“The monkeys… learn human language,” the Man-Snake slowly murmured.

“Exactly,” Chen Junnan said. “This way, it might take a very long time, but whether it’s sixty or seventy years, at least there’s a visible endpoint.”

“That means the monkey has to consider itself human,” the Man-Snake said. “This is a problem that needs to be resolved at the subconscious level.”

“What if they’ve already passed that stage?” Chen Junnan said.

“Do you think…” the Man-Snake stared at Chen Junnan and said, “that monkey is currently writing ‘Macbeth’?”

“I don’t think so,” Chen Junnan likewise stared at the Man-Snake as he answered.

“What…?” The eyes beneath the Man-Snake’s mask moved, as if he’d frowned. “The monkey clearly already considers itself human, which means it has learned human language and knows what humans want, yet it’s not writing ‘Macbeth’?”

“Yes…” Chen Junnan said with a grave expression. “Through contact with that monkey and the reactions of various ‘humans,’ I feel that the monkey isn’t writing ‘Macbeth,’ but something else entirely.”

“You mean…”

“‘Macbeth’ is a path others have walked before. The room owner thinks that as long as the monkey can write ‘Macbeth,’ it would be remarkable. But what that monkey is composing is all the obsessions within the room imprisoning the monkeys, and also the suffering of infinitely many monkeys,” Chen Junnan explained. “This is an unprecedented masterpiece that only it can write.”

The Man-Snake froze in place for a long time without speaking.

He had made many assumptions, and the boldest among them was that the monkey had already begun writing ‘Macbeth’ on its own.

But he had never imagined that this monkey was writing something different.

Something that would astonish the room owner, something different from ‘Macbeth.’

So it looked like it wanted to escape, yet also didn’t want to escape?

“Snake Brother, do you know what ‘Macbeth’ is about?” Chen Junnan asked.

“You… do you know?” the Man-Snake asked back.

“As it happens, this young master does know,” Chen Junnan said. “For a while I was obsessed with watching theatrical performances and happened to see ‘Macbeth.’ Simply put, it’s the story of Macbeth and his queen implementing tyranny to preserve the throne, indiscriminately killing the innocent, and becoming mad and cruel tyrants—but they were ultimately overthrown.”

“Huh…?” The Man-Snake only knew this question alluded to the “Land of the End” but had never thought that even ‘Macbeth’ had implied meaning.

“So how would a normal person guide a group of monkeys to write a story about overthrowing tyranny…” Chen Junnan said. “The suffering these monkeys have endured is likewise tyranny. Once they truly learn human thoughts and language, the first to suffer misfortune would be the humans.”

After hearing this, the Man-Snake slowly lowered his head and said in a deep voice: “So he’s already reached this stage…”

The strange thing about the “Land of the End” was that some stories hadn’t yet begun in some people’s hearts, while in other people’s memories they were already about to end.

The Man-Snake let out a deep sigh and looked toward Jin Yuanxun.

“…?”

Jin Yuanxun froze: “What is it, brother?”

“Isn’t this a Q&A?” the Man-Snake said. “What’s your answer?”

If the Man-Snake hadn’t reminded him, Jin Yuanxun would have long forgotten this was a Q&A session. He hurriedly furrowed his brow and said: “Ah! Brother… this question I think…”

Three seconds later he blinked and asked: “Brother, what was the question, you know?”

“He’s asking you how the monkeys escape,” Chen Junnan shook his head and said.

“Ah… yes… brother,” Jin Yuanxun said. “I think, the monkeys… can kill people, right?”

“…?”

The Man-Snake and Chen Junnan both froze again. Chen Junnan wanted to hiss, but ultimately restrained himself.

He turned to look at the Man-Snake, but this time the Man-Snake didn’t hiss either.

“Countless monkeys, you know!” Jin Yuanxun said. “Just directly kill that person together, how simple, you know?”

“Uh…”

“Don’t even need countless monkeys, right?” Jin Yuanxun continued. “Ten monkeys, to kill one person, enough, right?”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan vaguely had a strange feeling.

This kid Jin Yuanxun wasn’t stupid—it was just that language barriers made him seem dull.

Although the answer he gave was extremely absurd, both he and the Man-Snake had projected the story onto the “Land of the End” and had never returned to the question itself.

The room owner of the “Land of the End” was a “god.” Even if all mortals rose up to attack together, even if there were infinite mortals, they might not necessarily be able to kill them with one hundred percent certainty.

But this question itself was about monkeys and a human.

One person imprisoned infinitely many monkeys and made them do meaningless hard labor—why didn’t these monkeys resist?

Perhaps Jin Yuanxun himself wasn’t stupid, or perhaps he simply hadn’t thought as much as the two of them, so in his eyes the method for monkeys to escape was also simple.

That would be to kill the room owner. It would only take a few minutes… no, perhaps it would only take one monkey to launch the first attack, and the rest of the monkeys would swarm forward—and they would be free.

Thinking carefully, this was perhaps what many cities had been doing before, but they ultimately perished.

The reason for their destruction was because they didn’t think too much—after all, their relationship with the rulers wasn’t that of monkeys and humans, but ants and flames.

Even if this answer was proven wrong, when placed in this question it was correct. Chen Junnan and the Man-Snake simultaneously understood this point.

The Man-Snake blinked and turned to look at Chen Junnan.

Chen Junnan paused, then hurriedly shifted his gaze elsewhere.

The Man-Snake helplessly shifted his body again to look into Chen Junnan’s eyes.

Knowing he couldn’t avoid it, Chen Junnan quickly smiled apologetically: “Hey, what’s up, Snake Brother?”

“The game is over,” the Man-Snake said. “Although you only answered one question correctly, fortunately chatting with you has been quite rewarding. I’ve also learned many things I didn’t know before…”

“Stop making excuses,” Chen Junnan said. “Snake Brother, you’re just giving the character to him like this? How am I supposed to explain when I go back?”

“Just say I blew the whistle unfairly,” the Man-Snake said. “In front of this kid, I bullied you severely and even slapped you twenty times.”

“…?” Chen Junnan was puzzled. “What’s the point?”

“This way Qi Xia will have no choice but to stand up for you, right?” the Man-Snake said. “Then he’ll come kill his way here, and our transaction will officially be concluded.”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan sighed, nodded, and reached into his pocket. He formed a fist and placed it in Jin Yuanxun’s hand.

“Little Jin, I’m entrusting the character to you.”

Chen Junnan stood up with a dejected expression and was about to walk toward the “door,” but Jin Yuanxun grabbed his wrist in one motion.

“It’s fine, Little Jin,” Chen Junnan said. “You don’t need to keep me. My mind is made up.”

“Brother, you just gave me a chain.”

“Oh? Hey…” Chen Junnan smiled. “I couldn’t even fool you kid… come, come, come…”

Chen Junnan hesitated for a long time before pulling the “character” from his pocket.

“Little Jin, your brother doesn’t have anything to give you. Take this ‘character.'”

Jin Yuanxun snatched the “character” in one motion: “Thanks, brother.”