As Xiao Yan thought about that monster whose inner drive never ran dry, he pushed aside the last waist-high thicket. The clear stream and the rushing sound of its waters finally lay before him.
Yet that tranquility was soon broken. On a large blue-gray boulder jutting out beside the river, a familiar figure sat at perfect ease, holding a crude bamboo fishing rod. Its line hung motionless in the water.
A gourd floated on the river before him. Stranger still, an octopus lay sprawled on top of it, several tentacles draped lazily over its surface, swaying gently with the ripples.
Seemingly sensing the movement behind him, the figure slowly turned his head, revealing a face that Xiao Yan hated and hated some more.
Seeing that it was Xiao Yan, Xiao Yi gave him a familiar, faintly teasing smile and casually lifted his chin.
"Well, well, if it isn't the pride of our Xiao Clan. What brings you wandering around these wild mountains?"
A vein immediately bulged at Xiao Yan's temple. He could not be bothered with the bizarre octopus sprawled on the gourd, nor did he feel like responding to the teasing remark. He simply pointed at Xiao Yi in irritation.
"Why are you everywhere I go? You haunt me like a restless ghost!"
"What's the problem?"
Xiao Yi raised an eyebrow, looking as though he had every right to be there.
"Does this mountain belong to you? Did you dig this river? Is my fishing getting in the way of your bath?"
As he spoke, he flicked his wrist sharply. A palm-sized, silvery fish flew out of the water, traced an arc through the air, and landed precisely in front of the octopus. A nimble curl of its tentacles gathered the fish into its grasp.
Floating nearby, Yao Lao