It was the height of summer.
Deep within the Ten Thousand Mountains of Sichuan, China.
Lin Tian, carrying a backpack, walked along the rugged mountain path.
In his hand, he held a selfie stick, displaying his newly opened livestream.
“Brothers, this is the Sichuan Nature Reserve. The scenery is pretty good, right?”
“Starting today, I’m a glorious forest ranger in this area. I will often livestream my daily life as a ranger for everyone.”
Lin Tian continued to speak as he walked deeper into the mountains.
The scenery of Sichuan was beautiful.
Mountains were stacked with lush greenery.
The flourishing foliage was like a green barrier.
It blocked out the noise and restlessness of the outside world.
It calmed the mind.
Taking a deep breath of the clean air of nature, Lin Tian felt happy.
This was one reason why he chose to be a ranger.
Of course,
there was a more important reason.
The magical stone Lin Tian obtained one day.
The stone was smaller than a fist.
Its surface was irregular.
It was dark gray.
If you didn't look closely, it looked like an ordinary stone picked up by the roadside.
But this stone was no ordinary stone.
He found it one day while digging in the basement of his old home.
Since he found it,
the stone seemed to be bound to him.
No matter where he threw the stone,
as long as he thought about it, the stone would instantly appear in his hand.
It was very magical.
And after studying it, Lin Tian discovered that the stone had two magical effects.
The first effect.
Carrying the stone on him,
allowed him to understand the general thoughts and emotions of animals.
It also made all animals naturally like him.
The second effect.
As long as he soaked the stone in water, he could turn ordinary water into magical spirit water.
If he poured the spirit water on plants,
it could accelerate their growth and improve their properties.
If animals drank it,
it could subtly enhance their physical constitution and intelligence.
After discovering the stone's magical effects, Lin Tian's first reaction was to become a ranger in the mountains.
This was the life he wanted.
And with this magical stone, he could make his life in the mountains even easier and more comfortable.
While pondering these thoughts, Lin Tian glanced at the livestream.
During the moment he had been distracted, a few scattered comments had already appeared in the chat.
“Streamer??? You’re only 20, right?? Why become a ranger???”
“I hear that rangers are one of the loneliest professions. You rarely go home once a year. There are actually people who can endure this loneliness.”
“Honestly, streamer, what did you go through that made you choose this profession.”
“This is like early retirement, huh.”
…
Because Lin Tian had only just created his livestream today.
There weren't many viewers online, only a dozen or so.
So there weren’t many comments.
Most were surprised that Lin Tian was a ranger.
After all, Lin Tian was only 22 today, a recent college graduate.
Under normal circumstances, people of this age wouldn’t choose to be rangers.
Because the job of a ranger is truly lonely.
Living in the remote mountains for a long time, with no one to talk to.
Repeating the same work and life day after day.
Few young people could endure it.
However, this did not include Lin Tian.
He was different.
He had always loved the life in nature, loved animals.
He didn't think living in nature would be boring.
Of course, most importantly.
Lin Tian had a stone that could understand the hearts of animals and make spirit water.
Living in nature would be much easier for him.
“The work of a ranger is actually pretty good. Away from people, in harmony with nature. I think it's pretty good.”
Lin Tian interacted with the livestream while continuing to climb the mountain.
This was his first day on the job.
He had a lot to do.
It was already noon.
The summer sun was harsh.
Fortunately, the trees in the Ten Thousand Mountains were very tall and lush.
They blocked most of the sun, leaving only mottled rays of light shining down.
Lin Tian climbed the mountain, admiring the scenery along the way, chatting with the viewers on his livestream.
This journey was not boring at all.
Soon.
An hour later.
Lin Tian arrived at his management area.
At the entrance of the area.
A middle-aged man in camouflage uniform, with dark skin, was already waiting there.
“Hello, you must be Lin Tian. I'm Wang Jian, the ranger from the next area. The bureau asked me to arrange your accommodation.”
Wang Jian stepped forward and shook Lin Tian’s hand.
Lin Tian also smiled and shook his hand.
“Hello, Wang Dage. Thanks for your trouble.”
“Haha, no trouble, no trouble!”
“However, you're much younger than I imagined. This is the first time I've seen a ranger this young!”
“This is your first job, right? How did you decide to become a ranger?”
“This job isn’t for young people.”
Wang Jian was surprised to see Lin Tian so young.
At the same time,
maybe because he hadn’t seen anyone for a long time guarding the reserve,
Wang Jian was unusually enthusiastic, pulling Lin Tian aside and talking a lot.
Lin Tian just occasionally smiled and replied with one or two words.
The two chatted as they walked deeper into the area along the mountain path.
After walking for about ten minutes, a red brick courtyard appeared at the end of the path.
But the courtyard seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. Vines grew all over the wall, and the courtyard gate was missing half.
Seeing Lin Tian look at the house on the hillside, Wang Jian said with a smile:
“You see, the red brick courtyard in front is the ranger’s house for this area.”
“However, since the last ranger retired, no one has taken over this area for seven or eight years.”
“So this small courtyard has been empty for seven or eight years. I guess it has grown a lot of weeds. If you want to live here, you’ll have to spend some time cleaning it up.”
Lin Tian also saw that the house hadn’t been lived in for a long time.
The vines growing wildly on the wall almost covered the original color of the wall.
From afar, it looked like a green wall.
“No problem, I’ll just clean it up slowly.”
Lin Tian smiled, not minding.
The workload of a ranger wasn’t heavy. Once he had free time, he could spend a lot of time taking care of the house.
Lin Tian took the lead and walked ahead, wanting to see his new home first.
Wang Jian followed behind, chuckling.
The end of the path was the courtyard gate.
They arrived at the door,
Lin Tian reached out and pushed open the rotten wooden door.
The wooden door, because it had been untouched for so long.
The hinges were rusty.
As he pushed it open,
it made a creaking sound of old wood.
Lin Tian took some effort to push open the door.
He was about to step inside.
At that moment.
He suddenly noticed a dark shadow from the corner of his eye, flying straight at him.
Lin Tian reacted very quickly, subconsciously taking a step back.
He dodged the shadow.
But he almost bumped into Wang Jian, who was following behind.
“Ouch, Lin Tian, what's wrong?”
Wang Jian behind him was also startled by Lin Tian’s action.
He asked in confusion.
“Wang Dage, there seems to be something in the courtyard.”
Lin Tian frowned slightly.
He looked down at the shadow that had attacked him.
He saw a green and unripe wild fruit lying on the grass at the entrance of the courtyard.
This is... a date?
Lin Tian looked at the unripe dates on the ground, stunned.
How could the dates in this courtyard suddenly fly at him?
Lin Tian was puzzled.
He looked back into the courtyard.
He was instantly shocked.
He was stunned by the sight inside!
In the courtyard.
On a lush jujube tree, there was a group of golden-haired figures squatting.
They had long tails, fluffy fur, and big black eyes.
Some sat, some stood, some hung upside down on the tree.
They all stared at Lin Tian, roaring threateningly at him, as if they were about to attack.
There seemed to be dozens of them.
Their identity.
Anyone who was Chinese could recognize them at first glance.
They were a unique, level-one, endangered animal in China.
One of the most beautiful and valuable monkeys in the world.
The prototype of the Monkey King in Journey to the West.
The Sichuan Golden Monkey!
At this moment,
These docile golden monkeys were all looking at him with hostility, their long tails held high, full of aggression!
Seeing their appearance, Lin Tian looked strange.
These golden monkeys seemed to blame him for intruding on their territory?