Chapter 145 — Meeting
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 1 of 7
All was silent around them, save for the occasional crackle of twigs bursting in the fire. The strange youth and Ming Li spoke no more; the flames rose and fell, burning between them.
The surface of the roast pig slowly turned golden, a rich fragrance mingled with a faint hint of char. By now a thin, transparent film of oil glistened over the whole carcass. Ming Li gave it a final few turns and said, "That's it. Eat up, you two."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Little Grey and Taotie lunged forward at once. Little Grey chattered wildly, and with a single grab it seized one of the pig's hind legs—the skin, still sizzling hot from the fire, seemed to bother it not at all. But Taotie was the more fearsome: without so much as lifting a claw, it simply opened its vast bloody maw, heedless that the meat still hung above the flames, thrust its head straight in, and bit down.
With that one bite, Taotie's already enormous mouth stretched to a terrifying size, and the whole great roast pig was caught entire between its jaws—only a single hind leg remained outside, clamped in Little Grey's grip.
Little Grey flew into a rage. Fury contorted its monkey face; it clung to the leg and hopped about screeching, but the vicious Taotie paid no heed. Its mouthful of razor teeth gave a crunching snap, and the succulent pork was bitten clean in two as easily as snapping dry wood. Caught off guard, Little Grey toppled backward from its own effort, rolled twice on the ground, and when it scrambled up again there was nothing in its hands but a single pig leg.
As for the great bulk of that delicious roast pig, it now lay in Taotie's mouth, which set to chewing with gusto. The remaining bones, it seemed, were simply crushed and swallowed along with the meat—it ate like wind scattering clouds, like an army sweeping all before it. Its four eyes, squeezed to either side of its face by the bulging cheeks, nonetheless still blazed brightly. Plainly it was enjoying itself immensely.
"Chee, chee, chee..." Seeing the feast that should have been its own snatched away by this vicious beast, how could Little Grey not be furious? Yet after a few cries it abruptly lowered its head and began gnawing furiously as well. It ate with great speed, and in no time most of the pig leg was gone.
"Grrraaah..." Taotie's low growl sounded once more, and it slowly turned its head toward Little Grey. That enormous roast pig had been devoured completely in the space of a few moments—swallowed whole, bones and all. And plainly Taotie was far from satisfied: its four eyes gleamed, fixed intently on the last meaty bone in Little Grey's hands.
Little Grey savagely gulped down the last morsel of meat, then glared at Taotie with all three eyes wide. Taotie, drool streaming from its jaws, took one slow step after another toward Little Grey. Little Grey flung its arm and hurled the remaining bone far off in another direction, its face wearing a look of gloating malice. But Taotie's form flickered like lightning, like light itself—in the blink of an eye it had leapt into the air, overtaken the flying bone, caught it in its jaws, wheeled about midair, and flown back to land beside the youth. Yet now, seeming to know this was the very last of it, Taotie did not gulp it down at once; instead it treated the bone with something like tenderness, extending its tongue to lick it over and over.
Little Grey was startled by this behavior, and after a moment turned to Ming Li and suddenly began capering and gesturing, chattering all the while. Ming Li watched it for a time, then his expression shifted and he said, "You're saying it's like Big Yellow?"