Huo Yuhao, sitting in front of the campfire, glanced back. There were two tents behind him, and Xiao Wu had already gone to sleep.
"Teacher, do you think Brother Sky Dream will come?"
It was their first day in the forest. Sitting before the campfire, Huo Yuhao watched the flames dance as he spoke with Elder Yi in his spiritual space.
"Although they can't find you from far away like I can, the moment you entered the forest, that big bug must have sensed you. Now all you need to do is wait patiently."
"But he doesn't know me either. We didn't meet until ten thousand years later."
Huo Yuhao felt a little troubled. What if Brother Sky Dream didn't trust him?
He could already picture himself going up to Sky Dream and spouting a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense, only to be taken for a madman.
"I can pass your memories on to him. But I can't predict what he'll choose in the end."
Hearing the concern in Electrolux's voice, Huo Yuhao smiled faintly.
"It's okay, Elder Yi. Even if Brother Sky Dream doesn't choose me, I'm confident I can still become a god. Once I do, I'll bring them to the Divine Realm. At worst, it'll take a little more effort."
"You all helped me so much in my previous life. No matter what choices you make in this life, you're still my friends!"
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao gazed up at the sky, his eyes shimmering as the countless stars reflected in them.
"Silly child... I believe they'll make the same choice."
Electrolux was deeply moved. That was just the sort of person Huo Yuhao was, and it was precisely that nature of his that had kept them by his side all the way to the end in his previous life.
Huo Yuhao smiled and nodded. The fatigue from several days on the road made him yawn. He scratched his head and entered the other tent, where he fell asleep before long.
In his dream, he saw the companions he had missed so dearly, a smile curving his lips.
In the middle of the night, a pair of tightly shut eyes quietly opened. Someone poked their head out of the tent, sneaky as could be.
Seeing that there was no movement in the tent next door, she tiptoed around, gathered her belongings, and finally slipped a letter into Huo Yuhao's tent.
She patted her cheeks, then headed into the darkness...
The next morning.
"Don't worry about me. I'm going to get a Soul Ring too, so I can't let you leave me behind ╭(╯^╰)╮"
After reading the few short lines, Huo Yuhao scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat relieved.
This is for the best. I don't have to think up an excuse now.
"Then I'll get started too..."
He wasn't worried about Xiao Wu's safety. Come on, she was as at home in the Star Dou Great Forest as she was in her own house. What was there to worry about?
Huo Yuhao was more concerned that he might become a Soul Beast's meal before Brother Sky Dream even showed up.
He set off on his journey to find Brother Sky Dream. Calling it a search was generous; he was really just wandering around without a destination.
With his divine-king-level spiritual power warning him of danger, Huo Yuhao didn't run into any trouble.
By the afternoon, a cheeky voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Hey, little human friend, what are you looking for? Want your big brother to help?"
The voice from his memories echoed in his mind. Although he hadn't seen him since being reborn, six years was nothing compared to the decades they'd spent together in his previous life.
"I'm looking for a chubby silkworm. He calls himself the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. Do you know where he is?"
Huo Yuhao joked, feigning calm, but the slight redness around his eyes showed that he wasn't as composed as he seemed.
"Oh? As it happens, I know him. The most handsome Soul Beast around, right? What do you want with him?"
Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to keep playing along with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
"Brother Sky Dream, I came here to find you. Let's meet. I'll tell you everything."
"..."
There was no reply. Huo Yuhao said nothing either, and simply waited quietly.
About an hour later, the ground suddenly trembled. A round body emerged from beneath the earth and appeared before Huo Yuhao, its little golden eyes fixed on him.
"A human knows me, and he has my aura on him too. So what's your secret?"
Huo Yuhao didn't answer. He silently called for Elder Yi.
A moment later, a gray-robed old man appeared beside Huo Yuhao, nearly startling the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm out of his skin. Then the old man pointed, and a ball of golden light emerged from Huo Yuhao's forehead. It was a memory wrapped in spiritual power, and it flew toward the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
"How is this possible? How can a child have spiritual power at such a level?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm nearly thought he'd fallen into a human trap. If he hadn't sensed that neither of them meant him any harm, he would have run for it already.
"This is..."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm raised his head slightly, watching helplessly as the light entered his big head.
The instant it entered, countless images appeared in his mind. His whole body then fell into a daze.
Huo Yuhao watched in silence, pressing his lips together. Electrolux glanced from Huo Yuhao to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm now and then, stroking his beard.
It took a long time for Sky Dream to digest the memories. When night fell, Huo Yuhao lit a fire beside him and deftly started roasting the ingredients he'd gathered along the way.
Just as the meat was about to finish cooking, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm finally moved.
"Give your big brother a couple of skewers. Watching myself eat so happily in those memories made my mouth water."
In his previous life, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hadn't gotten to taste Huo Yuhao's cooking until he became a Soul Spirit and gained a physical form. This time, while he still had a body, he was going to eat his fill no matter what.
"Okay."
Huo Yuhao nodded and put even more care into the final steps.
"Here you go."
He held out a skewer to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mouth. Its mouth was only a little bigger than its eyes, and the way it nibbled at the meat skewers made it look just like a silkworm munching on mulberry leaves.
One skewer after another: one person grilled while one silkworm ate. Neither of them mentioned the memories.
"Whew... I'm full. Those memories really didn't lie."
After eating two whole Roe Deer and four fish, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm let out a long breath and said with a smile.
Then his little eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao, as if he wanted to engrave the boy's image into his mind.
Compared to his previous life, this young man was five years younger, but he wasn't as frail as he'd been when they first met back then.
"When do we begin?"
The silence was broken by a voice, cutting through the stillness of the night.
Huo Yuhao shuddered and looked up at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's gleaming golden eyes. He saw the resolve in them.
"What? Has my little Yuhao become a god and decided he's too good for his big brother? Boo-hoo, I'm so sad. Looks like Di Tian will have to capture me and use me as a furnace, squeezing me dry until I die."
Huo Yuhao lowered his head, his body trembling as tears the size of beans rolled down his cheeks.
"Thank you, Brother Sky Dream..."
"Hmph. You're going to become a god, and you're still this naive. Could you manage without my guidance? Would you and that stinky old man in your mind be bored to death without me?"
Sky Dream lifted his head even higher, his voice full of smugness.
Electrolux, who often traded barbs with Sky Dream, looked as if he were asleep and said nothing.
"But I haven't been absorbed by Di Tian and the others yet, so I have a lot of energy, and I don't have any experience either... Give me two days to study it."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm went on talking to himself, swaying his big head as if he were quite pleased with himself.
In this life, he was still whole and intact. As the first million-year Soul Beast, his energy was beyond imagination.
Two days passed in a flash. There were a few new additions to the surroundings, such as a golden-haired, three-eyed Soul Beast...
She was much smaller, and several times she had pretended to pass by this area by chance. Each time, she'd taken a few curious glances before leaving.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had noticed her long ago. Having seen Huo Yuhao's memories, he naturally knew who she was, but he didn't tell Huo Yuhao.
Getting involved with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion too early might attract Di Tian's attention. It wasn't the right time yet.
Besides, in his eyes, the two of them were already bound together by fate. How could he let her get away? She'd better stay and become his Yuhao's wife, obediently. Heh heh heh...