Night darkened the sky, and the once-bustling Motostoke gradually quieted down.
As far as the eye could see, only the streetlights down below remained lit.
Fully dressed, Chen Shi walked over to Dreepy, who was sleeping nearby with all four claws in the air.
For some reason, Dreepy had recently stopped sleeping on his belly and insisted on sleeping on his back like Chen Shi.
That was how he ended up with all four claws pointing skyward.
"Dreepy, Dreepy, wake up. I'm taking you to find your mom."
Dreepy blearily opened his eyes and looked at Chen Shi in confusion.
What do you mean, find Mom?
Didn't our mom pass away ages ago?
He was thinking of Chen Shi's mother. Dreepy didn't really have any family of his own, so he considered Chen Shi's mother his mom too.
Every year on the anniversary of her death, Dreepy even accompanied Chen Shi to pay their respects.
Of course, Chen Shi had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing that he still wasn't getting up, he urged him again.
"Hurry up. The sooner we go, the sooner we can come back. Your mom's been searching for you for two years and still hasn't given up. We're already here, so we can't just not go see her."
Dreepy was completely dumbfounded.
"Baruya?"
(That's really my mom? Didn't you say I was like Great Sage Sun and sprang out of a crack in a rock?)
Chen Shi: "..."
Right. Back when Dreepy had just hatched, Chen Shi spent all day spinning tall tales for him, telling him the story of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
He said he'd found Dreepy's egg in a crack in a rock, and that Dreepy had sprung out of the rocks just like the Great Sage Equal to