Furball's nostrils flared slightly as he pointed a golden paw to the right and let out a string of squeaks.
"Jiao Da, right."
Shi Hao caught the signal, leaned over the pot's rim, and pointed with one hand.
The Gray-Scaled Flood Dragon at the front gave a low growl, his massive body leading the eight others behind him into a synchronized turn.
Iron chains rattled as the Black Pot traced an arc, crushing three dead trees.
More than five months had passed.
The Leek stick had long since been put away.
The nine Gray-Scaled Flood Dragons ate the vicious beast mince and White Jade Radish Shi Hou stewed for them every day. Their scales had gradually shifted from gray to blue-gray, showing faint signs of atavistic reversion.
Their claws had grown a full size thicker since they set out, and cracks spread across the ground as they ran.
They could not have chased them away even if they tried.
Shi Hou reached into the Black Pot Space beside his ear, grabbed a dark lump, and hauled it out.
Kang rolled out.
More precisely, he "bounced" out.
A round black ball landed beside the Grand Marshal's Chair, all four hooves pointing skyward.
His pig belly was stretched perfectly round, its surface taut and shiny. He rocked back and forth like a turtle unable to right himself.
"Oink... oink..."
His cries were weak and pained.
Shi Hou glanced at the piles of Leek and radishes in a corner of the space, more than half of which had been gnawed away. His temples throbbed twice.
Stupid pig. One day you'll stuff yourself to death.
He brushed a hand beside his ear, and the Gray Blade fell into his palm.
Shi Hou crouched and pressed the back of the blade against Kang's swollen belly-