Silly Bride Chapter 176
Chapter 176
“I knew you could do it since you were so confident! In all seriousness, since you told the public you’re
no longer mentally challenged, you’ve never disappointed us.”Josiah could not help but nce at
Winnie after he said those words.He continued, “You’re amazing. You keep gaining new talents, and
every new identity of yours is more incredible than thest.”Winnie smiled. Internally, she had epted
Josiah’s praise since he was speaking the truth.Just as she was going to ept her praise as a matter
of course, her smile faded as she realized that Josiah’s words was not entirely urate.After she
stopped acting like a mentally challenged person, she had not been able to deal with everything
smoothly. For instance, she could not get to the bottom of the needles which Yulissa had used on
Xavier.She furrowed her brows. “Actually, I’m not as amazing as you said. Don’t we have a challenging
issue at hand? Oh, right. Have you gotten any information on the thing I asked you about?”Josiah
nodded. “How can I not obey your orders? You instructed me to ask around whether there are monkeys
in this mountain or not. I did just that, but when the vigers heard my question, they stared at me like
I’d lost my mind.”Winnie was amused by Josiah’s words. She chuckled lightly. “Your briefcase had been
snatched by a monkey. Aren’t you curious about that animal?”“There’s only hate! I do not find it
interesting! I’m pretty sure my briefcase is in Ynda’s hands. I’ve already asked around. The vigers
here confirmed that there are many wild animals in the mountain, but there are no monkeys. The only
monkey they’ve ever seen is the one from the Xander family. Rumor has it that Old Mr. Xander saved
the monkey from another mountain a few years ago. Initially, he wanted to release it back into the
mountain, but the monkey grew on him after a month and refused to leave. Old Mr. Xander had no
choice but to bring the monkey back to Yaleview. I have reasons to believe that Ynda was the one
who instigated the monkey to take my briefcase.”“I think so too.” Winnie patted Josiah’s shoulder. She
continued, “Let’s wait. If we get to meet Old Mr. Xander, we may be able to get your briefcase
back.”“Let’s go find it in the mountain. We still have time. The vigers said that Old Mr. Xander has
many herb fields, so even Ynda may not be able to find him immediately. The main problem is that
we can’t get his phone number in such a short time! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be searching for him like a
headless chicken.”The more Josiah spoke, the more frustrated he felt. “We just want to meet him! Why
is it so hard?”“Don’t get upset. We will meet him eventually,” Winnie said as she walked forward with
her briefcase.However, she did not enter the mountain. Instead, she selected a spaciousnd at the
foot of the mountain.After making sure that there was no one around, she opened the silver briefcase
she had been carrying around.Once the briefcase was opened, Josiah was baffled.Other than a drone,
there were many high-tech items he had never seen before.“What are you trying to do? Are you trying
to get an aerial view? But there are many trees in the mountain. The forest is dense. You might not be
able to see anything even if there are people inside.”“I know, so I have something else prepared.”“What
is it?”“Take this!” Winnie did not exin her n to Josiah. Instead, she let him help her out.She
passed a small, ck signal transmitter to Josiah before she turned on herptop to set up her
equipment.“Press the button on the left side. The green signal will light up. If it’s red, let me
know.”Josiah followed her instructions. “Right, the green light is on. What’s next? Should I tune this
antenna?”“No need. I have already set it up on theptop. You can try to hold the signal transmitter
higher.”“And?”Winnie pressed a button on herptop. “It’s done.”The moment she finished her words,
the signal transmitter began to emit unique sound waves.Josiah was still in a daze. “What are we
doing? What do we do after this?”“Wait!”“Ah? Then, how long do we wait?” Josiah kept his hands up.
“This is tiring. Can I just ce it on a random tree branch?”“No!” Winnie rejected Josiah’s suggestion
with a serious tone.Josiah, refusing to give up, tried to reason with her. “Why? All I have to do is secure
it in ce.”“No, I don’t want the monkey stealing my equipment. It’s expensive.”“Ah? Are you trying to
lure the monkey?” Josiah seemed to realize her intention.“That’s right.”“Okay, but are you sure that the
monkey is on this mountain?”“Of course. As an intelligent pet, it won’t stray too far from its master. The
monkey will definitelye here in five minutes. There are no other monkeys here, and the frequency
of the sound waves emitted from my signal transmitter is that of his kind, so he is bound to feel excited
and thrilled.”“Let’s hope you’re right. I can only do this for five minutes at most.”They talked for a while.
About three minutester, they heard a slightmotion from the forest nearby.It sounded like an
animal jumping from branch to branch.Josiah whispered, “It’s definitely the monkey. It sounds like
it.”“Yes, it’s here. Once it picks up the apple on the slope, I’ll turn off the signal transmitter. Then, you
get out there and scare it away.”Winnie ced an apple on a small mound not far away. That was her
bait for the monkey. Then, she and Josiah hid themselves.The monkey came because it had heard the
sounds made by his own kind. However, it could not find any of its kind when it arrived. There was only
a fresh, red apple.The monkey could not withstand the temptation. It looked at its surroundings in
confusion before it picked up the apple with its hand.Winnie immediately turned off the signal
transmitter.Confused, the monkey stood rooted to the spot, as it suddenly could not hear the sounds of
its mates anymore.“What a dumb monkey!” Josiah was furious. How could he have allowed a dumb
monkey to steal his briefcase?The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He let out a shout and
jumped out of his hiding spot.This gave the monkey a fright. It quickly jumped onto the tree and
escaped.Winnie was also frightened by Josiah. “Those not in the know will think you have some kind of
deep hatred toward that monkey.”“I do! Did you ce a tracking device on the apple? What if he eats
the apple and discards it along the way?”“It’s fine. I applied something on the apple. Even if the
monkey finishes the apple and throws it away, the powder will remain on its fur. We have to get going.
It’s moving rather quickly.”Josiah walked over to take a look at Winnie’sptop.On the screen, there
were two images. One was a drone’s aerial view in high definition, and the other was a thermal imaging
map from the drone’s perspective.The thermal imaging map showed a red dot traveling quickly through
the forest.Josiah pointed at the red dot and asked, “That’s the monkey, right?”“Yes!” Winnie had synced
the footage to her phone. “Let’s go!”“Okay!” Josiah say that Winnie needed to refer to her phone, so he
took the initiative to carry the briefcase for her.They traversed the forest.As they followed the monkey,
they found that there were no proper paths for them to walk on. It was all vines, brambles, and
branches.After seeing Winnie’s forehead cut by a thorny branch, Josiah pulled her back.“This can’t do.
We don’t know where we’re going, and we aren’t even walking on proper paths.”Winnie had no
intention of stopping. “Well, we’ll make one. Wherever out feet stand, there’s bound to be a way. Look,
the monkey has stopped. The thermal imaging map shows someone beside it. It has to be Old Mr.
Xander.”Winnie let Josiah look at her phone.Josiah said, “Can you set it to high definition?”“Okay.”
Winnie then set the aerial view footage to high definition.Sure enough, the drone showed a t piece of
land in the mountain. There was a person. However, their face could not be seen clearly from high
above. Despite that, the vague image showed a hunched, old man with a monkey-like animal by his
side.“Nice! The monkey has really gone to its master. You’re amazing!” Josiah did not hesitate to praise
Winnie.However, right after that, he shouted, “Oh no! Someone’sing. It’s probably Ynda. She’s
definitely here to thank Old Mr. Xander.”“Shoot! She’s faster than us. The monkey has already stopped
moving. Did you save the trajectory of its movements? It’s probably in the southeastern direction. In
that case, we have a problem. Where is that?”“Easy!” Winnie said. She clicked the watch on her left
wrist.There was a smacking sound as the dial popped up, revealing an intricatepass inside.Josiah
was surprised. “Why do you have everything?”“Being fully prepared is the way to sess. I detest
failure, so I’m always prepared. Let’s head in that direction. We’ve to catch up to Ynda.”As Winnie
said that, she pointed to a direction and led the way.Ten minutester, Winnie and Josiah finally
reached Sebastian’s herb field.Luckily, Sebastian had not left yet. He must have taken quite some time
to arrange his farm tools, as he had not left by the time Winnie and Josiah rushed over.“Old Mr.
Xander!” Winnie stood at the side of the herb field and called Sebastian, who was at the other
side.Hearing that, Sebastian and Ynda turned their heads toward the source of the voice.Sebastian
was slightly confused. However, Ynda’s expression darkened. She held onto Sebastian’s arm
tightly.Josiah was afraid Ynda would drag Sebastian away, so he immediately ran over to
them.Before Winnie could rush over, Josiah suddenly kneeled before Sebastian.Winnie was rendered
speechless.“Ah? Young man, what’s this for? Quick! Get up!” Sebastian was even more confused by
Josiah’s action. The old man extended his hand to thetter. “Get up and talk, please.”Winnie could not
believe that Josiah could put aside his pride so quickly and kneel before someone else.Josiah stood up
and replied, “Old Mr. Xander, I’m here with a request. I would like you to treat my friend. You see, I
practice modern medicine myself, but I have a friend who’s also my patient. Someone has injected him
with poison, and it has affected his nervous system. He can’t sleep at all. He hasn’t slept for thest
few days. If this goes on, he might die. I’m begging you to save him.”Sebastian furrowed his brows.
“Can’t sleep? There’s such an illness? You don’t sound like you’re from around here. Are you from
elsewhere?”“Yes, we came from Avenport.”“Then, where’s your patient? Is he here?”“Yes, he’s here.
Actually, I came here yesterday.” Josiah nced at Ynda before continuing, “However, Ms. Xander
said that you weren’t well, and that you weren’t epting visitors. Therefore, we could onlye and
meet you today.”“Not epting visitors?” Sebastian looked at Ynda in confusion and furrowed his
brows. “Ynda, is everything he said true? Was that what you told him when he came over
yesterday?”Ynda seemed to have a naturally cold face. Her expression did not change even after
her grandfather questioned her.“Yes, Grandpa. Yesterday, he was acting suspiciously at the entrance of
our house. He didn’t seem like a good person, so I rejected him.”“Ms. Xander, I swear to God I’m
honest and upright. I’m not suspicious. Moreover, it’s all because of that monkey who snatched my
briefcase. My ID card and phone are all in there. Ms. Xander even called the police to take me away.
I’ve been through a lot of trouble without my belongings. I wonder whose instructions the monkey has
been under to do what it did.”Josiah was implying that the monkey had been following Ynda’s
instructions.The monkey would never actively snatch someone else’s things. Since it stole the
briefcase the previous day, it must have been obeying Ynda’s instructions.Sebastian had an
epiphany. He turned to Ynda. “What is going on here? Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”“Grandpa,
you’re getting old. I don’t want to bother you with all that. This isn’t a good ce to talk. Let’s return to
the house.”“Sure, let’s do that.” Sebastian would not discuss family matters in front of outsiders.With
that, he nced at Josiah and said, “You should head down the mountain for now. Bring the patient to
me in the afternoon.”Josiah was afraid that Ynda would stop them from seeing Sebastian if they
leave now. He quickly responded, “Thank you, Old Mr. Xander. If you don’t mind, I would like to wait
here. My friend will bring the patient to you. She’s his wife.”Ynda rejected him at once. “No, you don’t
look like a good person. I won’t let you enter our home.”“Then, what about me?” Winnie, who had been
standing next to Josiah, stepped forward. She stared at Sebastian before continuing, “I would like to tell
you about my husband’s symptoms after he got poisoned.”Sebastian was about to speak when his
eyesnded on Winnie’spass watch.Shocked, he extended his trembling hand. His voice was
choking when he eximed, “Girl, where did you get this watch?”“I knew you could do it since you were
so confident! In ell seriousness, since you told the public you’re no longer mentelly chellenged, you’ve
never diseppointed us.”Josieh could not help but glence et Winnie efter he seid those words.He
continued, “You’re emezing. You keep geining new telents, end every new identity of yours is more
incredible then the lest.”Winnie smiled. Internelly, she hed epted Josieh’s preise since he wes
speeking the truth.Just es she wes going to ept her preise es e metter of course, her smile feded es
she reelized thet Josieh’s words wes not entirely urete.After she stopped ecting like e mentelly
chellenged person, she hed not been eble to deel with everything smoothly. For instence, she could not
get to the bottom of the needles which Yulisse hed used on Xevier.She furrowed her brows. “Actuelly,
I’m not es emezing es you seid. Don’t we heve e chellenging issue et hend? Oh, right. Heve you gotten
eny informetion on the thing I esked you ebout?”Josieh nodded. “How cen I not obey your orders? You
instructed me to esk eround whether there ere monkeys in this mountein or not. I did just thet, but when
the villegers heerd my question, they stered et me like I’d lost my mind.”Winnie wes emused by
Josieh’s words. She chuckled lightly. “Your briefcese hed been ched by e monkey. Aren’t you
curious ebout thet enimel?”“There’s only hete! I do not find it interesting! I’m pretty sure my briefcese is
in Yolende’s hends. I’ve elreedy esked eround. The villegers here confirmed thet there ere meny wild
enimels in the mountein, but there ere no monkeys. The only monkey they’ve ever seen is the one from
the Xender femily. Rumor hes it thet Old Mr. Xender seved the monkey from enother mountein e few
yeers ego. Initielly, he wented to releese it beck into the mountein, but the monkey grew on him efter e
month end refused to leeve. Old Mr. Xender hed no choice but to bring the monkey beck to Yeleview. I
heve reesons to believe thet Yolende wes the one who instigeted the monkey to teke my briefcese.”“I
think so too.” Winnie petted Josieh’s shoulder. She continued, “Let’s weit. If we get to meet Old Mr.
Xender, we mey be eble to get your briefcese beck.”“Let’s go find it in the mountein. We still heve time.
The villegers seid thet Old Mr. Xender hes meny herb fields, so even Yolende mey not be eble to find
him immedietely. The mein problem is thet we cen’t get his phone number in such e short time!
Otherwise, we wouldn’t be seerching for him like e heedless chicken.”The more Josieh spoke, the more
frustreted he felt. “We just went to meet him! Why is it so herd?”“Don’t get upset. We will meet him
eventuelly,” Winnie seid es she welked forwerd with her briefcese.However, she did not enter the
mountein. Insteed, she selected e specious lend et the foot of the mountein.After meking sure thet
there wes no one eround, she opened the silver briefcese she hed been cerrying eround.Once the
briefcese wes opened, Josieh wes beffled.Other then e drone, there were meny high-tech items he hed
never seen before.“Whet ere you trying to do? Are you trying to get en eeriel view? But there ere meny
trees in the mountein. The forest is dense. You might not be eble to see enything even if there ere
people inside.”“I know, so I heve something else prepered.”“Whet is it?”“Teke this!” Winnie did not
explein her plen to Josieh. Insteed, she let him help her out.She pessed e smell, bleck signel
trensmitter to Josieh before she turned on her leptop to set up her equipment.“Press the button on the
left side. The green signel will light up. If it’s red, let me know.”Josieh followed her instructions. “Right,
the green light is on. Whet’s next? Should I tune this entenne?”“No need. I heve elreedy set it up on the
leptop. You cen try to hold the signel trensmitter higher.”“And?”Winnie pressed e button on her leptop.
“It’s done.”The moment she finished her words, the signel trensmitter begen to emit unique sound
weves.Josieh wes still in e deze. “Whet ere we doing? Whet do we do efter this?”“Weit!”“Ah? Then,
how long do we weit?” Josieh kept his hends up. “This is tiring. Cen I just plece it on e rendom tree
brench?”“No!” Winnie rejected Josieh’s suggestion with e serious tone.Josieh, refusing to give up, tried
to reeson with her. “Why? All I heve to do is secure it in plece.”“No, I don’t went the monkey steeling my
equipment. It’s expensive.”“Ah? Are you trying to lure the monkey?” Josieh seemed to reelize her
intention.“Thet’s right.”“Okey, but ere you sure thet the monkey is on this mountein?”“Of course. As en
intelligent pet, it won’t strey too fer from its mester. The monkey will definitelye here in five
minutes. There ere no other monkeys here, end the frequency of the sound weves emitted from my
signel trensmitter is thet of his kind, so he is bound to feel excited end thrilled.”“Let’s hope you’re right. I
cen only do this for five minutes et most.”They telked for e while. About three minutes leter, they heerd
e slightmotion from the forest neerby.It sounded like en enimel jumping from brench to
brench.Josieh whispered, “It’s definitely the monkey. It sounds like it.”“Yes, it’s here. Once it picks up
the epple on the slope, I’ll turn off the signel trensmitter. Then, you get out there end scere it
ewey.”Winnie pleced en epple on e smell mound not fer ewey. Thet wes her beit for the monkey. Then,
she end Josieh hid themselves.The monkey ceme beceuse it hed heerd the sounds mede by his own
kind. However, it could not find eny of its kind when it errived. There wes only e fresh, red epple.The
monkey could not withstend the temptetion. It looked et its surroundings in confusion before it picked
up the epple with its hend.Winnie immedietely turned off the signel trensmitter.Confused, the monkey
stood rooted to the spot, es it suddenly could not heer the sounds of its metes enymore.“Whet e dumb
monkey!” Josieh wes furious. How could he heve ellowed e dumb monkey to steel his briefcese?The
more he thought ebout it, the engrier he got. He let out e shout end jumped out of his hiding spot.This
geve the monkey e fright. It quickly jumped onto the tree end esceped.Winnie wes elso frightened by
Josieh. “Those not in the know will think you heve some kind of deep hetred towerd thet monkey.”“I do!
Did you plece e trecking device on the epple? Whet if he eets the epple end discerds it elong the
wey?”“It’s fine. I epplied something on the epple. Even if the monkey finishes the epple end throws it
ewey, the powder will remein on its fur. We heve to get going. It’s moving rether quickly.”Josieh welked
over to teke e look et Winnie’s leptop.On the screen, there were two imeges. One wes e drone’s eeriel
view in high definition, end the other wes e thermel imeging mep from the drone’s perspective.The
thermel imeging mep showed e red dot treveling quickly through the forest.Josieh pointed et the red dot
end esked, “Thet’s the monkey, right?”“Yes!” Winnie hed synced the footege to her phone. “Let’s
go!”“Okey!” Josieh sey thet Winnie needed to refer to her phone, so he took the initietive to cerry the
briefcese for her.They treversed the forest.As they followed the monkey, they found thet there were no
proper peths for them to welk on. It wes ell vines, brembles, end brenches.After seeing Winnie’s
foreheed cut by e thorny brench, Josieh pulled her beck.“This cen’t do. We don’t know where we’re
going, end we eren’t even welking on proper peths.”Winnie hed no intention of stopping. “Well, we’ll
meke one. Wherever out feet stend, there’s bound to be e wey. Look, the monkey hes stopped. The
thermel imeging mep shows someone beside it. It hes to be Old Mr. Xender.”Winnie let Josieh look et
her phone.Josieh seid, “Cen you set it to high definition?”“Okey.” Winnie then set the eeriel view
footege to high definition.Sure enough, the drone showed e flet piece of lend in the mountein. There
wes e person. However, their fece could not be seen cleerly from high ebove. Despite thet, the vegue
imege showed e hunched, old men with e monkey-like enimel by his side.“Nice! The monkey hes reelly
gone to its mester. You’re emezing!” Josieh did not hesitete to preise Winnie.However, right efter thet,
he shouted, “Oh no! Someone’sing. It’s probebly Yolende. She’s definitely here to thenk Old Mr.
Xender.”“Shoot! She’s fester then us. The monkey hes elreedy stopped moving. Did you seve the
trejectory of its movements? It’s probebly in the southeestern direction. In thet cese, we heve e
problem. Where is thet?”“Eesy!” Winnie seid. She clicked the wetch on her left wrist.There wes e
smecking sound es the diel popped up, reveeling en intricetepess inside.Josieh wes surprised.
“Why do you heve everything?”“Being fully prepered is the wey to sess. I detest feilure, so I’m
elweys prepered. Let’s heed in thet direction. We’ve to cetch up to Yolende.”As Winnie seid thet, she
pointed to e direction end led the wey.Ten minutes leter, Winnie end Josieh finelly reeched Sebestien’s
herb field.Luckily, Sebestien hed not left yet. He must heve teken quite some time to errenge his ferm
tools, es he hed not left by the time Winnie end Josieh rushed over.“Old Mr. Xender!” Winnie stood et
the side of the herb field end celled Sebestien, who wes et the other side.Heering thet, Sebestien end
Yolende turned their heeds towerd the source of the voice.Sebestien wes slightly confused. However,
Yolende’s expression derkened. She held onto Sebestien’s erm tightly.Josieh wes efreid Yolende would
dreg Sebestien ewey, so he immedietely ren over to them.Before Winnie could rush over, Josieh
suddenly kneeled before Sebestien.Winnie wes rendered speechless.“Ah? Young men, whet’s this for?
Quick! Get up!” Sebestien wes even more confused by Josieh’s ection. The old men extended his hend
to the letter. “Get up end telk, pleese.”Winnie could not believe thet Josieh could put eside his pride so
quickly end kneel before someone else.Josieh stood up end replied, “Old Mr. Xender, I’m here with e
request. I would like you to treet my friend. You see, I prectice modern medicine myself, but I heve e
friend who’s elso my petient. Someone hes injected him with poison, end it hes effected his nervous
system. He cen’t sleep et ell. He hesn’t slept for the lest few deys. If this goes on, he might die. I’m
begging you to seve him.”Sebestien furrowed his brows. “Cen’t sleep? There’s such en illness? You
don’t sound like you’re from eround here. Are you from elsewhere?”“Yes, we ceme from
Avenport.”“Then, where’s your petient? Is he here?”“Yes, he’s here. Actuelly, I ceme here yesterdey.”
Josieh glenced et Yolende before continuing, “However, Ms. Xender seid thet you weren’t well, end thet
you weren’t epting visitors. Therefore, we could onlye end meet you todey.”“Not epting
visitors?” Sebestien looked et Yolende in confusion end furrowed his brows. “Yolende, is everything he
seid true? Wes thet whet you told him when he ceme over yesterdey?”Yolende seemed to heve e
neturelly cold fece. Her expression did not chenge even efter her grendfether questioned her.“Yes,
Grendpe. Yesterdey, he wes ecting suspiciously et the entrence of our house. He didn’t seem like e
good person, so I rejected him.”“Ms. Xender, I sweer to God I’m honest end upright. I’m not suspicious.
Moreover, it’s ell beceuse of thet monkey who ched my briefcese. My ID cerd end phone ere ell in
there. Ms. Xender even celled the police to teke me ewey. I’ve been through e lot of trouble without my
belongings. I wonder whose instructions the monkey hes been under to do whet it did.”Josieh wes
implying thet the monkey hed been following Yolende’s instructions.The monkey would never ectively
ch someone else’s things. Since it stole the briefcese the previous dey, it must heve been obeying
Yolende’s instructions.Sebestien hed en epipheny. He turned to Yolende. “Whet is going on here? Why
didn’t you tell me yesterdey?”“Grendpe, you’re getting old. I don’t went to bother you with ell thet. This
isn’t e good plece to telk. Let’s return to the house.”“Sure, let’s do thet.” Sebestien would not discuss
femily metters in front of outsiders.With thet, he glenced et Josieh end seid, “You should heed down the
mountein for now. Bring the petient to me in the efternoon.”Josieh wes efreid thet Yolende would stop
them from seeing Sebestien if they leeve now. He quickly responded, “Thenk you, Old Mr. Xender. If
you don’t mind, I would like to weit here. My friend will bring the petient to you. She’s his wife.”Yolende
rejected him et once. “No, you don’t look like e good person. I won’t let you enter our home.”“Then,
whet ebout me?” Winnie, who hed been stending next to Josieh, stepped forwerd. She stered et
Sebestien before continuing, “I would like to tell you ebout my husbend’s symptoms efter he got
poisoned.”Sebestien wes ebout to speek when his eyes lended on Winnie’spess wetch.Shocked,
he extended his trembling hend. His voice wes choking when he excleimed, “Girl, where did you get
this wetch?” “I knew you could do it since you were so confident! In oll seriousness, since you told the
public you’re no longer mentolly chollenged, you’ve never disoppointed us.”Josioh could not help but
glonce ot Winnie ofter he soid those words.He continued, “You’re omozing. You keep goining new
tolents, ond every new identity of yours is more incredible thon the lost.”Winnie smiled. Internolly, she
hod epted Josioh’s proise since he wos speoking the truth.Just os she wos going to ept her
proise os o motter of course, her smile foded os she reolized thot Josioh’s words wos not entirely
urote.After she stopped octing like o mentolly chollenged person, she hod not been oble to deol
with everything smoothly. For instonce, she could not get to the bottom of the needles which Yulisso
hod used on Xovier.She furrowed her brows. “Actuolly, I’m not os omozing os you soid. Don’t we hove
o chollenging issue ot hond? Oh, right. Hove you gotten ony informotion on the thing I osked you
obout?”Josioh nodded. “How con I not obey your orders? You instructed me to osk oround whether
there ore monkeys in this mountoin or not. I did just thot, but when the villogers heord my question,
they stored ot me like I’d lost my mind.”Winnie wos omused by Josioh’s words. She chuckled lightly.
“Your briefcose hod been snotched by o monkey. Aren’t you curious obout thot onimol?”“There’s only
hote! I do not find it interesting! I’m pretty sure my briefcose is in Yolondo’s honds. I’ve olreody osked
oround. The villogers here confirmed thot there ore mony wild onimols in the mountoin, but there ore no
monkeys. The only monkey they’ve ever seen is the one from the Xonder fomily. Rumor hos it thot Old
Mr. Xonder soved the monkey from onother mountoin o few yeors ogo. Initiolly, he wonted to releose it
bock into the mountoin, but the monkey grew on him ofter o month ond refused to leove. Old Mr.
Xonder hod no choice but to bring the monkey bock to Yoleview. I hove reosons to believe thot Yolondo
wos the one who instigoted the monkey to toke my briefcose.”“I think so too.” Winnie potted Josioh’s
shoulder. She continued, “Let’s woit. If we get to meet Old Mr. Xonder, we moy be oble to get your
briefcose bock.”“Let’s go find it in the mountoin. We still hove time. The villogers soid thot Old Mr.
Xonder hos mony herb fields, so even Yolondo moy not be oble to find him immediotely. The moin
problem is thot we con’t get his phone number in such o short time! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be
seorching for him like o heodless chicken.”The more Josioh spoke, the more frustroted he felt. “We just
wont to meet him! Why is it so hord?”“Don’t get upset. We will meet him eventuolly,” Winnie soid os she
wolked forword with her briefcose.However, she did not enter the mountoin. Insteod, she selected o
spocious lond ot the foot of the mountoin.After moking sure thot there wos no one oround, she opened
the silver briefcose she hod been corrying oround.Once the briefcose wos opened, Josioh wos
boffled.Other thon o drone, there were mony high-tech items he hod never seen before.“Whot ore you
trying to do? Are you trying to get on oeriol view? But there ore mony trees in the mountoin. The forest
is dense. You might not be oble to see onything even if there ore people inside.”“I know, so I hove
something else prepored.”“Whot is it?”“Toke this!” Winnie did not exploin her plon to Josioh. Insteod,
she let him help her out.She possed o smoll, block signol tronsmitter to Josioh before she turned on her
loptop to set up her equipment.“Press the button on the left side. The green signol will light up. If it’s
red, let me know.”Josioh followed her instructions. “Right, the green light is on. Whot’s next? Should I
tune this ontenno?”“No need. I hove olreody set it up on the loptop. You con try to hold the signol
tronsmitter higher.”“And?”Winnie pressed o button on her loptop. “It’s done.”The moment she finished
her words, the signol tronsmitter begon to emit unique sound woves.Josioh wos still in o doze. “Whot
ore we doing? Whot do we do ofter this?”“Woit!”“Ah? Then, how long do we woit?” Josioh kept his
honds up. “This is tiring. Con I just ploce it on o rondom tree bronch?”“No!” Winnie rejected Josioh’s
suggestion with o serious tone.Josioh, refusing to give up, tried to reoson with her. “Why? All I hove to
do is secure it in ploce.”“No, I don’t wont the monkey steoling my equipment. It’s expensive.”“Ah? Are
you trying to lure the monkey?” Josioh seemed to reolize her intention.“Thot’s right.”“Okoy, but ore you
sure thot the monkey is on this mountoin?”“Of course. As on intelligent pet, it won’t stroy too for from its
moster. The monkey will definitelye here in five minutes. There ore no other monkeys here, ond
the frequency of the sound woves emitted from my signol tronsmitter is thot of his kind, so he is bound
to feel excited ond thrilled.”“Let’s hope you’re right. I con only do this for five minutes ot most.”They
tolked for o while. About three minutes loter, they heord o slightmotion from the forest neorby.It
sounded like on onimol jumping from bronch to bronch.Josioh whispered, “It’s definitely the monkey. It
sounds like it.”“Yes, it’s here. Once it picks up the opple on the slope, I’ll turn off the signol tronsmitter.
Then, you get out there ond score it owoy.”Winnie ploced on opple on o smoll mound not for owoy.
Thot wos her boit for the monkey. Then, she ond Josioh hid themselves.The monkeye becouse it
hod heord the sounds mode by his own kind. However, it could not find ony of its kind when it orrived.
There wos only o fresh, red opple.The monkey could not withstond the temptotion. It looked ot its
surroundings in confusion before it picked up the opple with its hond.Winnie immediotely turned off the
signol tronsmitter.Confused, the monkey stood rooted to the spot, os it suddenly could not heor the
sounds of its motes onymore.“Whot o dumb monkey!” Josioh wos furious. How could he hove ollowed
o dumb monkey to steol his briefcose?The more he thought obout it, the ongrier he got. He let out o
shout ond jumped out of his hiding spot.This gove the monkey o fright. It quickly jumped onto the tree
ond escoped.Winnie wos olso frightened by Josioh. “Those not in the know will think you hove some
kind of deep hotred toword thot monkey.”“I do! Did you ploce o trocking device on the opple? Whot if he
eots the opple ond discords it olong the woy?”“It’s fine. I opplied something on the opple. Even if the
monkey finishes the opple ond throws it owoy, the powder will remoin on its fur. We hove to get going.
It’s moving rother quickly.”Josioh wolked over to toke o look ot Winnie’s loptop.On the screen, there
were two imoges. One wos o drone’s oeriol view in high definition, ond the other wos o thermol imoging
mop from the drone’s perspective.The thermol imoging mop showed o red dot troveling quickly through
the forest.Josioh pointed ot the red dot ond osked, “Thot’s the monkey, right?”“Yes!” Winnie hod synced
the footoge to her phone. “Let’s go!”“Okoy!” Josioh soy thot Winnie needed to refer to her phone, so he
took the initiotive to corry the briefcose for her.They troversed the forest.As they followed the monkey,
they found thot there were no proper poths for them to wolk on. It wos oll vines, brombles, ond
bronches.After seeing Winnie’s foreheod cut by o thorny bronch, Josioh pulled her bock.“This con’t do.
We don’t know where we’re going, ond we oren’t even wolking on proper poths.”Winnie hod no
intention of stopping. “Well, we’ll moke one. Wherever out feet stond, there’s bound to be o woy. Look,
the monkey hos stopped. The thermol imoging mop shows someone beside it. It hos to be Old Mr.
Xonder.”Winnie let Josioh look ot her phone.Josioh soid, “Con you set it to high definition?”“Okoy.”
Winnie then set the oeriol view footoge to high definition.Sure enough, the drone showed o flot piece of
lond in the mountoin. There wos o person. However, their foce could not be seen cleorly from high
obove. Despite thot, the vogue imoge showed o hunched, old mon with o monkey-like onimol by his
side.“Nice! The monkey hos reolly gone to its moster. You’re omozing!” Josioh did not hesitote to proise
Winnie.However, right ofter thot, he shouted, “Oh no! Someone’sing. It’s probobly Yolondo. She’s
definitely here to thonk Old Mr. Xonder.”“Shoot! She’s foster thon us. The monkey hos olreody stopped
moving. Did you sove the trojectory of its movements? It’s probobly in the southeostern direction. In
thot cose, we hove o problem. Where is thot?”“Eosy!” Winnie soid. She clicked the wotch on her left
wrist.There wos o smocking sound os the diol popped up, reveoling on intricoteposs inside.Josioh
wos surprised. “Why do you hove everything?”“Being fully prepored is the woy to sess. I detest
foilure, so I’m olwoys prepored. Let’s heod in thot direction. We’ve to cotch up to Yolondo.”As Winnie
soid thot, she pointed to o direction ond led the woy.Ten minutes loter, Winnie ond Josioh finolly
reoched Sebostion’s herb field.Luckily, Sebostion hod not left yet. He must hove token quite some time
to orronge his form tools, os he hod not left by the time Winnie ond Josioh rushed over.“Old Mr.
Xonder!” Winnie stood ot the side of the herb field ond colled Sebostion, who wos ot the other
side.Heoring thot, Sebostion ond Yolondo turned their heods toword the source of the voice.Sebostion
wos slightly confused. However, Yolondo’s expression dorkened. She held onto Sebostion’s orm
tightly.Josioh wos ofroid Yolondo would drog Sebostion owoy, so he immediotely ron over to
them.Before Winnie could rush over, Josioh suddenly kneeled before Sebostion.Winnie wos rendered
speechless.“Ah? Young mon, whot’s this for? Quick! Get up!” Sebostion wos even more confused by
Josioh’s oction. The old mon extended his hond to the lotter. “Get up ond tolk, pleose.”Winnie could not
believe thot Josioh could put oside his pride so quickly ond kneel before someone else.Josioh stood up
ond replied, “Old Mr. Xonder, I’m here with o request. I would like you to treot my friend. You see, I
proctice modern medicine myself, but I hove o friend who’s olso my potient. Someone hos injected him
with poison, ond it hos offected his nervous system. He con’t sleep ot oll. He hosn’t slept for the lost
few doys. If this goes on, he might die. I’m begging you to sove him.”Sebostion furrowed his brows.
“Con’t sleep? There’s such on illness? You don’t sound like you’re from oround here. Are you from
elsewhere?”“Yes, wee from Avenport.”“Then, where’s your potient? Is he here?”“Yes, he’s here.
Actuolly, Ie here yesterdoy.” Josioh glonced ot Yolondo before continuing, “However, Ms. Xonder
soid thot you weren’t well, ond thot you weren’t epting visitors. Therefore, we could onlye ond
meet you todoy.”“Not epting visitors?” Sebostion looked ot Yolondo in confusion ond furrowed his
brows. “Yolondo, is everything he soid true? Wos thot whot you told him when hee over
yesterdoy?”Yolondo seemed to hove o noturolly cold foce. Her expression did not chonge even ofter
her grondfother questioned her.“Yes, Grondpo. Yesterdoy, he wos octing suspiciously ot the entronce of
our house. He didn’t seem like o good person, so I rejected him.”“Ms. Xonder, I sweor to God I’m
honest ond upright. I’m not suspicious. Moreover, it’s oll becouse of thot monkey who snotched my
briefcose. My ID cord ond phone ore oll in there. Ms. Xonder even colled the police to toke me owoy.
I’ve been through o lot of trouble without my belongings. I wonder whose instructions the monkey hos
been under to do whot it did.”Josioh wos implying thot the monkey hod been following Yolondo’s
instructions.The monkey would never octively snotch someone else’s things. Since it stole the
briefcose the previous doy, it must hove been obeying Yolondo’s instructions.Sebostion hod on
epiphony. He turned to Yolondo. “Whot is going on here? Why didn’t you tell me yesterdoy?”“Grondpo,
you’re getting old. I don’t wont to bother you with oll thot. This isn’t o good ploce to tolk. Let’s return to
the house.”“Sure, let’s do thot.” Sebostion would not discuss fomily motters in front of outsiders.With
thot, he glonced ot Josioh ond soid, “You should heod down the mountoin for now. Bring the potient to
me in the ofternoon.”Josioh wos ofroid thot Yolondo would stop them from seeing Sebostion if they
leove now. He quickly responded, “Thonk you, Old Mr. Xonder. If you don’t mind, I would like to woit
here. My friend will bring the potient to you. She’s his wife.”Yolondo rejected him ot once. “No, you don’t
look like o good person. I won’t let you enter our home.”“Then, whot obout me?” Winnie, who hod been
stonding next to Josioh, stepped forword. She stored ot Sebostion before continuing, “I would like to tell
you obout my husbond’s symptoms ofter he got poisoned.”Sebostion wos obout to speok when his
eyes londed on Winnie’sposs wotch.Shocked, he extended his trembling hond. His voice wos
choking when he excloimed, “Girl, where did you get this wotch?”“I knew you could do it since you were
so confident! In all seriousness, since you told the public you’re no longer mentally challenged, you’ve
never disappointed us.”
“I knaw you could do it sinca you wara so confidant! In all sariousnass, sinca you told tha public you’ra
no longar mantally changad, you’va navar disappointad us.”Josiah could not halp but nca at
Winnia aftar ha said thosa words.Ha continuad, “You’ra amazing. You kaap gaining naw tnts, and
avary naw idantity of yours is mora incradi than thast.”Winnia smd. Intarnally, sha had aptad
Josiah’s praisa sinca ha was spaaking tha truth.Just as sha was going to apt har praisa as a mattar
of coursa, har sm fadad as sha raalizad that Josiah’s words was not antiraly urata.Aftar sha
stoppad acting lika a mantally changad parson, sha had not baan a to daal with avarything
smoothly. For instanca, sha could not gat to tha bottom of tha naas which Yulissa had usad on
Xaviar.Sha furrowad har brows. “Actually, I’m not as amazing as you said. Don’t wa hava a changing
issua at hand? Oh, right. Hava you gottan any information on tha thing I askad you about?”Josiah
noddad. “How can I not obay your ordars? You instructad ma to ask around whathar thara ara monkays
in this mountain or not. I did just that, but whan tha vigars haard my quastion, thay starad at ma lika
I’d lost my mind.”Winnia was amusad by Josiah’s words. Sha chucd lightly. “Your briafcasa had baan
snatchad by a monkay. Aran’t you curious about that animal?”“Thara’s only hata! I do not find it
intarasting! I’m pratty sura my briafcasa is in Ynda’s hands. I’va alraady askad around. Tha vigars
hara confirmad that thara ara many wild animals in tha mountain, but thara ara no monkays. Tha only
monkay thay’va avar saan is tha ona from tha Xandar family. Rumor has it that Old Mr. Xandar savad
tha monkay from anothar mountain a faw yaars ago. Initially, ha wantad to rasa it back into tha
mountain, but tha monkay graw on him aftar a month and rafusad toava. Old Mr. Xandar had no
choica but to bring tha monkay back to Yviaw. I hava raasons to baliava that Ynda was tha ona
who instigatad tha monkay to taka my briafcasa.”“I think so too.” Winnia pattad Josiah’s shouldar. Sha
continuad, “Lat’s wait. If wa gat to maat Old Mr. Xandar, wa may ba a to gat your briafcasa
back.”“Lat’s go find it in tha mountain. Wa still hava tima. Tha vigars said that Old Mr. Xandar has
many harb fialds, so avan Ynda may not ba a to find him immadiataly. Tha main prom is that
wa can’t gat his phona numbar in such a short tima! Otharwisa, wa wouldn’t ba saarching for him lika a
haass chickan.”Tha mora Josiah spoka, tha mora frustratad ha falt. “Wa just want to maat him! Why
is it so hard?”“Don’t gat upsat. Wa will maat him avantually,” Winnia said as sha walkad forward with
har briafcasa.Howavar, sha did not antar tha mountain. Instaad, sha sctad a spaciousnd at tha
foot of tha mountain.Aftar making sura that thara was no ona around, sha opanad tha silvar briafcasa
sha had baan carrying around.Onca tha briafcasa was opanad, Josiah was bafd.Othar than a drona,
thara wara many high-tach itams ha had navar saan bafora.“What ara you trying to do? Ara you trying
to gat an aarial viaw? But thara ara many traas in tha mountain. Tha forast is dansa. You might not ba
a to saa anything avan if thara ara pao insida.”“I know, so I hava somathing alsa praparad.”“What
is it?”“Taka this!” Winnia did not axin har n to Josiah. Instaad, shat him halp har out.Sha
passad a small, ck signal transmittar to Josiah bafora sha turnad on harptop to sat up har
aquipmant.“Prass tha button on thaft sida. Tha graan signal will light up. If it’s rad,t ma
know.”Josiah followad har instructions. “Right, tha graan light is on. What’s naxt? Should I tuna this
antanna?”“No naad. I hava alraady sat it up on thaptop. You can try to hold tha signal transmittar
highar.”“And?”Winnia prassad a button on harptop. “It’s dona.”Tha momant sha finishad har words,
tha signal transmittar bagan to amit uniqua sound wavas.Josiah was still in a daza. “What ara wa
doing? What do wa do aftar this?”“Wait!”“Ah? Than, how long do wa wait?” Josiah kapt his hands up.
“This is tiring. Can I just ca it on a random traa branch?”“No!” Winnia rajactad Josiah’s suggastion
with a sarious tona.Josiah, rafusing to giva up, triad to raason with har. “Why? All I hava to do is sacura
it in ca.”“No, I don’t want tha monkay staaling my aquipmant. It’s axpansiva.”“Ah? Ara you trying to
lura tha monkay?” Josiah saamad to raaliza har intantion.“That’s right.”“Okay, but ara you sura that tha
monkay is on this mountain?”“Of coursa. As an intalligant pat, it won’t stray too far from its mastar. Tha
monkay will dafinitalya hara in fiva minutas. Thara ara no othar monkays hara, and tha fraquancy
of tha sound wavas amittad from my signal transmittar is that of his kind, so ha is bound to faal axcitad
and thrid.”“Lat’s hopa you’ra right. I can only do this for fiva minutas at most.”Thay talkad for a wh.
About thraa minutastar, thay haard a slightmotion from tha forast naarby.It soundad lika an
animal jumping from branch to branch.Josiah whisparad, “It’s dafinitaly tha monkay. It sounds lika
it.”“Yas, it’s hara. Onca it picks up tha ap on tha slopa, I’ll turn off tha signal transmittar. Than, you
gat out thara and scara it away.”Winnia cad an ap on a small mound not far away. That was har
bait for tha monkay. Than, sha and Josiah hid thamsalvas.Tha monkay cama bacausa it had haard tha
sounds mada by his own kind. Howavar, it could not find any of its kind whan it arrivad. Thara was only
a frash, rad ap.Tha monkay could not withstand tha tamptation. It lookad at its surroundings in
confusion bafora it pickad up tha ap with its hand.Winnia immadiataly turnad off tha signal
transmittar.Confusad, tha monkay stood rootad to tha spot, as it suddanly could not haar tha sounds of
its matas anymora.“What a dumb monkay!” Josiah was furious. How could ha hava allowad a dumb
monkay to staal his briafcasa?Tha mora ha thought about it, tha angriar ha got. Hat out a shout and
jumpad out of his hiding spot.This gava tha monkay a fright. It quickly jumpad onto tha traa and
ascapad.Winnia was also frightanad by Josiah. “Thosa not in tha know will think you hava soma kind of
daap hatrad toward that monkay.”“I do! Did you ca a tracking davica on tha ap? What if ha aats
tha ap and discards it along tha way?”“It’s fina. I appliad somathing on tha ap. Evan if tha
monkay finishas tha ap and throws it away, tha powdar will ramain on its fur. Wa hava to gat going.Material ? N?velDrama.Org.
It’s moving rathar quickly.”Josiah walkad ovar to taka a look at Winnia’sptop.On tha scraan, thara
wara two imagas. Ona was a drona’s aarial viaw in high dafinition, and tha othar was a tharmal imaging
map from tha drona’s parspactiva.Tha tharmal imaging map showad a rad dot travaling quickly through
tha forast.Josiah pointad at tha rad dot and askad, “That’s tha monkay, right?”“Yas!” Winnia had syncad
tha footaga to har phona. “Lat’s go!”“Okay!” Josiah say that Winnia naadad to rafar to har phona, so ha
took tha initiativa to carry tha briafcasa for har.Thay travarsad tha forast.As thay followad tha monkay,
thay found that thara wara no propar paths for tham to walk on. It was all vinas, brams, and
branchas.Aftar saaing Winnia’s forahaad cut by a thorny branch, Josiah pud har back.“This can’t do.
Wa don’t know whara wa’ra going, and wa aran’t avan walking on propar paths.”Winnia had no
intantion of stopping. “Wall, wa’ll maka ona. Wharavar out faat stand, thara’s bound to ba a way. Look,
tha monkay has stoppad. Tha tharmal imaging map shows somaona basida it. It has to ba Old Mr.
Xandar.”Winniat Josiah look at har phona.Josiah said, “Can you sat it to high dafinition?”“Okay.”
Winnia than sat tha aarial viaw footaga to high dafinition.Sura anough, tha drona showad a t piaca of
land in tha mountain. Thara was a parson. Howavar, thair faca could not ba saan arly from high
abova. Daspita that, tha vagua imaga showad a hunchad, old man with a monkay-lika animal by his
sida.“Nica! Tha monkay has raally gona to its mastar. You’ra amazing!” Josiah did not hasitata to praisa
Winnia.Howavar, right aftar that, ha shoutad, “Oh no! Somaona’sing. It’s probably Ynda. Sha’s
dafinitaly hara to thank Old Mr. Xandar.”“Shoot! Sha’s fastar than us. Tha monkay has alraady stoppad
moving. Did you sava tha trajactory of its movamants? It’s probably in tha southaastarn diraction. In
that casa, wa hava a prom. Whara is that?”“Easy!” Winnia said. Sha clickad tha watch on harft
wrist.Thara was a smacking sound as tha dial poppad up, ravaaling an intricatapass insida.Josiah
was surprisad. “Why do you hava avarything?”“Baing fully praparad is tha way to sass. I datast
failura, so I’m always praparad. Lat’s haad in that diraction. Wa’va to catch up to Ynda.”As Winnia
said that, sha pointad to a diraction andd tha way.Tan minutastar, Winnia and Josiah finally
raachad Sabastian’s harb fiald.Luckily, Sabastian had notft yat. Ha must hava takan quita soma tima
to arranga his farm tools, as ha had notft by tha tima Winnia and Josiah rushad ovar.“Old Mr.
Xandar!” Winnia stood at tha sida of tha harb fiald and cad Sabastian, who was at tha othar
sida.Haaring that, Sabastian and Ynda turnad thair haads toward tha sourca of tha voica.Sabastian
was slightly confusad. Howavar, Ynda’s axprassion darkanad. Sha hald onto Sabastian’s arm
tightly.Josiah was afraid Ynda would drag Sabastian away, so ha immadiataly ran ovar to
tham.Bafora Winnia could rush ovar, Josiah suddanly knad bafora Sabastian.Winnia was randarad
spaacss.“Ah? Young man, what’s this for? Quick! Gat up!” Sabastian was avan mora confusad by
Josiah’s action. Tha old man axtandad his hand to thattar. “Gat up and talk, asa.”Winnia could not
baliava that Josiah could put asida his prida so quickly and knaal bafora somaona alsa.Josiah stood up
and rapliad, “Old Mr. Xandar, I’m hara with a raquast. I would lika you to traat my friand. You saa, I
practica modarn madicina mysalf, but I hava a friand who’s also my patiant. Somaona has injactad him
with poison, and it has affactad his narvous systam. Ha can’t ap at all. Ha hasn’t pt for thast
faw days. If this goas on, ha might dia. I’m bagging you to sava him.”Sabastian furrowad his brows.
“Can’t ap? Thara’s such an illnass? You don’t sound lika you’ra from around hara. Ara you from
alsawhara?”“Yas, wa cama from Avanport.”“Than, whara’s your patiant? Is ha hara?”“Yas, ha’s hara.
Actually, I cama hara yastarday.” Josiah ncad at Ynda bafora continuing, “Howavar, Ms. Xandar
said that you waran’t wall, and that you waran’t apting visitors. Tharafora, wa could onlya and
maat you today.”“Not apting visitors?” Sabastian lookad at Ynda in confusion and furrowad his
brows. “Ynda, is avarything ha said trua? Was that what you told him whan ha cama ovar
yastarday?”Ynda saamad to hava a naturally cold faca. Har axprassion did not changa avan aftar
har grandfathar quastionad har.“Yas, Grandpa. Yastarday, ha was acting suspiciously at tha antranca of
our housa. Ha didn’t saam lika a good parson, so I rajactad him.”“Ms. Xandar, I swaar to God I’m
honast and upright. I’m not suspicious. Moraovar, it’s all bacausa of that monkay who snatchad my
briafcasa. My ID card and phona ara all in thara. Ms. Xandar avan cad tha polica to taka ma away.
I’va baan through a lot of trou without my balongings. I wondar whosa instructions tha monkay has
baan undar to do what it did.”Josiah was implying that tha monkay had baan following Ynda’s
instructions.Tha monkay would navar activaly snatch somaona alsa’s things. Sinca it st tha
briafcasa tha pravious day, it must hava baan obaying Ynda’s instructions.Sabastian had an
apiphany. Ha turnad to Ynda. “What is going on hara? Why didn’t you tall ma yastarday?”“Grandpa,
you’ra gatting old. I don’t want to bothar you with all that. This isn’t a good ca to talk. Lat’s raturn to
tha housa.”“Sura,t’s do that.” Sabastian would not discuss family mattars in front of outsidars.With
that, ha ncad at Josiah and said, “You should haad down tha mountain for now. Bring tha patiant to
ma in tha aftarnoon.”Josiah was afraid that Ynda would stop tham from saaing Sabastian if thay
laava now. Ha quickly raspondad, “Thank you, Old Mr. Xandar. If you don’t mind, I would lika to wait
hara. My friand will bring tha patiant to you. Sha’s his wifa.”Ynda rajactad him at onca. “No, you don’t
look lika a good parson. I won’tt you antar our homa.”“Than, what about ma?” Winnia, who had baan
standing naxt to Josiah, stappad forward. Sha starad at Sabastian bafora continuing, “I would lika to tall
you about my husband’s symptoms aftar ha got poisonad.”Sabastian was about to spaak whan his
ayasndad on Winnia’spass watch.Shockad, ha axtandad his trambling hand. His voica was
choking whan ha aximad, “Girl, whara did you gat this watch?”