Chapter 144 — An Encounter
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 7 of 8
Mingli said nothing, but Little Grey suddenly began to chirp and squeak, greatly agitated. Almost at the same moment as Little Grey's clamor, that deep growl sounded once more—except that this time it came directly from behind the youth.
"Hoooaaaa..." With that deep, powerful growl, from behind the composed youth, from the region of his shoulder, a hideous head rose slowly. It had four eyes, two pairs set one above the other on either side of its face, each as round and large as a bronze bell. Its mouth was enormous, nearly as wide as its whole face; when it opened its jaws one could see a maw full of sharp teeth—and most terrifying of all, six keen fangs protruding beyond its lips. In the faint light of the fire, one could dimly see drops of drool falling from between its teeth onto the monster's gray-black hide, covered in hard, lumpy scales.
Mingli's expression finally changed slightly. He rose slowly and said coldly, "Taotie?"
Before the youth could answer, his eyes still measuring Mingli, he suddenly seemed to sense something. He turned to look at the Taotie (Note 1) and could not help but start. The fierce beast's ever-savage gaze now held an added tenfold greed—but its target was not Mingli or Little Grey, but the wild boar roasting on the ground.
The enticing aroma of roast meat drifted everywhere through the air.
The youth suddenly smiled and said to Mingli, "Your handiwork is fine indeed! I wondered why Taotie was so restless tonight—who'd have thought you had drawn it here."
Mingli said mildly, "Taotie may be an ancient evil beast, fierce and swift, but it has always been gluttonous. A single roast pig is nothing."
The youth shook his head. "Not so. This Taotie of mine is different from others. Ordinary delicacies it no longer even deigns to notice—who'd have thought your seemingly rough roast could tempt it into such a state."
And indeed, just as the youth said, Taotie seemed to favor this roast pig above all things. Saliva poured wildly from its jaws and ran down between its teeth. Suddenly, with a whistling cry, Taotie leaped from the youth's shoulder, became a dark shadow, and pounced toward the flames. But then a gray shadow flashed, and an angry "chitter-chatter" rang out—it was Little Grey, darting through the air to stand before the roast pig.
Taotie gave a low "hoooaaaa," dropped to the ground, and revealed its true form. It had four feet with sharp claws, and its body seemed at least four times the size of the wild boar. Strangest of all was its extremely long neck, rising upward and nearly doubling its height.
Beside it, Little Grey was pitifully small—yet for some reason Taotie seemed somewhat wary of it and dared not be careless. Still, it could not bear to abandon the delicacy before it, and so it growled low in its throat, its expression gradually turning savage.
Mingli glanced at the two strange beasts snarling at each other over the roast pig, and said suddenly, "The boar's not even done, and it hasn't reached full flavor yet. What are you two fighting over?"
His words came out of nowhere, and even the young man could not help but glance at him a second time. But the two facing beasts reacted at once: Taotie fixed all four of its eyes on Little Gray, and Little Gray glared back with all three of its own. The seven eyes of the two beasts grew rounder and rounder, each trying to outdo the other, until at last Little Gray squeaked a few times at Taotie, bared its teeth, trotted a few paces backward, and plunked itself down on its haunches beside Mingli, eyes fixed straight upon the roast pig.