Chapter 193: Endless Mountains and Rivers, Seemingly No Path Ahead

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Endless Mountains and Rivers, Seemingly No Path Ahead

"I’m not sure. I only found it."

Perhaps afraid of touching upon the little guy’s sad memories, Liang He didn’t pry.

"Have Cedriel and Kuang Ye found anything?"

During Liang He’s brief absence, the Mojin King Tiger and the Mengji Snow Leopard had obediently and diligently continued searching for clues.

"I don’t know. They only communicate with you."

Hoder had wanted to ask them, too, but the two big shots completely ignored him. So, he had no choice but to call Liang He back to get some answers.

"Then I’ll ask this little guy first. Once we’re done, we’ll head back to the dorms. If we stay out too long, I’m afraid Cyril and Lanton will worry."

Anyway, she would have plenty of time to communicate with the Mojin King Tiger and the Mengji Snow Leopard to exchange clues, so there was no rush.

"That works."

Hoder had no objections. His main purpose was to protect Liang He; as for searching for clues, that was something for Huo An and the others to worry about.

Having reached a consensus, Liang He began trying to communicate with the koala, hoping to find clues related to the poisoner.

"Little guy, did you see any strange people approaching the river and throwing things into it?"

Unsure if her special Skills of communicating with animals would work on a koala that was constantly "intoxicated," Liang He could only explain slowly, even using gestures to help it understand.

"HIC... HMM?"

Watching the human’s hardworking performance in front of it, the koala tilted its head in confusion. In its understanding, there had been a sudden influx of humans lately, and they all felt strange.

"Because we don’t know if the poison in the water will volatilize and contaminate the air, the staff all wore protective gear. It probably can’t tell who is strange and who isn’t."

Hoder had rarely hit the nail on the head, which put Liang He in a bit of a difficult position. If she couldn’t make the koala understand exactly who she was looking for, it certainly wouldn’t be able to provide any useful information.

"Liang He, even if it knew, how could it describe them? We can’t expect it to lead us to the culprit."

Hoder thought of another crucial problem. No matter how much the koala grunted and mumbled, even if it understood Liang He, she might not understand its description. What if she analyzed it wrong? Wouldn’t that be a massive blunder?

Cutting their losses in time would be fine, but if they caught the wrong person, wouldn’t Liang He be scolded? Remembering Huo An’s instructions, Hoder still wanted to advise her to act cautiously.

"I don’t need it to tell me exactly who it is. As long as we have a little clue, we can follow the trail and eventually root out the poisoner."

The reason the Law Enforcement Team had come up empty-handed so far was that there were no clues or traces, leaving them nowhere to apply their efforts and lacking a breakthrough point. Liang He’s goal tonight was simple: to help them find that breakthrough and uncover the mastermind behind the scenes.

"I see..."

Hoder had always thought Liang He wanted to use her ability to communicate with animals to directly pinpoint the poisoner. He hadn’t expected her to be so pragmatic; he had mistakenly thought she was being arrogant.

"Alright then. Take your time asking. We’re in no rush."

They had been out for less than two hours, so Liang He still had plenty of time to slowly coax useful clues from the koala.

"Little guy, you can communicate anything that comes to mind. If you’re right, I’ll bring you something delicious tomorrow—blue gum eucalyptus leaves. How about that?"

Koalas only ate eucalyptus leaves, but there were several species of eucalyptus. Given a koala’s habits, its activity range for its entire life was basically confined to a small circle. It was said that once they finished eating the eucalyptus leaves in their immediate surroundings, they would simply starve to death. So when Liang He realized that it had likely moved from the edge to the center of the forest, she was very surprised, feeling that perhaps it was destined by fate. For this little guy she had a fateful connection with, Liang He wanted to help it—at the very least, to let it live a little longer.

"HIC... HMM!"

The words "eucalyptus leaves" struck the koala right in its DNA. It instantly perked up, its small round eyes darting about. It seemed to be using its long-intoxicated brain cells to recall with great difficulty, trying to find the anomaly Liang He had mentioned. Unfortunately, despite racking its brains, the little guy just couldn’t remember anything. Seeing this, Liang He felt a bit disappointed.

Perhaps she was too confident, or perhaps she was asking too much of the animal.

"SQUEAK, SQUEAK."

Just as Liang He was about to put the koala back and return straight to the service area, a string of sounds suddenly came from outside the fence. Surprisingly, the koala reacted.

"HIC... HMM!"

"Is it responding to an animal outside?" Hoder raised an eyebrow in confusion. The sound coming from outside didn’t seem like another koala.

"It sounds like a monkey."

The Dwarf Marmoset that President Lucas had brought before made a similar sound, so Liang He immediately thought of a monkey.

"A monkey?"

It wasn’t strange for any animal to appear in the forest. However, what surprised Hoder was how a koala and a monkey had become good friends. When he saw the monkey swinging between the branches, smoothly arriving near the river, and immediately trying to rush over to rescue the koala upon seeing it in Liang He’s arms, he knew their relationship was genuinely close.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"

Because of the presence of the Mojin King Tiger and the Mengji Snow Leopard, the monkey—knowing full well it couldn’t take on such fierce beasts—slammed on the brakes. It stood not far away, hopping mad with anxiety.

"HIC... HMM?"

Seeing the koala’s expression—completely unaware of the danger and even wondering why its friend was so anxious—the little monkey was about to explode with anger. It thought, "How can I have such a stupid friend! Forget it. I chose this friend myself. Other than spoiling it, what else can I do?"

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"

The little monkey began a sonic attack on Liang He, trying to force her to return the koala. Yet, its highly intelligent behavior made Liang He’s eyes light up, instantly igniting hope.

"Little monkey, you want to save your friend, but can you do me a favor first?"

Monkeys were primates. Besides chimpanzees, some monkeys ranked second in intelligence in the Animal World. Some could even reach the level of an 8- to 10-year-old human. Communicating with one would definitely be much easier than with a koala.

"SQUEAK?"

Hearing Liang He’s words, the little monkey looked at her, then at the koala in her arms. Sensing that Liang He bore no ill will, it nodded.

"Hey, it actually understood?!"

Hoder’s interest was piqued now. He had heard Lan Zhuo mention that some monkeys were even smarter than elephants. Since Liang He had been able to communicate with an elephant before, he figured that talking to a monkey would be a piece of cake.

"Keep your voice down. Don’t scare it."

Hoder’s booming voice clearly startled the little monkey. Fortunately, Liang He appeased it in time, stopping it from fleeing in panic. Of course, it was also possible that the little monkey truly valued its friendship with the koala. Even though it was scared, it refused to leave.

"Sorry, sorry. But I’m still curious—how did these two become friends?"

"Monkeys are arboreal, so that’s probably why it became friends with a koala." Liang He was just guessing. Anyway, the most pressing matter right now was to get clues from the little monkey. "Little monkey, do you know who poisoned the river and caused the other animals to fall into comas?"