Chapter 551: Jumped Out

Ying shook her head.

"I'm not thirsty."

"Your lips are all dry, and you still say you're not thirsty?"

Ying gave no answer.

She was indeed thirsty.

Her throat felt like it was about to emit smoke, dry and painful.

But she would rather die of thirst than drink anything offered by these Monkeys.

Jiaoshou sighed, placing the teacup back on the coffee table.

"Caution is a good thing."

It turned its back to Ying, looking out the window, "But excessive caution often causes one to miss many opportunities."

Jiaoshou's voice grew distant, as if speaking to itself:

"Humans, they are always like this. Clearly dying of thirst, yet they dare not drink water; clearly starving to death, yet they dare not eat; clearly wanting to survive, yet they are always bound by all sorts of inexplicable worries."

"You call this Reason String, you call it caution, you call it self‑protection. But in my view, it's merely another form of fear."

Ying's brows slightly furrowed.

Jiaoshou continued:

"You fear death, so you dare not take risks; you fear being deceived, so you dare not trust others; you fear loss, so you dare not possess. You lock yourselves in little cages, then tell each other that this is maturity."

It turned around, its vortex‑shaped lenses aimed at Ying.

"But I've seen true freedom. Those Monkeys— they fear nothing. When hungry they eat, when sleepy they sleep, when they want bananas they take bananas. They don't wonder 'Could this be poisonous?' or 'Could this hurt me?' They simply live, simply live."

"Do you envy them?"

Ying was silent for a few seconds.

Then she spoke, her voice light yet clear:

"Not envious."

Jiaoshou tilted his head.

"Oh?"

"You've said so much; it sounds quite reasonable."

Ying lifted her head, looking at it, "But I don't believe it."

Jiaoshou was momentarily stunned, then smiled.

"Interesting. Truly interesting."

It turned again, continuing to stare out the window.

"Since you don't believe, there's nothing I can do. Stay here yourself; when you come to understand, then eat whatever you like."

Ying gave no reply.

She merely stared at the figure turned away from her, her heartbeat quickening.

(It didn't act directly... just Persuasion with words... what does this indicate? That it doesn't want to hurt me? Or that it has another purpose?)

(Regardless, this is an opportunity.)

(And it is turned away from me... completely unguarded.)

She tried to move her leg.

Sore.

But she could move.

Those muscles gradually regained strength during the brief rest.

She quietly shifted her foot onto the floor, trying to plant it firmly.

The leg didn't tremble.

She again tried to rise a little—just slightly lifting her hips, letting the legs bear part of the weight.

It's okay.

Jiaoshou kept talking there, about the "essence of civilization," the "cage of desire," the "freedom of Monkeys," a jumble of grand philosophies.

Ying didn't absorb a single word.

All her attention was on that floor‑to‑ceiling window.

Jumping down from here would mean death, definitely death.

But if she could reach the doorway, the stairwell, the floor below—

She braced her hand on the sofa, slowly standing up.

Her leg trembled, but she steadied herself.

One step.

Two steps.

She moved toward the doorway.

Jiaoshou was still there, speaking with his back to her, completely unaware.

Ying's heartbeat raced as if it would burst out of her throat.

Only five meters remained to the doorway—

In the next second, she felt her body suddenly lifted by some force.

Ying hadn't reacted before she realized she was being carried on someone's back.

Pink hair, slender figure, familiar aura.

"San... San Yue Jie?!"

"Shh—"

San Yue Qi raised a finger to her lips, "Don't make a sound, I'll take you away."

Sakura widened her eyes, completely clueless about what was happening.

She was clearly standing near the doorway, so why suddenly…

San Yue Qi gave no explanation.

She hoisted Sakura on her back and tiptoed toward the floor‑to‑ceiling window.

One of the windows there was open, the wind blew in, and the curtains fluttered gently.

Jiaoshou was still muttering there, his voice growing farther away.

"—So, human evolution itself is a scam, true freedom should be…"

San Yue Qi already had one foot on the windowsill.

At that moment—

A gust of wind rushed in, rattling the papers on the desk.

Jiaoshou instinctively turned his head.

It saw.

The Fen Mao girl, carrying Sakura, stood at the window, about to jump down.

"What?!"

San Yue Qi froze.

She slowly turned her head and saw a Monkeys in a white lab coat staring at her.

One human and one Monkeys locked eyes for a full second.

"Who are you?!"

Jiaoshou's voice even changed pitch, "Where did you pop out from?!"

The corner of San Yue Qi's mouth twitched.

"Uh… just passing by?"

"Passing by?!"

Jiaoshou pointed at her, "You passed by from over fifty floors?!"

San Yue Qi gave no reply.

She had only one thought—

Run!

She hoisted Sakura, leapt, and jumped straight out of the window!

"Hold on tight—!!!"

"Aaaah—!!!"

Sakura's scream exploded in her ears!

The wind cut her face like a blade, forced into her mouth, choking her so she could barely breathe.

Her stomach spasmed from the sudden weightlessness, and nausea rose to her throat.

She instinctively clung tightly to San Yue Qi's neck, her nails nearly digging into flesh.

"San Yue Jie—!!!"

"Don't be afraid! I have a way!"

Jiaoshou rushed to the window edge, stuck his head out to look down.

That monkey face was full of shock, the eyes behind the Vortex Glasses whirled rapidly:

"What's going on?! Where did that guy come out of?! Is this— a suicide?"

It looked at the two descending silhouettes and shook its head.

"What a pity…"

Before the words finished, it suddenly saw—

That pink silhouette abruptly halted in midair!

As if an invisible force supported her, the falling speed suddenly slowed!

Then the silhouette began moving sideways, like a nimble bird, skimming along the building's outer wall and soaring away!

Jiaoshou's mouth formed an O shape.

"This— this… Time?!"

In midair, San Yue Qi clenched her teeth, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Time Acceleration! Time Deceleration! Accelerate again!

She desperately wielded that ability, constantly adjusting her and Sakura's posture during the fall, shifting from a back position to a hold.

Five floors flashed by!

San Yue Qi's toe touched a point on the windowsill—inside the window was a little Monkeys chewing a banana; it looked up, saw a face whizzing past the window, got scared and dropped the banana from its hand.

Three floors!

San Yue Qi pushed off with her feet, using that faint support to change direction, and charged toward a slightly shorter building beside her!

One floor!

San Yue Qi's legs hit the ground, knees bent to absorb the impact, she rolled forward twice, and finally her back slammed into a utility pole and stopped.

Pain.

Her lower back burned painfully, knees felt like they might shatter, and her palm was numb from gripping too tightly earlier.

But she's still alive.

Sakura is also alive.

Sakura lifted her head from her embrace, her complexion deathly pale, her lips still trembling.

She stared blankly at San Yue Qi, and after a long while finally managed to push out a sentence:

"S—San Yue Jie… can you fly?"

"No."

San Yue Qi gasped, pulling out a smile, "But I can do a little… trick…"

She braced against the ground and stood up, her legs still a bit weak, but she couldn't afford to rest.

Because a terrifying noise came from above her head.

"Boom——!!!"

Every window of the building exploded simultaneously!

Glass shards poured down like a torrential rain, flashing dazzlingly in the sunlight.

Immediately after, countless yellow figures surged out of those shattered windows, climbing down the exterior wall!

Monkeys.

Thousands upon thousands of Monkeys!

They cascaded down the building's outer wall like a yellow waterfall, dense and overwhelming!

The big monkey stepped on the air‑conditioner's outdoor unit and jumped down, the little monkeys clutched the Giant Monkey's Tail and swung back and forth, and some swung directly from this window to that window, their speed unbelievably fast!

The most terrifying were the Giant Monkeys— they leapt from the roof, crashing onto the ground with a "rumble—rumble—" that made the earth tremble!