Dawn had barely broken, and the mist in the Great Wilderness had yet to disperse, carrying a damp, shivering chill.
At the entrance to Stone Village, a man, a child, a pig, and an eagle were already packed and ready to go.
"Did you bring the cumin?" Shi Hao carried a beast-hide bundle almost as big as he was, his little face as solemn as if he were heading off to blow up a bunker.
Shi Hou was checking the miniature black pot hanging at his waist and answered without looking up. "Yes."
"What about chili powder? I want the insanely hot kind."
"Brought it. Powder ground from that hundred-year-old Fire Spirit Grass, too. Enough to make you breathe fire."
"And the salt..."
Smack!
Shi Hou flicked Shi Hao on the forehead and snapped, "We're going to kill primordial remnants! We're going to risk our lives, not have a picnic! Why is that head of yours stuffed with seasonings?"
Shi Hao rubbed his forehead, utterly unapologetic. "Skinny Monkey, didn't you say the ultimate hunters often show up as cooks? Without seasonings, how are we supposed to eat them after we kill them?"
"...Fair point." Shi Hou actually had no comeback.
He turned around and kicked the rump of the Black Pig, who was still snoring.
"Get up! Keep sleeping and I'll turn you into roast suckling pig!"
"Oink!" Kang jolted in fright, all four hooves flailing as it sprang up from the ground. It looked around blearily, glistening drool still dangling from the corner of its mouth.
"Let's go."
Shi Hou swept his arm forward.
The Green-Scaled Eagle could no longer contain itself. It spread its wings, whipping up a gale from the ground. It gave a low cry, its golden eyes brimming with the fierce joy of revenge.
Those two beasts had nearly destroyed its entire family. Today, that debt had to be settled.
The two of them and the pig leaped onto the eagle's broad back.
Whoosh-
Air surged around them as the scenery raced backward. The Green-Scaled Eagle did not fly very high, instead gliding just above the treetops and suppressing its aura as much as possible.
The deeper they traveled into the Great Wilderness, the more oppressive the atmosphere became.
The once-raucous roars of beasts gradually vanished, replaced by deathly silence.
Broken ancient trees, collapsed rocks, and shocking streaks of scorched black earth lay everywhere-the lingering devastation left by the sea of lightning the Suanni had unleashed before its death.
"We're here."
Shi Hou patted the Green-Scaled Eagle's neck, signaling for it to stop on a cliff with a clear view.
Below lay the Rocky Forest, its tangled terrain shrouded in miasma.
"There's a real jumble of lingering auras here."
Shi Hou crouched, pinched up a little soil, and sniffed it. "Besides that damned monkey and the mad bull, plenty of Fierce Beasts are prowling nearby, hoping to pick up the scraps."
That was only natural.
In the eyes of other Fierce Beasts, two grievously wounded, dying primordial remnants were walking tonics. Everyone wanted a bite, but everyone also feared being dragged to their deaths by a final counterattack.
"Skinny Monkey, which way?" Shi Hao sniffed, his big eyes darting about.
Shi Hou said nothing. Instead, he grabbed Kang by the scruff and held it out over the cliff.
"Raise a pig for a thousand days, put it to use for one moment."
Shi Hou shook the pig in his hand. "Activate radar mode. Find that monkey."
Kang paddled its stubby legs in midair, resistance written all over its face.
But under Shi Hou's murderous, pig-slaughtering glare, it could only give two aggrieved oinks and flare its large nostrils.
Inhale-
Exhale-
With each breath, two faint streams of blue light emerged from the pig's snout, winding through the air like spirit snakes as they searched.
A moment later.
Kang suddenly shuddered all over. Its tail went rigid, and its snout pointed fixedly toward a stand of dead trees to the southeast as it let out a string of urgent oinks.
"Over there?" Shi Hou's eyes lit up.
"No."
Shi Hao, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
Little One lay at the cliff's edge, staring in the direction Kang indicated, then looked toward the opposite direction, northwest, and shook his head.
"The pig's pointing the wrong way."
Shi Hou froze. "How is that possible? Since Kang mutated, it's been incredibly sensitive to energy fluctuations. That monkey's injured and leaking blood energy. It shouldn't get the scent wrong."
"What it smelled was blood. And the strongest stink."
Shi Hao stood and pointed toward a valley to the northwest that looked perfectly ordinary, with even a few birdcalls drifting out of it.
"But that place is too quiet."
The little boy's gaze changed.
"Look, Skinny Monkey."
Shi Hao pointed in that direction. "There are a few scavenging vultures circling over there, but they don't dare land. That means there's something down below-something they'd fear even if it were dead."
He pointed toward the southeast, where Kang had indicated.
"The blood energy over there is strong, but it's too obvious. If a sneaky creature like the Demon Ape were really there, the other Fierce Beasts would have surrounded it already. It deliberately scattered blood there to lure others to their deaths."
Looking at the child before him, only four years old, Shi Hou felt his heart jolt.
Was the meticulous Desolate Heaven Emperor from the original story, with his terrifying combat instincts, finally beginning to show his edge?
"I trust you."
Shi Hou made his decision at once and slapped Kang on the forehead. "See that? Learn something! All snout and no brains."
Kang: "..."
Aggrieved. Ready to cry.
The Green-Scaled Eagle evidently trusted Shi Hao's judgment more as well. Drawing in its wings, it glided silently toward the northwestern valley like an enormous ghost.
They drew closer.
Sure enough, it was just as Shi Hao had said.
The valley looked calm and peaceful, but beneath that calm lurked an oppressive presence that set their hearts trembling.
"Stop."
Shi Hou gave a hand signal.
The two of them and the pig jumped off the eagle's back and hid behind an enormous rock. The Green-Scaled Eagle soared upward into the clouds, ready to dive down and support them at any moment.
Shi Hou pulled the black pot from inside his clothes and flipped it onto his back-it was his strongest piece of armor.
Shi Hao picked up two sharp-edged stones and weighed them in his hands, his body slightly bent like a bow drawn to its limit.
Like two wildcats, they crept soundlessly into the valley.
The farther they went, the fainter the stench of decay became, replaced by a strong smell of medicinal herbs mingled with a faint scorched odor.
"It's treating its wounds," Shi Hou mouthed.
They rounded a weathered boulder.
The scene before them suddenly opened up.
It was a secluded hollow, screened tightly on all sides by vines.
And seated in the center of the hollow was an enormous creature.
The Demon Ape!
Even though they had prepared themselves, seeing the Fierce Beast in person still made their breath catch beneath the murderous aura rolling toward them.
It was in a wretched state.
Most of its once-majestic black fur had been charred to cinders, exposing the torn, curling red flesh beneath.
Its once-powerful right arm had been severed at the shoulder-the arm Shi Hou had "borrowed" earlier.
Even half of its savage face had been blasted apart by lightning, exposing a stark white fang that made it look even more terrifying.
At that moment, the Demon Ape was holding an unknown species of giant python in its remaining hand, chewing it with loud crunches as though gnawing on sugarcane.
Blood ran down from the corners of its mouth, nourishing its withered body.
"It's much weaker than before."
Shi Hao lowered his voice, his eyes growing brighter. "Its aura is trembling. That's a sign its blood energy is depleted."
"Don't get careless." Shi Hou narrowed his eyes, sweeping his gaze over the ground beneath the Demon Ape.
There, runes faintly flickered.
Before you continue