Zhou and Ye came upon a cliff, the drop steep and the bottom far out of sight.
"Careful," Ye said, gripping onto Zhou's arm as Zhou leaned over to look down.
"What's down there?" Zhou asked as he stepped back, his heart pounding as he realized how close he was to the edge.
"It's probably the drop into the deeper part of the forest. Stronger beasts should be down there. Let's not go down there for a little bit," Ye answered. He walked over to a nearby tree and climbed onto the first branch, reaching a hand down to help Zhou up.
"We'll stay up here for now. There should be no flying beasts in this area of the forest, so we'll be safe," Ye said. He continued to climb up higher, the leaves rustling from the disturbance.
"Slow down, I can't keep up," Zhou said, slightly out of breath. Ye sighed and pulled Zhou up, sitting him beside himself.
"Wow, look at the view," Zhou muttered sarcastically. Ye looked forward and saw their vision was covered by the foliage.
Growl.
Zhou rubbed his stomach, a low grumble coming from it. Ye glanced at him, a small smile gracing his lips. Zhou blushed slightly, frowning.
"Er gege, I'm hungry," Zhou complained. Ye nodded, the silence breaking as Zhou's stomach growled again.
"Er gege," Zhou whined.
"Alright, I'll go hunting. You stay up here and behave," Ye instructed.
"Why can't I go with you?"
"If you come with me, you need to fend for yourself, got it? I can't protect us both," Zhou pouted before stepping onto a lower branch.
"I'll come with you. For practice," Zhou said.
"Climbing up a tree only to go back down. What a sad time," Ye teased, as he dropped easily. Zhou scowled since he couldn't be as reckless as Ye. Once he got down, Ye was leaning against the trunk, yawning as Zhou finally reached the ground.
"You took so long, I think I might have grown some white hair," Ye teased. Zhou slapped Ye's arm.
"Not funny,"
"It was a little funny," Ye grabbed Zhou's wrist and led him through the forest.
"I can just follow you," Zhou said.
"It's easier to not get separated," The pair walked through before Ye ducked down, bringing Zhou with him.
"What-"
"Shhh," Ye chided, holding a finger to his lips. Zhou looked forward and saw a hog-like beast. The beast was around 1.7 meters, burying its nose into the ground and flinging mud around.
'Meat," Zhou drooled, imagining how tasty the meat would taste. Ye slowly moved out of the bushes, creeping up behind the beast. Just as the beast turned around as it heard Ye, Ye thrust his trident into the beast's chest. The beast let out a low cry as it kneeled to the ground. Ye pulled back his weapon and stabbed its neck, the beast slumping to the side. Ye took back his weapon and cleaned the points on the grass, blood smearing along the ground.
"Meat! Meat! Meaty, meat!" Zhou sang, walking out from the bush. Ye rolled his eyes and took out a sword, carving out a slab of meat from the beast.
"Let's go back," Ye said.
"What about the rest?" Zhou asked.
"We can't carry the whole thing with us. May as well just leave it here for other beasts to eat," Ye said.
Once they got back, Ye cut off some branches from their tree, setting it into a pile.
'Amos, you mind setting this on fire?' Ye asked.
"I don't know, I don't feel like it," Amos replied. Ye rolled his eyes, sticking his hand near the woodpile. A small flame appeared in his palm, lighting up the wood.
"Woah, how'd you do that?" Zhou asked, rubbing his arms as he sat next to the small fire. Ye took out his spatial ring and looked into it, grabbing a small blanket. He wrapped it around Zhou's shoulders, continuing to feed the fire.
Ye took the rest of the wood and made it into a small platform for the meat to rest. He put the slab of meat on it.
"Wouldn't that catch on fire?" Zhou asked. Ye pursed his lips and glared at Zhou.
"Do not remind me of my small overlook," Ye said. Zhou giggled, watching as the meat started to char on the outside.
After about half an hour, Ye flipped the meat, nodding in satisfaction at the grill lines on the other side.
After another half an hour, Ye took out his sword, cutting off a piece. He handed the piece to Zhou.
"Eat," he instructed. Zhou took it and bit into it, his eyes crinkling as the juice of the meat exploded in his mouth.
"Mmm! It's delicious," Zhou exclaimed, cutting off another piece.
"A spirit beast's meat is much better than a regular beast's meat. It is also very good for cultivation," Ye replied, taking a small bite from his piece. He frowned, sticking out his tongue. He didn't like the gamey taste of meat.
Zhou wiped his mouth, rubbing his stomach in satisfaction.
"Thank you for dinner, er gege," Zhou said.
"Go to sleep now. I'll take watch for tonight," Ye said. He helped Zhou up the tree, sitting him down.
"You're not going to sleep?" Zhou asked.
"I don't need to sleep as much as you anymore. I'll be fine even if I don't sleep for a couple of nights," Ye reassured.
"Okay. Make sure I don't fall off," Zhou said as he settled against the tree trunk, closing his eyes. Ye's spirit swirled around Zhou, keeping him on the branch.
"The child seems to be much stronger now," Amos said, appearing in a translucent state.
"Oh, look at that. You can finally appear physically," Ye said. Amos floated around, observing the area.
"Not the best place for me to be around. So little spirit," Amos said. He floated over the edge of the cliff, looking down. His eyes widened as he quickly flew away, hiding behind Ye.
"Young Master, it's not safe here," Amos said. Ye looked at him, surprised at the apprehensive look on Amos's face.
"There's something... powerful down there. Dangerous and powerful," Amos said. Ye turned, looking at the cliff. He noticed that there were some thick, yet nearly invisible traces of spirit.
"You're right, there is something powerful down there,"
"I would advise Young Master to not go down there. If you were in trouble, I don't think I'd be able to save you with my current strength," Amos warned. Ye raised an eyebrow. He wasn't used to the normally cocky and confident god be this fearful of something.
"If you were at your peak, would you be able to defeat whatever is down there?" Amos's eyes darkened as he shook his head.
"Even if my original power was doubled- no, tripled, I still could not fight whatever is down there," Amos said. Ye blinked, looking over.
"Interesting, whatever is down there is more powerful than a god," Ye mused.
"Go down there and have a look," Ye ordered.
"Young Master!" Amos whined, looking at him with begging eyes.
"Please have mercy on me, Young Master! I won't complain- no, I won't throw anything into your Dantian for a month!" Amos begged. Ye sighed and glared at him.
"Switch consciences with me," Ye ordered. Amos sniffled and sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes. Ye also closed his eyes, feeling his consciousness leave his own body. He opened his eyes and saw he was above his body, his consciousness waning in the air. He quickly went into Amos's body, keeping his consciousness from being swept away. He opened his eyes and looked in front of him, his lip twitching as he saw the eyes on his body a light gray.
"Keep Zhou safe, I'll be back," Ye instructed.
"Don't destroy my body, it took a lot of time to construct it," Amos said. Ye nodded and floated over to the edge. Now that he was in Amos's body, he realized just how strong the spirit was. He felt like he was being crushed under the weight of it.
"Such strong spirit even without a trace of aura," Ye muttered. He floated down, gritting his teeth as he went closer to the source.
"Oomph!" Ye got knocked into the wall of the cliff, groaning as the body slammed into the rock. He reached out as his hand touched an invisible barrier.
'It doesn't seem like I can get past this barrier,' Ye observed. He floated around it, occasionally touching it and watching it ripple under his fingers.
'It feels... familiar,' Ye observed. A sudden fluctuation of spirit hit him, sending him back up the cliff. He landed with a thud, groaning. He floated up the tree and switched his consciousness with Amos.
"My body..." Amos mourned. His body wasn't as solid as before.
"You're right, there's something powerful down there, but there's a barrier blocking me," Ye said.
"You're not thinking of going down there yourself, right Young Master?" Amos asked. Ye raised his eyebrow, not giving an answer.