Bambam returned after a considerable absence, the sky having transformed from sunset gold to deep night blue during his time away. He carried an armful of large palm leaves and dried wood, his silhouette illuminated by the emerging stars.
With surprising deftness, he wove the palm leaves together using a magical thread that glimmered faintly in the darkness. Within moments, he had fashioned two comfortable beds and blankets from the natural materials.
Yetao watched with undisguised amazement. "You did it that fast?" His eyes widened as he examined Bambam's handiwork. "I thought you were weak, but maybe you have some skills after all. It takes forever for me to do something like this. I always end up burning the leaves."
Bambam stiffened momentarily, realizing his mistake. He forced a smile, quickly adopting his pitiful persona once more. "I just do it often to practice enhancing my power," he explained, his voice deliberately meek. "I can only do this much. I'm already feeling drained"
Feeling responsible, Yetao snatched the wood from Bambam's arms as he said, "I can take care of this"
Yetao arranged the woods carefully. He cupped his hands together, summoning a small fireball between his palms, then released it onto the dried wood. The flames caught immediately, casting dancing shadows across the beach and bathing them both in warm, amber light. Bambam expressed an invisible proud smile on Yetao's skills.
They settled onto their separate beds, pulling the improvised palm leaf blankets over themselves as the night air grew cooler. Above them, the sky unfurled in countless stars glittering against the darkness, with the purplish ribbon of the Milky Way stretching across the heavens.
Yetao gazed upward, his expression softening into one of wonder and longing. The starlight reflected in his eyes, turning them into miniature galaxies of their own.
"Say, Bambam..." he began, his voice gentle with contemplation. "Have you ever wondered what those stars might be?"
"I don't know. It just hurt my eyes if I concentrate on it," Bambam replied with casual indifference.
Yetao sighed, taken aback by the dismissive response. "What kind of answer is that?" he muttered, unable to hide his disappointment.
"Have YOU wondered?" Bambam deflected, turning the question back to Yetao.
Squinting his eyes in disbelief at Bambam's nonchalance, Yetao sighed before taking a deep breath. "Years ago, I desperately wanted to touch them. But my aunt said those stars are dead people."
Bambam's expression shifted to one of confusion and shock. He cast a doubtful look at Yetao but remained silent, allowing him to continue.
"She said mortal people believe that those who die become stars and no one can touch them," Yetao explained earnestly. "But then, how many stars would there be? Who maintains such a vast sky? Even in my clan, 10,000 people have died in the past century. Considering all the clans, at least a few billion people would have died in the past five centuries. And if we count on the mortals, then how much would it be? Why doesn't the sky feel suffocated carrying all those people? Our world has it easy since it sends people to the sky from time to time."
Bambam pressed his lips together, struggling to contain his amusement at Yetao's earnest philosophical musings.
"When I asked my aunt, she said people get reincarnated. Then what are those stars again? Dead people's outer vessels?" Yetao continued, growing more animated. "Even Lu said the same. People are always lying to me, thinking I'm still a child." He pouted cutely, which finally broke Bambam's resolve.
Bambam burst into laughter, unable to hold back any longer.
Yetao looked at him and sighed deeply. "No one ever answers me. You all either laugh or lie. Wait until I complete my cultivation and transform into a gigantic bird. Then I'll reach the stars and investigate for myself." He crossed his arms with another adorable pout.
"They could've thought its too hard to explain to you. I know you don't like to read, but this is....", Bambam thought as he continued to laugh.
As his laughter gradually subsided, Bambam found Yetao's thinking endearingly childlike. He composed himself and offered gently, "What if they are another world?"
This caught Yetao's attention immediately. "Another world?" His eyes widened with renewed curiosity. "Would that world also contain an immortal and demon realm like ours?"
Bambam smiled warmly. "Maybe?"
"Then would it also have animals and mortals like ours?" Yetao asked, his imagination running wild. "I suddenly want to become friends with them."
Bambam's smile deepened at Yetao's boundless, childish thoughts.
Yetao sighed again, suddenly self-conscious. "I'm really just talking nonsense because I'm bored, right?" he asked, noticing Bambam's expression.
Wanting to comfort him and join in his playful theorizing, Bambam leaned in slightly. "That world could even have another you and another me," he said, his gaze fixed intently on Yetao's eyes, his expression deliberately serious.
Yetao's eyes sparkled with delight as he found someone willing to match his level of imaginative thinking. "Another me? I wonder what he'd be like," he mused excitedly, staring at a particularly bright star with wonder-filled eyes.
Bambam's expression softened as he watched Yetao. "Probably just like you—pretty and adorable," he said softly.
Their eyes met, and heat rushed to Yetao's cheeks under Bambam's intense gaze. Flustered, Yetao's eyes began to waver. He yawned deliberately, attempting to hide his reaction. "I guess I'm sleepy. I'll get some shut-eye," he mumbled, turning away from Bambam.
"What's with him again?", Yetao's thoughts ran wild that his heart beat too rapidly for sleep, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to force himself to drift off.
Bambam remained awake, gazing at the stars with a faraway look in his eyes. "He was exactly like you, Taotao" he thought to himself as the night deepened around them, carrying secrets as numerous as the stars overhead.
Meanwhile, Lucas gathered Yetao's life energy from the cultivation chamber he had used since arriving in the snake realm and attempted to trace it. Yuchen stopped him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
"My lord, his life energy indicates he's still alive," Yuchen said. "I'll do the tracing. Please inform the elder and the other lords about this situation."
As a lord, Lucas's primary responsibility was maintaining order in the demon realm. His priority had to be uniting the other lords and preparing for the worst at this moment. Lucas stood conflicted, his heart torn between duty and loyalty."But Taotao—"
Before he could finish, Yuchen cut in with unwavering resolve. "I'll find him. No matter what."
Seeing the fierce determination blazing in Yuchen's eyes, Lucas found himself believing in his confidant. "Contact me right away when you find him," he instructed, and Yuchen nodded solemnly.
While Lucas and Jackson departed to inform the other lords, Yuchen journeyed to where Yetao's trace mysteriously vanished in the middle of the sea.
There, he removed his seal, unleashing his dormant immortal powers. His eyes glowed a brilliant golden as he searched for Yetao's life energy in his enhanced vision. Finally, he detected a faint signature on an island in the southwest.
"I found him," Yuchen whispered, relief washing over him.
Employing his stealth technique to conceal his energy, he soared high above the sea, searching for the precise location among the countless islands scattered across the waters. As he compared each with Yetao's energy signature, a powerful force suddenly pulled at him, forcing him to land upon a jagged rock formation.
Shock rippled through him—someone had seen through his concealment skills. Immediately, he erected a protective barrier around himself and scanned his surroundings warily.
A black fog of demonic energy swirled around him, its immense power causing him to lose his footing. "This much dark energy..." Yuchen gasped, stunned by the sheer malevolence it contained.
The dark fog shattered his barrier like glass and seized him from behind, rendering him immobile. A figure materialized—a man in a red veil that covered half his face, revealing only blood-red lips. His nails were sharp with the same crimson hue.
"The person you're searching for is on the island located four miles west of here," the veiled figure whispered from behind him. "However, you can't see it because he created a barrier."
Yuchen was startled by the eerily familiar voice and suspicious of the stranger's knowledge, yet he listened intently—he would sell his soul to find Yetao at this moment.
"Use your family's treasure to get there," the man advised. Suddenly, Yuchen remembered the ancient artifact his family had guarded for generations.
As the stranger released him and turned to leave, Yuchen quickly asked, "Who are you?"
He could see only the smirk forming on the man's visible lips. "Do you want to kill the demon lord?" the stranger countered with his own question.
Yuchen flinched momentarily before answering with unwavering conviction, "If he has harmed or will harm Yetao gege, I won't hesitate." His declaration hung in the air, punctuated by ocean waves crashing against the rocks.
A single tear fell from beneath the man's veil and fell upon his cracked pearl pendant. Yuchen froze in shock. Something about this man felt hauntingly familiar, yet the dark energy surrounding him made it impossible to identify him.
"Then prepare yourself. You'll want to kill him in the future," the man said cryptically before vanishing at the speed of light, his dark energy dissipating into nothingness.
Left alone with more questions than answers, Yuchen pondered the strange encounter briefly before refocusing on his priority. He immediately set off to retrieve his family's treasure by any means necessary.
Meanwhile, the red-veiled man reached a remote cliff on a distant island. He collapsed, his lips trembling as his energy drained away.
"Why am I still so weak after this much cultivation?" he rasped, frustration evident as he clenched his teeth in anger. "Is this my punishment for defying fate?"
His hands curled into fists as resolve hardened within him. "No, I can't let this continue. I must gather more strength to end this once and for all."
With those words, he vanished into the air, leaving no trace that he had ever existed.