They were close now. He could see the villagers.
At the village entrance, familiar figures came and went. It was a hunting party returning fully laden, carrying many enormous ferocious beasts into the village.
Though he did not feel as deeply attached to Shi Village as Shi Hao did, he dearly loved this simple, unpretentious village.
Remembering how he had trained those little brats back then, a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.
Many willow trees had been planted before the village, soft and lushly green.
Were the villagers remembering the Willow Deity? A sacrificial altar stood where it had once taken root, now the most sacred place in the village. No one occupied it. Were the villagers still hoping for its return?
Several children were running about, all little ones between three or four and ten years old, brimming with energy.
"You... it's you?"
A voice suddenly came from behind him. Shi Yongheng turned around and smiled. "Yun Xi, it's you. You actually followed him to the Lower Realm."
Yun Xi said, "Weren't you missing for ten years? We all thought..."
Shi Yongheng smiled. "I'm not dead yet. I stumbled into a secret realm and was trapped there for ten years. When I emerged, ten years had already passed outside. Too much had happened."
"Awoo, Sister-in-law, who is he?"
"Yongheng? You're back?"
"Uncle Yongheng? The legendary Uncle Yongheng who went to wreak havoc in the Upper Realm with Uncle Hao?"
"Mysterious Heaven King?"
"Yongheng!"
Before long, quite a few people in Shi Village had been alerted. Shi Feijiao, Shi Linhu, Shi Ziling and his wife, Shi Yunfeng, Sage Honghu, and the others all arrived. There were also some people he did not recognize, as well as a lion and a True Dragon he had never seen before.
"Grandpa Patriarch,