Maybe he should have turned and run, but could a monkey ever outrun a tiger?
Unless—
"Smack!"
Suddenly, an apple landed squarely on the Tiger King's face.
With a furious roar, the Tiger King whipped his head toward the source of the attack.
A monkey perched in the tree shrank back into the leaves, trembling with fear.
"Monkey King... run!" a monkey screamed.
There was no time to think. Simon Stone twisted his body and bolted down the path, but the Tiger King was no pushover. Realizing Simon Stone's plan, he sprang after him in a flash.
But the situation was far more complicated now.
A pear hurtled toward the Tiger King, then a banana, then grapes—one after another.
It was as if the sky was raining fruit—the monkeys hurled everything they could grab at the Tiger King. Of course, this mighty beast wasn't afraid of a few pieces of fruit, unless one hit him in the eye.
With the help of the monkey troop, Simon Stone had already dashed more than ten zhang away, while the Tiger King, in his furious sprint, had left the monkeys' attack range.
Clearly, this was a clever tiger. He knew what mattered: as long as he killed the monkey who couldn't climb trees, it would all be over.
Simon Stone ignored his wounds, screaming, running, leaping, and dodging through the forest with everything he had. But two legs could never outrun four.
The troop of monkeys was now far behind. Without their help, the Tiger King was quickly closing the distance.
If he was caught this time, it wouldn't be his shoulder that got bitten—it would be his throat.
The Tiger King was clearly determined to deliver a fatal blow.
Just as Simon Stone was on the verge of despair, the Canary swooped over his head. "This way, fool!"
"Huh?" Without a second thought, Simon Stone bolted in the direction of the Canary.
"A tree hollow!?"
Just as the Tiger King leapt at Simon Stone, ready to pounce, the monkey rolled sideways and squeezed into a narrow tree hollow!
Before Simon Stone could catch his breath, the Tiger King's sharp claws swept toward his face!
The gust stirred by the claws whipped past his cheeks, so close that Simon Stone could see the fine hairs on the Tiger King's paw.
But the Tiger King couldn't reach Simon Stone.
After his rebirth, Simon Stone still looked like an ordinary young monkey. In this situation, he could fit into places the fully grown Tiger King could not.
After desperately clawing for half the day and only catching a handful of dry leaves, the Tiger King quietly withdrew his paw and pressed his head low, peering into the entrance.
This was a long, narrow hollow formed by the massive roots of the tree, lined with fallen leaves. The closest spot the Tiger King could reach was just over a foot away from Simon Stone.
At that moment, Simon Stone was pressed tightly against the wall.
"Come out!"
It was the Tiger King's voice! He could speak too! All the animals in this place could talk!
By now, night had fallen completely. Staring into those terrifying, glowing eyes, Simon Stone, still shaken, forced two words through his clenched teeth: "Never!"
"Don't even think about it. I'm not leaving, and you can't escape."
"Listen!" Simon Stone, trembling all over, bared his fangs and roared, "If you don't leave right now, I'll kill you!"
"Is that so? That's the funniest joke I've ever heard. A monkey threatening to kill a tiger?" Under the moonlight, a strange smile crept across the Tiger King's face.
"Mountain Sparrow—!" Simon Stone shouted at the top of his lungs, "Mountain Sparrow—are you there?"
"I told you, I'm the Canary! Canary! Haven't you got a brain, monkey?"
"Any kind of sparrow will do! Just help me, okay?"
"Help with what?"
"Go and bring all the monkeys and monkey children over here."
"Bring..." Suddenly, outside the tree hollow, the Canary's voice rang out, cursing: "I can't believe it! You actually want to use other monkeys to feed the Tiger King! You're even worse than humans..."
"No! Damn it, don't jump to conclusions! Tell them to bring durians! Do you even know what a durian is?"
Moments later, the Canary's sly laughter echoed from outside.
If he remembered correctly, Simon Stone had seen a monkey carrying a durian earlier that day—Blossom Mountain seemed to have every kind of fruit imaginable.
Listening as the sound of the Canary's wings faded into the distance, Simon Stone glared at the Tiger King and said slowly, "I'll make you regret not biting me to death when you had the chance!"
"Hmph, then let me see what kind of tricks you can pull!" the Tiger King growled viciously.
Time ticked by, the Tiger King still staring intently at Simon Stone, who refused to back down.
But his condition was clearly worse than the Tiger King's. The blood on his shoulder had clotted, but the deep wound throbbed with pain. Half the ferocity on his face came from the agony of the wound.
He even realized his left hand was completely useless.
"Is it broken?" he wondered.
Getting bitten by a tiger could easily break bones—especially for a monkey. But now, every movement sent a stabbing pain through his wound, making it impossible to check.
Soon, a durian crashed down with a heavy thud!
It didn't hit the Tiger King, but it left a deep mark on the tree roots!
This scene startled the Tiger King—he finally understood what Simon Stone had been waiting for. Not all fruits were harmless!
The Tiger King looked up abruptly and saw three durians flying straight at him.
One of them struck his waist squarely, and he let out a howl of pain—cheered on by the monkey troop.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't leave? Then stay put!" Simon Stone grinned ferociously, snatching a durian to eat while watching the chaos. But without any tools, opening a durian one-handed was no easy feat.
"Fine, I'll keep it as a weapon." He shoved the durian aside, then shouted, "Boys, give it everything you've got—bombard him!"
The cheers outside the hollow grew even more exuberant.
"Aren't you going to eat me? Damn it! Let's see who eats whom. And by the way, monkeys aren't always vegetarians!"
A hysterical tiger roar answered him, and Simon Stone responded with a wild monkey howl of his own.
For a while, tiger roars and monkey howls rang out one after another.
That night, the whole forest was lively. The Tiger King kept dodging durians falling from the sky. By midnight, the durians ran low and coconuts were mixed in. Whenever the Tiger King was hit, cheers erupted, filling the monkeys with excitement and making them forget to sleep.
For the Tiger King, the cheers were a nightmare. Each round meant more coconuts, more durians, and more monkeys joining in. He even saw a squirrel throwing walnuts at him!
The honor of being king of the jungle was completely ruined.
Even worse, that damned Simon Stone was snickering at him from inside the tree hollow.
As for Simon Stone, his situation wasn't much better.
Having just 'jumped' past Cascade Cave, Simon Stone was already exhausted. After that life-and-death escape, he was completely spent. With injuries on top of it all, he felt his eyelids battling each other all night long.
But he didn't dare relax for a moment; if he fell asleep and rolled over carelessly, he might just give the Tiger King what he wanted.
Helpless, he could only force himself to stay awake and compete with the Tiger King to see who would give in first.
When the first ray of sunlight pierced the clouds and lit up the forest, the Tiger King—battered and bruised—finally gave up and slunk away. Simon Stone, meanwhile, slipped out of the hollow, grabbed two coconuts and a stone, and ducked back inside.
The Canary quietly fluttered down to the hollow entrance and poked her head in. "Monkey, what are you doing? Aren't you coming out? He's already gone."
Using every ounce of strength, Simon Stone cracked open a coconut, gulped down the juice, and finally managed to catch his breath. "Do you think I'm a fool? Where could be safer than here? I'm injured and can't climb trees. If I run into him again without this hollow, I'm dead for sure. By the way, thanks, Mountain Sparrow."
The Canary's little black eyes bulged in disbelief. "Sparrow my ass! How many times do I have to tell you I'm the Canary! If you keep this up, I'm not talking to you anymore!"
"And... keep an eye on that tiger for me, will you? I really need to get some sleep..."
You..."
Before the Canary could reply, she saw Simon Stone collapse in exhaustion.
Maybe it was the stress—spending an entire night on the edge of life and death was no easy feat.
"If you ever call me Mountain Sparrow again, I swear I won't speak to you anymore."
With a resentful peck at the tree trunk, the Canary turned and flew off in the direction the Tiger King had escaped.
For the rest of the day, the little monkeys and the Canary took turns keeping watch on the Tiger King. If it was the Canary’s shift, she’d just follow the Tiger King and report his whereabouts. If it was the monkeys’ shift... they’d pester him by throwing things at him.
The former king of the forest had now fallen to the status of a street rat.
With no other choice, the Tiger King had to retreat to the open ground for a moment’s peace.
But the war between the monkeys and the Tiger King had only just begun.