The black Stone Pot hurtled like a meteor gone out of control, carrying shattered shrubs and loose stones with it as it slammed into a mound of humus.
Dirt splattered, and dust billowed everywhere.
"Urgh..."
Dazhuang, Ermeng, and Snot Boy went deathly pale. Supporting one another, they climbed out of the pot and sprawled on the ground, dry-heaving without end.
That ride down the mountain, all sparks and lightning, had been a hundred times more thrilling than being chased by a vicious beast.
Shi Hou shook his dizzy head and immediately lifted Shi Hao out from the bottom of the pot, checking him from head to toe.
"You all right?"
"I'm fine!"
Shi Hao's eyes sparkled, his little face flushed red with excitement. "Skinny Monkey, this big pot is fun! Let's ride it again!"
Shi Hou's mouth twitched. With a flick of his hand, he hung the shrunken Stone Pot beside his ear again.
Fun? If Shi Hao hadn't unexpectedly unleashed that Flying Piggy Thunder, they would all have become an extra meal for the Green-Scaled Eagle by now.
"Listen, Little One,"
Shi Hou glanced up at the canopy blotting out the sky, still shaken. "That's Kang, an auspicious beast! He might look like a pig, but he's still a bringer of good fortune! And you just threw him at the Green-Scaled Eagle? If he got killed, how would we explain it to Grandpa Chief?"
Shi Hao scratched his head, looking utterly innocent. "Grandpa Chief said Kang has thick skin and tough flesh. Even ordinary treasured artifacts can't hurt him. I figured that big bird couldn't do anything to him, so I threw him out to give it a try."
Everyone: "..."
Just then, an utterly agonized screech came from halfway up the distant mountain.
"Skree-gurgle!"
The sound was hoarse, as though a red-hot branding iron had lodged in the bird's throat.
The children instinctively looked back.
Through gaps between the trees, they could just make out the enormous Green-Scaled Eagle hovering in midair. The runes before its chest blazed like the sun. Clearly, it was gathering some terrifying treasured technique, preparing to deliver a devastating blow.
Yet, at the very instant that radiant power was about to erupt.
The large bulge in its neck suddenly writhed.
Boom!
A muffled explosion burst inside the Green-Scaled Eagle.
No brilliant treasured technique shot out. Instead, thick black smoke spewed from its open beak and nostrils.
It was like a heavy cannon about to fire, only for a great rock to be stuffed into its barrel.
The barrel had burst.
"Aaargh!!!"
The Green-Scaled Eagle tumbled violently through the air in agony. The runes it had gathered instantly collapsed, and the terrifying backlash made every scale on its body stand on end. Blood spilled from the corners of its beak.
"Pfft-"
With all its strength, the Green-Scaled Eagle coughed out a streak of green light amid a mist of blood.
The streak traced an arc through the air at astonishing speed, shooting straight toward Shi Hou and the others.
"Watch out!" Dazhuang instinctively raised his arms to block it.
"Whoosh!"
The streak braked abruptly and landed on Shi Hao's shoulder with perfect precision.
"Oink! Oink!!!"
The palm-sized pink pig trembled with rage, his forehooves planted on his hips and his pink, fleshy wings flapping nonstop as he unleashed a furious tirade at Shi Hao's chubby little face.
Though he couldn't speak, his resentful little eyes plainly accused him: I treated you as a friend, and you used me as a sacrificial pawn?!
"Aw, don't be angry."
Feeling a little guilty, Shi Hao reached out a finger to poke the little pig's belly. "See? You're fine, aren't you? You even hurt that big bird. You're a great hero!"
"Oink!"
Kang turned his head away and haughtily presented his rear to him.
Seeing that the auspicious beast was about to throw a tantrum and run off, Shi Hou's eyes lit up. He stepped forward, pulled an unfinished strip of dried meat from inside his clothes, and waved it before Kang's nose.
"Don't be angry."
Shi Hou lowered his voice, filling it with temptation. "Once we're back in the village, I'll make you a special feast. I guarantee it'll taste a hundred times better than this dried meat, and you can eat your fill."
Kang's little ears immediately pricked up. Turning around, he sniffed hard at the lingering scent on Shi Hou's fingertips and swallowed.
"Oink?" (Really?)
"Truer than pure gold."
With a whoosh, Kang promptly abandoned Shi Hao. Becoming a pink blur, he scrambled up Shi Hou's trouser leg and nestled snugly inside the beast-hide clothing over his chest, leaving only his snout poking out as he oinked contentedly.
"Let's go! That old bird has internal injuries. It won't catch up anytime soon!"
Shi Hou swept his hand forward and led the children racing through the forest.
They had run only a few li when hurried footsteps and the clatter of weapons sounded ahead.
"Skinny Monkey! Little One!"
An anxious shout rang out.
The bushes were violently forced apart, and Chief Shi Yunfeng charged out, gripping a beast bone as lustrous and white as jade, his face brimming with murderous intent. Behind him, Shi Linhu, Shi Feijiao, and a group of young and middle-aged men all bore injuries. They clutched broad swords and great bows, clearly having fought their way in.
The lustrous white beast bone radiated heart-shaking pulses of power. It was Stone Village's Ancestral Artifact.
"Grandpa Chief!"
Shi Hao cheered and hurled himself into Shi Yunfeng's arms like a little cannonball.
"Is everyone all right?"
Shi Yunfeng anxiously checked Shi Hao from head to toe, then looked at the dirt-covered Shi Hou and the others beside him. Only then did the heart hanging in his throat settle back into his chest.
"When we saw that Green-Scaled Eagle go berserk, we were scared to death!"
"We're fine, we're fine!"
Ermeng looked immensely pleased with himself. "Chief, we got the bird eggs! They're in Skinny Monkey's pot!"
The adults' eyes instantly went wide.
"The Green-Scaled Eagle's eggs?!"
Shi Linhu sucked in a breath, then slapped the back of Ermeng's head with his palm-fan-sized hand. "You little brats have a death wish?! That's a descendant of a Primordial Demonic Bird!"
Though he was scolding them, he couldn't hide the pride and excitement in his voice.
These were truly supreme nourishing treasures!
Shi Shoushan circled Shi Hou, checking him from head to toe, then exhaled without saying anything.
After his last cooking session, his parents' attitude toward him had changed. They no longer treated him as a child.
"Back to the village! Hurry!"
Shi Yunfeng made the decision at once, casting a wary glance at the sky. "The Green-Scaled Eagle may be wounded, but it will never let this rest. With these eggs and Skinny Monkey's cooking skills, our village children's baptism is finally secured!"
The group swiftly withdrew.
On the way back, the adults kept the children protected in their midst.
Walking among them, Shi Hou suddenly began to feel unsteady on his feet.
He hadn't noticed anything during their desperate escape, but now that he had relaxed, an unprecedented emptiness began seeping out from deep within his marrow.
It was a strange sensation.
As though he had fought several campaigns and suddenly found everything devoid of savor, while his head grew ever heavier.
"Ugh..."
Shi Hou gave a muffled groan. A fierce wave of dizziness struck, and his steps faltered as he began to topple.
"Skinny Monkey?"
Beside him, Shi Shoushan swept him onto his shoulder and quickened his pace toward the village.
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