Farewell

A little under half a month later, at the entrance to Stone Village.

It was early morning, when day gave way to night's departure. Mist curled through the air, and the mountain forests of the Great Wilderness lay hazy beneath a thick fog.

Threads of red light appeared above the mountaintops. The Sun broke free of the dense mist and cast down its warm radiance, driving away the darkness and dyeing the drifting fog pale gold with flowing rosy light.

The people of Stone Village were already awake. A group of children exercised beneath the morning glow, a lesson they practiced every day without fail.

Di Yi stood at the entrance to Stone Village, facing the morning glow as he, too, exercised.

After studying for nearly half a month, together with everything he had learned in the preceding weeks, he could finally truly fit into this world. His understanding and common knowledge had advanced by leaps and bounds.

As far as Stone Village's knowledge of the world went, there was nothing left for him to learn. He had even gone through every Bone Scripture in the village and could gain nothing more.

It was time to leave the Great Wilderness.

"Guest, they're all ready. You can set out whenever you wish." The old chief approached the village entrance with a group of people, more than a dozen at a glance.

Most were only in their teens, their faces still carrying traces of childishness and their bodies not yet fully grown. Yet the old chief had selected them to follow Di Yi out of the Great Wilderness, showing just how high the village's hopes for them were.

Among the dozen or so young people ready to depart, there was one Di Yi had met before: Shi Yunshan's son, Shi Yunfeng. He carried light luggage, his eyes filled with both longing for the unknown and the hesitation that came before setting out.

"Have you settled everything with your families?" Di Yi asked. This was no outing, no pleasure trip. They were leaving the Great Wilderness for the world beyond.

The Great Wilderness where Stone Village lay was merely a corner of Lone Mountain Town, tucked away in the Western Frontier of a vast land stretching hundreds of thousands of li. To reach the outside world, they would have to travel at least two or three hundred thousand li.

Of course, with him there, this first hurdle of their long journey would pose no problem. There would be no danger.

But what came afterward? They would have to live on their own in the immense world beyond the Great Wilderness, without their fathers' support or a strong force at their backs. They would have to rely on themselves for everything.

In great cities whose populations easily reached hundreds of thousands, in the domains of princes and nobles with tens of millions of people, surviving might not be much easier than it was in the Great Wilderness.

"It's all settled. If they can return someday, that will be their fate. If they can't... that will be their fate as well." The old chief knew full well that all manner of dangers and difficulties existed beyond the Great Wilderness, but he had to steel his heart.

This was a rare opportunity. With the first obstacle of the long journey removed, the door to the world beyond the Great Wilderness could be opened directly.

After all, sending the village's young people beyond the Great Wilderness meant facing the trial of that endless road. Perhaps before they even left the Western Frontier, they would... That was why Stone Village had to seize this chance.

"Then let's go." Di Yi nodded, then bade the old chief farewell.

The dozen or so young people froze for a moment when Di Yi simply walked away, then followed him. Occasionally, they glanced back at Stone Village as they walked, reluctance in their eyes. In the end, however, they turned their heads away and strode resolutely toward the mountains.

At the village entrance, the children exercising still had no idea what had happened. They all asked the old chief whether those older boys had gone hunting in the mountains, or whether they had gone into the mountains to train with Uncle Di Yi.

The old chief made up an answer to their questions. A dim smile rested on his face, but his eyes had reddened.

"Roar!"

The Golden Hou had been lounging lazily in its territory outside the entrance to Stone Village. It had assumed Di Yi was merely heading into the mountains; he had done so many times lately.

Soon, however, it sensed something was wrong.

Di Yi usually entered the mountains alone. Even when he had companions, they were stronger adults, not these little people who looked so frail.

Instinctively, it followed him and reached his side in an instant,

majestically "guarding its sovereign." "Hmm? Why did you follow me?" Di Yi patted the Golden Hou, signaling for it to go back.

"Roar?" The Golden Hou did not really understand what Di Yi was saying. But after living here for nearly half a month and "communicating" with the villagers every day, it could already glean the meaning of words from gestures.

It did not understand why Di Yi was sending it back. It had come to Stone Village in the first place to follow him. Now that Di Yi was leaving, of course it would leave with him.

"Stop fooling around. Go back. Didn't you want to live in Stone Village?" Di Yi stroked the Golden Hou's head, signaling for it to hurry back.

"Roar!" The Golden Hou grew anxious. Whimpering, it rubbed insistently against Di Yi.

If it could speak, it would surely have argued back. Since when had it wanted to live in Stone Village? It was determined to follow Di Yi, and no one could change that-not even a Heaven-Ranked Primordial Ferocious Beast.

"Hmm, you want to follow me? But back then..." Di Yi seemed to understand what the Golden Hou meant, sensing the fluctuations of emotion that conveyed its desire to follow him.

This puzzled him greatly.

After all, he had asked the Golden Hou that day whether it wanted to live in Stone Village. In response, it had picked up some beast meat and imitated the way the villagers hung their smoked meat, sorting and arranging the pieces into different categories.

Had I misunderstood? Had it not been answering my question at all, but simply trying to get close to me?

To test this idea, Di Yi said something terrifying in his usual conversational tone: "If you don't go back, we're having Golden Hou for dinner tonight."

"Roar!" Hearing Di Yi speak without making any gestures this time, the Golden Hou assumed he was going to force it to return and rubbed against him even harder.

"All right, that settles it." Di Yi felt helpless. He had thought the Golden Hou was fairly intelligent and could understand at least some human speech. Now, however, it appeared that it did not use human words to interpret people's intentions.

"Uncle... Di Yi, are we really going to eat it tonight?" Shi Yunfeng's eyes widened, as did everyone else's. Wasn't that far too abrupt a change in attitude over a simple disagreement?

"Roar?" The Golden Hou looked at the little people's expressions and glanced around, but found no enemy that could have put those looks on their faces.

"No, I was only trying to scare it. But judging by its behavior, it seems determined to follow me." Di Yi stroked the Golden Hou's fur and explained to Shi Yunfeng and the others, "All right, if it wants to follow us, let it. Let's keep going."

"Okay!" Shi Yunfeng and the others nodded.

Mountain after mountain rose before them, lofty and imposing, their outlines indistinct in the thick fog.

Before they knew it, Di Yi had led the dozen or so young people away from Stone Village and beyond its hunting grounds, continuing onward toward the Sun.

Originally, he had planned to catch some mounts for Shi Yunfeng and the others. He had already chosen his targets: the Unicorns that often roamed around the great lake near Stone Village.

After all, at their pace, there was clearly no way Shi Yunfeng and the others could leave the Great Wilderness and cover that endless road of two or three hundred thousand li without spending several months on the journey.

Now, however, Di Yi felt there was no need.

Compared with the Golden Hou, those Unicorns-descendants of the Primordial Pegasus with only a thin trace of its bloodline-were little sorcerers before a great sorcerer, even if they could travel ten thousand li in a day.