The story takes place during the Song Dynasty. There was a small dirt mountain in the southwest of Bianliang City, and at the bottom of the mountain was a lively market. There was a merchant named Xue Ruyi who was in the cloth business.

One day Xue Ruyi caught a glimpse of an ancient painting hanging on the wall of the abbot's study. There was no inscription on the ancient painting, and I didn't know the age, but I saw an incense burner placed in front of the painting. The painting above was of monkeys playing and frolicking. The monkey was painted lifelike, and it seemed that every hair could be seen clearly. Xue Ruyi loved it very much and stood in front of it for a long time.

Huiyuan made the tea, called Xue Ruyi and said, "This painting has to be hung in the temple. If it falls to the people, I'm afraid there will be a big mess." Xue Ruyi smiled and said, "I'm afraid you're stingy and won't let me, how about I take out my collection of ancient paintings and exchange them with you?" Huiyuan shook his head and said, "No, this painting can't be exported, let's play chess."

That night, Xue Ruyi stayed in the temple. At three o'clock, Xue Ruyi quietly slipped into the study, took down the monkey painting, and put a silver ticket on the table. Xue Ruyi thought that she had donated a lot to the temple on weekdays, and was sure that the abbot would not blame her, so she took the monkey painting and prepared to go down the mountain.

Xue Ruyi was afraid that the abbot would come out, so she ran away. With her last breath, she ran home, found a plaque in her bedroom, and hung the monkey painting on it. The more Xue Ruyi looked at it, the more she loved it.

Xue Ruyi got up and touched the painting with her hands, but the painting seemed to be a bottomless pit, sucking Xue Ruyi in. Xue Ruyi passed through a long tunnel, opened her eyes again and found herself on a boulder, surrounded by a group of monkeys. Xue Ruyi looked around and found that she was already in the painting. Xue Ruyi was extremely frightened, and at this time an old monkey walked up to Xue Ruyi and said, "We are the monkeys in the painting. We have enjoyed worship for thousands of years, so we have spiritual energy. If you come, you will be at ease."

Xue Ruyi found that these monkeys could not only walk upright, but also speak human language, and she was secretly happy that if she could take one or two out, she would not be able to make a fortune. Xue Ruyi pretended to enjoy it, and asked them how to get out. One of the monkeys said unimpeded: "There is a stone wall in the southernmost part, as long as you hit the stone wall three times with your head, you can go out."

At night, the monkeys slept peacefully. Xue Ruyi picked up a little monkey and slammed into the stone wall. Sure enough, after three strokes, Xue Ruyi fell like a cliff, and her body began to fall.

Xue Ruyi called the servants and said she wanted them to look at him, but everyone was amazed when they saw Xue Ruyi holding a monkey in her hand. Xue Ruyi said to the monkey, "Say hello to everyone." The monkey did not know why, scratching his head impatiently and jumping up and down. Xue Ruyi tried a few more times, but it still didn't work, and her face was embarrassed. Everyone looked at each other, seeing that their master was talking to a monkey. I was afraid there was something wrong with his brain.

Xue Ruyi thought that Monkey had just come to her home to recognize her birth, so she bought bananas and fruits to feed her, but the monkey didn't seem to recognize it, and didn't even smell it. Xue Ruyi suddenly thought that the monkey in the picture was the fresh fruit of Xianshan, and he definitely wouldn't eat ordinary fruits, so she sent someone to Penglai Island to buy fresh fruits and feed the monkeys.

In order to make the monkey feel at home, Xue Ruyi spent a lot of money to recreate a fake mountain forest according to the decoration in the painting, but the monkey still couldn't speak, and under Xue Ruyi's careful rearing, it grew fat and strong, standing up like a prime man. At this time, Xue Ruyi had already invested a lot in monkeys, and her original business had also fallen sharply due to neglect of management.

One day, the king of the capital heard that Xue Ruyi had such a strange monkey and came to visit with his seven-year-old son. Xue Ruyi was immediately interested.

Monkey seemed to realize that he had made a big mistake and jumped on the roof to escape. After the prince woke up, someone had already tied Xue Ruyi up with ropes and pressed him into the prison. In the end, Xue Ruyi was executed by Ling Chi for deliberately killing people, and several generations of Xue family's family property were also confiscated, but the painting disappeared in the end. Some people said they had seen that painting, and the monkey that had disappeared once returned to the painting.

Postscript:

People, you have to listen to advice, don't listen to the old man, and risk death in front of you.