novelTele Chapter 302 White Ape: Origin
Chapter 302 White Ape: Origin
Now is the perfect time to uncover the secrets of the white ape.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Feng lightly traced a line in the air with his fingertips, and the yellowed old photo from the Republic of China era appeared in his palm.
He handed the photo to Tang Xiaofu, his fingertip pausing for a moment on the small print on the back of the photo.
"By the way, Director Tang, take a look at this."
Tang Xiaofu's gaze fell on the photo, her brow furrowing slightly before she looked up at Lin Feng with a calm expression.
Clearly, she wasn't surprised that Lin Feng had found out this far.
"Lin Feng, some truths, knowing them may not be a blessing."
She paused, her gaze passing over Lin Feng, as if looking towards something far more distant:
"The karmic entanglements involving this white ape... are beyond your ability to resolve!"
"Your ability to discover these things is far beyond that of ordinary people. The best outcome for you is to spend the rest of your days peacefully, complete the A-level challenge, and leave this place."
Lin Feng did not take back the photo; his eyes were firm, even radiating a burning light.
"Director Tang, this zoo is 'operating,' but its foundation is a century-old grievance, and it poses a potential danger to countless people."
"I don't believe you want it to continue like this. I'm not presumptuous enough to think I'm a savior."
"It's because," he looked directly into Tang Xiaofu's eyes, "that I feel some things just have to be done by someone."
"The white ape has been wronged for a century, and the bizarre rules and tragedies that have arisen from this should not continue."
"I want to try and see if I can find a way to end all of this—so that this zoo can truly be at peace, so that the visitors can be safe, and so that... that white ape can be freed."
Sunlight shone on Lin Feng's young yet well-defined face, reflecting the calmness and responsibility in his eyes that transcended his age.
His words, though lacking in flowery language, possess a simple yet powerful strength, directly addressing the core of the problem and the undying light deep within people's hearts.
Tang Xiaofu fell silent.
She stared at Lin Feng for a long time, as if trying to re-examine this chosen one of the Dragon Kingdom who had repeatedly surprised her.
She saw the sincerity in his eyes, and the determination that stemmed not from self-interest, but from a deeper sense of responsibility.
Time passed by, and the air was so quiet that you could hear each other breathing.
After a long while, Tang Xiaofu sighed softly, a sigh that seemed to release some of the weight she had been carrying for so long.
Her gaze finally returned to that old photograph.
"Lin Feng," her voice softened slightly, carrying a complex emotion, "you are truly special."
[Ding, Tang Xiaofu's favorability towards the host increases by 5]
Current favorability rating: 90/100
The notification sounded in Lin Feng's mind, but his attention was completely focused on Tang Xiaofu.
Tang Xiaofu didn't look at Lin Feng again; her gaze seemed to penetrate the photograph and return to that distant and hazy era.
"In the year of Bingchen, this place was not a zoo yet, but a desolate mountain rarely visited by people, with a sizable village at its foot."
"The villagers... are very poor."
"I heard somewhere that there's an ancient tomb hidden in these mountains, and that there's treasure there."
"They mustered their courage, gathered a group of people, and actually found the tomb and pried it open."
Her tone turned icy: "They disturbed the spirits of the dead who shouldn't have been disturbed, and took what they shouldn't have taken."
"Soon, the curse came true."
"An unprecedented and strange disease spread through the village. There was no cure, the dead lay piled up, and the living suffered terribly. The whole village was like a living hell."
"They were scared, they regretted it, and they tried everything they could to make amends."
"Finally, I don't know where they found them—or rather, they found a 'master' who pretended to be a ghost and had some kind of evil methods."
Tang Xiaofu pointed her finger at the man in the long robe in the photo: "That's probably him."
"The man pointed out that the white apes on the mountain are spiritual creatures of this place, possessing spirituality and nourished by the essence of the mountains and marshes."
"If we want to appease the anger of the deceased's spirit and lift the curse, we must offer the white ape as a sacrifice deep into the ancient tomb to atone for our sins and bring peace to the afterlife."
"The villagers, who had nowhere else to turn, believed it."
"They managed to capture the ape, which had lived next to them for generations and even had a kinship with them..."
Her voice was filled with deep sorrow and irony.
"Then, following that man's instructions, at the so-called auspicious time, they sent it deep into the tomb filled with resentment, which they themselves had opened."
"The curse seems to have truly stopped, and the strange illness is slowly disappearing. The villagers believe they have been saved and are overjoyed."
"But they didn't know, or rather, they didn't have time to know—the spirit had died unjustly, and its resentment was so profound!"
"Especially intelligent and affectionate creatures like white apes."
"Its resentment is purer, more violent, and more difficult to dissipate than the resentment of the original spirits in the tomb."
Tang Xiaofu paused for a moment, then continued, "Later, times changed, the villages at the foot of the mountain changed, and this barren mountain was also designated for development and turned into a zoo."
"At first, this was just an ordinary zoo."
"But the resentment of the white apes, accumulated over many years, has long been deeply integrated into this land."
"It began to manifest itself...abnormal animal behavior, mysterious deaths or madness of staff, strange occurrences of tourists...initially just isolated incidents, which were covered up or explained as accidents."
"Later on, the management gradually realized something was wrong and began to investigate. By combining some remaining fragments of local chronicles and oral accounts from the elderly, they pieced together part of the truth."
"They're scared and want to close the zoo."
Tang Xiaofu's gaze sharpened and became serious: "However, they received a 'warning'."
"It doesn't come from any organization, but from... the resentment itself, from those things that have been deeply corrupted by resentment and become neither human nor ghost."
"The proposal to close the zoo was abruptly halted by various 'unexpected' and 'obstacles,' and those who attempted to leak secrets or force the closure all met with misfortune."
"This resentment seems... to want to be forgotten, and to prevent this land from returning to peace."
"It needs to keep this place running, to keep generating fear, anomalies, and new 'nutrients'."
"And so the zoo continued to exist in this abnormal way, setting up more and more rules, not for normal operation, but to barely maintain a dangerous balance under the shadow of resentment, to minimize casualties, and at the same time... it was like a living cage and a sacrificial ground."
After she finished speaking, she let out a long breath, but the heaviness between her brows did not lessen.
She looked at Lin Feng again: "This is the core of the secret."
"A knot that began with greed and ignorance, and is ultimately bound by a century of resentment. Do you still think you can untie it?"
Lin Feng listened quietly, his face showing no fear, but rather a clear sense of "I knew it."
He frowned: "After all these years, hasn't the park administration thought of any way to solve this problem?"