A captive is a captive, whether in human society or ape society; captives lack dignity in either realm. The large white ape pulled the rope forward, and I instinctively stood up, keeping my legs straight as I followed behind it. Unexpectedly, this simple act of standing violated a fundamental law.

An ape suddenly leaped from behind, grabbing my hair, hooking its legs over my neck, and began relentlessly pounding my face with its fists. I was choked, unable to breathe, and just as I was about to resist, two or three more apes pounced on my sides, grabbing my arms and rendering me immobile.

Helpless, I had no choice but to put my hands back on the ground, crawl back to the earth, and advance by crawling on all fours like the apes. For a human, abandoning upright posture to crawl on the ground using all four limbs is no easy feat. Everything operates under its own set of rules, and swimming against the current always demands a price.

Having crawled like this, tethered at the neck, for only a few dozen meters, the palms of my hands and my knees were rubbed raw and bleeding by the hard gravel underfoot. I turned to look at Xiao Shu; he too was being dragged forward by the large white ape by the neck, red streaks marking his hands and legs—not faring much better than I was.

“Are you alright?” I asked him solicitously while crawling.

“I’m f—” Before he could finish the word "fine," a small ape swiftly jumped onto Xiao Shu’s back from the side and began mercilessly beating the top of his head with rapid thuds.

In an instant, Xiao Shu was beaten until his face was swollen and bruised. Seeing his panda-like appearance stirred a wave of guilt within me. It turned out this troop of apes had numerous rules: no walking upright, no postures suggesting resistance, no whispering to each other... it was likely no different from a rigidly hierarchical military-political society.

Having learned my lesson from the immediate consequence, I had no choice but to lower my head, remain silent, and obediently follow behind the large white ape, enduring the pain in my palms and feet as I crawled forward.

As the saying goes, a dog biting a man is not news, but a man biting a dog is. If there had been a camera to capture the sight of Xiao Shu and me being led by apes while crawling, it surely would have made headlines. Although we were currently filled with bitter resentment that could not be put into words, from the perspective of the onlookers listening to their iPhones and carrying their LV bags, the scene was rather comical and certainly worth clicking on the web page to enjoy.

“Ah…”

Just as I was secretly mocking my own ridiculous appearance, Xiao Shu let out a sharp cry. When I turned to look, he had already tumbled sideways onto the ground, clutching both bloody hands over his knees, rolling back and forth on the floor.

“What happened?” Ignoring the leash held by the large white ape, I lunged forward, ripped the rope halter from my neck, and crawled over to Xiao Shu’s side, gently peeling away his hands covering his knees. I saw that his knee was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, with a small stone embedded deep within it.

It turned out he had accidentally hit his knee against a small, sharp-tipped stone, and under the pressure of his body weight, the stone had driven itself into his joint.

I gently pinched the exposed upper half of the stone between my fingers and yanked it out suddenly. Accompanied by Xiao Shu’s sharp gasp, I managed to dislodge it. The wound, suddenly released from negative pressure, began to bleed profusely. In a flurry, I took out my canteen from my backpack, only to find it empty—not a drop of water from the Sea of Spirits remained.

“I’ll go fetch some water.” Saying this, I stood up to walk toward the Sea of Spirits. But Xiao Shu grabbed my hand, pulling me back down to my knees. He raised his eyes toward mine, signaling me to look around.

I saw that we were now encircled by a group of large golden-haired apes, all baring their teeth with fierce expressions, as if condemning my earlier act of tearing off the neck rope to escape supervision.