The morning fog had yet to disperse.
Dull hoofbeats sounded from deep within the forest.
The black pig Kang raced on all four stubby legs, bursting through the thicket. On its back sat an egg the size of a washbasin, shimmering with five-colored light. Furball straddled the pig's neck, two paws clutching its ears tightly while another pointed toward the clearing ahead.
Black light flashed, and Kang slammed on the brakes.
With a skidding hiss, it slid to Shi Hou's feet, rubbing its plump body hard against his beast-hide boots. It tipped its head back, grunting with wild excitement.
Shi Hou had been chewing a strip of dried meat. He froze completely.
That monkey really had raided a Primordial Remnant's nest. It was a Five-Colored Peacock egg, and it had even roped his black pig into the job.
Without warning, the sky darkened.
Five-colored divine light savagely tore through the clouds. A Five-Colored Peacock that blotted out the sky plunged down from the horizon, its wings scraping through the air as it let out a shriek that could pierce metal and split stone.
Gales swept backward, snapping towering ancient trees at the waist.
Shi Hou wasted no words.
He grabbed Kang by the scruff and stuffed it, along with the five-colored egg, into the Black Pot on his back. Then he drove his left foot hard into Furball's backside.
Thud.
The golden Furball traced an arc through the air and crashed into the arms of Shi Hao, who had just rolled over and sat up.
In the same motion, Shi Hou took the Black Pot off his back, raised it in both hands, flipped it, and dropped it upside down over his head. He curled into a ball, vanishing entirely beneath its cover without leaking even a trace of his