Chapter 108 — Stealth
劍問蒼天 · Page 6 of 6
Lit by a faint glimmer of moonlight in the night, there before Ming Li's eyes in the shadows, a soft "click-click" sound suddenly came from within Xiao Hui's body, and after that the gray mark on its forehead seemed to deepen in color.
Before Ming Li could react, Xiao Hui—who seemed to have sensed something wrong already—suddenly turned its head, and in its monkey eyes a strange, piercing golden light gradually kindled. Yet behind that gold, faintly mingled, there lurked a thread of eerie red.
"Chee-chee, chee-chee."
Xiao Hui's monkey hand suddenly pointed toward the foundation in a remote corner far from that house.
Ming Li lifted Xiao Hui down and examined it closely. "What is it, Xiao Hui?" he asked in a low voice.
"Chee-chee, chee-chee!"
Xiao Hui cried softly, its hand still pointing in that direction, while the golden gleam in its eyes slowly faded.
Ming Li frowned, then nodded. He set it back on his shoulder, and his body immediately drifted over.
In the dark corner of the foundation wall, a faint smell of moss hung in the air. Under Ming Li's careful search, he soon made a discovery: a small hole about a foot across, hidden at the base of the foundation.
A sharp light flashed in his eyes. He reached out—then suddenly, swift as lightning, thrust his hand into the opening. A moment later a low squeal came from within the hole, which fell silent at once; and almost in the same instant, the bell that had been ringing ceaselessly around them stopped short.
A faint smile touched the corner of Ming Li's mouth. Slowly he drew his hand out, and after a moment there was, gripped in his palm, a strange beast—it struggled twice, then moved no more.
The creature was gray-skinned all over and about three feet long, its body bent in a peculiar arch, back hunched high and head and tail drooping low, with a pair of little black bean-like eyes set in its head. But the strangest thing of all was its extraordinarily long snout, nearly half a foot in length—close to a third of its body—the tip broad and flaring into two great nostrils, so that it looked much like the pigs kept in farmers' pens.
Ming Li was taken aback for a moment, then gave a snort and muttered softly, "No wonder I couldn't slip past no matter what—so there's one of these 'Gray Tuskers' about."
Note 1: *Chronicles of Gods, Demons, and Strange Beings*, "Chapter on Spirit Beasts"—Gray Tusker: long snout, great ears, no neck, long tail; feeds on ants, insects, and grass roots; hides by day and comes out by night; some call it the Earth Pig.
Further note: *Modern Animals*—Earth Pig: a mammal, also called the African anteater; powerfully built, about 140 centimeters long, lacking incisors and canines; like the anteater it uses a long tongue to lap up termites. It lives in southern and central Africa, haunting hills or semi-grassland regions, and is highly skilled at digging. It rests in its burrow by day and comes out to forage at night. Timid by nature, with exceptionally keen hearing, it relies on its sense of smell to find food—more than ten times sharper than a dog's.