Half a joss stick later, Xu Yi stopped atop a mountain peak. He stood there, gazing down at the fields below. Rice seedlings had just been planted in the paddies, and rows of thatched cottages clustered at the foot of the mountain. It was evening. Farmers in twos and threes, some leading oxen, others pushing plows, headed toward the cottages, where wisps of cooking smoke already curled into the sky. Now and then, someone called out a long, lilting tune toward the mountain, drawing bursts of laughter.
Looking at the scenes before him, Xu Yi couldn't help smiling. The jumble of thoughts in his heart seemed to drift away with the wisps of smoke carried on the breeze.
"Nearly a hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye, yet you still haven't shaken off that rustic air. Should I say you've never forgotten where you came from, or that you've made no progress at all?"
A figure swayed up the peak. It was a youth dressed in yellow, with a fine fuzz above his lip and a boyish, cracking voice, as though he were going through puberty.
Xu Yi's eyes lit up. He scoffed, "Well, well. The little brat still remembers me. You've finally stopped playing tricks and agreed to show your face."
Before the yellow-clad youth appeared, Xu Yi hadn't sensed him at all.
"Impudent!"
A cloaked figure abruptly appeared at the summit. "How dare you slight the mighty Great Virtue Mighty Young Master? Without his protection, ten Old Demon Kongxus would be done for!"
The cloaked figure's words revealed the yellow-clad youth's identity. He was none other than Xu Yi's former demon pet, who had later left Xu Yi and struck out on his own. His powers of divination were unrivaled beneath the heavens, and he