"Hyah!"
A shout rang out beyond Stone Village, a child's clear voice still tinged with babyish sweetness.
Clop-clop!
Hoofbeats sounded too, though they were rather strange. They didn't sound like real hooves.
They sounded more like someone making the noises himself.
Then Little Nonpoint came charging toward Stone Village from afar, riding his Wooden Horse.
"Everyone, I'm back!" he shouted toward the village.
He kept making clop-clop noises, supplying sound effects for the silent Wooden Horse beneath him.
Meng Chuan covered his face again. The boy was hopeless...
"Hello, Willow God!" Little Nonpoint called loudly as he passed her.
Willow God swayed one of her branches in reply.
Once inside the village, Little Nonpoint hopped off his mount, and the big Wooden Horse shrank back to finger size.
Then he pumped his short legs and leaped straight into Meng Chuan's arms.
"Uncle Meng, I did it!" Little Nonpoint declared proudly.
"I know. I'm not blind." Meng Chuan patted his bottom.
It wasn't as though he hadn't seen the boy come back.
"Hee-hee." Little Nonpoint wriggled in Meng Chuan's arms.
"Well done, child!" Shi Yunfeng and the others gathered around, thrilled. At last, they could set their anxious hearts at ease.
Meng Chuan might never have worried about Little Nonpoint's journey, but Shi Yunfeng and the others were another matter entirely.
"Grandpa Chief, I did it!" Little Nonpoint sprang from Meng Chuan's arms into Shi Yunfeng's.
Shi Yunfeng kept patting his back, his heart bursting with relief and excitement.
Stone Village truly was going to produce a Supreme.
"Grandpa Chief, you have no idea how much happened out there!" Little Nonpoint waved both hands as he launched into a lively account of his travels.
"There were fierce beasts as big as mountains! Good thing I ran fast, or I'd have ended