. “Get up and talk, please.”
Winnie could not believe that Josiah could put aside his pride so quickly and kneel before someone
else.
Josiah stood up and replied, “Old Mr. Xander, I’m here with a request. I would like you to treat my
friend. You see, I practice modern medicine myself, but I have a friend who’s also my patient. Someone
has injected him with poison, and it has affected his nervous system. He can’t sleep at all. He hasn’t
slept for the last few days. If this goes on, he might die. I’m begging you to save him.”
Sebastian furrowed his brows. “Can’t sleep? There’s such an illness? You don’t sound like you’re from
around here. Are you from elsewhere?”
“Yes, we came from Avenport.”
“Then, where’s your patient? Is he here?”
“Yes, he’s here. Actually, I came here yesterday.” Josiah glanced at Yolanda before continuing,
“However, Ms. Xander said that you weren’t well, and that you weren’t accepting visitors. Therefore, we
could only come and meet you today.”
“Not accepting visitors?” Sebastian looked at Yolanda in confusion and furrowed his brows. “Yolanda, is
everything he said true? Was that what you told him when he came over yesterday?”
Yolanda seemed to have a naturally cold face. Her expression did not change even after her
grandfather questioned her.
“Yes, Grandpa. Yesterday, he was acting suspiciously at the entrance of our house. He didn’t seem like
a good person, so I rejected him.”
“Ms. Xander, I swear to God I’m honest and upright. I’m not suspicious. Moreover, it’s all because of
that monkey who snatched my briefcase. My ID card and phone are all in there. Ms. Xander even
called the police to take me away. I’ve been through a lot of trouble without my belongings. I wonder
whose instructions the monkey has been under to do what it did.”
Josiah was implying that the monkey had been following Yolanda’s instructions.
The monkey would never actively snatch someone else’s things. Since it stole the briefcase the
previous day, it must have been obeying Yolanda’s instructions.
Sebastian had an epiphany. He turned to Yolanda. “What is going on here? Why didn’t you tell me
yesterday?”
“Grandpa, you’re getting old. I don’t want to bother you with all that. This isn’t a good place to talk. Let’s
return to the house.”
“Sure, let’s do that.” Sebastian would not discuss family matters in front of outsiders.
With that, he glanced at Josiah and said, “You should head down the mountain for now. Bring the
patient to me in the afternoon.”
Josiah was afraid that Yolanda would stop them from seeing Sebastian if they leave now. He quickly
responded, “Thank you, Old Mr. Xander. If you don’t mind, I would like to wait here. My friend will bring
the patient to you. She’s his wife.”
Yolanda rejected him at once. “No, you don’t look like a good person. I won’t let you enter our home.”
“Then, what about me?” Winnie, who had been standing next to Josiah, stepped forward. She stared at
Sebastian before continuing, “I would like to tell you about my husband’s symptoms after he got
poisoned.”
Sebastian was about to speak when his eyes landed on Winnie’s compass watch.
Shocked, he extended his trembling hand. His voice was choking when he exclaimed, “Girl, where did
you get this watch?”
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