One-Eyed Monster

Kadi, unable to sleep, inwardly berated himself again. The reason was that, at this very moment, he had thought of old Kevin. That old man Kevin was an abominable fellow. It wasn’t just that he spoke inexplicably; he was also always punishing people. Kadi couldn’t remember how many times he had been punished by that old man. It really made no sense to think of that old fellow at a time like this.

The night wind whooshed past his ears. He didn’t feel cold at all. Thinking of the two fellows huddled beside him, and then of the two who slept sitting upright, Kadi suddenly found these people truly strange. They were obviously the same species, yet their habits differed so greatly. Some were fearless of the cold, while others were terrified of it...

They truly are a strange species, Kadi thought to himself. Strangely, at this moment, he again recalled old Kevin’s baffling words. Kevin had once said that humans are the strangest beings, yet it was these strange beings that occupied countless resources. Lions and tigers weren’t much weaker physically—some were even stronger—yet they were still driven into the deep mountains by humans.

Kadi hadn’t understood much back then. However, after spending some time wandering around Dawn Peak, he gradually began to grasp it. He discovered that some of the people who came to climb the mountain were incredibly weak, so weak it seemed a gust of wind could blow them over. Some looked quite capable, yet they would be exhausted as soon as they began to climb. They’d be gasping for breath and drinking water after just a few steps, finishing all their water before even reaching halfway up the mountain. That level of incompetence was worse than the monkeys in the depths of Guru Mountain. At that time, Kadi had an actual urge to go into the deep mountains, catch a monkey, and release it on Dawn Peak. He wanted to show this group, who constantly boasted about going to the mountain to gather White Cloud Fruit and defeat monsters, what real climbing entailed...

However, this idea of Kadi’s was stopped by old Kevin, and that fellow, true to form, added a pile of his usual baffling remarks. He said, "When you truly disrupt these people’s interests, what you’ll face is a formidable force. These people may not seem important individually, but collectively they are difficult to deal with."

It was strange. Kadi always found Kevin’s words baffling, yet, as fate would have it, he often recalled them. Those words seemed to have taken root and sprouted in his mind; he couldn’t forget them even if he wanted to. From time to time, a new branch would grow and figuratively tap his head, as if telling him, "See? Kevin was right, wasn’t he?"

Why do I always think of that fellow Kevin at times like these...

Kadi racked his brains but could never figure out the reason. And this wasn’t the first time it had happened.

Once, when he was very young, he was playing in the mountains and lost his way; the first person he thought of then was Kevin. Later, when he grew a bit older and became more mischievous, he emulated the monkeys, swinging through the trees in the mountains. He accidentally injured his leg, and the pain immediately made him think of Kevin. Later still, when he was exploring the mountains and discovered some novelties, the first person he thought of, surprisingly, was Kevin again...

Now that he sensed something amiss on Guru Mountain, his natural first reaction was, of course, to tell Kevin...