Chapter 20

"D-deadass?" Ye asked, struggling to remove the tiny grip of Ju's hands from his collar.

'What in the world, how is she so strong?' Ye wondered. Ju sighed and let him go, muttering a quick sorry.

"Sorry, nobody exactly likes it when their past is talked about,"

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so insensitive," Ye apologized as well. Ju waved her hand, leaning back in a much more relaxed manner.

"So, you mind opening the box all the way so I can like, get out of these?" Ju asked, holding up her wrist, the clanging of metal following.

"Hold on, you said you were super powerful. Exactly how powerful?" Ye asked, still wary. Ju groaned.

"Like, powerful enough to yeet a mountain or something, I don't know," Ye and Zhou looked at her weirdly.

"What?" Ju asked. "I suddenly feel like I'm being judged,"

"What does 'yeet' mean? And why do you talk so weirdly?" Zhou asked. Ju stared at him in shock before a flash of sadness passed through her eyes.

"Right, you guys wouldn't know any Gen Z slang,"

"What?" Ju looked up, shaking her head.

"Yeet just means to throw really hard, sort of. I could pick up a mountain and throw it. Like, remember the disappearance of Mt. Starsor, the super tall mountain before that was said to reach even higher than the heavens? I picked it up and threw it into the ocean. Wonder what happened to it after," Ju muttered the last sentence to no one in particular.

"Mt. Starsor? Isn't that the old mountain that is now known as Grandbalt Isle, the one with the huge lighthouse on it?" Zhou asked Ye. Ye nodded his head.

"Mt. Starsor was easily more than 50,000 feet,"

"72,412 feet actually," Ju chimed in.

"And the ocean there is about 70,000 feet deep but it is very far away from the original place of Mt. Starsor. But you managed to toss it there?" Ye asked. Ju nodded.

"Before the war, the cultivation manuals weren't exactly safe or efficient, especially for those who didn't have strong bodies. It's why those cultivation manuals are now known as forbidden arts. Way too dangerous," Ju explained.

"So-"

"Oi, I'm not gonna answer any of your questions anymore if you don't open the damn box," Ju interrupted.

"What are you gonna do if we don't? You're the one trapped here with us," Zhou shot back. Ju grinned at him, the air becoming stagnant.

"I never said I have no spirit. Just enough so that I can live on every day without much hindrance," her voice was filled with malice as her eyes glowed, a spinning formation appearing in them.

"My era was the era of strength, not the era of efficiency. All that I know from both this world and the other world give me a far better advantage in a fight against you two, even with a god on your side," Ju said as her eyes flickered over to Ye.

"You, hold Amos, don't you? Bring him out, he's been missing even before the war," Ju beckoned.

'Amos, you in there?' Ye asked. Amos appeared in his consciousness, pale.

"Please, please don't bring me out. I really don't want to face her," Amos begged. Ye was surprised. Even if Amos was afraid of someone with this much power, a conversation should be fine.

"Please, I am begging you. I can't face her, not like this,"

"Amos, I know you're in there. Get out, I just want to have a small talk,"

'Oh come on and stop being a baby,'

"Young Master, you don't understand. If I go out there, she really will kill me,"

'As your master, I demand you go out there and talk to Ju,' Amos cried on the inside before sighing in resignment, appearing out in the world. Zhou stared at Amos, not very fazed that he was now in the presence of a god, though fallen.

"Amos, how are you?" Ju asked, getting up and dusting off her rags. Amos shuffled over to her, his entire body stiff.

"H-hello s..." Amos muttered, the end of his sentence was barely audible. Ju smiled the smile of death and walked over to him, her chains dragging across the floor. It was a wonder how she was able to hold herself up with those skinny legs of hers'.

"Now that's no way to talk to someone, especially someone with the role I had in your life," Ju scolded. Amos frowned.

"Hello, sweetheart. It's been a while since I've last seen you," Amos finally said in a level tone.

"Sweetheart?"(1) Zhou and Ye asked at the same time, staring at the pair in shock. Ju stared at him before raising her arms. Amos flinched squeezed his eyes shut, ready for the barrage of hits.

"Do you have any idea how much I missed you? How long I spent searching for you after you disappeared?" Ju whispered as she wrapped her arms around Amos. Where her arms came into contact with Amos, he became less transparent, his body looking like a normal body.

"Are you... crying?" Amos asked, surprised that the young girl was actually crying in front of him.

"Just hug me back, you idiot. It's the least you can do after all these years," Ju replied, her voice muffled. Amos slowly put his arms around Ju, unsure of himself. After a couple of seconds, he huffed and pulled her closer, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

"I'm sorry, I missed you too," Amos muttered. Ye pulled Zhou away from the two, back towards the entrance of the cave.

"Those two, do you think they'll be alright?" Zhou asked as they walked. Ye shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea, but it seems like they'll get along just fine,"

Whack!

"Or not," Ye said right after the concerning smack echoed through the cave.

"Why weren't you surprised when Amos came out?" Ye asked. Zhou sighed.

"It seems I really can't get anything past you, can I er gege?" Zhou muttered.

"To be honest, I saw him when he was in your body. When your eyes were glowing and were a different color," Zhou answered.

"You weren't asleep?"

"I was, but then I woke up with a start and was about to ask you if you felt that something was wrong, but when I saw you, I could tell you weren't the one I was talking to you,"

"Ah, did Amos say anything to you?"

"He introduced himself to me and said he was a very powerful being. I didn't expect him to be a god though," Zhou replied. Ye nodded, inwardly sighing in relief.

'Good, Amos didn't tell him that I'm cursed,'

"Oh, but I am still super angry at you," Zhou said, pouting.

"Me? Why?" Ye asked.

"Because you kept a secret from me! We promised each other that we would have no more secrets! It's rule number 2!" Zhou accused. The sudden change in the atmosphere made Ye smile a bit.

"Rule number 2? What's rule number 1 then?" Ye asked. Zhou pressed a hand to his chest, pulling a look of offense.

"You don't remember rule number 1? Rule number 1 is that we stick together, no matter what!" Zhou exclaimed. Ye smiled nodding.

"Ah, yes, I remember now. Stick together, no matter what," Ye repeated, almost sadly.

'It's not like I'd have a choice of leaving you. Even going to classes every day while you go and play makes it cold,'

"Er gege, why didn't you ever tell me you had a god in your body?" Zhou asked, snapping Ye out of his thoughts.

"Well, he kinda just entered my body and settled here. He told me not to tell anyone, and since it's not like he bothers me, I've left him alone," Ye replied.

"Are you sure he's not gonna hurt you?" Zhou asked. Ye glanced at Zhou, smiling at the worried look on his face.

"Why? What if he does hurt me?" Ye asked. Zhou frowned, staring at him with wide, teary eyes.

"I won't let anyone hurt my er gege! I'll defeat anyone who does!"

"How are you going to fight a god?" Ye asked, greatly amused at Zhou's antics. Zhou paused and tapped his chin.

"I'll hit them with my staff until they stop hurting you!"

"But what if they take away your staff? What will you do then?" Zhou's frown grew deeper as Ye's smile grew larger.

"I'll become super strong so that I can protect both of us, even if all the gods were to attack us!" Zhou said with determination. Ye laughed and rubbed Zhou's head.

"Alright, become super strong. But let's make the goal a bit easier. Defeat me first, then defeat the gods," Ye said. Zhou nodded and curled up next to Ye, resting his head against Ye's shoulder.

'Yes, I have to get stronger. So that I can find your parents and make all your sadness go away. So that you can smile without guilt,' Zhou swore in his heart. He clenched his fist in determination.

~~

(1) Okay, before I get canceled, Ju is canonically super old! She is stuck in her body from her 2nd known life which she died in when she was 14! Disregarding how old she was from her first life, she is a couple of thousand years old in her third life! No, I am not a lolicon, she can change her form, but she needs her spirit! Plz, don't cancel me.