Beneath the great tree, a campfire blazed.
The One-Horned Demon Tiger's kidneys were threaded onto a straight stone skewer and set over the fire.
The heat forced out the fat, which dripped into the flames with a sizzling hiss, sending up an overpowering aroma mingled with cumin and cornel powder.
Shi Hao crouched beside the fire, his chin propped in both hands. His wide eyes stayed glued to the kidneys, and he swallowed every time the skewer turned.
"Cooked just right."
Shi Hou took a small pinch of coarse salt and sprinkled it evenly over the kidneys. The membrane covering them had roasted golden brown and crisp.
"Crisp outside, tender inside, and the juices burst out when you bite into them. This stuff's incredibly nourishing. You're still growing, so eating this..."
Before he could finish-
The yellow earth beneath their feet jolted without warning.
Violent ripples spread across the water in a nearby wooden bucket. A few droplets splashed into the fire, raising a wisp of white smoke.
Shi Hou's hand stopped in midair as he turned the skewer.
The sparrows dozing on the branches suddenly beat their wings in terror. Without so much as a chirp, the flock scattered explosively into the sky.
The wind had changed.
The evening breeze, once fragrant with grass and trees, suddenly carried a nauseating stench of blood and rot, surging into Stone Village from the depths of the Great Wilderness.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Dull impacts echoed without pause from deep within the forest several miles away. Along the distant horizon, a yellow dragon more than a dozen miles long rose into the air-a vast cloud of flying dust.
The old patriarch, Shi Yunfeng, stood in the center of the square. His cloudy eyes flashed as he snatched up the Bone Hammer beside him