174: Chapter 173 Tools Appearing Among the Monkey Troops

Early the next morning, just as the faint dawn light broke across the horizon, Lu Fan scrambled out of his sleep. Without even bothering to wash his face, he rushed towards the brick kiln in a flurry.

Last night, he had tossed and turned, thinking about the bricks inside; even his dreams were filled with the image of the new house. At this moment, his heart was full of anticipation to start work.

Standing in front of the brick kiln, Lu Fan first touched it with his hand; it had already cooled down completely.

Then he took a deep breath, slowly leaned in, and pressed his face toward the kiln opening, feeling that no more heat was escaping from inside.

He was incredibly excited. He moved the stones away from the kiln opening and hunched over to crawl inside.

As soon as he entered the brick kiln, it was as if he had discovered a treasure. He picked up a brick with both hands; it was cold to the touch.

He couldn't help but grin and laugh aloud, "Good heavens, it's finally cooled through! The seaside environment is really effective; it cools down so fast!"

As he spoke, he leaned down again to pick up a few more bricks, tapping them here and looking them over there. The color and hardness were simply impeccable, perfectly meeting the standard of perfection in his heart.

"An Lan, An Lan!"

Unable to suppress his inner excitement, Lu Fan shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the morning air, "The bricks are completely cool! We can start building the house today!"

An Lan was still meeting with the Duke of Zhou in the Shelter when she was startled awake by this sudden shouting. She rubbed her bleary eyes and walked out of the Shelter in a daze.

Hearing the good news brought by Lu Fan, her eyes instantly lit up. "Really? That's wonderful! I've been waiting for so, so long!"

At this time, the livestream room was also bustling with activity, as barrage comments drifted by like snowflakes:

"Brick: I'm 'cool' now~"

"So fast! I thought it would take seven or eight days to cool down."

"Finally we can build the house. My MC soul is already burning."

"Ah, I'm burning up too~"

"Why can the person above send audio messages?"

Lu Fan and An Lan stood side by side by the brick kiln, their heads close together as they seriously discussed their plan.

Building a house was no small matter, and moving bricks was an even larger project. If they relied solely on the two of them, who knew how long it would take to finish.

Lu Fan's eyes darted around, and a cunning smile appeared on his face. He suddenly slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "I've got it! Let's go find the Monkey troop for help! They were very enthusiastic last time; they'll definitely be happy to lend a hand this time too!"

Upon hearing this, An Lan couldn't help but tease, "You really are cut out to be a capitalist, knowing how to 'exploit' labor."

"A capitalist? I don't want to be one of those. I call this mutual benefit and win-win," Lu Fan responded with a smile.

No sooner said than done. The two of them moved briskly to the place where the prey was stored and found several plump rabbits.

They skillfully set up a fire, skewered the rabbits on branches, and began to roast them carefully. Before long, the aroma of rabbit meat permeated the air, drifting freely.

"This much rabbit meat should be enough for the Monkey troop to eat," Lu Fan joked while turning the meat.

The roasted rabbits were golden in color and fragrant. They wrapped the rabbits tightly with tree leaves.

Afterward, the two hummed a cheerful little tune and led Da Hei toward the Monkey troop's territory.

With Da Hei clearing the way ahead, the journey was peaceful, and they soon arrived at the Monkey troop's habitat.

Just as they reached the territory, they saw a group of monkeys jumping up and down in the trees, a very lively scene.

Some were swinging between branches, some were chasing and playing with each other, and others were comfortably basking in the sun.

Lu Fan stood under a tree and shouted, "Old friends, we've come to see you again!"

Hearing the commotion, the monkeys stopped what they were doing and peered over curiously.

A few bolder monkeys "whooshed" down from the trees, running as fast as lightning to stand before Lu Fan and An Lan.

Their eyes were fixed intently on the rabbit meat in their hands, their gazes full of longing.

Lu Fan smiled and handed over the rabbit meat. The monkeys immediately swarmed forward, scrambling and competing, eating until their mouths were covered in grease.

From time to time, they let out cheerful cries, as if they were holding a grand feast.

Seeing this, the other monkeys also gathered around and joined the "banquet."

Just then, Lu Fan's eyes suddenly widened as if he had discovered a new continent. He shouted excitedly, "An Lan, look! My stone tools are actually here!"

An Lan looked in the direction he pointed and couldn't help but laugh as well. "Good heavens, so it was these little rascals who stole your treasures. No wonder we couldn't find a trace of them no matter how much we searched the Shelter."

Lu Fan stepped forward quickly, reached out his hand toward the Little Monkey holding the stone axe, and said gently, "Little fellow, give me back my tool."

The Little Monkey clutched the stone axe tightly and took a few steps back. It looked as if the stone axe was its most precious treasure, and it was unwilling to let go.

Lu Fan smiled helplessly, took a piece of rabbit meat from his bag, and waved it in front of the Little Monkey.

The Little Monkey's eyes instantly lit up. With a "whoosh," it threw the stone axe on the ground and lunged for the rabbit meat like an arrow from a bow.

Lu Fan was quick and picked up the stone axe immediately. He checked it over carefully; aside from some slight wear on the blade, everything else was intact.

In fact, Lu Fan wasn't reluctant to let them have the tools; on the contrary, he was full of curiosity about the Monkey troop's purpose for taking them.

Just then, the Monkey King heard the commotion and came running over in a hurry.

Looking at the stone axe in Lu Fan's hand, it appeared exceptionally excited, gesturing wildly and letting out "squeaks" as if trying to express something.

The Monkey King cared deeply about these tools. It stepped quickly toward Lu Fan, its small eyes staring intently at the stone axe, shimmering with excitement.

Then, it snatched the stone axe from Lu Fan's hand and walked over to a small tree with an air of importance. Mimicking Lu Fan's previous actions, it raised the stone axe high with both hands and chopped down hard against the trunk.

With a dull "thud," the stone axe hit the tree, and wood chips flew, but the small tree only shook and was not cut through.

The Monkey King seemed startled by the sudden recoil and took several steps back.

But it soon became excited again, raising the stone axe once more and chopping again and again. Its focused appearance was as if it were performing a sacred and solemn ritual.

After chopping for a while, a relatively thin branch was finally cut down.

The Monkey King laboriously dragged the branch to the side, then picked up a stone knife and began gesturing against the branch.

It carefully used the stone knife to cut the branch, trying to get it to the right length and shape. However, because it wasn't very skilled, the stone knife kept slipping, and it couldn't cut properly no matter what.

The Monkey King was so anxious it scratched its head and ears, its mouth constantly "squeaking" as if asking for help.

Lu Fan and An Lan watched the Monkey King's actions quietly from the side, without making a sound to disturb it.

An Lan said doubtfully, "This Monkey King is imitating you using the tools. It actually looks quite professional."

Lu Fan nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I didn't expect them to be so interested in these tools. It seems the learning ability of animals really shouldn't be underestimated."