He Who Keeps Company with Pigs Turns Black

Stone Village's peace was broken by the heavy sound of dragging.

The dull rumble of something massive grinding over gravel mingled with the sharp cracks of snapping branches.

The villager on watch squinted into the woods and nearly dropped his bone knife.

An enormous elephant's head emerged first, its two spear-like tusks plowing deep furrows in the ground. Next came its hill-sized body, followed by the wild boars, Greenwind Wolves, Iron-Beaked Eagles, and other beasts piled on its back...

A mountain of meat slowly approached.

At the very front, Shi Hou carried a thick vine over his shoulder, with Dazhuang, Ermeng, and Snot Boy following behind him. Leaning forward, their feet flying, the boys hauled the tens of thousands of pounds of prey along at a blistering pace.

Clang!

The mountain of meat stopped on the yellow earth at the village entrance. Before the dust had settled, a roar exploded.

"You little bastards!"

Shi Linhu threw down the stone arrowhead he had been grinding, strode over, and seized Ermeng by the ear.

"Who told you to go deep into the mountains? That's a Dragon-Scaled Elephant! And those are Iron-Beaked Eagles on top! You half-grown little brats think you can provoke vicious beasts of that caliber?"

Shi Feijiao raised his hand to smack Dazhuang's backside. "Have you got a death wish? Hunting is the adults' job! You've only practiced bone inscriptions for a few days, and you already dare to stroke a tiger's backside?"

The men were genuinely frightened, their eyes bulging and bloodshot.

It was all too easy to lose a life in the Great Wilderness. Their little village could not afford such losses.

"Enough. Hands off, all of you."

Shi Yunfeng emerged from the crowd, leaning on his walking stick, and used its tip to push Shi Linhu's hand away.

"Chief, these boys have no idea how high the heavens are or how deep the earth runs..." Shi Linhu was still breathing hard.

"What day isn't dangerous when you live in the Great Wilderness?" Shi Yunfeng looked at the pile of prey, his gaze lingering on the Dragon-Scaled Elephant's shattered kneecaps. His voice remained calm. "These are their kills. Bringing them home proves their ability. A greenhouse cannot raise fierce beasts, only sheep waiting for slaughter."

With the old chief's word, the men finally let go, though they still glared at their own boys.

As the tension eased, the villagers immediately crowded around.

The women began bleeding and skinning the beasts with bone knives, while the men cut up the larger chunks of meat. Shi Linhu, who had been furious just moments earlier, now grinned so broadly at the precious meat covering the ground that he could not close his mouth.

"Ermeng, did you really do all this?" one villager asked while skinning a Greenwind Wolf, still unable to believe it.

"Of course!"

Ermeng perked up, climbed onto a large rock, and gestured wildly.

"You have no idea how scary it was! Dozens of wolves surrounded us, and there were eagles screeching overhead!"

"Then Skinny Monkey lifted that pig... I mean, Kang!"

Copying Shi Hou, Ermeng mimed holding a gun and spraying bullets, supplying his own sound effects. "Da-da-da! That blue light came pouring out like rain, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The moment it so much as brushed those vicious beasts, they acted like they were drunk and dropped flat, thump, thump!"

At the edge of the crowd, Shi Hao held the Black Pig in his arms and squeezed his nose.

At the words "blue light like rain," Little One stopped. His big eyes fixed on Kang's nostrils, shining like two little lanterns.

"Oink..." Uncomfortable with his nose being squeezed, Kang tucked his head beneath his wings.

Shi Hou set up a large pot nearby.

With so many high-grade ingredients, letting their vital essence dissipate before processing them would be a sinful waste of heaven's gifts.

Besides, he urgently needed this meal to fill his fifty-thousand-point Blood Qi deficit.

The enormous Stone Knife danced through the air, leaving afterimages.

Chunks of meat went into the pot, and spring water boiled.

Shi Hou did not skimp on this meal.

Besides making a huge pot of mixed stew, he prepared a special serving for Kang-using the Dragon-Scaled Elephant's tenderest trunk meat and a few vegetables nurtured in the pot to simmer a concentrated stew of essence.

"Eat up. Consider it a reward for your contribution."

Shi Hou pushed a basin of meat broth, still glowing with radiant light, in front of the Black Pig.

Kang did not stand on ceremony. He buried his head in the basin and ate with thunderous snorts, his little curly tail wagging so fast it almost took flight.

Everyone in the village ate to their hearts' content.

That night, the aroma of meat drifting above Stone Village was so enticing that even the insects for miles around fell silent.

The Black Pig stuffed himself.

After the meal, he had become a perfect black ball. His four stubby legs dangled in the air, unable to reach the ground, and his belly was stretched taut as a drumhead.

Shi Hao did not mind. He pushed the ball-shaped Kang around the village clearing.

"Look, Skinny Monkey! He can roll so far!" Shi Hao gave him a shove. The black ball rolled a dozen or so meters, hit a tree, and bounced back, still fast asleep and snoring.

Sitting nearby and picking his teeth, Shi Hou watched the scene and silently opened his panel.

His Blood Qi Value was slowly recovering.

The days that followed became monotonous but fulfilling.

Every morning, Shi Hou hauled Kang up on time, tossed him into the pot for a nourishing soak, then took him into the mountains for "target practice."

With this "unlimited-ammo" Gatling gun in hand, the nearby vicious beasts suffered a streak of truly rotten luck.

Wild boars, rhinoceroses, and even unlucky passing clouded leopards were paralyzed the moment they entered range, then physically sent to the next world by Shi Hou, one punch apiece.

The meat Kang ate became the blue light in his nostrils, and the steadily rising numbers within Shi Hou.

Finally, on the evening of the tenth day.

As Shi Hao swallowed his last golden-brown saber-toothed tiger steak.

[Ding! Hundredfold Return triggered!]

[Blood Qi Value: 200500]

He had broken through the two-hundred-thousand threshold once again.

Shi Hou clenched his fists. That feeling of power so abundant he might explode had returned. It was even more solid than before, like raw iron forged into refined steel.

Except...

"Skinny Monkey, have you not been bathing lately?"

Ermeng squatted nearby with a grass stem between his lips, staring at Shi Hou's face in puzzlement. "Why do you look darker every day?"

"What nonsense. I bathe every day." Shi Hou frowned.

"It's true."

Dazhuang leaned closer too, gesturing. "You weren't fair before, but your skin was yellow. Now you look... kind of like that pig."

Shi Hou's heart skipped a beat.

He ran to the water vat and looked down inside.

A familiar face was reflected on the surface. His features had not changed, but his complexion... something was definitely wrong.

It was not the bronze of a suntan, but a deep, dark gray with a faint metallic sheen.

Just like...

Shi Hou turned to look at Kang, who was sleeping atop Shi Hao's head.

The Black Pig was the same color. Lustrous black. Deep black.

"Holy shit..."

Shi Hou touched his face. His skin was tough, and flicking it with a finger produced an extremely faint "tok, tok."

This was a sign of increased defense.

But this side effect was a real blow to his spirits.

Could this be the legendary... 'he who keeps company with ink turns black'?

The corners of Shi Hou's mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh but could not. If he kept feeding Kang like this, would he grow a pair of wings too?

"Roar!"

A beast's low, thunderous roar interrupted Shi Hou's silent mourning for his looks.

The sound came from the depths of a mountain range far away, carrying a heart-quailing pressure. Even at this distance, the willow tree at the village entrance gave a slight shiver of its branches.

"That came from the deepest part of the mountains."

Shi Yunfeng walked to the village entrance with his walking stick and gazed solemnly at the sky blanketed in dark clouds.

"There have been more and more disturbances like this lately. Primordial remnants are fighting. It might even be the legendary pureblood creatures locked in battle."

"Chief, this is our chance!"

Shi Linhu came over carrying a broadsword, his eyes gleaming. "When those big fellows fight, they won't have time to worry about anything else. We can scout around the outskirts and perhaps pick up some scraps. Even if we don't find the corpse of a mighty beast, getting a few high-grade beasts killed or injured in the crossfire would be a huge haul."

Reaping such windfalls was commonplace in the Great Wilderness.

Riches and glory were sought amid danger.

"The old Suanni is nearing his end..." Shi Yunfeng murmured, then struck his walking stick firmly against the ground. "All right! Make your preparations. Tomorrow at dawn, the entire Hunting Team moves out!"

The crowd dispersed to prepare weapons and provisions.

Shi Hou remained where he was, still rubbing his darkened arm.

But one of his ears had perked up.

Picking up scraps?

Since everyone was heading deep into the mountains to join the excitement, their neighbors in Bei Village surely would not miss out.

And given those underhanded bastards' habits, they would be even more inclined to stab someone in the back.

A small hand gently tugged at Shi Hou's clothes.

Shi Hou looked down, meeting Shi Hao's large, clear black-and-white eyes.

Little One said nothing. He merely crushed a stone in his hand into powder, then winked at Shi Hou and flicked his gaze toward Bei Village.

Shi Hou smiled.

He rubbed his pitch-black face, revealing a dazzling set of white teeth.

"Got it."