A fair, chubby boy stepped through the ruined courtyard gate, sniffing repeatedly as he poked his head in and looked around.
It was Shi Hao in his transformed form.
Shi Hou grinned and kicked aside a pebble at his feet. "Perfect timing. Wait here for dinner."
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
Furball darted toward Shi Hao, scrambled up his trouser leg onto his shoulder in a few quick movements, and began gesturing with both hands and feet.
First came a fruit-picking motion, then both hands spread wide in an exaggerated gesture of "not a single one left," a smug look plastered across that tiny face.
Black Pig snorted from the right shoulder and rolled those eyes hard.
Does your lowly grunt work compare to this venerable one's achievement of blasting through the formation with light?
"Skinny Monkey, you guys ransacked the whole Forbidden Land?!"
Shi Hao's eyes widened, his face brimming with excitement.
"No wonder the Pavilion Master and all those Elders had red eyes when I followed the smell over here. They were searching every mountain for someone."
"Hehe, good thing the leek smell carried far enough. I almost missed dinner."
Shi Hao wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and looked toward the center of the courtyard.
"Huh?! Is this the Sacrificial Spirit?"
Shi Hou nodded.
Shi Hao walked up to the pile of rubble on his short little legs, ignoring the unsettling aura of decay and death around the withered vine. He pressed his chubby palm against its dry, yellowing stem and gently stroked it twice.
A few withered leaves trembled.
"Poor thing." Shi Hao withdrew his hand and tilted his head, examining it. "Your roots are almost completely rotten, but you're still clinging to life. You're just as tough as the Willow Deity!"
The courtyard fell