While the Great Toad King was brooding in frustration, Yi Shuyuan had already returned to the mountaintop where they had drunk together earlier and was gazing toward the Great Autumn Temple.
Hui Mian poked his head out of Yi Shuyuan's collar, looked in a certain direction, and snickered.
"A toad dreaming of feasting on swan flesh! That warty face is thicker than a city wall-why doesn't he look in a mirror?"
Yi Shuyuan smiled and shook his head. The sword in his hand spun a few times before becoming a folding fan that twirled between his fingers, then disappeared into his sleeve.
At the same time, his body gradually shrank, his neck lengthened, and his arms became feathered wings as he transformed back into a white crane.
Standing on one leg, the crane looked toward the Great Autumn Temple, then south. Hui Mian promptly retreated into the feathers around his neck.
Before long, the still somewhat frustrated Great Toad King returned from afar on a demonic wind. Perhaps because his mind was troubled, he was almost at the mountain before noticing the white crane.
Although the white crane Yi Shuyuan had become revealed no aura, the Great Toad King was no ordinary figure. Having fought the crane twice and turned an enemy into a friend, he should have sensed him from far away.
As soon as he saw the white crane standing on the summit, the Great Toad King hastily turned his demonic wind and descended. Before he could speak, Yi Shuyuan turned his crane's head toward him and spoke first.
"I was only gone half a day, yet when I returned, you were nowhere to be seen, Toad Brother. I thought you had already left."
"I thought you had left. Ah..."
The Great Toad King took the wine flask