Flying Pig Grenade

Dawn was just breaking at the entrance to Stone Village.

"Pfft-hahahaha!"

Ermeng clutched his stomach, pointing ahead and laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up. Tears even squeezed from his eyes. "Skinny Monkey, what peerless divine art are you practicing? Old Turtle Shell Carrying?"

Dazhuang and Snot Boy were holding back laughter beside him, their shoulders shaking.

Shi Hou certainly sported a distinctive look.

Two thick vines bound the black Stone Pot, now as large as a washbasin, tightly to his back. With its bottom facing outward, it formed a pitch-black, rounded lump. From behind, he looked exactly like a giant turtle walking upright.

"What the hell are you laughing at?"

Shi Hou tugged at the vines across his chest, his expression solemn. "This is called tactical defense. We're raiding the Green-Scaled Eagle's nest. That thing can shatter a thousand-jin boulder with one swipe. I'm the cook, and more importantly, the backbone of our team's logistics. If I don't play it safe, who'll make glowing food for you later?"

At the mention of "glowing food," the little brats abruptly stopped laughing, their throats bobbing in unison.

That argument was ironclad. There was no refuting it.

"All right, quit dawdling."

Shi Hao stood at the front, carrying Kang, the soundly sleeping little pig with pink wings, on his shoulder. He rolled up the little sleeves of his beast-hide tunic and waved a small hand. "Let's go! Time to eat big eggs!"

Whoosh!

Little One led the charge, darting into the vast mountain forest like a little hunting leopard.

Shi Hou followed close behind.

The instant he pushed off, the yellow earth beneath his feet burst into a shallow crater with a bang.

Running used to leave him gasping for breath. Now, with just a slight stirring of the five thousand jin of strength in his blood and qi, he became as light as a feather and as fierce as a wild bull.

The wind whistled past his ears.

A thick branch jutting sideways blocked the path ahead.

Before, he would have had to slow down and go around it. Now, without even thinking, he raised a hand and swept it aside.

Crack!

The hardwood branch, as thick as a child's arm, snapped at once. Its jagged break looked as though a giant blade had hacked straight through it.

Running beside him, Ermeng heard the noise and turned to look. His eyes nearly popped out.

"Good grief! Skinny Monkey, are your hands made of iron? That's ironwood!"

Shi Hou casually tossed away the broken branch and brushed the wood chips off his hands without breaking stride. His tone was calm. "Like I said, it's perfectly reasonable for a cook to have a strong grip. How else would I toss food in a wok?"

They raced like the wind. Half an hour later, the Lone Steep Cliff stood before them.

The cliff face looked hewn by knives and axes, thrusting straight into the clouds. Hundreds of meters up, an enormous nest of dead branches hung against it. Just looking at it made their calves cramp.

"Up!"

Shi Hao tucked Kang into his tunic, grabbed an ancient vine dangling down the cliff, and scrambled more than ten meters upward in a few quick movements.

Shi Hou refused to be outdone.

He didn't grab a vine.

Curling his five fingers into hooks, he dug them hard into the solid rock face.

Thud!

His fingers sank an inch into the stone as though plunging into tofu.

Using that purchase, he alternated his arms, climbing the vertical cliff like a giant gecko on level ground. His speed was barely slower than Shi Hao's.

"Skinny Monkey's really fierce..."

Below, Snot Boy watched, dumbstruck, and sniffled in admiration.

Before long, all five had successfully climbed into the enormous nest.

Thick beast hides and dry grass lined the nest. Rather than a rank stench, it held a faint, fresh fragrance.

Three enormous jade-green eggs lay quietly in the center. Each was the size of a washbasin, its shell covered in cloud patterns and shimmering with crystalline green radiance. One glance told them these were immensely nourishing treasures.

"So these are the Green-Scaled Eagle's eggs!"

Dazhuang's eyes shone, and drool nearly spilled from his mouth. He spread his arms to grab one. "One each! Grab them and retreat!"

"Hold on."

Shi Hou stepped forward, blocking Dazhuang. "Eggs this big could get knocked or cracked while we carry them down. Who's taking responsibility if the contents spill? That's all precious essence!"

"Then what do we do?"

Ermeng scratched his ears and head in agitation. "We can't just lie here and drink them, can we? Who knows when that old bird will come back!"

"Watch me."

Shi Hou reached back and unfastened the black pot, aiming its opening at the three enormous eggs.

This was cookware bound to his system. If it didn't even have a storage function, that would be far too shabby.

"Store!"

Hum!

The Stone Pot trembled slightly. There were no flashy lights or visual effects; the three eggs simply vanished into thin air.

"Amazing!"

Shi Hao curiously poked his little head into the pot. It was pitch-black inside, and he couldn't see a thing. "Skinny Monkey, does this mean I can put all my tasty food in your pot from now on?"

"Ha, you really are a genius. This pot's a walking granary."

Shi Hou had only just strapped the pot onto his back again and hadn't even had time to strike a handsome pose.

The sky went dark.

A terrifying pressure abruptly descended from overhead, freezing the surrounding air in that instant.

A cry that could pierce metal and split stone exploded against their eardrums.

"Scree-!!!"

A gale rose suddenly, sending sand and stones flying.

They looked up.

A hundred meters overhead, an enormous green bird with a wingspan of fifteen or sixteen meters was diving straight at them!

Its eagle beak was cold and menacing, its sharp talons gleamed like metal, and its blood-red eyes brimmed with murderous intent.

The Green-Scaled Eagle!

Discovering its nest had been raided, this ferocious bird of the Great Wilderness had gone utterly berserk!

"We're done for! It's back!"

Dazhuang's face went deathly pale.

They were on a cliff hundreds of meters high, with neither heaven nor earth within reach. Climb down the vines? They would be nothing but living targets for the Green-Scaled Eagle to practice its talons on.

The breath of death rushed into their faces.

"Jump!"

Shi Hou roared, ripped the Stone Pot from his back, and slammed it onto the sloping rock at the nest's edge.

"What?"

Ermeng was scared witless.

"Into the pot! Hurry!"

There was no time to explain. Shi Hou frantically willed the Stone Pot to expand, and it swelled in the wind, instantly becoming as large as a bathtub.

He seized the still-stunned Snot Boy and threw him inside, followed by Dazhuang and Ermeng.

"Little One, get in!"

Shi Hao reacted fastest, curling up and slipping inside.

The enormous eagle talons were now less than ten meters above their heads. They could even smell the nauseating, rank wind.

Shi Hou gripped the rim with both hands, kicked hard against the ground, and then jumped into the pot.

"Off we go!"

Screeech!

As though coated in lubricant, the enormous Stone Pot slid wildly down the steep mountain ridge toward the foot of the mountain.

Its bottom scraped violently against the rock, throwing up a long trail of dazzling sparks amid an unending, ear-piercing screech.

"Aaaaah! Too fast!"

Ermeng and Snot Boy clung to each other, their faces distorted by the gale as they squealed like pigs being slaughtered.

It truly was a case of bodies running ahead while their souls chased after them!

The Green-Scaled Eagle's strike missed, tearing apart half the nest. Seeing the "egg thieves" escaping only drove it into a greater fury.

With a beat of its wings, its massive body became a streak of green lightning, pursuing the Stone Pot relentlessly.

The gap closed at terrifying speed!

Fifty meters!

Thirty meters!

Ten meters!

Its enormous talons, sharp as iron hooks, reached out again, descending straight toward everyone inside the Stone Pot!

"Skinny Monkey! Behind our asses! It's caught up!" Dazhuang glanced back, and terror nearly sent his soul flying from his body.

Shi Hou was concentrating entirely on keeping the Stone Pot balanced. One wrong move on this jagged, rocky slope would overturn the pot and kill them all. He had no hand free to fight back.

"Damn it, all or nothing!" Shi Hou was about to forcibly turn the pot to take the blow head-on.

At that hairbreadth moment between life and death.

Shi Hao, who had been squeezed to the very top and was still holding the snoring little pig, suddenly moved.

Little One watched the approaching talons without a trace of fear in his large, black-gem eyes. Instead, a flash of mischief appeared-the kind only Bear Child possessed.

He looked down at the plump lump in his arms.

Mm, nice feel. Just the right weight.

"Go!"

Shi Hao bellowed in his childish voice, swung both little arms in a full arc, and hurled Kang at the enormous Green-Scaled Eagle like a hand grenade!

"Oink??"

Kang, who had been enjoying a lovely dream, sensed something was wrong.

Opening sleepy eyes, the pig hadn't even figured out what was happening before discovering an imminent head-on collision with a terrifying bird that blotted out the sky.

That open eagle beak was like a black hole.

At that moment, Kang let out the most miserable squeal of an entire lifetime.

"Oiiiiink-!!!"

In midair, neither pig nor eagle could dodge.

Bang!

The Green-Scaled Eagle hadn't expected these little ants to throw an unidentified lump at it. It was diving at full attack speed, and its momentum was too great to let it close its beak in time.

The little pink pig was hurled straight into the Green-Scaled Eagle's throat with perfect accuracy!

The next second.

The scene froze.

The Green-Scaled Eagle's descending talons stiffened in midair. Both eyes bulged abruptly, and a large lump visibly swelled in its neck.

"Ghk... ghk..."

The mighty, ferocious bird made a strange, strangled noise like a rooster choking mid-crow. Its enormous wings began flailing wildly in the air, and its body swayed before crashing headfirst into the nearby cliff face, knocking loose countless stones.

Seizing that opening.

The Stone Pot under Shi Hou's control shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, trailing sparks like lightning as it hurtled into the dense forest below.